Anthropologists taking a different look at El Quartelejo
The history of the El Quartelejo ruins at Lake Scott State Park, while fascinating to archeologists, has seemed rather simple.
In a nutshell, the Taos Pueblo Indians of northern New Mexico traveled to the site 12 miles north of Scott City to escape Spanish persecution in about 1664 and remained for nearly 30 years.
After the Taos people were returned to their homeland by the Spanish, residents of the Picuris Pueblo chose to leave New Mexico for the same reason, traveling to the same site as previous Pueblo Indians, and remaining for 10 years (1696-1706) before being rounded up by the Spanish.
All that remains of this piece of history at Lake Scott is the famous El Quartelejo ruins which were first excavated in 1898.
However, that historical account, which has been generally accepted for about 120 years, may not be entirely accurate.
Two professors from the University of Iowa are hoping that modern technology can help shed new light on the El Quartelejo ruins and provide a more complete account of how many Pueblo Indians may have lived at the Lake Scott site, the extent to which they co-existed with Plains Indians in this area, and perhaps confirm the existence of additional structures buried in the immediate area.
The husband and wife team of Matt Hill and Margaret Beck have been familiar with El Quartelejo from their days at the University of Kansas where they earned master’s degrees.
“We learned about the history of El Quartelejo from the perspective of the Plains Indians and researchers who had excavated the site,” says Beck.
After relocating to Tucson, Ariz., and attending the University of Arizona, the two anthropologists gained a new perspective on the Pueblo Revolt (1680-92) and the migration of people from New Mexico.
“This was a regional upheaval that affected more than the Pueblos and the Taos Indians,” she explains.
From all indications, there were “waves of refugees” leaving New Mexico, with some making it as far as El Quartelejo. How many actually made it this far, and how they interacted with Native Americans already here, still remains a mystery.
Underground Images
With the aid of modern technology, Hill and Beck, along with two research assistants, are spending two weeks at Lake Scott trying to gain a better picture of what happened. The images they collect, however, have nothing to do with the area’s rugged landscape, but are providing a better idea of what’s below the surface.
Through the use of ground penetrating radar they can identify underlying features while electromagnetic sensors help identify previous excavations - by Pueblo Indians and archeologists. These are in addition to detailed topography readings that identify changes in the landscape that were man-made.
“The more techniques we use the more complete our composite map,” notes Hill who, along with his wife, have been at El Quartelejo briefly during each of the two previous summers.
With the help of subsurface images from previous visits to El Quartelejo, Hill and Beck have a starting point as to what areas have been surveyed and which sites hold particular interest. The images offer an indication of potential masonry foundations and depressions which could have been the site of Apache dwellings that were virtually located next door to El Quartelejo.
“The features we’ve seen suggest there were other houses around here, but not of masonry,” says Hill.
Technology allows the team to pinpoint areas of interest, but it doesn’t eliminate the need for excavating to see what is actually hidden below the surface.
“Our plans are to do some digging on a very small scale this year, but anything we do, now or in the future, will be as limited as possible,” Hill emphasizes.
The couple will put together a report in hopes it will create enough interest to attract funding and allow a more extensive study of the site in the future.
Hill confirms there is strong reason to believe that at least one other structure, similar to El Quartelejo, exists within the state park. They are also looking at the possibility of researching other Pueblo sites that are believed to be located in northeast New Mexico and southwest Colorado.
While they aren’t ruling out the possibility, there’s no reason to suspect at this time there is another site like El Quartelejo in Kansas.
History is Vague
Initially, the primary goal is to learn more about El Quartelejo’s age and what other occupants may have used the site.
There’s no doubt the masonry construction is by Pueblo Indians, but Hill and Beck say there is very little documented history about El Quartelejo.
The Picuris were believed to be about 5,000 strong at the time of the Pueblo Revolt. Depending on how many of them left New Mexico in 1696, this could have meant a pretty significant migration of Picuris and Taos Indians through New Mexico, Colorado and into Kansas.
Not all of these Pueblo Indians may have been moving because of the revolt and the migration may have lasted longer than has been assumed - possibly covering a time frame much longer than 10 years.
For example, some pottery which has been uncovered at El Quartelejo “is too late to be associated with the time period of the revolt,” Beck says. “But it definitely has its origins from the southwest Pueblo tribes.
“We’re trying to figure out how old this site is and its connection to the Pueblo Revolt,” she says. “How many times it has been occupied over the years and for how long?”
Despite its listing as a National Historic Site, Hill and Beck were surprised to discover how little was known about El Quartelejo by colleagues in the Southwest.
“They know of the revolt, but they are amazed to learn about El Quartelejo,” Hill says.
So why the effort now to gain a better understanding of a site that archeologists have excavated, off and on, for more than a century?
Now that the couple are on the staff at the University of Iowa, it’s a little easier to visit the site and conduct research on a limited budget.
The exciting part for the anthropologists and their team is the chance to create a more complete history of the Pueblo Revolt and the connection with El Quartelejo.
“It’s a chance to bring together two historical perspectives,” says graduate student Sarah Trabert, a Dodge City native. “Some of the premier Plains archeologists have been here over the years. We want to build on what they’ve learned. This is a very complex site.”