An Inspired Cook

Part 2 of our journey takes place along the Inscription Rock Trail where these unique and beautiful inscriptions were carved or etched into stone hundreds of years ago. Some are petroglyphs that were left by the Ancient Puebloans, while others are messages left by the Spanish Conquistadors. There are also many inscriptions left by US Army engineers who were tasked in creating a route for civilians on their way west during the Western Expansion. One of the reasons they stopped at El Morro was because of a plentiful water supply created by rainwater and snow melt from the top of the mesa. As the water dripped down, it formed a pool at the base. When full, the pool held up to 200,000 gallons of water. It became a natural place for travelers to rest as well as feed and water their horses and camp before starting the next leg of their journey. I purchased a book at the Visitors Center which translates some of the more prominent inscriptions that are in Spanish and I will pass along those translations under each photo. Many of the inscriptions are faded and were hard to see. I used a photo editor to enhance them so that they are more visible. Click on any photo to enlarge as they are easier to see. I hope you enjoy the inscriptions and the history of Inscription Rock.

In no particular order here are some of the more significant inscriptions: Translations are included in the Inscription Rock Trail guide book that you can purchase from the Visitor Center. Many Spanish Inscribers wrote pasó por aquí or “passed through here”.

Translation: “On the 25th of the month of June, of this year of 1709, Ramón García Jurado passed through here on the way to Zuni.”

Early park managers darkened some of the inscriptions with graphite so that they would be more visible. These attempts to preserve the inscriptions ended in the 1930s, though even today you will see remnants of the darkening technique in some of the Spanish carvings.

One of the oldest and more famous inscriptions at El Morro is that of the first governor of New Mexico, Don Juan de Oñate who inscribed a message in 1605, fifteen years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock.

Translation: Governor Don Juan de Oñate passed though here, from the discovery of the Sea of the South on the 16th day of April 1605.

Translation: The Ensign Don Joseph de Payba Basconzelos passed through here on the 18th of February 1726.

The longest transcription . . . Translated: The governor and captain general of the provinces of New Mexico for the King, our lord, passed by here, returning from the Zuni pueblos on July 29, 1620; he left them in peace, at their request; asking his favor as vassals of his majesty, they again rendered their obedience; he did all this with attention zeal and prudence, as such a particularly Christian gentleman and gallant soldier of unending, praiseworthy memory. The word gentlemen has been crossed out.

Translation: General Don Diego de Vargas, who conquered for our Holy Faith and for the Royal Crown, all of New Mexico, at his own expense, was here, in the year 1692.

Translation: The 14th day of July 1736, General Juan Paez Hurtado, Inspector, passed by here. And in his company, Corporal Joseph Trujillo.

Translation: A Poem that reads . . .
The Lord and Governor
Don Francisco Manuel de Silva Nieto
came this far with our Lord King’s wagons.
With his indubitable arm and valor,
he has already overcome the impossible,
a thing which he alone accomplished
5 August 1629
so that one may well proceed to Zuni and carry the Holy Faith.

Here are some of the petroglyphs left behind. Notice the 4 Mountain Goats at the top of the photo.

LT. J. H. Simpson, an army engineer and R. H. Kern, a Philadelphia artist employed by the army as a topographer were the first English speaking people to make a record of Inscription Rock.

E. Penn. Long of Baltimore, Maryland chiseled the most elegant inscription. Long was a member of a U.S. Army expedition led by Lt. Edward F. Beale to find a wagon route from Fort Smith, Arkansas, to the Colorado River.

These inscribed signatures are quite beautiful in my opinion. For a closer look, click on any photo to get a clearer view.

Click on any photo to enlarge

Here are a few of the more prominent inscriptions from the 1800’s. Many are from the military passing through.

And this is the pool that was the water source for the ancestral Puebloans and became a haven for rest as well as a water source for those passing through years later including the Spanish Conquistadors and later yet the US Army as they surveyed the western expansion routes. The rain and snow on top of the bluffs would funnel down the black striped spillways into the pool. Each group that passed through left their mark with their inscribed words and signatures.

I hope you enjoyed the tour of our historic El Morro National Monument and Inscription Rock. It’s one of New Mexico’s hidden treasures that is worth the trip.