Off U.S. Highway 60, nine miles west of Mountainair is Abo State
Monument.
The ruins of the ancient mission church of San Gregorio de Abo and its
pueblo, built of red sandstone, are in a broad, natural amphitheater
rimmed on the north and west by the blue Manzano Mountains, which
contrast strikingly with the reddish hues of the Abo sandstone. This is
one of the Saline Missions, so called because of the nearby salt
deposits in the Estancia Basin.
It was built during the seventeenth century by Indians under the
supervision of the Franciscans, led by the venerable Fray Francisco de
Acevedo. The inhabitants of Abo were very friendly to the Spaniards.
They were forced to abandon their pueblo about 1673 because of drought
and the raids of the Apaches and Comanches. They then moved south to El
Paso del Norte where they joined in founding Isleta del Sur.
The walls of the pueblo have disintegrated with time into low mounds
which lie adjacent to the mission. The ecclesiastical structures have
been excavated and repaired for permanent preservation.