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September ~ "Roxanne's Great New Mexico Road Trip"
ACHE President Roxanne Gonzales recently made a visit to New Mexico and shares some of the highlights of her trip.
My Labor Day trip began in Albuquerque. The overall goals for this trip were to attend a reunion in Dawson, visit friends and family in Taos, Hatch, and Las Cruces, and to buy 80 pounds of fresh green chile for roasting and freezing!
| Albuquerque |
Chimayo ~ El Santuario de Chimayo |
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| This was the view from my room at the Hotel Albuquerque. Our conference will be held the right after the 2010 International Balloon Fiesta, and there will still be plenty of balloons taking off in the mornings! For those of you brave enough, you can charter a balloon ride while you're in town - check out our conference activities page for more information. |
From Albuquerque, I went north off the main interstate to a small village called Chimayo.& Chimayo is known for three things: the local chile variety, a thriving arts community, and El Santuario de Chimayo. The Santuario is a place of miraculous healing and is well worth the 1.5 hour drive from Albuquerque. The arts community is home to weavers and artists such as our Silent Auction donor Diana Bryer. |
| Road to Raton and Dawson |
Dawson ~ Phelps Dodge "Company Home" |
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| As we drove along I-25 from Albuquerque on the way to Raton and Dawson, I snapped this a view from the highway . As you’ll see from the photos, New Mexico has diverse terrain and is full of color. |
In 1950, the Phelps Dodge coal mines in Dawson, New Mexico were closed. As a result, the town of Dawson became a ghost town, with residents moving to Raton, Albuquerque, and Colorado. I attended the 60th reunion of the mine closure and met many of my mom’s high school friends. It was a remarkable day and provided me an opportunity to meet many wonderful people. I listed to many many stories of growing up in a coal mining town. As I heard from many, “We were a poor people but we never knew it because we were a close community and took care of each other.” Above is a photo of one of the few remaining company owned homes. Imagine raising a family of ten in one of these homes! |
| "The View" in Dawson |
A view toward Angel Fire and Eagle Nest |
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The view from the center of “downtown” Dawson. In the mid-ground of this photo, you can see some of the remains from the old mining operation. |
Taking the backroads in New Mexico is the best way to see the diversity of the state. Above is a photo of the Angel Fire and Eagle Nest areas on the way from Dawson to Taos. A beautiful sight indeed! |
| Aliens like cows too |
The Very Large Array (VLA) |
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One never knows what you will find in New Mexico – as I was leaving Taos at night driving along winding mountain roads, I came across two of the above cattle crossing signs. It looks like the extraterrestrials are abducting cows by beaming them up! I didn’t want to stick around just in case... |
If you have ever seen the movie Contact with Jodi Foster, you will recognize the Very Large Array (VLA) outside of Socorro. This is one of my favorite places to visit in the state. The mountains are a wonderful backdrop to one’s imagination. The silence is off set by the humming of the telescopes and the wonder of what’s out there...! |
| The New Mexico backcountry |
Hatch, New Mexico ~ The Chile Capital of the World |
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A dirt road from the VLA takes you the scenic route to I-25. It’s about a 2.5 hour drive through rough terrain, but you will see some amazing backcountry beauty. |
This is a photo of me with New Mexico Representative Andy Nunez and one of Las Cruces’ finest police officers, my son Andrew, in Hatch, New Mexico - Chile Capital of the World! Andy helped me secure my 80 pounds of chile. |
| Rio Grande |
La Mesilla |
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The Rio Grande essentially cuts New Mexico in half, running from north to south right through the center of the state. Here's a view of this "Grand River" from just outside Hatch; it's running quite high in this picture, a rare sight. The Rio Grande also passes by Albuquerque to the west, just down the road from our conference hotel. |
Finally arrived in the Las Cruces area! A short drive from Las Cruces is a quaint little town called Mesilla. Old Mesilla has a small plaza much like Albuquerque and two of the best restaurants in New Mexico: the Double Eagle, which serves the best green chile hamburgers, and La Posta, an icon of New Mexican cuisine. |
May ~ Missions and Churches
Mission San Miguel Socorro |
New Mexico is known for many things: outlaws, treasure, and mysteries. But it is best known as a center for Spanish and Mexican culture. A key to this culture is the missions and churches that were established as the Spanish moved into the region. To many modern day Americans, there is little difference between a “mission” and a “church.” But to the early settlers and Natives, there was a substantial difference: the missions were built as part of the campaign to convert the Natives to Christianity, while the churches were built to serve the Spanish.
The first Spanish mission in present day New Mexico is Mission San Gabriel. Founded by Juan de Oñate in 1598, it was constructed at the site of the first European capital of present day New Mexico north of Santa Fe at the San Juan Pueblo.
Mission San Miguel was begun in 1598 in the current city of Socorro. The mission, originally named Nuestra Senora de Perpetuo Socorro, was established when two priests traveling with an expedition led by Don Juan de Oñate remained behind to settle the area after local natives assisted the expedition by providing them with food. The mission prospered and was enlarged between 1615 and 1626. Much of the money necessary for the project came from the silver mines around Socorro. Much of this silver found its way into the church in the form of a solid silver communion rail, a tabernacle, and other sacred objects.
San Miguel Mission Santa Fe
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Another early mission was built on the top of the mesa with the Acoma Pueblo; this mission is San Esteban del Rey de Acoma and was begun in 1630. The construction of this mission was truly a herculean task: the builders moved over 20,000 tons of earth and stone and untold amounts of water from the canyon floor 360 feet to the top of the mesa. Renovation of San Esteban del Rey de Acoma was begun in 1999 in a cooperative effort between the Cornerstones Community Partnership and the Acoma Pueblo.
The oldest church still in use in the United States, the San Miguel Mission, was built beginning in 1610 in current day Santa Fe. The original adobe structure was built by the Tlaxcalan Indians; it suffered greatly during the Pueblo revolt of 1680, principally by fire. It was re-built in 1692.
El Santuario de Chimayo well
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One of the last missions constructed in present day New Mexico is the San Jose de Laguna mission in the west central part of the state. Begun in 1699, this mission remains an active Catholic community serving the Laguna Pueblo.
In addition to the missions, early Spanish settlers of New Mexico built many churches for their own use. One of these is in the town of Ribera, home to both the original border crossing between the United States and the Republic of Mexico prior to the Mexican-American war of 1846 and the Imus Ranch. San Miguel Del Vado was built near the banks of the Pecos River in 1805, some nine years after the town itself was founded. Once an important town with almost 3,000 inhabitants, as listed in the 1827 Mexican census, it faded into a historical footnote after the county seat moved in 1846 from San Miguel north to Las Vegas, New Mexico.
Another old church, El Santuario de Chimayo is well known for the healing powers of the dirt in a small well behind the altar, of which there are many testimonials. The church was built in 1816 by a private individual for the local people. It was given to the Archdiocese of Santa Fe in 1929 and is now managed by them as an active Catholic Church.
San Felipe de Neri |
San Felipe de Neri stands today on the Plaza of Albuquerque’s historic Old Town. The parish of San Felipe de Neri was founded in 1706, originally as San Francisco Xavier de Albuquerque. The parish church originally stood on Romero Street but a flood in 1792 caused the original structure to collapse. The church was rebuilt in 1793 in its present location on the Plaza.
The churches and missions of New Mexico are almost too numerous to catalog. The best way to experience them is to simply get in a car and drive; you won’t go far before you come across an old adobe building that has been serving the spiritual needs of the local community for hundreds of years. For more information on the missions and churches of New Mexico, here are some links:
March ~ New Mexico Outlaws
New Mexico and outlaws are synonymous. The wild nature of the landscape invited a certain attitude of lawlessness and freedom from the law, and there were many wild men and a few women who answered the call. There are famous outlaws with well-known connections to New Mexico, famous outlaws with not-so-well-known but still important connections to New Mexico, and some not-so-famous outlaws who still caused a stir.
We’ll start out with the famous outlaws with well-known connections to New Mexico, the most famous of which is, of course, Billy the Kid.
Billy’s exact origins remain a mystery; most historians believe he grew up in a broken home on the East Coast and moved to the west with his mother for a fresh start. The first record of his involvement in New Mexico is in 1873 when his mother Catherine (by most accounts) married a man named William Antrim in Santa Fe. From Santa Fe, the new family moved south to Silver City, New Mexico where the new father became increasingly absent. After a few brushes with the law in Silver City, the young Billy the Kid took off to Arizona where he worked as a ranch hand.
 Billy left Arizona and moved back to New Mexico where he became involved in cattle rustling, specifically targeting the cattle of John Chisum. After losing his horse during an altercation with a local group of Apaches, Billy walked to the ranch of Heiskell Jones. Arriving there near death, he was taken in and nursed back to health. Shortly afterwards, Billy was hired to guard cattle belonging to John Tunstall, a cattle rancher from England. John Tunstall was the “good guy” in the Lincoln County War, the “bad guys” being local merchants Lawrence Murphy and James Dolan. Tunstall was murdered by members of the Murphy-Dolan faction; Billy and friends vowed to avenge Tunstall’s death. A series of bloody battles ensued, and Billy was eventually indicted for the murder of Lincoln County Sheriff William Brady. Billy was finally arrested and held in the Lincoln County jail in Lincoln, New Mexico. Billy attempted to gain clemency from the Governor, but all his attempts failed. He escaped after murdering two guards and was eventually tracked down by Sherriff Pat Garrett to the ranch of Pedro Maxwell where Sherriff Garrett shot Billy the Kid. Billy was never a famous outlaw during his life. His fame came after Pat Garrett wrote a book in 1881, The Authentic Life of Billy, the Kid.
 Two famous outlaws who do not have a well-known connection to New Mexico are Bonnie and Clyde. In August 1932, Bonnie and Clyde were on the run after being involved in the murder of a policeman named Moore at a country dance in Springtown, Oklahoma. Bonnie had an aunt named Nettie Stamps who lived in Carlsbad, New Mexico, so the pair headed there to hide out.
On the way to Nettie’s home, policeman Joe Johns saw Bonnie and Clyde’s car go by. He noticed the out of state plates and decided to trace them; the plates came back as being stolen. Policeman Johns then began looking around Carlsbad for the stolen car and found it in Nettie’s yard. When he knocked on the door he was confronted by Clyde with a gun. This was the moment Nettie discovered that her niece and Clyde were outlaws.
Bonnie and Clyde left Nettie’s place along with Policeman Johns; Nettie phoned the police as soon Bonnie and Clyde left. Everyone feared that Bonnie and Clyde had murdered Policeman Johns as there was no word from him for several days. Concern turned to relief after he phoned home from San Antonio, Texas where Bonnie and Clyde released him unharmed.
 Another well-known outlaw with a not-so-well-known connection to New Mexico is Jesse James. According to legend, in 1879 Billy the Kid was staying at the Old Adobe Hotel in Hot Springs, New Mexico. A man described as being a friend of Billy’s was working at the hotel as a bartender, and he reported that on the night of July 26, he saw Billy playing cards with a man Billy introduced as “Mr Howard.” Mr Howard was a known alias of Jesse James. In addition, the bartender claimed that this “Mr Howard” was missing the tip of his right hand middle finger, a known characteristic of the real Jesse James.
Evidence to support this claim consists of the fact that the bartender was respected citizen Dr. Hoyt, author of “A Frontier Doctor” who is well regarded by historians and a long time friend of Billy the Kid. In addition, the Las Vegas Optic reported some time later that Jesse James had been registered at the Old Adobe Hotel between the 26th and 29th of July 1879.
 Yet another famous outlaw (depending on your point of view) who operated in New Mexico is Pancho Villa. Villa – a General in the Mexican army working to overthrow the dictatorial Huerta regime during the Mexican Revolution – conducted the last invasion of the continental United States in 1916 at Columbus, New Mexico. Prior to the invasion, the United States government had supported Villa; however, President Woodrow Wilson decided to support Villa’s adversary Venustiano Carranza instead of Villa in the Revolution. This led to Villa’s split with the United States and the invasion at Columbus New Mexico on the night of March 9th, 1916.
Villa believed that there were only about 30 US Army troops in or near Columbus, but there were in fact over 300. During the battle, about 80 of Villa’s troops were killed and 18 Americans – 8 soldiers and 10 civilians – were killed. General John J. Pershing was ordered to pursue Villa into Mexico with the approval of the Mexican government. General Pershing failed to capture Villa and eventually returned to the United States.
 There are many non-famous outlaws who were from or operated within New Mexico. Most were involved in cattle rustling or murder. One of these was Clay Allison, whose story reads almost like a Hollywood movie script. He started out as a Confederate soldier, first enlisting in the Tennessee Light Artillery where he was wounded and discharged. He re-enlisted in the 9th Tennessee Cavalry under General Nathan Bedford Forrest. After the war, he reportedly joined the Ku Klux Klan and later killed a Union officer and fled to Texas. Sometime before 1870, he moved to New Mexico, living in both Cimarron and Elizabethtown.
Here he began his reputation as a bad man. Along with the usual Hollywood bad man cowboy acts of drunkenness and riding through town shooting out the lights, he and some friends decided to take justice into their own hands. They broke into the Elizabethtown jail and pulled Charles Kennedy, who was being held on charges of robbery and murder, from his cell.  After leaving the jail, Allison’s gang tied a rope around Kennedy’s neck and dragged him through town until he was dead.
Allison continued his rampage through New Mexico getting involved in fights in Colfax County and Cimarron before finally dying in a wagon accident. He is buried in Pecos, Texas.
New Mexico has been home to many outlaws and has been the setting for many books and films about outlaws. We’ve looked at just a handful of the men and women who made history in New Mexico with their lawless ways. To find out more about these and other outlaws, here are just a few resources:
Outlaw Tales of New Mexico: True Stories of New Mexico's Most Famous Robbers, Rustlers, and Bandits ~ Barbara Marriott
Knights of the Sixgun: A Diary of Gunfighters, Outlaws and Villains of New Mexico
~ Bob L'Aloge
Outlaws & Desperados: A New Mexico Federal Writers' Project Book ~ Ann Lacy & Anne Valley-Fox
The Deadliest Outlaws: The Ketchum Gang and the Wild Bunch ~ Jeffrey Burton
February ~ A Short New Mexico History
Early people were living in what is now New Mexico about 12,000 years ago. Because the first evidence of these peoples, a large well-made stone tool, was discovered near Clovis New Mexico in 1932, they have become known as the Clovis people. The stone tool that these people produced had fluted edges, a New-World innovation.
 The inhabitants of the great settlements in the Four Corners area of north western New Mexico, of which Chaco Canyon is the best preserved example, were descended from the Clovis people. They are now known as the Anazazi (the Navajo word for “the ancient ones”) and they inhabited the Four Corners region from about 200 BC to 1300 AD when their culture suddenly collapsed. The Anazazi first cultivated maize (corn) around the birth of Christ, and by the 13th century, they were cultivating maize, squash, and beans. They were also excellent pottery makers; their pottery had a distinctive black on white feature. By 1600, the Anazazi left their communities leaving us with a debate on the reasons why. Theories include drought, warfare, disease and even witchcraft.
 Although the Anazazi left the Four Corners area, they most likely did not leave New Mexico. The current day Pueblo tribes are thought to be descended from the Anazazi. For an overview of the Pueblo tribes visit New Mexico’s Tourism Department web page on Pueblos, Tribes and Nations.
The Navajo and Apache are not related to the Anazazi. The Navajo and Apache moved into New Mexico around 1400 AD, migrating from the north. Instead, they are related to the Athabascan-speaking people in Alaska and Canada. The Navajo and Apache are still in New Mexico with many living on the reservations. The Navajo reservations are in the northern and northwestern parts of the state, and the Apache reservations are located in both the northern (Jicarilla Apache Nation) and southern (Mescalero Apache Nation) portions of the state.
The Spanish entered modern day New Mexico in 1581 by way of an expedition led by Franciscan monks Fray Agustin Rodrigues, Francisco Lopez, and Juan de Santa Maria. The three were accompanied by a military escort and a small number of servants. None survived to return to northern Mexico.
In 1595, another expedition into New Mexico from “old” Mexico began with the purpose of converting the native people to Christianity. This expedition was led by Juan de Oñate,  who was expected to finance the expedition privately. In return for this private financing, the Spanish King named Oñate both Governor and Captain General, thus conferring on him the civil and military authority in New Mexico. The expedition actually started in January 1598, arriving at the present day city of Cuidad Juarez before advancing into what is now New Mexico. The expedition moved north, following the Rio Grande River. It stopped at each native village along the way to bring the people under the banner of Christianity and the Spanish King.
Oñate established the first capital of New Mexico at the confluence of the Rio Grande and the Rio Chama at the native village of Okhe. He named his capital San Juan de Los Caballeros; shortly thereafter, he moved to the west bank of the Rio Grande to the native village of Yunque and renamed it San Gabriel. San Gabriel served as the Spanish capital until Santa Fe was established in 1610.
In 1706, the present day city of Albuquerque was founded by Gov. Francisco Cuervo y Valdes. It was named after the Duke of Alburquerque who resided in New Spain (Mexico). The first "r" was dropped in the early 19th century, as noted in the 1807 narratives of the Zebulon Pike expedition.
The late 17th and early 18th centuries were a period of turbulence for the natives. A series of native revolts against the Spanish rule and Spanish reprisals took place that displaced many natives.
New Mexico, along with Mexico, won its independence from Spain in 1822. The early to mid 19th century saw the arrival of Anglos from the United States in the form of trappers and traders. This move resulted in New Mexico coming under the jurisdiction of the United States in 1848 under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo following the Mexican-American War. New Mexico remained a Territory of the United States until 1911 when it voted for, and was awarded, statehood.
Visit the official New Mexico state history web site for more information.
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