Prior to the arrival of Europeans in New Mexico, there was a network of foot trails between Indian pueblos that criss-crossed the southern part of the State. These trails were used for trading purposes and provided linkage between the populated areas of the region.

During the time I was living in the Silver City area, I took an interest in the ancient pueblo ruins of early cultures in that part of the country, and tried to imagine the traffic on ancient trails that must have existed at that time to connect various ancient villages.

Considering the ancient sites and the trails that would have connected them, I conceived of the sites as points on the map, and that line segments projected between adjacent points on the map must have been trail routes. Over the years I began to see broader patterns that I believed would show the main trail routes that were used by the Indians for long distance travel and trade.

I could envision a great trail leading northwest from the Mimbres valley that would connect the Mimbres people with the Tularosa Anasazi villages further north, in the vicinity of the modern town of Reserve. I found that there were many ancient village sites along my proposed trail route, and indeed the frequency of ruins seemed much higher along the supposed trail route than in the adjacent lands where the elevations were higher and the topography more difficult for trail travel.

When the Coronado expedition crossed this area in 1540, we are given to understand by the narratives of expedition members that Coronado had employed native trail guides. Coronado’s army was traveling on an established main trail towards his destination in the Zuni province. Several scholars are currently engaged in an effort to document the exact trail routes followed by Coronado. I believe the expedition used part of the native trail system that we have already begun to map in the western New Mexico region.