Railroad Surveyors blog

Caprio, Jason

December 8^th, 2013

Railroad Surveyors Blog

            The fifth and final blog, and also the ones to make a final mark on El Morro, are the Railroad surveyors of the Whipple Expedition. The Whipple Expedition was made to become a potential route to California during the times of westward expansion and Manifest Destiny. The Whipple Expedition took place along the Thirty- Fifth parallel. The route went through Oklahoma, down to New Mexico, and made a straight shot to California. The route from Oklahoma and to California is very close to what is now current day I-40.

            Amiel Whipple was put in charge of an expedition for a possible railroad route to California. The survey team went through treacherous routes in Native American territory to get to their destination. The expedition began in Arkansas crossing the Poteau River to Oklahoma.  From there they made their way to New Mexico and traveled westward to California. Once the trip went westward, they began to face more hardship along the way such as unknown landscapes, mountains, and hostile Native American attacks along the way. Before the trip, European scientists were recruited beforehand. They discovered and classified new species of animals and plants.

            Due to the expenses of the trip, the trail was not chosen as the primary route to California. Out of five other trails, the Union Pacific route was chosen as the new primary route for the travel to California. On the way to California they stopped at El Morro and left their markings. These were the last people to make an official marking of El Morro and the last to carry out a great tradititon.

            

U.S. Army Camel Corps blog

Caprio, Jason

December 1, 2013

U.S. Army Camel Corps

            One of the strangest sights seen on El Morro took place in 1857. The U.S. Army decided to try an experiment with transportation of military equipment and supplies. The new transportation was camels to see if they would be more efficient than horses or mules. The U.S bought seventy camels for thirty thousand dollars and was accompanied by three Arab handlers during the trip. In charge of the journey were Lieutenant Edward Fitzgerald Beale and P. Gilmer Breckinridge on route to Fort Tejon in California.

            At one point during the trip, Lt. Beale sent five men to search for water due to the running amount. When he noticed they were gone too long he sent one of his Arabian acquaintances to search for them. Once the Arabian handler found the five men in mid skirmish with the Indians, he knew he could not go back in time to call for help, so he charged in with his Arabian sword yelling a foreign phrase and managed to scare off the Indians. The Indians fled because they had never seen such an anomaly before, they stated it as a “desert demon flying out of the sky.” The group reached El Morro during July of 1858. They stayed for a short time then continued on their journey once more.

            After El Morro they arrived to Fort Tejon without any further delays. Due to the outbreak of the Civil War the program was cancelled. This would’ve happened anyways to the disaster of the program. The Camels were amazing in all challenges, but did not function well with the soldiers or the other animals. Most of the Camels were set free, auctioned off.etc. Out of all the travelers that came through El Morro, this truly was a rare sighting and one that will be memorialized.

Pioneer Wagon Train blog

Caprio Jason

November 11, 2013

Pioneer Wagon Train Blog

            In early April 1858, 26 Anglo emigrants set off with two wagon trains towards California from Missouri. The route they had originally planned to take had to be reformed because the U.S. Army and the Mormons of Utah were fighting, so they took a southern route following the Santa Fe Trail. This route was most harsh because they faced hunger, extreme thirst and other harsh conditions. Once they had arrived in Albuquerque, they met the man that aided Beale’s camel expedition, hired him, and took a new recommended route. 

            The group arrived on July 7^th and stayed until July 8^th at the pool of El Morro. They left carvings of their names as they moved onward. They arrived to what is now Flagstaff. Everything after that began to be troublesome for the group. They began to encounter more Indians. Mojaves would trick them and steal their cattle. During the journey, a whole family was separated from the group and was slaughtered by the Indians.

            Once the group reached the current Arizona-California border, they had a large battle with the Indians. The Indians drove off most of their cattle and horses but it ended with the emigrants being victorious. After their victory had left them stranded, they headed back to Albuquerque. Though this attempt at reaching California failed, most of them tried again and made it. In my opinion, out of all the signatures on the wall, these people deserve to have it on there the most.

           

Spanish Conquistadors blog

Caprio, Jason

17, November 2013

Spanish Conquistadors blog 

            During the 1600s and 1700s, colonization of New Mexico was occurring and Spaniards were searching the land for riches from tales they were told. As the Spaniards were passing by to conquer northern New Mexico, many passed and stopped by El Morro. They noticed that there were signs that people had been there so they did the same and left insignias and other markings showing their presence. One such conquistador was Juan De Onate.

            While Juan De Onate was returning from his exploration in the near the South Sea (Pacific Ocean), he happened to come upon El Morro. He saw the many markings that were left and decided to leave one of his own. He marked it saying “Governor Don Juan De Onate passed through here, from discovery of the Sea of the South on the 16^th of April, 1605.” This was not on his first visit to El Morro. He passed by El Morro on December 13, 1598 from Zuni on his voyage to the Rio Grande via Acoma.

            There were more Spanish travelers that passed through El Morro. There is Ramon Garcia Jurado. He moved to New Mexico in 1693 to become a colonist. He may have passed through El Morro because he was on a campaign against the Navajos during the time. Another Spanish traveler was Andres Romero. His visit to El Morro was during times of the war against Spain for Independence. There is not much further information about him other than that he passed by there in 1774.

            There were many more travelers that passed by El Morro during these times. After the U.S.-Mexican War, the treaty promised open land from Mexico to the United States. This allowed the Americans, the last of the people to inscribe on the wall, to come through El Morro.

Anicent Pueblo People blog

Caprio, Jason

10 November, 2013

Ancient Pueblo People blog

            The Ancient Pueblo people are known to be the first to arrive at El Morro. They first lived near the Zuni River around 1200 AD for about 75 years. They moved to the top of El Morro roughly around 1275. There isn’t a lot of information about the Ancient Pueblo people or why they chose the top of El Morro for their new village, but there are bits and pieces as to their culture and why they chose El Morro.

First off, they could have moved due to the heat and the droughts that come and go. If they ran out of the only close by water source they had, they would have to go out and search for another source until the previous one can gain more water. Another possibility to consider is that they wanted to form a giant community instead of multiple small ones and the top of El Morro seemed like an excellent spot to be. Reasons for wanting to form a large community could be for defense against an opposing tribe, which made the top of El Morro a more likely spot because they would have a fine advantage. The last possibility could be their practices. They may have chosen the top of El Morro because they would feel closer to the gods that they worshipped. In the layout of their housing there are rooms that are known to have spiritual practices held there.

            There are a few sings of understanding the Ancient Pueblo peoples’ culture. Depicted in their drawings at the base of the mountain are numerous petroglyphs of animals and what are to be known as gods. It is difficult to understand exactly what they are trying to message to others in their drawings because the culture is so old it is unreadable. Even others like the Zuni people, who are the Descendants of these Ancient Puebloans, can barely understand their description. There are times when Pueblo Indians can recognize a god or two, but that’s the closest they can get.

            Though there is not a lot of information about these people, they’re still quite significant to the tradition of carving signs of possible residence or visitation of El Morro.