The National Conservation Area, if protrayed by a satellite photo images, looks like a
huge lake. The imagery betrays only dominant landscape
features lava flows, mountain ranges, mesas that in reality mask
a myriad of mysteries and wonders. El Malpais means the badlands in the
Spanish language and is most commonly pronounced ell-mal-pie-ees.
Its volcanic features include jagged spatter cones, a lava tube cave system
extending at least 17 miles, and fragile ice caves. There is much good in
these badlands; the area offers diverse natural enviroments and tantalizing
evidence of American Indian and European history. More than mere artifacts,
these cultural resources are kept alive by the spiritual and physical
presence of contemporary Indian groups, including the Puebloan peoples of
Acoma, Laguna, and Zuni, and the Ramah Navajo. These American Indians made
their homes here and continue their traditional uses.
Paradoxically, the malpais landscape is at once primal, pristine,
ancient, and surprisingly modern. Here is a living remnant of the Old
Southwest approaching the 21st century as virtual terra incognita or
unknown lands. With continuing research, new knowledge is revealed. Lava
that poured out of McCarty´s Cone established a new land surface
2,000 to 3,000 years ago. Elsewhere, ancient Douglas-fir trees thrive in
the midst of rugged lava terrain. The diversity of life tells a story of
unique adaptation to a challenging environment. Past and present,
myth and reality mix here and will continue to mix for centuries to come.
Many landscape features in El Malpais bear Hawaiian names because early
scientific knowledge of volcanoes was developed in the Hawaiian islands.
Kipukas are undisturbed areas that lava flows encircled but did not cover.
These ecological islands of vegetation are living remnants of native plant
and animal cornmunities. Lava types bear
Hawaiian names, too. Smoother, ropy-textured lavas are pahoehoe,
pronounced pah-hoy-hoy. Sharp, jagged Iavas that rip up all but the
sturdiest hiking boots are pronounced ah-ah. By studying active volcanoes,
geologists can determine how similar features formed at El Malpais.
For more than 10,000 years people have interacted with the El Malpais
landscape. While truly ancient Indian artifacts have been found, peak human
occupation occurred between 950 and 1350. During this time, El Malpais was
at the fringe of a political and economic system centered in Chaco Canyon,
80 miles to the north. As participants in this system, the ancestors of
modern Puebtoans, called “Anasazi” by archeologists, established
outlier communities along the edges of the lava flows. When the Chacoan
system collapsed in the late 1 lOOs these outlying communities continued
to thrive. Although the Anasazi left El Malpais by the mid-i 300s they did
not disappear. From here they moved to the Acoma area and established a new
homeland. In 1540 Coronado´s expedition encountered two major Indian
pueblos—Zuniand Acoma —flanking El Malpais. When New Mexico became
a U.S. territory in 1848, Anglo explorers saw El Malpais as little more than
a hindrance to travel. Anglos did not move into El Malpais in significant
numbers until the 1930s, during the Great Depression. Many were homesteaders
or sheepherders escaping the flood of immigration to other parts of the West.
This huge monolith stands a few miles east of Acoma and has been commonly
identified by many as the "Enchanted Mesa." It is known as such because of the awe that it
creates. Enchanted Mesa stands approximately 400 feet above the surrounding
plain.
Throughout time El Malpais has posed an unrelenting challenge for Indian,
Spanish, and Anglo travelers. Today ancient trails serve to remind us how
those who crossed this rugged landscape persevered.