Bandelier National Monument -

The 10,000 foot Jemez peaks surrounding Bandeleir National Monument are actually the rim of an ancient volcano.  Eruptions from this volcano that occurred about a million years ago covered the entire area with a layer of lava and ash,  The ash hardened into what geologists call tuff.  The entire Pajarito Plateau, through which Grijoles Canyon was carved , is composed of this Bandelier Tuff, except the very lowest portion which is composed of much harder basalt.

The Jemez volcano eruption, which was about 100 times as powerful as the Mt. Saint Helen eruption, eventually led to the collapse of the volcano leaving a wide caldera (about 14 miles wide) known as Valle Grande.  A portion of this large caldera runs along Route 4 on its way to Jemez Hot Springs, and like many other New Mexico volcanoes, The Jemez Volcano occurred along faults that form the western side of the Rio Grande Rift.

Frijoles Canyon is named for the beans which grow along Frijoles Creek, which flows south east from the Jemez Mountains to the Rio Grande River.  As the creek worked its way through Frijoles Canyon it eroded the deposits of volcanic rock, mainly tuff, which is full of natural cavities (originally air pockets) in ash deposits from volcanic eruptions thousands of years ago.

Perhaps three or four thousand years ago, the Pajarito Plateau was frequently visited by nomadic Paleo-Indian hunters, and later by Archaic hunter-gathers, who wandered through these canyons looking for game and wild plants.

The rich habitat of this area is home to a  variety of plant communities.  Cottonwood and Box Elders live near the creek at the canyon bottom, while Yucca, Saltbush and Cholla attache themselves to the canyon walls;  Juniper and Pinyon cover the tops of Mesas, and Fir and Ponderosa Pine can be found at the highest elevations.  Many animals are found in these habitats, including Elk, Black Bear, and  Mountain Lions

About 2000 years ago, small family groups of Anasazi moved into the canyon.  They built large pit houses and maintained an agrarian culture growing corn, beans and squash in addition to hunting local game.  Their architecture evolved slowly over the years, but these people continued to live in scattered settlements of one or two probably related families.

Then, about 800 years ago, a sudden influx of people perhaps migrating from dryer areas, occurred.  As a result people began living together in much larger groups creating villages (pueblos) with as many as 40 rooms.  The outcome of this influx of people resulted in a cultural explosion.  The Anasazi living in the canyon began using tools (topols) to scoop out dwellings from the soft volcanic tuff walls of the Pajarito Plateau.  These cave-like structures were then fronted with multi-story masonry buildings supported by wooden beams.  What can be seen today, in the following photographs that I took, are the remnants of these structures.  Most of the wooden beams have disintegrated resulting in the collapse of much of the masonry buildings, but revealing the cave-like rooms in the canyon wall. 

View of part of the canyon with the steep walls pocked with cave openings.  It is also thought that the Anasazi  built these caves partly for protection from marauding neighbors and wild animals such as bear and mountain lion.

Remnants of some of the masonry pit-houses that were built in the canyon below the canyon walls.

A clear view of the many caves that had been scooped out of the canyon wall to form rooms.

This picture shows the caves in the canyon wall as well as some well-preserved masonry buildings (perhaps reconstructed) at the base of the wall.

As Peg and I walked closed to the canyon walls, we approached the remains of a large pit-house.  Much of the upper portions of this structure are no longer here, however it is pretty obvious that this was a large, perhaps ceremonial, building.  I was amazed at how well the masonry walls were constructed.

Here the view of the cave-like rooms is much clearer.  As you will see later, access to these rooms was by wooden ladder.

Plants, given the opportunity and time, can grow just about anywhere.  This is a good example.

As mentioned, access to these caves was most probably by wooden ladder, similar to this one made locally to reproduce the originals.

Another view of the cliff walls and the extent of volcanic tuff structures scattered all over the area.

A further view of the cliff dwellings and the masonry remnants of the buildings that used to be there.

This shows a closer view of the cliff caves and masonry remnants.  Note the regularly spaced holes above and around some of the cave openings.  This is where wooden beams were placed to support masonry buildings that fronted the caves.

A side view of the canyon wall showing how steep they were.  Again, some of the details earlier described can be seen.

In this view you can clearly see the holes that were carved out for placing wooden beams.  You can also see an excellent example of an ancient drawing/design, still in pretty good shape.

Scattered throughout the carved-out caves

are pteroglyphs of birds and people.  This particularly nice example shows what appears to be a bear.

These last two pictures were taken as we left the area and headed back to the exhibition buildings that contain actual artifacts that were collected when the monument was first discovered by archaeologists.

I was particularly impressed with the way the Monument is available to visitors.  It is truly a "hands-on" exhibit.  By that I mean you can go almost anywhere through the old Pueblo-style pit-houses, and into the cliff caves by climbing ladders and crawling inside.  There are virtually no areas that are really off limits.

In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed legislation to create the Bandelier National Monument.  It is named after a well known archaeologist of the time.