La versión en Español aquí
Taking scenic routes is a must during our motorhome trips because, without exception, we find places and experiences that engrave memories in our minds.
During our last road trip, we traveled via the Mother Road, Route 66, from Amarillo, Texas, to Williams, Arizona, visiting lively and deserted towns. After spending a few nights in Albuquerque, we continued west to Grants, New Mexico, where we planned to spend the night at either the KOA or a highly recommended Harvest Host Brewery.
While on our way, a tempting campground appeared on my search engine, El Morro National Monument, featuring nine graveled pads with picnic tables and ground grills in a quiet setting with a view of the landmark bluff. Campsites have no hook-ups, are free of charge, and operate on a first-come, first-served basis.
We arrived in Grants early enough to drive the 45 miles to El Morro. Highway 53 is a scenic drive that did not disappoint with its tree-lined drive by El Malpais National Monument and winding roads of pine trees and oaks. We continued to El Morro, eager to be firstcomers.
As soon as we arrived at EL Morro, NM, we fell in love with its mid-20th-century era visitor center, with hanging globe lamps and a low-pitched roof. Through centuries, this isolated oasis replenished dusty, tired travelers. Strange to think we still come here seeking peace and a restful night, albeit in the comfort of our recreational vehicles.
The pool at the base of El Morro feeds off of precipitation and melting ice and snow. We enjoyed the paved half-mile trail to see hundreds of historic inscriptions and petroglyphs.
Hundreds of years after the ancestral Puebloans left El Morro, which means headland or bluff, Spanish conquistadors found this watering hole and, like the natives, engraved their names on the base of its sandstone rock.
In 1585, Antonio de Espejo, a Spanish explorer who led expeditions to New Mexico and Arizona, wrote about this place in his journal, referring to it as El Estanque del Peñol (the pool by the great rock), spearheading two hundred years of Spanish travelers stopping at the site.
El Morro’s Inscription Rock story begins with ancestral Puebloans’ petroglyphs carved into the rock using an animal antler or a hammerstone. These petroglyphs portray bighorn sheep and a bear paw, among other animals that roamed this region during the Atsinna Pueblo in 1275 A.C.
Spaniards used daggers or horseshoe nails, and pioneers and settlers probably used hammers, chisels, knives, and nails. There are many unique inscriptions whose intention was to let others know they had passed through there. “Pasó por aquí” (passed through here) was a commonly used inscription, especially by the Spaniards. So common that it is engraved on t-shirts and caps sold at the visitor shop.
A notable inscription at El Morro is from the first governor of New Mexico, Don Juan de Oñate. In 1605, Oñate and thirty men left the settlement of San Gabriel, the second European capital of New Mexico, in search of the South Sea (the Pacific Ocean). They reached the Gulf of California and believed they had found the sea they set out to find. On their way back, they stopped by El Morro, where Oñate inscribed the following message.
Governor Don Juan de Oñate passed through here from the discovery of the Sea of the South on the 16th of April, 1605.
Don Diego de Vargas was appointed governor of New Mexico in 1692 and reestablished control of the Pueblos after the revolt that killed several Spanish men, women, and children. During one of his trips through El Morro, he wrote:
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 of 1692.
The last inscription from Spanish colonial times was from a traveler named Andres Romero in 1774. Not long after, E. Penn Long, a U.S. Army expedition leader, engraved an elegant signature. He was part of a group testing the usefulness of camels in crossing the deserts of the Southwest. P. (Peachy) Breckinridge, overseeing twenty-five such camels, also carved his signature on the bluff.
Of all the inscriptions we could read, one impacted me the most. It was a barely visible marking that the brochure guide challenged us to find. Sallie Fox was a twelve-year-old passenger on an immigrant caravan called The Rose. Amidst the afternoon twilight, I could almost see a girl with hair like sunshine and eyes like the sky struggling to reach the blank space to carve her name. This must have been so important to her, for she presented herself with her real name, Sarah; everybody knew her as Sallie. I pictured Sallie with a linen petticoat, an apron, and a prairie-rose bonnet, boasting a broad, satisfying smile upon completing the task that would propel her to infinity.
Her inscription moved me because Sarah Fox is the name of my sons’ paternal great-grandmother, who immigrated from Ireland to Mexico as a young girl. Both these girls were likely dragged into their families’ adventures. I wondered what it was like for them, how they felt. I was so moved and filled with questions that I wrote a poem for them.
Through our travels, we find incredible landscapes, sunsets, and historical markers that share great stories. The surprises we encounter are not always birds of prey hunting, shooting stars, breathtaking cliffs, or unusual architecture. Surprises also come in the form of humans who inspire us with their lives and the tracks they left behind.
Happy Travels!
Read Sarah’s Poem below, and I hope you enjoy the photo gallery.
Cactus in the Mirror 