These 17th-Century Adobe Churches Hold Secrets of a Lost Native American Trading Empire

Salinas Pueblo Missions, New Mexico

Deep in New Mexico’s high desert, Spanish priests built stone churches among ancient pueblo towns in the 1600s.

The locals farmed corn and traded salt while monks tried to convert souls.

Things got messy fast. Here’s what went down at these forgotten missions, now open for you to explore.

Building a Salt Empire

The name “Salinas” comes from valuable salt deposits that ancient peoples harvested nearby.

The Tompiro people controlled this region long before Spanish arrival. They built nine villages along the eastern edge of the Pueblo world, creating a buffer between farming Pueblo communities and nomadic Plains tribes.

Salt became their economic foundation. Tompiro miners dug this precious mineral from dried lake beds east of their settlements.

The Tompiro Trade Network

These busy traders worked as go-betweens for different groups. They helped exchange goods between Plains hunters, Rio Grande farmers, Pacific Northwest traders, and Mexican merchants.

Gran Quivira, with 2,000 residents, stood as the largest Tompiro settlement. The community hosted huge trade fairs where hundreds gathered in the central plaza to swap goods from across the continent.

First Contact with Spanish Explorers

Antonio de Espejo led the first known Spanish expedition to meet Tompiro communities in 1583. His reports of wealthy villages caught colonial attention.

Spanish settlement began officially in 1598. That year, Santa Fe de Nuevo México became a province of New Spain under Juan de Oñate’s leadership.

Oñate forced Spanish rule through a ceremony called the “Act of Obedience and Vassalage.” This ritual made Pueblo leaders pledge loyalty to the Spanish crown.

Those who fought back faced harsh punishment. Spanish soldiers crushed opposition with brute force, killing those who challenged colonial power.

The Franciscan Mission Strategy

In 1609, the Spanish viceroy ordered officials to “promote the welfare” of Indians while making them easier to control. Franciscan friars, Catholic monks sworn to poverty, took charge of this effort.

Operations ran through the Franciscan base at Santo Domingo Pueblo. From this central spot, friars managed their growing mission network.

The first mission appeared at Chililí in 1613. After setting up this outpost, Franciscans pushed deeper into Tompiro lands.

Early missionaries took a slow approach. At first, they allowed Pueblo people to keep traditional kivas, the underground chambers essential to Pueblo spiritual life.

Building the Quarai Mission

Fray Juan Gutierrez de la Chica began building Quarai mission in 1627. Under his watch, Pueblo workers shaped local red sandstone into massive walls.

The mission, finished in 1632, got the name Nuestra Señora de la Purísima Concepción de Quarai. Its design featured a Latin cross layout stretching 108 feet long and 28 feet wide.

Some walls reached an amazing 10 feet thick at their bases. This solid foundation held up towering walls that still stand today after centuries in the sun and wind.

Inside the friars’ living area, workers built a square kiva. This odd mix shows how Franciscans first included native elements to ease conversion.

The Unique Construction of Abó Mission

The Abó mission spread across 370 acres of land first settled by Pueblo people in the 11th century. This old community grew along the edge between Pueblo farming societies and Plains hunting cultures.

Fray Francisco Fonte started mission construction in 1622. Workers completed the original San Gregorio de Abó church by 1628.

A second missionary, Fray Francisco Acevedo, arrived in 1629. Eleven years later, he began a bold renovation.

Acevedo used a clever building trick. Instead of tearing down the existing church, workers built the new structure around it. This smart approach let church services continue during construction.

Gran Quivira’s Ambitious San Buenaventura

Gran Quivira spans 611 acres, making it the largest mission unit. Digs uncovered Mound 7, a huge 226-room Pueblo structure built between 1275 and 1600.

Mission building began in 1639 under Fray Francisco Letrado. After he left in 1631, Fray Francisco de Acevedo supervised from nearby Abó.

Workers finished the first church, San Isidro, in 1635. It served the community for over twenty years.

In 1659, Fray Diego de Santander arrived and began work on the grand San Buenaventura church. This became the most ambitious building project in the entire Salinas area, but stayed unfinished when drought and raids forced people to leave.

Cultural Conflict and Forced Conversion

By the 1660s, Spanish officials took a harder line on religious conversion. No longer accepting traditional practices, friars demanded Pueblo people abandon their native spiritual beliefs.

The Spanish Inquisition set up its New Mexico headquarters at Quarai. This feared religious court punished those accused of heresy or secretly practicing native religions.

Friction between church leaders and government officials made missionary work harder. While friars focused on conversion, government officials wanted labor and taxes.

Pueblo people found creative ways to resist. Researchers discovered hidden kivas built into walls at Gran Quivira, showing how communities kept traditional practices despite Spanish bans.

Apache Raids and Growing Threats

Spanish demands for work and tribute weakened Pueblo communities. Colonial rulers forced villages to provide workers and pay taxes in crops, textiles, and other goods.

European diseases ravaged populations with no immunity. Smallpox, measles, and other sicknesses swept through communities again and again.

In September 1670, Apache warriors launched a fierce attack on Las Humanas, the Pueblo settlement at Gran Quivira. They destroyed both mission and pueblo buildings.

The attack killed 11 residents and captured 30 people. This raid sped up the community’s decline as environmental challenges grew worse.

Environmental Collapse and Abandonment

A harsh drought began in the late 1660s. Years without enough rain ruined crops across the Salinas Basin, with conditions worsening into the 1670s.

Quarai residents faced multiple problems at once. Drought mixed with political troubles, forcing them to leave their homes during the early 1670s.

Hunger hit Gran Quivira with terrible force. During one especially harsh winter, 480 people died from starvation.

The once-busy region’s population dropped dramatically. By 1672, only 500 people remained from a population that had reached 10,000 at its peak.

Final Exodus from the Salinas Valley

By 1678, people had completely abandoned all Salinas pueblos and missions. Not one Spanish colonist or Pueblo resident stayed in the once-rich district.

Tiwa-speaking survivors from Quarai moved westward. They joined relatives in established villages along the Rio Grande Valley.

Other refugees traveled south. Tompiro-speaking people joined their Piro linguistic relatives in communities beyond the damaged Salinas region.

The pueblos stood empty for over a century. In the early 1800s, settlers briefly returned to Quarai and built new structures, including a defensive tower called a Torreon, but Apache raids soon forced them to leave again.

Visiting Salinas Pueblo Missions

Find Gran Quivira 25 miles south of Mountainair, Quarai 8 miles north, and Abó 9 miles west. Sites remain open daily from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. throughout the year.

Admission to all sites is free. Walking trails with signs let visitors explore these remarkable ruins at their own pace.

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