Guadalupe Mountains National Park - History & Culture (U.S. National Park Service)

Many interesting pictographs, painted more than a hundred years ago, have weathered the elements of time

NPS Photo

Pictographs still remain today in several areas of the park, and though we can often clearly identify what they depict, we can only guess at what they meant.

For over 10,000 years, the Guadalupes Mountains have witnessed a constant stream of human history, including bloody conflicts between Mescalero Apaches and Buffalo Soldiers, the passing of the Butterfield Overland Mail, the coming of ranchers and settlers, and finally, the making of a national park. Today, the history is preserved at the Frijole and Williams Ranches, and at the ruins of the Pinery Station.

Protecting Cultural Resources

It is always exciting to discover evidence left behind by earlier inhabitants, but in order to preserve our history, and continue to interpret the cultures that came before us, it is imperative that all cultural and historic artifacts and evidence remain undisturbed. Please help us preserve these items. It is illegal to collect them.