Gould Pass Pueblito

Gould Pass Pueblito Map
This pueblito is located on a sandstone outcrop at the southeastern edge of a low butte of Encinada Mesa which separates Largo and Carrizo Canyons near Gould Pass. Several other pueblitos including Adolfo Canyon and Gomez Canyon can be seen from this site and are visible through loopholes. Loopholes are small observation ports in the walls that are aligned to provide views of access routes or other surrounding sites (Powers and Johnson 1987). Gobernador Knob, the sacred emergence point of the Navajo, can also be seen from this site (Historic American Buildings Survey 1933).

The pueblito consists of a two-room single-story structure, remnants of a third masonry structure, and two forked-pole hogans. Room 1 appears to have burned as evidence of burning on the wall and charred roof timbers below the pueblito. The roof of Room 2 remains intact, along with shelves and vertical pole wall (Powers and Johnson 1987).

Ceramic Assemblage: Field observations of ceramics only noted Dinetah Gray. No puebloan ceramics have been documented at the site.

Tree-ring Analysis: Twenty tree-ring samples have been collected from the site. Two samples from a Hogan 2 and 18 from the pueblito. Wood species included juniper and pinyon and all samples showed evidence of metal ax cutting. Dates from the tree-ring samples suggest several possible interpretations. In general, it is likely the pueblito was constructed sometime between 1749 and 1751 with repair or remodeling occurring in 1753. The samples taken from the Hogan 2 was inconclusive and so the hogans may or may not be contemporaneous to the pueblito (Towner 2003).
Land Owner: Bureau of Land Management
Site Elevation: 6853 ft / 2089 m
Hiking Difficulty: Easy =
Someone in fair hiking condition;
Distance less than 400 feet;
Elevation gain less than 50 feet.
References:
Defensive Sites Of Dinetah Powers, Margaret A. and Byron P. Johnson 1987
Defensive Sites of Dinetah. New Mexico Bureau of Land Management Cultural Resources Series No. 2, 1987. U.S. Dept of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Albuquerque District.
Defending The Dinetah 2003 Towner, Ronald H. 2003
Defending the Dinetah: Pueblitos in the Ancestral Navajo Heartland. The University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City, Utah.
Gould Pass Pueblito
Gould Pass Pueblito
Gould Pass Pueblito