Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Bandelier National Monument

Bandelier National Monument is located in the Jemez Mountains several miles south of Los Alamos. It is in an area of incredible beauty.

Humans have lived here for 10,000 years. Nomadic hunters lived here originally, but around 1150 BC ancestral pueblo peoples built more permanent homes and settlements. By 1550 the pueblo people had moved on to pueblos along the Rio Grande (Cochiti, San Felipe, San Ildefonso, Santa Clara, Santo Domingo).

In the 1700s Spanish settlers made their homes in the area on Spanish land grants. In In 1880 Jose Montoya of Cochiti Pueblo brought Adolph F. A. Bandelier to Frijoles Canyon, and showed Bandelier his people's ancestral homelands.

In 1916 legislation to create Bandelier National Monument was signed by President Woodrow Wilson. Bandelier is a wonderful place to explore ancient pueblo ruins, both cliff dwellings and a traditional circular vilage.

Here are some pictures of Bandelier National Monument from our visit several weeks ago.
















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