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On the Trail of Coronado |
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Taos and Taos Pueblo |
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Traveling is a series of "hurry ups and waits". My
sister and I hurried to the airport where we waited and waited. We
patiently stood in a long line to get on the plane. We sat and waited
while the plane flew hundreds of miles. We landed in Chicago and
rushed to get off the plane. We ran to catch the next plane.
We just made it to the plane as the passengers were boarding. Once
on the plane we waited and waited with more miles disappearing
under the wings of the airplane. We were both tired when we arrived
in Denver, CO almost seven hours later. The drive from Denver to Taos is about 5 1/2 hours. It is not a 'bad' drive but it is not an interesting drive until you get closer to New Mexico and off the superhighway. The landscape is VERY different from around here. It is high desert with snow capped mountains in the background. Sage brush (tumbleweed) is every place. This was NOT the case hundreds of years ago. Domesticated grazing animals (mostly cattle and sheep) have destroyed the native grasses of the region which has been replaced by hardy sagebrush. Not many lawns or pastures were green with grass. The houses/ranches are spread out and towns are far apart. My sister and I got a chuckle out of a huge billboard that advertised 20 acres available for $9,999. $9,999 might buy you 1/20th of an acre in New England! As we drove into the Sangre de Cristo mountains, our ears 'popped' and the road got curvy as it climbed. The rain clouds that had been behind us, caught up and spit hard frozen rain drops at us. We drove through forest BUT the trees looked different. They are not as tall as the huge white pines of New England. You see aspen, Douglas fir, spruce and ponderosa pines. Beside the rivers, you see cottonwood and willows. |
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Driving into Taos.
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Taos is a small city with no
major multi lane highways. Traffic in the center is bumper to bumper
most hours of the day. Road construction was also a problem with a
major one ripped up. Because of the construction, finding our hotel was
a bit difficult. Our directions used the road we couldn't go down! |
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Our hotel |
| To say that my sister and I awoke at 'dawn's early light' is a small understatement. Actually, we awoke WELL before dawn. The two hour time difference was NOT understood by our bodies. At 4am, we were both wide awake and ready to go. Breakfast at the hotel was NOT until 8:15 AM. After the sun finally rose, we walked around the gardens and enjoy the sunny day until breakfast time. |
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Rio Grande Gorge |
| One of the first things that we did was to go out to the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge. The plain surrounding the gorge is very flat AND you can't see the gorge until you are almost on top of it! The bridge is the second highest bridge on an US Highway. Walking on the bridge is a challenge since it vibrates and sways with vehicles speeding over it. You have to go out to the middle of the bridge to see all the way down into the gorge bottom and the greeny, brown water. I thought the Rio Grande was going to be MUCH bigger. The drought the last four years has taken its' toll on the river. |
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| Next on our agenda was the Millicent Rogers Museum which houses one of the best collections of Native American pottery, jewelry and textiles in the World. To find out more on this museum click on Millicent Rogers Museum. Enjoy these picture. |
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Millicent Rogers' outfit |
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A frog pot |
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A Death Cart |
| OPPS, almost forgot to tell you about the 'death cart'! These carts (with carved skeletons) were drawn through the countryside to small villages by members of the Penitente sect during Holy Week. It was to remind people of their mortality and the fact that we ALL die. I had never seen or heard of this before visiting the museum. |
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View of pueblo from the entrance side
of the river |
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The Taos Pueblo was the first pueblos we visited. Before arriving, my sister and I had spent
time reading about the Taos Pueblo. For example, we knew that we had
to purchase a 'camera pass' to bring our cameras into the pueblo.
We would have to ask people IF we could take their pictures and they might
charge a fee to do this. ABOVE all, you do not walk in the
cemetery grounds. We were lucky enough to arrive just as a tour was ready to leave from the church. Our Native American tour guide told many interesting stories about the history of the Taos Pueblo. The pueblo was built between 1000 and 1450 and has not changed much over the centuries. The pueblo used to be surround by a wall that ranged from three to six feet in height. The wall would have been around the pueblo when Coronado's men came to Taos. The Rio Pueblo de Taos river goes through the center of the pueblo and is used for drinking water. There is no electricity in the pueblo. About 100 people live in the pueblo full time. Next to cemetery are the ruins of the former church that was destroyed in 1847 by Americans in 'revenge for the supposed murder of Governor Bent by Native Americans (never proved). Over a hundred Native American women and children burned to death in the church that they had retreated to for safety. This horrible story was not the last one we would hear during our visit to New Mexico. After the tour, we spent time in the many shops. We bought some fresh prune pie that had been baked in the 'hornos' (domed ovens) that you see outside many of the adobe homes. We had to leave early (3pm) because the pueblo was being closed to outsiders for a special religious ceremony. This was a 'good' thing since other than the small piece of prune pie, we had not eaten since breakfast. We were very hungry! We had dinner outside at an excellent Mexican restaurant. Great ending to an exciting day. |
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The Church of San Geronimo |
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One of the many shops with 'hornos' outside |
| Read what Coronado's men thought of the Taos Pueblo. |
