Quarai Ruins

Quarai had a long life as a cared-for ruin before it was a national one. Major James Henry Carleton described it, as Qarra, in an 1855 pamphlet on his excursion to Abó, Quarai and Gran Quivira, among the first detailed accounts in English. The Museum of New Mexico took over its care in 1913, and it joined Gran Quivira and Abó in the national monument only in 1980 and 1981, renamed Salinas Pueblo Missions in 1988. Tiwa, the language of its people, is still spoken at Isleta Pueblo and by Tiwa families near El Paso.

What the plaque says

Official Scenic Historic Marker Quarai Ruins Salinas National Monument 1 Mile West On the edge of the Plains stands the abandoned Tiwa Pueblo Indian village of Quarai (ca. 1200-1670s), the southernmost of the Tiwa vil- lages, located along the eastern flanks of the Manzano Mountains. The Spanish Franciscan mission church of La Purisima Concepcion (1630) is the most complete re- maining example of the large Salinas churches.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument — 0.7 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 — 6.1 mi
• Mountainair — 6.2 mi
• Tajique — 11 mi
• Abó Ruins — 12 mi