Summary
Ojo Caliente's hot springs have soothed people for centuries
LONG BEFORE THE SPANIARDS discovered this area, the waters at Ojo Caliente Mineral Springs Resort - with its remarkable combination of arsenic, iron, soda and lithia - have been erupting from the Earth. A favorite of locals, these springs have special meaning for the descendants of those who inhabited the Ojo Caliente drainage from the late 1300s until the early 1500s. "We live at the gateway to prehistoric New Mexico and have numerous sacred sites that we're very closely connected to and visit often," said Herman Agoyo, former governor of Ohkay Owingeh (formerly San Juan Pueblo), one of several nearby Indian pueblos. Living in such close proximity to these sites has taught the Pueblo people much about themselves, individually and as tribes. "Everything - our legends, our ceremonies - is connected to these places. It's a continuous reminder of where we came from," Agoyo said. New Mexico's first territorial representative, Antonio Joseph, opened the first commercial health spa at this site in 1860. By the 1930s, Ojo Caliente Resort was a renowned sanitarium where the famous and the infamous came seeking health cures. Since that time generations have been faithfully making the pilgrimage to these legendary springs. The Mission-revival style adobe hotel - built in 1916 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places - sets the leisurely pace. There are no TVs, phones or showers in the rooms. Guests use the bathhouses adjacent to the seven mineral pools. Cottage rentals also are available, and many people just make a day trip from Santa Fe, about an hour away. There's more to do than soak in the admittedly appealing waters, though. To best appreciate Ojo Caliente, visitors need take an anthropological journey of discovery. Within a five- mile radius of the springs along the Rio Ojo Caliente are five unexcavated, ancient Pueblo ruins dating to 1400 A.D. Situated on a mesa overlooking the resort, Posi Pueblo was home to thousands of people in the 12th century. Surface remains indicate the site was abandoned soon after 1500. The village was likely silent, its adobe walls crumbling, when the first Spanish entered the valley in 1540. Discover the secrets of these vanished people by joining archaeologist Martha Yates on her "hikes into antiquity." From the front porch of the historic hotel, you'll hike along beautiful rivers to these ancient sites and be able to picture life here half a millennium ago. In addition to seeing petroglyphs, kivas and plazas, you'll explore ancient agricultural fields and learn about dry-farming techniques once used by Pueblo farmers. "Sometimes we look at these things as 'New Age' or 'alternative'" Yates said, "but it is important to remember that this is very much connected to the ancient people." Paul Williams, an archaeologist with the Bureau of Land Management, said that Posi's size and complexity make it one of the largest Pueblo ruins in the state. "This area is part of what might be called the homeland of the Tewa," Williams said. "If you look at archaeology in the Southwest, usually we use names like Anasazi or Ancestral Puebloan. Here we use the word Tewa, because we know they lived here and still do," he said. "It's not some mysterious group that's gone; they're our neighbors down the river."See the full content of this document
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Pools of Reflection
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OJO CALIENTE MINERAL SPRINGS RESORT is about an hour north of Santa Fe. To get th...See the full content of this document
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