To the notheast of Gallup is Chaco Culture National Historical Park that we traveled to today. This park is not easy to get to. The last 20 miles of our travels were over a dirt road that was wash boardy and full of ruts at places.
There is another entrance from the north that has a shorter dirt road drive but that would have been miles longer for us. As it was we drove over 200 miles round trip today.
The ancestors of the Pueblo culture of today, the Chacoans chose this high-desert valley in the Chaco Canyon as a center of their culture 1000 years ago. As with many of these areas there are many unanswered questions. The buildings were large stone buildings with hundreds of rooms thought to have been constructed over a span of decades or even centuries.
Pueblo descendants feel this was used as a special gathering place for ceremonies and traditions and continues to be used by Navaho clans for ceremonies and gatherings. This area is a spiritual place for the descedants of this culture.
There are 6 stops on the circular tour around the canyon each at a great house. A ranger led a tour at the Pueblo Bonita which is the most investigated and visited site in the canyon.
It contained hundreds of rooms but thought that only 50 to 100 people inhabited it. It may have been the center of trading or a gathering place for large number of people.
Travis was along with us today but he was not allowed to go along to the sites as they are considered sacred. He could have gone on the trails with us but the trails that we saw went to the various sites. Tom and I both started on the ranger's tour at Pueblo Bonita but I returned to the car to be with Travis when the sun came out. It was probably in the 50's temperature-wise but we were not comfortable that the windows being cracked open would have kept the car cool in the sunshine.
