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22-601: The area that is now the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge was inhabited by the Piro Pueblo prior to Spanish arrival in 1598 in what is now the southwestern part of the United States . El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro , which passed through the area, was the main transportation route from Santa Fe, New Mexico to Mexico City , Mexico. In 1680, Governor Antonio de Otermin of Santa Fe retreated through

44-717: A Native American tribe who lived in New Mexico during the 16th and 17th century. The Piros (not to be confused with the Piros of the Ucayali basin in Peru ) lived in a number of pueblos in the Rio Grande Valley around modern Socorro , New Mexico , USA . The now extinct Piro language may have been a Tanoan language. Numbering several thousand at the time of first contact with the Spanish , by

66-642: A cattle ranch. In 1966, shortly before his death, Campbell established a foundation that eventually decided to preserve the land of Sevilleta by creating a wildlife refuge. In 1973 the foundation gave the land to The Nature Conservancy , which in turn gave it to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. On December 28, 1973, the 230,000 acre Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge was established. Four major biomes unite in Sevilleta: Pinon-Juniper Woodlands, Colorado Plateau Shrub-Steppe, Chihuahuan Desert, and Great Plains Grasslands. The refuge currently hosts

88-720: A hundred years, is by far the best known of the Salinas pueblos, and in fact is one of the most celebrated ruins in all of the Southwest. This is not strange, [since] it is altogether the largest ruin of any Christian temple that exists in the United States; and connected with it from the first, there has been the glamor of romance and the strange charm of mystery, which adds tenfold to ordinary interest. How and when it first received its deceptive title of "Gran Quivira" we may never know; there are dozens of traditions and theories and imaginings. From

110-556: A result, the Spanish gave first one, then another, Piro pueblo the name Socorro , which means "aid" or "help" (in case of problems or difficulties). By the late 17th century, however, the Piros like most other Pueblo groups suffered increasingly from the strains of colonial rule. Several local rebellions broke out in the 1660s and 1670s, but the Spaniards always retained the upper hand. By the time of

132-513: Is permitted. Most, but not all, of the refuge is off limits to the public and its development is left to nature. Use such as hiking and photography are permitted in some areas. There are over seven miles of trails open sunrise to sunset. Picnicking and camping are not permitted anywhere in the refuge. The endangered southwestern willow flycatcher migrates to the refuge from Mexico and Central America from May to September. Piro Pueblo The Piro people / ˈ p ɪr oʊ / were

154-554: The Casas Grandes peoples. These cultures flourished until about 1450 CE in a large area of the Southwestern United States and Northwestern Mexico . The 15th-century Piro population was likely seven thousand people. The Piro's largest town, called San Pascual Pueblo by the Spanish, had 1,500 rooms and a population of about 2,000 people. Some Piros were hospitable to the first Spanish colonists who arrived in 1598. As

176-893: The Piro/Manso/Tiwa Indian Tribe of the Pueblo of San Juan de Guadalupe in Las Cruces, New Mexico as well as in Tortugas Pueblo . Currently, there is a long-term archaeological project at the Piro pueblo of Tzelaqui/Sevilleta north of present-day Socorro. Bletzer, Michael P., 'The First Province of that Kingdom': Notes on the Colonial History of the Piro Area. New Mexico Historical Review 88(4): 437-459 (2013) / Bletzer, Michael P., A House for Fray Alonso: The Search for Pilabo Pueblo and

198-495: The U.S. state of New Mexico , near Mountainair . The main park visitor center is in Mountainair. Construction of the missions began in 1622 and was completed in 1635. Once, thriving Native American trade communities of Tiwa and Tompiro language -speaking Pueblo people inhabited this remote frontier area of central New Mexico. They had an extensive area of pueblo dwellings and related kivas and other structures. Early in

220-628: The 16th century, the Piro lived in the Rio Grande River valley for a distance of about 60 miles (97 km) from north to south in present-day Socorro County . Beyond the narrow ribbon of green along the Rio Grande the surrounding hinterlands are desert. The Piro people, along with several other Pueblo peoples, were probably descendants of the Mogollon culture , the Ancestral Pueblo people , and

242-424: The 17th century Spanish Franciscans believed the area ripe for their missionary efforts. However, by the late 1670s the entire Salinas District, as the Spanish had named it, was depopulated of both Indian and Spaniard. What remains today are austere yet beautiful reminders of this earliest contact between Pueblo Indians and Spanish Colonials: the ruins of three mission churches, at Quarai, Abó, and Gran Quivira, and

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264-469: The First Piro Mission, Nuestra Senora del Socorro. El Palacio 120(3): 34-37 (2015) / Marshall, Michael P., and Henry J. Walt, Rio Abajo: Prehistory and History of a Rio Grande Province (Santa Fe: New Mexico Historic Preservation Division, 1984.) Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument The Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument is a complex of three Spanish missions located in

286-471: The Pueblo Revolt of 1680, the Piro communities had declined so much that the famous rebellion took place without them. Several hundred Piros (and Tiwas) accompanied the fleeing Spaniards south to El Paso del Norte (present-day Ciudad Juárez , Mexico ); others scattered and joined other Pueblo groups. None of the Piro pueblos were ever resettled by the original inhabitants. Today, the Piro people are part of

308-537: The Sevilleta Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Program, conducted by the University of New Mexico . This program has produced a number of studies documenting and characterizing the ecology and microbiota of the refuge. The Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge has some areas set aside for scientific research, and permits to conduct research are available. Limited hunting of doves and waterfowl

330-533: The area to El Paso during the Pueblo Revolt . By this time, the Piro Pueblo, as well as many other Pueblos , were already abandoned due to Spaniard encroachment. After the Piro were gone, the Spanish built a military post called "New Sevilla" on the site. This post became an important stop on El Camino Real and was at various times named "Joya de Sevilleta" and "La Jolla,". The Sevilleta de la Joya Land Grant

352-545: The days of Coronado the name of " Quivira " had been associated with the idea of a great unknown city, of wealth and splendor, situated somewhere on the Eastern Plains; and it is not at all unlikely that when some party from the Rio Grande Valley, in search of game or gold, crossed the mountains and the wilderness lying to the east, and was suddenly amazed by the apparition of a dead city, silent and tenantless, but bearing

374-723: The partially excavated pueblo of Las Humanas or, as it is known today, the Gran Quivira pueblo. The site was first proclaimed Gran Quivira National Monument on November 1, 1909. Administered by the National Park Service, the National Monument for this site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966. On December 19, 1980, the footprint of the site was enlarged to include two New Mexico State Monuments on November 2, 1981. The enlarged site

396-501: The time of the Pueblo Revolt in 1680 the Piro had been decimated by European-introduced diseases and Apache attacks and most of the survivors resettled near El Paso, Texas . The Piro were closely related to the Tompiro who lived to their northeast in the Salinas region of New Mexico. Linguists believe both groups likely spoke Tanoan languages. When the Spanish first encountered them in

418-399: Was established in 1625 by Fray Francisco Fonte. The Gran Quivira Ruins are located about 25 miles south of Mountainair, at about 6500 feet (1981 m) above sea level. There is a small visitor center near the parking lot. A 0.5-mile (0.8 km) trail leads through partially excavated pueblo ruins and the ruins of the uncompleted mission church. The Gran Quivira, as it has been called for over

440-556: Was established in the 11th century on the edge of the existing pueblo culture, and often attracted roaming Nomadic Tribes of the eastern plains. San Gregorio de Abó Mission (located in Mountainair, New Mexico) was one of three Spanish missions constructed in or near the pueblos of central New Mexico. These missions, built in 1600s, are now a part of the Salinas Pueblo National Monument which includes San Gregorio de Abó Mission, Quarai and Gran Quivera. The mission at Abo

462-555: Was given to the people of Sevilleta by the Governor of New Mexico prior to Mexican independence from Spain in 1821. The area passed from Mexican to United States control as a result of the Mexican–American War . Socorro county bought this land in a public sale in 1928, because taxes on land could not be paid by the community that owned the land grant. In 1936, General Thomas Campbell bought this land from Socorro County and used it as

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484-499: Was renamed on October 28, 1988. The Quarai Ruins are located about 8 miles north of Mountainair, at about 6650 feet (2026 m) above sea level. There is a visitor center and a 0.5 mile (0.8 km) trail through the ruins. In a forest, an interpretive sign reads that when Francis Gardes traveled through the area, he heard birds sing a song called "When Explorers Came". Francis Gardes's trail became Francis Garde National Historic Trail, and it passes through Quarai. The Abo Pueblo community

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