Pecos National Historical Park

Pecos National Historical Park has something for everyone. The main unit preserves the ruins of Pecos Pueblo (Cicuye Pueblo) and the Mission Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles de Porciúncula de los Pecos, a Spanish Mission which served the Pueblo. The Monument also contains an old stage station (Kozlowski's Stage Stop and Tavern), part of the Forked Lightning Ranch, and a Civil War battlefield (Glorietta Pass).

I visited Pecos National Historical Park in 2000 when I was still shooting slide film, and again in 2014 and 2021 after I had switched to digital photography. I've included a few side by side subjects from both trips.

Park Entrance

Park Sign - South Entrance

Park Sign - North Entrance

Visitor Center and Museum

E.E. Fogelson Visitor Center
(film slide 2000)

E.E. Fogelson Visitor Center
(digital photo 2014)

E.E. Fogelson Visitor Center
(digital photo 2021)

Visitor Center Museum

Biscuit Ware vessel

Museum Exhibits

Colonial Spanish Implements

Civil War Ames Model 1840 Cavalry Saber with Scabbard

Books in the Gift Shop

Pecos Pueblo and Mission Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles de Porciúncula de los Pecos

Cicuye Village (aka Pecos Pueblo) had a population of around 2000 at its zenith. It was constructed in a rectangle with a high perimeter walls. Pecos Pueblo was a major trading cneter between Puebloan and Plains Indians.
The Spanish arrived at the turn of the 17th century and established a mission at Pecos Pueblo named "La Mission de Nuestra Senora de Los Angeles de Porciúncula de los Pecos." The mission consisted of a large church and convento (monastery), the ruins of which are now protccted within the boundries of Pecos National Historical Park.

Santa Fe Mountains

Mission Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles de Porciúncula de los Pecos mission church (2000)

Mission Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles de Porciúncula de los Pecos mission church (2014)

Mission church detail

Mission Church (film slide 2000)

Mission Church (digital photo 2104)

Piñon Pine

Pueblo Ruins (film slide 2000)

Pueblo Ruins (digital photo 2014)

Kiva Entrance

Kiva Interior

View along Ruins Trail

Ramada with a View

Excavated Kiva

Mission and Pueblo Ruins

Portions of the Convento

Mission Ruins

Church Interior

Mission Ruins

Kozlowski's Stage Stop and Tavern and Forked Lightning Ranch

In 1858 Martin Kozlowski purchased 600 acres of land and built his trading post and way station along the Santa Fe trail 2 miles south of Pecos Pueblo, adding on to an existing building dating from 1810. Tex Austin purchased Kozlowski's Trading Post and additional land in 1925, and created the Forked Lightning Ranch as an upscale dude ranch and resort. The Forked Lightning Ranch was purchased by Col. Elijah Edwin "Buddy" Fogelson in 1941, who expanded it to 18,000 acres. Fogelson married Hollywood actress Greer Garson in 1949, and they lived at the ranch and raised Santa Gertrudis cattle. Greer Garson Fogelson inherited much of the ranch after Buddy's death in 1987, a portion of which she sold to The Conservation Fund in 1991. The Conservation Fund donated the land to the federal government and it became part of Pecos National Historical Park. Actress Jane Fonda bought the remainder of the ranch in 2000, and sold it in 2015.

The Trading Post was closed for renovation when I was there in Sept 2021, with plans to open it in late 2021 or 2022.

Forked Lightning Ranch

Kozlowski's Stage Stop

Trading Post

Courtyard Entrance

Trading Post

Ranch Barn

Bonus - Pecos, New Mexico

The village of Pecos is located about a mile north of Pecos National Historical Park on NM 63. I would guess its population is on the plus side of a thousand. Pecos is situated along the Pecos River, and near both Carson and Santa Fe National Forests. This makes it a good base camp for both hunting and fishing. There is also plenty of hiking and camping in the Pecos Wilderness. I have to confess the only parts of Pecos I saw were along NM 63.

Intersection of NM 63, NM 50, and NM 223

Stuff for Sale

Wall Mural

U.S. Post Office Pecos, NM 87552

Source material: Wikipedia, National Park Service brochures and on-line sources, legendsofamerica.com, desertusa.com
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