Gran Quivira Ruins

Neither name on this panel is the pueblo's own. Its Tompiro name was probably Cueloze. Juan de Oñate called it the Great Pueblo of the Humanas in 1598, for the people's custom of painting stripes on or tattooing their faces, and the name Gran Quivira came in the 1800s, when treasure hunters took the ruin for Quivira, the city of gold Coronado never found; no treasure turned up, but the name stuck. In the famine of the late 1660s more than 450 people here died of hunger, and by about 1672 the pueblo was empty.

What the plaque says

Official Scenic Historic Marker Gran Quivira Ruins Salinas National Monument - 1 Mile South - The Tompiro Indian "Pueblo de las Humanas" (ca. 1300-1670s) had 1,500 to 2,000 inhabitants and was a trading center with Plains Indians. The village evolved for centuries on the fringe of the Mogollon and Anasazi cultures. There are two large Spanish Franciscan mission churches, San Isidro built in 1629, and San Buenaventura constructed in 1659.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument — 26 mi
  Three Spanish mission churches raised over Tiwa and Tompiro pueblos east of the Manzano Mountains in the 1600s, each of its own stone, and one never finished.

More markers nearby

• Mountainair — 19 mi
• Mountainair — 19 mi
• Abó Ruins — 20 mi
• Cedarvale — 24 mi