The importance of Blackwater Draw was first recognized in 1929 by Ridgely Whiteman of Clovis, New Mexico. The Blackwater Locality #1 Site (located within Blackwater Draw near Portales, New Mexico) is one of the most well known and significant sites in North American archaeology. Early investigations at Blackwater Draw recovered evidence of a human occupation in association with Late Pleistocene fauna, including Columbian mammoth, camel, horse, bison, sabertooth cat, and dire wolf.
Since its discovery, the Blackwater Locality #1 Site has been a focal point for scientific investigations by academic institutions and organizations from across the nation. The Carnegie Institute, Smithsonian Institution, Academy of Natural Sciences, National Science Foundation, United States National Museum, National Geographic Society, and more than a dozen major universities either have funded or participated in research at Blackwater Draw. Additionally, due to the site's tremendous long-term potential for additional research and to public interest, the site was incorporated into the National Register of Historic Places in 1982, and has more recently been declared a National Historic Landmark.
The Blackwater Draw Museum was first opened to the public in 1969 primarily to display artifacts discovered at the Blackwater Locality #1 Site. Artifacts and displays describe and interpret life at the site from Clovis times (over 13,000 years ago) through the recent historic period. This ENMU-owned museum is under the direction of Dr. John Montgomery of Eastern New Mexico University of Portales.
Blackwater Draw Home
Blackwater Draw Contacts