Echo Amphitheater is a natural

amphitheater An amphitheatre (British English) or amphitheater (American English; both ) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ...

located in the

Carson National Forest Carson National Forest is a national forest in northern New Mexico, United States. It encompasses 6,070 square kilometers (1.5 million acres) and is administered by the United States Forest Service. The Forest Service's "mixed use" policy allows ...

in northern

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. It is about north-northwest of the Ghost Ranch.

Legend

Sandstone cliffs near the Echo Amphitheater In the spring of 1861, a group of settlers from Iowa were farming in northern New Mexico when they were set upon by a band of

Navajo The Navajo (; British English: Navaho; nv, Diné or ') are a Native American people of the Southwestern United States. With more than 399,494 enrolled tribal members , the Navajo Nation is the largest federally recognized tribe in the United ...

who had ventured into the region. The settlers (one family was the Zendalters and another family was the Treblers) were taken to the top of the amphitheater and executed. According to a local folktale, their blood spilled into the amphitheater, staining its walls. Three years later, when the Navajo were being forced on the " Long Walk" to

Bosque Redondo Fort Sumner was a military fort in New Mexico Territory charged with the internment of Navajo and Mescalero Apache populations from 1863 to 1868 at nearby Bosque Redondo. History On October 31, 1862, Congress authorized the construction of For ...

by the U.S. Army, ten Navajo men were killed at the top of the amphitheater in retribution for the earlier deaths. Once again, blood spilled down the walls of the amphitheater. The blood seeped into the pores of the rock and dried and supposedly is still visible today. It is said that in the echoes returned from the cliff's walls one can hear the anguished cries of the dead.

Protest

upRock face and desert varnish in the Echo Amphitheater In October 1966, the

Alianza Federal de Mercedes Alianza Federal de Mercedes,Also referred to as: Alianza de Pueblos y Pobladores (The Alliance of Towns and Settlers) and Alianza de Pueblos Libres (The Alliance of Free Pueblos) which in English translates to Federal Land Grant Alliance, was a gro ...

, an organization dedicated to the restoration of certain land grants entrenched in the 1848

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ( es, Tratado de Guadalupe Hidalgo), officially the Treaty of Peace, Friendship, Limits, and Settlement between the United States of America and the United Mexican States, is the peace treaty that was signed on 2 ...

to descendants of then-Mexican citizens, occupied Echo Amphitheater in an attempt to create a land grant community. The occupants were evicted, after five days, for overstaying camping permits.

References

Landforms of Rio Arriba County, New Mexico Tourist attractions in Rio Arriba County, New Mexico Rock formations of New Mexico {{NewMexico-geo-stub