El Rancho de las Golondrinas, in La Ciénega south of Santa Fe, preserves a historic ranch landscape along the Camino Real, where it once served as a paraje for travelers and caravans moving between Mexico City and the northern frontier. Important in the Spanish colonial era and visited in 1780 by Don Juan Bautista de Anza, the site later became a museum through preservation efforts begun after Leonora Frances Curtin and her mother bought the ranch in 1932. Opened in 1972, it interprets 18th- and 19th-century New Mexico, especially the Hispano heritage of the north, through restored buildings, traditional crafts, festivals, and its historic acequia system.