Exploring Pueblo Loop Trail: Ancient Puebloan Life and Innovations

Ever wondered how ancient civilizations managed to thrive in challenging environments? Discover the resourceful and resilient world of the Puebloans as we explore the Pueblo Loop Trail at Bandelier National Monument. Join me, Craig the Natural Medic, as I guide you through a 1.4-mile journey filled with captivating rock art, innovative agricultural techniques, and the intricate architecture of cliff dwellings. You'll learn how the Puebloans used the Three Sisters method of gardening and why their village structures were strategically designed for both daily living and protection.

Step inside history as we visit the Talus House, a 1920s reconstruction that offers a glimpse into the past. Imagine the lives of the people who once called these cliff shelters home, and marvel at the scenic beauty of Freehold East Canyon and Freeholies Creek. From the ceremonial kivas to the breathtaking canyon views, this episode paints a vivid picture of life in this remarkable location. Whether you're an avid history buff or simply enjoy beautiful landscapes, this tour promises to enrich your understanding of natural beauty and cultural heritage.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Hey, I'm right here. This is Craig the Natural Medic. I am at Bandelier National Monument in northern New Mexico, just outside of Los Alamos and going on the Pueblo Loop Trail. So let's see what we find on this trail. It's going to be a little introductory to the park. We started walking down the trail not very far and there's a bridge over here that goes over, which goes to the picnic area and also goes to backcountry trails, so you can do backcountry trails here and then go deeper into the park.

Speaker 1: 0:37

A lot of the caves along the bluff here have rock art in them. I don't think you're allowed to access them, but there is rock art and you can see my mom standing right here. It's a paved trail. I feel comfortable. She can do this. So I think anybody with a walking disability or doesn't really feel like they can do it this is a good way for them to see stuff. Now, right here, talking about the pueblo loop trail, grid gardening and what they did because of the environment is what is called the Three Sisters, which is corn which provided support for the beans, and then the squash provided a layer of mulch. So that's kind of how they did it. Right there. This trail is paved, I believe, mostly all the way to the end, and it's a 1.4-mile trail. It takes about an hour to do so.

Speaker 1: 1:26

In front of us us, we have some dwellings up on top of the cliff. There, on the edge or the bottom of the cliff, rather Right here, this is actually remains of a village called probably pronouncing it wrong Tuyani Tuyayani, and think about how life must have been back here for those people. They had a kiva, like many of the Puebloan peoples. The walls that you're seeing here would have been smooth, plastered with mud, the brick lying underneath, providing a structure similar to how we make houses these days, where we provide wood or other structures and then others on the outside. Okay, so I'm up here in one of these cave shelters. It looks like they may have done fire in here, they may have had different ceremonies or whatever. They may have lived in here. What did they really need? They didn't really need a whole space because it's not like modern day, but if you look down below, I guess they had a choice. Maybe the other Pueblo site down there was down more in the valley, more accessible, but would that be more accessible to enemies? Would this cave shelter and I'll film it from the top or from the bottom, rather in just a second. Would that be more accessible or more protected from predators and enemies?

Speaker 1: 2:45

This right here is called the Talus House, the Talus House. It was actually built as a reconstruction in 1920. What the cliff dwellings may have looked like, you can't go in it, but you can stick your head in. I'll stick the camera in so you can see. Not a lot to it, no TV room, but built similar to today's adobe buildings that are built all over new mexico, where you have a brick structure underneath covered over by the mud, or in this what we call nowadays adobe, and you have, of course, the structure sticking out providing their support for the roof, and it continues, continues up there. So it's about a. It's about, I'd say, two and a half story tall building, but it's a reconstruction built in the 20s.

Speaker 1: 3:30

If you look back from this point, you can see Freehold East Canyon. If you look, following the trees down the gully there there is a large amount of ponderosa and other trees that are following the creek because the creek goes through there, the Freeholies Creek and you can see the road where you go in and out of the visitor center area. Yeah, so I'm inside a bigger cave dwelling. I would imagine they draped the entrances with animal skins or something like that to protect them from the wind and the weather and keep it warmer in here, but I'm not sure about that. I don't really know no mention of that, but that just makes sense to me. Can't see my mom, but she's sitting right down behind these rocks here. Better view of the canyon. I feel like I would be more protected from things up here rather than down below in the valley.

Speaker 1: 4:28

Now, with the view of the different dwellings, think about the average life of the Puebloan person. According to the brochure, the trail guide, you're looking at an age for most people, maximum age expectancy of 35. A lot of arthritis, a lot of dental problems. People died from childbirth and if you were a child, there was no guarantee that you were going to make it up through adulthood. So it was a tough life, lots of hard work and as a civilization I feel like we've come a long way in some ways and maybe not so long in other ways. So you can see the outside of this, but you can't really see the inside.

Speaker 1: 5:16

This is called Cave Kiva here and unfortunately right now it's closed to vandalism and you can see it's been reconstructed, it's replastered and smoked by the National Park Service on a regular basis to remove graffiti and right now it's been closed due to vandalism. And if you can see, in there there are small depressions in the floor. There's indications in this kiva that there was weaving done. Ceremonial weaving was done by men, but now weaving is done by both men and women. And actually, before we get to the ending, let's fast forward to the overlook. Straight ahead you have the valley and on the other side of this, mesa here, you have the San Miguel Mountains which stick up over the top, over here, and then down in the valley. Of course that's where we were hiking. There was quite a fire that burned here over the past several years In 1997, you had the La Mesa Fire which burned 14,265 acres. The Dome Fire, which burned 16,800 acres, some in the park, some on the surrounding terrain, which I'm assuming is Forest Service. But man, what a beautiful view of the surrounding terrain, which I'm assuming is for service, but man, what a beautiful view of the surrounding terrain.

Speaker 1: 6:49

Now back to the ending. All right, finishing up the trail today. My mom just hit the restroom, but she said out of zero to five. She said it was a three and a half as far as her difficulty, and she 76, interestingly enough, old payphone here. Some of y'all probably never seen one of those working, but when I was younger, before cell phones were such a rage, they're payphones anyway. What an interesting and unique park. Now, a lot of this park, of course, is considered a wilderness area, so you do have to get special permits to access that. There are no cost, but they are pretty amazing. And as we end this today and it's raining, which is unusual, I'm going to say I hope you enjoyed this little walk to some of the cliff dwelling sites here at Bandelier National Monument and stay tuned for more stuff. If you like this video, make sure to give it a thumbs up and leave any comments or questions you have below. No-transcript.