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6 unusual facts about Bandelier National Monument


Bandelier National Monument

Bandelier was designated by President Woodrow Wilson as a National Monument on February 11, 1916, and named for Adolph Bandelier, a Swiss anthropologist who researched the cultures of the area and supported preservation of the sites.

Based on documentation and research by Bandelier, there was support for preserving the area and President Woodrow Wilson signed the legislation creating the monument in 1916.

Casein paint

Santa Clara Pueblo artist Pablita Velarde created a series of more than 70 paintings of everyday Native American life in New Mexico for Bandelier National Monument between 1937 and 1943, painted mostly on masonite using casein paints.

New Mexico State Road 4

On the east side of the Jemez Mountains, it descends even more steeply, on a series of hairpin turns offering spectacular views into Frijoles Canyon in Bandelier National Monument, to a junction with NM 501 (NM 502 in some references, but NM 501 is correct) leading east into the town of Los Alamos.

Bandelier National Monument, with hiking and Nordic skiing trails to Frijoles Canyon, Cerro Grande (highest summit in the monument, at 10,199 feet), and the Tsankawi outlier reachable from trailheads at turnouts.

It is significant as the main access route (in conjunction with New Mexico State Road 501 and New Mexico State Road 502) connecting the remote town of Los Alamos, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and Bandelier National Monument to other, more major highways in New Mexico.


Helmuth Naumer

In 1933, during the Great Depression, the Civilian Conservation Corps constructed various park buildings in Frijoles Canyon in Bandelier National Monument including a visitor centre as part of the federal Works Progress Administration's employment program.


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