| The focal point of
Bandolier National Monument is Frijoles Canyon where Ancestral Puebloan
inhabitants lived nearly 1000 years ago. All of the canyon locations
in the southwest inhabited for hundreds of years were mysteriously
abandoned long ago, no doubt because of drought.
The canyon walls are composed of relatively soft tufa, rock formed
from ancient volcanic ash compacted over millions of years. Then
erosion mostly from water cut the canyon deeper and wider. |