salinas pueblo

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Nuestra Señora de la Purísima Concepción,
Quarai, Salinas Pueblo Missions National Historic Monument
Mountainair, New Mexico
About 60 miles southeast of Albuquerque, New Mexico, on the east side of the Manzano Mountains is the Salinas Valley, home to many peoples and cultures for hundreds of years. As early as the 10th century, Mogollon and Ancestral Puebloan groups established pueblos in the valley that served as major centers of trade between the people of the Rio Grande region and the Plains Indian tribes. When Spanish exploration of the valley began in the late 16th century, the pueblos of Salinas became home to Spanish Franciscan missionaries and large mission churches. The Pueblo of Quarai contains the best preserved of these churches, Mission Nuestra Señora de la Purísima Concepción de Cuarac. Completed ca.1629, the mission would eventually serve as the ecclesiastical headquarters for the Spanish Inquisition in New Mexico until 1674, when droughts and repeated Apache raids caused the people there to leave, seeking refuge at other settlements.
Today Quarai is a National Historic Landmark within the Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument, with sites featured in this itinerary at Abó and Gran Quivira. The site contains a variety of settlements from A.D. 1250 through the colonial period. The pueblo and mission remains reflect the early period of Pueblo-Spanish interaction, the conflicts between the Spanish church and state, and their overall effects on native culture in the Southwest. Visitors should not miss exploring the impressive structures on a trip through central New Mexico.
Quarai Pueblo
Early Puebloan peoples moved into the Salinas Valley around the A.D. 1200s, and based on artifacts found at the site, began living ...

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...NM. The center is open year-round from 8:00am to 5:00pm except for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day.
Quarai Ruins are located 8 miles north on NM 55 and 1 mile west and free to visit and open daily but hours change seasonally. For more information, visit the National Park Service Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument http://www.nps.gov/sapu/index.htm website or call 505-847-2585.
Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument is featured in the National Park Service American Southwest Travel Itinerary http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/amsw/, Places Reflecting America's Diverse Cultures: Explore their Stories in the National Park System Travel Itinerary http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/cultural_diversity/index.html, and American Latino Heritage Travel Itinerary. http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/american_latino_heritage/Quarai.html
(Spielmann et al. 2009)

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