Last updated: May 13, 2024
Place
Zaguan (main entrance)
NPS Photo
Quick Facts
Amenities
2 listed
Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits, Tactile Exhibit
This feature consists of two sets of double doors and a formal entrance into the interior of the fort. Typical of New Mexican styled gates, this area is often referred to by its Spanish name of "zaguan." The construction of a watchtower above probably necessitated reinforcement of the zaguan around or after 1845. Archeologists found evidence of earth disturbance here, perhaps a sign of alterations to post jambs and supports.
Archeologist Jackson Moore suggests that the zaguan was 7.5 ft. wide. Given that the gate was too narrow for wagon traffic, no wheel ruts were uncovered here. It is believed that by the 1860s the Barlow and Sanderson stagecoach company had blocked this gate off, preferring instead an entrance in the east wall.
Eyewitness accounts of the north gate refer to it as "huge," "massive," and "immense." George Bent recalled that "Sheet iron was nailed over these doors...." There is also evidence of a second set of doors. This feature would provide added security, and may have been in response to the unpredictable nature of Indian trading, a profession fraught with distrust. By closing off the inner gate, a limited trade could still be carried on through a small window to the native trade room, but without the risks that a open plaza might afford.
Archeologist Jackson Moore suggests that the zaguan was 7.5 ft. wide. Given that the gate was too narrow for wagon traffic, no wheel ruts were uncovered here. It is believed that by the 1860s the Barlow and Sanderson stagecoach company had blocked this gate off, preferring instead an entrance in the east wall.
Eyewitness accounts of the north gate refer to it as "huge," "massive," and "immense." George Bent recalled that "Sheet iron was nailed over these doors...." There is also evidence of a second set of doors. This feature would provide added security, and may have been in response to the unpredictable nature of Indian trading, a profession fraught with distrust. By closing off the inner gate, a limited trade could still be carried on through a small window to the native trade room, but without the risks that a open plaza might afford.