New Mexico’s rarest hike goes down 130 feet into an ancient turquoise mine

Ancestral Puebloans’ 700-Year Turquoise Mining Operation at Chalchihuitl

Around 900 AD, Ancestral Puebloans found a hill full of blue-green stone in what’s now Los Cerrillos, New Mexico. They got to work with just stone tools and fire.

For seven hundred years, they dug and cracked and hammered. Soon, they had carved a pit 130 feet deep and 200 feet wide into solid rock.

This wasn’t just any mine – it was North America’s largest prehistoric mining site. In fact, scientists have tracked this exact turquoise to sites hundreds of miles away.

The sacred turquoise they pulled from Mount Chalchihuitl then moved along vast trade routes, reaching as far as Mexico and Canada.

The stunning remains of this ancient industry still dot the New Mexico landscape today, waiting for visitors to discover America’s turquoise legacy.

Blue Stone Fever Struck Native Americans Around 900 AD

Ancestral Puebloan people first spotted turquoise on Mount Chalchihuitl around 900 AD. They called this blue-green rock “chalchihuitl,” meaning “green stone” in Nahuatl.

Folks from Rio Grande and Galisteo Basin rushed to the site after hearing about it. They started by picking up pieces from the ground and breaking off bits from visible veins.

Native Miners Used Fire and Stone to Break Mountains

Miners figured out they could crack tough rock by lighting fires against it and throwing water on the hot surface. They worked with basic stone hammers, antler picks, and rough chisels to break apart the cracked rock.

Workers carried leather buckets full of ore on their backs and climbed in and out of deep holes on ladders made from notched logs.

Over 700 years, these miners moved thousands of tons of rock using just these simple tools and muscle power.

They Dug a Hole You Could Fit a 12-Story Building Inside

The main pit at Mount Chalchihuitl grew to 130 feet deep and 200 feet across, all dug by hand from solid rock.

Workers took out the entire north side of the hill, clearing material across a 20-acre area. They followed rich turquoise veins by digging narrow, twisting tunnels deep into the mountain.

The site became North America’s largest prehistoric mining operation, with more rock moved than any other ancient project on the continent.

Turquoise Traveled Farther Than Most People Ever Did

Cerrillos turquoise made its way to Chaco Canyon, 200 kilometers away, where it became key to that society’s wealth.

Trade routes stretched hundreds of kilometers west to California and Nevada, north to Colorado, and south into Mexico. Items moved both ways along these paths, with turquoise going out and other goods coming back.

The blue stone grew as valuable to Southwestern cultures as diamonds are today, with people trading food, tools, and basics to get even tiny pieces.

One Ancient City Collected Enough Turquoise to Fill a Small Museum

Diggers have found over 200,000 turquoise pieces in Chaco Canyon sites, with 65,000 from Pueblo Bonito alone. Skilled workers there turned raw Cerrillos turquoise into fancy beads and pendants up to 3 inches long.

The culture grew quickly between 1150-1280 AD thanks to wealth from the turquoise trade. Scientists used special tests to prove most Chacoan turquoise came from the Cerrillos deposits.

Mining Came in Waves Over Hundreds of Years

The first big mining push lasted from 1000-1200 AD with many different Native groups working the deposits.

A second major period started around 1300 AD with more organized digging methods. Mining camps and seasonal homes popped up near the turquoise sources to support the ongoing work.

People kept mining year after year, though the amount of activity went up and down over the centuries as demand changed.

A Massive Pueblo Town Took Over the Turquoise Business

After 1300 AD, the huge San Marcos Pueblo with 2,000 ground-floor rooms took control of mining operations.

The pueblo covered 60 acres with 38 separate room blocks, making it one of the largest old villages in the Southwest.

Diggers found San Marcos pottery in 75% of mining sites. The people there also made special lead-glazed pottery using minerals from the same area.

Spanish Settlers and Native Miners Worked Side by Side

Spanish newcomers arrived in the early 1600s and set up El Real de los Cerrillos, now America’s oldest known mining district.

For about 50 years, Spanish miners dug for silver and lead while Puebloans kept taking out turquoise without major fights.

The Spanish picked a mayor to run mining operations. Different groups worked various minerals from the same hills, each focused on what they wanted most.

A Bloody Revolt Shut Down the Ancient Mines

The violent Pueblo Revolt of 1680 ended the peaceful sharing of Cerrillos Hills resources. San Marcos Pueblo emptied as villagers ran to other towns like Santo Domingo and Cochiti.

Beaten Pueblo groups stopped both lead mining and making their traditional lead-glazed pottery.

The uprising closed the book on the major period of organized Native American turquoise mining that had lasted for centuries.

Small Groups Kept the Old Mining Ways Alive

Small bands of Puebloans sometimes returned to mine turquoise through the 1700s during Mexican rule. Groups of 3-4 Native Americans visited Mount Chalchihuitl and Turquoise Hill even into the American period.

Santo Domingo Pueblo claimed rights to the ancient mines, saying they got them from their ancestors.

Some people collected turquoise from old waste piles rather than digging new tunnels.

Modern Miners Found the Ancient Workings in the 1870s

A silver strike in the early 1870s brought a flood of American miners who opened a new chapter in Cerrillos mining.

Modern operations started at Turquoise Hill in 1875 and Mount Chalchihuitl a decade later. The Tiffany Company and its partners pulled out $2,000,000 worth of turquoise between 1892-1899.

These newcomers were amazed to find the extensive ancient workings, realizing they were walking in the footsteps of miners who had worked the same deposits centuries before.

Visiting Los Cerrillos, New Mexico

You can explore the ancient turquoise mining history at Los Cerrillos on Highway 14, just 28 miles south of Santa Fe.

Take turquoise mine tours at Casa Grande Trading Post on 37 Main Street for $75 per person (advance reservations required, maximum 4 people).

Hike the Jane Calvin Sanchez Trail through Cerrillos Hills State Park to see historic mining sites. The mining museum costs $4 and displays prehistoric tools used by Ancestral Puebloan miners.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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