From the category archives:

Tularosa

Father Albert’s Legacy — the Apache Christ church (St. Joseph’s)

by DarSharp on February 5, 2003 · 0 comments

in Otero County, Southeast New Mexico, Tularosa

St. Joseph's Church at Mescalero Apache Reservation, New Mexico
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?

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Tularosa and La Luz — history and roses

by PhyllisEileenBanks on December 29, 2002 · 0 comments

in Otero County, Southeast New Mexico, Tularosa


House in Tularosa. Photo by Phyllis Eileen Banks.
House in Tularosa.

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.)

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