Pueblo of Laguna

The pueblo's hilltop has a hole beside it now. In 1953 Anaconda leased Laguna land at Paguate for uranium, and the Jackpile-Paguate mine became the largest open-pit uranium mine in the world, some 24 million tons of ore from three pits and nine underground mines, with the village of Paguate about 2,000 feet from the edge. It closed on March 1, 1982. Laguna's own construction company finished reclaiming it in 1995, the first open-pit uranium mine anywhere to be reclaimed, and the EPA listed it as a Superfund site in 2013.

What the plaque says

Official Scenic Historic Marker Pueblo of Laguna Keresan speaking refugees from Santo Domingo, Acoma, Cochiti, and other pueblos founded Laguna after the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 and the Spanish reconquest of 1692. Named by the Spaniards for a marshy lake to the west, the pueblo still occupies its original hilltop site today.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Acoma Sky City — 12 mi
  Haak'u, the village on a sandstone mesa west of Albuquerque, seen only on the pueblo's own tours, with a mission whose roof beams were carried on foot from Mount Taylor.

More markers nearby

• Pueblo of Ácoma — steps away
• Old Acoma "Sky City" — 0.3 mi
• The Battle of Khe Sanh, Vietnam 1968 — 2.8 mi
• Old Acoma "Sky City" — 9.6 mi