n e w a cq u i s i t i o n
One of the Largest Prehistoric Pueblos in the Galisteo Basin Preserved
MARK MICHEL
Pueblo played an important role in New Mexico’s history.
These standing sandstone masonry walls are found at Las Madres Pueblo. Las Madres, a 14th-century pueblo, is part of the Galisteo Pueblo preserve.
W
hile thousands of people were leaving Chaco Canyon, the San Juan Basin, and Mesa Verde in the greater Four Corners area during the late 12th and 13th centuries, the Galisteo Basin in central New Mexico witnessed the establishment of farming communities. By the beginning of the 14th century, the scattered Galisteo Basin communities coalesced to form eight extremely large pueblos. Galisteo Pueblo is one of these that survived into the Spanish Colonial period, occupied by people the Spanish referred to as Tanos and who are now known as the Southern Tewa. The pueblo’s landowners, prompted by their concern for the site’s long-term preservation and their desire to have research conducted there, recently donated a preservation 44
easement containing the 62-acre site to the Conservancy. “We are thrilled that we have been able to work with the landowners to permanently protect this site, which is one of the most important in the Southwest,” said Mark Michel, the president of the Conservancy. Galisteo Pueblo, located on the bank of Galisteo Creek, contains an estimated 1,580 ground-floor rooms in 25 adobe roomblocks, and an undetermined number of kivas and plaza areas. Six prominent roomblocks containing about 570 rooms are thought to be the remnants of the site’s historic period dwellings. Early Spanish documents frequently mention Galisteo Pueblo, sometimes referring to it as the Pueblo Ximena visited by Coronado in 1540. Don Juan de Oñate, summer • 2003
