Little red schoolhouse.  Photo by Jim Reed.

At first I imagined a small tree growing in a planter in the corner of the old red schoolhouse when Kevin told me there was a tree inside.

"Why is that unusual?" I asked. "Lots of people put trees inside homes.

"No," responded Kevin, "It’s a big tree. They put a big tree inside the schoolhouse."

Sitting at a picnic table behind The Trading Post at Three Rivers, I had already spent the better part of the day mystyfied by more than 21,000 Indian carvings at the Three Rivers Petroglyph Site, 23 miles north of Tularosa.

Fortunately, Kevin’s trading post customer flow was slow enough to afford me the opportunity to pick his brain about local lore. I turned my sight toward the old red schoolhouse, looking for a glass section in the roof which would denote an atrium that would allow light to aid in an interior tree’s growth. Finding none, and remembering that I had already taken pictures of the other side of the building, I gawked at Kevin, the puzzlement in my eyes pleading for an explanation.Kevin smiled and responded, "I’ll show you. When you are done with your lunch, come get me." Fifteen minutes later, while relating the tale of the tree inside, Kevin unlocked the door to the former Three Rivers School. Sure enough, in the middle of the large main room, there stands a tree. A large dead tree, at least four feet at the base, sawn flat and placed upon the 115 year old hardwood floor, two thick branches reaching upward and six branches meeting the ceiling’s cross beams where sheetrock had previously been installed. I had to see it to believe it.

I took pictures.

Lots of pictures – with added flash to compensate for the absence of light as I shook my head in amazement , wondering what motive would spur someone to place a huge dead tree inside this charming historic building. Kevin, having researched the oddity, provided an explanation.

Tree inside the little red schoolhouse.  Photo by Jim Reed.

From 1941 to 1965, Thomas Fortune Ryan was the owner of the 60,000 acre Three Rivers Ranch and the almost populationless village of Three Rivers. The landmark adobe building at the crossroads of Highway 54 and the small road to Three Rivers Petroglyphs Site served as a combination gas station, post office, curio stop and, for those with a desire to wash down the trail dust, a saloon. Fifty yards to the rear of the pit stop, the circa 1883 red schoolhouse stood idle, having been closed in 1945 when the community started bussing children to schools in Tularosa.

Ryan, it is alleged, violated the first rule of bar ownership and the bartender profession by being "his own best customer." During one of his "escapades", Ryan turned to a friend and declared, "You know what that old schoolhouse needs? A tree inside!" And so it came to be, Rancher Ryan, one the wealthiest members of Lincoln County, got what he wanted – a tree inside the schoolhouse.

A dead tree was found, cut roughly to size and brought to the site. From the rear of the schoolhouse were three large windows facing west. One of the windows and some masonry were removed, and the huge tree was pushed inside, uprighted, trimmed, and installed in the center, its massive branches reaching upward and fastened to the ceiling. And so it stands today, numerous owners later, the dead tree propped solidly in the center of the aged hardwood floor of the one room schoolhouse.

Casey Schell and Kevin Brown, present owners of the red schoolhouse, say they plan to totally renovate the little red schoolhouse in a few years and create a retirement home for Casey’s parents. The fate of the tree, at this time, remains unannounced. My initial surprise at seeing what I thought to be a senseless act of ruination, has softened somewhat between the time of discovery and the time of writing. Designing a home around a tree has been done before, but I’m not sure it’s ever been done in this manner. Would you object to having a tree in your living room, bedroom, kitchen and bath – the tree in all areas being one and the same? Hindsight being 20/20, and with honesty, I’m no longer certain that I would. Being close to nature has been a life-long passion of mine. And also, as you know, one can never have enough places to hang things or branch out when the need arises.

On your way to Three Rivers Petroglyphs, Carrizozo, Tularosa, the Valley of Fires or any of the area’s numerous natural attractions, stop for a short visit with Casey and Kevin at the Three Rivers Trading Post. They have accumulated a wealth of knowledge about the area which they willingly share with visitors. Perhaps, if they are not too busy when you arrive, one of them will show you the unique tree in the charming old red schoolhouse.

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National Solar Vacuum Tower. Photo by Jim Reed.

If you really wanted a close-up look at the sun, you could fill up your gas tank and head sunward. Traveling eight hours each day at sixty miles per hour you’d cover the roughly 93 million miles from the earth to the sun in about 189,583 or so days (519.4 years) and arrive just before Thanksgiving in the year 2,517.

Faster and far more realistic would be a visit to Sunspot, located fifteen forested miles south of Cloudcroft, New Mexico, nestled between lovely tall pines and perched at the edge of Sacramento Peak . Here the Observatory’s numerous telescopes bring the sun’s activity to the human eye for study and observation.

Sunspot combines information, scenery and serenity in one small area. Stop at the Sunspot Astronomy and Visitors Center for an educational display of sun and star related exhibits along with photos of the area’s history. Pick up the brochure to learn about the first telescope built in Sunspot, the Grain Bin Dome, a telescope mounted inside a Sears and Roebuck mail order grain bin in 1950. The brochure will also act as a tour guide for your walk around the small area encompassing the Vacuum Tower, Evans Solar Facility, Hilltop Dome and Scenic View platform. On Saturdays from May to October, you can take the informative guided tour at 2 p.m.

The Scenic View platform is one of the area’s best features. When its not raining or overcast, as it was on the Saturday I visited, you can see for many miles up and down the Tularosa Basin, from the glow of White Sands to the northeast and beyond to a broad expanse of the deserts, mountains and mesas to the south. The combination of the 9,200 foot elevation and almost waterless and pollutant free air aids in the telecope’s obtaining sharper and clearer pictures. Scenery is a pleasant byproduct of Sacramento Peak; you can actually look down upon cloud formations from above. If you see storm cells to the north or overhead, heed the posted warning to stay off the platform as the entire area is understandably a magnet for lightening.

Just a mile down the road from The National Solar Observatory is Apache Point Observatory , where you are invited to the Astrophysical Research Consortium, of which New Mexico State University is a member, to stroll the grounds during daylight hours. Like Sunspot, the Apache Point Observatory also offers stunning views from the platform of the 2.5 meter telescope.

The trip to Sunspot contained a note of dismay; some of the area’s tall pine trees have been destroyed by pine beetle infestations and are being removed. The beetles seem to attack trees in clusters and then move on, says Mary McGraw who lives in Sunspot and works at the Visitors Center.

Even on a rainy day, a trip to Sunspot is worthwhile. You’ll get to meet helpful people like Mary McGraw, see educational displays on the sun and other stars, gaze in awe at the sun from enormous telescopes, and enjoy unmatched mountain scenes and views. And, it’s much easier than a 519.4 year trip in your car.

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Oliver Lee Memorial
State Park.
Photo by Joel Bickings.

At first site, Oliver Lee Memorial State Park in southern New Mexico might seem merely a quiet, off-the-beaten-path, sun-backed stretch of the Chihuahuan Desert. The stillness of the landscape, the massive towering cliffs that form a Hollywood-like set backdrop to the Park, even the occasional, swirling dust clouds that meander through the mesquite and yucca desert might give one the impression of quiet permanence. However, a closer look reveals much more.

Located thirteen miles south of Alamogordo off highway 54 at the entrance of Dog Canyon, the Park is a repository of some of the most dramatic history in New Mexico–land disputes and murders, Apaches on the warpath and U.S. Cavalry, wagon trains and pioneer ranchers. The Park is named after Oliver Lee, a one-time Dog Canyon rancher, one-time politician, and, some even say, one-time murderer and land-grabber, who rose to become one of the most influential men in the wild west history of New Mexico.

Although Park life now is rather less dramatic than in the bigger-than-life Lee’s day, one can still come and hear the famous stories of Lee and tour his restored ranch house on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. Here one can also visit the ruins of "Frenchy’s" (Francois-Jean Rochas) cabin, where this original Dog Canyon pioneer was found dead with a bullet in his chest around Christmas in 1894, a year after Lee arrived at the Canyon. Most historians believe Frenchy met his end in a dispute over land or water rights. Sometime later, Lee was implicated in a case involving the disappearance of a prominent lawyer, Albert Fountain, and his eight-year old son, Henry, neither of whose bodies were ever found. Lee later became a primary investor in ranch holdings that covered over one million acres, stretching nearly to the Arizona border.

Today, Dog Canyon is a somewhat safer place, unless you happen to wander the 5.5 mile hiking trail from the Park office up to Joplin Ridge (a climb of over 4000 feet) in summer without sufficient water. The towering cliffs that flank this Canyon are some of the most spectacular in the Southwest. It was here in the 1880s that soldiers of the Ninth U.S. Cavalry exchanged lead with Apache warriors across the exposed landscape as they chased the Indians up the ravine. Hike into the Canyon and you will find some high desert benches thick with grasses and tree-size choya reminiscent of the old New Mexico before the coming of the ranchers and their cattle.

Chihuahuan Desert Plants. Photo by Joel Bickings.

Flora in the Park is unique to the Chihuahuan Desert and includes towering Tory Yuccas along with the slighter, more sleek Soaptree. Cactus abound everywhere in the coarse, rocky soil, so watch your step. Jackrabbits and cottontails scurry across the roads and pathways, and dozens of bird species pass through the Park in late summer on their way south. The riparian habitat around the spring that issues out of Dog Canyon is home to many kinds of birds and animals, as well.

Perhaps the most interesting element of Oliver Lee Memorial State Park today is the Desert Garden, painstakingly created by the Otero County Native Plant Society. For those desert rats who can’t get enough of the Chihuahuan ecology and want some hands-on learning, this garden is the spot. With many kinds of Chihuahuan succulents, shrubs, and wildflowers, this garden is truly a unique experience. Come in mid-to-late summer and see an astonishing number of butterflies among the many splashes of color.

With 44 campsites (18 with electricity and water; some handicapped-accessible, as well), the Park is a good base for exploring the surrounding desert, White Sands National Monument, and the Sacramento Mountains. One word of caution: this part of New Mexico can be very hot and dehydrating in the summer, and, in the spring, the strong, ever-present winds can make sleeping out under the stars a memorable experience, to say the least.

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Apache Christ Church

In 1916 Father Albert sat in the Tularosa, New Mexico train depot waiting for Ralph Shanta to pick him up and take him to the Mescalero reservation. This was his first assignment after becoming an ordained priest of the Franciscan order. Born and raised in Los Angeles, he came from a world of culture and comfort. This was not that world. Sweat poured down his back as he stared at the striated cliffs of the Sacramento Mountains. The sun seemed to hit those walls and bounce back with increased intensity. Cacti and mesquite thorns pricked his flesh; images of punctured St. Sebastian flooded his imagination. He had no idea where he was going or what would become of him.

Ralph showed up in a rickety cart drawn by two Spanish mules. Father Albert was hauled aboard and they set off up the canyon at a spine jarring pace. Two hours later, just when Father Albert was about to volunteer to walk the rest of the way, they reached the tribal center at Mescalero. Excitement turned to dismay when he was dropped at his new parish. Could this be the Lord’s House?

The dilapidated adobe had a leaky roof, earthen floors, no windows, and crumbling walls. His quarters, large enough for a cot and trunk, were behind a blanket in the back. The front part of the building was for services. Father Albert took it all in and set about making the place as comfortable as possible. His enthusiasm carried him over this first hurdle.

It was customary for Franciscan priests to earn their daily bread from donations made by the faithful. Father Albert knew he was in trouble after he gave his first sermon. The collection plate held 17 cents. He gave part of that to the interpreter. Most of the older Apaches did not speak English. At that, he didn’t know if the interpreter was translating correctly. The flock might be hearing words God never intended them to hear.

Apache “Mountain Spirit Dancers” painting

A few came regularly to the run down parish. Most of his congregation was scattered around the 460,661 acre reservation. He would have to go to them. His parents sent him money to buy a horse. Others loaned him a saddle and rifle. It might take two days to reach the people who lived on the far side of 12,000 foot Sierra Blanca, sacred mountain of the Apache. With biscuits and cheese in his saddlebags, and the priestly paraphernalia to say mass, he would traverse the nether regions of the reservation. Along the way he would shoot a deer, rabbit or grouse. He was a crack shot, an accomplishment the Apache always admired. Besides, he found the welcome always warmer if he showed up with food. Monday through Saturday he might be riding around anywhere on the reservation. On Sunday he was always back in his little church.

Father Albert was learning Apache. He could feel the people beginning to accept him. Babies were baptized. The dead were buried. His influence touched the deepest part of their lives. His own deep love of religion gave rise to his appreciation for the spiritual nature of the Apache. When a visiting priest criticized him for permitting his parishioners to sing their traditional songs, Father Albert dismissed him with: “Their songs are also prayers.”

World War I took Father Albert away from his flock. He begged to go. The Order nodded yes. He served as Army Chaplin. His duties were to minister to the homesick and wounded, and to perform last rights for the dying. In his spare time he visited many of the great cathedrals of Europe. Stone. The idea of a stone church stuck in his head. He dreamed of creating such a church when he returned home to Mescalero. It would be a monument to all the brave young men who died in the war.

When he returned to his parish in 1919, Lieutenant Colonel Braun was committed to building a new church. Money was as hard to find as Victorio’s Gold. He explained his plan to the church members.

“We can do it,” Shanta Boy said. “There’s rock in the Bent quarry. Enough to build a big church. My boys are home. They can help.”

Others offered their sweat and muscle. The dream grew legs and walked. Then it flew. For a pittance they purchased two broken down Army trucks. They took the few working parts from each and made one truck that ran. With it they could haul stone from the quarry.

Apache Last Dinner painting on altar

Professional help also materialized. William Stanton, a fellow Chaplin Father Albert knew from the War, was also an architect. He helped design the construction blueprints. Perhaps the single most important contribution came from Mr. Antonio Maria Leyva, a stone cutter from Santa Barbara. A recent widower, the elderly Mr. Leyva offered to spend the rest of his life working for the Order. He asked only for food and shelter and to be buried next to his wife in Santa Barbara when he died. Mr. Leyva carved stone for seventeen years before his final request was granted.

Hundreds of people participated in building the church. Tiles came from La Luz. Timbers from Blazer’s Mill. Light fixtures from Juarez. Twenty years of physical labor from the Apache people. One man, Brother Salesious Kraft, Order of Franciscan Monks, was crushed to death beneath a boulder and is buried to the right of the church entrance. Begun in 1919 it was considered complete, although the windows were not yet in, in 1939.

Father Albert served again as Chaplin in WWII. He briefly returned to Mescalero, then he was transferred to Phoenix. He died at the age of 95 on March 6, 1983. Father Albert Braun is buried in the Sanctuary of the church.

St. Joseph Church is an imposing medieval structure on a knoll overlooking the Mescalero tribal center. It is 131 feet long, 64 feet wide and 50 feet high. An adjoining tower with a cross on top is 103 feet high. Passersby on U.S. 70 can’t help but notice the stone monolith. In the land of cactus and adobe it stands apart. The outside commands attention.

The difference is not just external. Inside, things are not the norm either. I visited St. Joseph Church on a weekday. At first I only noticed that it was inhabited by the expected Saints and Virgins. Then I began to see other figures that didn’t quite fit my ex-Catholic sensibility. In one alcove stands an Alan Houser style Apache Madonna. Nearby, welded metal fixtures on the wall are cut in lightning bolt patterns. Moon and rain symbols are painted on other pieces. Behind me, I look up and see a huge triptych of the Mountain Spirit Dancers. They are dancing in suspension above Sierra Blanca. Below them are portraits of Cochise, Geronimo, Victorio and Naiche.

As I make my way to the front of the church I see the most amazing thing of all. Above the altar, in the space usually reserved for Jesus, is a huge painting of an Apache holy man. The Apache Christ. He is dressed in ceremonial clothing, with a sun symbol painted on his upraised left palm and a deer hoof rattle in the right. At his feet is a basket with a grass brush, bags of tobacco, an eagle feather and cattail pollen. He too stands atop Sierra Blanca. The painting was done by Robert Lenz in 1990. Right below the Apache Christ, painted on the front of the altar, are twelve Apache apostles seated at a table eating traditional foods.

Apache Christ painting

St Joseph church is not a monument to the soldiers of both world wars. It is a monument to Father Albert and the Apache people. For Father Albert it is a solid rock version of a dream come true. For the Apache people it is a house that holds a familiar god. They have re-created the creator in their own image. And why not? The blue-eyed Jesus of Nazareth never walked a mile in their moccasins. No one but the Apache Christ could know the full history of his people.

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The majestic soaptree yucca spears the New Mexico sky. Photo by Michael and Allison Goldstein.

Dawn has yet to break when we first arrive at White Sands National Monument. It is bitterly cold, the gates won’t open until seven, and we are unable to find somebody who can allow us to enter early. Nonetheless, the morning light will reveal the first sand dunes we’ve ever seen, and "magic hour" for photographers should not be wasted in a motel bed or at a late breakfast.

The first rays of the sun turn the white gypsum sands to soft buttery yellow. Yesterday’s fierce windstorm that blew us into Alamogordo has scoured every footprint and sign of humans from the sixty-foot high dunes. Our telephoto lens places us well inside the fence, and we are alone with nature . . .

In due course the gates are opened. We are the first visitors on the road this day, the first to explore this magical place. "Look, look, up on those dunes!" We’ve not driven a half mile when my sharp-eyed bride makes me stop. The binoculars come up, and we are presented with a scene straight from the Kalahari.

A herd of oryx, stripe-faced antelope from sub-Saharan Africa, are grazing the sparse vegetation only a hundred yards away. Known as gemsbok by the Boers, these beautiful creatures were originally imported into the White Sands Missile Range in 1969 as game animals. Since then, they have successfully established themselves within the park, numbering as many as twelve hundred. Allison, who despairs of ever being invited to go on an African safari, is entranced.

White Sands is aptly named: pure white gypsum sand covering over 146,000 acres, with dunes that tower above the Tularosa Valley. The only drinking water is at the Visitor Center, or fifteen miles away at Alamogordo, the nearest town.

This is truly a desert.

Snowbirds like ourselves, refugees from the northern winter, can easily imagine ourselves to be back in some arctic environment, the snow stretching out in all directions. The windblown crests, the ripple lines that lead the eye into the distance, are familiar phenomena. What fun, however, to slip into t-shirts and shorts as the day warms, and run barefoot through these drifts.

As we explore further, we become aware of the special signs of this desert ecology. Circles in the sand around plants reveal how the tall grasses have blown about. Lizards, birds, and at least one large snake have all left evidence of their passage. Even yesterday’s wind is made visible by its marks on the sands.

No sneaking away unseen in this place!

We photograph the marvelous soaptree yucca plants that spear the sky in all directions. Cautiously, we follow the trail of a snake, hoping to catch a glimpse of it, while keeping an eye on the compass as we get further into the dunes.

A White Sands visitor ponders the majesty of a massive sand pedestal. Photo by Michael and Allison Goldstein.

As usual, it is Allison who spots the most interesting phenomenon of all, a sand castle, complete with a dry moat. Small when first seen from the road, it proves to be huge when we come up to it, perhaps twenty feet across and fifteen feet high.

Technically known as a "pedestal," it is formed by the tangled roots of the skunkbush sumac, anchoring the sands in which they grow. The almost ceaseless winds scour away the surrounding sand, isolating the pedestal by a dry moat of bare ground.

Visitor safety and resource protection are provided by the National Parks Service. Their mission is to preserve this wonderful park for future generations. Chief Ranger is Nancy Wizner, a Michigan girl with prior experience in Alaska, Hawaii, and California. Nancy tells us that many of her rangers are female, and many women have moved into supervisory positions within the Service. Nancy, who likes meeting people, is well suited to the job, as 600,000 people a year pass through her front gates.

The sun is now heading for the horizon. Deserts retain little of the day’s heat, and the temperature drops dramatically as dusk approaches. We’re forced back into our cord slacks, down vests, and warm gloves, before climbing a high dune to photograph the sunset. Then, we join the exodus from the sands, leaving this amazing national monument to the restless winds.

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The Little Joe 2 rocket was used to test the Apollo launch escape system. Photo by Michael and Allison Goldstein.

As seasoned science-fiction fans, Allison and I approached Alamogordo’s Space Center with questions about liftoff velocity, orbital trajectories, and re-entry temperatures. Avid readers of Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke, our minds were open to ideas regarding black holes, red planets, and little green men. We were, after all, enroute to one of the bastions of twentieth-century science: the NASA space program. Years of watching televised liftoffs and landings had left me an expert. I’d even had a tour of Spar Aerospace, where one of my ham radio buddies worked.

Feelings of familiarity were reinforced as we gazed at the Nike-Ajax, the world’s original surface-to-air guided missile. It was fun to realize we were right in the front yard of the White Sands Missile Range, where this bird first flew. We gasped at the size of the F-1 rocket engine and remembered the Saturn 5 launchings. This engine is huge and the Saturn used five of them. We found a model of a Mercury capsule and my astronaut wife climbed inside to try it for fit. The Mercury was used on one of the first manned-spacecraft programs. The capsules were individually designed for each astronaut’s dimensions and my wee bride rattled around in it. We talked about what it would be like circling the Earth for hours or days in this acorn cap . . . but the most pressing technical issue never crossed our minds.

One of the displays, the Little Joe II, brought the Apollo program to mind. The Little Joe was a solid-fuel rocket used to test the Apollo launch escape system. In 1969, Allison and I were panning for gold in the Fraser River (and finding some!) as we listened on the radio to Neil Armstrong, " . . . One small step for man, one giant step for mankind . . ." The Eagle had landed and there really was a man in the moon.

The main building of the Space Center itself resembles a huge rocket; we commented on the clever architecture as we began to explore the various galleries. From a window on the top floor, we could just make out White Sands itself. A huge area of white gypsum sand dunes, it sat on the horizon and glowed in the sunshine. If we waited long enough perhaps we would see a shuttle land at the Northrop strip, now designated the "White Sands Space Harbor," after Columbia plopped down unexpectedly some years ago.

. . . And now, our technical reveries have been interrupted by a Junior Spaceman with internal pressure problems, who has focussed our attention on the most immediate of technical difficulties: Once you’ve ‘got’ into space, how do you ‘go’ when you’ve got there?

"Mommy, Mommy, I have to go to the bathroom!" "Hush, Gerald, there aren’t any bathrooms in here!" "Well, then, Mommy, how do the astronauts go?"

In Gallery 4B of the Space Center we discover Space Station 2001, where visitors can imagine what life in space, with all its special problems, might be like. Gerald and his mom are already here, involved in solving the universal challenge – that of personal hygiene. NASA must deal with two rather severe technical environments. For launchings and landings and Earthlight strolls on the lunar surface, astronauts must wear spacesuits. Like the heavy diving suits still used for underwater work, these are tightly sealed against a hostile world outside. Break the seal, your atmosphere rushes out, and your Last Will and Testament is enabled. No easy access by means of a zipper, in this case.

The Mercury capsule was used on one of the earliest manned-spacecraft programs. Photo by Michael and Allison Goldstein

In an orbital vehicle, astronauts now work in a shirtsleeve environment but without the benefits of gravity. Any fluids or floating material let loose in the atmosphere become part of the pressure bubble in which astronauts live and work. Under these conditions, keeping clean and healthy becomes a serious challenge. The spacesuit problem uses technology familiar to all parents: the disposable diaper. Your highly paid astronauts are "pampered" in more ways than one! When you consider the alternatives of one-way valves and suction motors, it seems like rather a good idea. On board space vehicles, the usual sanitary facilities are augmented by the use of vacuum, forced-air flow, and one’s large, pink tushy applied as a system plug.

Washing is based on another high-tech principle – the application of a sponge. Early ideas on ejecting waste material into space have given way to the philosophy of "stoop and scoop." All wastes now accompany their sources back to Earth, in a manner similar to the systems used in commercial jetliners. The power of suggestion finally diverts us from further research. We go off, with a finer appreciation of the problems we face, to exploit gravity.

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View from rest stop west of High Rolls and Mountain Park. Photo by Phyllis Eileen Banks

Eleven miles northeast of Alamogordo on U.S. 82 are the almost twin communities of High Rolls and Mountain Park. It is this part of the road that traverses several life zones after it leaves the Alamogordo area because it rises about forty-five hundred feet within sixteen miles. Before you reach High Rolls, there is a rest stop that provides a panoramic view to the west of White Sands and the Tularosa valley. Just east of this stop is the entrance to the only tunnel in New Mexico.

High Rolls was originally named Fresnal, probably because it is on Fresnal Creek and has many ash trees called fresno in Spanish. The Rand McNalley Road Atlas indicates a population of 400 people. That may include Mountain Park as it is not listed separately. The post office was established in 1913 and continued to 1956 when it was transferred to High Rolls-Mountain Park. One explanation for the name High Rolls is that there are high, rolling hills near the village. No one, however, has given an authoritative background for its name. The WWII cartoonist Bill Mauldin grew up in High Rolls.

Mountain Park was founded in the 1880s by Button Nelson, Bill Karr, Jack Tucker and families. Some reference books maintain Mountain Park was called Fresnal rather than High Rolls. Could it have been one community then? Archeological digs in the nearby Fresnal Rock Shelter have unearthed evidence of the early archaic period (A.D.700-900). These prehistoric people built hearths, quarried rock and fashioned stone tools named manos and metates for grinding corn. Apples, peaches, pears and cherries grow here and annually the two communities hold a Cherry Festival.

Following U.S. 82 thirty-one miles through Cloudcroft and James Canyon, you come to Mayhill on the Rio Penasco. The first settler in the area was Albert Coe in 1873. The story goes he returned to Missouri to marry his childhood sweetheart, Mary Mahill, also known as Molly, and brought her back to New Mexico. In 1876 soldiers from Fort Stanton settled here, calling it Upper Penasco, the name of the post office from 1884 to 1902. Mary Mahill’s father, John, came to this area in 1880 and bought land where the present village is located. In 1902 the community decided to honor the Mahill family by renaming it Mahill. However, evidently the application spelled the name Mayhill and that was the name approved by the post office.

Twelve miles east of Mayhill on US 82 is the very small community of Elk, so named for the many elk that roamed the area in the early days. A number of families from Texas settled here in 1885 and called it Yorktown for the nearby York Ranch. Another source says it was settled in the mid-1870s by Billy Matthews, William Walker Paul, Thomas C. Tillotson and Frank, Al and Austin Coe. The post office existed here from 1894-1958. The elk population has diminished as have the settlers. Archeologists have found evidence of habitation in the 1200s, particularly black-on-red bowls, including an unbroken pot full of burnt beans. We might ask what will future archeologists find about the Twentieth Century?

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Methodist Assembly Retreat Center in Sacramento. Photo by Phyllis Eileen Banks

If you’re one of those persons who always wonders "where does that road go," and who likes the wide-open spaces of New Mexico, including sparse traffic and two lane roads, then discovering these seven hamlets is a pleasant adventure. From Roswell, take U.S. 285 south to Artesia, then U.S. 82 west. Hope, 21 miles west of Artesia, was settled about 1884 and was known as Badgerville or Badger because the settlers lived in dugouts. When the post office was established in 1890 it was called Hope. There are differing legends about the origin of the name.

Two reports indicate that store owner Jasper Gerald "hoped" for a post office and the mail carrier, Tom Tillotson, "hoped" to increase the size of his route, and his income. A more well-known legend is that two early settlers, Elder Miller and Joe Richards, decided it by tossing a dime into the air and shooting at it with pistols. Richards is reported to have said "I hope you lose," and Miller did, so Richards named the new post office Hope. About 1912 a railroad was being built between Artesia and El Paso and part of a roadbed was completed at Hope. A British financier was to have supplied the funds; however, he was one of the victims of the ill-fated Titanic so Hope did not become part of the railroad route.

Twenty-seven miles farther west on U.S. 82 is NM 24; turn south four miles and you’ll come to Dunken, with a church, a fire department and a home in back of it. Named for its founder and first postmaster Oscar J. Dunken,, the post office was established in 1908, existing until 1919. The mail now goes to Hope. Obviously there are ranches in the area whose residents attend the "Mountain Fellowship at Dunken" because it has services at 2 p.m. The farm work can be completed before worship and the evening chores afterward.

Continuing twenty-three miles south on NM 24, Pinon is that curve in the road that takes you northwest. With many Pinon trees and Pinon Creek, Pinon was the obvious choice for the post office, established in 1907 and continuing to the present. Pinon may not have a Chamber of Commerce but pride in the community is evident by the large "Welcome to Pinon" signs at each end of the town.

A short distance past Pinon the road begins to climb 21 miles into the Sacramento Mountains until it reaches NM 521. Turn left to Weed, population 20, says the Weed Café sign. It was settled in 1884 by George and Elizabeth Lewis and their nine children. A White Oaks merchant, William H. Weed, established a branch there. The settlement took his name for the post office established in 1885 to the present. A drive down the main street finds a "House of Prayer Home Church," the café and a few homes, indicating there are probably more than 20 people residing there.

Sacramento is three miles along NM 521, where the Sacramento Methodist Assembly Retreat & Conference Center is located. An impressive layout of buildings and landscaping, it is an ideal place for retreats and the annual Art on the Mountain Artfest and Seminar Workshops. Originally known as Chiquita prior to 1935, it then became Sacramento. The Post Office is a very picturesque building and the post mistress has served for 16 years. In answer to the question of how many residents, she said that when the 911 number was established, 193 structures were located, although not all were livable. About 70 people receive mail. The population includes ranchers, summer people and hunters

It’s necessary to retrace your steps on NM 521 to NM 24, then turn left until you connect with NM 130. Proceed west and slightly north fifteen miles to NM 6563, turn left and south 13 miles to Sunspot, site of the National Solar Observatory at 9200 feet elevation. The Observatory was the reason it was named Sunspot when the post office was established in 1953. Previously it was known as Sac Peak. The Observatory site was chosen in 1947 and is Sunspot. It was chosen because of the dry air of the southwest, its isolation from any major source of air pollution and with plenty of sunshine. The population is made up of a staff of research scientists, engineers, technicians and support staff. Scientists from other observatories and universities around the world come to the National Solar Observatory/Sacramento Peak to pursue research along with many students in astronomy who work there in the summer months.

The first telescope dome built in Sunspot in 1950 was the Grain Bin Dome. It was ordered from a Sears catalog and modified for use as a telescope dome. A six inch prominence telescope was mounted on a ten foot spar inside for observing the edge of the Sun. Additional or newer telescopes were installed in 1952, 1955 and 1957. In 1963 the solar patrol duties of the Grain Bin were transferred to the then newly built Hilltop Dome. In addition to Hilltop Dome, there is the Vacuum Tower and the Evans Solar Facility. The latter contains a sixteen inch coronagraph where astronomers can study the sun’s gaseous outer envelope and sunspots.

Tourists may take self-guided tours daily but the Observatory conducts guided tours at 2 p.m. on Saturday afternoons, May through October. The brochure warns there is no smoking while on tour due to possibility of causing a forest fire. Thunderstorms are common during spring and summer, and lightning is an extreme hazard at this elevation. For more information call 505-434-7000.

Fourteen miles farther south on NM 6563, unpaved from Sunspot, town of Timberon, population 300 and elevation 6,954 feet. Recently the community was assured that Phase One of the road would begin next year and Phase Two in the year 2002. These 300 people have 9000 acres at their disposal. Someone has said "We have no gambling casinos, race tracks, traffic lights or ski lifts," but quickly adds "but we have a nine-hole golf course, tennis courts, swimming pool, riding stables, trout fishing and hiking." Smith Memorial Library is located in the Lodge. There is a café, grocery store, service station, post office, church and 3000 foot runway. It also boasts an elementary school, kindergarten through 6th grade. Timberon has no formal government and is classified as a "sub-division" of the State of New Mexico.

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View from Mescalero Apache Tribal Offices. Photo by Phyllis Eileen Banks

The Mescalero Apache Indian Reservation headquarters is located in the town of Mescalero, on US 70 seventeen miles northeast of Tularosoa. Originally established on May 27, 1873 by Executive Order of President Ulysses S. Grant, the reservation was first located near Fort Stanton. The present reservation was established in 1883, covering 463,000 acres between the White and Sacramento mountains, all in Tribal Ownership status.

According to information furnished by Ellyn Bigrope, Mescalero Museum Curator, the Executive Order setting aside these lands uses the term "Mescalero Apache Indians and such other Indians as the Department may see fit to locate thereon."

The Lipan Apaches from northwest Chihuahua, Mexico were brought to the United States about 1903 and placed on the Mescalero Reservation. In 1913 almost 200 members of the Chiricahua and Warm Springs bands of Apaches who had been held as military prisoners since the capture of Geronimo were moved from Fort Sill, Oklahoma, to the Reservation.

The population at the time the Reservation was established was about 400 but now exceeds 3,300 enrolled members of the Tribe. The Lipan and Chiricahua bands became members of the Mescalero Apache when the Tribe was organized formally in 1936 under provisions of the Indian Reorganization Act. All the land within the boundaries is owned by the Tribe, with the exception of a few privately owned acres. Individual Indians may be granted the right to use specific tracts called "assignments," but title and control remains with the Tribe.

The Reservation is 27 miles from north to south and 36 miles from east to west at the widest point. It lies on both the east and west slopes of the Sacramento range. Much of the Reservation is covered with timber pine, fir, spruce, aspen, white oak, pinon and juniper. The east slope of the mountain drains into the Pecos River and the west slope streams drain into the Tularosa Basin where the waters sink into White Sands.

Ski Apache on Sierra Blanca (White Mountain), sacred mountain of the Mescalero Apaches, at 12,003 feet is near the northwest center of the Reservation, and dominates the landscape of south central New Mexico.  It was a landmark for the first Spanish explorers more than 400 years ago. For centuries before the first Spaniards and other explorers moved into this area, the Apaches had already known the mountain’s power to soothe the thirst of both mind and body, following the rigors of the desert life. "The Apaches know the secrets of the mountains and the deserts as no other people have known them, before or since the first strangers came," says their General Information brochure.

The Tribe maintains its own police force, fish and game agency and has an elementary school, kindergarten through sixth grade. A Headstart program is available for four year olds. Junior High and Senior High School students are transported daily to and from the Tularosa schools, seventeen miles each way. The Ruidoso Public School System (K-12) is available to residents of the reservation who live adjacent to Ruidoso.

There are five churches located on the Mescalero Reservation, St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, the Mescalero Reformed Church, the Church of the Latter Day Saints, the Apache Assembly of God and the First Baptist Church. The Bahai Faith of Ruidoso and Alamogordo is also available. Native religions are still practiced. A Traditional Counseling Program has been developed to insure the continuance of the Mescalero Apache Culture, Traditions and Religion.

The program is composed of selected elders who teach the members of the Tribe the "Old Indian Ways" by participation in traditional activities.

A Coming of Age Ceremony is held every year on the first week of July. Indian dances and a rodeo are held each of the four days in addition to the traditional Puberty Ritual Ceremony, Dance of the Apache Maidens and Dance of the Mountain Gods. It is a solemn and serious time in life when a girl child ends the years of her girlhood and prepares for the years of womanhood. Non-Indians are privileged to watch the principal parts of the puberty rites, if they conduct themselves with proper respect. During these few days before and after the 4th of July many Mescalero families, along with Indian visitors from other tribes, pitch tents on the hill and live for a short time as their ancestors did. It is good to remember the old ways now and then, they feel.

For the rest of the year, however, the Mescaleros live in houses. Families own cattle. Most women and men are career oriented, many with college degrees. The tribe is governed under a constitution that has been in effect since 1936 and is a Federally Chartered Corporation. The governing body is the Mescalero Tribal Council, with 10 members elected by popular vote. The Tribal Council supervises the management of tribal affairs, regulates the use of tribal property and funds and, in general, functions much as does a board of county commissioners or city council. The Bureau of Indian Affairs, an arm of the Federal Department of Interior, provides the Tribe with technical services in land management, social welfare and other fields.

Activities of the tribal government are supported principally from income from timber sales. The Tribe is striving to develop the tourism potential of the reservation as a new source of revenue for the tribal government and jobs for tribal members. Other income is derived from the operation of a cattle industry. The Tribe operates Ski Apache Resort, Inn of the Mountain Gods, Apache Casino, a Tribal Lounge, a General Store and Mescalero Timber Products. The Bureau of Indian Affairs handles all timber sales for the Tribe with the income being deposited in the U.S. Treasury to the credit of the Mescalero Tribe. Such funds are used for tribal budgets that cover business administration, domestic water, law and order, home improvements, welfare, education assistance, health and social activities. Grazing land on the reservation supports approximately 6,500 good grade Hereford cattle owned by tribal members through the Mescalero Apache Cattle Growers Association. The Mescalero Apache Tribe is one of the most prosperous.

Changes have occurred in their way of life. The tepee and the buckskin garments are gone and almost gone is the mescal gathering when the cactus is ripe for harvest. The Spanish gave them the name "Mescalero" meaning the people who eat mescal. Deer hunting takes place but with rifles rather than bows. The Apache language is still spoken although almost all speak English fluently and a few also speak Spanish. Tribal members work for their living, as do their neighbors. Contrary to belief, the Mescalero Apaches are not receiving an annuity from the U. S. Government. There are World War II, Korean and Vietnam veterans on the reservation and a number of Tribal members now serve in the Armed Forces. The majority of the adult Mescalero Apaches are registered voters in Otero County and vote in all elections.

"The Mescalero Apache adjustment to the complex ways of the white man’s society is not yet complete. However, the Mescaleros have come far along the new road and the trail should be smoother from now on." – from the General Information brochure on the Mescalero Apache Reservation.

Four miles west of the Reservation is a neighboring settlement, Bent, settled in 1906 by George Bent. He was a miner and promoter, establishing a mill along the Rio Tularosa. The post office was established then also and took his name for the community. The mill no longer is active but the settlement is still there. Near it is "Round Mountain" as it is shown on some maps but officially it is known as Tularosa Peak.

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House in Tularosa. Photo by Phyllis Eileen Banks.

Although Tularosa derives its name from the Spanish word tule meaning reeds or cattails, City of Roses is much more appealing and conjures up the picturesque town that Tularosa is.

Original settlers in the 1860s came from washed-out villages on the Rio Grande near Mesilla. Due to frequent raids by the Apaches from what is now the Mescalero Apache Reservation, occupation was untenable and the site was abandoned.

Another attempt at settlement occurred in 1862, and with Fort Stanton in the mountains to the east for protection, it was successful. Orchards were planted and homes were built. Forty-nine blocks of the new village were plotted with allocated irrigation rights. (In 1979 this area became a registered Historic District, according to New Mexico, A Guide to the Colorful State.)

The acequias (irrigation ditches) carried the clear mountain water that nourished the fruit trees. This period of the town’s history was idyllic and categorized as the Golden Age. Some of the original block-long adobe homes still exist, their walls decorated with lovely murals.

All was not peaceful, however, and in 1868 the settlers and Apaches battled at Round Mountain. This event was commemorated with the building of the first church, St. Francis de Paula.

Tularosa, at 4,500 feet elevation with a population of 2,615, has seen the arrival of Texas cattlemen, merchants, former Union soldiers, professionals and promoters. It was a mix of Spanish-speaking ranchers and Anglos, divided into Texans and Yankees, but Tularosa has managed to weather them all.

A Rose Festival is held annually, usually the first weekend in May. There is an old-timer’s picnic, a Rose Queen, arts and crafts – all celebrating the abundance of blossoming flowers. Other celebrations are the Fiesta of St. Francis de Paula and the invitation from their former enemies, the Apaches, to come to the Mescalero Reservation to observe the 4th of July. Luminarias line the church plaza and the highway on Christmas Eve, giving a soft glow of welcome to those driving through on U. S. Highways 70 and 54.

Seven miles further along these two highways toward Alamogordo and approximately a mile up La Luz Canyon on NM 545 is La Luz, the oldest settlement in the Tularosa Basin. Its name probably dates from 1719 when Franciscan missionaries built a chapel dedicated to "Our Lady of Light " (Nuestra Senora de la Luz), so well cared for it shows little signs of its age.

La Luz’s history is very similar to Tularosa’s. In l863 settlers from areas on the Rio Grande near Socorro settled here. El Presidio Park with its adobe walls, surrounded by the buildings of the village, bears the same date.

One of the settlers was from Rhode Island and built a pottery plant to make urns and roof tiles. The plant is no longer there but other artisans, potters, weavers and painters have since settled in the area.

It’s a little village of 1,625 people at 4,819 elevation but worth the turn off the highway where ripe apricots might tempt you when the season is right.

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