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Doña Ana County Guide
Last updated on Thursday, February 20, 2003
Few cities, towns, villages or individuals, without moving, find their address and even their country has changed. The towns named above are some of those few, because that is what happened to them. In 1853, the Gadsden Purchase changed the southern boundary of the U.S. Chile is surely not going to go away in tiny Hatch, New Mexico. As a matter of fact, there's a bit of a frenzy this time of year. It's just the annual Chile Festival in Hatch, a forty-minute drive along the Rio Grande from Las Cruces. The madness happens on Labor Day weekend, with folks driving in from as far away as Tucson, Albuquerque and Fort Worth to load up their trunks with genuine Hatch chiles (that's the New Mexico spelling as decreed by the state legislature).
During a recent trip to Las Cruces I visited one of the local archeological sites, one which I later discovered was also the site of an unsolved murder dating to 1869. This place is called "La Cueva," The Cave.
Taking University Avenue east out of Las Cruces, it will turn into Dripping Springs Road by the New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum. The road climbs steadily for the entire 11-1/2 miles, and it is paved for the first 5 or 6 miles. It turns into a dusty washboard road about a car and a half wide, then back into a paved road shortly before reaching the cattle guard and swinging yellow gate that make up the entrance to Dripping Springs. This area is in the care of the Bureau of Land Management and is manned by some kindly retired folks who volunteer their time and knowledge.
Hispanic currents flow through the history and culture of Las Cruces and Mesilla like the Rio Grande flows through the fields and arid pasturelands of these adjoining valley communities.
Spanish-speaking conquistadores and colonists left their tracks and bones along the sandy river bottoms more than four centuries ago. Northern New Mexico's Spanish-speaking settlers, uprooted by the Mexican/American conflict of the late 1840s, rebuilt their lives at Las Cruces and Mesilla, constructing community, churches and homes along the riverbanks. Their descendants, along with more recent Spanish-speaking settlers, now serve in local political offices; work in local businesses, industries and professions; study at the local university and colleges; and teach in the local schools.
It's no secret why we call New Mexico the Land of Enchantment. Our state possesses some of the nation's most beautiful natural wonders, including Carlsbad Caverns, Taos' Moreno Valley and White Sands National Monument.
Having grown up in Silver City at the doorstep of the Gila National Forest, I have always felt very lucky to have come from such a special place. During my time as a Senator, I've worked to help promote New Mexico and its splendor as a tourist destination - because it's important to our people, our economy and also our sense of pride in our home state.
A small hump-backed mountain rises above East Mesa, midway between Las Cruces and the Organ Mountains. It is often called "A" Mountain for the Aggies "A" blazed on its west side like a gargantuan modern pictograph. But I prefer its older name, Tortugas, or "Tortoise" Mountain, for its resemblance - when viewed from the south - to a huge tortoise slowly ascending the bajada.I'm awakened at 5 in the morning by the sound of gunfire.
No, it's not some gang bangers blasting away in the dark, nor even hunters harrying doves; it's something entirely different, my neighbors in nearby Tortugas pueblo beginning their dawn ceremony in honor of the Virgin of Guadalupe.
You wouldn't expect to find a world-class air museum in tiny Santa Teresa, just outside El Paso, Texas, but there it sits. The War Eagles Museum is an eye-opening find for nostalgia buffs such as Lt. Col. (Retired) Lloyd Mettes of Oxford, Indiana, who said, "I flew seventy P-38 missions during World War Two - reconnaissance mostly, but a few combat missions." Looking at the black beauty (one of only seven left in the world) sitting on the hangar floor, he said, "This is really an early version of the P-38."Over half-a-million visitors a year enjoy the world's largest gypsum dune field at White Sands National Monument in Southern New Mexico. The sparkling white dunes are ever-changing, ever-moving and ever-growing
Where does the gypsum originate? It is constantly added to the dunes from its source in Lake Lucero. Comparatively few visitors see the ten-square-mile lake bed, even though it is part of the monument, and, with a little planning, is accessible to everyone.
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