SALINAS "In the Midst of a Loneliness": The Architectural History of the Salinas Missions

STABILIZATION OF GRAN QUIVIRA (continued)

House A

House A is Mound 10 in the original numbering system. In 1923 through 1931, rooms 1 through 9 in mounds 10 and 11, using Toulouse's numbering system, were excavated. [56] Toulouse stabilized rooms 1 and 3 through 8 in 1942. [57] Gordon Vivian excavated most of mound 10 in March and April, 1951. Rooms 1 and 2 of Toulouse's system became rooms 31 and 23, respectively, in Vivian's new numbering system. In May, after the rooms were emptied of fill, Vivian capped the walls by removing the upper three courses of stone and resetting them in concrete. The original mortar was a mud made from the local highly organic topsoil, and had washed out wherever the walls had been exposed to the weather. The wall faces were repointed in soil mortar. Vivian predicted that in 10-15 years the walls of House A would need major stabilization work. [58]

The Stabilization of Mound 7

In 1965 Alden Hayes began the excavation of mound 7. He and his crew completed the work in 1968. The excavations left exposed all of the sixteenth and seventeenth-century walls of the pueblo, as well as some earlier structures beneath these walls for interpretive purposes. The opening up of mound 7 doubled the maintenance load for Gran Quivira. The Park Service realized that all the exposed walls had to be maintained, including 30 to 40 porch rooms fronting the plaza east of mound 7, and several kivas. [59]

The Stabilization of Gran Quivira After 1970

In 1971 the National Park service prepared for the stabilization of all the ruins of Gran Quivira. These estimates covered the period from fiscal year 1973 to FY 1977. [60] Richert stated that the church and convento had not been stabilized since 1962.

The Stabilization of 1976

The first stabilization of the ruins since 1962 began in June, 1976, and continued through December. [61] The stabilization crew decided to use caliche clay mortar rather than portland cement mortar. At first they used pure caliche, but found that it would crack as it dried and flake out of the joints. The next attempt tried five parts caliche and one part sand, but the mixture had the same problems. Finally, a mixture of five parts caliche and two parts ashy soil from pueblo middens was found to work. The stabilization crew pointed and capped the convento rooms, church, sacristy and baptistry of San Buenaventura. They pointed the walls of the pueblo rooms of mound 7; graded the floors; repaired kivas E, F, and K; and pointed and reset the walls of mound 15. The supervisor remarked in his report that because of the weakness of the mortar, repointing might be needed as often as every year.

The Stabilization of 1978

C. H. Fulfer directed the stabilization in 1978. [62] Using a mortar mix of three parts caliche clay, one part ashy dirt, and one part calcium aluminate, making a 3-1-1 mortar, he trained his crew by pointing the western rooms of mound 15, excavated by Hewett in 1923-27. Once the crew was proficient, they stabilized the northeastern area of mound 7. Most of the repair work was not extensive--the crew filled cracks and loose joints, replaced fallen stone, and recapped the walls where needed. Around mound 7 they pointed six kivas. In San Buenaventura, they repointed the base of the walls in the nave. The south interior wall of the nave was repointed to a height of about five feet. South of the church, the crew repointed the sacristy, hall, rooms 1, 7, 8, 16, the outside of the west wall of the patio and the north wall of the second courtyard east of the steps.

The Stabilization of 1979

This stabilization used the same mix of 3-1-1. The crew pointed the walls on the east side of mound 7, facing the plaza, and the fourteen rooms on the west side of mound 15. Kivas J and K were repaired. In addition to repointing, they repaired the capping and regraded the floors. As part of the stabilization, the supervisor inspected the northeastern area of mound 7, stabilized in 1978 year, and found that no work was needed in this area. The crew did some pointing and a fair amount of capping in San Buenaventura, but most of the walls were in acceptable condition. House A was inspected and rooms 1, 3, 6, and the north wall of the northeast porch repaired and pointed. [63]

The Stabilization of 1980

Using the same 3-1-1 mortar mixture, the 1980 stabilization crew spent most of their time on repointing. In mound 7 only six rooms needed extensive work. Five others received some stone replacement and repointing. In San Buenaventura, the east wall of the nave and baptistry, the lower south wall of the nave, the south transept, and the sacristy were repointed. In the convento, rooms 7 and 8 in the corral and 5 and 6 in the friary were repointed. The upper walls of room 15 and the south end of the sacristy were capped. [64]

The Stabilization of 1981

The 1981 season continued the use of the 3-1-1 mortar mixture. Most of the work of the season was concerned with San Buenaventura. In front of the porteria, the crew covered the flagstone area with dirt. The crew pointed the entire east exterior of the mission, from the baptistry on the north to the end of the second courtyard on the south. On the interior, they pointed rooms 12, 11, 10, 13, 14, 15, 16, 1, and the sacristy. The interior of the church was in good shape and no work was needed. In the rest of the pueblo, some repointing work was done in the rooms of mounds 13, 14, 15, 16, and 18. House A needed little work, but the kivas received some pointing. San Isidro received capping on its walls and some pointing. [65]