Atsinna, which means where pictures are on the rock, was occupied from roughly 1275 to 1400 by ancestors of today’s Zuni people. Eighteen rooms were excavated in 1954, 1955, and 1961. Today, however, the focus at El Morro has shifted from . . . — — Map (db m163205) HM
Until it was by-passed by the railroad in the
1880’s, its waterhole made El Morro an
important stop for travelers in the Acoma-
Zuni region. Numerous inscriptions carved
in the sandstone date from the prehistoric,
Spanish, Mexican, and . . . — — Map (db m14129) HM
Also known as squawbush, this aromatic shrub is a member of the same plant family that includes poison ivy, cashews, pistachios, and mangos. The stems of this plant have been used by Native Americans for many years in basketmaking, while the tart . . . — — Map (db m163237) HM
Matilda Coxe Stevenson was the first female anthropologist to study the Native Americans of New Mexico. Her research focused on the religious practices of indigenous peoples, particularly of the Zuni, and on the lives of native women and children. . . . — — Map (db m163186) HM
Living and working at El Morro in the early 1900s was an adventure in itself. The duty station was remote, the dirt roads leading in and out were often impassible during wet weather, and a lack of running water or electricity made living conditions . . . — — Map (db m163200) HM
Before the days of interstates and automobiles, a journey from Albuquerque to Zuni (about 150 miles) typically took 9 or 10 days. Imagine the relief travelers must have felt when they reached this shady little oasis after walking or riding a horse . . . — — Map (db m163216) HM
The inscriptions and petroglyphs at El Morro are an important link to the past. Although they are very old, they will not be here forever. Sand grains are washed away, rocks crumble and fall, and lichens and clay deposits cover the historic . . . — — Map (db m163201) HM
From the early Puebloan people who built their homes atop this rock, to the many explorers and adventurers who carved their names, to modern visitors who travel here looking for the evidence of those who came before, El Morro reflects the history of . . . — — Map (db m163199) HM
Carved into the soft sandstone cuesta before you is a lingering history of the American Southwest. The names of the celebrated, the infamous, the legendary, and the unknown are immortalized side by side where they would otherwise be separated by . . . — — Map (db m163198) HM