#17 El Morro NM

El Morro National Monument is a huge sandstone bluff that stands out in the desert and so has attracted people for centuries. The ancient decedents of the Zuni called this area home over 1,000 years ago. The Spanish are responsible for the earliest dateable inscriptions on 'Inscription Rock', and the Americans also carved their names on the rock, as the young country expanded westward. El Morro is Spanish for 'The Headland'. Today, inscriptions are visible on the rock from the easy loop trail that circles the front of the rock. A longer two mile trail leads to Indian Ruins on the other side of the Rock.

This carving in the rock is that of an two army men, one from North Carolina and one from Michigan. Lieutenant Breckenridge would die a few years later in the Civil War.

The rest of my pictures are posted at http://www.eriksmith.com/sw03/elmorro.htm.