The Great Pecos Mission 1540-2000

The great Pecos Mission is now reduced to roofless red walls that loom over the surrounding countryside in Northern New Mexico. Each year thousands of visitors view the ruins and the earth-covered rubble of the pueblo it served. About 20 miles east of Santa Fe, the site is now protected by the National Park Service. But what was the role of the mission? What was its influence? Why does it still matter? When Spanish explorers first visited Pecos in 1540, they described the pueblo of about 2,000 p