TRAILS Mastodons TRAILS ANCIENT DWELLINGS and Spanish Missions are the foundations of Southwest NEW MEXICO Diverse People and TERRAIN create unique byways and attractions OLD WEST COMMUNITIES are the roadmap to extraordinary ADVENTURE THE COMMUNITIES OF SILVER CITY, DEMING, LAS CRUCES, TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES, SOCORRO, LORDSBURG, RESERVE Ancient peoples with primitive tools achieved unbelievable feats throughout Old West Country Old WestCountry THE 1800’S SPIRIT OF DISCOVERY AND EXCITEMENT STILL PERVADES the lifestyles of New Mexico’s Southwest from its high tech plateaus to its meandering rivers. Ghost towns, forts and Indian ruins are the foundation for what’s ahead and early missions provide a vision for survival. Discover why the nation chooses the communities of Old West Country to conduct business, seek the arts, meander through history, develop harmony with Mother Nature and provide meaningful retirement. Fill the missing pages of your life with the arts, the rugged beauty and the intrigue of Southwest New Mexico. New Mexico’s largest recreational lakes and bird sanctuaries and some of its best mountain streams, trails, wilderness areas and scenic byways help create an enticing quality of life for visitors and residents alike. People of all ages seeking a thoughtful stroll along a peaceful river or challenging mountain trails for hiking and biking find Old West Country offers it all. The state’s largest vineyards and its world famous chile contribute to the best darn Mexican food and steak dinners around. Museums, galleries and theater highlight the region’s cultural scene. Come watch herons settle in for the night, step back in time at old plazas and stage stops, participate in unique fiestas and events or just stop by and be neighborly. You will always find a welcome sign and a place to tie your horse in Old West Country. It is, indeed, where it all began. opposite: The people of the Mogollon culture who built the Gila Clliff Dwellings occupied them for only about 20 years before abandoning the area. OLD WEST COUNTRY OWT 1 OldOld estest WWTRAILS Published exclusively for Old West Country as a supplement to Western New Mexico Traveler Old West Country P.O. Box 884 • Silver City, NM 88062 1-800-290-8330 Website: www.oldwestcountry.com E-mail: [email protected] New President Sally Haigler Socorro Chamber of Commerce Mexico Vice-President Andres Giron University Catron County Chamber of Commerce Museum Executive Director Keith LeMay Serving the communities of: Deming 800 East Pine • Deming, NM 88031 1-800-848-4955 www.demingchamber.com e-mail: [email protected] Las Cruces 211 N. Water Street • Las Cruces, NM 88001 1-800-FIESTAS • 505-541-2444 e-mail: [email protected] • www.lascrucescvb.org Lordsburg 117 East 2nd Street • Lordsburg, NM 88045 505-542-9864 www.lordsburghidalgocounty.org/chamber Photo by Anthony Howell [email protected] Reserve/Glenwood P.O. Box 415 • Reserve, NM 87830 505-533-6116 www.catroncounty.org/chamber Most surprising and awe-inspiring about the WNMU Museum in [email protected] P.O. Box 183 • Glenwood, NM 88039 Silver City, NM is that it houses the largest permanent display of 505-539-2711 www.glenwoodnewmexico.com Mimbres pottery and culture in the world. e-mail: [email protected] Silver City 201 N. Hudson St. • Silver City, NM 88061 1-800-548-9378 www.silvercity.org Celebrating 31 Years 1974-2005 e-mail: [email protected] Socorro/Magdalena 101 Plaza • P.O. Box 743 • Socorro, NM 87801 Open Monday through Friday 9:00-4:30 • Saturday & Sunday 10:00-4:00 505-835-0424 www.socorro-nm.com Free Admission • Handicap Accessible e-mail: [email protected] P.O. Box 281 • Magdalena, NM 87825-0281 505-538-6386 Voice 866-854-3217 Fax 800-788-1303 www.wnmu.edu/univ/museum.htm www.magdalena-nm.com e-mail: [email protected] Truth or Consequences P.O. Box 31 Terri Menges Joseph Burgess Keith LeMay Truth or Consequences, NM 87901 President & Photography except Distribution Managing Director where credited 505-894-3536 Jackie Blurton www.truthorconsequencesnm.net Joseph Burgess Old West Trails is a supplement to [email protected] Vice President & Doug Kahn New Mexico Traveler and is manu- Editor In Chief Las Cruces CVB factured and printed in the United Elephant Butte States of America. ©Zia Publishing Arlyn Cooley Keith LeMay P.O. Box 1355 Corp. All rights reserved. Elephant Butte, NM 87935 Staff Accountant Becky O’Connor Reproduction in whole or part with- (505) 744-4708 Joseph Burgess Luis Perez out permission of the publisher is Mark Wilson prohibited. All submissions of edito- [email protected] Brett Ferneau Contributing Photographers rial or photography are only accept- Contributing Writers About our cover: ed without risk to the publisher for Dwellings and Debra Luera loss or damage. Every effort was Southwest Region 2 LeAnne Knudsen Joanne Perez artifacts found Project Manager made to ensure accuracy in the throughout Old West Mike Trumbull Chair, Las Cruces Jennifer Rivera information provided. The publisher Country portray the George Pintar Vice-Chair, Deming Terri Menges Junior Design & Production assumes no responsibility or liability architectural ingenuity Susan LaFont Secretary, Elephant Butte Todd Yocham for errors, changes or omissions. and artistic creativity Designers Lynn Janes Other region members: LeAnne Knudsen of the ancient J. B. Kellogg civilizations that Stella Dante Las Cruces Mary Catherine Meek inhabited the region. Website Development Advertising Sales Durelle Freeman Glenwood Mary Gillard Socorro Old West Trails is published annually by Zia Publishing Corp. 611 N. Hudson Silver City, NM 88061 Keith LeMay Silver City Phone: 505-956-1560 Fax: 505-956-1580 e-mail: [email protected] www.ziapublishing.com OWT 2 2005 OLD WEST TRAILS www.oldwestcountry.com RICH IN KEEPING THE SPIRIT OF THE 1800s ALIVE HISTORY MEXICAN, APACHE AND AMERICAN TURF CONFLICTS throughout the 1800s and the rough and tumble days of early mining and ranching camps produced an energetic and lively era for Old West Country. As Mexico began mining copper in the Silver City area and American settlers arrived from the East, cavalry forts were estab- lished on the trade routes to reduce the conflicts between Apaches and settlers. Ft. Seldon near Las Cruces, Ft. Craig between Socorro and Truth or Consequences, Ft. Webster at Santa Rita and in the Mimbres, and Ft. Bayard near Silver City are among those playing important roles in the late 1800s. Settlers moved along El Camino Real through Socorro, Truth or Consequences and Mesilla and westward along the Butterfield Trail from El Paso and Mesilla, through the Deming and Lordsburg areas to California. Noteworthy Old West characters include Billy the Kid, who was raised in Silver City and first jailed in Mesilla, and Pancho Villa, who attacked the United States at Columbus. Area Apache leaders include Geronimo, Mangas Colorado and Cochise. Elfego Baca made a name for himself by holding off 80 Texas cowboys in Reserve, and Butch Cassidy and his gang hid out for a time near Glenwood. Shakespeare, near Lordsburg, lays claim to a whole host of interesting and unsavory characters including the Clantons, Curley Bill and Russian Bill, just to mention a few. Mesilla served as regional headquarters for the Confederate Army and was the site where the Gadsden Purchase was ratified. Reenactments are scheduled throughout the year at the forts, Mesilla, Shakespeare, Socorro and Ft. Bayard. above: A ceremonial pot from the ancient Mimbres culture on display at the Western New Mexico University Museum in Silver City. Left from top: Early Spanish colonizers followed the Rio Grande valley as it passed from Photo courtesy Keith LeMay present-day El Paso and through Las Cruces, Truth or Consequences, Socorro and on to Santa Fe. San Miguel Mission was originally built by the Spanish in 1598 at Socorro. Cattle were brought to Old West Country in the 1800s and ranching remains a major area industry. Mining ghost town buildings and structures can be found throughout Southwest New Mexico including this old assay building in Kingston. Modern mining on a grand scale near Silver City can be observed at the Santa Rita copper pit, which was initiated by a Spanish soldier in 1803. Right from top: The Silver City Museum is housed in an 1880s Victorian-style home. A bronze sculpture pays tribute to the Buffalo Soldiers stationed at Ft. Seldon north of Las Cruces. A Vietnam veteran’s memorial was erected next to the historic plaza in Socorro. A bust and painting of Geronimo are displayed at the Geronimo Springs Museum in Truth or Consequences. RICH IN HISTORY OWT 3 from top left: Gran Quivera at Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument includes a Spanish mission and excavated pueblo Indian ruins, all of which were abandoned by the 1670s. A replica of an Anasazi pit house is displayed at the Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum in Las Cruces. A mastodon skull found near Elephant Butte Lake can be viewed at Geronimo Springs Museum in Truth or Consequences. From top right: The view from the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument near Silver City. Pottery from the Mimbres Culture is displayed at the Deming Luna Mimbres Museum. Apache spirit figures on a canyon wall above Lake Roberts on the Trail of the Mountain Spirits Scenic Byway. OWT 4 OLD WEST COUNTRY POINTS OF INTEREST SOCORRO/RESERVE Bat Cave southeast of Horse Springs yielded PREHISTORIC maize from 3982 BC, squash from 2000 BC and beans from1000 BC. RICH IN ANCIENT CULTURES Tulerosa Cave on NM12 near Aragon contained artifacts from periods ranging between 500 BC and AD 1250 TRUTH OR PERIODS CONSEQUENCES Geronimo Springs Museum displays mastodon EVIDENCE OF PREHISTORIC ANIMALS AND CULTURES IN and mammoth skulls uncovered west of Old West Country includes pre-dinosaur trackways, dinosaur bones and the Elephant Butte Lake and the pottery and arti- ruins of early cultures.