El Morro National Monument, southwest of Grants near Ramah, was
established to preserve the famous Inscription Rock, register of
Indians, Spaniards, and westward-moving pioneers. About 22,000 people
now visit the Monument each year.
El Morro, or Inscription Rock, is a massive mesa point of sandstone.
Rising some 200 feet above the valley floor, it forms a striking
landmark. From its summit, rain and melted snow drain into a natural
basin at the foot of the cliff, creating a constant and dependable
supply of water in a region where water is scarce. The route from Acoma
to the Zuni pueblos led directly past the mesa. It was a regular camping
place for Spanish _conquistadores_ and, later, for travelers from the
east.
On the top of El Morro lie ruins of Indian pueblos, abandoned long
before the coming of the Spaniards. And carved in the sandstone are
numerous petroglyphs left by these ancient people, ancestors of the
modern Zunis. Perhaps it was the petroglyphs that prompted later
travelers to record their names and thoughts on the rock.
The first known historical mention of El Morro is found in the journal
of Diego Pérez de Luxán, chronicler of the Espejo Expedition of 1583.
Luxán stopped there for water on March 11 of that year.
[Illustration: Part of the pool and cliff at El Morro]
The oldest dated inscription at El Morro was made in 1605 by don Juan de
Oñate, first governor of New Mexico. Returning from an expedition to the
mouth of the Colorado River, he camped at El Morro and carved this
inscription in Spanish: “Passed by here the Adelantado Don Juan de Oñate
from the discovery of the Sea of the South, the 16th of April of 1605.”
The “Sea of the South” was the Gulf of California.
If don Diego de Vargas, the most famous Spanish governor of New Mexico,
seems boastful in the message he left at El Morro, who can blame him?
His words, in English, read, “Here was the General Don Diego de Vargas,
who conquered for our Holy Faith and for the Royal Crown all of New
Mexico at his own expense, year of 1692.” Twelve years earlier, the
great Pueblo Indian Revolt had driven the Spaniards from New Mexico.
More than 400, including 23 priests, had lost their lives, and the
surviving Spaniards, some 1100, had fled to El Paso del Norte. De Vargas
restored order, without further bloodshed, in 1692.
After the occupation of Santa Fe by the army of Gen. Stephen W. Kearny
in August 1846, details of United States troops were dispatched to
explore various parts of New Mexico. Probably the first to visit El
Morro was Lt. J. H. Simpson, accompanied by the artist R. H. Kern, who
copied some of the early inscriptions in September 1849. Then the names
of other soldiers, traders, Indian agents, surveyors, emigrants who were
traveling westward, and settlers were added to the rock.
Since the establishment of the Monument by Presidential proclamation in
1906, inscribing on the face of the cliff has been prohibited. If the
Monument had not been established and the law not passed, this
fascinating part of the history of the Southwest would surely have been
lost.