Salinas Missions

During the 17th-century Spanish Franciscans visited the Salinas Valley in what is now Central New Mexico and subsequently established missions at the Pueblo Indian villages of Quarai, Abó, and Gran Quivira. Although colonization of this region was originally intended to bring wealth to the Spanish empire, it was quickly realized that great wealth was not likely, and the focus soon shifted to an effort to bring Christianity to the indigenous people of the region. By the late 17th century, the entire region was largely depopulated of both Indians and Spaniards.