Not an Aztec to be Found in Aztec, New Mexico
On Thursday, May 22, 2008, I departed Chaco Cultural Historical Park
and headed northeast, towards the nearest paved road outside the park.
Last fall, when I traveled the same dirt road, I was careless about the
“washboard” effect that the passage of many vehicles had created along
the road. During that trip, I lost a full-length mirror from an inside
door of my coach and almost shot the microwave oven out to it secured
place in an upper cabinet. This year I slowed to a walking pace
whenever I hit a rough patch, of which there were many.
Once I hit dry pavement, I proceeded to north on US-550, which is wide, fast and almost like a freeway. My next destination was Aztec, New Mexico and Aztec Ruins National Monument, located by the Animas River, just upstream from its confluence with the San Juan River, which drains to Lake Powell, along the Colorado River, further downstream. The La Plata River and then the Chaco River are also nearby contributors to the San Juan River, demonstrating the complexity of the landforms and natural drainage of the Colorado Plateau, nearby.
Early
Anglo visitors to the area assumed that indigenous people could not
have created structures and culture as extensive or advanced as that
which they found in northwestern New Mexico and southwestern Colorado.
In order to create a match with their preconceived notions, they
ascribed the elaborate complex of ruined buildings there to the Aztecs of old Mexico. Likewise, they gave credit to the Spanish conquistador Hernando Cortes by naming the serene town of Cortez, Colorado after him. Cortez did lead an expedition up through Baja California, but never set foot in either New Mexico or Colorado.As I arrived at the Aztec Ruins, the rainy weather
that had followed me all the way from Chaco Canyon, 65 miles to the
south again threatened my tour of the ruins. Luckily, the rain held off
just long enough for me to make my personal inspection of these
well-preserved structures, some of which retain their original roof
structures, even after 800 years of abandonment.
Surely, we should celebrate the pre-Puebloan Indian engineers and architects for such great achievements as the masonry corner-window the great kiva,
shown here reconstructed nearly as it stood in 1200 CE. Such was Anglo
culture in the second half of the nineteenth century that most
considered Indians, contemporary or ancient as a backward and
unenlightened.What we now call the Aztec Ruins were constructed
beginning around 1100 CE, which was around the time that Chaco Canyon
began its decline. Not ironically, Aztec lies almost due north of
Chaco, one to two weeks away by foot travel. Another interesting fact
is that Aztec Ruins have many similarities in size, layout and apparent
function to the crown jewel of Chaco Canyon, the Pueblo Bonito Ruin. One of the mysteries of the Four Corners 
region
is why the more southerly ancestral Puebloan Chaco culture declined,
even as the new development at Aztec expanded on its concepts and
thrived.
region
is why the more southerly ancestral Puebloan Chaco culture declined,
even as the new development at Aztec expanded on its concepts and
thrived. As I prepared to depart for Durango, Colorado,
the young woman at the front desk at Aztec Ruins told me that it had
snowed in Durango and that the highway department had closed the highway between Durango and Silverton, Colorado. Consulting my maps, I decided that I would avoid the high country altogether and head for the remote Hovenweep National 
Monument,
just north of the little town of Aneth, in southeastern Utah. With
luck and good weather, I could make it to Hovenweep before nightfall.
Monument,
just north of the little town of Aneth, in southeastern Utah. With
luck and good weather, I could make it to Hovenweep before nightfall.Traveling north on Highway 491 (formerly the devilish Highway 666), I turned southwest at its intersection with Highway 160,
a location dominated by another of the southwest's "Chimney Rock"
locations, this one towering to an elevation of 5761 feet. At the
turnoff is the most picturesque former gas station in the entire Four
Corners region. 
With
its long overhang and stark horizontal lines, this architectural relic
gives a lonely and serene look to the grand geographical features that
abound, including a long view back to Ship Rock and its thorny peaks, to
the east.
With
its long overhang and stark horizontal lines, this architectural relic
gives a lonely and serene look to the grand geographical features that
abound, including a long view back to Ship Rock and its thorny peaks, to
the east.
By James McGillis at 05:58 PM | Travel | Comments (0) | Link
