Quarai is located 8 miles north of Mountainair, near the base of the Manzano Mountains and it sports a fantastic short hike through the Church and Convent known as Nuestra Señora de la Purísima Concepción de Quarai. Cottonwoods surround the site which curiously has a kiva WITHIN the convent; a very rare occurrence in Spanish New Mexico. Out of the three Salinas Ruins Units, Quarai has the most complete church remaining.

The first structures at Quarai were built in the 1300s by Tiguex speaking peoples who left the Four Corners after the Anasazi Civil War. But by 1400, it was abandoned. Then, 100 years later, in 1500, the Puebloans returned. 98 years later, Oñate would come to the Pueblo to accept their submission to Spanish authority. At that time it was quite thriving with Puebloans who traded with plains tribes and northern Puebloans. They harvested salt from nearby dried lakes. The Spanish Religious Catholics would arrive in 1626 and begin construction of the convent and Church. By 1675, after a severe drought and near constant Apache attacks, the Mission and the Pueblo were abandoned by the Spanish and Puebloans.

In the 1820s, some Spanish ranchers reoccupied the site and a new church was almost built. Unfortunately, the past echoed and the site was again abandoned in the 1830s after a rather harsh and violent raid by Apaches which caved in the church’s roof.

For more information on the Puebloans migration to the area, the Spanish migration to the area, and the region as a whole, check out my podcast which covers all of this extensively.