Dan Flores

Long before Europeans came here, other humans hoped and dreamed, lived, loved, and died, and left their mark on this oldest place in America. In fact, 800 years ago, there was a far larger population of people living in the Galiceo River country than actually live here now. That's a claim few other American regions can make.

Long before Europeans came here, other humans hoped and dreamed, lived, loved, and died, and left their mark on this oldest place in America. In fact, 800 years ago, there was a far larger population of people living in the Galiceo River country than actually live here now. That's a claim few other American regions can make.

Long before Europeans came here, other humans hoped and dreamed, lived, loved, and died, and left their mark on this oldest place in America. In fact, 800 years ago, there was a far larger population of people living in the Galiceo River country than actually live here now. That's a claim few other American regions can make.

A great drought in the Southwest, the most severe one in the past thousand years, was the apparent proximate cause that brought them here. In a sense, they were religious refugees, fleeing that hereditary religious class that had insisted they could intervene with the gods to send life-saving rain.

A great drought in the Southwest, the most severe one in the past thousand years, was the apparent proximate cause that brought them here. In a sense, they were religious refugees, fleeing that hereditary religious class that had insisted they could intervene with the gods to send life-saving rain.

A great drought in the Southwest, the most severe one in the past thousand years, was the apparent proximate cause that brought them here. In a sense, they were religious refugees, fleeing that hereditary religious class that had insisted they could intervene with the gods to send life-saving rain.

So the search for a new center place led some of the former Chaco Puebloans to the beautiful, windswept Galisteo country. Here's what they found. A high desert with 320 days of annual sunshine, prompting their name for it, placed near the sun. Rainfall that rarely reached to double figures, but still made for green mountains and dwarf forests.

So the search for a new center place led some of the former Chaco Puebloans to the beautiful, windswept Galisteo country. Here's what they found. A high desert with 320 days of annual sunshine, prompting their name for it, placed near the sun. Rainfall that rarely reached to double figures, but still made for green mountains and dwarf forests.

So the search for a new center place led some of the former Chaco Puebloans to the beautiful, windswept Galisteo country. Here's what they found. A high desert with 320 days of annual sunshine, prompting their name for it, placed near the sun. Rainfall that rarely reached to double figures, but still made for green mountains and dwarf forests.

A river, albeit small, with spring-fed tributaries sometimes flowing water. Sewable ground, sandstone for bricks and suitable soil to make adobes. A small mountain range long known and famous far and wide for its sky blue stones. Ample firewood to boil their crops. In the grassland basin, bands of striped pronghorn antelope, mule deer in the hills, and elk, sheep, and bears in the mountains.

A river, albeit small, with spring-fed tributaries sometimes flowing water. Sewable ground, sandstone for bricks and suitable soil to make adobes. A small mountain range long known and famous far and wide for its sky blue stones. Ample firewood to boil their crops. In the grassland basin, bands of striped pronghorn antelope, mule deer in the hills, and elk, sheep, and bears in the mountains.

A river, albeit small, with spring-fed tributaries sometimes flowing water. Sewable ground, sandstone for bricks and suitable soil to make adobes. A small mountain range long known and famous far and wide for its sky blue stones. Ample firewood to boil their crops. In the grassland basin, bands of striped pronghorn antelope, mule deer in the hills, and elk, sheep, and bears in the mountains.

Eagles soaring overhead, packs of gray wolves howling in the night, lions slinking through the rocks, and sacred coyotes trotting by with a quick, sharp-eyed look. crystal and air for watching the sun's progress along the horizons, nights brilliant with jittering stars, the steady glow of traveler planets, and the occasional light that flies.

Eagles soaring overhead, packs of gray wolves howling in the night, lions slinking through the rocks, and sacred coyotes trotting by with a quick, sharp-eyed look. crystal and air for watching the sun's progress along the horizons, nights brilliant with jittering stars, the steady glow of traveler planets, and the occasional light that flies.

Eagles soaring overhead, packs of gray wolves howling in the night, lions slinking through the rocks, and sacred coyotes trotting by with a quick, sharp-eyed look. crystal and air for watching the sun's progress along the horizons, nights brilliant with jittering stars, the steady glow of traveler planets, and the occasional light that flies.

The colonizers spoke two different Puebloan languages, Tano and Koresan, so living near one another were bilingual. They wore garments made from the cotton they grew and ornamented themselves with turquoise jewelry. The women wore their dark hair long while men affected a bowl cut.

The colonizers spoke two different Puebloan languages, Tano and Koresan, so living near one another were bilingual. They wore garments made from the cotton they grew and ornamented themselves with turquoise jewelry. The women wore their dark hair long while men affected a bowl cut.

The colonizers spoke two different Puebloan languages, Tano and Koresan, so living near one another were bilingual. They wore garments made from the cotton they grew and ornamented themselves with turquoise jewelry. The women wore their dark hair long while men affected a bowl cut.

They painted colorful designs on pottery known as Rio Grande glazeware that frequently included images of parrots or macaws brilliantly marked birds traded up from Mexico and not native to anywhere in the southwest.

They painted colorful designs on pottery known as Rio Grande glazeware that frequently included images of parrots or macaws brilliantly marked birds traded up from Mexico and not native to anywhere in the southwest.