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 persons as the "biggest and best" of the Indian communities they had yet seen. This eastern pueblo dominated the pass through the mountains between the Great Plains and the Rio Grande valley, controlling travel and trade over a large area of what is now New Mexico. In 1625, Franciscan missionaries completed the huge church at this site. From here they introduced Christianity and the heritage of medieval Spain, profoundly affecting the lives of the pueblo people. The church was destroyed during...

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