7-30-2018 Bloomfield, NM

Often, we choose to travel the small back roads rather than the freeways and in this case, leaving Santa Fe, we wound up in Bloomfield in the NW corner of New Mexico.  It is always a more scenic drive and the mountains and red rock formations make New Mexico a beautiful state.  Steep and dippy, Bee struggled, but beautiful.

There have been human inhabitants here for thousands of years.  The tribes were farmers, hunters and gatherers living near the San Juan River for survival.  Relics of their existence have been found, spear tips, pottery and the like.  The area was abandoned mysteriously and it is supposed that drought was the reason.  In the 1700s and 1800s, Indian Tribes, the Spanish and Mexicans occupied the area and expeditions passed through trying to find routes to California.  In 1956, a project was initiated to dam the San Juan River.  Over 6 years, an earthen dam was constructed more than 400 feet tall and ¾ mile long.  The reservoir behind the Navajo Dam began to fill and again, two small towns were obliterated, Rosa and Los Arboles.  But the reservoir was a blessing.  At last, controlled irrigation and thriving agriculture became possible and electricity from hydroelectric power became available far and wide.  The reservoir, with a surface area of more than 15,000 acres, is now a recreational area for humans as well as a winter habitat for such species as bald eagles.

Earthen Navajo Dam

Navajo Lake

You can drive on dam.  This is the view
of the San Juan River on the downside.

As I said, agriculture was a big benefactor of the dam and the grapevines are doing very well at the Wines of the San Juan Winery.  After touring the dam, a stop at their tasting room was obvious.  It has a pretty seating area on an outdoor patio paved with flagstone, with tables, big stuffed chairs and a gazebo.  Marcia, who poured the sips of wine, hails from Colby, WI and her son-in law is from Wausau.  We narrowed our selection down and came away with a few very nice bottles of wine.  What a treat!

Lindy, Marcia and Roberto

Gazebo at Wines of the San Juan Winery

There are a number of ruins in this area that date back several thousand years.  Some have been excavated to a degree and what are known as pot hunters (collectors of valuable relics aka looters) have defaced and damaged the ancient architects’ and artisans’ work.  In the mid-1800s, George Salmon (The “L” is pronounced.) moved to this area from Indiana.  He homesteaded the land adjacent to the ruins of the pueblo constructed by the Chaco (aka Anasazi) tribe and later occupied by the Mesa Verde tribe.  George and his son, Peter, protected the ruins from the ravages of the looters so that today, we can tour the Salmon Ruins.

George Salmon's homestead from
the mid-1800s

Rob at the Salmon Ruins

Ladel found at the Aztec Ruins

We were curious about the Aztec Ruins, thinking (wrongly) that the Aztecs of Mexico had migrated up this far.  We learned that the humans were not Aztecs, they were ancestral Pueblo people.  It is called Aztec Ruins because the town nearby is Aztec, NM.  It took the tribe 30 years to build this expansive pueblo.  They hauled rocks from 3 miles away and monstrous ponderosa logs for the roof beams from 50 miles away, one at a time.  The area of the village is more than 300 acres and much of it has not been excavated.  The feds took over this land and it is now a National Monument and their reasoning is twofold.  First, the walls of the structures begin to tumble once the support of the earth that covers them has been removed.  But more importantly, there are many graves beneath and disturbing or excavating them seems a violation of the final spiritual resting place of the tribesmen.  Today’s Pueblo people consider any further excavation to be a sacrilege.  And so we explored what we could.  In the large house there are more than 500 rooms that are 3 stories tall.  Roof beams and the cross-members are still intact, made of timbers that are centuries old.  This main building was not occupied, it is thought.  It was used for storage and burials.  There are as many as 10 kivas, what I would call chapels, circular structures where political and religious ceremonies were held.  The Pueblo people occupied the village for about 200 years and then mysteriously vanished leaving the village completely intact.  The Pueblos of today think that the people moved on because it was their spiritual destiny:  “To leave a footprint.”  My theory:  They said, “It’s hotter than Hell, here.  This sucks.  Let’s go find a Hyatt with a pool.”

Lots of kivas

Lindy standing before  kiva.  Behind
me are 3-story walls.