Along the Geronimo Creek: Glorieta Pass and Pecos National Historical Park

Wow! We have traveled Interstate 25 many times, not realizing so much interesting history lay just a mile off the highway. We had seen the signs for Glorieta and for Pecos but never gave them a second thought until today. What we learned ... Glorieta Pass was used for thousands of years when early Americans were passing through the Sangre de Christo mountains. The first settlements in the immediate area were small pit houses that were built by the people that preceded Pueblo culture. This was followed by permanent small family pueblos that were scattered throughout the area. As agriculture became a main stay of their lives, they joined together and formed larger pueblos like the Pecos Pueblo that we visited. Pecos Pueblo was one of the largest pueblos in the region and the construction began around 1100 A.D and continued right up to Spanish times. Spanish missionaries came to Pecos pueblo about 1600 and had the natives construct the first of two churches at the pueblo. In 1821, the Santa Fe trail was established through Glorieta Pass. By that time, it seems the last few survivors of the Pecos Pueblo were gone and so were the missionaries. In 1862, there was a Civil War battle at Glorieta Pass between Confederate army of Texans and the Union army comprised of Union regulars and New Mexico and Colorado volunteers. The Confederate army was planning to take the gold fields of Colorado and move on to take Neveda and eventually establish a port in California in order to break the Union blockade of the South. This battle is often referred to as the "Gettysburg of the West". This battle was not a decisive defeat for the Confederates but they were forced to retreat back to Texas and not return. In 1936. the United States highway system was developing and Route 66 from Chicago to Santa Monica, California chose Glorieta Pass as their route through the Sangre de Christo mountains. To sum it up, Glorieta Pass has seen thousands of years of travelers and you can just feel the history and the ghosts of the pass as you drive through the pass today.