Near Dolores in Montezuma County, Colorado — The American Mountains (Southwest)
Piñon
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 17, 2025
1. Piñon Marker
The piñon pine is the smallest member of the pine family and requires the least amount of moisture. Although the nut crop is unpredictable, the piñon has always been a “grocery tree” to people of the southwest. It provides food, medicine and building material.
Piñon nuts are gathered in the fall, then roasted or eaten raw. Hispanic people used heated piñon pitch (trementina) to remove splinters or thorns. The needles are steeped in a tea for use as a mild diuretic.
—Debra Reuben, clinical herbalist
Erected by The Colorado Historical Society, the Bureau of Land Management, the Family of Nellie Mulnix Joy and the Frankston Family.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Anthropology & Archaeology • Hispanic Americans • Indigenous Peoples and Communities • Science & Medicine.
Location. 37° 28.7′ N, 108° 32.788′ W. Marker is near Dolores, Colorado, in Montezuma County. It can be reached from State Highway 184 at milepost 7, on the right when traveling west. The marker is on the Escalante Pueblo Trail at the Canyons of the Ancients
this page online
Regionally, this marker is in the American Mountain West, in Colorado Plateau, and at the Four Corners. Globally, it is in North America, the Rocky Mountains, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once Mexico’s Alta California.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Prickly Pear Cactus (within shouting distance of this marker); Big Sagebrush (within shouting distance of this marker); Wildlife or Relatives? (within shouting distance of this marker); Juniper (within shouting distance of this marker); Dolores / McPhee Reservoir (within shouting distance of this marker); Big Bend & McPhee (within shouting distance of this marker); Farmland... Now & Then (within shouting distance of this marker); Rabbitbrush (within shouting distance of this marker). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Dolores.
Also see . . . Pinyon or Piñón Pine (Wikipedia).
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 17, 2025
2. Piñon Marker
Excerpt: The pinyon or piñón pine group grows in southwestern North America, especially in New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, and Utah. The trees yield edible nuts, which are a staple food of Native Americans, and widely eaten as a snack and as an ingredient in New Mexican cuisine. Harvesting techniques of the prehistoric American Indians are still used today to collect the piñón seeds for personal use or for commercialization. The seeds are an important food for American Indians living in the mountains of the North American Southwest. All species of pine produce edible seeds, but in North America only piñón produces seeds large enough to be a major source of food. The piñón has likely been a source of food since the arrival of Homo sapiens in the Great Basin and American Southwest.(Submitted on December 23, 2025, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 17, 2025
3. Piñon
Credits. This page was last revised on December 23, 2025. It was originally submitted on December 21, 2025, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 42 times since then and 17 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on December 23, 2025, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.
