Outdoors by Rick Best

Casamero Pueblo

The ancient pueblo legacy of the southwest draws in multitudes of visitors every year. For many, the abandoned cities and ruined villages of long ago are a source of intrigue and fascination. Interest in the subject can approach obsession, with different camps of archaeologists, anthropologists, and researchers arguing constantly about the various theories concerning the rise, demise, and movement of the ancient people. Nearby pueblos carry on traditions that date back to the times when the now empty cities thrived, demonstrating the continuum of pueblo civilization from antiquity to the present.

Visitors to the area ask about visiting cliff dwellings and ruins, so we often send them to the closest easily visited site. Any car can make the short journey to Prewitt, and then north on County Road 19. It’s a small village in a dramatic setting, where the fading walls of the old town recline next to red Entrada sandstone cliffs that feature sculpted arches. These arches have a semblance to the eyes of owls, thus the name “Ojos de Tecolote” mesa, or “owl’s eyes” mesa. Nestled on the slope below these cliffs on a 160 acre parcel of BLM land are the walls and roomblocks of an ancient town that archaeologists call Casamero Pueblo.

Like most open country sites, this one has suffered at the hands of the elements. The past few centuries of snow and weather have buckled in the roofs, and caused the walls to slump and collapse in many places. Still, there’s plenty left. Wall remnants show the extent of the old village; at one time, two kivas, and perhaps a couple of dozen rooms made up the complex. The masonry is well done; the banded stonework is of particular interest because it puts the village in the realm of the Chacoan outlier.

Just the name “chaco” is enough to get some archaeology fans excited. The massive and numerous structures that make up Chaco’s legacy are among the most impressive works of humanity in the Southwest. What all those walls and structures mean is another story altogether, one laced with drama and arguments, and a tale that has no tidy resolution.

The rise and fall of civilizations and cultures has always intrigued me. It’s a subject many researchers have pondered, especially concerning the many great cultures of the Americas including pueblo culture. In earlier, more eurocentric times, many anthropologists were convinced that the reason for the decline of the great mesoamerican cultures was the “inferior” nature of the people involved. Such academics based their conclusions in large part on the then-prevalent idea that European Man was the highest development of the human race, and thus immune to the disasters and failures that routinely plagued lesser versions of humanity when they undertook great ventures. The sinking of the Titanic in 1912 and the “great war” of 1914-1918 did much to discredit this idea.

More recent research has involved studying the factors beyond the obvious archaeology and human related issues. Climate in the Americas, especially in desert locales, has become a subject of great interest. Many in the southwest see our fate paralleling the rise and fall of the ancient pueblos. If it happened to them, it could happen to us. The study of tree rings has opened a window into the climate history of the southwest, and the picture is unsettling. Some researchers have concluded that the past 500 years in the Americas have been unusually mild, and the future will bring a climate that is more varied, with more flooding and drought, more severe winters, harsher storms, and other extreme weather conditions.

All the world’s great civilizations and empires have been based on highly developed agriculture. However, the conditions required by agriculture are narrow. Any warming or cooling at the wrong time, any change in rainfall amounts or timing, could spell disaster for harvests. The Eurasian land mass has enjoyed a level of climate stability that allowed the great empires to prosper for many centuries. Some conclude that this is due to the great size of the land mass, which acts as a moderating force on storms and weather. By comparison, North and South America are relatively small, and heavily affected by the powerful Pacific Ocean, which is often anything but peaceful. Some climatologists have concluded that a major reason for the rise and fall of the various classical empires and civilizations of the Americas is the more extreme climatic oscillations experienced by North and South America.

Paradoxically, large complex empires are much more fragile in such a situation. Small migratory bands of hunter-gatherers can easily adapt to changes in the environment due to climate, but large cities teeming with people demand regular and plentiful harvests. Despite their technological and agricultural sophistication, well developed cultures in the Americas were often unable to survive the frequent climate extremes of the Americas, and thus routinely broke down into smaller, more manageable groups to await the return of more favorable weather patterns.

Wandering the now quiet roomblocks, it’s easy to imagine the town with people and activity, much like Acoma Pueblo on feast day. I always think of what it must have been like on the last day, when the people hefted their packs, and walked away from what had been their home. It’s possible that some pueblo people alive today are descendants of those who once lived in this town. I find that the most satisfying element of the pueblo legacy: they are still among us today. These walls and rooms aren’t just a disconnected bit of detritus from a “vanished people”, but instead serve as the heritage of villages and nations that thrive today and carry on ancient stories and habits among us.

Casamero Pueblo is only 25 minutes west of Grants.  For directions and information on Casamero Pueblo, visit the NW New Mexico Visitor Center located south of I-40 at Exit 85.