New Mexico
|
The Conservation Fund Feasibility Study and Concept Plan In 1988, a land-protection group called The Conservation Fund (TCF) became interested in the Santa Fe Trail when a TCF representative began serving on the Santa Fe National Historic Trail Advisory Council. Two years later, TCF purchased two important trail sites, both located between Santa Fe, New Mexico and Rowe, New Mexico. One was a 10-acre tract that includes Pigeon's Ranch, which was a core site for Glorieta Battlefield, fought in March 1862. The other was the 5,560-acre Forked Lightning Ranch, purchased in partnership with the Richard King Mellon Foundation. (Both of these parcels were later incorporated into Pecos National Historical Park.) TCF then obtained funds from the NPS, the U.S. Forest Service, and various local individuals and foundations — and laid out a vision for a protected, multi-route New Santa Fe Trail greenway in this corridor that would enhance local recreational opportunities while protecting the area's natural and cultural resources. The Conservation Fund, Feasibility Study and Concept Plan, the New Santa Fe Trail, (Arlington, VA), January 1992 (9 MB pdf) Click on map below to enlarge. 
The Conservation Fund study trail corridors and access points
History and Archaeology of the Fort Marcy Earthworks Beginning in the early 1990s, the city of Santa Fe helped undertake a multi-phase project to document the history of Fort Marcy and to guide site management and public interpretation. Project work began with the identification and review of published and other written sources of information about the fort. This was followed by a preliminary archeological testing in 1994, followed by limited archeological excavation the following year. Work on a description of the site's historical context also took place in 1995. The 1995 investigations were supported, in part, by the National Park Service, which had certified the site in mid-April of that year. This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the natural and cultural history of the Fort Marcy site, and it includes findings from various specialized reports that had been completed about the site during the life of this project. Mary June-el Piper, ed., The History and Archaeology of the Historic Fort Marcy Earthworks, Santa Fe, New Mexico, (Santa Fe, City of Santa Fe Planning and Land Use Department), 1996 (28 MB pdf). Click on photo to enlarge. 
Fort Marcy ruins 1912. By the time this photo was taken in 1912, the old fort walls had become low mounds.
Courtesy of the Palace of the Governors (MNM/DCA)
Historical and Archaeological Investigations at Fort Marcy As noted in an adjacent report (Piper, 1996), the city of Santa Fe oversaw a multi-year project during the early- to mid-1990s that focused on the history and archeology of Fort Marcy, located on a hill just northeast of the Santa Fe Plaza. The project was funded by the NPS as well as by state and municipal entities. The historical and archeological effort took place by consulting company representatives who were assisted by personnel from the NPS, state, and federal agencies between March and October 1995. This report is a summary of the year’s investigations. Cordelia Thomas Snow and David Kammer, Not Occupied ... Since the Peace: the 1995 Archaeological and Historical Investigations at Historic Fort Marcy, Santa Fe, New Mexico, December 6, 1995 Click on map below to enlarge. 
Location of tested sites at historic Fort Marcy
Fort Marcy study: Lithic assemblage from Trench A, the banquette/platform. See the study document to view assemblage tables for Trench B, Trench C, and Test Pit D. Top of Page |
Colorado Research
Trailwide Research
Cooperative Research
Did You Know?
Trade on the historic Santa Fe Trail was a complex web of international business, social ties, tariffs, and laws. Merchants in Missouri and New Mexico had extended connections to New York, London, and Paris!