North-Central New Mexico: History, Art, Culture

from New Mexico Vacation 2021/22

Northeastern New Mexico: A Raucous Past Among Varied Vistas

SOUTHEAST statues are positioned within the downtown district on Artesia’s History in Bronze and Downtown Walking Tour. It begins at the Artesia Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Center in the historic train depot and stops at the impressive Artesia Public Library, home to a 46-foot Peter Hurd mural. The artwork was rescued from a downtown Houston building slated for demolition. Call (575) 746.2744 or visit https://www. artesiachamber.com/the-chamber/visitors-center/ for the latest information on closures or program changes. The diverse and dramatic geology in this region features flat expanses of seemingly endless prairie connecting to the foothills of the Sacramento mountains, in which the villages of Cloudcroft and Ruidoso nestle. There are gambling venues to be explored in and around Ruidoso, including the many amenities and luxury of the Inn of The Mountain Gods, and Billy the Kid Casino and Ruidoso Downs Race Track. To the south is Carlsbad, where Carlsbad Caverns National Park invites visitors beneath the earth’s surface to see dozens of limestone caves. Bats that sleep in them by day fill the evening sky as they head out in a cloud of black to hunt insects. In Lincoln County, see the courthouse where notorious outlaw Billy the Kid shot his way out of jail. Among New Mexico's most visited historic sites, Lincoln offers an immersive experience hearkening back to a violent period in the state’s history - the Lincoln County Wars. A short drive away from Lincoln is Fort Stanton, established to protect settlements along the Rio Bonito in the Apache Wars. Built in 1855 as a U.S. military fort, this is the largest of New Mexico’s state historic sites. Kit Carson, Billy the Kid White Sands National Monument, and Buffalo Soldiers of the photo credit: City of Alamogordo 9th Cavalry all lived at Fort Stanton. Confederate forces occupied the outpost in the beginning of the American Civil War, and later it served as America's first federal tuberculosis sanatorium.

If possible, be sure to visit the UFO Museum in Roswell. Check its website, www.roswellufomuseum.com, for the latest information about operations and hours. It is typically open 9 a.m.- 5 p.m. daily, with an admission fee of $2 to $5 depending on age and military status. Nearby, take a spin to Bottomless Lakes State Park, open 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. It lies 14 miles southeast of Roswell, where sinkholes range to 90 feet deep.

THE LARGEST city in the state, the oldest state capital in the country, world-class art communities, an authentic railroad town, and excellent accommodations can all be found in New Mexico’s North-Central quadrant cities of Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Taos, and in the towns around them. Majestic mountains rise abruptly from great expanses of plains, falling off to wooded river valleys. This diverse terrain provides a wealth of outdoor activities, including hiking, skiing, cycling and mountain biking. Just as varied are the communities, which comprise a mix of small-town charm, bucolic serenity, bustling metropolitan life and a sleepy mountain-ringed village. Make some time to experience the rich history and culture of Belen, founded in 1740 and interwoven with Spanish, German and other cultures. The community boasts an original Harvey House and offers a glimpse at what this historic railroad town looked like in the early 1900s. There are also plenty of shopping opportunities. Birders, golfers, art-lovers, historians and campers will find plenty of entertainment in Socorro. Check out the City’s website for a full list of activities available in the area, including walking tours, dirt biking and ATVs, and downtown shopping and dining. If you like games of chance, then try your luck at Route 66 Casino on Interstate 25, west of Albuquerque. The casino floor features more than 1,300 slots, from pennies to high stakes machines, Vegas-style table games, a popular bingo hall, as well as full hotel accommodations, food, and regular entertainment options. The rich history of Los Lunas can be discovered with a visit to its Visitors Center, your source for information about the array of local events held year-round. The center is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. While you’re there, look at the rich history of Los Lunas through a photo display inside the building. Do not miss Albuquerque’s Historic Old Town Plaza, the humble roots from which Albuquerque grew. Old Town offers an impressive selection of New Mexico cuisine and the

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Candy Lady is a 40-year staple of the community, its billboard-sized sign unmissable at the southwest entrance to Old Town. Inside, visitors will find 23 kinds of fudge, 17 feet of candy cases, with five shelves in each case, and a range of chocolate-dipped items and nut clusters. “It’s exponentially hard to count,” Ball said. You just have to see it for yourself. Ball’s products contain no GMOs or preservatives, and she doesn’t cross-contaminate ingredients. She said she works hard to accommodate dietary restrictions and does take orders by phone. With sweets in hand or a fine sugar high underway, you could expend some of that energy on a day trip to El Rancho de las Golondrinas living history museum north on Interstate 25 outside of Santa Fe. Or head south to the New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum in Las Cruces. All exhibits and livestock areas (beef cattle, dairy cows, sheep, and horses) at the New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum were open as of deadline for this story. Playgrounds and interactive areas remained closed. While the museum relishes seeing people in person, it has more options than ever for anyone who wants to engage with its programs online. Public information officer Craig Massey encourages people to visit its interactive website and its YouTube, TikTok, and Pinterest platforms, or take advantage of the museum’s lesson plans and digital classroom opportunities. The museum’s website (https://www.nmfarmandranchmuseum. org/) provides a link to lesson plans and home activities and gives instruction about how to invite an educator into your home or school digitally. Examples of subjects covered include sheep and the different uses of their wool, as discussed by a fiber artist; desert plants, as reviewed by a botanist; and life as a cowboy, as presented by an oral history expert. “We’ve put exhibits online and worked with educators around the country to offer lesson plans and participate in Department of Cultural Affairs programs where teachers and parents could invite educators to meet with students on Zoom meetings,” Massey said. “In some ways, we have reached a lot more people even though our doors were closed for a while.” Just like local stores and restaurants, museums around New Mexico need public support to survive. Massey says if you can’t visit in person, people can help by following the museum’s social media accounts: “The more eyes mean more people seeing our content. That’s being counted and shows we’re reaching people. As part of the State of New Mexico Cultural Affairs, we get support from the Legislature, and when they see we’re getting educational programming out and making a difference, sharing a story, those numbers matter.” El Rancho de las Golondrinas, which is dedicated to the history, heritage, and culture of 18th- and 19th-century New Mexico, was intending to be offering guided tours starting in April and self-guided tours in June. During either tour, visitors get to wander in fresh air amid 34 original colonial buildings set on 200 historic acres of a rural farming valley enjoyed by sheep, goats, and burros. “We’re ready,” said museum director Daniel Goodman. “We have Covid-safe practices in place. Our ad campaign is, ‘Safe social distancing in the great outdoors.’” But even when the museum is closed or for those not comfortable visiting in person, the museum website, https:// golondrinas.org/about/, provides a multitude of resources that enable people to engage in other ways. Online content includes virtual podcasts, lectures from local historians, and historic demonstrations, all conducted either by staff or volunteers who are subject matter experts. Supplemental educational history materials and projects for children are also available. For example, Goodman said, “We have volunteers who specialize in historic lifeways – baking in an horno, or doing tin stamping, or adobe construction.” Many of the digital offerings are new, brought about as a result of the shutdown in 2020, Goodman said. “It’s just something we’ve been wanting to do for some time, and this was the right time to do it. It’s just part of what we do now. It’s innovate or die.” In fact, the museum has been supporting more than just the usual lot during the pandemic. Through collaboration with Santa Fe nonprofits YourthWorks! and The Food Depot, the museum has offered for the last year a weekly food pickup service to anyone in need. Goodman says more than 24,000 meals had been served from the guest parking lot as of the start of March and that the service will continue as long as supplies last.

El Rancho de las Golondrinas, photo credit: New Mexico TRUE

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“There’s a line out of our parking lot every Wednesday, so the need is great still,” he said. Goodman said the best way the public can support the museum any time of year is to purchase a membership or donate to the Photo credit: Marble Street Studio annual fund. Both can be done at https://golondrinas.org/ by clicking on the Support tab, and both are matched via an anonymous private foundation. “That’s a really big deal when you’ve got 200 acres and a bunch of animals and staff to support,” Goodman said. Whether ending a day excursion or winding down at home, making Eagle Ranch Pistachio Groves and Heart of the Desert Vineyards part of your evening can be a fun, elegant, or casual way to settle in, depending on your mood. The mom-and-pop business in Alamogordo is home to New Mexico’s first and largest-producing pistachio groves, as well as 24,000 grapevines. The varieties harvested each year produce chardonnay, cabernet sauvignon, zinfandel, shiraz, riesling, malvasia bianca, and gewurztraminer wines that can be enjoyed on the Tuscan-inspired patio overlooking the nut groves or ordered online to be sipped any time. Visitors having a glass onsite at 7288 Hwy 54/70 between 6 and 9 p.m. Wednesdays can also enjoy some live entertainment and outdoor dining, with food provided by partnering food trucks. A cover charge costs $7. Or, partake in Olivelle olive oil tastings and homegrown pistachio products, from ice cream to popcorn, any time between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. Heart of the Desert’s popular pistachio caramel popcorn, previously made by Walker’s Popcorn Company in Albuquerque, will now be made at the Alamogordo farm site. Heart of the Desert purchased Walker’s in 2020 and is building a 7,000-square-foot manufacturing facility that should be producing by summer. Eventually, more than 15 flavors are expected to be available, said Marianne Schweers, who co-owns Heart of the Desert with her husband, George. Heart of the Desert also offers all of its products online at https://www.heartofthedesert.com/ 24 hours a day, so you can indulge to your heart’s content from the comfort of your home or rental property. Remember that when you buy, shop, or dine locally, either in-person or online, you help to preserve jobs, create new employment, and ensure the vibrant and unique places you love to visit in New Mexico are there for you and others to enjoy well into the future.