Part 11

The Gila is an exciting and exhilarating place to explore, sightsee, hunt, fish, and just enjoy. Indian ruins are evident almost everywhere, but the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument, adjacent to the Gila Primitive Area, is the best preserved. Ancient tree stumps and abandoned Indian ruins record the history of man; old mine dumps contain ores and minerals not known nor appreciated in the heyday of local mining; microscopic plants and forest grasses which may hold the key to man’s future health abound; and the traveler may experience great delight in finding a dried root or branch to add to a native rock garden; the majestic peaks, deer and other wild game, and cool, splashing waters of a mountain creek delight the camera hobbyist.

One of the most beautiful and spectacular box canyons in the Southwest is on Whitewater Creek about four miles northeast of Glenwood. A catwalk built against the rock walls of the canyon enables the traveler to thrill at the unusual beauty and colors of the canyon and the cool depths of the trout stream below (_see_ Frontispiece).

Good roads lead into the Gila National Forest at Reserve and Alma from U.S. Highway 260. An enjoyable loop trip which touches the Gila Wilderness at Willow Creek can be taken on State Highway 78 from Alma. Another beautiful trip is through the Black Range from the junction of State Highway 180 and U.S. Highway 85 to Silver City. Approach to the Gila from the north can be made through Beaverhead, Apache Creek, and Reserve, where good roads lead into the Forest.

Fifteen developed recreation areas provide camping and picnicking for the hiker, horseback rider, and motorist and are complete with fireplaces, tables, and benches. Elk, deer, antelope, bear, javelina, and game birds are plentiful, and fishing in the high mountain creeks is usually rewarded with a satisfying catch.

District ranger stations are at Magdalena, Truth or Consequences, Reserve, Glenwood, and Mimbres.

Apache and Coronado Forests

Although small parts of these forests lie in New Mexico, they belong to forests in Arizona. Apache National Forest touches the northern edge of the Gila and its attractions are much like those of the latter. The Coronado National Forest, which is in the extreme southwest corner of New Mexico, lies in an area of aridity and is difficult to reach from New Mexico. It is surrounded by Sonoran desert, at least in its environment in this state.

These far-flung public lands in New Mexico provide many resources besides varied kinds of outdoor recreation: timber for industry, water for city and farm, forage for livestock and wildlife. As long as our National Forests are protected and developed—used but not abused—they will continue to yield rich harvests, both tangible and intangible, forever.

The State Also Preserves[4]

State Monuments have been established to preserve some of New Mexico’s historic and archeologic sites of importance. These include the mission ruins of Abo, Quarai, Pecos, and Jemez, the Palace of the Governors in Santa Fe, pueblo ruins at Coronado State Monument, the old Lincoln County Courthouse, the archeologic site at Folsom Man State Monument, the plaza and nearby Mexican Colonial-style buildings in La Mesilla, and Fort Selden. The history recorded at these sites dates from 10,000 B.C. of Clovis Man to 1878 of the cattlemen’s Lincoln County War.

State parks cover areas of scenic beauty, geologic wonders, and historic interest. Reservoir lakes yielding necessary water, good fishing, swimming, and boating include Conchas, Storrie, Bluewater, El Vado, Ute, Elephant Butte, Caballo, Alamogordo, Clayton, Morphy, and Bottomless Lakes. The latter are natural sink holes east of Roswell. Hyde Memorial Park and Santa Fe River Park, near and in Santa Fe, provide scenic picnic spots, as do Rock Hound State Park near Deming and Oasis State Park near Portales and Clovis. Picnicking, fishing, and spectacular canyons attract the visitor at Rio Grande Gorge Park west of Taos. Weird erosional figures carved from volcanic layers distinguish City of Rocks State Park near Deming. Pancho Villa State Park at Columbus and Kit Carson Memorial at Taos mark historic sites. Valley of Fires State Park west of Carrizozo preserves the black twisted lava of a relatively recent volcanic flow.

NEW MEXICO STATE MONUMENTS

_by_ Museum of New Mexico Staff

The State of New Mexico, recognizing the depth and color of its own history, has established a number of state monuments preserving important historical or archeological sites. These are administered by the Museum of New Mexico located in Santa Fe. Any mosaic of New Mexico would be incomplete without including these important landmarks.

El Palacio, Palace of the Governors

The main facility of the Museum of New Mexico is El Palacio. The Palace of the Governors, on the plaza in the heart of Santa Fe, is the oldest public building in the United States. Built in 1610, it was the seat of Spanish government in New Mexico until 1821, of the Mexican government until 1846, and the residence of the governors appointed by the President of the United States until 1910, when it became a unit of the Museum of New Mexico.

It presently contains exhibits relating to New Mexico’s past, ranging from the Indians, who arrived after crossing the Bering Sea, to the Spanish, who came seeking gold and glory on horseback, to the wagon trains from the east, whose goal was the end of the Santa Fe Trail, which is directly in front of El Palacio.

El Palacio was the capitol of New Mexico for 300 years and was the seat of residence for more than one hundred of New Mexico’s governors. During that time it was captured and held by the Indians from 1680 to 1692. The Army of the Confederacy captured it for a few days during the Civil War, and one of its occupants, Territorial Governor Lew. Wallace, wrote his famous novel, _Ben Hur_, within its walls.

There are other fascinating units connected with the Museum of New Mexico in Santa Fe. Among these are the Fine Arts Museum, emphasizing the art and artists of the great Southwest; the International Folk Art Museum; and the Hall of Ethnology, devoted primarily to the peoples of the Southwest.

Abo State Monument

Off U.S. Highway 60, nine miles west of Mountainair is Abo State Monument.

The ruins of the ancient mission church of San Gregorio de Abo and its pueblo, built of red sandstone, are in a broad, natural amphitheater rimmed on the north and west by the blue Manzano Mountains, which contrast strikingly with the reddish hues of the Abo sandstone. This is one of the Saline Missions, so called because of the nearby salt deposits in the Estancia Basin.

It was built during the seventeenth century by Indians under the supervision of the Franciscans, led by the venerable Fray Francisco de Acevedo. The inhabitants of Abo were very friendly to the Spaniards. They were forced to abandon their pueblo about 1673 because of drought and the raids of the Apaches and Comanches. They then moved south to El Paso del Norte where they joined in founding Isleta del Sur.

The walls of the pueblo have disintegrated with time into low mounds which lie adjacent to the mission. The ecclesiastical structures have been excavated and repaired for permanent preservation.

Quarai State Monument

This monument is near Punta de Agua, eight miles north of Mountainair off State Highway 10.

The ruins of the mission church of the Immaculate Conception at Quarai are unsurpassed in grandeur of architecture or setting by any that survive from the labors of the early Franciscans in New Mexico. Built of red sandstone masonry about 1628, at the Pueblo of Quarai, it was abandoned along with the pueblo about 1674, chiefly because of Apache depredations.

One of the most venerated of the Franciscan missionaries, Fray Geronimo de la Llana, worked and died at Quarai, beloved by his Indian charges. His remains now rest in a crypt in the wall of St. Francis Cathedral in Santa Fe. The ruins have been excavated and repaired for permanent preservation.

Coronado State Monument

This pueblo ruin is on the west bank of the Rio Grande, one mile from the town of Bernalillo, seventeen miles north of Albuquerque, and one mile off U.S. Highway 85, between Albuquerque and Santa Fe.

The Pueblo of Kuaua was one of the several towns of the ancient Tiguex province. At or near Kuaua, the Coronado expedition maintained headquarters from about 1540 to 1542 A.D. During excavation of the ancient pueblo, more than 1200 ground-floor rooms were found and five kivas, or underground ceremonial chambers, were uncovered.

In one of the kivas was found a highly important group of ancient wall paintings. This kiva has been reconstructed and the paintings restored.

The old walls of Kuaua have been rebuilt to a few feet in height so that the structure can be seen. A museum has been erected on the site to exhibit the material found during the excavation and to portray life in the Tiguex province. The Coronado State Monument and Museum commemorates the meeting, more than four hundred years ago, of the elements that influenced the culture of New Mexico—the Indian and the _conquistadore_.

A curator-custodian is on duty at the Coronado Museum headquarters, which is open all year.

Pecos State Monument

Off U.S. Highway 84-85, three miles south of Pecos, is this State Monument. It became a National Monument during late 1966.

This mission, the Church of Nuestra Senora de los Angeles de Porciuncula at Pecos, dates from the year 1617. It is fitting that this mission, which was one of the first two, with Jemez, established by the Franciscans in New Mexico, should bear the name “Our Lady of the Angels of Porciuncula,” for with his own hands, St. Francis, founder of the Order, rebuilt the decaying chapel of Our Lady of Angels at Assisi, which he called his Porciuncula or “Little Inheritance,” and there established the headquarters of the Franciscan Order.

Pecos was well fortified because of its location on the eastern edge of the pueblo area and its contact with the Plains Indians. It resisted the raids for many years, but when a smallpox epidemic in 1838 reduced the population to seventeen survivors, they moved to Jemez Pueblo, abandoning Pecos.

A part of the massive adobe walls of the ruined mission has been excavated and repaired, as have some of the rubble masonry walls.

Jemez State Monument

This Monument is at Jemez Springs, sixty miles north of Albuquerque on State Highway 4.

One of the finest early mission churches was established at Giusewa Pueblo. _Giusewa_ means “place of the boiling waters” in the language of the Jemez Indians, and refers to the famous Jemez Hot Springs nearby. The mission, with Pecos, was one of the two earliest in New Mexico. These were founded one hundred and fifty-two years before the first California missions.

The original settlement of the Giusewa Pueblo goes back hundreds of years before Columbus’ discovery of America, as does the settlement of the other pueblos, Quarai, Abo, and Pecos.

Guisewa Pueblo became extinct during the last quarter of the seventeenth century, a result of the consolidation of several pueblos of the Jemez province into fewer and larger towns. Only one town, the present Jemez Pueblo, survives from that time. Excavation and repairs have been made in the ruins of both the pueblo and the mission church.

La Mesilla State Monument

This colorful State Monument consists of the plaza in the village of Mesilla, near Las Cruces, and the buildings nearby. The Monument preserves an aspect of the Mexican Colonial culture and architecture which flourished here in the early nineteenth century. The Gadsden Purchase of 1853 was celebrated in the Mesilla Plaza and the famous desperado, Billy the Kid, once stood trial here for his life. During the Civil War, Mesilla was briefly the Confederate capitol of the Territory of Arizona.

Lincoln State Monument

Located in Lincoln, on U.S. Highway 380, and known as the Old Lincoln County Courthouse, the first floor of this Monument was the mercantile store of L. G. Murphy & Co. in the 1870’s, during the Lincoln County War. The second floor was purchased in 1870 by the county for a court house.

It was from this building that Billy the Kid made his daring escape on April 28, 1881, after killing his two guards. A caretaker and a museum attendant are on duty at all times. Mementos of the infamous Lincoln County cattle war are featured.

Fort Selden State Monument

The crumbling adobe walls of Fort Selden lie about seventeen miles north of Las Cruces just west of Interstate Highway 25. The history of this fort, given in the article on _Frontier Forts_, was highlighted by the brief stay of General Douglas MacArthur, who spent some of his childhood within the fort’s walls and played in the adjoining green valley of the Rio Grande.

NEW MEXICO STATE PARKS

_by_ The Editors

New Mexico is blessed with a wealth of natural resources and perhaps most important is the abundance of sites with outstanding scenic and recreational facilities. The contrasts apparent in the mosaic of New Mexico are also seen in the pattern of its state parks. They range from desert regions with sparse and exotic flora and fauna to the high mountain canyons choked with Douglas fir and aspen where even in the summer evenings one huddles close to the fire for warmth. And the mosaic shifts from waterless areas amid geologic wonders to wide expanses of open water well stocked with trout. The parks are administered by the New Mexico State Park and Recreation Commission. Wherever possible, areas have been set aside for the permanent enjoyment of the people of New Mexico and their visitors.

Bottomless Lakes State Park

Bottomless Lakes State Park, established in 1936, was one of the first of the New Mexico state parks. It is surprising to find this treasure of great natural beauty in an area so dominated by aridity. There are six small lakes in the park, of which Lea Lake is the largest with about 15 acres of surface area. The water of the lakes is crystal clear and varies in depth from 45 feet in the shallow lakes to about 100 feet in the deeper ones. They were created as “sink holes” when water dissolved large areas of underground gypsum, resulting in cave-ins. The lakes now offer extensive recreational facilities for the people of New Mexico and for tourists passing through or visiting the area. Camping, swimming, and boating are available. Pecos “diamonds,” small quartz crystals, can be found in the neighboring hills.

Conchas Lake State Park

Conchas Lake is one of the largest sustained bodies of water in New Mexico. Conchas Dam, which holds the water of the Canadian River, forms the lake. The main dam is 235 feet above the roadway and is 1250 feet in length. At capacity it holds 600,000 acre-feet of water. The reservoir serves many purposes: flood control, local irrigation, camping and boating facilities, and fishing and water skiing.

The Canadian River has its origin on Raton Mesa and flows southward to Conchas Dam, then turns abruptly eastward. On its way across the High Plains, it cuts into some of the oldest rocks that can be seen on the western edge of the plains, the Dockum Group of Late Triassic age. The best place to view the earth-building processes of this region is where State Highway 120 crosses the gorge of the Canadian River between Wagon Mound and Roy.

Hyde Memorial State Park

Here, at an elevation of 9000 feet, among tall pines and aspens is one of the most scenic of all New Mexico’s parks. High in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, eight miles northeast of Santa Fe, the park offers an excellent example of the scenic beauty in New Mexico rarely seen by most travelers passing through the state. Easily accessible from Santa Fe, Hyde Park gives a few moments, or a few days, respite in the cool refreshment of a mountain forest. Excellent picnic and camping facilities are available. For those who want to penetrate the mountain vastness even farther, there are a number of well-marked trails for hiking.

Navajo Lake State Park

Navajo Dam on the San Juan River lies twenty-five miles east of Aztec at an elevation of 6200 feet in a region of spectacular scenic beauty. Camping, picnicking, boating, fishing, and water skiing facilities are available, and a lodge is under construction. This is expected to be one of the most important sports and recreational centers in northwest New Mexico in coming years.

Pancho Villa State Park

Named for the famous Mexican bandit and revolutionary leader, the park is located near Columbus, New Mexico, site of Villa’s most infamous raid. In the dead of the night on March 10, 1916, Villa and his men entered the town of Columbus and did their bloody work. When they left, seventeen local people were dead, including eight soldiers and nine civilians. The Mexican force suffered heavy casualties, perhaps as many as 125 killed. The town of Columbus was badly damaged and has only recently begun to recover from the blow. The expedition of General Pershing, then on duty along the Mexican border, was organized to hunt down Villa and his men. Pershing and a United States military unit spent three months inside Mexico, only to return to the United States empty-handed. The park commemorates one of the most interesting and tragic episodes in New Mexico history. Within the park, one can see excellent examples of Sonoran desert flora. Picnic facilities and camping sites are available.

El Vado Lake State Park

El Vado Dam is a part of the complex Rio Grande Conservancy District flood and irrigation project. It holds the water of the Chama River, which flows west, south, and then east into the Rio Grande. The country surrounding El Vado Lake is beautiful and contains some of the finest trout fishing streams in the state. At the lake itself there are camping facilities, including trailer spaces (no hookups for water or electricity). The lake is at an elevation of 7000 feet and is one of the important flood-control bodies of water in New Mexico.

Bluewater State Park

Bluewater Lake, at an elevation of 7460 feet, is a spot of spectacular beauty. Adjacent is a 160-acre wooded park. The area offers boating, fishing, and swimming. The lake was formed by impounding the waters from the Zuni Mountains’ watershed, and it fills three great depressions in high tablelands. The dam, built across two lofty natural walls of solid rock, the San Andres Limestone, holds a lake a mile wide and seven and a half miles long. Bluewater Lake State Park was the first of New Mexico’s parks, so designated in 1929.

Storrie Lake State Park

Storrie Lake State Park surrounds a small lake north of Las Vegas, New Mexico. It lies on the west edge of the High Plains and is an excellent recreation area. The lake is at an elevation of 6400 feet and has a limited number of picnic and camping facilities. It is stocked with rainbow and brown trout and crappies.

City of Rocks State Park

This is one of the most unusual of the state parks, and one of the finest for picnicking and for camping. Located in the unusual rock formation known as the Sugarlump Welded Rhyolite Tuff northwest of Deming, it is a source of wonder to all visitors. Suddenly, in a seemingly flat, desert plain, one comes upon these grotesque outcrops. In the coolness of the shade of these ancient rocks one can survey vistas under an azure sky that are almost breathless. This is the desert Southwest at its very best; not the harsh, unfriendly desert of movies and fiction, but a lovely spot in which to enjoy to the fullest the wonders of nature.

Kit Carson Memorial Park

This 20-acre plot of grass, flower beds, trees, and picnic tables lies on the northeast edge of Taos and contains the graves of Kit Carson and Padre José Martinez. Not far away is the Kit Carson House, a group of adobe buildings surrounding a patio, that was Carson’s headquarters, office, and home from 1858 to 1866. This Indian fighter, trapper, hunter, and trader is most famous for defeating the Navajos in Canyon de Chelly and marching 7000 of these Indians across New Mexico to a reservation at Bosque Redondo near Fort Sumner. However, during his eight years as Indian agent, Carson worked continuously for the welfare of his charges.

Oasis State Park

One of the state’s newest parks, Oasis is seven miles northeast of Portales along State Highway 467. This shady place of cottonwood trees amid sand dunes has long been a favorite picnic spot. The sand dunes form an irregular ridge separating Portales Valley to the south from Blackwater Draw to the north. In Blackwater Draw have been found bones of ancient animals and the weapons used by early man some 12,000 years ago. Portales Valley is the sand-filled remnant of the early Pleistocene Brazos River Valley that once drained eastward into Texas. About 800,000 years ago, the Pecos River to the west “captured” the headwaters of this former Brazos River and left the Portales Valley high and dry.

Valley of Fires State Park

This park, about five miles west of Carrizozo on U.S. Highway 380, features picnic tables amid the Carrizozo lava flow, or malpais, one of the youngest in the United States. The lava flowed out of Little Black Peak about 1000 years ago in a series of individual “rivers” of hot black basalt. The composite flow is 44 miles long, 0.5 to 6 miles wide, and is made up of about 1 cubic mile of basalt; it moved southward down the lowest part of the northern Tularosa Basin.

Climb around on the lava and note the ropy nature of the surface (_pahoehoe_ of the Hawaiians), the many frozen gas bubbles in the rocks (vesicles), the squeeze-ups where once-liquid lava protrudes through cracks in the hardened crust, the pressure ridges where the hardened crust arched and broke, and collapsed lava tunnels where the outer lava froze and the molten interior ran out, leaving an open tube or cave.

Ute Lake State Park

Ute Dam, two miles southwest of Logan, provides a 4200-acre reservoir along the Canadian River and Ute Creek stocked with rainbow trout, bass, crappie, and catfish. Camping, picnicking, and boating facilities are available along the valley walls, which are cut in the brown Santa Rosa Sandstone and overlying maroon to green Chinle shales.

Santa Fe River State Park

Bordering the Santa Fe River in downtown Santa Fe, this city park merges with the State Capitol grounds. It provides picnic tables and benches in the shade of tall trees amid the picturesque ancient city.

Elephant Butte Lake State Park

The giant Elephant Butte Reservoir, impounded behind the dam five miles east of Truth or Consequences, provides year-around fishing, boating, water skiing, and camping. Built in brown to gray Cretaceous sandstone and shale, the dam is overlooked by the brownish-black volcanic neck that is Elephant Butte. Eastern shores are carved from the purplish and maroon McRae layers. This is the main storage reservoir for the water that irrigates the lush Rio Grande Valley to the south near Las Cruces and El Paso.

Caballo Lake State Park

Caballo Reservoir, downstream from Elephant Butte, offers excellent facilities for water sports, its bass and crappie fishing being notable. The State Park is fourteen miles south of Truth or Consequences and six miles north of the dam. The spectacular rugged front of the Caballo Mountains looms to the east, with sharp canyons and ribbed cliffs along the valley walls cut in the tan layers of the Santa Fe Formation.

Rio Grande Gorge State Park