The Mystery Pillars of New Mexico

I just found this on my FB feed from the Archeaology Conservancy(i'm a member), if it had been from another source I would have passed on by.

A set of mysterious stone pillars found in the state’s remote northern forest has sparked that question. They’re carved stone pillars covered with symbols that clearly have a history — but a history, so far, no one seems to know anything about.

One man has now made it his quest to find the answer. He’s hoping someone will step forward to help solve the mystery that spans across decades near Cimarron.

“I looked at it and with my previous experience, Middle East experience, I noticed that there were symbols on there that certainly did not have anything to do with New Mexico,” said Serna.

Serna says the hotel’s front clerk told him the pillar was a “Santa Fe Trail marker.”

“I knew that it wasn’t that, so I went back to it, and I looked at it all around, I took pictures of it, and I thought to myself, ‘Wow, here is a real mystery,’” Serna recalled.

While land grants were also common in the area, Serna doesn’t believe the pillars marked the boundary of any land grant, either.

Serna’s photos show the stone is covered with symbols that are carved into the rock. Predominantly, each side features a Templar cross. Serna believes the crosses are a major indicator that the pillars are from Middle East.

“I think that it was made in the Middle East and brought here, at some expense, at that time,” Serna said. “Then, when it was brought here, instead of dropping it off on the East Coast or in the Gulf of Mexico, or in the Pacific, it was brought all the way through the country, into northern New Mexico.”

While history mainly points to New Mexico’s first known foreign settlers coming from European countries, Louis thinks the Spanish and other Europeans didn’t make the pillar either.

“Since the theme is the Templar cross, then I think we’re talking about Jerusalem, the Middle East, the (Solomon) Temple,” said Serna.

The histroy mystery deepens,

“To say the least, I was amazed,” said Serna.

An archaeologist with the Questa District of the Carson National Forest found a second white stone pillar, similar in size and with similar markings in the area of the Valle Vidal, Carson National Forest.

“(The archaeologist) said it’s in a small cemetery,” said Serna, who won’t say exactly where it was found, for fear that others might vandalize the statue.

While the second known stone pillar is surrounded by what appear to be grave stones, Serna doesn’t think the pillar is a grave stone.

“Oh no, it’s absolutely it’s not,” said Serna. “For one thing, you know, obviously there’s no name on it and no birth date, no death date, no nothing like that.”

Serna also thinks that the other surrounding grave stones can be explained by superstition. He thinks settlers and fur trappers of the past may have thought the stone signified sacred ground, then buried people near the pillar.

“Everything about it just screams that it’s from the Middle East,” said Serna, of both of the pillars.

and

Louis believes both pillars carry religious symbols, starting with the peaks bordering the top of each stone.

“If you see pictures of the temple, I’m talking about Soloman’s Temple, you see these parapets at the top of it,” said Serna.

Serna says he has shown the photos to a rabbi in Albuquerque as well, who raised his own theories.

Pointing to a cup on one of the sides of the pillar sitting in in the St. James Hotel, Serna believes it might be a menorah.

“The earliest menorah had only two candle holders on it,” Serna said he was told by the rabbi he spoke with.

A small circle towards the top of the pillar at the St. James Hotel might also be an Egyptian sun symbol, according to Serna.

“Or, the all-seeing eye,” said Serna.

On the pillar still standing in the wild, Serna says an eight-point star is evident.

“The eight point star is an ancient symbol,” said Serna. “The Templar Knights, when they started their crusades, they took their eight-point star as their badge.”

So what does it all mean? Serna thinks the pillars could be a message.

“I think it’s a message, it’s a message for somebody that was to follow,” said Serna. “Possibly a colonization effort, and possibly, with that in mind, I think to myself, ‘Well, if I was going to do that, I would leave a marker for describing whatever.”

Mysterious Stone Pillars


Very Interesting stuff indeed, and like I said, the very mainstream, The Archeology Conservancy, picked up this story.

May not be a grave site, but maybe something is important there , maybe left by the Knight's Templar.

I'm a Spanish marker digger.....agree it's special...

What a world......must be strong stone, huh....bullet marks on it I wonder?

Someone has been here before, I find tons of spanish pyramid building stones with the typical 3/8 inch holes in the corners drilled for horse hair rope to move them.......and all...everyone of em...somebody carved a Jesus lying on his back and veras pointing a distance off. And Kings chairs and sombrero rocks

These are along the Red River....in Oklahoma....and were buried by dirt, but when you drive on the highway near there, you see this ridge that is missing a cut of dirt.....like 40 truck loads

I swear long ago someone made a stash pyramid style in a ravine along the Red River by Spanish Fort Texas....a big rock block secret structure .and by some means dragged fill for a mile from that spot one sees driving down the highway. What a world

a reply to: punkinworks10

I got some mixed feelings about this one. First, the man is showing photos only, not the objects. That's a bad sign.



By other hand, he mention symbols like the menorah and Egyptian sun. You know, Mormons believe some people from Israel came to America in biblical times.

I wish I could go to that area with my metal detector.

a reply to: Trueman

Good evening Trueman,

The first image is of the one still standing in-situ, at the secret location.

I get the impresion that there are more stones that have fallen over.

It has been dully catalogued by archeologists, but being that it is burial site, there will be no further work done at the site, due to NGPRA

The USFS is involved,

An archaeologist with the Questa District of the Carson National Forest found a second white stone pillar, similar in size and with similar markings in the area of the Valle Vidal, Carson National Forest.

“(The archaeologist) said it’s in a small cemetery,” said Serna, who won’t say exactly where it was found, for fear that others might vandalize the statue.

While the second known stone pillar is surrounded by what appear to be grave stones, Serna doesn’t think the pillar is a grave stone.

“Oh no, it’s absolutely it’s not,” said Serna. “For one thing, you know, obviously there’s no name on it and no birth date, no death date, no nothing like that.”

Serna also thinks that the other surrounding grave stones can be explained by superstition. He thinks settlers and fur trappers of the past may have thought the stone signified sacred ground, then buried people near the pillar.

“Everything about it just screams that it’s from the Middle East,” said Serna, of both of the pillars.

It does have some interesting imagery on it, seeing as how it is in northern NM, I could see it being a piece of early mormon work. It is loaded with Mormon iconography;
You have a temple, the "all seeing eye", although modern mormons dont use any crosss symbolism, I think there was in very early curch history, the eight pointed star, and that middle symbol could be a beehive.

Could it be a trail marker that someone decided to "fancy up" later? Could be an outright hoax of course. The marker is real, with the designs added later I mean. Interesting. I've seen Native American trail markers that were curved on top like that.

Modern, undoubtedly the creation of some eccentric.

Yes, up there.....but the logistics of getting it then trapsin out to the boondocks....

a reply to: punkinworks10

The in situ photo has a problem with the shadows, notice the red marks I did.

They're hiding something. They might be thinking there's a lead to something of great value, gold maybe.

“Oh no, it’s absolutely it’s not,” said Serna. “For one thing, you know, obviously there’s no name on it and no birth date, no death date, no nothing like that.”

I don't think I'd put much faith in any supposed archaeologist that makes statements like that.

a reply to: punkinworks10

I agree with Astyanax , it looks fairly modern and for me too clean to be of any great age.

There is also a discrepancy in the story , in the article Mr Serna says he was told the rancher found the stone when out looking for grazing land but in his own blog from 2014 he says this...

It seems that sometime before 1986, a prominent local rancher by the name of Milton McDaniel, who owned cattle grazing land in the mountains around the Valle Vidal, was approached by a hunter who knew him. He claimed to have found a curious carved stone "monument" on McDaniel property and he wanted permission to take it back with him to Texas.
sernabook.blogspot.co.uk...

That in itself is not an indication of anything but I think the disinterest of local archaeologists probably is.
The standing stone needs to be looked at by an expert to ascertain the depth at which it is buried and if there are any finds around its base to give a clue to its age.

I feel the 80s is probably about right looking at the pictures.

originally posted by: Trueman
a reply to: punkinworks10

The in situ photo has a problem with the shadows, notice the red marks I did.

They're hiding something. They might be thinking there's a lead to something of great value, gold maybe.

I believe that the shadows that you marked in the one photo may only indicate that there were multiple sources of light in the room . There is a shadow on the wall behind the stone too. Unless you know the details of the room lighting, shadows are not that reliable to prove a hoax.

a reply to: punkinworks10

Quite interesting to say the least.

Maybe they were put there to mark future "Money Pit" dig sites.

Carving looks very modern. Less than 100 years old.

a reply to: gortex

The discrepancy in the story of the location of the first one, is because they found it on public land and removing it was a Big NoNo.
Contrary to what most people think, USFS people are generally good people and actually have concern for their neighbors. Their low key approach is likey because they dont want to stir a hornets nest of regulation that would drop the hammer on a friend and neighbor.
As to the "new look" of the stone, if you look closely at the top third, it does have a "patina" of lichen and some staining, while it is clean below. That looks like the snow line, the dirty upper part is what doesnt get buried by the snow each winter.

a reply to: punkinworks10

I have a little book, somewhere that dates from the early days of the UFO visits around 1950. Its title isHe Walked the Americas. Basically, the author collected stories of legends of a white human that evidently visited many different groups of Native Americans and basically preached something akin to the Christian religion. Perhaps the stones date from such events? I rule nothing out.I tried to find the book yesterday and get some quotes from it but couldn't find it.

Personally, I'm not religious but yet firmly believe that the ETs have salted humanity over the centuries with scientific wisdom and religions to help pave the way toward just and decent civilizations. (I know, I know, both have been abused at the hands of humans. Yet we generally have allowed into our sphere of thinking that there is a right and a wrong way to operate. Had such teachings not been given in earlier times, who knows what direct path our animal thinking would have continued upon.)

a reply to: punkinworks10

I'm not casting aspersions on Mr Serna I'm sure he's looking for answers like all archaeologists amateur or professional.

a reply to: punkinworks10

I was planning a fishing trip up to Valle Vidal on opening day of trout season on 6/1...I'll ask around about the Pillars.

I think they are Penitente gravestones.

Runoff is very high; might wait until the 20th.

I live in southern Colorado. I didn't grow up here but it's the ancestral home of my father's family since forever. We're a mix of local Native American tribes, Spanish invaders and the Mexican people who originally inhabited the region.

Part of my family's heritage includes members that belonged to a secret religious sect know as
"Los Hermanos Penitente." The Penitente Brotherhood

Southern Colorado and northern New Mexico have a long and deep religious history. One culture after another has traversed this countryside and declared this land sacred, building their creation myths and other stories on the rocks and soils of this incredible landscape. The Spaniards came here originally in search of the priest-ruled cities of gold they called Cibola, where they expected to find thousands of natives waiting for baptism and the word of God. Looting all the gold was a side-effect of their form of "Christianizing." Another side effect of the Spanish method was the extreme stratification of society.

At the top of the societal heap were the Spanish nobility. Just below them were the full-blood Pueblo Indians. At the bottom of the heap were the genizaros, considered marginal people by the rest of society because of their slave and former slave status. The laws regarding slavery in Spanish New Mexico stipulated that slaves could only be kept in bondage for a period of ten or twenty years, unless their master died, in which case they were freed immediately. However, the Spanish societal structure was so rigid that it was almost impossible for a socially dead slave to become a living person after being freed. So all genizaros were classed as a distinct ethnic group separate from both the Pueblo Indians and the Spaniards. Over time, their celebrations of the Catholic rituals were separated from the other groups and they were, essentially, cast out of the Church.

You can read more about the traditions of Los Hermanos at the link. From the start they were a very secretive group and because of their misunderstood practices they were forced underground with their religion.

The "morada" or church was very important to the community. The small structure carved on the pillar resembles morada's I've seen. Small unassuming buildings usually tucked away far from prying eyes/persecution. There's an old abandoned morada not far from where I live.

They practiced self-flagellation using "Disciplinas" whips made from yucca stalks. I've seen some portrayed with multiple star shape tips, similar to the star on the pillar. Although the ones I've seen in person were simply made with knotted tips.

The style of cross on the pillar might be the type preferred by the Spanish/Penitente at the time, not sure. I'm fairly certain sacred markers for The Penitente would have no writing on them, symbols would tell the devout all they needed to know without revealing too much to passerbys.

It's possible the pillar isn't ancient, mid 1800's on. The environment is harsh here. Lots of snow in winter, summers can be scorching hot with high winds full of sand. Everything gets "sandblasted."

We frequent old out of the way cemeteries in search of my family's history. Some headstones are completely unreadable because of the sandblasting effect yet other things, wood/metal, are well preserved because of the arid environment. It's possible the pillar sat in a green, well protected valley away from wind/sand. It's hard telling how old it is without local accounts.

We find headstones with symbols only, no dates/names. I think it's because so many people back in the day were illiterate. The carvings on the pillar aren't typical to headstones we find, usually simple crosses. I've seen some rather fancy ones that must have taken lots of time but imo the carvings on the pillar convey a message.

Good find! The strangeness of it and the remote location in the southwest reminded me of "Los Hermanos." What an intriguing thread about my neck of the woods. I will keep a watchful eye out for similar pillars/symbols when we're out rambling.