Salinas Pueblo Missions...and a tarantula..and lots of petroglyphs

The Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument is actually 3 different sites of Spanish missions. The missions were constructed between 1622 and 1635. Native American communities of Tina and Tompiro language-speaking Puebloans inhabited this area and then the 17th century Franciscans came along, bringing Catholicism with them. Between general discord and drought, all 3 of the missions failed and were abandoned by their inhabitants by the late 1670's. What remains...is what you see below. One of the sites has been particularly well preserved, thanks to a local farming family that recognized the historical value in the ruins.





In case you were wondering, what creatures live in the desert....this was the tarantula that Gavin saved me from stepping on. It was early. I neeeded more coffee, clearly. He's not small.



Petroglyphs ..lots of them. Three Rivers Petroglyphs site..south of Carrizozo. Go there for more petroglyphs than you can poke a stick at. No joke. I leave you with Seahawks petroglyph.  


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