Gran Quivira, the largest of the Salinas pueblos.
The Spaniards called it Gran Quivira, the largest of the Salinas pueblos, it was occupied for nearly nine centuries, 800 A.D. to 1672 A.D. The Spanish gave this Anasazi village the name of Pueblo de Las Humanas (a thriving pueblo) when Oñate first approached it in 1598 to accept the oath of allegiance to Spain.
New Mexico Route 14, the road to Gran Quivira.
Pueblo de Las Humanas are part of the ruins at Gran Quivira, specifically the buildings constructed before the Europeans arrived. Quivira refers to a mythical city of riches, which the Spaniards hoped to find in the new world. Aside from this pueblo, communities found in Texas and Kansas are also associated with the mythical land Francisco Vásquez de Coronado never found.
Gran Quivira is just one of three sites protected by the National park Service in this area. Within a half-hour’s drive are Abo and Quarai. All three are units of the Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument.
The Gran Quivira unit of the Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument is located south of Mountainair, NM.
Coronado had taken his search for gold, rumored possessed by the Quiviras, almost to present-day Kansas City.
The most striking ruins at Gran Quivira were built after the arrival of Europeans. The San Buenaventura Church was completed in 1636, less than four decades after the natives’ first contact with Spanish explorers in 1598. Missionaries strongly encouraged the locals to abandon their religion and embrace Christianity. They weren’t especially thrilled with changing religions, partially because it was so tightly intertwined with their social structure.
Gran Quivira attracts few visitors compared to other National Parks. It is well worth a side-trip.
The Gran Quivira was an important trade center before and after the Spanish. Inhabitants resisted the Spanish newcomers however borrowed freely from their culture.
Round pits, known as kivas were used for sacred ceremonies and rituals. These kivas were covered with a timber roof, and included a hole to allow smoke to escape, and Native Americans to climb in.
Ruins of the San Buenaventura church at Gran Quivira featured high ceilings (up to 20 feet) and large rooms. The walls were plastered, and there was even a choir loft.
The clash religions weren’t the only problem facing the pueblos. Raids by Apache tribes reduced the population, followed by a drought and famine. European diseases swept through the population. By the 1670′s, with only a few hundred residents remaining, Gran Quivira and the other nearby pueblos were abandoned. In 1680, pueblos north of this area united, and expelled the Spaniards from New Mexico.
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