Visitors flock to Carlsbad, New Mexico, for its caverns and bats. Less well known, but equally extraordinary, are two aboveground attractions: the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens and its annual Mescal Roast, conducted by the Mescalero Apache people.

We drove south from Santa Fe in the predawn hours on a Thursday in early May. Blessed by heavy spring rains, the land was spectacularly colorful. Near Vaughn, a freight train was silhouetted against the rising sun. Nearby, antelope grazed on expanses purple with prairie verbena. Grasslands gave way to a harsher landscape, where white blossoms spiked upward from soaptree yucca (New Mexico’s state flower). It is easy to understand why the Spanish called this land the llano estacado, or “staked plains.”

    A little before 10 a.m., we swung into the gates of the Living Desert State Park. On either side, ocotillo snaked skyward, tipped with scarlet blossoms. The prickly pears were extravagantly decked out in pink buds and brilliant yellow flowers. We drove up a steep drive to the museum’s spectacular location on a ridge of the Ocotillo Hills, overlooking Carlsbad.

The Mescal Pit

    Friendly museum staff welcomed us to attend the ceremony with no charge. They directed us to the mescal pit outside. A large dirt mound, about 10-15 feet across, rose about five feet above the rocky desert. Dug into the flat-topped mound was a deep pit lined with rocks. A wood fire had burned for hours into white-hot coals. Next to the fire were neatly stacked about twenty heads of agave. About fifty observers and thirty Mescalero Apache, mostly teenagers, sat on small bleachers.

    As we waited for all participants to arrive, a retired park ranger named Mark Rosacker explained that the mescal roast is part of the girls’ coming-of-age ceremony. The rest of the ceremony will take place on tribal lands near Ruidoso in July. Mescal is one of five traditional foods that the girls prepare, along with piñon nuts, desert sumac berries, banana yucca, and honey mesquite pods.

Four girls were celebrating the rite of passage. Rosacker and one girl demonstrated how, the previous day, they had dug the mescal. It is a type of agave, or century plant, called agave neomexicana. They choose a plant that is 16 to 18 years old, just before it sends up the tall, flowering shoot by which the plant reproduces, and then dies. A stout oak stave, sharpened to a point at one end, was placed at an angle just under the plant. Traditionally, the Mescalero hit this with a rock; today, the girls use a sledgehammer. A few hard whacks pop the mescal out of the ground. The girls then chop off the leaves with a hatchet. The resulting head is 1-2 feet across and resembles a giant artichoke with its leaves lopped off.

By now, everyone had arrived. Rosacker requested that we put away cameras as prayers were offered in the four directions in Mescalero. Then each girl picked up a special mescal head marked with a red ribbon. They swung the heavy mescal four times over the pit to honor the four directions and threw it in. The leaders then invited the other Mescalero (teenage girls and boys and a few older men) to heave in the other mescal, and we were allowed to take photos.

Next they opened large bags of side oats grama, a native dryland grass collected for the ceremony. They dunked armfuls of the long, stringy grass in barrels of water, carried them up the hill, and laid them over the agave in the pit. They covered the grass with soggy burlap and then shoveled in three feet of dirt. They packed the dirt, mounded it up, and left it to roast until Sunday.

Living Desert’s Zoo and Gardens

We purchased tickets for the feast and dances on Friday and Saturday nights since they sometimes sell out. Then we were free to explore the park (after paying admission). Indoors, the museum offers displays on geology, culture, flora, and fauna, including a long table of antlers and artifacts to touch and feel (which children would love, and so did we). Outdoors, a path leads to a lily pond and a greenhouse displaying Succulents of the World, which include cacti. The trail then winds through several ecosystems native to the Chihuahuan Desert, which extends from Texas to Arizona and south into Mexico.

The ecosystems, from sand hills to piñon-juniper forest, feature not only native plants but also birds, animals, and reptiles. These are rehabilitated animals injured by cars, bullets, traps, and other human hazards. They remain in the zoo only if injuries prohibit their release back into the wild. We had close-up views of hawks, golden and bald eagles, owls, mountain lion, wildcat, javelina, black bear, antelope, Mexican gray wolves, and other animals.

Camping in Carlsbad

We checked into a friendly, well-appointed KOA campground, complete with cabins, pool, hot tub, delicious barbecue, and weekend pancakes. A roadrunner greeted us on the drive. Bird watching and a lovely desert sunset ended our day.

Friday we found our way to the Blue House Bakery and Café in Carlsbad. Located in a charming little house on Canyon Street, it features scrumptious homemade pastries, espresso, and lunch specialties served on the front porch or out under the trees. Our only disappointment was that it closed Saturday at noon for the weekend.

The Mescalero Apache

We returned to Living Desert at 2 for an information session with Rosacker and Apache representatives. The eldest, Silas Cochise (a direct descendant of the warrior Cochise) was Chiricahua (chee·ree·CA·wa) Apache; the others were Mescalero Apache. In addition to these two closely related groups, the Southwestern Apache also include Lipan, Jicarilla, and various Western Apache groups. Although related, the groups differ. Their Athapaskan languages are also related to those of the Navajo and of some tribes in Canada.

The Apache once ranged from Texas to Arizona and Colorado to Mexico. They fought hard to keep their rugged lands. In 1864 the Mescalero were imprisoned with the Navajo at Bosque Redondo. Many succumbed to starvation and illness; the survivors walked home, without permission, in 1865.

The Chiricahua also spent a long time “walking uphill,” as Cochise put it. They were imprisoned for 28 years in Florida, Alabama, and Oklahoma. When finally released, the few hundred survivors were not even allowed a reservation. The Mescalero agreed to take in their Chiricahua, Lipan, and Warm Springs Apache cousins on their small reservation near Ruidoso.

Rosacker explained that, twenty years ago, Living Desert State Park had realized it lacked information on the area’s original people and their culture. Rosacker approached the Mescalero. Three women, the tribe’s traditional counselors, agreed to bring the mescal roast ceremony back to the park, part of their homeland. In fact, mescal does not grow well on their present-day reservation, high in the Sacramento Mountains near Ruidoso.

The grandson of one of these women, Abraham Chee, explained to us that some tribal members did not want to perform the ceremony for outsiders. But others, such as his late father and grandmother, believed it was important to educate us. Many of us, to this day, know little of the Apache except that they were warriors. They were great warriors—defeated only by the repeating rifle—but, as we would learn, they are a much more complicated people.

In fact, the girls’ coming-of-age ritual is the Mescalero’s most important ceremony. The ceremony recognizes that men may gain glory through brave deeds, but it is the women who were the heart of the Apache and who gave them strength as a people. Women raised the children, moved the home, fed and clothed the family, and created handicrafts. Like the Pueblo tribes, the Mescalero were matrilineal. There are reports of Apache women who served as warriors and shamans. Chee confided that his wife had left her hospital bed, where she was recovering from an operation, to come to the mescal roast.

The panel clarified that the mescal roast had nothing to do with mezcal, the Mexican liquor distilled from agave. Although Native Americans had created alcoholic beverages from corn, distillation arrived only with the Europeans. They explained that the mescal ceremony was a blessing for their people and for us.

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Santa Fe — Most of them are individually owned or family run out of love for a small-town tradition that has all but died in most New Mexico communities. Some are empty, but all remain crowning architectural landmarks of their downtowns and reminders of time when very little money bought a night of entertainment and camaraderie in small-town America.Six movie theaters built between 1916 and 1948 are the most recent historic properties in New Mexico to be listed in the National Register of Historic Places, the state Historic Preservation Division, Department of Cultural Affairs announced today. They represent architectural styles as disparate as El Raton theater’s Gothic-Revival style complete with atmospheric ceiling, to the stripped-down modernism of Lovington’s Lea Theater and its stand alone tile-and-glass ticket booth that still sparkles from a deeply recessed entrance.

“These listings recognize ongoing efforts to preserve the architectural character of the theaters and the roles they have played as community centers and sources of community pride,” said State Historic Preservation Officer Katherine Slick.

The Keeper of the National Register at the National Park Service listed the theaters this year following the decision in 2006 by the state Cultural Properties Review Committee to list the buildings in Clayton, Clovis, Raton, Tucumcari and Lovington to the State Register of Cultural Properties.

Clayton

In winter months, Roy Leighton fires up the old boiler hours before opening the Luna Theater in Clayton so its clanging doesn’t drown out the movie’s sound for his audience.

He owns the Luna with his wife Nancy, and holds the titles projectionist, ticket man and janitor. He has been known to open the theater on demand, but shows regular features on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. Passersby still stop to photograph the Luna’s distinctive lunar-themed neon sign.

“We could show a movie cost-efficiently for 10 people,” he said of his 375-seat theater. That’s half a row of seats.”

His barrel-roofed, two-story theater with its Mission Revival façade and parapet is considered the best example of a former nickelodeon in the state. It boasted a wood-floor ballroom in the basement until a 1990 flood caused by nearby roadwork severely damaged it.

Originally opened as the Mission Theater in 1916 by the Morris Herztein family after their mercantile store on the same spot burned to the ground, the Luna became a town gathering place and even showed features for free to farm kids. It was purchased in 1935 by Gibralter Enterprises, a group of theater owners in the Rocky Mountain states.

The company updated the theater with new seats and Art Deco fixtures. Opening-night crowds were so large many had to be turned away from Clayton’s premiere of Shirley Temple’s “The Little Colonel.” The Gibralter group sponsored a contest during the opening where local girls received a month of free passes for winning a writing contest.

Consulting architectural historian David Kammer, who wrote the six nominations, said the Luna provides an “excellent example” of how theater operators responded to changing tastes and expectations in theater appearances and amenities.

Raton

El Raton has been closed a year-and-a-half, but owner Fran Eigenberg said she is hoping publicity surrounding the listing of the 1930 Late Gothic Revival-style theater will renew interest in her economically-challenged town.

“We are so pleased, I am so happy, and I think Raton will be as pleased as I am,” she said.

El Raton resembles the Moorish-influenced theaters found in much larger cities with its castle towers, crenellated parapet and stage flanked by interior castellated towers and a series of arched, blind arcades across the top of the proscenium.

Eigenberg upgraded the theater with Dolby digital sound, new bathrooms and other amenities for what is the only motion picture theater in town. Never succumbing to corporate ownership, El Raton has always been owned by the Thomas Murphy family, with daughter Fran now at the helm.

“We could open it tonight,” she said almost wistfully.

Clovis

At one time a vaudeville house, the Lyceum in Clovis was built in 1919 and 1920, and like the Luna and El Raton has space for commercial businesses on either side of its theater entrance. Its stage now extends forward from the proscenium, covering the former orchestra pit. A fly-tower holds the theater’s original stage curtain.

During its peak years of 1920-1940, the Lyceum provided the best show in town. Tom Mix, Will Rogers, Gene Autry, and John Philip Sousa and his band performed on its stage. Its owners, Eugene Hardwick and his sons Russell and Charles chose the Kansas City architectural firm of Boller Brothers, well-known theater designers in the Midwest. They appear to have taken their inspiration for the Lyceum from the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroads depots and Fred Harvey’s “Harvey House” hotels in their design. It featured an air-cooling system, 600 seats and its interior design largely is intact.

The Hardwicks contracted with Paramount Pictures to show films and maintained a tradition from an earlier Lyceum of using the theater for community events. The local MainStreet program and the city took ownership in 1982, remounting the restored marquee, and began holding community events.

Listing the theaters in the State and National registers will draw renewed attention to them, according to HPD. The attention, when coupled with active MainStreet programs and other downtown revitalization plans, could help spur new economic activity downtown and renew interest in these small-town movie palaces.

“Movie theaters were the heart and pride of small-town New Mexico,” said John Murphey, HPD Register coordinator. “Their slow demises as downtowns emptied only accentuated the ghost-town feel many communities took on, leaving few reasons for area residents to stroll their once-busy main streets at night.”

Down the street from the Lyceum, the Hardwicks opened the State in 1940. It is considered the most striking example of modernism found in any New Mexico theatre. A circular glass-block tower rises from above the marquee and reaches higher than the curved parapet that masks a barrel roof. Its modern air-conditioning system and fresh style inspired the Hardwicks to restyle the Lyceum’s exterior, giving it a molded stucco façade in the Moderne style. The Hardwicks kept up to date and retained a competitive edge over theater chains that started to move into Clovis at the time.

Tucumcari

West of Clovis is Tucumcari where the Odeon opened in 1936. The facade’s glass block, decorative geometrical molding and large fluted vertical column supporting an Art Deco-style neon sign announced Hollywood had come to Tucumcari.

As with all six of the historic theaters, the Odeon began as a family business run by the Hurley family with partner Gene Hawkins. The chose the name “Odeon, ” a popular theater name in France at the time, but townsfolk just called it “the new theatre.” The Hurleys received congratulatory telegrams from movie greats Frank Capra and Mary Astor when it opened in May of 1936.

Lovington

Further south, Lovington welcomed the opening of the Lea Theater with a parade that ended with live performances and speeches given from the new theater’s stage. Although the town had several small theaters dating from as early in 1910, its boom and bust economy had stagnated until oil fields were developed nearby in the 1940s.

The Lea Theater opened in 1948 as “one of the finest, small-city movie houses in the United States” its boosters proclaimed. In stark contrast to the surrounding buildings that line the courthouse square, the Lea’s modern touches made it a stand-out.

Built by the R.E. Griffith Theaters, Inc., a regional theater chain based in Dallas, business boomed at the Lea through the 1950s. The town’s population nearly doubled after the discovery of oil nearby at the South Lovinginton Pool. The Lea, like many of New Mexico’s theaters, hosted numerous civic events and even a Mrs. America contest where women were judged on appearance, homemaking abilities and poise.

The theater changed hands in the 1960s and went dark in the late 1980s . Reopened after an extensive restoration in 1991 by the Joy family, it won the New Mexico MainStreet “Best Building” award in 1997. The Lea County Museum, which operates from a hotel listed in the State Register, shows old films at the Lea.

Technorati Tags: arts,entertainment,clovis,curry county,feature

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Technorati Tags: The Apache Kid,people,southwest

High in the San Mateo Mountains of the Cibola National Forest in New Mexico is Apache Kid Peak, and one mile northwest as the crow flies, at Cyclone Saddle, is the Apache Kid gravesite. The hiker who comes across the marked site in such a remote area may wonder who the Kid was, and perhaps will ask himself why, so far from the usual tourist attractions, such an elaborate memorial has been assembled. In the story of the Apache Kid, much of it fact and part of it legend, rests one of the Southwest’s many intriguing sagas.

The Kid was born in the 1860s, possibly a White Mountain Apache, and his family settled at Globe, Arizona Territory, in 1868. His name, Haskay-bay-nay-natyl (“the tall man destined to come to a mysterious end”), was too much for the citizens of Globe, who called him “Kid.” The Kid learned English, worked at odd jobs in town, and was soon befriended by the famous scout, Al Sieber. In 1881, the Kid enlisted in the Indian Scouts, probably at Hackberry, Arizona Territory, and showed such aptitude for the job he was made sergeant, eventually rising to the rank of first sergeant within two years.

The Geronimo Campaign of 1885-1886 found Kid in Mexico early in 1885 with Sieber, and when the Chief of Scouts was recalled in the fall, Kid rode with him back to San Carlos. He re-enlisted with Lt. Crawford’s call for one hundred scouts for Mexican duty, and went south in late 1885. In the Mexican town of Huasabas, on the Bavispe River, Kid nearly lost his life as the result of a drunken riot in which he had been a participant. Rather than see Kid shot by a Mexican firing squad, the Alcalde fined him twenty dollars, and the Army sent him back to San Carlos.

It was during Kid’s eighth enlistment in the scouts, which began April 11, 1887, that he found himself in a situation that would lead to a court-martial, imprisonment, a civil trial, a new sentence, escape, and life as a fugitive. The course of the disastrous events unfolded, as did so many among the Apaches, with the brewing of tiswin, a beverage made of fermented fruit or corn. Brewing tiswin was illegal on the reservation, but with the agent, Captain Pierce, and Al Sieber both gone on business, the time seemed auspicious for a tiswin soiree. Kid had been left in charge of both the scouts and the jail, but before he and the scouts could get to the camp where the tiswin was flowing freely, two men were dead.

One of the dead was Kid’s father, Togo-de-Chuz, and the other was the man who had killed him, Gon-Zizzie. Kid’s friends had killed Gon-Zizzie, but the blood-price did not satisfy Kid; he and his scouts went to Gon-Zizzie’s brother’s place, and there Kid killed the brother, Rip. Kid and his scouts then returned to his father’s camp, where they joined the others in drinking tizwin. The drunk lasted several days, and finally, perhaps filled with remorse and certainly hung-over, the scouts made their way back to San Carlos to face both Sieber and Captain Pierce.

Kid and his scouts arrived at San Carlos on June 1, 1887, and found that neither Sieber nor Pierce was in a mood to deal generously with them. A crowd of Indians, some armed, had gathered to witness the punishment, and when Captain Pierce ordered the scouts to disarm themselves, Kid was the first to comply. The scouts’ firearms were laid on a table near Sieber’s tent, and Pierce ordered Kid and the others to the guardhouse to be locked up until further action could be decided upon. They were about to comply when a shot was fired from the crowd, and soon the firing became widespread.

In the melee that followed, the disarmed Kid fled, Sieber’s tent was shredded by bullets, and a massive .45-70 bullet smashed Sieber’s left ankle, crippling him for life. It has never been determined who fired the shot that struck Sieber, but it is known that neither Kid nor the four scouts ordered to the guardhouse with him did the shooting. They ran for cover, managed to secure horses, and with perhaps a dozen other Apaches fled for wilderness. The Army reacted swiftly, and soon two troops of the Fourth Cavalry were following the fugitives up the banks of the San Carlos River.

Telegrams were sent from San Carlos to San Francisco, Headquarters Division of the Pacific, and to Washington, D.C., as the Territories braced for another Apache outbreak. Territorial newspapers in Arizona and New Mexico were quick to pick up the story, and the Army began to feel the heat of irate editorials. For two weeks the errant Apaches led the cavalry a good chase, until, aided by Indian scouts, Kid and his band was located high in the Rincon Mountains. The troopers surprised the Indians and captured their mounts, saddles, and equipment. Kid and his followers escaped into the rocky canyons and ravines, but faced the prospect of survival without horses while pressure from the Army increased daily.

After some negotiation, Kid got a message to General Miles stating that if the Army would recall the cavalry he and his band would surrender. Miles called off further pursuit, and on June 22, eight of Kid’s band gave themselves up. Kid and seven others surrendered on June 25. Miles decided to try Kid and four others by a general court-martial, despite the fact that they did not, in all probability, understand the charges pending against them.

The trial was concluded, and to no one’s surprise the men were found guilty of mutiny and desertion, and each was sentenced to death by firing squad. General Miles, upset with the verdict, ordered the court to reconsider its sentence. The court reconvened on August 3 and the convicted men were resentenced to life in prison. Miles, still not satisfied, reduced the sentence to ten years. The sentence began with the men in the San Carlos guardhouse until such time as the Army decided where to send them. The Army decided, on January 23, 1888, to send the prisoners to Alcatraz Island, California, rather than Fort Leavenworth Military Prison. Taken to Alcatraz under heavy guard, the five began what was to be a brief incarceration.

In reviewing the trial, the Judge Advocate General’s office had become convinced that prejudice existed among the officers on the court-martial, thus precluding a fair trial. On October 13, 1888, Secretary of War William C. Endicott authorized the remission of the remainder of the sentences of the five prisoners, and by November they were back at San Carlos. Meanwhile, the Indian Rights Association, concerned that the incarceration of Apaches as federal inmates in state prisons was the result of federal usurpation of territorial jurisdiction, had sued on behalf of two incarcerated Apaches. The court agreed to the release not only of the two named in the suit, but to the release of all the Apaches held as federal prisoners in Illinois and Ohio. Eleven murderers were to be returned to San Carlos as free men, and the outrage in the Southwest was immeasurable.

By the middle of October 1889, Sheriff Glenn Reynolds of Gila County had arrest warrants for most of the freed Apaches, and among them was Apache Kid. The trial of Kid and three others for assault to commit murder in the wounding of Al Sieber was set for October 25, 1889. The four were found guilty, and on October 30, each was sentenced to seven years in the Territorial Prison at Yuma. On November 1, along with five other prisoners, they began what was to have been a stagecoach journey to incarceration in a prison notorious for its brutal living conditions, a prison aptly called “Hell-Hole.”

The journey was to have been a two-day trip by stage from Globe to Casa Grande and from there by rail to Yuma. Sheriff Reynolds chose a deputy, W. A. “Hunkeydory” Holmes, as guard, and Gene Middleton, the stagecoach owner, as driver. All three were armed. Except for Kid and Hos-cal-te, considered to be the most dangerous and shackled at both wrists and ankles, the Apaches were shackled by twos, leaving each man with a free hand. A Mexican horse thief, Jesus Avott, was unshackled.

On the second day, after a night at Riverside, the coach had to make a steep ascent at Kelvin Grade, and all prisoners but Kid and Hos-cal-te were put out to walk. As the coach made the grade and disappeared from view, the prisoners over-powered Reynolds and Holmes. Holmes died of fright, and Reynolds was killed with Holmes’ rifle. Middleton was also shot and horribly wounded with Holmes’ rifle, but survived. The prisoners unlocked their shackles with keys taken from the dead bodies of Holmes and Reynolds and disappeared into a developing snowstorm. Jesus Avott cut a horse loose and rode into nearby Florence with the grim news.

By a strange course of events, Apache Kid was no longer an admired and honored scout, but a fugitive with a price of five thousand dollars on his head. It was widely believed that Kid used the San Simon Valley in Arizona and Skeleton Canyon in New Mexico as his avenue for travel to and from Old Mexico. Into the 1920s and 1930s, rumors circulated along the border that Kid had been seen, men had talked to him, he was alive on a ranch in Sonora, and on and on. Who knows? As our Mexican neighbors say, “Solo Dios sabe, Señor, solo Dios!”

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Technorati Tags: food

At holiday time people throughout the world honor traditions, and New Mexico is no exception. One tradition many here look forward to on Christmas Eve is a steaming bowl of posole (po-SO-lay), a spicy corn stew that is known as the ceremonial dish for celebrating life’s blessings.

New Mexicans have been enjoying posole for centuries. The cuisine here springs from three cultures: Native American, Mexican, and European. The Rio Grande Pueblo Indians, and their ancestors, the “Anasazi,” or “ancient ones,” relied on corn, beans, squash, and chiles for sustenance. These early crops became firmly entrenched in the culture, forming the foundation of New Mexican cuisine even before the Spanish arrived.

Corn has been and is the major food plant of the Native Americans. Red, yellow, and blue corn are cultivated in New Mexico. The corn is ground into meal and flour for use in breads and tortillas, and it is processed into posole corn.

Posole corn is prepared by soaking hard kernels of field corn (traditionally white, although blue is sometimes used now) in powdered lime and water – a method thought to mimic the ancient preservation of corn in limestone caves. After several hours, when the corn kernels have swollen, the liquid is allowed to evaporate and the kernels to dry.

Posole is different from hominy, another kind of processed corn, which tends to be softer and more bland. Compared to hominy, posole’s flavor is intense and earthy, its consistency more robust. Since posole corn can be difficult to find, hominy is often used as a substitute in posole stew.

The variations for posole are many. Some make it with chicken rather than pork; some prefer to use vegetable protein rather than meat. While posole in Southern New Mexico is always made with red chile, it is not uncommon to find Northern New Mexico posole made with green chile.

The posole pictured here was prepared by Valentine Esquivel, owner of the Coffee Pot Restaurant in Deming, New Mexico. Valentine said his recipe is for “Guadalahara-style” posole, and is the exact recipe his mother used when Valentine was a boy in Mexico City. This recipe serves 20-24 people.

Note: Posole can be easily adapted for vegetarians.

Ingredients for Posole

12 dried long red chile
10 lbs. Boned pork roast cut into 1″ cubes
1/2 head of garlic peeled and chopped
A large pinch of Mexican oregano
1/2 of a large onion, chopped
Large can hominy
Salt

Preparation

Break open the chiles and remove the seeds and veins. Put the chiles to cook in a medium sized pot. Cover with fresh water and gently boil until chiles are very soft. Let the mixture cool and using a favorite method, blend the chile and the water to make a paste and strain.

Meanwhile, put the cubed pork, oregano, garlic, onion and salt into a large heavy pot and cover with water. Boil meat gently for 30 minutes. When the meat is soft, add the chile and hominy and cook for 15 to 20 minutes until the mixture is boiling nicely.

To serve, ladle the posole into heavy bowls and serve with thinly sliced cabbage and radishes, quartered limes, oregano, chopped onion, and fresh corn tortillas. Besides these side dishes, posole is usually served with sodas or cervesas.

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Technorati Tags: people,Roswell,Chaves County

Space of all kinds surround Roswell. Wide open spaces, Robert H. Goddard’s space experiments, and the crash of a UFO. Has the beginning of space exploration here been overshadowed with all the hype of the UFO crash in 1947? Probably. At the Houston Space Center and Cape Canaveral and Kennedy Space Center, Robert Hutchings Goddard is known as the Father of Space Exploration.

But it was here in Roswell in the 1930s that Dr. Goddard brought his experiments to life. They were the forerunner of the Apollo Spacecraft crew setting foot on the moon in 1969. What humans had dreamed of and had written of in fiction was now a fact. Earth had been left behind and the heavens were being explored.

Why was Roswell chosen? Because of its terrain, altitude, and climate, plus a small population of only 11,000. The name of the field where he made his test flights was known as Eden Valley. Many years later in reminiscence, Mrs. Goddard said it was truly an Eden. “Townspeople came to call, invited us to social occasions and overlooked our Eastern accents, accepting us as their own.” Those are some of the same reasons many people move to Roswell 65 years later.

While Dr. Goddard’s experiments were on hold during the Great Depression, something significant occurred that would ultimately serve as a Memorial to him. The Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) built the Roswell Museum Federal Art Center, one of 67 such centers in the United States.

The background of his life offers insight into his contribution to the space program. His schooling was haphazard due to poor health, so he resorted to self-education by studying scientific and mathematical texts. When he entered high school he was two years older than his classmates.

He gave the commencement address at graduation, ending with, “It has often proved true that the dream of yesterday is the hope of today and the reality of tomorrow.” It was perhaps prophetic of his life.

Inspired by Sir Isaac Newton’s theory that to every action there is always opposed an equal reaction, he felt this principle was the key to sending up rockets.

He continued his schooling and his experiments, after one of which he became known by the derisive name “Moon Man.” This made him very hesitant to give publicity to his experiments.

One person who knew him well said, “For years he carried on his work virtually alone. He experienced frustrations of many kinds: financial difficulties, problems of health as well as the resistance of a new mechanical device to taming and development.

“What he tackled almost single handedly has since taken billions of dollars and thousands of engineers to do now. Yet he designed and built rockets that contained all the essential devices of those found in huge space rockets of today.”

Colonel Charles A. Lindbergh was interested in rocketry and was influential in obtaining financing for Dr. Goddard. He had confided to Lindbergh that if he were given $25,000 a year for four years he could accomplish in 48 months something that otherwise might take a lifetime. Colonel Lindbergh was successful in securing grants from the Guggenheim Foundation. In late 1934, the Lindberghs made a surprise visit to the Mescalero Ranch to see the Goddards, setting the whole town of Roswell abuzz.

The Navy wanted him to work on a liquid fuel, jet-assist rocket and wanted also the option to move him to Annapolis. In 1942 the Navy exercised its option, and the Goddards left Roswell for Maryland in July to work on a project at the Naval Engineering Experiment Station. Thirty-five more patents were issued while he was at Annapolis.

In April of 1943, Dr. Goddard contracted a cold and by the end of June his voice was extremely husky. By 1944, his crew could barely understand him. He continued his visits to the throat specialist, and his wife raised the question of cancer of the throat of which his father had died. It proved to be the cause of his huskiness and a laryngectomy was performed in July of 1945. On August 10, 1945, he died quietly and was buried in the family plot in Worcester, Massachusetts.

Shortly after his death, Mrs. Goddard sold the Mescalero Ranch in Roswell and began transcribing his notes to establish the importance of his work. It took her and two assistants nine months to complete the typescript.

The idea of the Goddard Rocket and Space Museum came into being at a dinner honoring Mrs. Goddard. During discussions following the meal she generously offered to make the fabulous collection of Goddard memorabilia available to the Roswell Museum. Her one requirement was that this vital historical collection be properly housed and displayed.

She felt the collection should be exhibited at the Museum because, “The friendly warmth of this typical western community and the vast open spaces around it afforded an ideal atmosphere for the creative efforts of my husband. He spent ten happy and fruitful years in Roswell, bringing to reality the dreams that are still so much a part of today’s efforts in space.”

The Goddard missile and rocket collection were formally offered to this non-profit, city-owned Museum on May 6, 1958. On this date the City Council authorized the enlargement of the Museum to provide the requested housing and display space.

Since Dr. Goddard had been a Rotarian, Roswell Rotarians decided to undertake the reconstruction of his shop at a cost of $15,000. The fundraising was a successful community-wide effort.

NASA presented the Museum with a scaled replica of his first successful liquid-fueled rocket. Other companies subsequently assisted in obtaining his tools and original equipment.

In conjunction with the Workshop reconstruction, the Robert H. Goddard Planetarium was constructed at the west end of the Museum and Art Center. It is the largest Planetarium in New Mexico, seating 120 people.

During the 91st Congress in 1970, a concurrent resolution recognized the Goddard Rocket and Space Museum in the Roswell Museum and Art Center as a fitting tribute to Dr. Robert H. Goddard, space pioneer, 1882-1949.

And it is here visitors and residents can walk through the replica of his workshop and marvel at what Robert Goddard used to create his rocketry.

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Christopher Blackwell discusses the vagaries of thundereggs Photo by Jay Jackson

It’s easy to miss. The country’s largest public display of thundereggs – a dazzling array of color – lies hidden in a small dirt building with a cave-like entrance and a sign that has the appeal of a high school science book. But, for the curious, to crack open the rough-hewn wooden door to the Basin Range Volcanics Geolapidary Museum and Rock Shop 10 miles southeast of Deming and two miles below Rockhound State Park  is to find the pearl in the oyster, the pea in the shell game or, in this case, the rainbow hidden in the plain rock.

For a buck, museum manager Christopher Blackwell turns on 4400 watts of electric lights and personally guides visitors through the unique world of thundereggs.

It was believed by the Warm Springs Indians of Oregon that thundergods living in the Mount Hood and Mount Jefferson volcanos threw hot rocks at each other when they had their explosive quarrels, Blackwell said, explaining how the name thundereggs came to be used to describe the occasional hollow rock that is filled with colorful minerals.

In fact, early theories about the eggs were similar to the mythology, namely, that the colorful insides of the rocks were due to volcanic “bombs” tossed into ash, he said.

However, the present theory, furthered by the museum’s owner, Robert Paul “Geode Kid” Colburn, is that cavities formed by escaping gas left porous rock shells that were filled with water. Minerals in the water – like agate, silica and mud – gave the eggs’ yolks their individual designs and stunning colors.

Theories, though, quickly pale when the lights come on with a “thunk!” and visitors find themselves face-to-face with row after mesmerizing row of polished, paired egg halves staring back from long, glass cases. If one looks closely enough at the sparkling blues, reds, greens and browns, Blackwell said, there’s a face in one, a beach with waves in another and even one that looks like a pistol.

Next to each group of rocks is a bit of information that Blackwell expands upon for those interested.

A person can visit for the beauty or the science of the rocks, he says, both of which are in abundance at the museum.

The museum started some 12 years ago when Colburn wanted a place to house his life-long passion for finding and polishing thundereggs. He has on display the first egg he found at 13 in the Berkeley hills of California. Though he has eggs from around the country, 80 percent of those in the museum have come from his mines in Luna County.

Of note are a couple of uncracked, 16-inch diameter eggs from nearby Rockhound State Park and an equally large cracked rock that has an egg within an egg within an egg.

Although bigger collections exist, the museum’s display is the largest open to the public, Blackwell said.

The eggs, most of which are found in the northern part of the western American mountains, were first mined in Oregon in the 1920’s. They’re rare: one percent of ash bed with geodes (hollow rocks) have eggs and only one percent of those eggs are considered good, making them a treasured find by rockhounds, Blackwell said.

When asked by a couple if it’s possible to tell which rocks are eggs, Blackwell said no, not at first.

“But you do learn a little when you’ve mined an area for awhile,” he said. “Learning an area is really no more than learning a fishing hole.”

“We’ve lost a big part of the rockhound hobby over the past 20 years,” Blackwell said, “with a loss, too, of those who could teach newer rockhounds. Rock books can be a problem, because they just add new sites to their lists, never rechecking previous public sites, some of which have been dug out for years.”

But despite all this, the search for thundereggs remains a popular pastime.

For those interested, the museum also sells eggs for anywhere from one dollar to hundreds. All work from mining to final polish is done by Colburn and Blackwell.

“Every piece is cut and polished one at a time,” Blackwell said. “Though not really an economically efficient means, a person gets the same polish on the stuff for sale as on collection pieces.”

And the same individual attention is given as well to museum visitors as well.

Blackwell said that when he was young he wanted to guide people around as a forest ranger, “but, unfortunately, they don’t do that much, so I just do it here.”

“You know how you become an expert?” he said, squatting down to talk with a young boy who just completed the tour with his family. “You find something most people don’t know anything about and learn a little bit.”

For those rockers who thrill at the prospect of a rare find, pulling off the road to Rockhound State Park and on to the thunderegg-paved driveway of the Geolapidary Museum and Rock Shop is one of rockhounding’s few sure things.

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The West Street Inn has a large master suite and second smaller bedroom.

The West Street Inn is Silver City’s newest and most elegant private guesthouse. The inn is available as a short term rental and features executive accomodations. It is designed in a contemporary southwestern style with warm glazed walls, tile floors, comfortable furnishings, and quality bedding. Whether you are vacationing in the area, traveling on business, or considering a relocation, the West Street Inn is your ideal choice in fine affordable lodging.

Located in the heart of Silver City, the West Street Inn is within walking distance of Western New Mexico University and the historic downtown area where restaurants, art galleries and shopping abound. Here you are close to everything the Silver City area offers while enjoying the privacy of your own fully furnished guesthouse. With a large master suite and second smaller bedroom, the West Street Inn will accommodate a single person, a couple, or even a small family in comfort and style.

Amenities

Fully-equipped kitchen including coffee maker, microwave, blender, crockpot, outdoor grill, and all cooking utensils.

» Phone with answering machine
» Second port for computer hookup
» TV, VCR & stereo
» Washer/Dryer
» Fully equipped kitchen including:
   Coffee maker
   Microwave
   Blender, Crockpot
   Outdoor Grill
   All cooking utensils
   Coffees, teas, sugar, etc. provided

Terms and Conditions

» $85.00 per night
» 2 night minimum
» 3 night minimum on holidays
» Weekly and monthly rates also available upon request
» Major credit cards and checks accepted.
» 50% deposit will be due two weeks in advance of arrival.
» Reservations accepted within two weeks of arrival if paying by credit card.
» Cancellations with more than 14 days Notice – Full Refund
» Cancellations with less than 14 days notice – West Street Inn reserves the right to keep your deposit.
» Check-in is 3:00 p.m.
» Check-out is 11:00 a.m.
» Well behaved children and pets welcome
(the house has an enclosed yard).
» As an additional service we are happy to shop for your groceries before your arrival if you provide us with a basic list. There is a $25.00 fee for this service.

Reservations

» Make a reservation online at our reservations page.
» You may also contact us by phone at (505) 534-2302 or by e-mail: weststreetinn@zianet.com

Directions

Relax on the porch after an exciting day.

The West Street Inn is located at:
1303 N West St
Silver City, NM
88061-4637
(Click here for a map to The West Street Inn)

Silver City is located south of Albuquerque and West of Las Cruces, New Mexico. We may be reached via Interstate 25 or Interstate 10. Hwy 152 leads from Interstate 25 straight to Silver City and offers a beautiful scenic drive through the Black Range.
(Click here for a map to Silver City)

However, if you are coming from Interstate 25 and you are travelling at night, we recommend the following route: turn off onto Hwy 26 at Hatch, turn North on Hwy 180 at Deming, then continue North to Silver City. While this route looks longer on the map, the travel time is about the same. If you choose to travel on Hwy 152 at night, be on the look out for deer and cattle and observe the speed limit signs. We look forward to your arrival!

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Technorati Tags: generalinterest,Las Cruces,water,feature

Recent thunderstorms left many puddles in local potholes. One might observe lizards and toads, rabbits and roadrunners having a drink or taking a bath. Technically these pools could be considered wetlands, “a place where water and land meet,” although temporary.

Of course, the only really large wetland we have in New Mexico is the Bosque del Apache, the National Wildlife Refuge just south of Socorro. There the riparian habitat along nine miles of the Rio Grande sustains a wide variety of life.

Further south in Las Cruces, more thought goes to long term sources of water than to temporary wetlands. Ground water from wells is used for public drinking water suppliers. In Las Cruces, 31 wells have been dug within the city, supplying each resident about 230 gallons of water per day. New Mexico State University has its own water supply, but contracts with the city for purification. The Rio Grande is the only surface water in the area. It supplies water for agricultural irrigation and also replenishes the ground water, but it is not at this moment being used for city drinking water.

Water Rights Aren’t Wet

Ownership of the supply of water is critical to life in New Mexico. “For over a thousand years inhabitants of New Mexico have been regulating their water supply,” writes Linda G. Harris in New Mexico Water Rights. The ruins of ancient irrigation canals are reminders that even prehistoric Indians controlled their water resources, she continues.

Throughout the Southwest, New Mexico has set the standard for water rights law. In 1848, New Mexico became a territory, and by 1851 the Territorial Legislature began establishing water laws. Now the State Engineer Office (SEO) has been mandated to oversee water rights administration and is the caretaker of the state’s water rights. Those who come from New York or Indiana are sometimes confused by water rights here. In the East, water is usually tied to the land; not so here. A water right is considered property and can be separated from the land. It pertains to only the right to use the water and not the water itself.

Incidentally, if you want the real wet stuff and are considering the purchase of land outside the City of Las Cruces, you might prudently tie in a clause that you will buy it contingent on proof a well on the property would yield so many gallons per minute. Some people have had a house built and then discovered they had no water.

Will Conservation Help Save Water?

Many people come to this area because the air is dry. Throughout New Mexico, the precipitation varies from 7 to 20 inches and averages about 14 inches a year, making it the third most arid state in the nation.

Opinions about water change. Just a few years ago a local Garden Club went to city government, pleading for conservation. The members were told there was no point to save water within the city because most of the water here was used by agriculture. The lead story in the Las Cruces Bulletin for July 6, 1996, asked “What drought? . . . Area awash in water so far.” Then water running in the gutter became a frequent topic of discussion. And recently, watering yards on Tuesdays or Thursdays for conservation has been a heated topic. Times do change.

So should water conservation be a law? One reason to make it so is the state can deny the digging of new city wells if no conservation plan is in place. Some residents voice other feelings. Janet McKimpson, president and CEO of a consulting firm, comments strongly, “This is the Chihuahuan desert. I can’t understand why people move here and want to make it look just like home in Ohio.”

McKimpson takes a very unusual view, saying, “I’m not in favor of conservation. The present population is being asked to conserve water so that more people can move in and use more water.” Instead, she believes in limiting development. Stopping growth is not a popular concept, she knows. “Those screaming the loudest would be the developers. But how long will they be here? Do the largest ones even live in the county? One just left the area and moved to Montana,” she continues.

“Some contractors also say to conserve. Then they will have more water and they can build more houses for more people. All efforts aimed at increased population will, in the end, use more water. There’s no limit on greed, but there is a limit on the amount of water. The complacency of the residents will result in exactly what the citizens deserve: No water. Then those in real estate will not find many eager buyers in the area if there is no water. Somewhere down the line people will learn they can’t drink bucks,” she admonishes.

McKimpson does believe in xeriscaping. That doesn’t mean you have to fill your yard completely with volcanic rock. Beavertail and barrel cactus, ocotillo, desert marigold, sotol, and creosote will grow, and won’t add to humidity, she says. She also believes in limiting development of residential outdoor swimming pools, and allowing only indoor pools, which would considerably slow the evaporation rate and save water.

Agriculture — Pecans Are Thirsty

It’s agriculture which accounts for well over 80 percent of the water consumed in the state. “In this area, 93 percent of the Rio Grande goes to agriculture,” says Kevin Bixby, executive director of the Southwest Environmental Center. “The Elephant Butte Irrigation District (EBID) is responsible for agriculture getting enough water,” affirms MichaelRiley, its director of special projects.

Elephant Butte Dam, completed in 1916, created the world’s largest man-made reservoir. The EBID is a 130,000 acre irrigation project stretching from the dam near Truth or Consequences to the Texas border. It contains 600 miles of canals and laterals, and 400 miles of drains. To determine how the water is distributed, at the beginning of the year runoff is calculated from the estimate of forecast snowfall. That’s added to what is already in the reservoir. Then 57 percent goes to EBID; 43 percent goes to El Paso Water Improvement District #1. Mexico gets the first 60,000 acre feet, a rather small amount, as part of a treaty alliance, but no one has ever decided exactly where that water comes from.

Today agriculture is the sector receiving increased attention because there is a potential for large savings of water. However, it’s a very complex issue, little understood by the general population and policy makers, according to Thomas Bahr, director of the New Mexico Water Resources Research Institute. Many possibilities are discussed, such as changing from overhead sprinklers to flood irrigation or to buried drip irrigation. There’s also talk of reinjecting water or putting concrete liners in the ditches. Another possibility is use of a soil potentciometer. It looks like a sugar cube with electrodes coming off of it. It is put at whatever depth one wants to monitor, causing a very, very low current one can read. When there is no reading, there’s no moisture . . . no water. One needs to irrigate then, not just because it is the second Friday.

Many farmers agree they could get by with less water, even for thirsty crops such as pecans, but they have no incentive to conserve. If there were a clear policy allowing an irrigator to market “saved water,” there would be strong incentive to the farmer to become more efficient in irrigation practices. Currently, New Mexico has no such policy. A new system would require new management skills and constant attention and maintenance. But irrigators need more of an incentive than the warm fuzzy feeling that saving water is noble.

What’s an Acequia?

People have been having water “discussions” for quite some time. Among the first groups were acequias or “ditch associations.” Probably the one in longest continuous operation began in Tularosa. There, in 1862, a group of seven families began setting up the distribution of water. Today it is also believed to be the only adjudicated system in New Mexico. (That means legal action has been taken to protect a water right and to ensure it is properly recognized. It’s similar to a title search that guarantees proof of ownership of property.) The Tularosa Community Ditch Corporation is a nonprofit corporation which became official in 1909 – even before New Mexico became a state. Its mandate is to see that water goes from its source, which is a spring up in the mountains, to those who own water shares. The job of the association is to see that no one poaches water in the mountains. The disagreements among the Mescaleros, the ranchers and the farmers have now been resolved.

Reuben Morris, the ditch boss, who might be called a mayordomo elsewhere, has been on the job 21 years. He knows which gates to flip to regulate exactly where the water goes. The farmers have irrigation water from approximately April 1 to the end of September, depending on the weather. The Village gets the first 15 percent and then does its own purification, reports Camille Cunningham, bookkeeper for the group.

Media Attention — Water Sometimes Gets Center Stage.

Since water is an issue of great importance to everyone (although some people don’t see it as very exciting), the League of Women Voters of Greater Las Cruces has been active in studying the topic for several years. One member still has four inches of paper in a “completed file.” Water is also of concern on the national level. About a year ago, a live television broadcast arranged through the National League included a panel of experts to answer questions which were phoned in from around the country. Then participation took place at the state, and finally, the local levels. Protection of water and equitable use of water were discussed. The program created much awareness about water problems, reported Mary Thompson, who chaired the League’s water study committee then. Las Cruces had the most participation of any place in the state, she noted, and the study later resulted in a forum about wellhead protection.

More recently, KRWG-TV broadcast a special program considering the water quality of the Rio Grande. Many questions were raised: how to protect the water supply from terrorist attack or pesticide accidents; about the safety of eating fish from the river; the need to manage watersheds; international treaty arrangements. Two panelists voiced very strong views. EBID’s Riley urged, “Get the Bureau of Reclamation out of the picture. They don’t have ownership of water; that’s completely in error.” He also made the reminder, “EBID facilities are private property. Those who walk or drive next to the channels for reasons other than agriculture are illegally trespassing. Swimming is not legal and is quite dangerous.”

Bixby proclaimed his vision for the future of the river: “Remove the salt cedar and replace it with native growth; let the water flow all year around; stop the management of the banks and channel it as if it is meandering; plant new cottonwoods; let it be a haven for wildlife, clean for fish, and enjoyed by people; if there is a drought, have it shared by all water users.”

Judges not Firearms

Bahr summarizes comments about water in New Mexico: “Water supplies are finite. But this doesn’t mean that snow-melt from the mountains is going to cease, that large quantities of groundwater in storage are disappearing or that there is insufficient water for future growth. Rather, it means that as New Mexico communities continue to grow, they must undertake to more carefully manage water demand through such measures as conservation and water reuse. Equally important is to develop a better understanding of the quantity, quality and dependability of surface water and the relationships of surface supplies to groundwater. Most importantly, we must bridge the gap between our scientists and policy makers in order to develop effective policies.”

Throughout the Southwest’s history, few topics have generated more passion than water. Today battles are fought by lawyers with briefcases rather than farmers with six-guns. The issues are many and certainly changes will come. The chief agreement seems to be is that there are no simple solutions.

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Technorati Tags: ofinterest

Do your friends fall asleep during your slide shows of past vacations? Do your colleagues’ eyes glaze over when you bring out your travel snapshots? Are you frustrated, after a memorable trip, when lackluster shots come back from the lab?

Travel photography, like many other aspects of the art, requires a special mindset, a philosophical approach that demands images that reflect only what film records. For many of us, our pictures remind us of the whole fabulous day; one shot brings back a host of memories we might cherish for years. It is difficult to remember that, for your audience, this does not happen. For them, the photograph must stand on its own merits. If you can recall this when framing the shot, you’ve mastered the hard part of travel photography.

Travel photography should be a microcosm of many aspects of the art; portraiture, macro, scenic, nature, action. In essence, you are creating a photo essay of the travel destination, a story in pictures that portrays the region as you perceived it. The people, scenery, flowers, activities, and restaurants all contributed to your travel memories.

The most effective travel photographs are those we call “destination specific”. Almost anyone who has been to the coast of Maine will recognize the silhouette of Cadillac Mountain. Visitors to Venice will surely respond to the sight of the main canal, in the lagoon town of Burano. You can never miss with the CN Tower in the background of any shot of Toronto, or the wind-blown lines of the white sand dunes in White Sands National Monument. The characteristic rounded edges of New Mexican architecture places you squarely in Santa Fe.

Keep in mind that those destination-specific photographs have been done many times before; they are almost cliches. Use your imagination to come home with a different image. Try the “bird’s eye view”, or the “worm’s eye view”. Use a wide-angle lens, or a telephoto, for creative distortion. Frame the shot like nobody has done before. Use deliberate blur, zoom your lens, or come back at night for a time exposure.

Images of occupations, to a certain extent, can also tell a story. Catch a shot of somebody hauling lobster pots, or

holding up a lobster, and you place the viewer on North America’s East coast. Wheat fields to the horizon and a threshing machine pretty much spell ‘prairies’, be it Washington or Saskatchewan. Mountains and blue water, with a ferry captain at his wheel, puts you on the Pacific coast (or a few dozen other places!)

To make a travel photograph effective, you must often place a person inside it, enjoying a favorite activity. Many images are only background, crying for a point of interest. Your favorite mountain hiking trail is only a background, until you place hikers going up or down, and use the trail as a leading line. Close-ups of sailboats make interesting abstracts, but a shot of people hauling on a halyard, or somebody’s kid hiking far over the side of a dinghy, makes your audience want to go sailing. What’s the point of photographing an empty swimming pool, when you can show it full of happy children? White sand dunes in New Mexico are interesting, but place a few kids sliding down them, and you have a people shot. This is the essence of good travel photography: make your viewers want to search for their passports!

. . . And then, there are God’s gifts, that make you want to constantly carry your camera. My wife and I are travel writers, constantly on the lookout for good “quotes.” In New Mexico, we were talking to several people in a book shop, when one fellow loudly claimed: “I’d rather be in jail, in Albuquerque, than free and on the loose in almost any other place I can think of!” Off Rockport, Maine, while preparing to hoist sail on a large, historic schooner, the first mate suddenly announced: “I want six healthy, happy, halyard haulers!” Travel photographers, too, must be always watching for that great grab shot to come along, and be ready when it does.

Photography is the art of painting with light. “Magic hour” for photographers is the first two hours after sunrise, and the last two hours before sunset. The low angle of the sun at these times creates wonderfully long shadows, lends texture to any rough surface, and paints everything with a fluorescent quality of light. To come home with fantastic images from a trip, get up early, and eat late suppers. Remember, in desert locales like New Mexico, the temperature drops with the sun. You will easily go from shorts to long pants and goosedown vests inside half an hour. Be comfortable while you’re shooting.

There are great shots to be made during the day, but you must help your film. Mid-day light is contrasty, throws harsh shadows, and fools the eye, which is much more sensitive to shadow detail than any photographic film. Assume that any shadow you see will be much darker on film. Galen Rowell suggests you ’stop down’ your lens with your depth-of-field preview button, to see how the shadows will affect your photograph. Then you are ready to fill those shadows.

Fill flash is the easiest way to put light into shadow areas. Your shadows should only be a stop or so darker than the ambient light . . . you will still have shadows (which make photos three-dimensional), but you can see detail in them. In New Mexico, you may notice there is more available light. The air is clearer in the Southwest . . . don’t blame your light meter!

Most modern flashes allow you to specify the “f-stop of light” you wish them to produce. If you’re shooting at f8, set your flash to put out “f5.6 of light”. (John Shaw, in his several books, suggests you always think in distance, and in light variations, strictly in terms of f-stops.)

There are several commercial reflectors you can carry that will produce wonderful fill light on a sunny day, and you can instantly see the results. They come in a variety of sizes, and fold away to practically nothing. You can use one using cardboard and aluminum foil, if you can convince somebody to carry it for you. To increase the limited contrast range of film, use the split neutral-density filters now on the market. You can hold back the exposure from a bright sky by 2-3 stops, to bring up detail in a darker foreground. These filters come in both “soft step” and “hard step” (referring to the degree of transition from clear to dark), and are available for the popular Cokin filter holders.

Good travel photographs appeal to the eye for the same reasons that good paintings do. Learn the rules and techniques of composition, and be prepared to bend them when necessary. Nothing sharpens the compositional eye like attending slide critiques at a camera club. You’ll soon be ‘cropping in the camera’, a very difficult technique to master, with the best of them. If you can’t find a camera club, marry an artist. They see the world in the most amazing ways.

Start by looking carefully through your viewfinder. The eye will be attracted to the brightest spot in the image. If that happens to be a bald sky, a streetlight, or the reflection from a car bumper, get rid of it.

What are you trying to say, in this photograph? What else is in there, to distract the viewer? Get rid of extraneous detail, and simplify by getting closer. Then, get closer still.

How can you lure the eye into looking at what you saw? Start by placing the object of interest at one of the “intersection of thirds” in your frame. Now, can you produce a ‘leading line’ (a wave, a ploughed furrow, a winding dirt road) that leads the eye to your subject? Can you place an interesting frame around your subject? Is there a repetition of shapes creating a pattern that you can employ? Yes, you can train your eye to see these things, it only takes practice, like touch typing!

Make your pictures dynamic. In general, don’t place a horizon directly in the middle of your frame. Very high, or very low, is much better. Always try to achieve a low angle of view, so that heads, mountains, trees, or sailboat masts will “break” the horizon line. Remember that you don’t have to include sky in your shots. If the clouds aren’t interesting, or the sky isn’t blue, better you should lower the camera lens.

Don’t put your camera away on a stormy day. When the sky is black, bright colours will jump out of your image. Umbrellas and red raincoats will demand you burn film, and wet streets at night will produce wonderful reflections. Watch for the special light that often results just as a storm passes, and be ready to use it.

A polarizing filter will make still water surfaces go absolutely black, and painted boats will then look spectacular. Heavily polarized blue skies in desert country may appear almost black with golden or white sand dunes jumping out of the frame in contrast. A warming filter will help the colour in stone, and (if you must) assist a bald sky. Many of the coloured split-density filters now on the market will augment your ability to show travel destinations in a new and exciting fashion.

Be sure you are comfortable, while you’re doing travel photography. If you’re hiking, or walking around a city, carry your gear in a photo vest, or in a hip pouch, not in a shoulder bag. Use a wide strap to sling your tripod or monopod across your back, and be able to add or remove layers of clothing as necessary. Be sure your foot gear will protect your feet and keep them dry. In a hot climate, sandals make an amazing difference in keeping you cool. Don’t forget your hat. You can’t be creative if you’re not relaxed.

Keep in mind that tourists take pictures, but photographers make images. When you find a worthy subject, work it to death. Walk all around it, look at all the angles, get up high and get down low. You may not come this way again.

I recall standing by the side of the road in the Grand Teton mountains of Wyoming, where a wonderful view of flowers, water, and snowcapped mountains all came together. While I was taking a break from the tripod, a car pulled up, and a couple got out. They each took one picture of the mountains, then roared off. Neither even glanced down at the marsh, in a valley below the road, where a bull moose with a full rack had been occupying my attention for the last fifteen minutes.

You will find that, generally, people will have no objection to your photographing them, if you ask them politely. I can usually coax passersby into holding my reflector, or even posing in special ways, if I explain what I’m doing, and how it will affect the final photograph. If you involve people in your photography, they’ll want to contribute. I always go away with addresses where I will send copies of the shot, after I’ve returned from the trip.

When you’ve found that wonderful image, be sure you bracket your exposures. Don’t just trust the camera’s autoexposure. As the New York Institute of Photography says, “The camera is an idiot!”

The ‘technically correct’ exposure is not always the most successful one. For slide film, I underexpose by a half stop, and overexpose by a full stop, which generally leaves me with two successful images, and a throwaway . . . but I can’t always predict which will be the throwaway! My technique for checking exposure is to meter the ambient light reflected from the palm of my hand, and open up one f-stop from that reading. The technique is infallible, and takes into account any filters on the front of your lens.

I pack as much gear as I can, for my trips, but I sure don’t try to carry everything with me. Instead, I reconfigure my hip bag for the kind of shooting I anticipate, and for the way I will be travelling. A judicious choice of lenses will cover most situations you’ll encounter in a city. I may carry just a 28-90mm. zoom, or I might opt for a 24mm, 50mm, and 135mm combination, perhaps with a X2 telextender as well. The 24mm lens is often discarded in favour of a 17mm, for restaurants and other interior shots, or a different viewpoint on scenics. Most of my lenses carry their own polarizer, and I carry double the amount of film I will usually shoot in a day.

No more glazing eyes and dozing audiences. You’re ready to come back with shots that will knock their socks off, make them reach for their passports, and have them calling you for slide shows. Go join the Michael Melfords, the Bob Krists, the David Muenchs of the world . . . and shoot those great travel shots.

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Technorati Tags: generalinterest,history

The Seven Cities of Gold has been a New Mexico fable since before Fray Marcos de Niza claimed to have seen them in 1539. As soon as Cortes and crew finished conquering the Aztec Empire in the early 1520s, they set out to find the legendary Seven Cities of Gold, said to have been established by seven bishops who fled Spain after the Moorish conquest to hide gold, gems, and religious articles in the New World.

When Cabeza de Vaca reached his countrymen in Mexico after wandering through this area following a shipwreck on the Texas Gulf Coast, he told of gems he had seen in villages to the north, “with many people and very big houses.” And thus, what is now New Mexico became targeted as the mythical Cibola. In 1539, Fray Marcos was sent on a scouting expedition to look for de Vaca’s Cibola, and returned with claims of having seen a village with buildings made of gold.

Historians believe that village was Zuni, which today can’t raise enough money for one school building made of frame stucco. It is very possible Zuni wasn’t much better off 460 years ago. The Moorish slave Estevan, whom Fray Marcos had sent ahead in an advance party, was killed at Zuni, and it is quite possible the friar turned around at that point and headed home.

The most charitable interpretation has Fray Marcos seeing Zuni from afar, and mistaking the sunset on adobe walls containing bits of silica as being the glimmer of a city of gold. There is no debate that de Niza returned with some very grand stories that led to Coronado’s expedition in 1540. That exploration yielded little more than promises from Indians that great riches lay just up the road – and a lot of unpleasant comments from Coronado’s troops about the accuracy of de Niza’s reporting.

But the fable of the Seven Cities never died, and still, in fact, lives today in stories about the seven caverns of gold beneath Victorio Peak north of Las Cruces, and now in a story being promoted in the Deming and Silver City area about seven caves of gold in the mountains of the region.

This latest entry in New Mexico’s gold lore is the product of two Grant County men, Ruben Amador and Rollie Saavedra, who contend that petroglyphs on rocks, boulders and in caves in the area are actually treasure maps left by Fray Marcos de Niza, not by Indians who preceded them. They say the petroglyphs are in Spanish, and tell a Spanish story. Indians, they say, didn’t need to carve treasure maps, because to them the treasure was common knowledge.

Amador and Saavedra contend there were seven caves deep in the mountains where gold was mined and traded with the Aztecs. They say a common pictograph in the area is a cross enclosed in a clover, which was de Niza’s mark. Amador, a former heavy equipment operator, says he will devote the rest of his life to breaking the code of the petroglyphs, and he predicts he will do it.

Meanwhile, the two have organized a “Codebreaker Tour” of the area, and have attracted the interest of Dick Moyer, tourism director for the Deming Chamber of Commerce, who is attempting to get state tourism money to help promote the tour.

Over at Victorio Peak, 70 miles to the east, Terry Delonas and the Ova Noss Family Partnership have taken White Sands Missile Range officials to court, contending they have been grossly overcharged by the missile range over the years for their congressionally-approved hunt. The Army locked the group out in 1996, after it refused to make any more payments until it received an accounting of how its reimbursements were spent. The case is currently in the Federal Court of Claims in Washington, D.C.

Besides the fascinating stories of what may have transpired inside the hill, Delonas’ group also has documented many artifacts from battles and of Indian life in the area.

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