NPS/Irene Owsley Valles Caldera National Preserve has the honor of protecting and interpreting the resources, stories, and voices that represent at least 12,000 years of human history and influence on this landscape. Native American HeritageValles Caldera is of spiritual and ceremonial importance to numerous Native American peoples in the greater Southwest region. These cultural connections are both contemporary and of great antiquity, and the National Park Service respectfully seeks to uphold the values and prioritize the voices of the Tribes and Pueblos for whom this special place continues to be part of their practices, beliefs, identity, and history:
Paleo-Indian and Archaic Periods (10,000 BC - 1,000 AD)For most of the 12,000-year human history at Valles Caldera, people have interacted with this landscape in a nomadic and sustainable way. Before the adoption of agriculture, people lived in seasonal camps and villages as they moved across large territories in pursuit of food and favorable living conditions. Several small villages within Valles Caldera would have buzzed with activity during the summers as villagers spent their days hunting, fishing, foraging, and fashioning obsidian tools. They would move on to warmer climates during the long winter season, allowing seasonal periods of rest for the landscape. Pueblo Period (600s - 1600s AD)Starting around the 600s AD, people began practicing agriculture in the Jemez Mountains, leading to more permanent settlements called pueblos. The word “pueblo” can refer to a community of people (spelled with a capital “P”) or to the masonry structures that they built and occupied (lowercase “p”). Pueblos were often situated on flat mesa tops or near waterways that drained down from the mountains. Occupants farmed corn, beans, squash, and other crops to supplement their diets and sustain their communities. They continued hunting game and gathering plants for food, medicine, and ceremony. Pueblo runners traveled to and from Valles Caldera along traditional routes to procure important resources that only the mountains could provide. Every part of the Valles Caldera landscape was considered sacred, and it was treated as such. Many descendant Pueblo communities continue these traditional lifeways today. Spanish SettlementSpanish settlers began arriving in the 1500s, bringing sheep and other livestock to the montane grasslands of the Jemez Mountains. Sheepherding quickly became one of the primary uses of this landscape. We know very little about the Hispanic sheepherders who used this land, but most of what we do know comes from carvings they left on the trunks of aspen trees. These historic carvings are called dendroglyphs, and more than 3,000 of them have been documented by volunteers and historians at Valles Caldera National Preserve. By matching the names, dates, and towns from these dendroglyphs to U.S. census records, we can begin piecing together and preserving the histories of people who have otherwise been excluded from the historical record of this landscape. Can you decipher this dendroglyph? 
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Courtesy of Mary Ann Bond Bunten Private OwnershipValles Caldera also chronicles the history of New Mexico’s enchantment and exploitation—from 19th century land use after the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and sheep grazing under the partido system to subsequent cattle grazing, timber harvesting, and geothermal exploration. Beginning as a land grant in 1860, private ownership was held by a series of four families. The early name, Baca Location No. 1, was established at the beginning of the Cabeza de Baca era (1860–1899), and the lands were used for sheep grazing. During the Otero era (1899–1917) sheep grazing was increased, supplemented by ventures into sulphur mining and tourism at a location known as Sulphur Springs on the land grant’s western boundary. Sheep grazing peaked and then was replaced by cattle ranching during the Bond era (1917–1962). The last private owners were the Dunigan family (1962–2000), who continued cattle operations while pursuing diversified ventures such as exploration of geothermal potential, movie filming, raising thoroughbred horses, and recreational fishing and elk hunting. Although logging had begun in the 1930s, it was dramatically increased in the early 1960s by non-landowners who held rights to the timber. By the time the Dunigans were able to halt the clear-cut logging in the early 1970s, the overwhelming majority of old-growth forests had been cut and more than 1,000 miles of logging roads had been built through the forests. Public OwnershipValles Caldera TrustValles Caldera National Preserve was established on July 25, 2000, as an unprecedented national experiment in public land management through the creation of the Valles Caldera Trust. The Valles Caldera Trust was a wholly-owned government corporation overseen by a board of trustees appointed by the president of the United States. Through the Valles Caldera Trust, the U.S. Congress sought to evaluate the efficiency, economy, and effectiveness of decentralized public land management and ecosystem restoration. This 15-year experiment in public land management continues to contribute to the national dialogue on the role of protected areas for long-term economic and environmental sustainability along with innovative approaches to place-based and science-based adaptive management. National Park ServiceOn December 19, 2014, Valles Caldera National Preserve was designated as a unit of the national park system. After a brief transition period, the National Park Service assumed management of the preserve on October 1, 2015. As you explore the park, consider your place in the rich legacy of human travel to and through this landscape. The roads and trails you will follow here are likely the same routes that people have been using for thousands of years—from indigenous hunter-gatherers searching for obsidian sources to ancestral peoples procuring medicinal plants, Hispanic sheepherders leading their flocks to greener pastures, and American cowboys riding on horseback to secure the ranch perimeter. 
NPS/Irene Owsley |
Last updated: November 19, 2024