Europeans first visited San Juan Pueblo in 1541 during Coronado's expedition into the Southwest. In 1598 Juan de Oñate, colonizer of New Mexico, established his headquarters at San Juan. In 1680 the inhabitants participated in the Great Pueblo Revolt when the New Mexico pueblos, led by Popé, an exiled San Juan Indian, rose up against the oppressive policies of the Spanish. After the recolonization of New Mexico by the Spanish in 1692 a mission complex was built at the pueblo. Today San Juan Pueblo consists of parallel blocks of one- and two-story adobe houses, rectangular ceremonial kivas, a stone chapel and a 1912 stone church with Gothic Revival elements built on the site of the earlier mission church. Also of note is the Oke Owinge Arts and Crafts Cooperative, a well known arts center that showcases local artisans.

San Juan Pueblo is four miles northeast of Española, New Mexico, off NM 68. The Pueblo can be visited daily from dawn to dusk. No cameras, recording or sketches allowed. Please call 505-852-4400 for further information.

Credits and Sources:

National Park Service. "Discover Our Shared Heritage American Southwest, A National Register of Historic Places Travel Itinerary: List of Sites." http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/amsw/sitelist.htm.

Photograph Courtesy of Western History/Genealogy Department, Denver Public Library; from Library of Congress's American Memory collection