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In the spring of 1605, a band of 30 Spanish soldiers set up camp amid the groves of pine and juniper at the base of a stunning mesa of golden sandstone in west-central New Mexico.

They had come far, these early explorers, for they were returning from a journey to the distant Gulf of California.

A year earlier, they had left northern New Mexico, crossed Arizona and then traveled south to the gulf to see first-hand the extent of Spain's vast Southwest holdings.

Now they were coming home, and the cliffs of the towering mesa offered a resting place sheltered from sun and wind. More importantly, there was a deep pool of fresh water in a catch-basin at the base of the cliffs.

It was a splendid camping place for the explorers and their leader, Don Juan de Oñate.

Before the Spaniards left the shelter of the mesa on the final miles to their capital at San Gabriel, north of present-day Santa Fe, Oñate decided to leave a record of his passing in the soft sandstone.
With the sharp point of a dagger, or perhaps a sword of fine Toledo steel, Oñate, or more likely a soldier on his order, carved in Spanish:

"Pasó por aqui, el adelantado Don Juan de Oñate del descubrimiento de la mar del sur a 16 de Abril de 1605."

In English, the inscription reads:

"Passed by here, the adelantado Don Juan de Oñate from the discovery of the sea of the south the 16th of April of 1605."

It was the beginning of a trend, for over the next 250 years, El Morro became a landmark and popular camping place on the old Zuni Trail, and many travelers would leave their names on the lower reaches of the mesa's soaring 200-foot cliffs. The result is a giant outdoor autograph album, which has given the mesa its nickname — Inscription Rock.

Today, El Morro National Monument, 43 miles southwest of Grants on the slopes of the Zuni Mountains, is perhaps the most unique historic site in western United States. More than 1,000 inscriptions left by Spanish soldiers, priests, governors and American travelers represent a virtual history book in stone and a striking reminder of the nation's cultural heritage.

Oñate, the conquistador who started it all, was a grandee of considerable wealth and influence in New Spain (Mexico) and son of Count Cristobal Oñate, a rich silver miner and former governor of the province of Nueva Galicia.

Don Juan also was a man thirsting for adventure, power and more wealth. In pursuit of these ambitions, he pursuaded the Count of Monterrey, Viceroy of New Spain, to allow him to colonize New Mexico, and in 1598, Oñate led the first permanent settlers into Spain's most distant North American province. He funded the new colony largely from his own pocket in exchange for being named governor, captain-general and adelantado, the latter a title that virtually made New Mexico Oñate's private feudal domain.

He established his capital near San Juan Pueblo, north of present-day Española, and called it San Gabriel. It would serve as New Mexico's seat of government until 1610, when Oñate's successor as governor, Don Pedro de Peralta, founded the permanent royal capital at Santa Fe.

While Oñate's inscription is the oldest found on El Morro, he was not the first Spaniard to see the mesa.

In March 1583, Diego Pérez de Luxán, who accompanied an exploring expedition led by Antonio de Espejo, recorded in his journal that the party had camped at a place he called El Estanque del Peñol (The Pool at the Great Rock). No record of this expedition's passing has been found on El Morro.

In the years after Oñate's journey, countless travelers followed the established trail from the Rio Grande Valley of New Mexico to the pueblo of Zuni, the Hopi villages in Arizona and on west. Many of these travelers stopped at El Morro (The Headland), drawn by the shelter of the great mesa and its always-dependable supply of fresh, cool water.

Like Oñate, they recorded their passing. Many left only a name and date, but others were not shy about proclaiming their deeds.

El Morro National Monument is located on an ancient east-west trail in western New Mexico. The main feature of this National Monument is a great sandstone promontory with a pool of water at its base. As a shaded oasis in the western U.S. desert, this site has seen many centuries of travelers. The Spaniard explorers called it El Morro (The Headland). The Zuni Indians call it "A'ts'ina" (Place of writings on the rock). Anglo-Americans called it Inscription Rock. Travelers left signatures, names, dates, and stories of their treks. While some of the inscriptions are fading, there are still many that can be seen today, some dating to the 17th century. Some petroglyphs and carvings were made by the Anasazi centuries before Europeans started making their mark. In 1906, U.S. federal law prohibited further carving.