Chapter VII: Preface: To Third Edition (6)

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 Pueblo

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.

Pojoaque Pueblo

Pojoaque, though still listed among the Indian villages of New Mexico, is no longer populated by Indians. Two missions were established at Pojoaque in the early Spanish days, the first shortly after 1600. This was destroyed in the rebellion in 1680. Later, in 1706, a new church was constructed which is still in use. The Indian population of Pojoaque was gradually reduced until, in 1900, the few remaining families abandoned the village. Since that time, Spanish-American families have occupied the buildings. It is a picturesque village seldom seen, for it is hidden from the passing tourist by a hill. Yet some of the buildings in this ancient village date back to pre-Coronado times and are a significant part of the romance of New Mexico.

Sandia Pueblo

Sandia Pueblo is a remnant of the Tiguex villages visited by Coronado in 1540. A mission was created at Sandia shortly after the colonization by Oñate, and it was an important mission center until the Pueblo Revolt. After the revolt, Sandia peoples scattered rather than again submit to Spanish control. Many of them went to live with the Hopi and there founded the village of Payupki on the middle mesa, the walls of which can still be found. After 62 years, in 1742, a few families returned to the Rio Grande Valley to found the modern pueblo. The old mission remains visible, although reduced to a rubble of adobe. Sandia Pueblo remains a small village, containing less than 150 people.

San Felipe Pueblo

San Felipe is one of the most conservative of the pueblos and has retained much of its Indian heritage despite the impact of Spanish and American influences. It has a close affinity with its neighbors, particularly Santo Domingo only five miles distant. San Felipe was a well-established village when the Spanish first arrived. Its people joined in heartily when the pueblo uprising began in 1680 but abandoned their village during a Spanish counteroffensive in 1681 (which failed). When reconquest was completed in 1692, the people returned to their village. Thereafter, they remained friendly to the Spanish and suffered many attacks from the Navajo, who hated them for this loyalty.

One of the finest remaining structures showing early Franciscan mission architecture can be seen at the San Felipe church. The present church is not the original mission, for three different churches were located at San Felipe over the centuries. The first was built in 1605 and destroyed during the Pueblo Revolt. The second was built in a new part of the village in 1694, but shortly after 1700, the village was moved and a new church constructed. The latter church is the one now in use at San Felipe. On May 1, the nearly 1000 people of the pueblo celebrate their annual fiesta.

San Ildefonso Pueblo

San Ildefonso has gained fame throughout the world because of the excellence of its pottery. The high quality and general acceptance of this commodity has made the village prosperous. It boasts some of the most famous Indian artists and artisans in the United States, among them Julian and Maria Martinez, perhaps the best-known potters in the world.

San Ildefonso participated in the Pueblo Revolt but did not contest the reconquest, at least not at first. In 1694, when de Vargas began to wage war on the northern pueblos, San Ildefonso did take part. The people fortified themselves on Black Mesa, a high, steep mesa of volcanic origin near the pueblo. There they successfully withstood Spanish efforts to dislodge them. Notwithstanding their initial success, they were ultimately conquered and brought into the Spanish system. Today there are several hundred people living in the village, and they are among the friendliest of the pueblo peoples. San Ildefonso is easily accessible from Santa Fe.

The mission church dates back to the 1890’s, although earlier churches at the pueblo played an important role in bringing Christianity to the Pueblo Indian world. The older churches are long since gone.

San Juan Pueblo

San Juan Pueblo is best noted for its close association with the first Spanish settlement in New Mexico in 1598. Oñate, colonizer of New Mexico, selected a site for his first headquarters which was a part of the ancient Pueblo of San Juan. The natives living in that part of the village willingly gave up their homes to the Spaniards and were taken in by the remainder of the people of San Juan. Oñate, in appreciation for this hospitality, bestowed upon the pueblo the name _San Juan de los Caballeros_, a name which the pueblo is still proud to bear.

Yet this same friendly people also contributed Po-pé, the great leader of the Pueblo Revolt, to the history of New Mexico. While Po-pé shared with many other pueblo leaders a hatred of the Spanish conqueror, he was the spiritual force and the organizer of the rebellion that broke the control of the Spaniard for twelve years and returned New Mexico to the Indian. This great rebellion stands as one of the significant efforts in the history of the world of a people to cast off the bonds of foreign control.

San Juan cannot claim a church dating back to the _conquistadores_, but it does have one of the great landmark churches in the Southwest. In 1890, the chapel of Our Lady of Lourdes was dedicated at San Juan. It was constructed of red volcanic rock found west of the Rio Grande. This beautiful structure is an architectural jewel set in desert surroundings.

The nearly 700 people of San Juan welcome visitors to their homes; their undecorated burnished black pottery is particularly distinctive and popular. The pueblo’s annual festival is held in June.

Santa Ana Pueblo

Santa Ana Pueblo lies along the banks of the Rio Jemez, which enters the Rio Grande from the west. The pueblo was visited by Oñate and a mission was built there about 1600, shortly after his visit. The people of Santa Ana joined in the Pueblo Revolt, and since there was no priest serving their church in 1680, they joined with the Indians of Santo Domingo and San Felipe to massacre the padres at San Felipe. In 1687, during one of the Spanish efforts to reconquer New Mexico, Santa Ana was destroyed and her people fled. Later, at the urging of de Vargas, the modern pueblo was established, along with the church now standing there. The population of Santa Ana is nearly 400. Its annual festival takes place in August. It is often difficult to find many of the people at the main pueblo for they spend most of the growing season at El Ranchito, to the east in the Rio Grande Valley.

Santa Clara Pueblo

Santa Clara Pueblo is near the mouth of Santa Clara Creek, a year-round stream flowing out of the Jemez Mountains into the Rio Grande. To the west of the pueblo, on lands owned by Santa Clara, are the famous Puye Cliff Dwellings ruins. The people of Santa Clara claim these natural cliff homes as their ancestral dwelling places, a fact which has been substantiated by archeologists. The Santa Clara Indians represent, then, an important living Indian group in which one can observe institutions and traditions that can be linked to traditions of the cultures that lived in the caves and abandoned cities of Southwest antiquity.

Like most of the pueblo people, Santa Clara joined the Pueblo Revolt, but this action did not seriously harm the pueblo. The real damage was done to Santa Clara in the late eighteenth century when intertribal warfare over witchcraft, plus the ravages of disease, took nearly 500 lives in the village. The current population is about 500.

The church at Santa Clara is quite modern, having been constructed in the twentieth century. The old church, built in 1760, was caught up in the modernization craze that swept through the pueblo world in the early 1900’s. Perhaps one of the most substantial and beautiful of all pueblo churches, the old church collapsed during a storm in 1909 (the same storm that destroyed the church at Nambé); it had been structurally weakened by the removal of the roof for remodeling.

The village has excellent agricultural lands and supplements its income by manufacturing an excellent and distinctive pure black pottery. Its annual festival is in mid-August.

Santo Domingo Pueblo

Santo Domingo is one of the largest of the pueblos, having a population of nearly 1500. It is also the most conservative in retention of its native culture. This makes its dances and dress of particular interest to the visitor to New Mexico. The present pueblo was established after the reconquest in 1692. The Indians of Santo Domingo took a particularly active part in the Pueblo Revolt, killing three padres resident at the pueblo. When de Vargas moved to retake Santo Domingo, he found the people had abandoned the village. They had constructed a village in the Jemez Mountains to the west, and it was there that de Vargas defeated them. Even then, the people of Santo Domingo did not give up the fight, and only after a long series of defeats and serious loss of life did they surrender and again return to the vicinity of their original village.

The church at Santo Domingo is not so old as many other pueblo edifices, but its qualities remain among the most typical aspects of early New Mexico mission architecture. In early August, during the great annual festival, the Indians completely clean and whitewash the church. Two large horses are painted on the front of the building by native artists. The dances during the Santo Domingo festival are among the most colorful and authentic in New Mexico.

Taos Pueblo

Taos represents the northernmost of the pueblos in New Mexico. It is also one of the most scenic, lying at the foot of the Taos Mountains, a spur of the mighty Sangre de Cristo range. It is a prosperous village of about 900 persons. There is no finer example of pueblo apartment architecture in New Mexico. The main pueblo building rises five stories above the mesa. One must be careful not to confuse the Spanish town, don Fernando de Taos, and the old Indian farming center, Ranchos de Taos, with the pueblo, San Geronimo de Taos. It is the latter that is Indian and is, therefore, by far the oldest of the three.

The ruins of the old San Geronimo mission at Taos represent one of the most historic and fateful in all the Southwest. It was there that two priests were murdered in 1680 during the first days of the Pueblo Revolt. It was there that Po-pé sowed the first seeds of that rebellion. Again in 1696, the Taos Indians sought to free themselves from Spanish control by killing their priests and other Spaniards in the vicinity. Again they were subdued. In 1847, when the Americans annexed New Mexico, the Taos Indians tried once more to gain their independence. Inflamed by Mexican citizens who refused to accept American authority, they attacked the Americans at Fernando de Taos, killing nine of them. Governor Charles Bent, builder of the famous Bent’s Fort on the Santa Fe Trail, was among those killed. On February 3, 1847, the American army in New Mexico laid siege to the village and the Indians fortified themselves in the mission. It became the Alamo of the Taos people. American artillery was brought to bear, and the walls of the ancient church were battered down; the Indians fled, first to the village and then into the mountains, leaving behind 150 dead and many wounded. They were finally forced to surrender, and their leaders were hung. Those so hung remain martyrs to this day. The ruins of the Taos mission, built three and a quarter centuries ago, still can be seen. They are a stark landmark to the stubborn independence of the people of Taos.

The traditions and ceremonials of Taos are well preserved. Their arts and crafts, however, have declined and are not of the high quality found in some of the other pueblos. Their ceremonials are excellent and are noted for their beauty and precision. The feast day of San Geronimo, September 30, is the most important event of the year.

Tesuque Pueblo

Tesuque is a small village, perhaps numbering no more than 150 persons. Even though it has always been small, it holds a major place in the history of New Mexico. It was at Tesuque that the first blood was shed in the Pueblo Revolt of 1680. On August 9, Cristobal de Herrera was murdered, and two Tesuque Indians rushed to Santa Fe to warn the Spanish governor of the impending rebellion. The Indian leaders, now aware that their plot was known, moved the date of the revolt from August 13 to August 10. On August 10, Father Pio, in charge of the Tesuque mission, went out from Santa Fe to say Mass and also was murdered.

Although its handicrafts are of poor quality, the Tesuque Indian ceremonials are colorful and authentic. The people have retained much of their early culture while living in proximity to the white man (Santa Fe is only nine miles distant). The pueblo’s most important festival falls on November 12.

Zia Pueblo

The story of Zia is one of tragedy and difficult problems of existence. Located on a basalt flow on the north bank of the Jemez River some fifteen miles above its junction with the Rio Grande, Zia has poor land and a limited supply of irrigation water. Agriculture is the main economic pursuit, but the pueblo’s unfortunate location makes trading for part of its food supply necessary.

Oñate reported Zia to be a large pueblo. However, it suffered greatly because of its participation in the Pueblo Revolt. Some historians estimate that during the reconquest, nearly 600 of the people of Zia were killed defending themselves from the Spanish. Continued wars and pestilence reduced the pueblo to a very few families. Over the past century, the group has again showed signs of growth and now has a population of more than 300.

The church at Zia dates from 1692, and thus represents one of the fine examples of ancient Franciscan architecture in New Mexico. The annual festival, dedicated to Nuestra Senora de la Asuncion, is celebrated with an excellent Corn Dance on August 15.

Zuni Pueblo

Zuni has the distinction of being the first of the pueblos seen or visited by Europeans. Seen from a distance by Fray Marcos de Niza in 1539, it was reported as a rich and extensive city. Nearby were six other pueblos, and the Spanish immediately associated the Zuni complex with an old Spanish legend about seven golden cities, the Seven Cities of Cibola. The expedition of Coronado was formed to explore and conquer the rich pueblos of New Mexico. His first contact was at Zuni, then called _Hawikuh_. It was neither golden nor rich.

Although Zuni was an important stopping place on the early trails to Mexico, it managed to remain least influenced by European ideas. The Spanish concentrated their efforts in the Rio Grande Valley and Zuni went its own way most of the time. While there were missionary efforts from time to time, by the nineteenth century, the stout resistance to such activity caused it to cease. In recent years, sporadic missionary activity has been evident, but it has not been notably successful.

The most famous of all New Mexico Indian ceremonial dances is held at Zuni each year. The Shalako, which occurs in early December, is authentic and spectacular. The dancers, carrying huge ceremonial figures on their shoulders, must train and practice constantly during the entire year.

Zuni is the largest of the pueblos in New Mexico, with a population numbering more than 5000 persons. The main occupation is agriculture. The Zunis supplement their income by manufacturing silver inlay jewelry that shows great creative skill and is beautiful to behold.

Other New Mexico Indians

In addition to the well-known Pueblo Indians of New Mexico, there are four other areas of Indian lands. Three of these belong to peoples of Athapascan origin, sometimes better known as Apache Indians. By name, they are the Jicarilla Apache, the Mescalero Apache, and Navajo. The fourth group is the Ute Indian.

The Apache tribes were relative newcomers to the Southwest. Their origin was the plains area between the northern Rocky Mountains and Hudson Bay in Canada. About 1000 A.D., a part of these northern Plains Indians began a migration that ultimately brought them to New Mexico. Down the High Plains across the western Dakotas, western Nebraska, Kansas, and finally to western Texas and eastern New Mexico, these people came. At about the latitude of Albuquerque, the migration split. Part of the group continued south, across the Staked Plains, into southeastern New Mexico, west Texas, and northern Coahuila and Chihuahua, Mexico. Here they divided into the Lipan, the Mescalero, and the Natage Apache. Today, in south-central New Mexico are the descendants of the Mescalero. The Mescalero Apache reservation is crossed by U.S. Highway 70, a scenic drive through pine forests. The tribe operates the Sierra Blanca ski area, one of the southernmost ski areas in the United States. Its annual Crown Dance and coming-of-age ceremonials are held July 1 to 4, followed by an Apache rodeo. The Lipan and the Natage have virtually disappeared.

The second group of the migration discovered for the first time in their long trek down the eastern fringes of the Rockies that the country opened up to the west. They poured through the passes and entered the areas traditionally controlled by pueblo farmers. Gradually, they took over these lands for themselves, driving out the farmers. By the time the Spanish came on the scene, most of the peaceful farmers had given way before the onslaught of the warlike Athapascan savages. Only one group remained, the pueblos of the central Rio Grande Valley. The migration that moved into the desert and mountain lands divided into a number of groups which are known by modern names: the Chiricahua, White Mountain, Western, and Jicarilla Apache and the Navajo. The Jicarilla Apache reside mainly in north-central New Mexico on reservation lands, and the Navajo reservation lies partly in extreme northwestern New Mexico. Most of the Navajo land and all the lands of the others are in Arizona.

The Ute Indians, driven from the plains by stronger tribes, settled in the central Rocky Mountain area. There they raided the wealthy (at least in their eyes) pueblos to the south. They fought sporadically against white penetration but were finally subdued and placed on reservation lands in the Four Corners area, part of which lies in New Mexico.

While the history of these peoples is fascinating and full of romance, there is little besides scenery to be seen when visiting their reservations. The populations are often scattered over many hundreds of square miles, and the people have only rudimentary handicrafts. The exception is the Navajo, and a trip to the Navajo reservation is worthwhile. These Indians have developed techniques of weaving and silversmithing that contribute significant art forms to Southwest handicrafts.

The outstanding Indian event of the year in New Mexico is the Inter-Tribal Indian Ceremonial at Gallup, held during mid-August. Some thirty tribes from the Southwest and Midwest meet to compete in arts, crafts, and ceremonial dancing.

Reminders of the Past

_by_ Paige W. Christiansen

When driving across New Mexico or when visiting some part of the state, one should be aware of the wealth of history that is always close at hand. Many people, when faced with what seems like endless miles of empty country, fail to realize that the very emptiness is one of the charms of the state. They also do not recognize that in the vast expanses of mountain and desert, people of the ancient past or a recent past have lived and worked and died. Sometimes the fruits of their labor are clear and evident and live on in cities and towns. In many instances, however, the mountains and desert have reclaimed their own and the works of man have succumbed. A mental picture must be cast over the landscape on which great historical events took place but which is almost empty of signs of man’s efforts. If travelers are fortunate, there may still be some sign—a ghost town, a ruined ranch, some old artifacts—to tell the story; if not, imagination must be given rein. The search is the adventure, and to give aid in that search, the following might suffice as a faint guiding light.

To simplify the descriptions of these reminders of the past, New Mexico is divided into seven geographical regions which a traveler might well visit:

1. _North from Santa Fe_, including U.S. Highways 64, 285, and 84, and
connecting state highways.

2. _The northeast_, including U.S. 85 from Santa Fe to Raton, U.S. 66
east from Albuquerque to the Texas line, U.S. 56 from Springer to the
state line, and connecting state highways.

3. _The northwest_, including U.S. 66 west from Albuquerque to the
Arizona line, U.S. 666 north from Gallup to Colorado, and State
Highway 44 from Bernalillo to Farmington.

4. _East-central_, including U.S. 60 east from Bernardo, U.S. 380 east
from San Antonio, U.S. 70 from the Mescalero Indian Reservation to the
Texas line, U.S. 285 from Clines Corners to Roswell, U.S. 54 from
Three Rivers to Santa Rosa, and connecting state highways.

5. _West-central_, including U.S. 60 west of Socorro, U.S. 180-260 and
State Highway 12 in Catron County, U.S. 85 from Los Lunas to Elephant
Butte, and connecting state highways.

6. _Southeast_, including U.S. 70 from Las Cruces to the Mescalero
Indian Reservation, U.S. 54 from El Paso to Three Rivers, U.S. 62 from
Hobbs to the Texas line, U.S. 285 from Roswell to the Texas line, and
numerous state roads.

7. _Southwest_, including U.S. 85 from Truth or Consequences to El
Paso, U.S. 180 north from Deming to the Catron county line, U.S. 70-80
west from Las Cruces to Arizona, and state roads.

North From Santa Fe

The country north of Santa Fe is the heart of Indian and Spanish New Mexico. Here, if he looks beyond the narrow boundaries of the highway right-of-way, the traveler can see Indian and Spanish villages which have not changed significantly in two and a half centuries. Along the lush green of the Rio Grande Valley or of its tributaries dashing out of the Sangre de Cristo range to the east, these sleepy concentrations of people reveal cultural and language patterns which smack of the _conquistadores_ of the sixteenth century or of the ancient cliff dwellers. It is a slow and easy world, perhaps most representative of the “land of mañana.” In a region already worked for centuries for what it can produce, there is no hurry. It will be there tomorrow and forever. The people of this region are typically New Mexican. The hills are dotted with piñon and juniper trees which give a greenish to black cast to the land. This, too, is typically New Mexican.

There is one short trip that would be fruitful for him who wants to know New Mexico, to feel the romance of Spanish culture, and to seek adventure off the beaten track. Just north of Española, State Highway 76 strikes east from U.S. 64. Nowhere in the state can be found so much of old world charm or spectacular scenic beauty. Heading east, the traveler passes through Chimayó, a village famed throughout the world for its weaving, though seldom visited, then on through Truchas and Las Trampas to Penasco, heart of the Penitente country. The Penitentes were a religious sect growing out of long isolation from the main threads of Roman Catholicism. They gradually reverted to relatively primitive Christian practices without guidance from main church centers but within the past few years have returned to the Church. The many white crosses that can be seen in the area attest to their former activity. From Penasco, the traveler can return to U.S. 64 via State Highway 75.

The area northwest of Santa Fe, stretching some thirty or forty miles on the southeast flanks of the Jemez Mountains, is the noted Pajarito Plateau, the home of great numbers of Indian cultures, living and dead. Many of the modern Indian pueblos will be found in this region. Also, some of the most significant ancient Indian ruins are found here, such as the Frijoles Canyon (Bandelier National Monument) and Puye Cliff Dwellings.

The entire area north of Santa Fe, then, is alive with history. In every village, in every canyon, there is something that will add to the romance of Spanish-Indian New Mexico. In our Southwest, the heritage handed down by these two great cultures is held dear by the people. To the traveler will come a greater appreciation and a greater understanding of New Mexico and the Southwest if these are but understood.

Northeast New Mexico

The section designated as northeast New Mexico is an area of mountains and plains, and its historical mosaic shows elements of both: the rugged Sandia Mountains near Albuquerque and the southernmost parts of the extensive Sangre de Cristo range, which thrusts north from U.S. Highway 85 far into Colorado, and part of the famed buffalo plains. The area is drained by two main river systems; the Canadian River flows east to join the Arkansas and the Mississippi and the Pecos River flows south to join the Rio Grande.

Through this vast area ran one of Americas greatest highways, the Santa Fe Trail. Beginning in Missouri communities, the Trail hurled itself into the intricate patterns of the Great Plains with all of their dangers—Indians, boredom, violent storms, treacherous rivers, and prairie grass fires. Then on into the foothills of the mighty Rocky Mountains and the steep and backbreaking approaches to Raton Pass in New Mexico. The new highway across this pass (U.S. 85) and the nature of our vehicles have made this an easy passage. But the traveler should pause at some high point, or perhaps leave the main highway for a moment, and try to imagine crossing this rugged land in Conestoga wagons. From Raton, the Santa Fe Trail continued south to Las Vegas and thence into Santa Fe via Glorieta Pass (current route of U.S. 85). Over this trail passed the goods of the world. In part, these were intended for the people of New Mexico, but over other trails they also found markets in Mexico and in California. For the curious and adventurous, sections of the Santa Fe Trail can still be seen. Local inquiry will elicit directions to remaining parts of the wide rutted Trail, scene of so much of the American westward movement.

While passing through the mountains between Santa Fe and Las Vegas, the traveler should be aware that a critical Civil War battle was waged in the fastness of these passes. In 1862, Confederate forces, which came up the Rio Grande from Texas and won a series of victories over Union troops, met a combined force of Colorado Volunteers and New Mexico Union troops in a decisive contest over the control of the American Southwest. The Union troops were successful, preserving New Mexico and the West for the Union.

These, then, are some of the things to look for in this region of plains and mountains. Picture buffalo by the tens of thousands pushing up the Canadian River, or long lines of wagons winding their way along the Santa Fe Trail carrying goods and people into new lands, or the Blue and the Gray locked in deadly combat far from the thunder of the main Civil War battles. The mosaic here is sharp and vividly different.

Northwest New Mexico

Northwest New Mexico is typified as ancient Indian country. While seemingly a harsh land, it is only this to the uninitiated, to those who lock their minds to beauties of history and lands unlike their own. The Indian found this country good and productive. Some of the finest ruins of Indian antiquity are in this region—Chaco Canyon and Aztec, both National Monuments, and hundreds more that remain unnamed. The Indians of the Four Corners area (named thus because New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, and Arizona meet here, the only place in the United States where the lines of four states intersect) created levels of culture unsurpassed in what is the continental United States; only the Indians of Mexico and Peru claim a higher culture. This is a land whose ancient people reached their great peak at the same time as the later Romans, as Charlemagne in ancient Frankish Europe, and as Mohammed and his successors in the Middle East.

But ancient Indians hold no monopoly on this vast region. Today many of the Indians of New Mexico still find homes here. The Navajo Reservation lies between Gallup and the Colorado line. Part of the Ute Reservation lies along the northern edge of New Mexico, and the Jicarilla Reservation is in the eastern part of this region. Many of the pueblo people are found between Albuquerque and Santa Fe. At Gallup each year, the famed Indian Ceremonials bring together peoples from many of the tribes in the United States.

This region is also renowned as an oil and natural gas producer and is one of the booming areas in New Mexico. But this is only one aspect of the mineral riches of the northwest; the mines near Grants, between Albuquerque and Gallup, produce tremendous quantities of uranium ores. The atomic energy capability of the United States begins at Grants. And near Gallup and Fruitland are huge open-pit coal mines.

The northwest is drained by the San Juan River, a tributary of the Colorado River, and is therefore a part of the Pacific watershed. The Navajo Dam project, just east of Farmington, is a part of this drainage pattern.

Thus the region is characterized by Indians old and new, ancient things buried deep beneath the earth, and great beauty in pastel colors and subtle contrasts—the mosaic of the land.

East-Central New Mexico

East-central New Mexico, like the northeast, is an area of plains and mountains. Here the buffalo roamed, and in their place, cattle now utilize the hardy and nutritious grasses of the High Plains. Mountains are the Manzano, southeast of Albuquerque, and Sierra Blanca, near Carrizozo, as well as numerous minor ranges. Also in this region is some harsh and desolate country, seared by the southwestern sun and lacking in rainfall, but supporting the exotic plants and wildlife typical of the Sonoran desert regions.

While the desert regions may not be attractive to the eye, they should be appreciated for their part in the historical mosaic. In the area east of the Rio Grande is the northern half of the well-known White Sands Missile Range, one of the significant test centers in the rocket and space age. It was also in this arid region that the first atomic bomb was exploded (southeast of Socorro).

The early use of this desert, however, emphasized its harshness. For centuries, the Spanish suffered across this waterless waste on their way from Chihuahua in Old Mexico to Santa Fe, for this was the Jornada del Muerto, journey of death, the hardest and most dangerous part of the trip over the Camino Real. The Camino Real was the lifeline of New Mexico from 1598 until the Santa Fe Trail was opened in 1821, and all visitors during that period were obliged to cross this arid section. A modern rocket crosses in mere seconds what took the Spaniards many days.

In the Manzano Mountains, there are numerous Indian ruins which represent the eastern fringes of the pueblo-building Indians of New Mexico. These ruined villages have been given the name by historians of “cities that died of fear,” fear of the vicious Apache and Comanche tribes. For centuries, these brave village people tilled their crops and lived peacefully on the land. Then, in the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries, the great migrations of Plains Indians that pushed into the Southwest gradually did their deadly work. One by one the villages succumbed, until by 1700 few people remained, and these were ultimately killed or driven into the sanctuary of the Rio Grande pueblos. It is awesome to stand mid the rubble of one of those ancient cities and imagine the circumstances of its demise.

In the eastern part of this section was the heart of the High Plains cattle empires. Here is a land that once belonged to the great cattle barons, a land of free range, the home of the cowboy. Although it is fenced today, it is still a land of cattle and is still very close to the early days of the cattleman.

Again, there is an intricate and varied mosaic. No simple land this, but a complexity of plains, mountains, and desert, all of which color its history. The Indians no longer inhabit their villages, the Spanish no longer struggle along the Jornada del Muerto, and the free range of the cattle baron is gone, but if the traveler sees it through its historical past, it will again come alive.

West-Central New Mexico

This section is a complex and colorful mass of landforms scattered helter-skelter across the western part of the state. It stretches from the green Rio Grande Valley, with its irrigated lands, quaint farms, and picturesque agricultural villages, up the Valley’s steep western slopes to the rolling grassland and mesas and alluvial fans, ending in precipitous and treacherous canyons in the rugged mountains. Socorro Mountain, the Magdalenas, the San Mateos, the Ladrones, and countless others seem always to ring the horizon. Some of them are timbered and abound in cool, refreshing shade and springs; some are harsh and dry. In the west, the famed San Agustin Plains stretch to the sunset, a wide carpet fringed by black, timbered hills, site of fabulous cattle drives of a bygone day. The complexity of the region’s geology, scenery, and terrain is matched by an equally complex history.

The history is a mosaic of many hues, some harsh and stark like its dry desert mountains, some inviting like the shade and coolness of its timbered canyons and mountain springs. First were the many diverse and sometimes hostile Indian cultures. There were peaceful pueblo peoples tilling their lands, using the Rio Grande’s flowing water to produce abundance. Also, prehistoric village dwellers struggled to create agricultural societies along the banks of now-dry rivers in the western part of the region. And there were the fearsome Apache Indians who founded their homes in the broken mountain fastnesses and added their excitement and tragedy to the mosaic. So, too, did the Spaniard make his mark and the Mexican who followed close behind. The place names of the eastern part of the region are primarily Spanish, although the Spanish found the area a difficult one in which to maintain themselves. And then the American came to dominate this land, adding realism and technology.

Finally, two major economic factors left a profound imprint: stock raising and mining. The first began with the Spanish, was continued by the Mexicans, and commercialized by the Americans. Everywhere are signs of this heritage. Mining also played a dominant role, although of a shorter duration. One can hardly lift his eyes to the hills without seeing signs of the prospectors shovel or the miner’s work. One can hardly converse with local citizens without discussing mines of the past or mines of the future. Livestock and minerals, then, are woven through the historical pattern and are never far from any part of the story.

Let the traveler be aware of several important facts when he passes through this region. First, this is empty country, an area that has fewer people now than it had eighty years ago. Its mines are mostly closed and the towns that grew with the mines are ghosts. One of the most famous of these is the town of Kelly, a short distance from the community of Magdalena. Another is Mogollon, off U.S. Highway 180 in the southwestern part of this region. Either of these will give to the viewer a vivid picture of the mining camps of the nineteenth century.

To the average tourist crossing the San Agustin Plains, they seem desolate and uninteresting. To the traveler with imagination and knowledge of the history of this once great inland lake, the trip can be exciting. He pictures this great basin full of water, forty-five miles long and fifteen miles wide, and sees mountains covered with blue spruce surrounding the great lake. His mental motion picture rolls on thousands of years, watching the water evaporate and the forest of spruce die, to be replaced eventually by the piñon and juniper now dotting the hills. Grass grew in the old lake bed, except in the last areas to evaporate, for these had an alkali content too high for most grasses. The traveler then watches the Indian enter the scene—not the pueblo builder, except as a transient, for no water is available. The nomadic warrior uses the pathway later. In 1774 and in 1776, he sees several important battles between the Spanish and the Apaches fought on these Plains. Later, the American cattleman dominates them, as he does today....

And so the mosaic grows—Indians, Spanish, Americans, cattle, and mines—and the spectacular vistas and the vast emptiness add color and excitement for the traveler who sees the past with the present.

Southeast New Mexico

Much of southeast New Mexico is an extension of the Great Plains, but it has some rugged mountains and a severe desert in the middle of which lie White Sands National Monument and the White Sands Missile Range. Mountain ranges include the Sacramento east of Alamogordo and the Guadalupe Mountains, in which are located Carlsbad Caverns.

The plains part of this region are devoted to cattle, potash, and oil. Like the other plains regions of New Mexico, the heritage passed on from the great cattle empires of bygone days is very strong and detectable in the people. Since the early 1930’s, oil has come to play an increasingly important part in the history of this section. This is especially true near Hobbs.

The desert region in the western part of this section has clearly defined aspects of the old and the new. The southern part of the dread Jornado del Muerto swept across this arid land and only returned to the river near modern Hatch, or sometimes farther south, near modern Las Cruces, according to the whim of the river. Here also lies the White Sands National Monument, a desert spot of unusual beauty and interest. Near the Monument, the White Sands Missile Range stands as an advanced scientific test center for the most modern of vehicles, the rocket. Near Alamogordo, another advanced space development and testing facility is located at Holloman Air Force Base. So the desert is useful, and it is beautiful, and it is full of tragic history.

This is also Indian land. East of Tularosa is the Mescalero Apache Indian Reservation. In a way, this region has always belonged to the Apache, at least since he migrated into New Mexico. The area contained no sedentary groups and the Apache appropriated it as his own. His strongholds were in the Guadalupe and Sacramento mountains. The forts along the Rio Grande, like Forts Fillmore and Selden, were located to control the Mescalero and other Apache groups. All that remains today are the Mescaleros.

There was little Spanish influence in this area except near El Paso and in the Rio Grande Valley. The Spanish were more attracted to the upper Rio Grande Valley because of the sedentary nature of the Indians of that region. The southeast underwent its greatest development in the American period.

Again, sense the mosaic: These are not blends of land and history; they are sharp and distinct, each with its own character. Search for the history and the beauty, for they do not come automatically.

Southwest New Mexico

Finally, the southwest, another region of harsh desert and cool refreshing mountains, part of New Mexico’s unusual contrast. The country south of U.S. 70 is Sonoran desert, thinly populated and poorly watered. To the north of the highway lies one of the most spectacular beauty spots in the Southwest, the mountains and forests forming the headwaters of the Gila River. The Gila River flows west across Arizona until it joins the Colorado River which empties into the Gulf of California.

The Indians in this part of the state fall into two distinct categories: The builders, known as the Mimbres culture, constructed homes in caves and along the watercourses of the Gila and Mimbres rivers. They reached extremely high levels of culture, and then they disappeared. The Apache Indians, who entered this country at the same time as they did the rest of New Mexico, were responsible for the end of the farmers and builders, at least in part. The Apaches were predators and the farmers were peaceful, unversed in the arts of war. Finally the Apache ruled supreme, and this region became the most important single stronghold of the Indian. It was here that Geronimo found sanctuary. But the Apaches, too, were forced to surrender their claims and were placed on reservations outside this area.

Mining is and has been the main source of wealth. The great open-pit operation of Kennecott Copper Company is at Santa Rita, east of Silver City. This is one of the largest open-pit copper mines in North America. To look into that huge man-made pit is a thrilling experience. This mine was first opened in 1803 by the Spanish who needed copper badly as a circulating currency in New Spain (Mexico). For a number of years, the coins used for money in Mexico were from copper mined in southwestern New Mexico.

Copper represents only a part of the mining activity in this region. Famous mining districts in earlier days were at Kingston and Hillsboro, just east of the Black Range on State Highway 90. These areas produced considerable quantities of silver. There is some activity yet, but the boom has long since passed them by, although they are interesting towns to visit. The trip from U.S. 85 to Silver City via State Highway 90 is one of the most scenic routes in the state.

In the region north of Silver City lies high mountain country, much of it preserved as the Gila Wilderness Area. Here a person who wishes the solitude of forest and mountain, the thrill of trout fishing in a clear cold stream, and a wealth of wildlife can find his heart’s desire. In the heart of this wilderness, the traveler might well find some of the ancient homes of the Mimbres people. History and recreation blend into one.

These complete the mosaic. Everywhere one travels in New Mexico is enchanting history, in the land and/or in the people. This has not been an effort to acquaint anyone with the intricate detail of all the history of every nook and cranny of this land, but these broad strokes made on the canvas may help the traveler, transient or native, to enjoy himself. Let him accept the challenge, stop to investigate, search out evidence of the history that is there in the colorful and changing land itself, the Indian heritage, the Spanish past, the cattleman’s range, the miner’s endless search—and become enchanted.

Derricks and Mines

_by_ George B. Griswold

New Mexico is a mineral-rich state. The gross production value of oil, gas, and minerals was $671 million during 1963, making the state the sixth ranking mineral producer in the nation. New Mexico ranks among other states as follows: first in the production of potash, uranium, perlite, and carbon dioxide; third in helium; fourth in copper; fifth in natural gas and liquids; and seventh in petroleum. Important amounts of zinc, lead, gold, silver, magnesium compounds, coal, gypsum, pumice, and salt are also produced from deposits within New Mexico. The oil and gas industry holds a dominant position in the state, accounting for almost two thirds of the value of minerals produced.

OIL AND GAS

Most of New Mexico’s oil and gas are produced in the southeastern part, south and east of Roswell. The bustling towns of Hobbs, Artesia, and Lovington, as well as Roswell, are headquarters for the many oil companies and the associated service and supply organizations operating in the area. Oil and gas are produced from numerous reservoirs, called _fields_ or _pools_, in Paleozoic sediments ranging from Ordovician to Permian in age. From the standpoint of production, the Eunice-Monument field (lying between these two towns) is the largest, having produced more than 250 million barrels of oil. Other important fields are Hobbs, Vacuum, Langlie Mattix, Denton, and Jalmat. All these fields produce a considerable amount of gas associated directly with the oil.

When driving an automobile through southeast New Mexico, a layman finds it difficult to comprehend the immensity of the petroleum industry of that region. This is due to the scattering of wells over a large area. Seldom are wells spaced closer than one to every ten acres, even in the most productive fields. There are, in fact, some 16,000 wells in this part of New Mexico, ranging in depth from less than 1000 feet to 17,555 feet.

The other oil- and gas-producing area of the state is in the northwest, in the San Juan Basin. Farmington serves as the base of operations for most of this activity. In 1962, there were 7378 wells in the area, 1770 of which were producing oil and gas and 5608 producing gas only. Most of the San Juan Basin production is from Cretaceous sandstones, in contrast to the southeast where the oil and gas are derived from Paleozoic sediments. The development of the San Juan Basin production is relatively new; most of the wells have been drilled since World War II. The petroleum industry can be proud of the great help it has given to the development of this once-almost-forgotten part of the state.

The methods of finding and producing oil and gas have come a long way from the “boom town” days when wells were drilled for the most part on pure hunches and hopes. The exploration and exploitation of petroleum are now highly specialized technologies. All branches of the geologic and geophysical sciences are brought into play to piece together a comprehensive picture of all the factors which may have made a certain area favorable for the accumulation of oil or gas. These factors include such things as the age, thickness, and permeability of the sedimentary rocks, the structure, old shorelines, and buried reefs. Once a target is selected, a drilling rig is moved onto the location to prove or disprove the theory. This is the costly step of finding oil. A single 10,000-foot hole may cost $350,000, and some individual wells in New Mexico have cost more than $1 million to drill. If the well is in a completely untested area, it is called a “wildcat.” Once a discovery is made, then the land around the wildcat is explored by “offset” wells until the complete extent of the new field is proved.

During 1962, 1666 wells were drilled to an average depth of 5153 feet. The average drilling cost was $71,000 a well, representing a total investment of almost $120 million in a single year! Most of these wells were of the development (offset) type, but even then, 27 per cent were dry. During 1962, 295 true wildcats were drilled; of these, only 46 found oil or gas—about two out of every thirteen.

The story of oil just begins with the discovery of a well. Various special “completion” operations are applied to the oil-producing horizon so as to increase the flow into the well. The most common techniques are either by “acidizing,” pumping acid into the formation to increase flow by enlarging the pores in the rock, or by “hydrafracing,” whereby actual cracks are induced in the formation by pumping oil from the surface back into the well under very high pressure. After the well is “completed,” it may be a natural-flowing well if sufficient gas is associated with the oil. If sufficient gas is not present, then the well is pumped.

In recent years, considerable success has been achieved in revitalizing old fields where production had dropped below the point of economic operation. These fields are reactivated by forcing either water or gas down selected wells within the field, thereby forcing stagnated oil within the producing zone toward the other wells. This technique is called _secondary recovery_. Many fields will produce more oil under the secondary recovery program than they did during their primary life.

Once the oil is on the surface, it passes through separators to remove any admixed gas from the oil. The gas is sent into pipelines while the oil is sent to storage tanks called _tank batteries_. Periodically, the oil is drawn from the tank batteries where it is transported by pipeline or rail to refineries. The great bulk of the crude oil leaves New Mexico for refining via a major pipeline network extending through Texas to both the Gulf and East coasts. Some oil is refined in New Mexico, however. Oil refineries in Artesia, Bloomfield, Ciniza, Farmington, and Monument have a combined capacity to treat some 30,000 barrels (42 gallons a barrel) of crude oil a day. On the other hand, practically all the natural gas is treated in New Mexico so as to recover its liquid petroleum constituents before sending it out of the state by pipeline.

MINING

The mining industry of New Mexico dates back to the days of Spanish rule. Copper was mined from the Santa Rita mine as early as 1800 for shipment to Mexico for use in coinage. Significant mining in New Mexico did not commence, however, until the late 1800’s. There are three major centers today: Carlsbad, potash; Silver City area, copper, zinc, and lead; and Grants, uranium.

The potash mining east of Carlsbad, a $75 million-a-year industry employing more than 3600 persons, is the largest operation of its kind in the world. Six mining companies are active in the area, and a seventh is developing yet another mine. _Potash_ is a word used to denote various potassium compounds. The principal ore mineral at Carlsbad is sylvanite, a mixture of potassium chloride and sodium chloride (common salt). The ore contains the equivalent of 21 to 25 per cent potassium oxide (K₂O).[6] Another ore mineral, known as _langbeinite_, a double salt of potassium and magnesium sulfate, is also mined.

The potash ores occur as horizontal beds sandwiched between thick salt and anhydrite layers. These beds are the result of evaporation of large quantities of salt waters during the latter part of the Permian period some 240 million years ago. The potash-bearing horizons now are buried from 900 to 1800 feet below the surface. The discovery of potash in southeast New Mexico was almost by accident. In 1925, the Snowden and McSweeny Company drilled a wildcat oil test a few miles east of Carlsbad. The hole was dry, but potash minerals were detected in the drill cuttings. The discovery generated considerable interest because the United States was forced to import most of its potash prior to this time. Further drilling proved the existence of tremendous deposits of potassium salts in that area.

The potash mines are among the most highly mechanized of the mineral industry. Access to the buried deposits is gained by vertical shafts. Actual mining is now done to a large extent by continuous miners, machines which bore or rip the potash ore from the face and load it into shuttle cars in one continuous operation. The shuttle cars then transport the ore to conveyor belts which move it to the shafts for hoisting. Working conditions and safety are excellent and have led to high productivity from these mines.