The mission and convento at Quarai is the northern most of the three missions that make up the Salinas Missions National Monument. It is located about 8 miles north of the present day town of Mountanair, New Mexico.
Quarai Mission looking east
Quarai consists of a 17th century Spanish mission and convento, plus the remains of a large pueblo complex that was first occupied around 1300 AD and was finally abandoned when the mission was deserted. The 200 or so remaining families at Quarai in 1675 eventually migrated to the Rio Grande valley south of Albuquerque.
The first mention of the pueblos at Quarai comes from late 16th century Spanish documents. These documents referred to these as the villages of the “Cuarac.”
Missionary activities began at Quarai when the first Franciscan priests arrived in 1626. Construction of the mission “Nuestra Senora de la Purisma Concepcion de Quarai” began shortly after their arrival and was completed in 1632. Archeological research at Quarai indicates a small chapel was built and in service while the main structure was under construction.
The main mission at Quarai is believed to be the largest example of a wall and beam structure in North America. Walls range in thickness from three to six feet, and the height of the mission is estimated to be at least 40 feet. After abandonment, the mission remained remarkably well preserved for over a century. The building’s roof remained intact into the very early nineteenth century.
Quarai was the last of the missions to be abandoned in 1675. The causes of the abandonment were many. There was considerable “civil and ecclesiastic unrest” in the region, compounded by continuous Apache raids.
Severe droughts, starting in the 1660’s in New Mexico in general and the Salinas area in particular also took its toll on the native and Spanish populations. Juan Bernal, the New Mexico agent for the Inquisition stationed at Quarai wrote in 1669:
“…that in the past three years, since 1666, no harvests had been reaped, and that at the Pueblo de las Humanas (Gran Quiovera), in the past year, 1668, a great many Indians perished of hunger, lying dead along the roads, in the ravines, and in their huts. There were pueblos (as instance Humanas) where more than 450 died of hunger. The same calamity still prevails, for because of lack of mony, there is not a fanega of corn or of wheat in the whole kingdom, so that for two years the food of Spaniards, men and women alike, has been the hides of cattle which they had in their houses.
The mission at Gran Quivera was the first to be permanently abandoned, followed by the mission at Abo. A steady supply of water from a spring at Quarai lessened the impact of the drought for while, but finally, in 1675, Quarai finally succumbed to the drought and strife,
In some respects the unrest and hardships faced by the Salinas pueblos would be repeated in areas along the Rio Grande pueblos, leading to the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 that forced the Spanish out of New Mexico, and saw the destruction of Spanish missions across the area. The Salinas missions of Abo, Gran Quivera, and Quarai are unique in that they escaped further destruction during the revolt, and among the few remaining examples of 17th century missions buildings in New Mexico.
Aerial view of Quarai