Las Golondrinas: Walking the Trail

Friday, 10 July 2015 (Part II)
Santa Fe Skies RV Park — Santa Fe, New Mexico

After we completed our tour of the placitas [little plazas] at El Rancho de las Golondrinas [Ranch of the Swallows], and I went back and photographed the various rooms in each (post here), it was time to head off on the trail that meanders around the far end of the living history museum.

threshing floor (Left) and sorghum mill — first stop on the trail.

When the Curtin/Paloheimo families came up with the idea to convert the original ranch into an open air museum, they began by restoring or reconstructing whatever buildings were already on the property.  If the state of disrepair was too far gone, they rebuilt on the original foundations.  Some old structures — mostly log buildings — were grouped in the hills as a mountain village; a Peninte meeting house in Abiquiu was used as an inspiration to build a similar one; and rural buildings from elsewhere were carefully de-constructed, moved here, and put back together to represent buildings that had disappeared long ago.

We started off to the left of the Baca Placita as a sign at the other end of the trail said steep hill; not sure it really was … but it worked out as the sun was behind us for most of the way and not shining in our eyes.

Syrup made from sorghum cane was a staple in cooking.  Unlike An earlier
version, which required the cane to be pounded in a trough, the new mill
used burro-turned rollers to press out the juice from the cane.

The interpretive guide explained that there were four steps to tanning hides: (1)
scraping to remove tissue and hair; (2) softening by applying an agent or rubbing with
animal brains/plants; (3) stretching to break down and continue to soften the hide; and
(4) waterproofing/coloring the hide by suspending it over a fire.  Once tanned, the hides
were used to make clothes, and were also traded with other colonists or Indians.

Walking past fields planted with traditional crops and watered by an acequia [irrigation ditch], we passed one of the mills on the grounds and continued up towards another building.  Here we encountered a group of people dispersed around the area, each painting a scene that had caught their eye.  One of the women we spoke to said they had come from Albuquerque.  Even with the harsh mid-day light that had me limiting my shutter clicks, they certainly had a nice place for the workshop outing.

The Talpa Mill has a horizontal wheel hidden from view behind and under the building.
It wasn’t the mill, which is the most primitive of the ones on the property, that caught
my eye so much as the beautifully textured bark of the tree that provided shade over it.

Originally a barn, the blacksmith shop was vital to life in New Mexico.  A blacksmith had to
serve as an apprentice for many years before he became a master.  He was often an inventor,
finding solutions for needed tools and fabricating them.  He often served as a farrier and
veterinarian.  The forge here is made of adobe, and the bellows is made of leather and wood.

Brought here from Truchas, New Mexico, this mill was reconstructed on the site where
the original Las Golondrinas Mill, mentioned in wills and documents, was situated. 

Past the vineyards, which produced grapes that were used to make wine as early as 1629, we found the Ratón Schoolhouse.  Here an interpretive guide told us a bit about schooling in the 19th century, including how students of all ages were taught together in one room, with the older students often teaching the younger students.

The 102 year-old log building was originally built as a home that, in 1880, was
converted into a two-room English language schoolhouse that provided
accommodations for the teacher.  That’s what I call living on the job!

The schedule from 1827 shows that the school day was from 6:00a to 6:00p … a 12-hour
day that started with a three hour “prayers and confessions” period and included
a two-hour lunch as the students had to walk home and back for their mid-day meal.
By 1885, the school day was reduced, ending around 3:00p, but students still got
a two-hour lunch period since few of them brought their meal with them.

Period-appropriate details From the walls and bookshelves in the school room.
The map dates from 1857; and at least some of the books were published in the 19th century.

Simply furnished and convenient to the adjacent school room, this is where the teacher lived.

One of the interesting buildings on the trail is the Morada de la Conquistadora … or the Penitente Meeting House, built atop a hill symbolically named El Calvario [Calvary].  No photographs were allowed inside … the only building on the museum grounds with such a restriction.

The interpretive guide, who we later learned is himself a member of what was once a secret society, explained that the fundamental principle of the Penitentes is “… that sin can only be expiated by suffering, and that forgiveness can most surely be obtained by self-inflicted torture. …”  He went on to talk about some of the tenets of the society, and described how these lay members of the Catholic Church did the social work in outlying areas where there were no priests.  He wrapped up by showing us the small room where replica crosses were stored.  These crosses were carried by believers as a form of penance during Holy Week.

The official name of the Penitentes was The Brotherhood of Our Father, Jesus of Nazareth.
They were known for their good works in the communities in which they lived.  built in
1972, the morada consists of three rooms: the chapel, dining room, and storeroom.

Photographed with the permission of the clerk who found these images of the
interior of the Penitente Morada for me in a book sold in the museum gift shop.

Curious about the groups of crosses we saw at a spot on the trail, I asked our Penitente guide about them.  He said they were “Resting Places,” not cemeteries as no one was buried in these spots.  Rather, they were places where mourners carrying caskets to the cemetery would stop to rest.  They would erect a cross and add a rock to a growing mound of them before moving on.

Left: A resting place was literally where people carrying caskets would stop to rest.
Right: A representative cemetery is marked with camposanto [burial ground] crosses.

Las Golondrinas has been — and continues to be — used as a film set.  Often, the crews just use the existing buildings.  But sometimes, a period-appropriate structure will be built by the film company.  Such was the house we came across as we continued our walk from the morada towards the big mill.

The Madrid House was built in 1978 for the filming of Butch and Sundance: The Early Days.
Since all the filming was done inside or in front of the house, the back of the building
was never completed.  The back was fenced off, so I couldn’t walk there, but a peek …

… through one of the windows revealed a bedroom with 19th century furnishings.

The millpond, which lies between the Madrid House and the mill that was our
next stop, was covered with fluffy pollen.  There was so much of this
stuff flying around that at times it looked like it was snowing.

Named for the town from which it was transported, the Sapelló Mill is the biggest
of the four mills at Las Golondrinas.  It is an example of a vertical-wheel mill.

The mill ground flour that was sifted into fine, medium, coarse, and bran …
the latter was used as animal feed.

The Sierra Village is a collection of buildings designed to show what life in the high
sierras of New Mexico was like.  Visible in the panorama (L to R): the grandmother’s
house; the simple home … representing the structure that would have been built
when the family first arrived; the corrals/pigpens/chicken coops.  Not pictured,
but Completing the Sierra Village set up ... the storage building and the family
home that would have been built after the family became better established.

The Mora House is a re-creation of the type of home that would have been built
after the family became more established.  This open style of construction
signals the end of the period of raiding and warfare.  Of the two doors, the one
on the right goes into the kitchen; the one on the left accesses the entryway.

In comparison to some of the earlier households, more of the furnishings in the
period represented by the Mora House would have been store-bought rather than homemade.

Casa de la Abuelito [Grandmother’s House] represents the house in which
the elderly members of the household might live in close proximity to the main house. 

Leaving the Sierra Village behind, we spot the Penitente Morada sitting on Calvary Hill.

Our visit to the open air museum ended indoors with a quick look at the items on display in the exhibit hall.  I’ll post pictures of a couple of the items and let you check out some of the other photographs in my online gallery if you so choose … starting with this one.

Oxen were used to power the carretas [carts] that carried goods along
the Camino Real.  Simple leather packs and bags, and Large six-board chests
and woven leather chests like the one pictured here, were used to carry goods
north from central Mexico and became treasured heirlooms for New Mexican families.

Left: Mexican Serape — 20th Century.  Wool, natural colors, and synthetic dyes.

Right: A large cupboard like this would have been used to store treasured household
goods and clothing. The chair was a rare item in the early colonial home, but became
more popular as time went on.  The blanket is 19th century Colcha embroidery
with natural and synthetic dyed wool on manufactured woven cotton.

We left the house this morning hoping, as we always do, that we would enjoy our chosen activity.  The visit to the open air museum exceeded our expectations in that department — as evidenced by the fact that we spent the entire day there.

I love how the clouds are suspended in the sky …
almost like they are tethered with invisible strings.

We have two more days in Santa Fe before we move on.  After two full days of exploring, though, I think we’re going to take tomorrow off from sightseeing and give our minds — not to mention our feet — a break.

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