El Cuartelejo Indian Pueblo

Two centuries before the Steele homestead, a group of Taos Native American migrated to the park region, fleeing Spanish rule. They constructed pueblos and cultivated crops using a system of irrigation ditches from a nearby spring. These were the northernmost pueblos in the United States, and the Indians inhabiting the area lived there for twenty years, then returned to their homes in the south. El Cuartelejo, meaning "old barracks or building," was later reoccupied in 1701 when a group of Picurie Native American settled there for two years. The last known reference to the site was in 1727, after which it was abandoned. It disappeared, leaving only a mound and a few irrigation ditches. But in the mid-1890s, the ruins were discovered by two professors from the University of Kansas, and again in 1925 when the Daughters of the American Revolution erected a monument on the site. The ruins earned National Historic Landmark Status in 1964. The present site is reconstructed.