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A LOOK INSIDE THE ARCHIVES AT ONE OF OUR CLASSIC ISSUES FROM 91 YEARS OF NEW MEXICO MAGAZINE.
March 1947
Proving Ground for Rockets
Play Town in the Clouds
BY ORREN BEATY
BY MARY DEE KIPP*
There would probably be an argument if residents of southern New Mexico claimed publicly that the White Sands Proving Ground is the most important military establishment in the state. Northern New Mexico residents undoubtedly feel that the atomic research at Los Alamos is more vital to the nation’s welfare than the rocket development which occupies the minds of scientists at the eastern foot of the Organ Mountains. Truth of the matter is, the two projects go hand-in-hand in military planning for the future ...
Frank Lynch and his crew of four toiled up the last few yards of the summit of the Sacramento Mountains. “This is it,” the survey chief said. “The company wants the lodge on the highest point—and here it is.” “What are they going to name the place?” “Notice the little white fluff of a cloud touching the ground in the canyon to the right. If the trees were gone you would describe it as a ‘cloud in a field.’ Croft is an old English word that means a small field near a house. The name should be Cloudcroft.” This was back in 1900 … *daughter of John Muir
In days like these it takes real courage to face Mother Nature, ¿no es verdad? Su voz ahora, her voice no longer remains a lov-
ing whisper. She roars her way across the earth like an angry bruja. Our old friend, Don Modesto, adds his own words of wisdom: “Plácido, amigo, tell your friends that Nature sometimes goes loca, wild. She is jealous of our might and power, of the miracles that we make. She is angry with our artists who imprison sunbeams. Do you wonder then that she sometimes performs like a spoiled child and does a little acting up?”
Lloyd Shearer writing in the January issue of Holiday Magazine, on “How to Cross the Country,” gives this advice: “If you possibly can, do some of your driving at night. There is less traffic, and if you are crossing a section of the country like New Mexico or Arizona, where for long stretches there is relatively little to see, you won’t miss any scenery…” Readers can write their own commentary on that! Words fail us. VOLUME 92, ISSUE 3 New Mexico Magazine (ISSN 0028-6249) is published monthly by the New Mexico Tourism Department at 495 Old Santa Fe Trail, Santa Fe, NM 87501-2750. SUBSCRIPTION PRICE: $25.95 per year, $45.95 outside the United States. Periodicals postage paid at Santa Fe, NM, and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to New Mexico Magazine, PO Box 433148, Palm Coast, FL 32143-9881. Copyright © 2014 by New Mexico Magazine. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. The magazine is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts, photographs, or artwork.
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