Video
Pecos National Historic Park
Transcript
PECOS NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK PART 3 OF A SERIES LOOKING AT THE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN HUMANS AND NATURE ALONG THE SANTA FE TRAIL
Cori Knudten Research Associate, Colorado State University It’s one thing to talk about the effects of the Santa Fe Trail in the environments that it passed through on the Plains, but then there are also this kind of ripple effect that happened in the environment where the trail ended, for example, in New Mexico. The route of the trail is effected by the typography of the landscape, so that’s one reason the trail goes where it does through Pecos, is because you have Glorieta Pass, which is this low point between the Eastern Plains and then the Rio Grande Valley.
Eric Valencia Park Ranger, Pecos National Historical Park Pecos National Historical Park is kind of a, is a very, very special place in that wagon trains would basically go in the easiest passage that they could find. Now as you neared the Glorieta Pass, these wagon trains began to basically funnel, or began to kind of consolidate into what would be considered a corridor. It’s an easy passage, it stays open all year round, very, very rarely ever gets snowed in for any length of time. Stays at that 7,000 foot elevation. People have been passing through the Pecos area for centuries upon centuries.
Christine Beekman Chief of Interpretation, Pecos National Historical Park The Santa Fe Trail went directly along the Glorieta Creek, and the Pecos ruins were a nice little side shoot, or a side venture, and so when folks would visit Pecos Pueblo in the Santa Fe Trail time they would be leaving the creek bed for only a couple of hours, proximity to water really dictated where each and every one of these historical features are located.
Eric Valencia So we’re here standing here at Pigeon’s Ranch, which is a stage stop and ranch operated by Alexander Valle during the time of the, or the height of the Santa Fe Trail. The proprietor of this particular establishment is trying to capture any and all travelers to go right through the center of his establishment.
Roger Clark Interpretive Park Ranger, Pecos National Historical Park We look around today and we see the forested mesa behind us, and over in the mountains, but back then much of this forest would’ve been cut down. And especially along the Santa Fe Trail because folks, just like today, they wanted to stay warm, they wanted to cook their meals. And so over time, over the 60 years of the Santa Fe Trail there were a lot of people using the resources in this area. This building that we’re at right now was Kozlowski’s Stage Stop and he constructed this upon his arrival out here in 1858 and this became a popular stop on the Santa Fe Trail.
Christine Beekman A project was funded for kochia weed, which is invasive into archeological structures, underground archeological sites. And that in and of itself you’d think of it as a natural resource project, but no, you know, of course, it’s affecting the cultural resource. There are the sites themselves, you know, so I always think of visitors with their guidebook in their hand, they’re looking down looking at the sketch, looking up, looking down, looking up, looking down. But then what are they doing? They’re looking all around. And they’re taking in the cultural landscape and figuring it out based on that. I think that for most visitors it’s just awe inspiring. We’re a small park. So it’s hard, for me, as a cultural resource manager, to put in a project without thinking of the ramifications for natural resources. And more and more they’re asking us at the park level to be thinking about resources in an integrated fashion.
Description
Historic sites follow streambeds: Pigeon's Ranch, Kozlowski's Stage Stop, and the pueblo all took advantage of fresh clean water. What other topographic features made Santa Fe Trail travelers take this path?
Duration
5 minutes, 15 seconds
Credit
Donald J. O'Brien
Date Created
12/19/2011
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