El Cuartelejo
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El Cuartelejo
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Ruins of El Quartelejo
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| Nearest city | Scott City, Kansas |
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| Coordinates | 38°40′41″N 100°54′51″W / 38.67806°N 100.91417°WCoordinates: 38°40′41″N 100°54′51″W / 38.67806°N 100.91417°W |
| Built | 1650 |
| NRHP reference # | 66000351 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | October 15, 1966 |
| Designated NHLD | July 19, 1964 |
El Quartelejo, or El Cuartelejo (from Spanish cuartelejo, meaning far quarter or district) is the name given to the archeological remains of the northernmost Indian pueblo and the only known pueblo in Kansas. Located in Lake Scott State Park, the remains of the stone and adobe pueblo are situated north of Scott City, Kansas, on Ladder Creek.
There are two possibilities for the origin of El Quartelejo. In 1664 a group of Pueblo Indians left New Mexico and were later rounded up and brought back by the Spanish. They may have constructed El Quartelejo, but more likely is the second possibility. After the collapse of the Pueblo Revolt (1680–1692) most Pueblo Indians accepted the return of Spanish dominion over their lives. A group from the Taos and Picuris Pueblos, however, did not. In 1696 this group fled New Mexico in search of a new home among the Plains Apache. They moved to the Great Plains and evaded the Spanish for ten years. During the years that followed came reports of Frenchmen attempting to trade with the Cuartelejo Apaches. The ill-fated Villazur expedition stopped at El Cuartelejo on its way north to investigate the extent of French influence. Near the forks of the Platte River, the Pawnees killed most of the party, reportedly under French direction. In 1706 they were captured and forced back to New Mexico. When the Pueblo Indians were seized, the Spanish commander, Juan de Ulibarrí, wrote that they were dwelling in houses of a permanent type. The Spanish called this settlement El Quartelejo and the region around it was called San Luis Province.
No Indians lived in El Quartelejo after 1706, but Spanish and French occasionally occupied the structure as a frontier outpost during the 18th century. By the 1730s raids by Comanche, Ute, and Pawnee had decimated the Cuartelejo Apache. The survivors moved south to join the Jicarilla Apache at Pecos. However, after 1763 and the French retreat from the area, the pueblo was abandoned with only a mound and a few irrigation ditches remaining. Eventually, its walls decayed and the structure was buried by drifting soil.
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Wikipedia