PETROGLYPHS

Ancestral Puebloans from the 1200-1300's who inhabited the region left many of their marks upon the face of this stone. Over 2000 separate petroglyghs adorn the sandstone bluff.

AMONG THE MANY

R.H. Orton is one of the many who decided to leave his imprint upon this rock. Unsure if the cross is his, but the cavalry flag probably is. Orton became adjutant-general of California after the Civil War. R.H. Orton was a captain in the First Cavalry during the time from March to October 1866 as the company was disbanding after the war.

ONE OF THE OLDEST INSCRIPTIONS

One of the more famous ones here is that of the first governor of New Mexico, Don Juan de Onate. This was inscribed in 1605, translation "Governor Don Juan de Onate passed through here from the discovery of the Sea of the South on the 16th of April, 1605."

VISITORS

As man visited this water hole some chiseled their comments and signatures on this sandstone bluff. This particular one belonged to a governor of this region, General Don Diego de Vargas. The translation reads, "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." He died in Bernalillo in 1704 at the age of 61.

WHERE IT ALL BEGAN

El Morro's small pool of water has drawn people to it's banks literally for hundreds of years. The original natural pool was partly destroyed by a heavy rock fall in 1942, but conservationists rebuilt it to be as natural as possible. In this region of New Mexico, water is rare and sparsely scattered about. Once men knew about this source of water, it continually brought travelers to it's shores for centuries. And.....man decided to leave a record of his visit.