Southern New Mexico Travel and Tourism Information: Activities, Attractions, History, and Culture - Articles -

Leopold Legacies-how he came to preserve the Gila Wilderness

no@spam.com (Pam Hendrickson) — Sat, 11 Jan 2003 23:51:27 PST

It is autumn 1919, in a wild and scenic area of New Mexico's Gila Forest. A young assistant district forester named Aldo Leopold is on horseback, trying to imagine what his surroundings will be like if a proposed road system goes through, a "civilizing" influence becoming all too familiar in other forests of the Southwest. Not here, he resolves. Something must be done to save it so future generations will be able to enjoy the purity and beauty of this back country.

Kneeling Nun Legends

no@spam.com (Pam Hendrickson) — Fri, 10 Jan 2003 01:52:56 PST

The Spanish journeyed to Santa Rita looking for Cibola, the City of Gold, and instead discovered rich deposits of copper, thanks to a friendly Apache chief who showed them where his people had been mining the shiny metal for untold years. The result was the Santa Rita del Cobre . . . and the beginning of the Kneeling Nun legends . . . legends that will likely persist, as long as she continues to grace the landscape above this Southwest New Mexico community.

Beating the Winter Blahs - the Lake Roberts way

no@spam.com (Pam Hendrickson) — Sun, 05 Jan 2003 00:36:17 PST

Ever get the "winter blahs?" It is a state of mind that strikes around mid-January, then reaches its peak in the middle of March. Here at Lake Roberts it doesn't normally end until we see the first greening of trees and smell the warm sweetness in the air that tells us spring is about to be sprung from a cold, colorless landscape.

Hummingbird - close encounters, legends, and a festival

no@spam.com (Pam Hendrickson) — Wed, 01 Jan 2003 00:30:59 PST

If there is one way to describe being French kissed by a hummingbird, it is "smile." Bill Calder, a veteran "bander" of these tiny creatures, does just that when he tells how he felt the tongue of a broad-tail touch his own on one of his expeditions. "It was a female, of course," he adds with a puckish grin. This close encounter of the "hummer" kind isn't all that unusual, says Calder. A colleague of his was once licked in the ear. For the salt, he figures.

September Wildflowers in the Gila

no@spam.com (Pam Hendrickson) — Sat, 21 Dec 2002 23:29:46 PST

"Another glorious day, the air as delicious to the lungs as nectar to the tongue." John Muir wrote this in another time, another place, but his words beautifully describe New Mexico's Gila Forest country in September.