Located at Laguna is the San Jose de Laguna mission, built in 1699. The plaster on the building is native earth. Indian symbols are painted on the ceiling of the chancel, and a large picture of St. Joseph done on elk skin hangs on the reredos. The halos on the saints are triangular rather than circular. The altar is covered with animal skins painted with Christian symbols.
Nambé is one of the smallest of the pueblos but is located in an area noted for its scenic beauty and climate. Its population is less than 200. It was not always so small; during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the population was greatly reduced by intertribal war and witchcraft executions. The Nambé people played an active role in the pueblo rebellion of 1680, murdering their priest and destroying their church.
The original church at Nambé was one of the first missions founded after the establishment of the first European settlement of San Gabriel at San Juan in 1598. Destroyed in 1680, it was rebuilt in 1696. In 1729, the converts had increased to such numbers that a new church was required. This church remained in use until 1909 when, because of carelessness in keeping it in repair, the roof collapsed during a storm. The annual Nambé fiesta is held in early October.
Picurís is seldom visited by the tourist, for it lies in the mountains forty miles north of Santa Fe and can only be reached over a gravel road. The people of Picurís were among the most warlike of the normally peaceful pueblo peoples. They participated actively in the pueblo rebellion in 1680, killing their priest and all the Spaniards in the vicinity. They also participated in the battle for Santa Fe which broke Spanish power in New Mexico until 1692. After the revolt, fear of the Spanish caused them to abandon their village until they were induced to return in 1706. The population of Picurís is very small, being slightly more than 100.
One of the few old missions left in New Mexico, the San Lorenzo de Picurís church shows the strange mixture of Spanish and Indian traditions. Near the door is a human skull covered with an old cloth, but unfortunately, its story is lost to antiquity.
An interesting feature at Picurís is the unusual construction seen in some of the buildings. Made of puddled adobe, they are the oldest still standing of any pueblo in the Rio Grande Valley. The buildings were made by pouring adobe mud into wall forms. This is the same kind of construction that is found at Casa Grande, Arizona, one of the significant prehistoric ruins in the United States.