NEW MEXICO TRAVELER
2010-2011
Your Guide to the Land of Enchantment Including Pagosa Springs and El Paso
2010-2011 EDITION
Exploring the Land, the Art & the People
Desert Bloom Lake Roberts
Mineral Hot Springs
Shakespeare
SOUTHWEST NEW MEXICO
LORDSBURG
Duck Races Elephant Butte Shakespeare
DEMING T OR C
DEMING
LORDSBURG
SILVER CITY
star-gazing, terrific year-round weather, relaxed lifestyle
Painted Desert
opportunities, diverse cultural heritage, regional cuisine,
Golf Course
SILVER CITY is known for its arts community, birding
A place WHERE FORTUNES were made, HEARTS were broken and DREAMS were FULFILLED!
Silver City Museum
Where it ALL BEGAN...
LAS CRUCES
To have NEW EXPERIENCES...
SOCORRO
OLDry t n u Co WEST
T OR C
VLA
Oregon Mountains
Farm & Heritage Museum
The Catwalk/Glenwood
Cliff Dwellings
Bosque del Apache
Our Lady of Health Church
DEMING
Willow Creek
RESERVE
SILVER CITY
LORDSBURG
Elephant Butte
SOCORRO
T OR C
Mogollon
LAS CRUCES
LAS CRUCES
San Miguel Mission
RESERVE
SILVER CITY
SOCORRO
RESERVE
and proximity to 3.3 million-acre Gila National Forest.
Deming • Las Cruces • Lordsburg • Reserve • Silver City • Socorro • Truth or Consequences
P.O. Box 884 • Silver City, NM 88062 www.SilverCity.org • 1-800-548-9378
1-800-290-8330
201 N. Hudson St., Silver City, NM 88061
OLD WEST COUNTRY Funded by Silver City Lodger’s Tax
www.oldwestcountry.com e-mail: info@oldwestcountry.com
Contents 10
E18 FEATURES 8
24 28 30 E6 OW5 OW12 OW21 OW34 OW40
20102011
OW4
TOURS
Welcome to New Mexico The contrasts of scenic wonders create an artists and visitors haven. There are no better markets for Native American crafts, Spanish architecture and influence are found throughout the state and opportunities for adventure range from white water rafting to lava tube exploration. Gallup: Rich in History Collecting Native American Art Gallup Pawn Santa Clara Pueblo A Place Between Earth and Sky Forts, Ghost Towns & Famous Buildings Affordable Vacations Historic Mining Towns Heroes, Villians & Outlaws Birding Locations
OUR COVER The Puyé Cliff Dwellings are the ancestral home of the Santa Clara Pueblo Indians, who now operate modern casino, hotel and golf facilities in the Española area. Major prehistoric villages and communities, like Chaco Canyon National Historic Park and the Gila National Monument are preserved throughout New Mexico.
10
Albuquerque The population and business center for the state carefully preserves its natural spaces and heritage while cultivating its arts and entertainment programs.
18
Indian Country The largest markets for Native American crafts and the ruins of prehistoric peoples highlight the depth of visitor opportunities.
E2
Northern Mountains The state’s highest peaks and deepest canyons and its world renowned art markets and fiestas contribute to its status as a world class destination.
OW2 Old West Country
Southwest New Mexico touts its old west heritage as it leaps into commercial space travel and alternative energy.
OW31
OW37
Southeast The gateway communities to southern New Mexico’s mountain playground have also developed their own arts and entertainment. El Paso, Texas Spaniards, Pueblo Indians, Mexicans and western moving Anglos contributed to an exciting history and a vibrant metropolis.
24 TOUR LOCATIONS 10 14 20 22 24 E4 E6 E12 E12 E14 E16 E20 E22 E24 E25 OW6 OW8 OW10 OW13 OW14 OW16 OW20 OW22 OW24 OW28 OW32 OW34 OW38
Albuquerque Valencia County Pueblo of Acoma Grants Gallup Santa Fe Santa Clara Pueblo Taos Dining Velarde Ojo Caliente Taos Raton Las Vegas Abiquiu Pagosa Springs, Colorado Truth or Consequences City of Elephant Butte Socorro Magdalena Reserve & Glenwood Silver City Bayard, Hurley & Pinos Altos Lordsburg Deming Las Cruces Roswell Artesia El Paso, Texas
DEPARTMENTS 4 12 33 34
Exclusively New Mexico Museums & Cultural Attractions Dining Guide Index of Advertisers
New Mexico Traveler is published annually by Zia Publishing Corp. P.O. Box 1248, Silver City, NM, 116 McKinney Road, 88062, 575-388-4444, info@ziapublishing.com, www.ziapublishing.com, www.travelernm.com. President & Managing Director: Terri Menges. Vice President: Joseph Burgess. Staff Accountant: Arlyn Cooley. Designers: Debra Sutton and Terri Menges. Contributing Writers: Joseph Burgess, Lori L. Coon, Brett Ferneau and Sophie Martin. Photography: Joseph Burgess, except where noted. Contributing Photographers: Ralph Erwin, Lynn Janes, Keith LeMay, Luis Perez, Marty Mayfield, Don Proudstar, Debra Sutton, Judy Wuthrich. Courtesy Photos: Artesia Chamber of Commerce, Badlands Grill, Black Mesa Winery, Claire Haye, John Dunn Shops, Susan LaFont, Ojo Caliente Resort & Spa, Roswell Landing, The Mandala Center, The Springs Resort & Spa and Santa Clara Pueblo. Advertising Sales: LeAnne Knudsen, Tamra Manning, Dawn Redpath. To Order Personal Copies: Soft Bound $8.95, Hard Bound $12.95. Outside the USA: Please call for rates. Back Issues available. Call: 1-877-687-7474 x10 POSTMASTER: Send change of address to: New Mexico Traveler, P.O. Box 1248, Silver City, NM 88062. New Mexico Traveler is manufactured and printed in the United States of America. ©Zia Publishing Corp. 2010. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part without permission of the publisher is prohibited. All submissions of editorial or photography are only accepted without risk to the publisher for loss or damage. Every effort was made to ensure accuracy in the information provided. The publisher assumes no responsibility or liability for errors, changes or omissions.
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2010-2011 NEW MEXICO TRAVELER www.travelernm.com
12TH ANNUAL GREAT SOUTHWESTERN ANTIQUE SHOW August 7, 2010 - 9am to 5pm & August 8, 2010 - 10am to 4pm Sneak Preview on August 6, 2010 - 2pm to 7pm
GREAT SOUTHWESTERN SPRING ANTIQUE SHOW • May 7 & 8, 2011 LUJAN CENTER AT EXPO NEW MEXICO ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO
Quality Integrity Authenticity 25 Dealers In House
COWBOYS & INDIANS ANTIQUES OPEN
DAILY
10–6 4000 CENTRAL AVE SE, ALBUQUERQUE, NM 87108 505·255·4054 cowgirls@rt66.com www.cowboysandindiansnm.com
Exclusively NEW MEXICO
Star Road and White Sun (1874-1960), 42" x 51" Oil
on
Canvas, 1920. The Albuquerque
Museum;
Museum purchase, 1985 General Obligation Bonds,
Blue Grosbeak, by Michael P. O’Connor
Albuquerque High School Collection, Gift of the class-
14" x 11" Oil on Canvas, $575 framed.
es of 1943, 1944, and 1945. $575 framed by Ernest L. Blumenschein
Casitas de Gila Guesthouses
This powerful painting reflects an early 20th century
and Gallery
shift in Native American culture away from passive
50 Casita Flats Road
accommodation
PO Box 325
contemporary Native culture exemplified by the young
Gila, NM 88038
"Star Road" overshadowing the traditionalism of the
575.534.455
older "White Sun."
towards
an
assertiveness
of
www.galleryatthecasitas.com Albuquerque Museum of Art and History 2000 Mountain Road, NW • Albuquerque, NM 87104 505.243.7255
Pottery by
Sandra Victorino of Pueblo of Acoma
/ Eagle Clan An active artist since 1983 in the media of traditional polychrome & black on white. Sandra Victorino is widely respected for her "eyedazzlers" design which are swirling bands of repetitive symbols creating this optical effect.
Gaitsi Gallery at Sky City Cultural Center Pueblo of Acoma I-40 Exit 102 • Pueblo of Acoma, NM 87034 800.747.0181 • skycity.com
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2010-2011 NEW MEXICO TRAVELER www.travelernm.com
A unique one-of-a kind Bracelet by
Aaron Anderson
Ellis Tanner Trading Company PO Box 636 • Gallup, NM 87305 505.863.4434 • www.etanner.com
Silver Turquoise, Serpentine & Shell Necklace by Phyllis and Raymond Rosetta of Santo Domingo. Partial detail of oil
on
“Welcome Home”,
canvas
by
Dan
Boldman,
master of the New Mexican Land and Cloudscape.
Hoop De Do Silver Hoop Earrings and The Strength of the Butterfly
Tatiana Maria Gallery
The twisted elements give this very
305 / 307 North Bullard St.
light sterling silver chain character and
Silver City, NM
distinction. Adjustable to 16".
575.388.4426
Claireworks Arroyo Seco, NM • 575.776.5175 888.219.6060
Claireworks II 3220 Silver SE • Albuquerque, NM 505.255.0403 • www.claireworks.com
Ortega’s tradition began with
Blankets & Rugs.
Today they grace
hardwood floors and love seats around the world. Blankets are woven of a lighter weight yarn, and are soft and comfortable as a throw or on a bed. Rugs are durable for lifetimes of floor use and are a luxury to bare feet. A blanket or a rug can be a focal point of a room, or a neutral accent.
Ortega’s Weaving Shop On the corner of CR98 & SR76 in Chimayo, NM Galeria: 505.531.2288 or Toll Free 800.743.5921 • Weaving Shop: 505.351.4215 or Toll Free 877.351.4215 • www.ortegasweaving.com
5
Exclusively NEW MEXICO
Ganado Red Rug by Maria Nez – From Arizona. Measures 6 1⁄2 ft. by 10 ft.
Richardson’s Trading Co. & Cash Pawn 222 Westy Highway 66 • Gallup, NM 87301 505.722.4762 rtc@cia-g.com
Quality Antiques of the American West An extensive selection of pre-1940’s Native American, New Mexican and American Folk Art.
Cowboys & Indians Antiques • 4000 Central SE Albuquerque, NM 87108 • 505.255.4054
Market Drive, 24”x30”,
Oil on canvas, 1974, by Jim Abeita,
Navajo artist.
Shush Yaz Trading Co. - Gallup 1304 West Lincoln Gallup, NM 87301 505.722.0130
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2010-2011 NEW MEXICO TRAVELER www.travelernm.com
photo courtesy Claire Haye
Claire Haye
C
Delightful Artwork
laire Haye, the artist, has lived in New Mexico for over 30 years, creating delightfully original art and energetic jewelry. Moving to New Mexico with her young family in the late 70s, she has thrived and become a wellknown and successful artist and businesswoman. this page: The The popularity of her jewelry has allowed her to open her very own Claireworks gallery Taos and her exclusive galleries showcasing her work. Open in 1977, Claireworks, in near new Albuquerque the charming mountain village of Arroyo Seco on the road to Taos Ski location in the Nob Hill District showValley, welcomes visitors every day. The sculpture garden and gallery are case exclusively the original work of a popular destination for locals and out-of-town visitors alike. Claire Haye. Due to Claire’s established recognition and following of collectors, in December 2009, Claire opened her cozy gallery, ClaireWorks II in the vibrant Albuquerque neighborhood of Nob Hill. Claire’s intriguing website and fanciful descriptions - www.claireworks.com is a great source for all of your gift-giving needs. Claire and her friendly and helpful staff will gladly answer any questions you may have on the phone or via e-mail; and will giftwrap and ship for free. The toll free number is 888-219-6060. Claire’s original work is available only at her own galleries and website. 7
WELCOME TO
New 8
2010-2011 NEW MEXICO TRAVELER www.travelernm.com
Mexico New Mexico is a land of beauty and contrast from vast pristine wilderness areas to pockets of space-age technology. The brilliant New Mexico sunlight, that incredible painter’s light, and the stunning blue skies that keep us reaching for our cameras have enticed travelers to New Mexico for centuries. The vistas are sharp and vivid from the Sangre de Cristo peaks near Taos to the crystalline dunes of White Sands National Monument. this page: The Rio Our heartbeat hastens to the beat of a Pueblo drum, while Grande Bosque, North America’s the Very Large Array of radio telescopes listens for signs of life largest cottonwood forest, offers prisin distant galaxies. We marvel at a curious lizard that scram- tine views, despite surrounded by bles across the ruins of an ancient culture and we are startled being the state’s largest by trophy elk crashing through brush near high mountain metropolitan area. trout streams. We drive the web of New Mexico’s scenic byways and spend days shopping at some of the world’s best markets for art, jewelry and Indian crafts. Of the European cultures, the Spanish arrived first, and their influence can be witnessed throughout the state. Santa Fe continues celebrating its 400th anniversary through the end of 2010, and colorful fiestas can be found year round in almost every community. Challenge our ski slopes and white water rapids and visit our forts, ghost towns and Spanish missions. Accept this invitation from the most welcoming people in the union. ¡Bien Venidos a Nuevo México!
9
LOCATION
Albuquerque is located at the junction of I-25 and I-40, nestled between the Rio Grande and the 10,700 ft. bluffs of Sandia Crest.
MORE INFORMATION Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce (505) 764-3700 www.abqchamber.com. Albuquerque Convention & Visitors Bureau (800) 733-9918 www.itsatrip.org. Albuquerque Hispano Chamber of Commerce (800) 754-4620 www.ahcnm.org.
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2010-2011 NEW MEXICO TRAVELER
EVENTS Mar
Apr
May Fiery Foods and BBQ Show 505-873-8680 www.fiery-foods.com/ffshow Rio Grande Arts and Crafts Festival Spring Show www.riograndefestivals.com Jun Fiestas de Albuquerque and Founders Day Parade 505-768-3556 Spring Indian Art Market. 505843-7270 www.indianpueblo.org Annual Gathering of Nations Powwow 505-836-2810 www.gatheringofnations.com
www.travelernm.com
Southwest Funnyfest. 505-768-3544 www.southwestfunnyfest.com Albuquerque Annual Wine Festival. 505-899-3815 www.nmwine.com Albuquerque Century & Downtown Criterium 800-284-2282 abqcentury.com Jul End of the Trail World Championship Cowboy Action Shooting & Wild West Jubilee. 505-843-1320 www.sassnet.com
Youth National Arabian Half Arabian Championship Horse Show. 303-696-4500 www.ArabianHorses.org/YNL Albuquerque Folk Festival 505-710-9641 abqfolkfest.org New Mexico Arts and Crafts Fair. 505-884-9043 www.nmartsandcraftsfair.org Independence Day Celebration. 505-768-3556 www.cabq.gov TBA Mariachi Spectacular 505-255-1501 www.mariachispetacular.com
Albuquerque FOUNDED IN 1706
New Mexico’s largest city and economic hub ocated on historic El Camino Real, Albuquerque was founded in 1706. Old Town, with its San Felipe de Neri church and historic plaza, continues to bear its Spanish heritage and architecture. Artwork and dining opportunities, as well as Native American and Spanish influenced crafts, are located throughout the plaza area. Many of Albuquerque’s major museums are also located in the Old Town district. Historic Route 66, running the full length of Albuquerque, is lined with shopping, dining and entertainment hot spots. Both the downtown and Nob Hill areas boast excellent ethnic restaurants, live music, dancing and theater. The170-acre Albuquerque Biological Park, containing an aquarium, botanical gar- opposite: The giant cottonwoods of the dens and zoo, is located just blocks away from Old Town. Further north, the Rio Corrales Bosque cover for Grande Nature Center State Park provides hiking and bicycle trails through dense cot- provide excellent birding, tonwood forest along the river. On the northwest edge of town, Petroglyph National nature walks and horseback riding. Monument preserves an enormous collection of ancient symbols and artwork scratched onto volcanic rocks. The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta is the world’s largest gathering of its kind for hot air balloons and includes mass ascensions, flying competitions and balloon glows. The world’s longest aerial tramway ascends 10,000-foot Sandia Peak, providing hiking, skiing and dining opportunities as well as incredible vistas. The Indian Pueblo Cultural Center and the National Hispanic Cultural Center of New Mexico have developed into major historic resources. The Gathering of Nations is now the country’s largest powwow, featuring over 3000 Native American dancers and the crowning of Miss Indian World.
L
Aug
Sep
Oct
The Great Southwestern Antiques Show. 505-255-4054 www.greatsouthwesternantiquesshow.com TBA Salsa Fiesta. 505-822-1662 www.cabq.gov/crs New Mexico Wine Festival www.newmexicowinefestival.com New Mexico State Fair 505-265-3976 www.exponm.com Globalquerque! 505-232-9868 www.globalquerque.com Rio Grande Arts and Crafts Festival Balloon Fiesta Show 505-292-7457 www.riograndefestivals.com
Nov
Fall Indian Art Market 505-843-7270 www.indianpueblo.org Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. 505-821-1000 www.balloonfiesta.com NM Duke City Marathon. 505-880-1414 www.dukecitymarathon.com Veterans Day Ceremony 505-256-2042 www.nmvetsmemorial.com Weems Gallery ArtFest" 505-293-6133 www.weemsgallery.com
Dec
Rio Grande Arts and Crafts Festival Holiday Show. 505-292-7457 www.riograndefestivals.com River of Lights. 505-764-6200 www.cabq.gov/biopark Twinkle Lights Parade 505-768-3556 www.cabq.gov Annual Holiday Shop ‘n Stroll in Nob Hill. 505-255-5006. Annual Holiday Stroll in Old Town. 505-842-8022 www.albuquerqueoldtown.com Luminaria Tour. 505-843-9200 www.cabq.gov/transit
ALBUQUERQUE
11
EXPERIENCE..DISCOVER...
• Free Express Start Breakfast Bar • Free Wireless/Wired Internet • Meeting & Event Rooms • Indoor Pool & Whirlpool • 24-Hour Fitness Center
Across the street from the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center and just minutes from Historic Old Town.
Reservations: 1-800-HOLIDAY 505-842-5000 2300 12th Street NW Albuquerque, NM 87104 www.hiexpress.com/albuquerquenw
Alamogordo New Mexico Museum of Space History & IMAX Hwy. 2001 • 437-2840 nmspacemuseum.org • Space age developments and travel on display. Oliver Lee Ranch House 409 Dog Canyon Rd. • 437-8284 Pioneer Oliver Lee’s restored homestead. Toy Trains Museum & Train Ride N. White Sands Blvd • 888-207-3564 toytraindepot.homestead.com Trains of every size exhibited. Albuquerque Albuquerque Museum of Art and History 19th & Mountain Rd. NW 243-7255 • cabq.gov/museum Traditional and contemporary art of New Mexico and sculpture garden. Anderson-Abruzzo Albuquerque International Balloon Museum 9201 Balloon Museum Dr. NE 880-0500 • balloonmuseum.com Balloon history exhibits, educational programs, library and shop. ¡explora! Science Center and Children’s Museum of Albuquerque 1701 Mountain Road NW • 224-8300 explora.us • Hands-on museum using interactive exhibits. Indian Pueblo Cultural Center 2401 12th St. NW • 866-855-7902 indianpueblo.org • Pueblo history blended with work by contemporary artists and craftsmen. Lodestar Astronomy Planetarium 1801 Mountain Rd NW • 841-2800 Digital planetarium, motion simulator and observatory. 12
Maxwell Museum of Anthropology UNM • 1 University of New Mexico 277-4405 • unm.edu/~maxwell Collections focusing on southwest native cultures. National Museum of Nuclear Science & History 601 Eubank SE • 245-2137 The Manhattan Project includes exhibits about the atomic bomb. National Hispanic Cultural Center of New Mexico 1701 4th Street SW • 246-2261 nhccnm.org • Exhibitions, performances and research. New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science 1801 Mt. Rd. NW • 841-2800 nmnaturalhistory.org • Experimental museum with active volcano, dinosaurs and big screen theater. Rio Grande Nature Center 2901Candelaria Rd. NW • 344-7240 rgnc.org • The flora, fauna, geology and ecology of the Rio Grande Valley. Tinkertown Museum 121 Sandia Crest Rd. Sandia Park 281-5233 • tinkertown.com The Old West and other collections shown in miniature. University Art Museum and Jonson Gallery UNM • 1 University of New Mexico 277-4001 • unmartmuseum.unm.edu Collections of world re-nowned European and American art. Unser Racing Museum 1776 Montano Rd. NW • 341-1776 unserracingmuseum.com • Four generations of Unsers and racecars.
2010-2011 NEW MEXICO TRAVELER www.travelernm.com
Capitan Smokey Bear Museum 102 Smokey Bear Blvd • 354-2298 A museum devoted to Forest Service fire prevention campaign featuring Smokey Bear. Carlsbad Carlsbad Museum and Art Center 418 W. Fox • 887-0276 cityofcarlsbadnm.com • Focus on geology, history and art of the region. Chimayõ Chimayõ Museum 13 Plaza del Cerrõ • 376-2913 chimayomuseum.org • History and culture of Chimayó and its surrounding communities. Supporting the work of established and emerging local artists. Cimarron Old Mill Museum NM21 • 376-2913 • Collections covering the region’s history. Cloudcroft Sacramento Mountains Historical Museum and Pioneer Village 1000 Hwy. 82 • 682-2932 cloudcroftmuseum.com History of the community from the Old West era to present day. Deming Deming/Luna Mimbres Museum 301 S. Silver • 546-2382 deminglunamimbresmuseum.com Features world famous collections of Mimbres pottery and more. Espanola Bond House Museum 710 Bond St. • 747-8535 Collections focus on art and history of the area.
Farmington Farmington Museum 3041 E. Main St • 599-1174 farmingtonmuseum.org Exhibits include prehistory of the region and a history of the Navajo and of Farmington. Gallup Red Rock Park & Museum Red Rock Park • 722-3839 Displays of native artifacts & art. Rex Museum 300 W. Historic Rt. 66 Ave. 863-1363 • History of Gallup’s railroads and mines. Grants NM Mining Museum 100 N. Iron Ave. • 800-748-2142 Collections devoted to mining. La Mesilla Gadsden Museum 1875 Boutz Rd. • 526-6293 Collections of Spanish and Indian artifacts. Las Cruces Branigan Cultural Ctr. 501 North Main St. • 541-2154 las-cruces.org/museums Museum features exhibits of the region’s art and history. Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum 4100 Dripping Springs Rd. 522-4100 nmfarmandranchmuseum.org Historical farm and ranch collections featured. Las Cruces Museum of Art 491 North Main St. • 541-2137 las-cruces.org/museums • contemporary art exhibitions, public programming, and educational activities.
Las Cruces Museum of Natural History 700 S. Telshor Blvd. • 522-3120 las-cruces.org/museums Southwest natural history. Las Cruces Railroad Museum 351 N. Mesilla St. • 647-4480 las-cruces.org/museums Photographs, artifacts, & text panels interpret local history & railroadiana. NMSU Museum Kent Hall • 646-3739 nmsu.edu/~museum Collections of gems, fossils and technological influences of the West. Las Vegas City of Las Vegas Museum and Rough Rider Memorial 727 Grand Ave. • 454-1401 lasvegasmuseum.org History of Northeast NM. Lincoln Historic Lincoln-Division of Hubbard Museum US 380 • 653-4025 Building Tours, Billy the Kid exhibit. Lordsburg Lordsburg Hidalgo Museum 542-9086 • 710 East 2nd St. Old West museum documents early history of the nearby ghost towns of Shakespeare and Steins. Los Alamos Bandelier Nat’l. Mon. 672-3861 • nps.gov/band Collection of Pueblo culture from 1200 AD to present. Bradbury Science Museum 15th & Central. • 667-4444 lanl.gov/museum • Science exhibits including WWII Project Y.
. EXPLORE ALBUQUERQUE
Los Alamos Historical Museum 1921 Juniper St. 662-6272 losalamoshistory.org Focuses on history of Los Alamos. Madrid Old Coal Mine Museum 2814 Hwy 14 • 438-3780 turquoisetrail.org/oldcoalmine Includes an authentic coal mine shaft. Magdalena Box Car Museum N. Main St. • 854-2261 Old photographs and objects of yesteryear's frontier life. Pinos Altos Pinos Altos Museum Main St. • 388-1882 pinosaltos.org/museum Collections of Gila Wilderness artifacts and North American exhibits. Pojoaque Poeh Cultural Center 78 Cities of Gold Rd. 455-3334 poehcenter.com • Dedicated to the culture of the Northern Pueblos. Poeh Museum 78 Cities of Gold Rd. • 455-5041 poehmuseum.com Features history, culture and heritage of Pueblo people. Portales Blackwater Draw Museum Eastern New Mexico University 1500 S. Ave. K • 562-1011 enmu.edu/services/museums Museum focusing on archaeological finds in Blackwater Draw site. Raton The Raton Museum 108 S. Secont St. 445-8979 Features the history of the region.
Roswell International UFO Museum and Research Center 114 N. Main • 800-822-3545 roswellufomuseum.com • Museum addresses UFO phenomenon. Roswell Museum and Art Center 100 W. 11th St. • 624-6744 roswellmuseum.org • Art and science exhibits including Goddard collection and Hurd/Wyeth art work. Ruidoso Hubbard Museum of the American West 841 Hwy. 70 E. • 378-4142 hubbardmuseum.org Devoted to history of the equine & Dave McGary sculpture. Santa Fe El Rancho de las Golondrinas 334 Los Pinos Rd. • 471-2261 golondrinas.org • A historical physical depiction of Colonial New Mexico. The Georgia O’Keeffe Museum 217 Johnson St. • 946-1000 okeeffemuseum.org • The world’s largest collection of art work by legendary artist Georgia O’Keeffe. Museum of Spanish Colonial Art 750 Camino Lejo • 982-2226 spanishcolonial.org Showcase of rich Spanish traditions. The Indian Arts Research Center 660 Garcia St. • 954-7205 Exhibits and collections of Indian art. Institute of American Indian Arts 83 Avan Nu Po Rd. • 424-2300 iaia.edu • Museum houses the national collection of contemporary Native American art. Museum of Fine Arts 107 W. Palace Ave. • 476-5072 nmartmuseum.org • Exhibits of Southwest artists and Taos and Santa Fe Masters.
Museum of Indian Arts and Culture 710 Camino Lejo • 476-1250 indianartsandculture.org Indian artifacts and exhibits. Museum of International Folk Art 706 Camino Lejo • 476-1200 internationalfolkart.org Collections and exhibits from around the world.100+ countries. New Mexico History Museum 120 Lincoln Ave. • 476-5100 nmhistorymuseum.org • Grand Opening Memorial Day Weekend 2009. A state-of-the-art, immersive interactive exhibition set to cast new light on how history can be learned. Palace of the Governors 105 W. Palace Ave. • 476-5100 palaceofthegovernors.org Historic landmark which holds the State’s history museum, library and photo archives. Santa Fe Children’s Museum 1050 Old Pecos Trail •989-8359 santafechildrensmuseum.org Youth museum with focus on the humanities and science. Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian 704 Camino Lejo • 982-4636 wheelwright.org Collections of contemporary and historic Indian arts and crafts. Silver City Silver City Museum 312 W. Broadway • 538-5921 silvercitymuseum.org Victorian era & frontier collections. WNMU Museum WNMU Campus • 1000 W. College 538-6386 • History of SW New Mexico exhibiting the country’s largest collection of Mimbres pottery. Socorro
Mineralogical Museum New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology 801 Leroy Place • 835-5420 Fossils & mineral specimens. Taos E.L. Blumenschein Home & Museum 222 Ledoux St. • 758-0505 The Southwest and European traditions and cultures are seen as having melded into one. Governor Bent Home & Museum 117 A Bent St.• 758-2376 Museum and home of New Mexico’s first territorial governor. Harwood Museum of Art 238 Ledoux St. • 758-9826 harwoodmuseum.org • Collections of Taos history with emphasis on Indian pueblos and Spanish culture. Kit Carson Home & Museum 113 Kit Carson Rd. • 758-4945 kitcarsonhome.com Mountain man Kit Carson’s artifacts and other frontier exhibits. La Hacienda De Los Martinez 708 Hacienda Rd. • 758-0505 Tour a large hacienda which portrays Spanish colonial life. Millicent Rogers Museum 1504 Millicent Rogers Rd. 758-2462 • millicentrogers.org Collections include hispanic art and Indian exhibits. Also featured is the Maria Martinez collection. Taos Art Museum & Fechin House 227 Paseo del Pueblo Norte •758-2690 taosartmuseum.org • Home of Russian artist. Furniture and folk art displayed. Toadlena Two Grey Hills Museum Toadlena Trading Post • 789-3267 Includes the most famous of the Navajo rugs.
Truth or Consequences Callahan’s Auto Museum 410 N. Cedar • 894-6900 Automobelia & classic cars on display. Geronimo Springs Museum 211 Main St. • 894-6600 geronimospringsmuseum.com World-class collection of prehistoric Mimbres pottery, Apache, Hispanic, military, mining, exhibits. Tucumcari Tucumcari Historical Museum 416 S. Adams St. • 461-4201 Community history on display with collections of Indian artifacts. Zuni A:shiwi A:wan Museum and Heritage Center 02E Ojo Caliente Rd. • 782-4403 ashiwi-museum.org Community directed Eco-Museum and Heritage Center. Ganado, AZ Hubbell Trading Post Hwy 264 • 928-755-3475 Oldest operating Trading Post on the Navajo Nation. Window Rock, AZ The Navajo Nation Museum Hwy 264 & Loop Rd. 928-871-7941 navajonationmuseum.org History, Culture & Exhibitions of the Four Corners Region. El Paso, TX Insights Science Museum 505 N. Santa Fe • 915-534-0000 insightselpaso.org Exciting explorations in science. El Paso Museum of Art 1 Arts Festival Plaza • 915-532-1707 elpasoartmuseum.org Houses a permanent collection of over 5,000 works of art.
ALBUQUERQUE MUSEUMS & CULTURAL ATTRACTIONS
13
Valencia County BELEN, LOS LUNAS
Spanish Settlers, the Iron Horse and Route 66
S
panish colonists began traversing Valencia County in the late 1500s and area land grants were issued by the King of Spain in the early 1700s. The Village of Los Lunas, the county seat, was named for the Luna family who took possession of a land grant two years after its issuance in 1718. The original Historic Route 66 from Chicago to L.A. turns west at Los Lunas, this page: Historic a segment now called NM6. A stop at the Museum of Heritage and Arts in Los Lunas Route 66 (NM6) shortcuts from I-25 provides a historical interlude to the region and Route 66. at Los Lunas To the south of Los Lunas, the rural village of Tomé was established in1739, and now northwest to I-40 west of Albuquerhosts the University of New Mexico Valencia campus, with it’s modern Southwest archi- que, crossing old lava flows, the Rio tecture and award-winning landscaping. It is also the site of Tomé Hill, a sacred hill ris- Puerco and passing Pueblo ing up out of the middle of the valley and offering ancient petroglyphs and extensive vis- through Indian lands. tas from the top. At the base of the hill is a 25-foot sculpture, "La Puerta del Sol," by renowned artist, Armando Alvarez depicting the settling of New Mexico by Native Americans and conquistadors; merchants and missionaries; soldiers and shepherds. Beyond Tomé is New Mexico’s historic “Hub City,” Belén. The settlement played a strategic roll on the
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early Spanish supply route, El Camino Real, and later became a critical crossroad of east-west/north-south routes of the Santa Fe Railroad, now the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad. It is also the southern anchor of New Mexico’s RailRunner commuter train from Belén to Albuquerque and Santa Fé. Located in Belén are the Water Conservation Garden, The Rio Grande Veterans Memorial Park, the P&M Farm Museum and the Harvey House Museum. Painted wall-to-wall murals cover the center room of the Harvey House, depicting scenic views of the valley, and three rooms are dedicated to an HO scale replica of the Bélen railroad yard. The Harvey House Museum sponsors numerous art and railroad exhibits throughout the year.
Belen Art league Gallery & Gifts Open Wed.-Sun. 12:00-4:00 p.m. 509 Becker Ave. Belen, NM 87002 505.861.0217
La Mirada Hotel
a Bed and Breakast Inn 2200 Camino Del Llano Blvd. • Belen, NM 87002
ATTRACTIONS
(505) 864-1900 • www.lamiradahotel.com
Museum of Heritage and Arts. Tues-Fri 125, Sat 10-5. 251 Main St. SE Los Lunas, NM 87031 Ph: (505) 352-7720 P & M Farm Museum. 478 Jarales Road Belen, NM 87002-9213 (505) 864-8354 Belen Harvey House. Houses the Valencia County Historical Society Museum. 104 North 1st Street, Belen, NM (505) 861-0581 Whitfield Wildlife Conservation Area. The grounds are open from dawn to dusk 365 days a year. The Visitor's Center is open from 8:00 AM to 2:00 PM on Fri-Sat. 505-865-5807 www.whitfieldwildlife.org
VALENCIA COUNTY EVENTS Hispanic Chamber of Commerce's Annual Matanza Belén, NM Feb-Mar 6x6 Rodeo Belén, NM May Hub City Music Fest Downtown Belén, NM Aug Valencia County Fair & Sheriff's Posse Rodeo Belén, NM Our Lady of Belén Fiestas 505-864-8043 Sep Rio Abajo Days 505-864-8091 Jan
LOCATION
Belen and Los Lunas are located on I-25 south of Albuquerque at the junction of historic trails, rails and highways.
MORE INFORMATION
Greater Belen Chamber of Commerce 712 Dalies, Belen, NM 87002 (505) 864-8091 www.belenchamber.org Valencia County Hispano Chamber of Commerce (505) 702-9468 www.vchcc.com Los Lunas Valencia County Chamber of Commerce 3447 Lambros Loop Los Lunas, NM 87031 (505) 352-3596
• Harvey Girls, Harvey Houses • Santa Fe Railway • Valencia County History • Model Railroad Display • Monthly Exhibits
Tues. - Sat. • 12:30-3:30 Sunday 1:00 - 3:00
104 N. First Street, Belen, NM 87002 505.861.0581 VALENCIA COUNTY BELEN, LOS LUNAS
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Mountains NORTHERN
SANTA FE, TAOS, SANTA CLARA PUEBLO, TESUQUE PUEBLO, ABIQUIU, OJO CALIENTE, RATON, DES MOINES & LAS VEGAS
World-renowned art markets, thousand year old continuous cultures, 400 years of New World history, some of the nation’s best skiing and white water rafting, unique natural hot mineral waters and arguably the best shopping in the universe are what distinguish North-Central New Mexico from the rest of the nation. below: The The remains of prehistoric civilizations in the northern mountains mingle with Native American Pueblo majestic Sangre de Cristo mounpopulations striving to preserve their ancestral drumbeat while forging ahead with twenty-first century eco- tains rise above Pueblo nomic interaction. Isolated Spanish villages have remained unphased by the influx of America’s top scientific Nambé near Española. minds, and somehow, prairie schooners, railroads and airplanes have kept pace with the rest of the country. But it’s the brilliant sunlight and the bluest of skies, jagged peaks and ski slopes, rivers tumbling through narrow canyons and colorful sandstone bluffs that continue to attract creative minds and visitors from afar. From the carving of ancient petroglyphs through modern graphic manipulation, the artistic spirit that lightly touches every facet of this land of deep spiritual enchantment grows stronger by the day. Discover your artistic niche or extreme physical thrill, hand in hand with Mother Nature herself…or just sit back and bask in the enlightening ambiance of New Mexico’s Northern Mountains.
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THE CITY DIFFERENT
SantaFe
Don’t miss the celebration! Santa Fe is the oldest capital city in the United States and continues to celebrate its 400th birthday through the end of 2010. There will be no better time to participate in the multicultural pageantry and arts that have drawn people to this site for centuries. The New Mexico Museum opened its doors for the start of the Santa Fe celebration Memorial Day weekend in 2009. The new museum includes the Palace of the Governors, the oldest public building in the United States. The Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi also joined the anniversary celebration in the summer of 2010, when it, too, marked its 400th birthday. Originally constructed in 1610, a small adobe chapel protects the oldest statue of the Virgin Mary in the United States, brought this page: There is no from Spain in 1625. lack of creativity in The 50-acre Santa Fe Railyard that Santa Fe, one of the opened in 2009 with a 13-acre park, world’s largest art markets. There are claims the beginnings of a new com- three major arts districts mercial, residential and social with sculpture and performing arts district. New Mexico scattered throughout Railrunner train service the city. now joins Santa Fe and Albuquerque, and American Eagle offers nonstop daily flights between Santa Fe and Dallas. Named by the National Trust for Historic Preservation as one of the organization's Dozen Distinctive Destinations in America for 2009, Santa Fe provides a rich experience in the arts and culture. Coupled with the opportunity to celebrate its history through the end of December 2010, Santa Fe may well be the greatest party experience ever.
ATTRACTIONS Canyon Road. East of Paseo de Peralta. Originally a Native American trail into the mountains; now lined with unique shops, art galleries, artists' studios, restaurants and local hangouts. 800-777-2489 or 505-955-6200. EI Rancho de las Golondrinas. South of Santa Fe off I-25. Historical Spanish colonial village, now a living history museum, was a stopping point on EI Camino Real. Call for annual event schedule and tours, 505-471-2261. Hyde Memorial State Park. Eight miles northeast of Santa Fe. Camping, hiking and picnicking. 505-983-7175. www.nmparks.com Loretto Chapel. 207 Old Santa Fe Trail. Houses the miraculous staircase built by a mysterious carpenter believed to have been St. Joseph by the Loretto nuns. 505-982-0092. www.lorettochapel.com Museum Hill. On Camino Lejo off Old Santa Fe Trail. Home of the Laboratory of Anthropology, Museum of Indian Arts & Culture, Museum of International Folk Art, Museum of Spanish Colonial Art, and the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian. www.museumhill.org Museum of Fine Arts. 107 W. Palace Ave. Southwest, historical and contemporary art. 505-476-5072. www.mfasantafe.org Palace of the Governors. 105 W. Palace Ave. 17th century building on the Santa Fe Plaza housing historical exhibits. The oldest continuously used public building in the US. 505-476-5100. www.palaceofthegovernors.org San Miguel Mission Church. 401 Old Santa Fe Trail. Dates back to first Spanish colonization. Rebuilt following Pueblo Revolt of 1680. 505-983-3974 or 988-9504. Santuario de Guadalupe. 100 S. Guadalupe. Mission museum exhibiting Spanish colonial art. 18th century shrine to Our Lady of Guadalupe. 505-988-2027.
EVENTS May
LOCATION
Santa Fe is located at the junction I-25 and US84/285, the historic termination of El Camino Real and the Santa Fe Trail.
MORE INFORMATION
Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce (505) 988-3279 www.santafechamber.com Santa Fe Convention and Visitors Bureau (505) 955-6200 www.santafe.org E4
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Jun Jul
Native Treasures Indian Arts Festival. 505-476-1250 New Mexico History Museum Opening. 505-476-5100 nmhistorymuseum.org Rodeo de Santa Fe. 505-471-4300 Santa Fe Opera Season opens thru Aug 29. 800-2 Wine Festival at El Rancho de las Golondrinas 505-471-2261
Aug
Sep
Santa Fe Int’l. Folk Art Market at Milner Plaza. 505-476-1197 www.folkartmarket.org Spanish Market on the Plaza. 505-982-2226 Summer Festival and Frontier Days at El Rancho de las Golondrinas 505-471-2261 Indian Market on the Plaza. 505-983-5220. Santa Fe 400th Anniversary begins 505-0956-1610 www.santefe400th.com
Oct Dec
Burning of Zozobra. 505-660-1965 Santa Fe Wine & Chile Fiesta. 505-438-8060 Harvest Festival at El Rancho de las Golondrinas. 505-471-2261 Winter Spanish Market 505-982-2226 Christmas at the Palace. 505-476-5100 Farolitos on the Plaza. 800-777-2489
Tesuque Pueblo Flea Market TESUQUE PUEBLO
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ny local or regular visitor to the city different will tell you there are three things you have to do when you visit Santa Fe: See the plaza, eat green/red chili, and visit the famous Tesuque Pueblo Flea Market. Located just a few miles north of the tourist district and a few yards from the Santa Fe Opera, the well-known market is on a scenic location adjacent to the beautiful Sangre De Cristo foothills. Offering a wide variety of traditional New Mexican arts, crafts, and foods, the market also plays host to vendors and artists from over two dozen countries (including Pakistan, Guatemala, Africa, and Russia – to name a few). This vibrant gathering of wares and people has made the market a special destination as much for shopping as for entertainment. Between wandering the endless aisles of charming and exotic goods, taking in the fresh desert air, chatting with artists from all over the world, observing the eccentric locals, and dining on delicious regional and international dishes, visiting the Tesuque Pueblo Flea Market is truly a feast for the senses. ENCANTADA TESUQUE PUEBLO
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Earth&Sky A PLACE BETWEEN
Written by Joseph Burgess
SANTA CLARA PUEBLO
Pyue Cliffs were home to the ancestors of today’s Santa Clara Pueblo people, Puye Cliffs supported a population of 1,500 from 1100 to 1580 AD.
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photo courtesy Santa Clara Pueblo
T
he Pueblo of Santa Clara, a Tewa-language pueblo, was established around 1550. The ancestors of today’s Santa Clarans lived in nearby cliff dwellings and pit-house villages on the eastern slopes of the Jémez Mountains. With permits, visitors can explore the Puyé Cliff Dwellings, which includes the mesa-top village ruins of Top House and a restored kiva, or place of worship. Drought probably forced the native culture to relocate from Puyé to the Río Grande Valley, a mile south of Española on NM30. Puyé overlooks Santa Clara Canyon, one of the pueblo’s major attractions. The deep, tree-lined getaway includes several fishing lakes, campsites and picnic areas. The canyon is normally open seasonally, but call to insure its opposite: The Puyé Cliff are an availability due to continuing reclamation projects related to Dwellings ancestral home of the forest fire damage. Guided and self-guided tours are available Santa Clara culture. The site includes a large through the governor’s office, as well as the permits required for cluster of pit houses on the mesa. above: Santa accessing all pueblo areas. Clarans are well-known The pueblo is noted for its pottery, including wedding jars, for their exquisite pottery. redware, carved blackware, melon bowls and polychrome. Wedding jars are double-necked vessels with two mouths connected by a handle. Animal figures are included in some designs. Shop signs in the village direct visitors to the local potters and painters. Visitors to the pueblo are reminded that they must check in at the governor’s office. Photography, sketching and video recording permits are normally available throughout the year, except for feast days.
ENCANTADA SANTA CLARA PUEBLO
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above right: Life inside the Santa Claran Hotel and Casino is an exciting as well as cultural experience. right: Black Mesa Golf Course just east of Española. opposite: A restored kiva in the Top House village, part of the Puyé Cliff Dwellings site. E8
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photo courtesy Santa Clara Pueblo photo courtesy Santa Clara Pueblo photo courtesy Santa Clara Pueblo
T
he Santa Claran Hotel and Casino, operated by the Pueblo, is located in the heart of Española. The casino features 800 reel and video slot machines in a range of denominations and a variety of the hottest games including Hot Shot Progressive, Wheel of Fortune, Cash Express Penny Train, Video Poker, Zorro, Cash Fever and others.. There are ten table games including Black Jack, Ultimate Card Texas Hold 'Em, a Roulette Table, and a Craps Table. The property includes a 24-lane bowling facility, three full-service restaurants and an extensive banquet facility. Santa Clara also operates Black Mesa Golf Course, on NM 399 just east of Española. Designed by architect Baxter Spann, Black Mesa has a wild Irish links look to it and has received national acclaim for its challenging play. The course plays through dramatic sandstone ridges with the sacred Black Mesa visible from several locations. Each hole features characteristics that make it both strategic and memorable. The layout showcases distinctive bunkering, native arroyos as hazards, and green contouring in keeping with the scale of the natural landforms. “A great course tests both the mind and the body,” said designer Spann, “and this statement holds true for Black Mesa. From the first tee shot, you realize that mental strategy is essential, while the course's expansive fairways and greens allow it to be played more easily than it appears.”
Ortega’s Weaving
Shop
CHIMAYO
Nine Generations of Inventive Weaving, Perfected.
Chimayo Weaving is a tradition with roots deep in old Spanish
In 1948, David and José Ramon, with wives Jeanine and
Colonial New Mexico. In the early 1700s, Gabriel Ortega passed his
Bernardita, built the current Ortega Weaving Shop. David’s sons,
knowledge of weaving on to his son Manuel Pablo, thus beginning
Andrew and Robert, joined the business in the mid-1970s.
an unbroken family weaving tradition that continues to this day.
Today, Robert runs the daily operations of the Weaving Shop, while Andrew and his wife, Evita handle the adjacent Galería,
In 1900, Nicacio Ortega, Gabriel’s great-grandson, opened a
opened in 1983, offering traditional New Mexico products.
store to sell weavings as well as general merchandise. As time passed and people around the world began to discover New
As weavers for eight generations in the Chimayo tradition, our
Mexican craftsmanship and Chimayó weavings. Nicacio taught his
family appreciates the commitment that goes into creating hand-
sons to weave to keep up with the demand. Eventually, he hired
crafted 100% wool weavings of lasting beauty. We invite you to
weavers from other families in the area. Many of these same fami-
visit us at Ortega’s Weaving Shop and Galería Ortega in pictur-
lies are still weaving for the Ortegas today.
esque Chimayó to discover this unique tradition for yourself.
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ENCANTADA CHIMAYO
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Barrel tasting 2010
Velarde BLACK MESA WINERY Black Mesa Winery is located in scenic northern New Mexico on the main highway between Santa Fe and Taos (El Camino Real). The historic setting serves as a backdrop for revitalization of the major New Mexican Wineries and vineyards which were prominent here for almost 400 years. Black Mesa's fancifully named wines, including Coyote, Antelope, Conejito White and Black Beauty, are blends recognized both locally and internationally. Varietal wines produced include Chardonnay, Riesling, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, and Zinfandel.
aos T DINING
A FEW OF THE AREA’S GREAT DINING EXPERIENCES!
SABROSO RESTAURANT AND BAR, Located in a cozy, 150 year-old adobe northeast of Taos in the village of Arroyo Seco, serves American and Mediterranean-accented cuisine and a bistro fare. Cooking on an applewood-fired grill, Chef Timothy Wooldrige prepares steaks, lamb and fish. Vegetarian dishes are also offered. Chef Timothy studied culinary arts at Paul Smith’s College in Lake Placid, NY and L’Academie de Cuisine in Bethesda, MD under White House Executive Chef Mesnier. His career has included Executive Chef at Capital Hilton in D.C. and Executive Chef and Food/ Beverage Director at Ponte Vedra Beach Club, FL. Chef Timothy’s Filet Mignon is top 5% choice Blank Angus and he offers Prince Edward Island mussels and Delaware Blue Point oysters, Sabroso style. Chef Timothy
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GRAHAM’S GRILLE Located in the Taos Historic District was created by Lesley B. and Peter B. Fay to convey a fun, cosmopolitan atmosphere. Their healthy, flavorful comfort food includes creative dishes prepared from scratch at prices that are unintimidating. Cage-free chicken, fresh wild-catch fish and a wide assortment of fresh vegetables are offered.
DOC MARTIN’S
LEGENDARY LEGENDARY
Doc Martin's Restaurant is an acclaimed dining establishment located in a registered historic landmark. Doc's is a true Taos tradition, earning multiple awards for over 20 consecutive years accompanied by the fabulous Regional New American fare served. Many guests enjoy Doc's Sunday Brunch special event and holiday menus. Occasions such as wine dinners, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter and Mother's Day are not to be missed.
Bon BonAppetit Appetit
Chef Zippy White With over 400 wine selections, our world class wine list has earned Wine Spectator's "Best Of" Award of Excellence for twenty consecutive years.
Enjoy unique breakfast treats with homemade chorizo sausage, blue corn and blueberry hotcakes with Vermont maple syrup or the Kit Carson specialty featuring poached eggs served over yam biscuits and topped with a savory red chile sauce. Doc's offerings of classic chile rellenos with salsa fresca, pumpkin seeds and goat cheese cream sauce, macadamia encrusted halibut with chipotle and mandarin orange, organic beef ribeye with green chile polenta cake and a succulent rack of lamb with organic vegetables and seasonings are sure to intrigue the palette. Specialty wine pairings complement the savory dishes and tantalizing desserts prepared by pastry chef, Gayle Glanz.
125 Paseo del Pueblo Norte • Taos, NM 87571 125 Paseo del Pueblo Norte • Taos, NM 87571 Phone: 575.758.1977 • Reservations 888.518.8267 • Reservations 888.518.8267 Phone: 575.758.1977 Fax: 575.758.5776 • taosinn.com Fax: 575.758.5776 • taosinn.com
ENCANTADA TAOS DINING
TA O S D I N I N G
Chef Lesley Let Chef Lesley Fay guide you through her exciting and healthy creations in her cookbook, featuring “honest, not fussy, fresh recipes” that come Straight from the Heart.
Chef Lesley Fay grew up on a Southern California farm, attended the California Culinary Academy and, with husband Peter B. Fay, owned and operated a restaurant in Sonoma Valley before stepping up to Taos. Healthy ingredients, an intriguing seasonal menu and customized preparation are a few of Graham’s perks. Favorites include baked macaroni and cheddar with fireroasted green chile and hickory smoked bacon, and grilled salmon risotto with a pink grapefruit, orange and avocado salsa.
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Ojo Caliente Mineral Springs Resort & Spa
T
he 1100-acre Ojo Caliente Mineral Springs Resort & Spa is one of the nation’s oldest and certainly most popular centers for natural health and rejuvenation. It is the world’s only known natural hot springs with a combination of four unique, sulphur-free, mineral waters including iron, arsenic, lithia and soda, each providing various health benefits. Most recently the resort finished a massive renovation and expansion that includes a new reception building, expanded spa, new lodging units plus a cozy Wine Bar and Lounge adjacent to the upgraded Artesian Restaurant. New Mexico’s first congressional territorial representative, Antonio Joseph, opened Ojo as one of the first natural health resorts in the United States more than 140 years ago, and the spa has celebrated successful operation ever since. The health resort has become more accommodating over the years since its rustic beginnings with the addition of twelve new
LOCATION ATTRACTIONS Ojo Caliente Mineral Springs Resort & Spa Suites, cottages, hotel, private homes, full-service spa, restaurant, gift shop, wine bar and lounge. The Artesian Restaurant. Serving wine and beer. Menu items to include: Grilled Artichoke, Cowboy Caesar Salad, Pork Oso Buco, Chile Seared Sea Scallops and many Southwestern Favorites. Wine Bar menu includes Green Chile Fries, Homemade New Mexican Pizzas and Angus, Buffalo and Vegetarian Burgers with Sweet Potato Fries. Full-service Spa. Offers a full-array of soothing and restorative therapies including nurturing massage and rejuvenating face and body treatments.
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Ojo Caliente is located 24 miles north of Española on US285, featuring centuries old hot springs flowing from four distinct mineral sources.
TOUR
From Ojo Caliente, return south on US285 and west on US84 to Abiquiu and Ghost Ranch, or travel north 30 miles on US285 to Tres Piedras and west 30 miles on US64, crossing the Rio Grande Gorge bridge to Taos.
MORE INFORMATION
Ojo Caliente Mineral Springs Resort & Spa (800) 222-9162 or (505) 583-2233 www.ojospa.com
Pueblo and Cliffside suites, six of which have private outdoor soaking tubs. There are eleven newly built Plaza Cottages in addition to the eight renovated North Cottages, plus the enhanced Historic Hotel and two private homes: Casa de Ojo House and The Adobe House. All of the new construction has emphasized the latest in “green” technology and conservation. Of course, the waters are what make Ojo Caliente unique. Ten meticulously maintained mineral pools, including three outdoor private pools and a seasonal mud pool, are considered to be beneficial for a number of physical conditions. The four distinctly different natural hot water sources combined with spa therapy provide an amazing opportunity to enhance healthful living and relaxation in an uncomplicated setting. Ancient pueblo ruins on the grounds indicate use of the waters for centuries by native populations. Ojo Caliente which means, “hot eye” was named by Spanish explorers while searching for the Fountain of Youth in the 1500s, noting that the local Native American inhabitants believed the waters “were given to them by their gods.” Ojo Caliente was re-discovered by Zebulon Pike in 1807 as he was being marched to Santa Fe under arrest for exploring New Spain without permission. Ojo Caliente is located just one hour from Taos and Santa Fe. opposite, from top right: A refreshing waterfall provides soothing relaxation to a guest in the cliffside pool which is supplied with water containing high iron mineralization. The New Wine Bar & Lounge provides a charming and relaxed environment serving a fine selection of local and imported wine and beer as well as an enticing Bar Menu. The Cliffside Suites have a private back patio with outdoor soaking tub facing the stunning cliffs. inset: Cliff backlighting allows for intriguing evening soaks in the iron/arsenic pools. above: The private outdoor pools are complete with kiva fireplaces. Photos courtesy Ojo Caliente Mineral Springs Resort & Spa.
ENCANTADA OJO CALIENTE
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Taos
Ageless Beauty & Mystique
C
radled by the rugged peaks of the Sangre de Cristo mountain range, Taos has become a center for both the arts and the ultimate in outdoor experiences. Streets lined with galleries, shops, quaint coffee houses and hotels touch the creative spirit within each of us. Huge cottonwood trees, seasonal flowers and crackling fireplaces warm the atmosphere of this high altitude plateau year round. An impressive collection of museums showcase the region’s diverse cultures and multifaceted pool of talent. The shear mysticism of Taos, a centuries-old melding pot of cultural development, natural this page: New highest beauty and an endless supply of brilliant sunshine, has captured the hearts of America’s artists, Mexico’s peaks dominate writers, historians and anyone else who simply want to experience the essence of New Mexico’s the artistic appeal of Taos, captured in enchanted spirit. The multistoried structures of Taos Pueblo, occupied for a millennium, the bold this view from US285 west of the adobe walls of St. Francis de Asis church and the stark contrasts created by the river and its gorge Rio Grande Gorge. fill portfolios and manuscripts with the jewels of this high desert destination. For winter sports, the Enchanted Circle includes the adrenaline-charged slopes of Taos Ski Valley, Red River, Sipapu and Angel Fire and ice-fishing at Eagle Nest Lake. High speed lifts, snowmobiles and hot air balloons complete this plein air sketch of a perfect winter getaway. Summer activities are no less challenging. White water rafting, fly fishing, hiking, biking, horseback and llama treks, and yes, lifts are still running and the nightlife steaming. Live music, excellent food, wine, a round of Las Vegas style gambling and a hot rock massage provide an incredible diversion to sore muscles.
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Rio Grande Gorge Hot Air Balloon f lights Taos, New Mexico Pueblo Balloon Company 575-751-9877 • www.puebloballoon.com
ATTRACTIONS Gov. Bent House & Museum. 117A Bent St. Home of first territorial governor. Old family furnishings and frontier artifacts on display. 505-758-2376. Millicent Rogers Museum. 1504 Millicent Rogers Rd. New Mexico art, history and cultural exhibits. 505-758-2462. www.millicentrogers.org Rio Grande Gorge Bridge. 11 miles northwest of Taos. 650 feet above the Rio Grande River. Taos Pueblo. Designated as a World Heritage Site. 505-758-1028. www.taospueblo.com Taos Ski Valley. Ski school rated No.1. Vast system of trails for beginning, intermediate and expert skiers. 505-776-229l. www.skitaos.org
TAOS EVENTS May
Jun
Jul
Retreat style lodging inspires the human spirit…
Aug Sep
Nov
Georgia O’Keeffe stayed here, as well as many other notables, such as, D.H. Lawrence, Ansel Adams, Martha Graham and Carl Jung.
Dec
Spring Arts Celebration. 505-751-8800 Santa Cruz Feast Day at Taos Pueblo. 505-758-1028. www.taospueblo.com Spring Arts & Crafts Fair. 800-732-8267 www.taoschamber.com Annual Memorial Day Motorcycle Rally/Run. 800-732-8267 www.taoschamber.com San Antonio Feast Day Corn Dance at Taos Pueblo. 505-758-1028 www.taospueblo.com San Juan Day Corn Dance. 575-758-1028 www.taospueblo.com Annual Rodeo de Taos. 800-732-826 www.taoschamber.com Toast of Taos Wine Festival. 800-732-8267 www.taoschamber.com Autumn Run Car Show. 575-758-1405 Annual Taos Fall Arts Festival. 800-732-826 www.taoschamber.com www.taosfallarts.com Taos Pueblo San Geronimo Day. 575-758-1028 www.taospueblo.com Switch on the Holidays. 800-732-8267 www.taoschamber.com Taos Pueblo Deer or Matachina Dance. 505-758-1028 pueblo.com New Year's Eve Celebration and Torchlight Parade at Taos Ski Valley. 800-732-8267 www.taoschamber.com
LOCATION
Taos is located at the junction of US64, NM68 and NM522 between New Mexico’s highest peaks and deepest gorge.
240 Morada Lane • Taos, New Mexico 87571
575-751-9686 • 800-846-2235 fax: 575-751-0365 E:mail: mabel@mabeldodgeluhan.com • www.mabeldodgeluhan.com
MORE INFORMATION
Town of Taos (877) 587-9018 www.taosguide5.com Taos Chamber of Commerce (575) 751-8800 www.taoschamber.com Taos Convention Center (800) 323-6338 www.taosconventioncenter.com
• TAOS COUNT Y •
108 Kit Carson Rd, Suite F Taos, New Mexico 87571
CHAM B E R O F C O M M E RC E
575.741.8800 www.taoschamber.com
EVENTS
JUNE • Taos Solar Music Festival
JULY • Taos Pueblo Pow Wow Taos Fiesta AUGUS T • Autumn Run Classic Car Show • Taos County Fair SEPTE MBER/ OCTOBER • Taos Fall Festivals SEPTE MBER • Taos Fall Arts & Crafts Fair OCTOBER • Taos Mountain Balloon Rally NOVEMBER/ DE CEM BER • Yuletide in Taos DE CEM BER • Festival of Trees Lighting of Ledoux JAN UARY • Taos Winter Wine Festival FEBRUARY • Ernie Blake Day at Taos Ski Valley APR IL • Taos Home & Garden Expo MAY • Taos Spring Arts Celebration ENCANTADA TAOS
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photo by Ralph Erwin
Raton
Mountain Getaway WRITTEN BY SOPHIE MARTIN
EVENTS May
Coal Camp, Cowboys and Cars. May-Jun Sugarite Fishing Derby Jun Raton Rodeo Jun-Aug Shuler Theater Summer Repertory Season; Music on Main Street Jul Santa Fe Trail Int’l Balloon Rally, 4th of July Fireworks Show
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Aug-May Shuler Theater Performing Arts Season Sep Raton Volksmarch Nov-Dec City of Bethlehem Holiday Lights Show. Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. For more information on these and other events, visit www.exploreraton.com
one of the best preserved volcano cones in the world. 575-278-2201 www.nps.gov/cavo Shuler Theater 95th Anniversary! Downtown Raton. 575-445-4746 www.shulertheater.com Raton Museum Downtown Raton. Relics from the area's ranching, mining and railroading past. 575-445-8979 www.ratonmuseum.org Raton Municipal Golf Course Nine hole course nestled in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. 575-445-8113 www.ratongolf.com Historic Downtown Walking Tour Over 95 significant buildings on this easy, level walk. For maps, visit the Raton Museum or Raton Visitors' Center.
MORE INFORMATION
Raton Visitors' Center 100 Clayton Road. 575-445-2761 www.exploreraton.com
photo by Marty Mayfield
A
mountain getaway on the historic Old Santa Fe Trail, Raton is the gateway between New Mexico and Colorado. With a rich mining and ranching history, Raton is a gem from the past. above: The historic Visit the historic Shuler Theater, now celebrating its Schuler Theater celebrated its 95th 95th Anniversary with a full season of theater, dance and music. During Anniversary in 2010. the summer, the Kaleidescope Players present their annual professional below: Balloonists from all over the summer repertory theater season, and in the fall, winter, and spring, the country fly every year at the Santa Fe Shuler plays host to performing artists from around the world. Trail International Outdoor enthusiasts can camp, hike, fish, and horseback ride in Balloon Rally, July 4th weekend. Sugarite Canyon State Park, home to an historic coal camp and named one of the top ten state parks in the US by Camping Life magazine. Or test your skills at the NRA's Whittington Center, the most comprehensive shooting facility in the country. Set in 52 square miles of gorgeous mountain scenery, the Whittington Center is open to the public for a full range of outdoor sports. ATTRACTIONS Get your fix of local history at The Raton Sugarite Canyon State Park 12 miles from downtown. Camping Life magazine Museum and by walking through Raton's downTop Ten State Park. (575) 445-5607 www.emnrd.state.nm.us/prd/Sugarite.htm town, a designated historic district that includes NRA Whittington Center over 95 significant buildings. First and Second South of Raton on NM Highway 64. www.nrawc.org (575) 445-3615 (800) 494-4853 Streets' antique stores are a must-visit for the Capulin Volcano Nat’l Monument canny bargain hunter. 30 miles east of Raton on NM 64/87. Features
photos courtesy The Mandala Center
Relax, Renew, Reflect, Rejoice The Mandala Center DES MOINES
Relax Reflect Renew
place to come home to oursel
WRITTEN BY LORI L. COON t is our pleasure to invite you to The Mandala Center nestled on the slopes of the Sierra Grande overlooking Capulin Volcano National Monument. Antelope roam and eagles soar to accompany your own spirit of adventure in this ancient and enchanted land. Sunsets are spellbinding and the silence surrounds you under breathtaking views of star-studded nights. This remote setting is home to The Mandala Center and calls to the hearts of artists, spiritual seekers, healing professionals, teachers, soul searchers, nature enthusiasts and anyone who sets out on a pilgrimage to learn more about themselves, the world around them and the deeper meanings in life. The Journey began in 1989 when Tish Hewitt built the Casa Mandala as her personal retreat. In 1996, her daughter Anna Wolfe, incorporated the facility as a nonprofit educational retreat and interfaith sanctuary for people consciously seeking deeper connection with their life callings, personal passions, creativity, spiritual understanding and transformative processes. The Mandala Center offers personal retreats for individuals, a year-long program of workshop retreats on a variety of subjects and facility rentals for groups and organizations seeking a supportive and comfortable destination for their own agendas. Our bed capacity at the Center is 24, meals can be prepared for groups and internet service is available in our main center. There is an Artist Nook Cabin on the ranch for guests or artists-in-residence and there are acres of land to hike on the mountain side. Call or visit our new website: www.mandalacenter.org
I
UPCOMING RETREATS May 21-23 Exploring Your Dreams with Irene Clurman and Michael Tappan June 4-6th Painting with Soft Pastels with L. Martin Pavletich June 3-6th Ancient Images/Modern Icons: Art Making and the Divine Feminine with Sheila Hennessy and Mary Saracino June 11-13 Return to Wholeness: Nourishment for Women Cancer Survivors with Carol LaRue
July 19-248-11 Ancient Peruvian Teachings with JoAnna Dodgson July 19-24 Micaceous Clay Pottery Workshop with Jicarilla Apache artist Sheldon Nunez-Velarde July 29-August 1 Embodying the Silence with Jim Reale and Susan Rush September 3-5th Peace Within Shamanism as a Spiritual Approach to Healing with Cancer Myron Eshowsky www.myroneshowsky.com
Sept 17-21 International Day of Peace Event Mystical Arts of Tibet Sand Mandala Peace Pole Dedication, Art as Meditation and more. Sept 24-26 Pilgrimage: Following the Yearnings of your Heart with Tom Ehrich Check for our Photography and Contemplative Writing and "Listening to the Voice Within"retreats in October.
non-profit educational retreat and interfaith anctuar inspiring the body, mind, and irit. P e r s o n a l R e t r e at s Fac i l i t y R e n ta l s
Wo r ks h o p R e t r e at s
T H e m e s o n S p i r i t u a l i t y,
H e a lt h & W e l l n e s s , A rt &
C r e at i v i t y, N at u r e & E c o l o g y
w w w. m a n da l ac e n t e r . o rg
i n f o r m at i o n @ m a n da l ac e n t e r . o rg N o rt h e a s t e r n N e w M e x i c o
575.278.3002
ENCANTADA DES MOINES
E21
Las Vegas Over 900 Buildings on the National Historic Register
L
photo by Andy Kingsbury courtesy Raton Chamber of Commerce
as Vegas rests on the gentle eastern slope of the Sangre de Cristo mountains and the edge of grass-laden prairies that stretch into forever. Authentic and original, Las Vegas is home to over 900 buildings on the National Historic Register, including the state's largest number of intricate Victorian homes and the Plaza Hotel's classic Western ambience. Historical artifacts, clothing, and photographs can be seen at the Las Vegas City Museum, housed in a 1940 WPA building, and the nearby this page: The wellpreserved historic office of the Citizens Committee for Historic Preservation. districts of Las Vegas A stroll through the Arts and Cultural District reveals an array of aes- include venues for local performances thetic riches from carved wooden saints and softly painted retablos to the and social gatherings. opposite: Fort Union bold works of modern minds. The local cuisine emerged from a melding was the “guardian of of the two cultures that first met at the river Gallinas, offering dishes the Santa Fe Trail.” from Northern New Mexican to sophisticated American. Music from Mariachi to the classical voices of the New Mexico Highlands University choir echo from the Plaza Park's gazebo as local dancers salsa and two-step during cool summer evenings. Las Vegas counts natural hot springs, mountain hiking trails, striking architecture, and a rich blend of culture as some of its finest offerings. Once the biggest and baddest of the Old West towns, Las Vegas hasn’t lost the best of what it has always been: a jewel on the Santa Fe Trail.
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2010 ENCANTADA www.travelernm.com
Brand New Indoor Pool/Hot Tub/Sauna Fitness Center
Luxury Beds Wired, WIFI Internet Conference Room
Hot Breakfast Business Center AAA approved
2020 North Grand Avenue • Las Vegas, New Mexico 87701
(505) 426-8000 Fax: (505) 426-8738 • Email: montezumasuites@gmail.com www.bestwestern.com/MontezumaInnandSuites Free Breakfast Microwave & Fridge
of Las Vegas
Indoor Pool & Hot Tub AAA Approved
2000 North Grand Avenue Las Vegas, New Mexico 87701 (505) 425-1967
Fax: (505) 425-1967 Email: daysinnlasvegasnm@gmail.com
AAA approved
Clean Rooms Budget Prices Microwave/Fridge
Onsite Restaurant
1152 North Grand Avenue • Las Vegas, New Mexico 87701
(505) 425-5994 • Fax: (505) 425-9507 • Email: elcaminomotel@gmail.com
ATTRACTIONS Fort Union National Monument. Established in 1851 as the guardian of the Santa Fe Trail. 505-425-8025 www.nps.gov/foun/ Pecos National Historical Park. Open Year Round. 505-757-7200 www.nps.gov/peco/ City of Las Vegas Museum & Rough Rider Memorial Collection. Tues-Sat 10am-4pm 505-454-1401 ext. 283 Historic Plaza Hotel. Built in 1882, one of the most beautifully restored New Mexico Hotels! 505-425-3591 www.plazahotel-nm.com
EVENTS Jan 1 Feb 14 Apr 24 Jun 12 Jun 12 Jul 1–4 Jul 23–25 Aug 7-15 Aug 7–8 Aug11–14 Sep Sep 11 Dec 4 Dec 11
Polar Bear Plunge at Storrie Lake. 505-425-5204 Las Vegas WinterFest. 505-454-3238 Synergyfest Luna/Highlands Ann. Customer Car Show. (505) 429-0425 Las Vegas Celebrates the Art. (505) 425-1085 122nd Annual Fiestas de Las Vegas. (505) 426-5163 5th Annual Rough Rider Motorcycle Rally www.roughridermotorcyclerally.com Places with a Past Historic Sites Tour & Heritage Week. (505) 425-8803 San Miguel County 4-H Rodeo. (505) 454-1497 San Miguel/Mora County Fair. (505) 454-1497 Ain’t Got No Frijoles Blues. (505) 454-6771 Sabor de Las Vegas. (505) 425-3745 21st Annual Electric Light Parade. (505) 425-8631 Holiday Historic Home Tour. (505) 425-8803
ONGOING EVENTS Second Saturday Artwalk. (Second Saturday of every month) (505) 425-2606www.ACD-LV.com Montezuma Castle Tours. (505) 454-4221 Glimpses of the Past from Fort Union. (505) 425-8025 www.nps.gov/foun NMHU Ilfeld Auditorium. (505) 425-3238 www.nmhu.edu/ilfeld Las Vegas Wildlife Refuge. (505) 454-6115
LOCATION Las Vegas is located on I-25, between Fort Union National Monument and Pecos National Historic Park on the Santa Fe National Historic Trail.
MORE INFORMATION
Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce (505) 425-8631 or (800) 832-5947 www.lasvegasnewmexico.com ENCANTADA LAS VEGAS
E23
Ghost Ranch Georgia O’Keeffe Country ABIQUIU & SANTA FE
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biquiu is the heart of Georgia O’Keeffe country. The internationally famous and fiercely independent artist lived the last 37 years of her life among the colorful sandstone bluffs that were carved by the Rio Chama. Her home and studio can be toured in the tiny village of Abiquiu. Plaza Blanca in the village, is also the subject of many artists and photographers, but please respect the rights of local villagers. O’Keeffe’s earlier home at nearby Ghost Ranch is now a 17,000 acre retreat and conference center that includes the Florence Hawley Ellis Museum of Anthropology and the Ruth Hall Museum of Paleontology, both open to the public. There are also hiking trails and a fascinating dinosaur quarry at the center, which is managed by the Presbyterian Church. The inspirational mystique of this this page: The colorful sandstone relatively isolated region perhaps has bluffs along US84 between Abiquiu been a factor in its diverse spiritual draw and Ghost Ranch the artistic for a Benedictine monastery, the inspired genius of Georgia mosque at Dar al Islam and an Eastern O’Keeffe and those who have followed. Greek Orthodox monastery at the foot of Pedernal Peak. Numerous regional lakes include Abiquiu Lake on the Rio Chama. Boating, water skiing, fishing, picnicking are among the lake’s activities. There are ancient ruins of the Pueblo Indians in the area, and Echo Amphitheater, carved by nature, is just west of the lake.
EVENTS
Oct 9-10-11 Abiquiu Studio Tour. 505-685-4505
LOCATION
Abiquiu is located on US84, 22 miles northwest of Española and 10 miles east of Ghost Ranch.
MORE INFORMATION
Ghost Ranch (505) 685-4333 www.ghostranch.org www.newmexico.org E24
2010 ENCANTADA www.travelernm.com
photos courtesy The Springs Resort & Spa
The
Springs Resort &
Spa
PAGOSA SPRINGS, CO
T
o mold the stay to revolve around your expectations, with the opportunity to create one of life’s rewarding experiences. That’s your assignment. The Springs Resort in Pagosa Springs, Colorado, will enhance your ability to achieve success with 23 pools of flowing, natural, hot mineral water, a river tumbling straight out of the Colorado Rockies, a non-mineral lap pool and Jacuzzi, options for rejuvenating massage and a hotel featuring deep, plush mattresses. With all the amenities of a Roman bath- above: Terraced to house, you can reach a state of mind and body that perhaps you thought overlook the beautiful San Juan River, The was impossible. Springs offers numerhot pools to The 30-acre complex by itself can fill your stay, but if you possess an ous choose from. below: adventuresome spirit, you can ski or hike the slopes of nearby Wolf Creek All hotel guests receive compor ride horseback over the trail system of the San Juan Mountains. At the limentary 24-hour very least, you should browse the shops and galleries of Pagosa Springs access to the soaking pools and and treat your discriminating palate to its fine restaurants. plush spa robes for As one can imagine, the highly mineralized “healing waters” of the The use during their stay. Great Pagosa Hot Spring were frequented by Native American tribes and discovered by the White Man in 1859. Since the early 1990s, visionary planning and attention to detail is turning The Springs into a top destination in the world of relaxation and rejuvenation.
ATTRACTIONS The Springs Resort & Spa The Springs Resort hotel offers 79 rooms from Standard, Deluxe, EcoLuxe accommodations. The Springs Day Spa & Salon Combine the naturally hot therapeutic mineral waters of our soaking pools with body treatments, facials, nails, hair and skin services for the ultimate in health, relaxation, and pampering. EcoLuxe Conference Room Fully equipped with state of the art equipment. Adventure Packages A large array of adventure packages from Train rides to Jeep Tours.
ENCANTADA PUEBLO SPRINGS, CO
Indian
Country GALLUP, GRANTS,
18
2010-2011 NEW MEXICO TRAVELER
&
ACOMA PUEBLO
Northwest New Mexico is covered predominantly by the Navajo Indian Nation and the Pueblos of Zuni, Acoma and Laguna. Successive generations of talented tribal artisans have produced the largest market for Native American arts and crafts in the world. Both casual and seri- this page: : San ous collectors of Native America work are challenged by the vast array of choices JosĂŠ Mission Church and the being offered. Indian pueblo of The previous inhabitants of the area were the ancient Anazasi, ancestors of the Laguna are visible accessible Pueblo people, who left behind impressive ruins at Chaco Canyon and Aztec in New and from I-40 between Mexico, Mesa Verde in Colorado and Canyon de Chelly in Arizona. Albuquerque and The geologic diversity of the terrain has given rise to major recreational opportu- Grants. nities including trophy fishing, rock climbing, mountain biking and hot-air ballooning. Segments of Historic Route 66 pass through the pueblos of Acoma and Laguna and form the main streets of Gallup and Grants. Scenic Route 53 accesses El Malpais and El Morro National Monuments and the Pueblo of Zuni.
INDIAN COUNTRY
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Acoma Pueblo of
SKY CITY
Experience Acoma Sky City
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coma Pueblo, known as Sky City, welcomes visitors to experience North America's oldest continuously inhabited community which sits atop a 370-foot sandstone mesa. Guided walking tours offer a unique historical and cultural experience that includes the massive San Esteban del Rey Mission. The The thousand year Pueblo and Mission are Registered National Historic Landmarks. Acoma Pueblo is the old Pueblo of Acoma (Sky City), only Native American community designated as a National Historic Trust Site. continues to be a of native At the base of Sky City, discover a 1,000 years of Acoma art, culture and history at the Sky City community artisans. this page: Cultural Center and Haak'u Museum. Gaits’i Gallery offers the best in traditional Acoma pottery, The San Esteban del Rey Mission sculptures, paintings, Native American jewelry and other unique gifts. Feast on authentic Acoma cui- (1629-1641). sine in the Yaak’a Café’. 2010 Exhibits at Haak’u Museum: “The History of the Restoration of San Esteban del Rey Mission: 1700 – Present.” The exhibit traces the evolution of the reconstructive phases of one of the largest Pueblo Missions in the state and reveals never-before-seen artifacts, tools and photographs. Acoma Ollas: Form, Function and Beauty. The exhibit examines the wonder and beauty that surrounds the unique storage jars, called dyuuni by the Acoma people and to celebrate the ollas evolution from functional clay storage jars into stunning pieces of art coveted by collectors throughout the world. Sky City Casino Hotel offers Las Vegas-style gaming, four dining options, triple diamond rated hotel accommodations, a state of the art RV Park and top notch entertainment.
EVENTS Apr
Sep
Acoma Ollas poster series on sale at the Sky City Cultural Center and Haak’u Museum Gift Shop. St. Esteban Feast Day. 8am5pm every September 2. We do not provide tours on this day, but the village is open to the public free of charge.
LOCATION
Located just 45 minutes west of Albuquerque and 15 minutes east of Grants on I-40 exit 102, Acoma, NM.
MORE INFORMATION Sky City (888) SKY-CITY. www.skycity.com
2010-2011 NEW MEXICO TRAVELER www.travelernm.com
rants G CIBOLA COUNTY
Cultural & Geologic Diversity
G
rants is the multicultural epitome of the Southwest, where distinct cultures of the Pueblo people, the Navajo, the Hispanic, and the Anglo-European strive to create a community that builds upon the strengths of each. Located among complex geological processes, red and tan sandstone cliffs give way to pine forests and aspen groves on high this page: Eleven thousand foot Mt. mountain slopes, and old lava flows meander across the valleys. Taylor rises above the The Pueblo people have lived in this area “since the beginning of city of Grants on I-40. flows and sandtime” in their reckoning. The legacy of their ancestors is evident Lava stone formations south throughout the region. Nearby Acoma, sitting on a high mesa of Grants create intriguing regional southeast of Grants, is one of the oldest continuously inhabited vistas. opposite: The jagged black formacommunities in the United States. The new Sky City Cultural tions along I-40 are of a huge lava flow Center showcases the heritage of the Acoma people, and the adja- part south of Grants called cent Pueblo of Laguna is home to the 300-year-old San Jose de la El Malpais National Monument. Laguna church. The Spanish influence arrived to stay in the land of Cibola in 1605, when Don Juan de Oñate carved his inscription on a bluff at El Morro. Grants’ location on Historic Route 66 brought 20th century travelers and the roadside enterprises that served them. The discovery of uranium sparked a mining boom that lasted for over three decades.
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2010-2011 NEW MEXICO TRAVELER www.travelernm.com
The La Ventana Steakhouse in Grants New Mexico serves up delicious and unique dishes at prices you can afford. Call today for your reservation or just stop by and see all the great food, and desserts that are available. Along with your meal, enjoy our wide selection of beer and wine in our full bar. For Reservations/Questions please call
505.285.9393 110 1⁄2 GE I S STR E ET • GR A N TS , N EW ME X I C O 87020
ATTRACTIONS
Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary. Wolf dog and wolf captive born rescues. 20 miles southeast of Ramah. 775-3304. www.wildspiritwolfsanctuary.org El Morro National Monument. Inscription Rock and Ancestral Pueblo ruins. 13 miles southeast of Ramah. 783-4226 Ramah Lake. Fishing, boating and picnicking. 2.5 miles northeast of Ramah.
1300 Motel Dr. • PO Box 2388 • Milan, NM 87021 Exit 79 Across from Petro • Open: Tuesday – Sunday 6 AM to Midnight
EVENTS Feb Mar May Jul Sep Oct Dec
Mt. Taylor Quadrathlon. 800-748-2142 St. Joseph’s Feast Day at Laguna Pueblo. 505-552-6654 La Fiesta De Colores. 800-748-2142 Wild West Days & Rodeo. 800-748-2142 Fire & Ice Bike Rally. 800-550-3573 Mining Museum Gala. 800-748-2142 Bi-County Fair. 800-748-2142 Ancient Way Festival. www.ancientway-route53.com Holiday Festivals. 800-748-2142 Winter Arts & Crafts Fair. 800-748-2142
LOCATION
Grants is located at the junction of I-40 and Scenic Route 53, at the base of 11,000 foot Mt. Taylor.
MORE INFORMATION
Grants/Cibola County Chamber & Mining Museum (505) 287-4802 (800) 748-2142 www.grants.org El Malpais Nat’l. Mon. (505) 783-4774 El Morro Nat’l. Mon. (505) 783-4226 Ice Caves & Bandera Volcano (888) 423-3383 Inscription Rock Trading & Coffee Co. (505) 783-4706 Ramah Historical Society (505)783-4150 15 0 0 W i l l o w d r i v e • m i l a n , n m 8 7 0 21 • (505) 287-2858
1-40 exit 79
chacotr ading@hotmail.com
INDIAN COUNTRY GRANTS
23
ATTRACTIONS
Chaco Culture National Historical Park a World Heritage Site features a nine mile loop that accesses five different Chacoan sites. Canyon de Chelly National Monument ancient ruins loom silently among the sheer red sandstone cliffs. El Morro and Inscription Rock contains over 2,000 historic petroglyphs and inscriptions carved into the rock. Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site sells old and new Native American art and is host to two auctions each year. www.nps.gov/hutr Outdoor Murals portraying the area’s rich history and diverse cultures turn the downtown district into a museum of art. Pueblo of Zuni known for its craftmanship and skilled artisans is considered to be the most traditional and largest of the 19 New Mexico pueblos. 575-782-5531 www.zunitourism.com Window Rock the ceremonial center of the earth for the Navajo people and capitol of the Navajo Nation.
LOCATION Gallup is located at the junction of I-40, US 666 and NM 602, in the heart of Indian Country, 138 miles west of Albuquerque and 31 miles north of Zuni.
MORE INFORMATION Gallup Visitors and Information Center (800) 242-4282 www.gallupnm.org Gallup McKinley County Chamber of Commerce (505) 722-2228 (800) 380-4989
GALLUP EVENTS Apr
Jun
Dawn ‘til Dusk Mountain Bike Race. Twelve hour endurance race on Gallup’s High Desert Trail Jul System course. 505-863-7283 www.dawntilduskrace.com Annual Lions Club Rodeo at Red Rock Park Arena. 505-722-2228 www.galluplions.org
2010-2011 NEW MEXICO TRAVELER www.travelernm.com
Wrangler Junior High Finals Rodeo at Red Rock Park Arena. 505722-2228 Wrangler Junior High Finals Rodeo at Red Rock Park Arena. 505722-2228 16th Annual “Wild Thing” Championship Bull Riding at Red Rock Park Arena. 505722-3839
Aug
Sep
Annual Gallup Inter-Tribal Indian Ceremonial at Red Rock Park and various other Gallup venues. 505-863-3896 www.gallupintertribal.com Rehobeth McKinley County Christian Health Care Services Charity Invitational XIII Golf Tournament fund raiser. 505863-7283
Gallup SETTLED IN 1881
Today distributes 85% of all Native American craft sold worldwide.
T
he Hub of Indian Country, Gallup is the driving force of Native American markets. Just eight miles south of the Navajo Nation and 20 miles north of Zuni, the largest of New Mexico’s Pueblos, Gallup commands attention internationally as the foremost opposite: outlet for quality handcrafted jewelry, pottery and blankets. Buffalo dancers The intriguing handiwork of Mother Nature surrounds Gallup are among the many traditional with its Red Rock State Park, and the nearby formations of El Indian ceremonial performers at the Morro, El Malpais, Window Rock and Shiprock. Major ruins of Inter-Tribal Indian the Anasazi Culture dot the region, including Chaco Culture Ceremonial. National Historic Park, a World Heritage Site. A multicultural community, Gallup’s downtown and parks are covered with sculpture and murals and it has preserved its local WPA era artwork. Gallup is the location for the annual Inter-Tribal Indian Ceremonial.
Oct Dec
Annual Navajo Nation Fair. 928-871-6478 www.navajonationfair.com Annual Shiprock Navajo Fair. 928-871-5801 29th Annual Red Rock Balloon Rally at Red Rock Park. First weekend in December. 505-863-0262 www.redrockballoonrally.com
Southwest Indian Foundation and “Reunion of the Masters, Art of the People” award scholarships to student artists in the region through the Children’s Art Scholarship Program. Held the first weekend in December. Hands-on workshops held by the artists on Thursday and Friday. Scholarship winners announced on Sat. 505-722-3730
www.nps.gov/hutr/ www.southwestindian.com Ongoing events Arts Crawl. Local artists featured in downtown galleries and businesses monthly on the second Saturday of the month. 505722-2228 Crownpoint Rug Auction. Typically held on the second Friday of each month. Viewing of
rugs starts at 4:00 pm to 6:30 pm. Auction begins at 7:00 pm. Crownpoint Rug Weavers Association 505-786-5302 or 505-786-7386 www.crownpointrugauction.com Nightly Indian Dances and Native American vendors at 7:00 pm at the Courthouse Square. Memorial Day through Labor Day. 505-722-2228
INDIAN COUNTRY GALLUP
25
GALLUP
Rich The world’s greatest market for Native American crafts, Gallup’s historic business district is lined with trading posts and galleries that distribute an estimated 85 percent of the entire world’s trade in exquisite Indian products. The local market continues to thrive, enhanced by the city’s continuing commitment to the public arts, a renovated performing arts theater and modern new government buildings that have maintained the city’s traditional architecture. Murals and sculpture highlighting the area’s rich and surprisingly diverse culture can be found throughout the downtown area. The region’s strong support of its men in uniform is also vividly apparent in its parks, artwork and ceremonies. Gallup’s Inter-Tribal Indian Ceremonial remains one of the nation’s premier events. Since 1922, American Indians have celebrated their native heritage in Gallup by competing with each other in arts and crafts. Wearing the native dress of their particular tribes, they dance and share stories as they have done for centuries. The colorful bluffs that formed the backdrop for numerous western movies have now been discovered as a premier rock climbing, mountain biking and ballooning destination. Areas have been designated for climbing and biking and the Red Rock Balloon Rally is recognized as a major hot air balloon fest. Settled in 1881, Gallup has served the needs of miners, railroad workers and reservation dwellers. As automobiles emerged, the town catered to the traveling public. For the past 83 years, every vehicle that has passed through Gallup’s 14-mile “main drag” has driven the Mother Road, Historic Route 66, which once stretched continuously from Chicago to Los
inHistory Angeles. The town’s central business district has never relocated and parking meters were never installed. The colorful neon signs associated opposite: A Zuni boy performs traditional with the era are still Native American dances at festivals throughout part of the cityscape. the year, including summer performPick any interstate nightly ances in Gallup. this exit, absorb the linger- page top right: Lighted columns proudly ing spirit of the area’s recognize the sacrifices of area veterans in front historic coal mining of McKinley County House. below and railroad eras and Court right: A city of murals, grasp the essence of the the diverse cultures of Gallup are highlighted region’s rich Native throughout the business district. below: Historic American cultures. Route 66 remains the trade route You’re always welcome primary through Gallup. in Gallup.
INDIAN COUNTRY GALLUP
27
COLLECTING
Native American rt A G
enuine Native American-made arts and crafts are objects of intrinsic value and enduring beauty that can be collected and treasured over generations. In order to maximize the enjoyment of owning such items, it is well worth the effort for casual purchasers as well as serious collectors to become knowledgeable shoppers. While the vast majority of merchants dealing in Native American goods are scrupulously honest, consumers should be aware that a world market in fraudulent imitations does exist. In the U.S., falsely representing imitations is illegal, which makes the practice of ‘buying American’ one of the easiest steps toward ensuring authenticity. The Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990, a truth-in-advertising law, prohibits misrepresentation in the marketing of counterfeit Native American products within this country. The penalties are stiff, including possible prison
A Historic Landmark...“Home of the Movie Stars”
Restaurant • Lounge • Banquet & Meeting Rooms • Armand Ortega’s Indian Shop 505-863-9311 800-543-6351 28
El Rancho Hotel is a member of The National Historic Places and is the most enchanting hotel in the Southwest.
2010-2011 NEW MEXICO TRAVELER www.travelernm.com
I-40 Exit 22, 1 Block South 1000 East 66 Ave. Gallup, NM 87301
time for individual first offenders and fines up to $1 million for businesses. Despite such high stakes, however, millions of dollars worth of counterfeits are sold annually. The practice not only harms consumers but also undermines the livelihoods of Native American artisans and honest merchants. American businesses purchase products from around the world, of course, and it is not a crime to resell those products so long as the location of origin is not misrepresented. Likewise, labeling a product with a phrase such as “Native American Inspired” is not prohibited, so is important to pay attention to terminology. The item is only considered genuine if one or more Native Americans have done all the work involved in creating it. Observation and common sense also play a part in the purchase of genuine items. Native American jewelry, for example, is handmade, not mass-produced. Although several pieces in a display may be very similar, they will not be completely identical. Other indications of fraud that savvy shoppers look for include signs that country-of-origin stickers or markings have been removed.
BUYER’S GUIDE
FOR PURCHASING NATIVE AMERICAN ARTS AND CRAFTS Ask the following questions when making a purchase: Materials: Of what is the item made? If there are stone settings, are they natural, stabilized, reconstituted or man-made? Technique: Was the piece completely handmade, or was it made with manufactured components or processes? For example, if pottery, is it hand coiled, wheel thrown or poured greenware? Is it fired outdoors or in a kiln? Artisan: What is his/her name? What is the tribal affiliation? If the item is marketed only as “Zuni” or “Navajo” jewelry, be sure it is made by an individual who is a member or certified Native American artisan of the Zuni Pueblo or Navajo Nation. Is there any additional information on the artist’s career, awards, etc. which can be included with the purchase? Reprinted with the permission of the Indian Arts & Crafts Association (IACA). iaca.com
INDIAN COUNTRY GALLUP
29
Gallup
Wholesale and Retail Southwest Jewelry
Rugs • Baskets • Kachinas 14k Gold and Diamonds 612 WestWilson Gallup, New Mexico 87301
Known for Fine Authentic New Mexican Foods
EL SOMBRERO
Serving Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner American Dishes & Sandwiches Beer & Wine Available with Meals
RESTAURANT
Open 7 Days A Week 9 am - 10 pm
1201 W. 66th Ave at Arnold Gallup I-40 Exit 20 • Muñoz Blvd. South
Sî, We have Take-out!
505-863-4554
Roberto “Eddie” Landavazo
Book your next party, event, favorite sporting event, family event or just because party. Offering plated dinners as well as buffet.
Breakfast 8am to 11am
We also book meetings with your office groups, social groups and any other meeting you may have.
10:30am until 10pm,
Internet Hotspot
Daily & Sunday
Brunch 8am to 3pm Coffee at 7am M-Th
F -Sat Until 12 Midnight,
107 West Coal Ave. Gallup, NM 87301 505-863-2220
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2010-2011 NEW MEXICO TRAVELER www.travelernm.com
Pawn Genuine Native American-made arts and crafts are objects of intrinsic value and enduring beauty that can be collected and treasured over generations. In order to maximize the enjoyment of owning such items, it is well worth the effort for casual purchasers as well as serious collectors to become knowledgeable shoppers. While the vast majority of merchants dealing in Native American goods are scrupulously honest, consumers should be aware that a world market in fraudulent imitations does exist. In the U.S., the penalties are stiff for illegally labeling imitations as genuine products, but the practice continues. The item is only considered genuine if one or more Native Americans have done all the work involved in creating it. For more than a century the world has relied on Gallup area’s traders to provide the best in genuine artistry and craftsmanship by tribal artisans of the Southwest. The Indian Arts and Crafts Board (IACB) of the U.S. Department of the Interior supports Native American economic development and provides a number for reporting violations: Call (888) ARTFAKE or visit: http://www.iacb.doi.gov. left: The Tanners inventory pawn in their secure vault, a crucial element of the area’s financial system.
Largest Selection of Navajo Rugs in the Southwest
TRADERS SINCE 1860
One of the most interesting and colorful Indian trading companies in the world can be found in downtown Gallup on historic Route 66 - Richardson’s Trading Company and Cash Pawn, Inc. Established as traders on the Navajo Reservation since the turn of the century, the Richardson family continues a long and historic tradition in Gallup, New Mexico. Wood floors, pew-like benches, cases full of polished silver and turquoise jewelry, piles of richly-colored Navajo rugs, indian pottery, baskets, beaded items, hundreds of unique, one-of-a-kind Indian art pieces and the sweet smell of aged leather saddles fill the interior of the store.
Photo Š Eddie Rivera
505-722-4762 Fax: 505-722-9424 222 W. Hwy. 66 Gallup, New Mexico 87301 e-mail: rtc@cnetco.com www.richardsontrading.com
INDIAN COUNTRY GALLUP
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“The Tomahawk Ribeye”
Badlands Grill GALLUP, NM
A Gallup Experience
"Black Dahlia", Our Signature Rib Eye
W "Yellowfin Tuna"
Monday - Saturday 4:30pm - 11pm Reservations Recommended Private Banquet Room for Large Groups, Receptions & Corporate Functions
2201 West Highway 66 Gallup, New Mexico 87301
505-722-5157
32
hether your last stop was Tucumcari, New Mexico or Kingman, Arizona, you deserve a break and a meal that’s a cut above the rest. Better yet, if the Badlands Grill’s signature rib eye steak, the “Black Dahlia,” wet-aged for 21 days, cut in house & cooked to order, convinces you to stick around and explore Gallup, the staff will point you toward the best shopping for Native American products anywhere in the world. And you’ll want to come back to Badlands Grill tomorrow night, because it serves dishes not likely found anywhere else along Interstate 40. The Chicken Cordon Gallup is stuffed with green chile and mozzarella cheese and the Cowboy Caviar…you got it, Rocky Mountain oysters and sweetbreads deep-fried in the Grill’s signature beer batter. Badlands Grill is a locally owned, upscale steak & seafood supper club harkening back to the glory days of the Mother Road and the western heritage of the four-corners region. Enjoy the historical flavor and charm of the local area, with all the current sizzle of a new generation. The portions are large to do justice to the steaks and BBQ baby back ribs - but the take-home boxes guarantee tomorrow's lunch. In Gallup, just follow Historic Route 66 to Badlands Grill.
2010-2011 NEW MEXICO TRAVELER www.travelernm.com
Old West T R A I L S
Published exclusively for Old West Country as a supplement to New Mexico Traveler
Old West Country P.O. Box 884 • Silver City, NM 88062 1-800-290-8330 Website: www.oldwestcountry.com e-mail: info@oldwestcountry.com Lola Polley Acting President, Silver City Cici Gomez Acting Vice President, Lordsburg Keith LeMay Executive Director, Silver City
Serving the communities of: Deming 800 East Pine • Deming, NM 88031 1-800-848-4955 www.demingchamber.com e-mail: info@demingchamber.com
Las Cruces 211 N. Water Street Las Cruces, NM 88001 1-800-FIESTAS • 575-541-2444 www.lascrucescvb.org e-mail: cvb@lascrucescvb.org
Lordsburg 117 East 2nd Street • Lordsburg, NM 88045 575-542-9864 www.www.lordsburghidalgocounty.net e-mail: lordsburgcoc@aznex.net
Reserve P.O. Box 415 • Reserve, NM 87830 575-533-6116 www.catroncounty.org e-mail: chambersec@catroncounty.org
Silver City 201 N. Hudson St. • Silver City, NM 88061 1-800-548-9378 www.silvercity.org e-mail: info@silvercity.org
Socorro 217 Fisher Ave. • Socorro, NM 87801 575-835-8927 www.socorronm.gov e-mail: tourism@socorronm.gov
Magdalena P.O. Box 281 • Magdalena, NM 87825-0281 Voice 866-854-3217 www.magdalena-nm.com e-mail: info@magdalena-nm.com
Truth or Consequences 400 W. 4th Avenue Truth or Consequences, NM 87901 575-740-3902 www.sierracountynewmexico.info sierracountytourism@gmail.com
Elephant Butte P.O. Box 1355 Elephant Butte, NM 87935 (575) 744-4708
Contents
20102011
THE COMMUNITIES
Unique shopping experiences, the arts and fascinating museums are the anchors for Old West Country communities and the rapidly growing phenomenon of adventure tourism begins at the edge of every town.
SOUTHWEST NEW MEXICO SIERRA COUNTY
SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO
The home of New Mexico’s premier water sports destination is also an established center for natural hot mineral baths and healing arts, and the home of Spaceport America. OW6 TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES OW8 CITY OF ELEPHANT BUTTE
Rustlers, aliens and scientists were the muses of writers and artists, but oil, gas and agriculture are the foundation of artistic endeavors. OW32 ARTESIA OW36 ROSWELL
SOCORRO COUNTY The spires of Spanish missions and headquarters for deep space eavesdropping compete for attention with incredible wildlife refuges. OW10 SOCORRO OW13 MAGDALENA
CHAVES COUNTY
WEST TEXAS EL PASO COUNTY A melding of early Spaniards, Indians, Mexicans and Anglos created a colorful history and a vibrant international metropolis. OW38 EL PASO
CATRON COUNTY Lakes, streams of three national forests, a picturesque ghost town and pack trip opportunities highlight this sparsely populated mountain region. OW14 RESERVE, GLENWOOD, DATIL & QUEMADO
GRANT COUNTY Historic mining communities on the edge of vast tracks of forest and wilderness have become havens for both outdoor enthusiasts and the arts. OW16 SILVER CITY OW20 BAYARD, HURLEY & PINOS ALTOS
HIDALGO COUNTY Old West ghost towns represent the area’s mining, stagecoach and steam locomotive eras, and remote birding opportunities are present. OW22 LORDSBURG
LUNA COUNTY Hiking, rockhounding and international shopping combine with wine, fast ducks, friendly people and plenty of sunshine. OW24 DEMING
FEATURES OW2 OW4 OW5 OW6 OW8 OW10 OW12 OW14 OW15 OW16 OW20 OW21 OW22 OW24 OW28 OW30 OW32 OW34 OW36 OW38 OW40 OW41
Old West Country Regional Attractions Relics & Realism. Forts, Ghost Towns and Famous Buildings The Bridal Chamber Fort McRae Capitol Bar Affordable Vacations Elfuego Baca Great Outdoors Billy the Kid The Pinos Altos Arrastra Historic Mining Towns The Diamond Hoax Lottie Deno Albert Fountain Southeast New Mexico Sallie Chisum Heroes, Villians & Outlaws Charles Goodnight James Gillett Birding Locations Old West Country Map
DOÑA ANA COUNTY An engaging historic plaza, a cavalry fort and miles of hiking trails along the river and into the jagged mountains balance the area’s rapid growth. OW28 LAS CRUCES & MESILLA
www.elephantbuttechamberofcommerce.com info@elephantbuttechamberofcommerce.com
Old West Trails is published annually by Zia Publishing Corp. 116 McKinney Road, P.O. Box 1248, Silver City, NM 88062, 575-388-4444, info@ziapublishing.com, www.ziapublishing.com. President & Managing Director, Terri Menges. Vice President, Joseph Burgess. Staff Accountant, Arlyn Cooley. Designers, Debra Sutton, Terri Menges. Writing, Joseph Burgess. Community Characters written by Brett Ferneau. Photography, Joseph Burgess, except where noted. Contributing Photographers, Lynn Janes, Keith LeMay, Luis Perez, Debra Sutton, Judy Wuthrich. Courtesy Photos, Artesia Chamber of Commerce, Susan LaFont, Roswell Landing. Advertising Sales, LeAnne Knudsen, Tamra Manning, Dawn Redpath. Distribution, Keith LeMay.
OUR COVER
Turtleback Mountain, rising up from the Rio Grande near Truth or Consequences, has witnessed Sierra County’s ages of mastodons and Apache warriors and its leap forward into the age of Spaceport America. Photos by Joe Burgess. Design by Debra Sutton.
Old West Trails is a supplement to New Mexico Traveler and is manufactured and printed in the United States of America. ©Zia Publishing Corp., 2010. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part without permission of the publisher is prohibited. All submissions of editorial or photography are only accepted without risk to the publisher for loss or damage. Every effort was made to ensure accuracy in the information provided. The publisher assumes no responsibility or liability for errors, changes or omissions. Photo by Lynn Janes.
OLD WEST COUNTRY
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ld O
est W Country
DEMING, LAS CRUCES, LORDSBURG, SILVER CITY, SOCORRO, TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES, CATRON COUNTY
&
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OLD WEST TRAILS www.oldwestcountry.com 1-800-290-8330
Tie down your holsters and cinch up your saddles – you’ve just arrived in Old West Country and you’re going to be amazed at the scenic beauty, the diversity, the history, the arts and at discovering the future for America. Southwest New Mexico has managed to preserve its colorful past as it boldly snatches up the lead in commercial space travel, solar power generation and algal biofuel. this page: The Expect the unexpected in Old West Country. It is covered with parks, intriguing landand monuments, wildlife refuges, forests and recreation sites. Scenic byways scapes skies of Old traverse the mountain regions and the state’s largest recreational lake West Country are reminiscent provides an escape from city life. Prehistoric ruins tell the tales of hearty of its past and a clue to its and artistic cultures predating the Spanish and their artifacts are careful- exciting future. photo by Debra ly preserved in area museums. Sutton. Spanish colonizers developed the Rio Grande corridor of Old West Country. Then came the westward migration, the Butterfield stage line and eventually the rails of the iron horse. The era of Civil War battles, gunfights and Indian skirmishes raged until justice finally gained the upper hand. Visitor centers, centers for the arts, galleries and specialty shops full of friendly people will welcome you into a culture that truly makes you feel like family. Welcome to America’s Old West.
OLD WEST COUNTRY
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BOSQUE DEL APACHE NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE Year-round birding. Visitor center, auto tour and hiking. 16 miles south of Socorro. 575-838-2120.
THE CATWALK RECREATION TRAIL Walkways suspended from narrow canyon walls begin a trail that works its way into the Gila Wilderness. The trailhead and picnic grounds beneath large cottonwood and sycamore trees are five miles east of US180 at Glenwood. 575-538-2801.
CITY OF ROCKS STATE PARK A city of giant monoliths protruding unexpectedly from the desert floor is located halfway between Silver City and Deming, 5 miles east of US180. The park has a visitor center, hiking trails, and a night sky observatory. Call for the observatory schedule. 575-536-2800.
ELEPHANT BUTTE LAKE STATE PARK New Mexico’s largest lake offers opportunities for boating, fishing, and swimming. Landlovers can find hiking trails, birding, and year-round events. History buffs will love the views of the 1916 dam and historic district at Dam Site Recreation Area. 575-744-5421.
Attractions REGIONAL
FORT SELDEN An 1800s cavalry fort that was utilized by the Buffalo Soldiers. A year-round visitor center and living history demonstrations on weekends May through September. Nineteenth century military encampments second Saturdays monthly year-round. 575-526-8911
GILA CLIFF DWELLINGS NAT’L MON. Follow the “Trail of the Mountain Spirits National Scenic Byway” north from Silver City along NM15 or NM35 to the national monument visitor center. Printed matter and a movie provide information about the 13th century inhabitants of this pristine area. The Cliff Dwellings are accessible by a short, well-maintained trail. 575-536-9344.
NM FARM & RANCH HERITAGE MUSEUM A large and intriguing display of farm and ranch implements from the early Anasazi to modern times. See live milking demonstrations and special presentations. 575-522-4100.
OLD MESILLA A picturesque and historic Mexican/Old West plaza is surrounded by a stately church and 1800s buildings filled with fabulous shopping and dining opportunities. Additional shopping plazas with a charm all their own are continuing to expand along Avenida de Mesilla. 575-524-3262
THE RIO GRANDE New Mexico’s lifeline flows through the Old West communities of Socorro, T or C and Las Cruces. It contributed water and food for early traders along El Camino Real and now supports industry, agriculture, recreation and individual needs for New Mexico’s central corridor. Visit the El Camino Real International Heritage Center off I-25 at exit 115.
ROCKHOUND STATE PARK Rock specimens scattered across the slopes of the Florida (Flor-eeda) Mountains simply offer a great excuse to explore the area. Rockhounds meet regularly in the area southeast of Deming for demonstrations, sales and trading. 575-546-6782.
THE CIBOLA NATIONAL FOREST Magdalena Dist. made up of the largest collection of historic ranchlands in New Mexico. 575-854-2281.
The stunning geology of Southwest New Mexico presents not only a wide gamut of scenic vistas, but also the elements for an intriguing array of human land use. Craggy peaks thrusting up from the historic Rio Grande Valley and the high Plains of San Agustin, home of the incredible Very Large Array Radio Telescopes, are among the Old West treasures offered residents and visitors alike. Parasailing on New Mexico’s largest lake or photographing elk grazing on a pristine Alpine meadow are merely the enticements to a land of continuous adventure. Early people of the region lived in pit houses and cliff dwellings this page: New Mexico’s largest water that can be experienced at the Gila Cliff Dwellings, a national sport attraction is Elephant Butte Lake monument surrounded on three sides by the country’s first desig- on the Rio Grande. from top: Gila nated wilderness. The unique pottery of the nearby Mimbres cul- right, Cliff Dwellings Nat’l. ture can be witnessed in the museums of Silver City, Deming, Las Monument, City of Rocks State Park, Cruces and Truth or Consequences. Spanish entry into the area is Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refchronicled at the Camino Real International Heritage Center uge, Fort Selden, The Recreation between Socorro and Truth or Consequences. Wild West episodes Catwalk Trail, Shakespeare still unfold in mining and railroad ghost towns, plazas and a col- Ghost Town. lection of forts scattered across the entire area. The monoliths at City of Rocks State Park stand proud while the staggering Santa Rita open pit copper mine scratches its way down into the earth’s crust. Vast national forests blanket much of the region, skirted on the east and south by interstate highways paralleling the strategic El Camino Real and Butterfield Trails. A national recreation trail at The Catwalk and a park specifically for rockhounds near Deming contribute to the endless opportunities of Old West Country. Make any Old West highway your destination byway.
THE PLAINS OF SAN AGUSTIN The largest and highest grassland in North America, and watch for grazing antelope. 866-854-3217.
VETERANS MEMORIAL A permanent Vietnam Memorial Wall has been erected in Truth or Consequences to honor those who gave their lives for their country. 575-894-6600.
VERY LARGE ARRAY RADIO TELESCOPE Twenty-seven dish-shaped antennas are spread across three 13-mile tracks, one of which crosses US60 between Socorro and Reserve. A visitor center explains the mission of the project sponsored by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory. 575-3888201.
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OLD WEST TRAILS www.oldwestcountry.com 1-800-290-8330
RELICS
Realism &
Old West Country is indeed the authentic Old West, the real thing. Visitors discover that historic sites in Southwest New Mexico are places where the past can be seen, explored, touched, and with a little imagination, relived. The walls of old forts stand as sentinels to the process of change in the Southwest. Headframes from the era of underground mining still dot the foothills from Truth below: The Knights or Consequences to Silver City. of Pythias Hall is Buildings still stand that were inhabitone of the few surviving two-story ed by Old West bad boys like Billy the commercial build- Kid and the Clantons. Mining and ings of the boom years in Socorro. railroad ghost towns throughout the Note the cast-iron elements of the area offer the unique and almost eerie facade. As you drive feeling of meeting up with the spirit of down California Street, you will a wronged gunfighter or dance hall quickly recognize the Owl Cigar girl. Even the dwellings of cultures advertisement. that predated the arrival of the Spanish colonizers by centuries have been preserved. The wide swaths of trails used for the movement of Spanish and Mexican supplies between Mexico City and Santa Fe as well as the westward movement of American wagon trains can still be seen across desert landscapes. The publishers of Old West Trails encourage visitors to research specific sites and then enjoy an authentic adventure back across time. Obtaining directions, road conditions and other information locally is advised. Verify the property status of the area you wish to visit and always respect the rights of private property owners.
Forts
DOÑA ANA COUNTY Fort Selden. A State Monument.
GRANT COUNTY Fort Bayard. On the National Register of Historic Places. Santa Rita del Cobre Fort. A replica of Fort Webster.
LUNA COUNTY Fort Cummings Ruins. Maintained by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).
SOCORRO COUNTY Fort Craig. A BLM Special Management area on the National Register of Historic Places.
Ghost Towns CATRON COUNTY Clairmont. Mogollon. Lightly populated.
DOÑA ANA COUNTY Dripping Springs.
GRANT COUNTY Georgetown.
HIDALGO COUNTY Shakespeare. 575-542-9034
SIERRA COUNTY Chloride. Population 10. Cuchillo. Hillsboro. Lightly populated. Kingston. Lightly populated. Lake Valley. Operated by BLM. Winston. Lightly populated.
SOCORRO COUNTY Kelly. Obtain visitor’s pass at the rock shop. San Antonio. The Hilton section is south of the present town.
Historic Buildings DOÑA ANA COUNTY San Albino Church.
GRANT COUNTY Silver City Museum.
LUNA COUNTY Custom House. Luna County Courthouse. On the National Register of Historic Places.
SIERRA COUNTY The Pioneer Store. On the State List of Historic Buildings.
SOCORRO COUNTY Old San Miguel Mission. The Capitol Bar.
OLD WEST COUNTRY
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Truth or Consequences SIERRA COUNTY
The Bridal Chamber A Cavern of Solid Silver
Sometimes it pays to finish what has been started.
D
uring the 1880s a blacksmith named John Leavitt decided to expand his business endeavors by purchasing a mining lease on a small piece of property owned by the Sierra Grande Mining Company near Lake Valley, New Mexico. John chose to work a shaft that had been started and then abandoned years earlier by successful local silver miners George Lufkin and Chris Watson. Using hand tools of the day, John set to work with enthusiasm. Two days and ten new feet of tunnel later, he broke through a natural wall into a cavern made almost entirely of pure silver. Imagine it. Candles held close to the 12 foot ceiling caused pure, molten silver this page inset: Historic Lake chloride, known to miners as horn silver, to melt and drip onto the floor. Valley and mine Although he had discovered the richest concentration of silver for its size ever in the site. below: Mounworld, John Leavitt fared only slightly better with the claim than Lufkin and Watson Turtleback tain across from had. Apparently underestimating the value of his discovery, he sold the lease back to the hot springs mecca of Truth or the mining company for mere thousands. In the following few years, the company Consequences. took 2½ million ounces of silver out of the cavern, which had been nicknamed the Bridal Chamber. A railroad spur track was built right up to the entrance, because the silver ore was so rich that it required no smelting before shipment. Today, the town of Lake Valley is within easy driving distance of Truth or Consequences, NM. The townsite itself is managed by the US Bureau of Land Management, and may be subject to access regulations. The cemetery is unfenced, however. There, it may still be possible to locate the final resting place of George Lufkin, the man who is credited with the first location of silver in the area, and who was at one time only ten feet away from millions. He was buried in a pauper’s grave.
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OLD WEST TRAILS www.oldwestcountry.com 1-800-290-8330
Elephant Butte SIERRA COUNTY
Fort McRae
and the Ghost Villages of Elephant Butte Lake "With his artillerymen cut down, his support either killed, wounded or flying from the field, Capt. McRae sat down calmly on one of his guns, and with revolver in hand, refusing to flee or desert his post, he fought to the last." - The St. Louis Republican on March 23, 1862
Background photo courtesy Susan LaFont
T
hus did one newspaper of the day report the courageous death of Captain Alexander McRae as he defended his cannons during the Civil War battle of Valverde, which occurred near Fort Craig in New Mexico Territory. General Henry Sibley’s Texas Confederates won the battle, but were unable to take the fort. Just over a year later, the New Mexico Volunteers established a new fort about three miles east of the Rio Grande near present-day Elephant Butte. Named Fort McRae after the fallen captain, this page: it was built in response to repeated Apache depredations in the E l e p h a n t Lake is ABOUT THE AREA area. It was subsequently garrisoned by the California Butte New Mexico’s Known as “Americas Most Affordable Spa Town,” Truth or Consequences has long been a destination for Volunteers, and by regular federal troops after the war ended. largest water sports facility. those seeking to rejuvenate their spirit in its hot mineral waters. The Hot Springs Historic Bathhouse and In the following years, several agricultural communities Commercial District sits atop one of the largest hot spring aquifers in North America. A complete range of sprang up around the fort. Any names they may have had are lost to the past. massage and healing arts treatments are available. Downtown storefronts have been turned into galAfter Fort McRae was decommissioned in 1876, the villages remained. They leries, boutiques and second hand stores. You will want to visit the Geronimo Springs Museum and Geronimo were finally condemned in the 20th century when Elephant Butte Dam was Trails Visitor Center. The city is surrounded by some of the state’s best adventure sports opportunities and hisbuilt. Today, Fort McRae and the villages built around it lie under the waters of toric mining communities. Elephant Butte Reservoir. LOCATION Truth or Consequences sits between I-25 and the Rio Grande, atop hot springs generously feeding local bathhouses and spas.
MORE INFORMATION
Sierra County Visitors Information (575) 894-6600 www.sierracountynewmexico.info www.sierracounty.net/index.htm Truth or Consequences/ Sierra County Chamber of Commerce (575) 894-3536 www.truthorconsequencesnm.net
ATTRACTIONS Black Range Ranger District. Camping, hiking, picnicking. 575-894-6677 Caballo Lake State Park. Boat launch sites, campsites, picnicking and visitor center. 575-743-3942 Elephant Butte Lake State Park. Campsites, visitor center, water sports and trails. 575-744-5421 Geronimo Springs Museum. Area history, pottery collections and minerals. 211 Main St. 575-894-6600 Veteran's Memorial Park and Viet Nam Memorial Wall. 996 South Broadway, T or C. 575-470-7111 Truth or Consequences Hot Springs. Indoor tubs, bath houses and saunas. 575-894-6600 www.spa-town.com
SIERRA COUNTY EVENTS Apr-May Annual Truth or Consequences Fiesta 575-894-6600 May Hillsboro Heritage Day and Music Festival 575-895-5385 Annual Fiesta. 575-894-6600 Jul Fireworks Display at Elephant Butte Lake St. Park 575-744-5923 Sep Elephant Butte Balloon Regatta 575-744-5923 Elephant Man Triathalon 575-744-5923 Oct Elephant Butte Celebration 575-744-5923 Sierra Co. Fair Sierra Co. Fairgrounds Truth or Consequences 575-894-2375 New Mexico Old Time Fiddlers State Championship 575-744-4016 Nov Hot Springs Birthday Celebration 575-740-3902 Dec Hillsboro Christmas in the Foothills 575-895-5797 Truth or Consequences Old Fashioned Christmas 575-740-3902 Luminaria Beachwalk and Floating Parade of Lights Elephant Butte Lake State Park 575-744-5923 For more information on the above events call the Sierra County Visitor Center at 800-831-9487 or visit www.sierracountynewmexico.info Geronimo Trail National Scenic Byway Visitor’s Center (575) 894-1968 or 1(800) 831-9487
“An Enchanting Retreat from the Ordinary” • Lakeview Rooms • Full Service Spa & Salon • Golf & Spa Packages • Ivory Tusk Tavern & Restaurant • Conference Facilities • Free Wi-Fi • Heated Outdoor Pool (Seasonal)
575.744.5431
401 Highway 195 Elephant Butte, NM
www.ElephantButteInn.com
New Mexico’s Diamond in the Desert Elephant Butte is the premiere recreation destination in the state of New Mexico. Nestled along the shores of the largest lake in the state, the city of Elephant Butte offers year-round sunshine and a comfortable climate.
608 Hwy. 195 • Elephant Butte • www.ElephantButteChamberOfCommerce.com
575.744.4708 • 877.744.4900
Paid for by City of Elephant Butte Lodger’s Tax
take time for yourself We offer a variety of luxurious treatments.
• • • •
massage • beauty salon esthetic facials • take time for him special offerings • perfect extras escape on the lake package
Great Dining for 40 years 1400 N. Date St., Truth or Consequences, NM
(575) 894-6200
Elephant Butte Inn & Spa 401 Hwy. 195 • Elephant Butte, NM
www.elephantbutteinn.com 575.744.5431 OLD WEST COUNTRY ELEPHANT BUTTE
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Socorro SOCORRO COUNTY
The Historic Capitol Bar A Legacy of Socorro’s Vineyards
If buildings could talk, some would have much more to say than others. The building at 110 Plaza in Socorro, New Mexico, for example, could speak volumes. It is a legacy of Socorro’s vineyard days of over a hundred years ago.
G
rape-growing and winemaking in the area began in the 1600s. It had an ideal climate for vineyards and abundant water from the Rio Grande. When the railroads came to New Mexico in the 1880s, they provided the final ingredient that produced a prosperous boom in the wine industry here. this page inset: Immigrant Italian winemaker Giovanni Biavaschi wanted to sell his wine directly to the The Capital Bar on historic public, so in 1896 he and his brother Tabaschi built a saloon on the east end of Socorro’s historic plaza. Socorro’s plaza. below: Treelined fairways at It was later renamed the Capitol Bar, and listed in the New Mexico Register of Historic Places. the championship In the early 20th century Judge Amos Green, a Justice of the Peace, purchased the building. There he New Mexico Tech Golf Course. conducted his official business at the bar and detained offenders in a back-room jail. The jailor’s cage was later removed, but the bars on the windows remained. The building was later acquired by Fred Emilio, who painted the façade green and re-opened the bar for commercial business as the Green Front, in honor of the well-known previous owner of the property. Emilio’s new business thrived for a while; then Prohibition came along.
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OLD WEST TRAILS www.oldwestcountry.com 1-800-290-8330
ABOUT THE AREA
Touting a unique blend of nature, history and technology, Socorro is internationally renowned for the migratory bird facilities at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, its San Miguel Parish serving weary travelers on El Camino Real since 1615 and its immense role with the National Radio Astronomy Observatory. A notable destination for golfers, rockhounds, nature photographers, campers and hikers, the town offers unique experiences found within an hour’s drive in all directions. At the center of town, the plaza offers a relaxing venue for shoppers. A block away is the historic San Miguel church and a few blocks further, the campus of New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology that includes a mineral museum containing one of the world’s finest mineral collections. From Socorro, visitors can travel west through historic Magdalena to the high Plains of San Augustin and the Very Large Array of radio telescopes. Traveling south from Socorro and exiting at the village of San Antonio, the 1880s parental home of Conrad Hilton, visitors can continue south to the 57,000-acre wildlife refuge, the ruins of Fort Craig and El Camino Real International Heritage Center. Northeast of Socorro are the Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument, impressive remnants of Spanish colonization efforts.
Discover
A MUST stop along the trail... EXPERIENCE Birding Events & Wildlife Refuges Extensive Hiking, Biking & Riding Trails Historic Re-enactments & Walking Tours Outdoor Recreation Areas & Hunting Opportunities
ATTRACTIONS Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. Visitor center, auto tour, hiking and year-round birding. 16 miles south of Socorro. 575-838-2120. www.friendsofthebosque.org Cibola National Forest–Magdalena Dist. Made up of the largest collection of historic ranchlands in New Mexico. 575-854-2281 El Camino Real International Heritage Center. 575-854-3600 Mineralogical Museum. More than 9,500 mineral specimens. Fossils. 575-835-5420. www.geoinfo.nmt.edu NM Institute of Mining and Technology. 801 Leroy Pl., on campus, 1-800-428-8324 N.M. Performing Arts Series. Call for schedule. 575-835-5688. www.nmtpas.org Plains of San Agustin. The largest and highest grasslands in North America. 866-854-3217 Old Kelly Mine. Mine ruins and many wonderful specimens for rockhounds. 3 miles south of Magdalena. 866-854-3217 www.magdalena-nm.com Trinity Site. Site of world’s first atomic bomb explosion. Open twice a year; the first Saturday in April and Oct.. 575-479-6124 The Box Car Museum. Local history, artifacts of Wild West, mining, cattle drives, circa 1885-1930. Located next to AT&SF Railroad Depot. 108 N. Main St. Magdalena 575-854-2261 www.magdalena-nm.com Very Large Array National Radio Astronomy Observatory. Visitor center, self-guided tours, world’s largest radio-telescope array on the Plains of San Agustin. 575-835-7000. www.nrao.ed
EXPLORE Forts & Ghost Towns Gem & Mineral Museum Observatories & Star Parties Ancient Ruins & Historic Sites
ENJOY The BEST Green Chile Southwest Gifts & Shopping Green Chile Cheeseburger Trail New Mexico Tech Public Golf Course Performance Arts & Fine Art Galleries
SOCORRO COUNTY EVENTS Apr
Tour of Socorro Mountain Bike Race 575-350-4116 Jun Socorro Open GolfTournament. 575-835-5335 Oct Socorro Fest. Historic Plaza 575-835-8927 www.socorrofest.com Enchanted Skies Star Party. 575-835-8927 Nov Festival of the Cranes at Bosque del Apache Refuge. 575-835-2007 www.friendsofthebosque.org/crane For more information on any of the above events please call the Socorro Visitor Center at 575-835-8927 or visit www.socorronm.gov.
LOCATION
Socorro is located at the junction of I-25 and US60, the rest stop for historic travelers and migratory birds.
MORE INFORMATION
Socorro Heritage and Visitor Center (575) 835-8927 www.socorronm.gov
OLD WEST COUNTRY SOCORRO
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SHOP SOCORRO
A Unique Selection of Gifts for All Reasons & Seasons.
• New Mexican Arts & Crafts • Mexican Arts & Crafts • Pottery and Ceramic Art • Desert Garden Chili & Spices • Indian Jewelry & Custom Jewelry • Books & Cards • Imports Mon.-Sat. 9am to 5:30pm 575-835-2498 118 Plaza • Socorro, NM
The Green Front survived the years between 1919 and 1933 as a pool hall that also purveyed the finest moonshine to a select clientele. A trap door located behind the bar offered easy access to the basement and an escape route. Not surprisingly, when Prohibition ended, the Green Front became Socorro’s first newly legalized bar. Willie and Frankie Emilio took over for their father in 1937. They renamed the establishment the Capitol Bar and moved it to an adjacent building, only to see the place burn down in 1940. The Capitol Bar moved back to the old brick-and-stone Biavaschi saloon, where it still operates today under different management. The establishment was struck by lightning in 1992, which occasioned an extensive interior renovation. The vineyards of the Socorro area were wiped out by an unprecedented flood along the Rio Grande in 1943. While this local industry has taken a long time to recover, Southwestern New Mexico is again becoming known as a producer of fine wines. Out of 30 saloons that existed in Socorro in the 1890s, only the Capitol Bar is still in business today.
Donald E. Brown, Broker / Owner One of Socorro’s Most Experienced Professional Realtors. 23+ years of experience Residential • Commercial • Land 116 Plaza in Historic Downtown Socorro PO Box 1903 • Socorro, NM 87801 505-507-2915 Cell 575-835-2498 Office 575-838-0095 Fax DBrown@SocorroPlazaRealty.com
B R O W N B I LT sHOES AND WESTERN WEAR Featuring Alamo Navajo & Local Artists Fine Arts, Crafts, Collectables, Navajo Rugs & Jewelry, Gifts & More Operated by Socorro County Arts
Wed.-Sat. 12 noon to 6 pm 575-838-2724 1008 N. California • Socorro, NM
More Than Just Western Wear! Name Brand Clothing & Shoes Sportswear & Outdoor Apparel Mon.-Fri. 9am to 5:30pm Sat. 9am to 4pm 575-835-0730 111 Manzanares Ave. • Socorro, NM
Vacations AFFORDABLE
Did you know that a family of four (with children 8 and 16) can visit our top 10 attractions in Old West Country for as little as $48. A couple for just $37. In a series of nationwide surveys, Old West Country in southwest New Mexico, had consistently low vacation dollars spent in this region. The latest study in December 2005 showed the average California couple spent $2227 for their 4-6 night vacation in Old West Country and the average Arizona couple spent $697. The bargain vacation! We contacted our attractions and to just see what a family of four could buy in our 120 attractions for about $20.00. The admissions to all of our top 10 attractions was $48.00 for the family of 4, $37.00 for a couple. These attractions included the Gila Cliff Dwellings, Old Mesilla, Elephant Butte Lake, Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, City of Rocks State Park, Very Large
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Array Radio Telescope, The Catwalk, New Mexico Farm and Ranch Museum, Deming Luna Mimbres Museum and Shakespeare Ghost Town. All for $48. For $141.00 you’ve covered admission to every one of our 120 popular attractions, less than $1.20 per family at each attraction! $119.00 for a couple (99 cents
per attraction)! No matter where you go in Old West Country the total cost for each of the seven county-area's admission varies from $3.00 to $47.00. Talk about affordable vacations! For details on all 120 Old West Country attractions and more information, check out www.oldwestcountry.com/familyfun.
$20 Family Fun for 4 at Old West’s Top Attractions
Top 10 Attractions
Family 2 of 4 Adults
1 Gila Cliff Dwellings Nat’l. Mon.
$3
ages 18+. Hot Springs: Gila $3/person, $4/p w/camping, $3 $3/person Wildwood Hot Springs $5/person and $10/p w/camping
2 Old Mesilla
$0
$0
3 Elephant Butte Lake State Park
$5
$5 day use, annual $40 all parks; add $18 overnight camping, $5 Fees: annual $180-$225 all parks
4 Bosque del Apache Refuge
$3
$3 $3 per car load
5 City of Rocks State Park
$5
$5 Fees: $5 day use, annual $40 all parks; add $18 overnight camping,
6 Very Large Array Telescopes
$0
$0
$3
$3 $3 p/car load for day use parking; no camping
7 The Catwalk Recreation Trail 8 NM Farm & Ranch Museum 9 Deming Luna Mimbres Museum 10 Shakespeare Ghost Town TOTAL
OLD WEST TRAILS www.oldwestcountry.com 1-800-290-8330
annual $180-$225 all parks
$14 $10 $0 $15
$0 Donations $8 Tours available; re-enactments
$48 $37
Magdalena SOCORRO COUNTY
The Trail: 125 Years of ‘Hoof Highway’ History
“It was a nightmare. We used to have…dogs a barkin’ and kids a hollerin’, and those steam engines would let off steam and turn the cattle and it was a reael job to get them up to the corral. But we always got ’em corralled. But the cattle, they aren’t used to peopled or nothin’…
C
atron County, New Mexico rancher Dave Farr was speaking with Brenda Wilkinson and Mark Matthews of the Bureau of Land Management, as reported by the Mountain Mail, Socorro, NM last February 4. Farr was laughing as he recalled penning cattle at the end of a typical trail drive along the Magdalena Stock Driveway, a 125 mile long corridor reserved for hoof traffic only. Used until the early 1970s, the driveway connected cattle ranches as far away as Springerville, AZ, with a railroad shipping point at Magdalena, NM, also known as “Trail’s End.” Called the Magdalena Trail until 1916, when the land that comprises it was officially set aside specifically for driving stock, the driveway got its start in 1885 when the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad built a spur line to Magdalena. From there, it shipped not only livestock, but timber and ore from the ABOUT THE AREA Sitting below 10,800-foot South Baldy Peak and just area as well. Shipping pens were built at the minutes away from the drop-off into the Rio Grande rail head to contain the cattle and sheep. Valley, the picturesque village of Magdalena, the “Trails End,” celebrates its ties to the arts and to the Old West. The driveway was five to ten miles wide, so Serving the Navajo people and descendants of cattle barons, railroaders and hard rock miners, the village also that the animals could spread out and graze welcomes the high-tech participants of the nearby Very Large Array of radio telescopes. along the way. Cattle could travel about ten Galleries and shops occupying historic buildings house artwork, Southwest furniture, Navajo jewelry and lots of miles a day, and sheep about half that. Driving collectables. Visit the “Box Car Museum” and the restored Santa Fe Railroad Depot that serves as the cattle full length of the trail during good weathMagdalena Village offices. er took almost two weeks continuous travel, and EVENTS herding sheep took nearly a month. The Apr Very Large Array GuidedTours. 575-835-7243 Egg Show at Bear Mountain Gallery. Civilian Conservation Corps fenced the drive575-854-3310 Jun Magdalena Arts Festival & Studio Tour. way and drilled wells every ten miles in 1930. 575-854-3310 Jul Old Timers Reunion. Rodeo, Pancake The railroad shipping pens have been mainBreakfast, Arts & Crafts, BBQ, Music and much more. 575-401-4352 tained and are visible today north of the Magdalena Old-Timers Reunion. 575-401-4352 Magdalena Old-Timers Parade. 575-854-2261 Visitors Center. Aug Oct Nov Dec
"Hard Times & Hope: The Lost Wife Creek Years." London Frontier Theatre Co. 575-854-2519 "Hard Times & Hope: The Lost Wife Creek Years." London Frontier Theatre Co. 575-854-2519 Very Large Array Guided Tours. 575-835-7243 Magdalena Arts Festival & Studio Tour. 575-854-3310 Santa, Dinner and Dance. 575-854-3310
EXPLORE Stock Driveway & Trails End Box Car Museum Kelly Mine - Ghost Town Mountain Hiking & Biking Very Large Array • Wildlife & Hunting STAY & EAT Motels • RV Parks • B&B’s • Restaurants STOP & SHOP Arts & Galleries • Native American Jewelry Handmade Furniture • Antiques & Gifts
1.866.854.3217 www.magdalena-nm.com
LOCATION
Magdalena is located on US60 between Socorro and the Very Large Array.
MORE INFORMATION
Magdalena Chamber of Commerce 1(866) 854-3217 www.magdalena-nm.com email: info@magdalena-nm.com
Paid for with Magdalena Lodgers Tax Funds
OLD WEST COUNTRY MAGDALENA
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& Reserve Glenwood
Udder Delight
CATRON COUNTY
&
Say goodbye to dry skin! Our natural goat milk soaps, lotions and creams will leave your skin feeling soft, supple, nourished, and moisturized. Store Hours: Mon-Sat 9-5
5121 Highway 180 • Glenwood, NM 88039 1.877.833.3740 • www.udderdelight.com
Whitewater Motel
Elfego Baca
The Frisco Shootout
I told… the deputy sheriff that he should be ashamed of himself, having the law on his side to permit the cowboys[to] do what they did.
H Surrounded by rugged mountains and forests. • Dish Network • Air Conditioning • Fantastic Views • Spacious Backyard
PO Box 158 • Glenwood, NM 88039 575.539.2581 • www.gilanet.com/whitewatermotel
Tres Amigos Enterprises Inc.
New Construction • Adobe Homes • Metal Roofing Kenny Sutton, Licensed Contractor
Glenwood, New Mexico 575.539.2584 • 505.469.1561 tresamigos@wildblue.net
Catron County Chamber of Commerce 575.533.6968 www.CatronCounty.org
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EVENTS
Jul Frisco CowBelles’ Ann. Feb Glenwood Park Barrel Western Art Auction. Race & Pot Blessing. Dance and Barbeque in 575-539-2321 Glenwood. 575-539-2711 Mar Dutch Oven Cook Off in Luna Pioneer Days and Glenwood Park. Rodeo. 575-533-6968 575-539-2321 Jul July 4th Celebration in Aug Catron County Fair and Rodeo in Reserve. Glenwood. 575-539-2711 575-533-6968 July 4th Celebration in Quemado and Reserve. Sep Pie Town Pie Festival. 575-772-2525 575-533-6968
OLD WEST TRAILS www.oldwestcountry.com 1-800-290-8330
The Catwalk. Trail over suspended bridges in White-water Canyon 5 miles east of Glenwood. 575-539-2711. Clairmont. Ghost town 19 miles northeast of Glenwood. 575-533-6922 Cooney’s Tomb. Alma, 7 miles north of Glenwood. Burial of soldiers killed in a conflict with Apaches. Mogollon. Ghost town 13 miles northeast of Glenwood. Snow Lake. In the Gila National Forest. Camping and fishing. 47 miles northeast of Glenwood. Quemado Lake. Camping, fishing 11 miles so. of Quemado. Whitewater Canyon. 5 miles east of Glenwood. 575-539-2711 WS Cemetery. WS Ranch B & B, Alma, 7 miles north of Glenwood. 575-539-2513
LOCATION
Reserve is located at the junction of NM 12 and the San Francisco River.
MORE INFORMATION
Catron County Chamber (575) 533-6968 www.catroncounty.org
Photo by Debra Sutton
Relax and enjoy vacationing in the heart of Glenwood.
e told me that if I wanted to, I could take his job. I told him that if he would take me back to Frisco with him, that I would make myself a self-made deputy.” This was the recollection of an older Elfego Baca, speaking of a time when he was a nineteen-year-old store clerk from Socorro, New Mexico. The this page: mounbrash young man’s sudden career change soon led to one of the biggest, and Forested tains, streams and lakes are downright strangest, peacetime gun battles in the history of the Old West. the essence of In an epic two-day occurrence that became known as the Frisco Shootout, Catron County. some eighty angry ranch hands fired an estimated 4,000 shots at Elfego Baca, who was returning gunfire from a rickety building of the type known as a jacal. The shack was riddled with holes during the standoff, and its dirt roof partially caved in. The door of the structure, later introduced as evidence, contained over 400 bullet holes. The battle was the culmination of increasing tensions between the citizens of San Francisco Plaza, New Mexico - now known as Reserve - and cattle drovers, many from Texas, who worked at outlying ranches. On the morning of the second day of the ABOUT THE AREA Three national forests share borders within this sparsely shootout, the tired cowboys eyed the sunlight populated land of mountain lakes, hiking trails and campsites. Snow Lake on the north edge of the Gila Wilderness streaming through the walls of the little shack, and Quemado Lake just south of US60 are excellent trout waters where only electric boat motors are allowed. and concluded that no one could have surIn Reserve, a bronze statue commemorates lawman Baca, who endured a 33-hour shootout in 1884 vived the barrage. Then the morning breeze Elfego against incredible odds. Glenwood on US 180 is the hub for Catwalk National carried the aroma of hot coffee and tortillas to Recreation Trail, with metal walkways clinging to narrow canyon walls, and the ghost town of Mogollon, a picturthe men, and they knew that Elfego had not esque turn-of-the-last-century gold mining camp. only survived, but was about to enjoy breakATTRACTIONS fast. The fusillade began again. Alma. Historic community 7 miles north of Glenwood.
Outdoors
What the attackers at the jacal had no way of knowing was that the dirt floor inside the structure was 12 to18 inches below the outside ground level. In late afternoon of the second day, a Socorro County deputy known by Elfego arrived and offered to legally arrest him in exchange for a guarantee of his personal safety. Elfego agreed, but insisted on keeping his guns. His wishes were respected. He emerged from the jacal without a scratch.
THE GREAT
The diverse opportunities for creating awesome outdoor adventures in Old West Country will wrangle your imagination. Battling a trophy striped bass on New Mexico’s largest warmwater lake or a feisty rainbow trout in a cold mountain stream will certainly enhance your vision of the Desert Southwest. Herds of grazing elk and clouds of migrating waterfowl can alter the horizon and power up your production of adrenaline. Hiking trails and biking trails traverse the entire region. Rock climbers and mountain cyclists are drawn by rugged terrain, sparse populations and a near-perfect climate. Guides are ready to provide wilderness horseback trips for riders of all experience levels. Those who prefer touring by car can enjoy the old mining towns and mountain vistas of the area’s scenic byways. Old West Country offers abundant opportunities for birding and rockhounding. Hikers enjoy the solitude of three national forests and two major wilderness areas. State Park and Bureau of Land Management trails showcase the beauty and challenges of the region’s desert landscapes. Elephant Butte and Caballo Lakes on the Rio Grande provide excellent conditions for numerous species of sporting fish. Elephant Butte is host to a full range of water sports including water skiing, kayaking, sailing, scuba diving, jet skiing and parasailing. Southwest New Mexico’s cold, clear streams and mountain lakes provide the challenges that keep the true sportsman returning for more. Hand or electric-powered boats, only, are permitted at these smaller, ‘no wake’ lakes.
Alma Store & Grill
HIKING Apache, Cibola and Gila National Forest personnel maintain trail networks throughout the vast mountain region of Old West Country. Specific hiking areas include Aguirre Springs National Recreation Area at Las Cruces, Catwalk National Recreation Trail at Glenwood and segments of the Continental Divide Trail around Silver City. 575-388-8201
BIKING Mountain biking roads and trails are scattered throughout Old West Country, while the sanctioned Tour of the Gila 5-day bicycle stage race is held annually in Silver City. Check with local visitors centers for recommendations.
ROCKHOUNDING Gem and mineral activity is found throughout southwest New Mexico. Specific points of interest include the Mineral Museum at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology in Socorro, Rockhound State Park near Deming and the Chino open pit copper mine near Silver City. 575-388-8201. Among the state’s major fishing waters are Elephant Butte and Caballo Lakes on the Rio Grande. Mountain lakes and streams are scattered throughout the Gila and Apache National Forests, including Lake Roberts, Bear Canyon Lake, Bill Evans Lake, Snow Lake and Quemado Lake. http://www.state.nm.us or 575-476-8000.
See our collection of antique photos and western memorabilia.
HC 61 Box 169, Alma, NM • 575.539.CAFE (2233)
Angelwings
BOATING & WATER SPORTS Photo by Judy Wuthrich
Coordinated Care LLC. & Angelwings Home Care
Glenwood Office: 575.539.2227 Silver City Office: 575.534.0311
Late fall migratory birds provide spectacular bird watching and photo opportunities at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge near Socorro. The Rio Grande and Gila River systems and all mountain regions are host to year-round birding. Hummingbirds provide a real treat in warmer months in the Lake Roberts and Gila Cliff Dwelling areas. 575-388-8201
FISHING
Family Owned and Operated. • Restaurant • Fuel • Groceries • Ice • Video Rentals Open 7 Days a Week. Restaurant Open Daily 6am to 3pm Breakfast Served All Day! Mexican and American dishes.
Serving Catron and Grant Counties. Homemaker Services.
BIRDING
Water skiing, scuba diving, jet skiing, sailing, parasailing and much more are typical activities at Elephant Butte Lake State Park. At most of the smaller mountain lakes, only electric powered motorboats are allowed.
OLD WEST COUNTRY RESERVE/GLENWOOD
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ABOUT THE AREA
Silver City numbers talk. There are three million acres of forest and wilderness covering the city’s back yard, crisscrossed by 1500 miles of trails. Three hundred ten species of birds have been identified in the region. Thirty art galleries are bursting with a friendly, small town atmosphere and you won’t find better year-round weather figures…anywhere. The Mogollon culture was enjoying this climate some 800 years ago and the Mimbres people were painting creative images on pottery. Today, you can drive to the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument or simply visit area museums to learn about this ancient artistic culture. Centuries later, the Apache leader Geronimo was born near the headwaters of the Gila River and is recognized by a monument erected at the cliff dwellings visitor center. Silver City consists of an intriguing collection of Victorian homes and a historic business district that includes restaurants and coffee shops, galleries, day spas, specialty shops and two highly informative museums. Silver City is a haven for both mountain bikers and serious road bikers. Photographers can enjoy hiking a trail system within the city limits and driving the Trail of the Mountain Spirits National Scenic Byway that begins in Silver City.
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Silver City GRANT COUNTY
Billy The Kid
Dishwasher Turned Desperado “September 16, 1874 - Catherine McCarty-Antrim: "Died in Silver City on Wednesday, the 16th, Catherine, wife of William Antrim, aged 45 years. Mrs. Antrim with her husband and family came to Silver City about one year and a half ago, since which time her health has not been good, having suffered from an affection of the lungs, and for the last four months she has been confined to her bed. The funeral occurred from the family residence on Main Street at 2 o'clock on Thursday." —Silver City Mining Life, September 19, 1874
C
atherine was interred in what is now Memory Lane Cemetery in Silver City, New Mexico, where she has rested for 136 years. She had moved to Silver City hoping to find relief from tuberculosis, without knowing this page: Downthat she had arrived too late. Her death left two young sons, town Silver City has Joseph and Henry McCarty, to fend for themselves. Their stepfather, preserved the best of its previous Old William Antrim, was off in the gold fields somewhere. Joseph West and mining filling its hiswould go on to live a full life, dying in 1930 at age 76. Henry eras, toric buildings with would become known as Billy the Kid, pursued across the West by shops, art galleries, coffee shops and mounted lawmen, and die violently before his 22nd birthday. museums. Following his mother’s funeral, fourteen-year-old Billy got a job washing dishes in a Silver City Chinese restaurant. He worked hard and prospered for a time. Some say it was a few pounds of missing butter that started him on the road to ruin; others say that he was hired to help one adult play a prank on anoth-
OLD WEST TRAILS www.oldwestcountry.com 1-800-290-8330
Silver City Museum Store Excellent Southwest Books & Regional Gifts Tuesday-Friday 9:00 to 4:30 Saturday-Sunday 10:00 to 4:00 Closed Monday.
312 W. Broadway • Silver City, NM 575.538.5921 • silvercitymuseum.org
er. Just the same, he ended up in jail for his efforts, then escaped. Whatever started things rolling in the wrong direction, two patterns were beginning to emerge in the character traits of young Billy the Kid. One was that he was a good dishwasher, and could easily find such employment when necessary. The second was that throughout his short life, Billy never stayed in jail for very long. In Shakespeare, NM, Billy washed dishes at the Stratford Hotel, where a man was once shot to death in a dining room dispute over a single fried egg. Later, Billy broke jail in Mesilla, NM, where he was sentenced to hang, and again in Lincoln, NM where he killed a sheriff ’s deputy with the deputy’s own shotgun. During his career, Billy is said to have killed more than 20 men in cold blood, and
SILVER CITY is known for its arts community, birding opportunities, diverse cultural heritage, regional cuisine, star-gazing, terrific year-round weather, relaxed lifestyle and proximity to 3.3 million-acre Gila National Forest.
www.SilverCity.org 1-800-548-9378 201 N. Hudson St., Silver City, NM 88061
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
Funded by Silver City Lodger’s Tax
OLD WEST COUNTRY SILVER CITY
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The Palace Hotel Celebrating 110 Years
SILVER CITY GALLERIES
Located in the downtown historic district. Reminiscent of a small hotel in the European Tradition. • Affordable Rates • 18 Rooms & Suites
Silver Spirit Gallery 575.388.2079 www.silverspiritgallery.com
• Continental Breakfast
106 W. Broadway, Silver City, NM 88061
Top international riders fill the streets of Silver City during the grueling Tour of the Gila five-day stage race.
575.388.1811 www.zianet.com/palacehotel
Holiday Inn Express
Lois Duffy Art 575.313.9631 www.loisduffy.com
Silver City • Fully Equipped Cardio Work-Out Room • Spa Facilities • FREE Express Start Breakfast Bar with new hot options • FREE Wireless Broadband Internet in every room Located just off US Hwy 180 East next to Wendy’s
Quality Excellence Award Winning Hotel
1103 Superior Street Silver City NM 88061 1-800-Holiday • 575-538-2525 www.hiexpress.com/silvercitynm
Mimbres Region Arts Council
Tatiana Maria Gallery Fine Art & Furnishings 305 & 307 N. Bullard St. 575.388.4426
• Performance Series • Pickamania! September 10-12 • Silver City Blues Festival Memorial Day Weekend
• Weekend at the Galleries Columbus Day Weekend
Funded by Silver City Lodger's Tax.
888.758.7289 • 575.538.2505 www.MimbresArts.org
Prudential
Creations & Adornments 116 N. Bullard St. 575.534.4269
Silver City Properties Mimbres Office Robin Thomas, Associate Broker
2991 Highway 35 Mimbres, NM 88049 Office & Cell 575.574.8798 Robin@MimbresRealEstate.com www.MimbresValleyRealEstate.com
boat Cente r See d
for the Arts
Susan Dell Szajer 575.534.4968 www.susanszajer.com
Seedboat Gallery &
Mountain Air Productions • • • •
Fine Art & Craft Gallery Live Performance Space Recording Studio Catering
575-534-1136 Located in Historic Downtown Silver City
214 W. Yankie Street Silver City, NM 88061 www.SeedboatGallery.com
Victoria Chick Studio Visits 575.534.4680 www.VictoriaChick.com
his exploits in the Lincoln County War are well known. Though these deeds may have become contributing factors, the main reasons for Billy’s eventual demise were his apparent business savvy and his fascination with stealing Texas cattle. Billy sensed the underlying principle behind ‘dead-heading,’ which is an easily understood cargo practice still avoided by freighting companies today. Having delivered a cargo to a far off place, a freighter can either return home with the payment and an empty vehicle, or look around for another load of cargo that can be taken back home and sold on the same trip, which will cost the same either way. In Billy’s case, he drove stolen New Mexico horses into Texas, where they were readily purchased. Pocketing the money, he then drove stolen Texas cattle into New Mexico to sell, which aroused the anger of the Texans. The Panhandle Cattlemen’s Association voted to pursue Billy the Kid using every man available, and soon a posse thundered into New Mexico. Out of the dozen that arrived, Lincoln County Sheriff Pat Garrett selected four stock detectives and his own deputies to continue pursuit. The results were Billy’s capture, conviction and subsequent violent escape from the Lincoln County Jail. Two lawmen, including the deputy previously mentioned, were killed in the incident. After that, Billy’s fate was sealed. Billy the Kid is said to have been shot by Pat Garrett in a darkened room in Fort Sumner, NM, after other authorities believed Billy had escaped into Mexico. Several theories still exist regarding the actual identity of the deceased.
Silver City’s best value! Centrally located Close to Silver City Historic Downtown
District, Visitor Center & amenities. Restaurant and Lounge on site Renovated Rooms, FREE WiFi,
MOTEL
FREE Local Calls, FREE Coffee
RED BARN For reservations - Call:
575.538.5392
Family owned and operated for over 30 years.
email: coppermanor@yahoo.com
The
710 SILVER HEIGHTS BLVD SILVER CITY, NM 88061 ATTRACTIONS
Big Ditch Park. Formed when flood lowered Main St. 55 feet. Fort Bayard. U.S. Infantry post built in 1863. Housed Buffalo Soldiers. 10 miles east of Silver City. Gila National Forest/Silver City Ranger District. 3005 E. Camino del Bosque. 575-388-8201. www.fs.fed.us/r3/gila Kneeling Nun. Natural monolith resembling a praying nun. 15 mi. E. of Silver City at Santa Rita mine. Mimbres Region Arts Council. Scheduled events held throughout the year. 575-758-7289. www.mimbresarts.org Royal Scepter Mineral Museum. Rock shop, jewelry and gifts. 1805 Little Walnut. 575-538-9001. www.RoyalScepter.com San Vicente Art Walks. Self-guided gallery and studio tour within walking distance in downtown Silver City. Call for map. 1-800-548-9378 Silver City Museum. Area history, Indian artifacts, mining exhibits and Victorian furnishings. 312 W. Broadway. 575-388-5721. www.silvercitymuseum.org Western New Mexico University Museum. Local and natural history including the Eisele Collection of Prehistoric Southwestern Pottery and Artifacts, the world’s largest permanent exhibit of Mimbres pottery. 1000 W. College. 575-538-6386. www.wnmu.edu/univ/ museum.html Bill Evans Lake. Fishing & primitive camping, 12 mi. south of Cliff. Aldo Leopold Vista. Picnic and wilderness interpretive site, 6 miles north of Buckhorn. Turkey Creek. Primitive trout stream northeast of Gila, NM. Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument. Cliff dwelling ruins from the 13th century. 44 miles north of Silver City. 575-536-9461 Lake Roberts. Camping, trout fishing, hummingbird banding, birding and stargazing. 28 miles north of Silver City. 575-536-3206 Lightfeather Hot Spring. Near Gila Cliff Dwellings Visitor Center. 30 minute walk includes 2 river crossings. 575-536-9461 Trail of the Mountain Spirits National Scenic Byway. Loops north on NM15 to Gila Cliff Dwellings Nat’l. Monument, southeast on NM35, and west on NM152 and US180. Hearst Church. Seasonal museum and art gallery. Built in 1898 with Hearst newspaper empire money. In Pinos Altos, 6 miles north of Silver City. Pinos Altos Melodrama Theater. Adjacent to the Buckhorn Saloon in the Pinos Altos Opera House. Great fun! Original melodramas. Call for schedule. 575-388-3848
GRANT COUNTY EVENTS Jan Red Paint PowWow & Indian Market 575-534-1379 Feb Chocolate Fantasia 575-538-2505 Apr Annual Tour of the Gila 575-538-3785 www.tourofthegila.com Celebration of Spring Festival. 575-534-1700 May Silver City Blues Festival 575-538-2505 www.mimbresarts.org Wild, Wild West Pro Rodeo. 575-538-3785 Jun Annual Pinos Altos Art Fair. 575-388-5202 Jul 4th of July Celebrations. 575-538-3785 Sep San Vicente Artists Art Fair. 575-534-4269 artfair@silvercityartists.org Cliff, Gila and Grant County Fair. 575-538-3785 Taste Of Downtown. 575-534-1700 www.mainstreet@gilanet.com Oct Pinos Altos October Fiesta. 575-538-5560 Weekend at the Galleries. 575-538-2505 Nov Annual Lighted Christmas Parade. 575-534-1700
Family Steakhouse & Watering Hole Welcome to Silver City’s “local landmark serving families for over 30 years.” Offering prime, aged, hand carved steaks and the BEST salad bar in town!
575.538.5666 Banquet facilities for parties of up to 250.
708 Silver Heights Blvd Silver City, NM 88061
MOTEL
RESTAURANT & LOUNGE Silver City’s favorite breakfast spot for nearly half a century. LIVE MUSIC EVERY WEEKEND!
FREE Pool, FREE Darts, Full Bar 575.538.2916 800.853.2916 711 Silver Heights Blvd. Silver City, NM 88061
LOCATION
Silver City is located at the junction of US180 and NM90, on the Continental Divide and the southern edge of the Gila National Forest.
MORE INFORMATION
Silver City Grant County Chamber of Commerce (575) 538-3785 1(800) 548-9378 www.silvercity.org Mimbres Region Arts Council (575) 538-2505 1(888) 758-7289 www.mimbresarts.org OLD WEST COUNTRY SILVER CITY
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Bayard, & Hurley Pinos Altos
Fabulous getaway nestled in the tall pines of Pinos Altos. • • • • • • • • •
GRANT COUNTY MINING DISTRICT
Crackling Fireplaces Secluded Balconies Relaxing Porches Telephone & WiFi Satellite TV Barbeque Grill Hot Tub in Cabana Meeting Room Cabins with kitchens are available.
The Pinos Altos Arrastra: A Link to the Past
"Hear ye! Hear ye! This honorable court is now in session, and if anybody wants a snort before we start, step up to the bar and name your poison."
Conveniently located just 7 miles north of Silver City on NM Hwy. 15.
575.388.4501 888.388.4515
– Judge Roy Bean
Make reservations & view availability online
ears before Roy Bean became a justice of the peace and established business at Vinegaroon, TX, he operated Bean’s General Store in Pinos Altos, New Mexico along with his brother Samuel. Acting on hearsay, the two had migrated to Birchville - soon to be again renamed Pinos Altos - following the first successful gold this page: A prospecting venture among a string of failures for Colonel Jasper burro powered mill for Snively and his partners Henry Burch and James W. Hicks. The trio grinding gold ore has been preserved at the named the gold-bearing waterway ‘Bear Creek.’ Arrastra Site near A restored heirloom of the resulting local mining boom can be viewed the picturesque mountain village just north of Pinos Altos at an authentic ore reduction site. Breaking ore of Pinos Altos. out of its hard-rock matrix was different than panning gravel in a stream. Since there were no stamp mills in the area at the time of the strike, miners relied on donkey-powered Mexican devices called arrastras. A large rock chained to the opposite end of the fulcrum beam shown in the photos smashed the ore into powder, which was mixed with quicksilver (mercury) and removed for further reduction.
Y
www.BearCreekCabins.com P.O. Box 53082 • Pinos Altos, NM 88053
J W Fine Art • Western Art • Bronze Sculpture Custom Picture Framing Restorations • Art Workshops • Gift Shop • Museum
575.537.0300 - 99 Cortez Avenue, Hurley NM Hours: Wed./Fri. 9-5 Sat./Sun. 10-6 PREVIEW ARTISTS: www.jwartgallery.com
welcomes you to our mining district cities of Hurley, Bayard & Santa Clara. The Town of Hurley, founded in 1910, will be celebrating 100 years May 8, 2010. Enjoy the Kneeling Nun scenic vista (pictured above) surrounded by rock-faced mountains.
575.538.3785 www.silvercity.org 201 N. Hudson St. Silver City, NM 88061
Funded by Silver City Lodger's Tax
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OLD WEST TRAILS www.oldwestcountry.com 1-800-290-8330
photo by Sarah Cearley
ABOUT THE AREA New Mexico’s richest mining district stretches across Grant County. Pinos Altos was the site of an early gold rush and more recent underground copper mining. Once the county seat, historic buildings house eateries, museums and the Hearst Church Gallery. The Town of Bayard has historically served the work forces of large underground and open pit copper, lead and zinc mining operations. Underground mining has ceased, but the old head frames can be seen as one travels north on NM356 from Bayard. Turning east on NM152, visitors can overlook the massive open pit mining operation at Santa Rita, where copper has been mined since the 1800s. Hurley served as the management center for the largest of the area mines, as well as the location for copper smelting activities. The smelter is gone, but community activities have surged. The just-established railroad museum, the old company store, now a distinguished art gallery, and Infant Jesus Catholic Church are among the prominent sights of Hurley. Another historic jewel of the area is Fort Bayard National Historic Landmark, National Cemetery and state game reserve. Well-preserved officer’s quarters and a statue of a Buffalo Soldier on the parade grounds are the backdrops for annual reenactments of the 1800s cavalry era.
ATTRACTIONS
Fort Bayard. U.S. Infantry post built in 1863. Housed Buffalo Soldiers. 10 miles east of Silver City. Old Hurley Company Store. One of the first buildings in Hurley - supplied miners and their families, housed the Chino Mine payroll office and later served as a department store.
Kneeling Nun. Natural monolith resembling a praying nun. 15 mi. E. of Silver City at Santa Rita mine. Hearst Methodist Church. Built by the Hearst family circa 1898. Currently home to the Grant County Art Guild. Pinos Altos Melodrama Theater. Adjacent to the Buckhorn Saloon in the Pinos Altos Opera House. Great fun! Original melodramas. Call for schedule. 575-388-3848
EVENTS Apr Historic Ft. Bayard Walking Tour. 575-956-3294 May Ft. Bayard Wilderness Run. www.zianet.com/ftbayardrun Aug Ft. Bayard’s Birthday. 575-388-4477 Sep Fort Bayard Days. 575-388-4477 Oct Pinos Altos Fiesta. 575-574-8394 Nov Hurley Christmas Bazaar. 575-537-2124
LOCATION
Bayard and Hurley are located on US180 in the heart of New Mexico’s largest and most historic mining district. Pinos Altos is located on NM Hwy 15 just 7 miles north of Silver City.
below: old courthouse in Hillsboro. above, from left: school house museum at Lake Valley, underground mining operation near Hanover, Kelly Mine works near Magdalena, old ore car at Chloride, Fort Cobre in Pinos Altos, assay office in Kingston, general store in Mogollon.
HISTORIC
Mining TOWNS
A number of the towns that the mining industry built in its heyday remain today in Old West Country, but the ringing of double-jack hammers and the roar of black powder are sounds that have faded from the foothills. Several of the towns are still lightly inhabited, have become repopulated or are presently managed by government agencies. All of them played a role in creating the wealth of Old West Country and the nation. The towns of Winston, Chloride, Lake Valley, Hillsboro and Kingston are historic mining towns forming an informative day trip from the Truth or Consequences area. The mining villages of Pinos Altos and Fierro are accessed from Silver City. The scenic mining community of Mogollon is accessible from Glenwood and Kelly is near Magdalena.
CHLORIDE Mineral: Silver. The Pioneer Store has been turned into a world-class museum, and the Monte Cristo Saloon is now an upscale gallery. FIERRO Mineral: Copper, Iron and Zinc. The first copper mine was established by a German immigrant in 1841. A small population remains today. HILLSBORO Mineral: Gold. Post office opened in 1879 and has never closed. Served as county seat for 54 years. Over 200 residents remain in the village. KINGSTON Mineral: Silver. Founded in 1882, the population peaked at 7000. Remaining buildings include assay office, Percha Bank and Victorio Hotel. LAKE VALLEY Mineral: Silver. Managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The Bridal Chamber, a legendary large deposit of almost pure silver, was discovered here. KELLY Mineral: Lead, Copper, Zinc and Silver. A small church, several ruins and foundations and remnants of the mine works remain as testimony to the once-bustling town located just south of Magdalena. MOGOLLON Mineral: Gold and Silver. Located on the northern edge of the Gila Wilderness near Glenwood, its precious metal bullion was once hauled to Silver City by mule teams. PINOS ALTOS Mineral: Gold. Named for the tall trees in the area. Village merchants accepted gold dust in trade well into the 20th century. WINSTON Mineral: Silver. Originally called Fairview, it was home to about 200 people who preferred the quieter town over nearby rambunctious Chloride.
MORE INFORMATION
Silver City Grant County Chamber of Commerce (575) 538-3785 1(800)548-9378 www.silvercity.org City of Bayard (575)537-3327 www.bayardminingtours.gov
OLD WEST COUNTRY BAYARD, HURLEY & PINOS ALTOS
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Lordsburg HIDALGO COUNTY
The Ralston City
Diamond Hoax "This is the greatest [diamond] field ever, for it not only produces diamonds for us to find, but it cuts them as well."
G
eologist Clarence King had found a lapidary mark on a rough diamond from the field. With his discovery, the Diamond Hoax of 1872 began to unravel. A chapter of that same story was also one of the stranger episodes in the colorful history of Shakespeare, New Mexico. It started in San Francisco, CA when two tired-looking prospectors named Arnold and Slack entered the Bank of California with a small rawhide bag to deposit for safekeeping during their stay in town. As they knew he would, the teller looked in the bag as soon as the prospectors left. It was full of diamonds. Racing upstairs, he showed the bag to bank president William Ralston who immediately sent samples out for verification. He questioned the prospectors, who reluctantly disclosed the location of the discovery. Ralston was so prominent in the Southwestern New Mexico silver boom that present-day Shakespeare was then called Ralston City. After having the diamond field enthusiastically verified by an independent geologist, Ralston reportedly paid Arnold and Slack $600,000 for their claim. The prospectors retired. Ralston organized a mining company and sold stock. News of the diamond strike spread around the world, but the compathis page: A ny always kept its location secret. When the San Francisco Chronicle report- makeshift cross the ed that the site was within a thousand miles of San Francisco and a few miles overlooks rowdy ghost town from Mexico, it didn’t take fortune hunters long to converge on Ralston City. of Shakespeare near Lordsburg. The town, which had dwindled after the silver boom faded, flourished again. Just before the hoax was exposed, the Chronicle reported that the claim was really in Colorado. The claim, however, had been salted, presumably by Arnold and Slack. Ralston City emptied out again, leaving a newly refurbished town, soon to be newly named, for new settlers who would arrive during the next silver boom seven years later.
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OLD WEST TRAILS www.oldwestcountry.com 1-800-290-8330
Days Inn & Suites Lordsburg Free Daybreak Breakfast Free High Speed Internet Fitness Center • Pool
1426 West Motel Blvd. Lordsburg, NM 575-542-3600 www.daysinn.com
ABOUT THE AREA For a genuine glimpse of the Old West, Lordsburg and Hidalgo County put time in reverse. Artifacts displayed at the Lordsburg Hidalgo Museum breathe life back into the area’s ghost towns and highlight its mining, railroad, ranching and farming heritage. A couple of miles away, but over a hundred years up the road, the ghost town of Shakespeare boldly hangs onto its rip-roaring past. A mining camp and stage stop on the Butterfield Trail, some of the fiercest outlaws in the Old West once passed the time. Southwest of Lordsburg, the arts village of Rodeo showcases the work of local artisans. Visit Roger McKasson’s Studio/Gallery in Rodeo, the Chiricahua Guild and Art Gallery in the old mission church and the Chiricahua Desert Museum. Declared an “outstanding natural area for birding habitat,” Guadalupe Canyon in the Southwest corner of Hidalgo County and Cave Creek in the Chiricahua Mountains host species found no where else in the United States. Hiking, camping and stable night skies for stargazing are abundant. North of Lordsburg, the Lower Gila Box Wilderness Study Area provides access to petroglyphs and some 170 species of birds.
ATTRACTIONS
Lordsburg Hidalgo Museum. This Old West museum documents the early history in which the nearby ghost towns took root. 710 E 2nd St. Open M-F 1-5 PM. 575-542-9086. Gila National Forest. Almost one fourth of the 3.3 million acre forest is in wilderness. Largest of these is the 438,360 acre Gila Wilderness, set aside in 1924 as the first such area in the United States. Rodeo. On the NM-AZ border in southern Hidalgo Co., Rodeo is a small art center with the Chiricahua Guild & Gallery located in an old Mission Church, the StudioGallery of internationally renowned artist and sculptor Roger McKasson, and the Chiricahua Desert Museum with live reptile displays, a gift shop and gallery. The area offers facilities for travelers. Portal and Cave Creek. This famous birding area is the only place in North America that you can see Olive Warblers, Red-faced Warblers, and Mexican Chickadees. Portal also has a wide variety of hummingbird species. Portal offers lodging and food. Redrock Wildlife Area. Located on the Gila River and is operated by the NM Game & Fish Dept. All animals are protected within the refuge even during hunting seasons. The main project at the reserve is the breeding and growth of the Desert Big-Horn Sheep. Shakespeare Ghost Town. 2.5 miles southwest of Lordsburg. Open monthly for guided tours. Call for schedule. 575-542-9034 www.shakespeareghostown.com Peloncillo Mountains Wilderness. Ragged and rugged, the historic Butterfield Stage Route forms the southern boundary.
HIDALGO COUNTY EVENTS Jan Feb May Jul
Aug Nov Dec
Annual Quilt Show. 575-542-9646 Cowboy Poetry Fiesta. 575-542-9864 St. Joseph’s Food Fiesta. 575-542-3268 Lordsburg July 4th Activities. 5K/2mi. Run/Walk 575-542-8844 Parade, BBQ & Dance in Rodeo, NM Hidalgo County Fair & Rodeo. 575-542-9864 Cowboy Hall of Fame. 575-542-8158 Mixed Nuts Arts & Crafts Show. Rodeo, NM Annual Light Parade, Moonlight Madness 575-542-9864
Contact the Lordsburg Hidalgo County Chamber of Commerce to check on events and dates, as changes may occur throughout the year. 575-542-9864 Fx: 575-542-9059. email: lordsburgcoc@aznex.net.
LOCATION Lordsburg is located at the junction of I-10, US70 and NM90 near the Butterfield Trail stage stop of Shakespeare.
MORE INFORMATION Lordsburg Hidalgo County Chamber of Commerce (575) 542-9864 www.LordsburgHidalgoCounty.net email: lordsburgcoc@aznex.net OLD WEST COUNTRY LORDSBURG
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Deming LUNA COUNTY
Lottie Deno
Elegant Enigma of the Old West “Look, I mind my own business and I suggest you do the same.”
S
o spoke the fine-looking lady with red hair and dark eyes, who was wearing a blue silk dress that day. The newspaper reporter who had initiated the conversation might have hesitated to approach her in the first place, had he known that she was carrying a gun. To many who study Old West history, Lottie Deno remains a mysterious figure whose actual name is even in doubt. What is certain is that she was a professional poker player who plied her trade, and resided for a time, in the silver mining community of Georgetown, New Mexico. There are many different ways of mining silver, a few of which do not require digging in the this page: The Florida Mountains dirt or breaking rocks. Lottie’s method was one of the latter. For her, the game of poker - which and Spring Canyon the backshe had learned from her father - was strictly business, and minding her own business was some- provide drop for the visitor thing she did with impeccable skill. She was always known to be well-groomed and dressed in center at Rock hound State Park. the latest finery. She permitted no smoking, drinking or swearing among her clientele, which was a difficult requirement to enforce on a riverboat, in a saloon or a gambling house. Just the same, men lined up for a chance to play cards with the pretty lady. It is said that after a bar room shootout left two men dead on the floor, only Lottie remained inside the place. She was counting up her winnings. When asked by the sheriff why she was still seated amid the corpses and clutter, she simply replied, “You have never seen a desperate woman,” and continued counting her chips. Lottie Deno was most likely born under the name of Carlotta Thompkins, in Kentucky in 1844. After her father was killed fighting for the confederacy in the Civil War, she migrated to Texas while still a minor.
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OLD WEST TRAILS www.oldwestcountry.com 1-800-290-8330
Holiday Inn - Deming • • • • •
Stretch-out and relax in the largest and nicest courtyard in town. Cool off in our new outdoor swimming pool Suites with large jacuzzi tubs High-speed Internet access Exterior room entrances • Pets stay free Completely renovated with all new Serta Perfect Beds
Lazy Lizard Bar & Grill Serving a tasteful selection of great food in our comfortable dining room. Relax and watch the game on three TVs while enjoying your favorite cocktail in the bar.
Located off I-10 @ Exit 85 4600 E. Pine St. • Deming, NM 88030 575.546.2661 • www.HolidayInn.com ABOUT THE AREA
Deming and Luna County have bragging rights to mild weather and lots of sunshine. Outdoor enthusiasts enjoy a list of activities that includes golf, hiking, rockhounding, birding and the Great American Duck Race. Savvy gem and mineral collectors already know about Rockhound State Park, where visitors are encouraged to gather up to 15 pounds of mineral specimens for their own collections. The park offers a visitor center and a wide range of amenities for campers, hikers and birders as well as a botanical and native pollinator garden and a labyrinth. Spring Canyon, a secluded day use area where the birding is said to be especially good, is practically adjacent to Rockhound. Two other popular state parks include historic Pancho Villa State Park near the Mexican border and City of Rocks, a short drive north. Tour New Mexico’s largest vineyards and premier wineries in Deming, and enjoy low-impact aerobic activity on the trails at Voiers Park or on a walking tour of the historic downtown district filled with galleries, antique shops, coffee shops, an impressive museum and friendly people. Pancho Villa State Park includes an RV campground, a visitor center and museum and there is a railroad museum in Columbus.
LUNA COUNTY EVENTS Mar Camp Furlong Day at Pancho Villa State Park in Columbus. 575-531-2711 Rockhound Roundup. 575-544-1013 May Bluegrass Festival at Rockhound State Park. 575-546-6182 Aug Great American Duck Race. 888-345-1125 Oct St. Clair Wine Festival. 575-546-1179 www.StClairVineyards.com Dec Christmas Light Parade in downtown Deming. 575-546-2674 Holiday Lights at Rockhound State Park. 575-546-6182
LOCATION
Deming is located at the junction of Interstate 10, US180 and NM11, next to Rockhound State Park and 34 miles north of the U.S. border with Mexico.
MORE INFORMATION
Deming Luna County Chamber of Commerce (575) 546-2674 or (800) 848-4955 www.demingchamber.com info@demingchamber.com
OLD WEST COUNTRY DEMING
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Hampton Inn We love having you at Deming’s newest hotel.
Offering our Guests: Cloud Nine - The Hampton Bed Experience • Indoor Heated Pool & Whirlpool • Fitness Center • 100% Non-smoking Hotel • Interior Corridors • Business Center • Meeting Room • Guest Laundry •
Enjoy a variety of complimentary amenities: • Wireless internet in the lobby and meeting room • Wired/Wireless High-speed internet in every room • 24-hour coffee & tea in the lobby • On the House® hot breakfast • Local calls & newspapers
575-546-2022 • 1-800-HAMPTON Exit 85 off I-10 • 3751 E. Cedar St. • Deming, NM 88030
www.DemingHamptonInn.com www.Hampton.com
Great American Duck Race August 26-29, 2010 1-888-345-1125 202 S. Diamond St. • Deming, NM 88030 • info@demingduckrace.com
www.demingduckrace.com
Deming’s Only Home Owned Independent Bank
Full Service Lender FHA, VA, USDA Guaranteed, Conventional, Construction, Purchases & Refinance.
We can help with your financial needs. LOCATIONS Main Branch - 300 S. Gold Ave., 575-546-2691 Branch - 812 E. Florida St. (At Peppers Supermarket), 575-546-2691 Columbus Branch - Columbus, NM, 575-531-2643 Hatch Branch - 509 Franklin St., Hatch, NM, 575-267-8832
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Following a brief stay in San Antonio, where she met her future husband, Frank Thurmond, the couple moved to Fort Griffin, TX. There, Lottie acquired her new name after a losing cowboy left the table declaring that she should change her name to ‘Lotta Dinero,’ which is Texican slang for ‘a lot of money.’ The idea made sense to Lottie, who had never told her mother and sister how she made a living. above: A carpet Frank, also a professional gambler, had been forced into a fight of poppies spring up after summer with a customer back in San Antonio, and that customer had died rains at City of State Park from a knife wound. When the same thing happened again in Rocks north of Deming. Georgetown, it was deemed to be a case of self-defense on Frank’s Weathering of an old volcanic lava part, but by then Frank and Lottie had grown weary of their chosen flow created an intriguing boulder livelihoods. formation. One of the few graces of living in the Old West was that it was easy to start over, and few intelligent people asked newcomers about their past lives. Frank and Lottie moved some 50 miles down the road to Deming, New Mexico where they started life anew as respectable citizens. Frank directed his skills toward business and real estate, eventually becoming vice-president of a local bank. The couple built a fine house. Lottie, apparently never a stay-at-home sort of woman, did her part for the community as well. Although she had sworn off dealing cards after Georgetown, she ATTRACTIONS City of Rocks State Park. Rock formations formed hosted a charity poker match in over 34 million years ago during a volcanic eruption. Overnight campsites; visitor center; botanical garden; Deming featuring old family friend wildlife; hiking; and more. Located 30 miles NW of Deming on US 180 and NM 61. 575-536-2800 Doc Holliday, of Tombstone fame. The Deming Luna Mimbres Museum. Minerals, gems, reported $40,000 in proceeds went frontier military history and Mimbres exhibits. 301 S. Silver. 575-546-2382. toward the construction of St. Luke’s www. DemingLunaMimbresMuseum.com Luna Rossa Winery. Episcopal Church. 575-544-1160. www.LunaRossaWinery.com Lottie and Frank were lifelong partRockhound State Park. Collect up to 15 lbs of rocks. The 250-acre park haspicnic facilities; overners. Frank died in 1908, and Lottie in night camping; hiking trails; wildlife; and exhibits on local history of Buffalo Soldiers, Apache Indians and 1934. Although she was known as the more. 14 miles southeast of Deming. 575-546-6182 Spring Canyon State Park. Realize a serene Queen of Cards, the Angel of San beauty and complete sense of isolation. Picnicking facilities. Ibex, wild goats from Iran, may be encounAntonio and Faro Nell - among other tered. 575-546-6182 www.cityofdeming.org names - during her gambling career, St. Clair Winery & Visitor Center. 575.546.1179 www.stclairvineyards.com Lottie Deno may be best remembered Pancho Villa State Park. Located on the site of old Camp Furlong where Villa raided the U.S. This 61today as the inspiration for the character acre park offers a massive desert botanical garden, of red-headed saloon owner ‘Miss Kitty’ camping and museum/visitor center. 575-531-2711 U.S. and Mexico Port of Entry. 24-hour crossing on the long-running TV series, Columbus / Palomas. 3 miles south of Columbus. 575-531-2686 ‘Gunsmoke,’ which is still in syndication.
OLD WEST TRAILS www.oldwestcountry.com 1-800-290-8330
Publisher’s Note: Documents are required for returning to the United States. Check with U.S. Customs before leaving the U.S. All items purchased in Mexico must be declared when returning to the U.S. and Mexican law strictly forbids carrying guns or ammunition into Mexico.
Deming Lordsburg Reserve Silver City Socorro Truth or Consequences
1. Gila Cliff Dwellings Nat’l. Mon. $3/person
OLD WEST y Countr
2. Old Mesilla. Free
3. Elephant Butte Lake State Park. $5/car
4. Bosque del Apache Refuge. $3/car
5. City of Rocks State Park. $5/car
6. Very Large Array Telescopes. Free
SOUTHWEST NEW MEXICO
OLD WEST COUNTRY Southwest Region 2
7. The Catwalk Recreation Trail. $3/car 8. NM Farm & Ranch Museum. $5/$2 child
P.O. Box 884 Silver City, NM 88062
1-800-290-8330 www.oldwestcountry.com e-mail: info@oldwestcountry.com
9. Deming Luna Mimbres Museum. Donations
10. Shakespeare Ghost Town. $4/$3 child
TOP 10 ATTRACTIONS
Las Cruces
Las Cruces DOÑA ANA COUNTY
The Albert Fountain Mystery: A Secret of the Sands “If you drop this we will be your friends. If you go on with it you will never reach home alive.”
T
he tersely-worded note had been handed to attorney Albert Jennings Fountain during a court recess in Lincoln, New Mexico. In his role as investigator and prosecutor for the Southeast New Mexico Stock Growers Association, attorney Fountain had traveled to Lincoln from the Las Cruces area to secure 32 grand jury indictments for known cattle rustlers. It seemed there were others in Lincoln who were also aware of his business there. this page: The Fountain was no stranger to violence or threats. Before studying law, he had been a soldier, miner and rugged Organ freighter. He had once killed a man in a duel in Texas, and had defended Billy the Kid on a charge of mur- Mountains reflect an evening glow der after the death of Lincoln county Sheriff William Brady. across Las Cruces the historic Fountain had many enemies, but none more vehement than Albert Bacon Fall, who, like Fountain, was and Town of Mesilla. an attorney and large-scale land owner. Fall, however, was a confirmed Democrat, and Fountain an ardent Republican. Fall was also corrupt, hated Fountain and was known to consort, and exchange favors, with the rustlers. On January 30, 1896, Fountain and his young son Henry left Lincoln in their covered buckboard carriage for the four day, 140 mile return trip home. They never made it. Searchers later found the buckboard twelve miles off the road in the shifting white sands of the Tularosa Basin. Aside from some blood, shell casings and personal effects no remains were ever located. In the following years, Lincoln County Sheriff Pat Garrett, the man who killed Billy the Kid, put together a case in the presumed murders of the Fountains. The three accused men were successfully defended in court by none other than Albert Fall himself, and acquitted. No suggestion has been made, or is being made here, that Fall had ABOUT THE AREA anything else to do with the alleged crime. After that, the matter was mostly forgotten. Las Cruces is one of the nation’s top communiAlbert Fall went on to become a U.S. senator before being appointed Secretary of the ties for business and retirement. Visitor opportunities include museums, galleries, a restored downInterior. In that office he played a central role in the infamous Teapot Dome Scandal. town main street area, a river walk ending at Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park and scenic hiking trails on The swindle was exposed; Fall was publicly humiliated and eventually spent a year in both sides of the rugged Organ Mountains. Old Mesilla offers an escape from daily stress prison. He was the first cabinet member ever convicted and incarcerated for a major with a traditional plaza surrounded by Spanish territorial architecture and the towers of San Albino crime committed while still in office. Although he died in 1944, Fall was recently Basilica. The village provides excellent dining and one-of-a-kind shops and galleries. It was the named one of Time Magazine’s “Top 10 Worst Cabinet Members.” regional headquarters for the Butterfield Stage and the site where Billy the Kid was sentenced to hang.
DONA ANA COUNTY EVENTS
ATTRACTIONS Branigan Cultural Center & Art Museum. History exhibits, art & culture. 500 N. Water St. 575-541-2155. www.las-cruces.org/museums Chihuahuan Desert Nature Park. Geological formations, desert flora, hiking trail and archaeology. 575-524-3334. www.cdnp.org Farmers & Crafts Market. Every Wed. and Sat. from 8 am-12 noon. Local produce and crafts. Downtown Mall. 575-528-3276
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Fort Selden. An 1800s cavalry fort that was utilized by the Buffalo Soldiers. Visitor center and living history demonstrations. 575-526-8911 Leasburg Dam State Park. Fishing, campsites and swimming. 19 miles northwest of Las Cruces. 575-524-4068 Mesilla Mercado. Local produce & crafts. Every Thurs. & Sun. on Mesilla Plaza. 524-3262 New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum. 3000 years of New Mexico agricultural his
tory. 4100 Dripping Springs Rd.575-522-4100 www.frhm.org Stahmann Farms Country Store. Candy and crafts made with local pecans. 7 miles south of Las Cruces. 1-800654-6887. www.stahmanns.com San Albino Church. Mission church built 1907. Old Mesilla Plaza. 575-526-9349 St. Clair Winery. A variety of local wine. 1800 Avenida de Mesilla. 575-524-0390.
OLD WEST TRAILS www.oldwestcountry.com 1-800-290-8330
LOCATION
Las Cruces and Old Mesilla straddle the Rio Grande at the junction of I-10 and I-25, 46 miles north of El Paso.
MORE INFORMATION
Las Cruces Convention and Visitors Bureau 800-343-7827 or 575-541-2444 www.lascrucescvb.org
Apr Annual Border Book Festival. 575-523-3988 www.borderbookfestival.org May Cinco de Mayo Fiesta in Mesilla. www.oldmesilla.org 575-524-3262 Southern New Mexico Wine Festival. www.nmwine.com 575-522-1232 Sep Hatch Chile Festival. 575-267-5050 www.hatchchilefest.com Diez y Seis de Septiembre Fiesta in Mesilla. www.vivamesilla.org 575-524-3262 The Whole Enchilada Fiesta. www.enchiladafiesta.com 575-526-1938 Sep/ So. New Mexico State Fair & Rodeo Oct www.snmstatefair.com 575-524-8602 Oct/ Dia de los Muertos at the Plaza Nov www.oldmesilla.org 575-647-2369 Nov Annual Renaissance Arts Faire. 575-523-6403 www.daarts.org Int’l Mariachi Conference & Con-cert. 575-525-1735 www.lascrucesmariachi.org Dec Christmas Carols & Luminarias on the Plaza in Mesilla. www.oldmesilla.org 575-524-3262
RAMAD A PA L M S H O T E L & CONFERENCE CENTER
A CITY WITHIN A CITY– As you enter our lobby for the first time, you realize that you have entered a city unto itself. Southwestern ambience is all around you as you discover the lush interior courtyard with its indoor heated pool, the wonderful Sabor Restaurant and Bar, and the variety of shops on our promenade. You realize that an entire village has opened up before your eyes. Our promenade includes Sebastian's Hair Salon - a full service salon for nails and hair with a masseuse and esthetician also available. Near Sebastian's is the wonderfully exotic Regalos y Art Gift Shop, featuring Maria Cristina's charming art collection. Lucas Pipe and Tobacco newsstand has one of the areas most complete and finest humidors. Unquestionably Lucas's is the most well informed and the best stocked cigar shop in the southwest. The Sabor Restaurant and Bar features International, Latino and Asian Fusion cuisine complemented by specialty R A M A DA PALMS DE LAS CRUCES margaritas, imported beers and specialty wines. We also offer Hertz Rental Car services. Our rooms are designed for your comfort and convenience. You have the following room 201 E. UNIVERSITY AVE. options: VIP suite, balcony room, poolside room, or deluxe room. Our motto is "mi casa I-10 EXIT 142 es su casa." We want you to experience our southwestern hospitality. Across the street from the Convention Center Your room amenities include a coffee maker, cable TV, free wireless high-speed internet LAS CRUCES , NM 88005 access, a Ramada signature curved shower with the Moen Revolution shower head, Ramada citrus ginger spa amenities, a hair dryer, and an iron and board. Many rooms 575.526.4411 RAMADALASCRUCES.COM also have a microwave and refrigerator. Our VIP suites are two room suites with sofa bed, sitting area, a full dining area for entertaining, and a separate bedroom. The hotel meeting facilities are the finest in Las Cruces. You will be delighted with our beautifully equipped and decorated board rooms, fine banqueting facilities, and excellent meeting rooms. In addition, you can reserve The Bar for private parties, receptions or private events.
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OLD WEST TRAILS www.oldwestcountry.com 1-800-290-8330
Southeast ROSWELL
& ARTESIA
Crystalline sand dunes and alien visitors are the rock stars of Southeast New Mexico, but the real trophies are the area’s history, art and recreational opportunities. Massive cattle drives, turf wars and Indian skirmishes highlight the historic aspects of Roswell and Artesia, but even before that, prehistoric cultures were scratching their thoughts on rocks north of Alamogordo. All three communities provide access to the incredible recreational opportunities of the Sacramento Mountains, including skiing, horse racing and casino gaming. this page: Over petroglyphs Alamogordo’s area attractions include the history of international space 20,000 crowd the rocks at flight, the history of missile development, and a cluster of solar observatories, Three Rivers Petroglyphs National Reca valley covered by white sand dunes and black solidified lava flows, an old reation Site at the base of the White west homestead, thousands of prehistoric petroglyphs and wilderness access to Mountain Wilderness north of Alamogordo. a 12,000-foot mountain. The eastern side of the Sacramento Mountains includes Roswell’s wildlife refuge and bottomless lakes on the Pecos River and Artesia’s Brantley Lake. Unique artistic endeavors have bolstered both Roswell and Artesia as unfaltering claims of alien intruders remain the headlines for Roswell’s sci-fi district.
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Artesia CHAVES COUNTY
Sallie Chisum: First Lady of Artesia
"Billy had many admirable qualities. In all his personal relations with me he was the pink of politeness and as courteous a little gentleman as I ever met."
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OLD WEST TRAILS www.oldwestcountry.com 1-800-290-8330
Photo courtesy Artesia Chamber of Commerce
S
trange as it may sound today, the lady making that statement was speaking of Billy the Kid. In a sly style more often used by gossip columnists, historical writers have alluded to rumors of romance between Billy and the niece of cattle baron John Chisum. It is known that they were friends for a time; any deeper relationship has remained unproven. There was much more to the character of Sallie Chisum, however, than mere possible personal involvement with a famous killer. this page: Oil Sallie was Artesia, New Mexico’s first postmistress, at a time when Artesia was called Stegman, and agriculture are the foundaSallie’s married name at the time. The first artesian well in the area was drilled on Sallie’s land. tion for the area’s She was locally renowned as a storyteller and loved by the town’s children, who regularly sought economy and the catalyst for a her companionship. flourishing arts During her lifetime, Sallie was by turns the owner/operator of a boarding house, a postmistress, community. real estate trader and developer and, when needed, a caregiver to the infirm and unfortunate in the Artesia area. She would have been proud of the title “First Lady of Artesia,” which was bestowed after her death in 1934. A twice-life-sized sculpture depicting Sallie reading a book to some of Artesia’s schoolchildren was dedicated in 2004. Created by well-known artist Robert Summers, it stands at the corner of South Third and West Main Street in Artesia.
ABOUT THE AREA
Artesia is nestled into the southeastern corner of New Mexico at the crossroads of US 285 and US 82 – a perfect place to stay when traveling around vibrant Southeast New Mexico. Artesia’s history dates back to the 1880s when homesteaders came to the area attracted by the promise of plentiful water from artesian wells. Until then, the area was part of John Chisum’s vast cattle empire. The railroad came to Artesia in the 1890s, bringing to the area the first wave of development. The big pay came in 1924, with the discovery of oil, marking the beginning of Artesia’s story as an oil patch town. Artesia is proud to display its history and heritage in striking public art and a revitalization of its historic downtown. History comes alive in larger-than-life bronze monuments dedicated to telling Artesia’s story. The renovation of historic buildings includes the Ocotillo Performing Arts Center and venues for food, drink, lodging and entertainment, all in beautiful settings where old meets new. Being at the center of Southeast New Mexico, Artesia offers an enjoyable environment and allows easy access to regional attractions that include mountain hiking, skiing, fishing, the Caverns and more. Artesia is a great place to stay along the way!
ATTRACTIONS
Brantley Lake State Park. A southern desert park, is a refreshing place to fish and enjoy other water sports. The visitor center includes historical exhibits about the Wild West town of Seven Rivers.
EVENTS May Jul
Sep Oct Nov
BMX Skate Jam Fourth of July Celebration Gus Macker 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament Eddy County Fair Clays Crusher Fun Shoot Art in the Park Balloons & Bluegrass
LOCATION
Artisia is located at the junction of US82 and US285 and the confluence of arts, agriculture and oil.
MORE INFORMATION Artesia Chamber of Commerce 107 North First Street Artesia, NM 88210 1-800-658-6251 (575) 746-2744 (575) 746-2745 - fax
OLD WEST COUNTRY ARTESIA
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Heroes, Villians Outlaws
&
illustration courtesy Luis Perez.
above, l to r: Geronimo traversed the Black Range in what is now Sierra County, home of the Geronimo Springs Museum in Truth or Consequences. Luna County became internationally famous in 1916 after forces under Mexican revolutionary general Pancho Villa attacked Columbus and Camp Furlong, a nearby military base. Today, Pancho Villa State Park commemorates the event. right, l to r: Mangas Coloradas was chief of the Mimbreno Chiricahuas when an influx of miners arrived in the Pinos Altos area of present day Grant County in the 1850s. Son-in-law of Mangas Coloradas, Cochise was a chief of the Chokoken Chiricahuas, who ranged through the rugged mountains and canyons of eastern Arizona and presentday Hidalgo County. right: Present-day Catron County was a refuge to Butch Cassidy (upper inset) who occasionally worked as a ranch hand near Glenwood under an assumed name. Self-appointed lawman Elfego Baca (lower inset) survived a 33-hour gun battle with 80 opponents in Reserve. below: The Buffalo Soldiers of Fort Craig in today’s Socorro County were never able to capture Victorio and his band of Warm Springs Apaches.
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The late 1800s and early 1900s comprised an era of armed confrontation among westward moving settlers and nomadic groups of Native Americans, gunslingers who were either good guys or bad guys depending on who they shot, cattlemen and local Mexican settlers and, even Mexican revolutionaries and U.S troops. It was truly the Wild West at its most colorful (and deadly) stage. Among the household names were Billy the Kid, Butch Cassidy and Elfego Baca. Billy was born in Silver City and first jailed in Mesilla. Butch Cassidy sometimes worked as a ranch hand near Glenwood and Elfego Baca shot it out with 80 Texas cowboys in what is now Reserve. Famous Native Americans of that era included Geronimo, Victorio, Mangas Coloradas and Cochise, all acknowledged for their military prowess. Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa invaded the United States at Columbus in 1916 and was chased by General “Blackjack” Pershing. Centuries before European explorers first reached the area, prehistoric Native American cultures farmed and hunted along mountain streams, leaving behind their cliff dwellings and a wealth of fascinating pottery. Once Spanish colonizers began traveling El Camino Real toward Santa Fe, small villages supporting supply trains and the spread of Catholicism began to develop along the Rio Grande, including Socorro with its centuries old mission church. Later, when Mexico gained autonomy, Mexican mining interests initiated operations in Santa Rita to supply copper to the Mexican mint. In the meantime, trappers, prospectors and other explorers began appearing from the east coast. These forerunners of the westward expansion of the United States gave rise to Mesilla and Shakespeare and eventually to present day communities. Today the descendents of these hearty and often rambunctious groups meld with the contop: Billy the Kid was tried and sentenced to tinuing influx of people from around the hang in Mesilla, today’s home of the William world. A welcome hand is still extended to its Bonney Gallery, but escaped. visitors and prospective “settlers.”
OLD WEST TRAILS www.oldwestcountry.com 1-800-290-8330
H OTEL ARTES I A • 52 Rooms & Suites
• Exercise Room
• Business Center
• Free Wireless Internet
• Meeting Rooms
• Conference Facilities
• Gift & Sundries Store • Free Breakfast • Within Walking Distance of Restaurants • Lobby Lounge with Cocktail Service • Ideally Located in Downtown Artesia on Highway 285
HOTEL A RT E S I A 203 N. 2ND ST. • ARTESIA, NM 88210 888.746.2066 • WWW.HOTELARTESIA.COM
The Hotel Artesia offers a special combination of convenience and comfort in the center of Artesia. In addition to our cozy Artesia, NM hotel accommodations and gracious amenities, we offer extended stay suites outfitted with kitchenettes and several outstanding choices of meeting spaces - our Artesia hotel is designed to serve both leisure and business travelers as well as the local community looking for meeting and special event venues. From the distinctive Art Deco architecture designed by Richard Yates to the authentic interior finishes, our Artesia, New Mexico, hotel's creative flair and unparalleled standard of service offers an experience unavailable at any franchise or corporate chain property. Combining the best location, thoughtful design, personal service and premium amenities, the Hotel Artesia is certain to become the preferred lodging choice among Artesia hotels. OLD WEST COUNTRY EL PASO
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Roswell CHAVES COUNTY
A Suitable OvernightCamp: Roswell and the Goodnight-Loving Trail “It didn’t matter who you were, he invited all in.” -- Montie Goodin, Armstrong County Museum board member, who was born in the Charles Goodnight house.
“[Charles Goodnight] approached greatness more nearly than any cowman of history.” -- Historian J. Frank Dobie Apparently unaware of his future place in history, Texas cattleman Charles Goodnight was a consummate businessman, entirely focused on raising and marketing cattle. In 1866, he and fellow Texas cattleman Oliver Loving combined their Longhorn herds and drove the entire lot to Fort Sumner, New Mexico. The route they devised came to be called the Goodnight-Loving Trail. Along the way, the drovers held up for a night at a site near present-day Roswell, NM at the confluence of the Hondo and Pecos Rivers, where grass for the cattle was plentiful. Within a few years, a trading post, gambling hall and other conveniences sprang up at the watering hole, all designed to separate hard-working cowboys from their money. In 1869, a professional gambler named Van Smith purchased the buildings and named the place this page: A sculpture depicting after his father, Roswell Smith. The settlement grew into a town. local cattle drives Forget space aliens; Roswell’s history on planet Earth is compelling enough. by the likes of cattle baron John The Goodnight-Loving Trail eventually extended to Wyoming. Oliver Loving Chism forms the centerpiece of a was mortally wounded by Comanche warriors while riding ahead of a downtown park in Roswell. cattle drive, dying in Fort Sumner of gangrene. Before Loving’s death, Goodnight promised to bury his partner in Texas, and that’s the way things turned out. This occurrence provided the basis for part of the acclaimed Larry McMurtry novel, “Lonesome Dove.”
T
ABOUT THE AREA
ATTRACTIONS Anderson Museum of Contemporary Art. 409 E. College Blvd. 575-623-5600. Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge. www.southwest.fws.gov/refuges. newmex/bitter.htmil. 575-622-6755. Bottomless Lakes State Park. Fishing, hiking, swimming, wakeless boating, camping. 575-624-6058.
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International UFO Museum and Research Center. 114 N. Main. UFOs and exhibit on 1947incident. 800-822-3545. www.iufomrc.com. Roswell Museum and Art Center. 100 W. 11th. Peter Hurd collection, science exhibits and Goddard Planetarium. 575-624-6744. www.roswellmuseum.org. Spring River Park & Zoo. 1306 E. College Blvd. Carousel, miniature train ride, kids' fishing lake. 575-624-6760.
EVENTS Feb Apr May Jul Sep Oct Dec
Ann. Pecos Valley Stampede. 575-420-0355 Ann. Old Timers Balloon Rally. 575-622-9892 Valley Vintage Car Show. 575-627-8292 Ann. UFO Festival. 575-624-6700 Ann. Chile Cheese Festival. 575-420-5718 Eastern N.M. State Fair. 575-623-9411 Electric Light Christmas Parade. 575-420-5718
OLD WEST TRAILS www.oldwestcountry.com 1-800-290-8330
LOCATION
Roswell is located on the Pecos River 73 miles east of Ruidoso at the junction of US70, US285 and US380.
MORE INFORMATION
Roswell Convention & Visitors Bureau 575-624-7704
Roswell is a city of museums and green parks, made famous by the crash of a small alien ship in 1947. Its busiest facility is, of course, the International UFO Museum and Research Center. Numerous downtown businesses are named for and cater to the Roswell Incident and stellar characteristics. Even McDonalds is shaped like an alien craft. Roswell has well-endowed museums and art centers, including the intriguing Anderson Museum of Contemporary Art, and the New Mexico Military Institute, established in 1891. There are miles of hike and bike trails and the nearby Bitter Lakes National Wildlife Refuge and Bottomless Lakes State Park.
Photo courtesy Roswell Landing
Roswell Landing
A
lien, Russian, German or American –the origin of the flying saucers (yes, plural) that crashed northwest of Roswell in 1947 remains a controversy. No one in Roswell believes there was a weather balloon involved, so the burning question that remains – who were the pilots? this page: Roswell provides Fascination with the Roswell Incident continues to trigger the lay- Landing an exciting array of man’s imagination and a pair of alien gray jeans by Genuine alien gear and information related to Roswell Gear and a set of alien dog tags will definitely help con- the 1947 Roswell Incident. vince the folks back home to listen…and believe. There are alien souvenir outlets throughout Roswell, but the one with the flashing lights that’s open every day and into the night is Roswell Landing. And it’s just a few steps from the UFO Museum and Research Center, the old Cover-Up Café and the Not Of This World coffee house. It’s the place to pick up unique T-shirts and sweat shirts, inflatable aliens, ray guns, alien pâté and goo. It’s all there from alien crossing signs to masks that glow and have large, non-fogging eyes. Roswell Landing is a dealer for Adventures Unlimited Press with great selections like Roswell and the Reich by Joseph P. Farrell and the Ultimate Guide to the Roswell UFO Crash by Noe Torres. Roswell Landing is the official visitor center for the Earth Station Roswell Resort
OLD WEST COUNTRY ROSWELL
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El Paso WEST TEXAS
James B. Gillett: Ranger, Marshal, Rancher
&
Author
“In a country where all men went armed, recourse to firearms was frequent,“ wrote James Buchanan Gillet, “and these feuds sometimes led to active warfare between the adherents of each party, to the great discomfort of the citizens among whom such a miniature war was staged.”
G
illett, then a prosperous rancher in his sixties, was recalling the mood of the times during his hard-riding, heart pounding association with the Texas Rangers some forty years earlier. The events he described occurred during the peak period of the Rangers’ 19th century adventures on the frontier. Gillett had gone on to serve as assistant city marshal, and later marshal, of El Paso, Texas during one of the wildest and wickedest periods in that city’s long and colorful history. He survived to write about it all in his memoirs, which were published in 1921 under the title “Six Years with the Texas Rangers.” this page: El James Gillett had grown up working as a ranch hand in the Lampas, TX area, and joined the Texas Paso is the region’s largest Rangers around the time of his 20th birthday. For the following six years he and his fellow Rangers were city with close ties to Southern in the saddle constantly and participated in numerous gun battles, including the final shootout with New Mexico and Old Sam Bass and his gang of train robbers. Known for their relentless pursuit of suspects on the run, they aWestrowdy history. battled rustlers, murderers and hostile native warriors. Gillett must have had a keen survival instinct, for after six years with the rangers, he decided it was time to do something else. He accepted a position as captain of guards for the Santa Fe Railroad, but only stayed on for a few months, resigning to become El Paso’s assistant marshal. When Marshal Dallas Stoudenmire left to become a deputy U.S. marshal for western Texas, Gillett was appointed to the job of city marshal, and subsequently re-elected. In 1885, after a violent altercation with a city councilman, Gillett again felt it was time for a change. He decided to heed the words of a friend who reminded him, “Jim, you have had a quart cup of bullets shot at you as a ranger and marshal…” James Gillett retired from law enforcement, returned to ranching, prospered and lived to be elderly. Throughout his life, the Texas Rangers held a special place in his heart. He wrote of leaving the Rangers, “Henceforth my ranger days and ranger service were to be but a memory, albeit the happiest one of my life.”
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OLD WEST TRAILS www.oldwestcountry.com 1-800-290-8330
ABOUT THE AREA
Originally named by Spanish colonizer Don Juan de Onate in 1598, El Paso became an important stop on the trade route from Mexico City to Santa Fe. Following New Mexico's Pueblo revolt in 1680, displaced Indians settled the Tigua Reservation near El Paso and were responsible for building the picturesque missions of Ysleta, Socorro and San Elizario. Today as both the gateway to the Old West and the "avenida" to Mexico, El Paso is a city of romance and adventure for explorers past, present and future. Pistol shooting Old West re-enactments, nightly summer performances of Viva El Paso! and weekend ceremonial dancing by Tigua Indians keep the pioneer spirit alive. An impressive cluster of museums and performing arts venues have partnered with downtown revitalization to offer an incredible array of international culture and entertainment. Horseracing and casino gaming at Sunland Park Race Track, Sunbowl football and a packed schedule of fiestas and concerts keep this international city hopping year-round. Area specialty shops offer regional arts and crafts. As a finishing touch, the cuisine of many lands and music of the Southwest fire the hearts and souls of young and old as part of the passionate, vivid experience that is El Paso, Texas. Annual El Paso Chamber Music Festival. 915833-9400 www.eppm.org Annual Siglo de Oro Drama Festival 915-532-7273 www.nps.gov/cham Sunland Derby at Sunland Park 575-874-5200 www.sunland-park.com El Paso Marathon. www.elpasomarathon.org Franklin Mountain Poppies Celebration. 915-755-4332 www.chihuahuandesert.org May KLAQ International Balloonfest. 915-880-4955 www.klaq.com Jun El Paso Summer Music Festival. 915-449-0619 www.elpasosummermusicfestival.org Jul Downtown Street Festival. 915-544-9550 www.klaq.com Aug Plaza Classic Film Festival. 915-533-4020 www.plaza-movies.com Sep Fiesta de las Flores 915-533-3730 fiestadelasfloreselpaso.com Chihuahuan Desert Fiesta. 915-521-1881 www.elpasozoo.org/cdec Oct Amigo Airsho. 915-562-6446 www.amigoairsho.org Hueco Tanks Interpretive Fair. 915-857-1135 Nov Dia de los Muertos Celebration 915-373-1513 www.ghosts915.com Dec Holiday Lights at the Zoo. 915-544-1928 Season of Lights at the University of Texas 915-747-8600 Annual Brut Sun Bowl. 800-915-BOWL www.sunbowl.org May-Aug Alfresco! Fridays. 915-541-4481 Jun-Aug Music Under the Stars. Sundays 915-541-4481 www.nps.gov/cham Jan
Mar
ATTRACTIONS The Border Jumper. One Civic Center Plaza. El Paso-Juarez Trolley Company shuttles back and forth between these twin cities. 915-544-0062. El Paso Zoo. 5-acre zoo with more than 700 animals in nat-ural settings. 915-544-1928. Fort Bliss Museum. A reproduction of the 1854 fort houses the museum.Living history displays & Civil War artifacts. 915-568-4518. EI Paso Museum of Art. One Arts Festival Plaza. Galleries, educational exhibits, museum store. 915-532-1707. Wyler Aerial Tramway. Alabama to McKinley Ave. View two countries and three states from the southern end of the Franklin Mountains. 915-566-6622.
LOCATION
El Paso is located on I-10 at the international gateway to the Old West.
MORE INFORMATION
El Paso Convention & Visitors Bureau (800) 351-6024 www.visitelpaso.com. El Paso Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (915) 566-4066 www.ephcc.org. The Greater El Paso Chamber of Commerce (915) 534-0500 www.elpaso.org. OLD WEST COUNTRY EL PASO
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1. Hatch to Deming: NM 26 Raptor Route (Private Property. Bird from road only) F4 2. Mount View Cemetery. F4 3. Deming Water Treatment Area. F4 4. Spring Canyon Unit of Rockhound State Park. F4 5. Pancho Villa State Park. G4 6. NM 9 between Hachita & Animas. G2 7. NM 338 South of Animas (Private Property. Bird from road only.) G1 8. Clanton Canyon. G1 9. State Line Road near Rodeo (Private Property. Bird from road only.) G1 10. Granite Gap. F1 11. Lordsburg Playa (Private Property. Bird from road only.) F1 12. Virden Bridge (Private Property. Bird from road only.) E1 13. Lower Gila Box. E1 14. Glenwood Fish Hatchery. C1 15. National Catwalk Recreation Area. C2 16. Mogollon (Private Property. Bird from road only.) C2 17. Willow Creek Campground. C2 18. Redrock Road (Private Property. Bird from road only.) E2 19. Burro Mountains: Forest Rd. 851. E2 20. Gila River Bird Habitat Area. E2 21. Gila River/Mogollon Creek Confluence. D2 22. Big Ditch Park. E3 23. Cherry Creek/McMillan Campgrounds. E3 24. Signal Peak Road. E3 25. Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument. D3 26. Lake Roberts Area. D3 27. TNC Mimbres Preserve. D3 28. Fort Bayard Historical District. E3 29. City of Rocks State Park. E3 30. Iron Creek Campground to Lower Gallinas Campground. E4 31. Emory Pass. E4 32. Kingston-Hillsboro Area (Private Property - Bird from road only). E4 33. Las Animas Creek (Private Property. Bird from road only.) D5 34. Percha Dam State Park. E5 35. Caballo Lake State Park & Caballo Dam.D5 36. Las Palomas Marsh. D5 37. Elephant Butte Lake State Park. D5 38. Springtime Campground. C5 39. Leasburg Dam State Park. E5 40. Dripping Springs Recreation Area. F6 41. Aguirre Springs National Recreation Area. F6 42. The Bosque del Apache. B6 43. Water Canyon. B5 44. Socorro Birding Site. B6
BIRDING
Locations O
ld West Country encompasses a number of climate zones and therefore attracts a wide variety of bird species. The Rio Grande valley and associated marshlands provide for huge numbers of migratory waterfowl and late fall spectacles, while the mountain regions witness smaller, more specific seasonal movements. Desert locales are more active for a variety of raptors and even burrowing species. Whatever your level of experience or the lengths of your lists, birding has become increasingly popular, and Old West Country is an outstanding area in which to enjoy it. Some Old West Country residents are able to observe more than a this page: Snow hundred species of birds without leaving home. Visitors, of course, geese by the thousands spend increase their success rate when the local population nights at Bosque del Apache points out the most likely locations. For those just beginNational Wildlife ning the quest for identifying birds, as with any new Refuge during fall migrations. Year activity, success is important to maintaining interest. round birding Old West Trails has compiled a list of popular birding 16 excels in Old locations and the species known to drop in from time 15 West Country. 14 to time. Some of the locations are also known for their 21 scenic beauty; others may seem unlikely but are nonetheless areas pre20 ferred by a number of our feathered friends. Old West Country bird12 18 13 19 ing experts have verified all locations. By combining information contained in this feature with other 11 resources found on these pages, you can plan a birding adventure that 10 also includes hiking, camping, horseback riding and a wealth of other 9 6 activities that await you in Old West Country. 8 7
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B 17 C
D 23 22
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F
G
H Map compiled by the State Audobon. 1
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OLD WEST TRAILS www.oldwestcountry.com 1-800-290-8330
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Desert Bloom Lake Roberts
Mineral Hot Springs
Shakespeare
SOUTHWEST NEW MEXICO
LORDSBURG
Duck Races Elephant Butte Shakespeare
DEMING T OR C
DEMING
LORDSBURG
SILVER CITY
star-gazing, terrific year-round weather, relaxed lifestyle
Painted Desert
opportunities, diverse cultural heritage, regional cuisine,
Golf Course
SILVER CITY is known for its arts community, birding
A place WHERE FORTUNES were made, HEARTS were broken and DREAMS were FULFILLED!
Silver City Museum
Where it ALL BEGAN...
LAS CRUCES
To have NEW EXPERIENCES...
SOCORRO
OLDry t n u Co WEST
T OR C
VLA
Oregon Mountains
Farm & Heritage Museum
The Catwalk/Glenwood
Cliff Dwellings
Bosque del Apache
Our Lady of Health Church
DEMING
Willow Creek
RESERVE
SILVER CITY
LORDSBURG
Elephant Butte
SOCORRO
T OR C
Mogollon
LAS CRUCES
LAS CRUCES
San Miguel Mission
RESERVE
SILVER CITY
SOCORRO
RESERVE
and proximity to 3.3 million-acre Gila National Forest.
Deming • Las Cruces • Lordsburg • Reserve • Silver City • Socorro • Truth or Consequences
P.O. Box 884 • Silver City, NM 88062 www.SilverCity.org • 1-800-548-9378
1-800-290-8330
201 N. Hudson St., Silver City, NM 88061
OLD WEST COUNTRY Funded by Silver City Lodger’s Tax
www.oldwestcountry.com e-mail: info@oldwestcountry.com
NEW MEXICO TRAVELER
2010-2011
Your Guide to the Land of Enchantment Including Pagosa Springs and El Paso
2010-2011 EDITION
Exploring the Land, the Art & the People PROPERTY OF THE HOTEL PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE. For your personal copy, please use reply card inside.