12,000
years of hunting, gathering, raising, growing,
cooking, marketing &
Eating in New Mexico:
Heritage
Sites
A work in progress
In New Mexico
you will find places named Farmington,
Bloomfield, Fruitland, Pietown, Candy Kitchen,
Walnut, Abiquiu (chokecherry), Frijoles
(beans), Pinto (a type of bean),
Pinon (pinenut). Mountains in
the Land of Enchantment are named Sandia
(Watermelon) and Manzano (Apple).
There's Coffee Pot Canyon, Capulin
(wild chokecherry) volcano. Mora
(berry) is a river, valley and village. Pueblo
Pindi translates into Turkey Town an
early Indian settlement in what became Santa Fe.
Los Alamos Ranch School was appropriated
for the atomic weapons research center and city.
The world's first atomic bomb was detonated at
McDonald Ranch. Rio Rancho
(River Ranch) is the state's fastest growing city.
Socorro 's name recalls the place
where famished Spanish settlers traveling north
from Mexico received succor or sustenance from
the Indians of the area.
New Mexico is one of the most
multicultural and food historic places in the
USA. Due to the efforts of groups and individuals
New Mexcio's food heritage sites are being recognized
and preserved for public access. Aspects of the
state's food history in museum displays are educating
the public about the long history of eating in
the Land of Enchantment.
Much more could be done. Here region
by region is a partial list. (Many more listings
contained in The Guide to National & State
Register Sites: New Mexico's Historic Places,
edited by Marci L. Riskin)
NM Food Heritage Sites:
| NE | NW
| SW | SE
| Rio Grande Valley
|
Here are special reports on New
Mexico's major historic urban areas which each
feature a concentration of sites and museums with
food-themed displays that constitute:
Food Heritage
Communities: | Las
Cruces | Albuquerque
| Santa Fe |
NORTHEAST
CIMARRON:
historic ranching
center
Aztec Mill
Museum (1864)
St James Hotel
built in 1880 by Henri Lambert, once a personal
chef to presidents Lincoln and Grant.
CLAYTON: historic
ranching community
Eklund Hotel/Restaurant
CLOVIS
Blackwater
Draw Museum first opened
to the public in 1969 displays artifacts and exhibits
associated with the Blackwater Locality No. 1
Archaeological Site, one of the most important
archaeological sites in the New World. Over 13,000
years of site usage are described, from mammoth
hunting to modern culture.
Blackwater
Locality No. 1 is a National Historic
Landmark that is one of the most important archaeological
sites in the New World. This unique site documents
and interprets the earliest Paleoindian cultures
in North America. It is a research entity and
used as a reference point for Paleoindian Studies
in North America and the Southern High Plains.
Blackwater Locality No. 1 is also listed on the
National Register of Historic Places.
CAPULIN (Chokecherry)
Volcano National Monument
Wild chokecherry cultivation
area
COLONIAS
Part of the Anton
Chico Land Grant extablished in 1822. At that
point, Colonias de San Jose, unlike most other
Spanish settlements of the time, was laid out
in a grid rather than around a plaza. Today's
village contains 23 of the historic buildings,
all on the verge of ruination. Colonias is one
of three Anton Chico Land Grant settlements in
which 19th century Hispanic frontier traditions
endure.
FOLSOM
Folsom
Museum; Folsom
Site in 1928
"Folsom
Site" at Wild Horse Canyon, eight
miles west of Folsom, New Mexico is one of the
most widely known archaeological localities in
North America. It is routinely mentioned in archaeological
texts, regularly appears on maps of notable American
sites and, of course, served historically as the
type locality for the Folsom Paleoindian period
– a slice of time and a distinctive archaeological
culture dating from around 10,900 to around 10,200
years ago. Folsom is on the National Register
of Historic Places, it is a National Historic
Landmark, and it is a New Mexico State Monument.
Folsom
Museum (Folsom, New Mexico) is a community
effort to introduce the story of the nearby Folsom
site, where what became known as the Folsom
Culture (c. 10,900 years ago) was discovered in
1926. "Folsom Man" developed a smaller,
thinner, fluted spear point than Clovis type,
hunted big game, notably the huge bison ancestor
of the modern buffalo and used a spear-throwing
device called an atlatl (an Aztec word for “spear-thrower”).
Discovery of Folsom point in 1927 gave earliest
proof of humans in America.
FORT SUMNER
Goodnight/Loving Cattle Trail
HERMIT'S PEAK:
Italian immigrant, Giovanni Maria Agostini, lived
mainly on corn mush for four years starting in
1863. His sanctuary was just below the base of
the 10,000 foot mountain. He carved wooden religious
emblems that he exchanged in Montezuma for food.
LAS VEGAS:
Historic District
MORA (berry
in Spanish) VALLEY: historic
agricultural community
Cassidy General Merchandise
Store
Cassidy Mill
Cleveland Roller Mill Museum
Gordon/Sanchez Mill
Jose Olguin Barn & Corral
Complex
La Cueva: historic mill,
ranch and raspberry farm
St. Vrain's Mill
Constructed in 1864, this grinding
mill was owned and operated by Cerain St. Vrain.
Grinding the wheat grown in nearby valleys, helped
meet the demand for flour at nearby Fort Union.
The mill was also used to generate electricity
until early in the 20th century.
OCATE
J.P. Strong Store
PECOS PUEBLO
National Monument and Collections
PECOS RIVER VALLEY
Legends of Pecos Bill
including the story of the Perpetual Motion Ranch.
The ranch was on a conical mountain so that the
cattle grazed low on its sides in winter but climbed
higher in summer and so required little herding
by the cowboys. It was offered for sale to an
Englishman who, when he arrived with his sedate
wife and ebullient daughter, Sluefoot Sue, insisted
upon a count, and sat down to check off the number
as the cattle were driven past. The enraged cowboys
made up for the great discrepancy between the
actual number in the herd and that listed in the
contract of sale by driving the small herd around
and around the mountain while the buyer counted.
After one bald-faced steer had hobbled past a
dozen times, the Englishman asked how many of
that breed there were, and when told there were
twelve of that highly vauable strain, he signed
the deed and paid the money. Pecos Bill, hearing
what had occurred when he returned to the Perpetual
Motion Ranch, slipped away on his horse, Widow
Maker, and drove thousands of cattle from the
plain onto the ranch---more than enough to make
the count an honest one.
PORTALES:
Peanut production, 30
million pounds of the Valencia variety grown annually.
The legume is honored at the Peanut Valley Festival,
home of the "Peanut Olympics" every
October.
Windmill Collection:
60 mills collected and displayed by Portales resident
Bill Dalley
SAPELLO
Los Alamos Ranch House Historic
District
SPRINGER:
Historic Canadian River Canyon
orchards and gardens
In the late 1800's, Melvin Mills, an attorney
and rancher planted 14,000 trees---apple, peach,
pear, cherry, plum, walnut, almond and chestnut.
He also started garden plots with melons, tomatoes,
grapes and cabbages along a 10 mile long ribbon
of shoreline. Unintimidated by thousand food tall
canon walls and a steep gravel road leading to
the braided riverbed, Mills blasted underground
irrigation channels, constructed cisterns, a cider
press, bunkhouses and a stone mansion on the riverplain.
He hauled his crops to Springer where they were
shipped to Harvey Houses along the Santa Fe railroad.
The Mills Canyon Hotel, now in ruins, was a popular
vacation spoot and served a stagecoach line that
crossed the canyon here. In 1904, Mill's efforts
were washed away in a disastrous flood hat sent
raging waters through the canyon. All that remains
are partial stone walls of the hotel and a few
scraggly fruit trees. (source: Compass American
Guide to New Mexico by Nancy Harbert.)
WALTROUS (LA JUNTA):
Santa Fe Trail's two alternative routes
merged at this farming community.
Gregg Tavern-Stage Station
William Tipton Store
Phoenix Ranch
Samuel B. Watrous Ranch House
& Store
Santa Fe Trail Ruts
NORTHWEST
AZTEC
Aztec Museum & Pioneer
Village
BLOOMFIELD:
Cattle rustling history. Cattle
stolen by the Stockton gang were sold to army
posts or to markets, and the gang even operated
a butcher shop in Durango. At one time two score
ranchers of the San Juan Basin were in their saddles
day and night trying to safeguard their property.
Port Stockton, rustler gang leader was shot dead
in Bloomfield in 1881.
Bloomfield Irrigation Ditch:
Bloomfield settled down and became a prosperous
town, the center of prosperous farmlands. In 1906
land owners organized the Bloomfield Irrigation
District and built an irrigation canal 30 miles
long feeding San Juan River water into the fields
and orchards.
CHACO
CANYON: Museum and Interpretative
Center
image
The Chaco Collection contains approximately one
million artifacts from over 120 sites in Chaco
Canyon and the surrounding region. Because most
of the artifacts were systematically collected
and documented, the collections are extremely
valuable for scientific studies.
The Archive documents over 100
years of excavation in Chaco Canyon, and contains
approximately 300 linear feet of records, 30,000
photographs, 7,000 color slides, 600 glass lantern
slides, 2,000 maps, 1,000 manuscripts, and field
notes, reports, and other written records.
The objects in this exhibit represent
the range of materials in the Chaco Collection.
They give us insight into the remarkable achievements
of the Chacoan culture, and help us connect more
directly to the past.
CHAMA
Burns-Kelly Store
A regional landmark for more
than a century, this once-bustling general store
was built in 1886 by T.D. Burns and later owned
by Pat Kelly.
FARMINGTON
Development of the fruit industry
began in 1879, when William DLocke came here from
Colorado. On his second trip, he briught peach,
walnut and other seeds and later small fruit trees
including plum, apple, pear and necarine, as well
as blackberry and raspberry bushes. In a few years
there were many fine orchards.
FRUITLAND
Fruitland Trading Company
(Baah Diilid)
GALLUP
El
Rancho Hotel
The El Rancho Hotel was built
by Joe Massaglia in 1937 for R.E. "Griff"
Griffith. Originally, Griffith came to Gallup
to direct a film. He later returned to build the
El Rancho Hotel. He also managed the local Chief
Theater. From the 1930's to 1950's, the hotel
became a temporary home for many Hollywood stars.
It also became a stopping point for tourists driving
on old Route 66. The hotel is now protected by
the National Historic Preservation Society. This
historic hotel is continually cared for by Mr.
Ortega who has made it his personal hobby since
its purchase. The hotel is decorated and furnished
in the Old West rustic style. It is constructed
of original brick, ash tar stone, and huge wooden
beams with a pitched wood shale roof. The large
portico overlooks the entrance and reflects the
Southern Plantation style. Entering through the
solid wood doors, one views the grandeur of the
lobby. The floor is brick, inlaid in a basket
weave pattern, and the light fixtures are made
of stamped aluminum. The stone fireplace cove
is surrounded by handmade wooden staircases that
spiral to the second floor balcony. The balcony
encircles the lobby and displays original photos
of the hotel and many autographed pictures of
the Hollywood stars. Mr. Armand Ortega has recaptured
the hotel's splendor and charm of yesterday.
GRANTS
In 1950, Navajo sheep rancher
Paddy Martinez found a strange-looking yellow
rock and , turning it in to authorities, sparked
the discovery of a vast number of uranium deposits
in the area. Until the 1970's, when the mines
closed, Grants was considered the uranium capital
of the US.
MANUELO CANYON
Archaeological
Site
STONE LAKE
Gojiiya Feast Day, Jicarilla
Apache Nation
Blending religion and revelry,
Gojiiya celebrates a variety of important events,
including thanksgiving for a bountiful harvest.
ZUNI Pueblo
Hawikuh Ruin
SOUTHWEST
RESERVE
Bat
Cave is an archaeological site
in Catron County, New Mexico, in the American
southwest. The name actually refers to a complex
of rockshelters, occupied from about 10,000 years
ago up to the present, with evidence for early
corn agriculture. While radiocarbon dates have
placed the corn kernels recovered from Bat Cave
to 3500-3000 years ago (the corn was originally
dated much earlier), Bat Cave still has the earliest
corn in the region. Excavated by R.S. MacNeish
in the late 1940s, the corn was examined by Mary
Eubanks.
GILA CLIFF Dwelling National
Monument
MOGOLLON
Coate's and Howard General
Store
PIETOWN
Pietown
started with a filling station whose owner
had taken up a mining claim on this site. His
third occupation was baking pies, hense the name.
This was a traditional marketing point for pinon
nuts gathered in this area by Indians who sold
to traders or wholesalers.
SILVER CITY
image
credit
Western
New Mexico University Museum houses one
of the largest permanent displays of Mimbres Pottery
and culture in the world. Fleming Hall,
the museum's building, was built in 1916-1917
and designed by Trost and Trost Architectural
Firm from El Paso. The original function of Fleming
Hall was to serve as a gymnasium and science hall
for the New Mexico Normal School. In 1974 Fleming
Hall was opened to the public as Western New Mexico
University Museum.
SOUTHEAST
ALAMAGORDO
Jean Jacques Rochas Farm
now part of Oliver Lee State Park.
Nicknamed "Frenchy" Jean Jacques Rochas
arrived at Dog Canyon in the mid-1800's, set out
fruit trees, built up a herd of cattle, and watered
crops form an irrigation flume, which he and Oliver
Lee build together. But Frenchy was killed in
front of his cabin on Christmas Day, 1894 in a
dispute over cattle. The visitor center includes
displays on the natural history of the canyon,
as well as, artifacts from prior Indian cultures
and Frenchy's life. A trail allows visitors to
admire the rock walls the Frenchman built up the
steep slopes and evidence of his orchards, gardens
and cabin.
Oliver Lee's Dog Canyon Ranch
Oliver Milton Lee (1865-1941) had a colorful career
in New Mexico history. Experience life of late
19th-century settlers at Lee's ranch headquarters,
now restored and authentically furnished. The
ranch house is open to the public by guided tour
only.
ARTESIA
Named for its many wells in the
area. Cattle baron John Chisum established a ranch
here.
CARLSBAD
Bat flight breakfast
The hundreds of thousands of
Mexican freetail bats that reside in Carlsbad
Caverns from May until mid-October is celebrated
with an annual breakfast the second Thursday in
August from 5 to 7 am.
Carlsbad Caverns underground
cafe
Photo
source
"Thanks to the presence
of a huge subterranean cafeteria, the 2 million
visitors to Carlsbad Caverns National Park each
year can gawk at stalagmites and stalactites while
nursing a cold sandwich and soda.
But the crumbs may not fall where they have been.
The National Park Service and conservationists
are going against a chamber of commerce and the
New Mexico congressional delegation to decide
the fate of Carlsbad’s sandwich shop. Operated
by park concessionaire Cavern Supply Co., the
lunchroom was built 67 years ago, 750 feet beneath
the broiling southern New Mexico desert, to feed
weary tourists walking through the cave by torchlight.
While some park visitors celebrate the 700-seat
dining hall as a cultural phenomenon as enticing
as the cave itself, critics say it is an inappropriate
relic. Cave experts also say food particles are
attracting a menagerie of exotic organisms that
displace cave-dwelling creatures that have evolved
over thousands of years." (Source: High
Country News.org )
Historic Water Reclamation
Project
The Spanish started irrigating the land
when they settled in the Pecos River Basin around
1600. Irrigation in the early 19th century flourished
under the Spanish land grant colonization system
and was continued after 1850 by the American settlers.
The early irrigation systems were community ditches
which diverted the normal flow of the river without
the benefit of permanent diversion structures.
In 1888, a large ranch was located in the general
area of the present Carlsbad Project. The ranch
manager initiated the first large-scale irrigation
attempt. Since the natural characteristics of
the area required a more comprehensive treatment
than the enterprise could afford, it failed. For
the next 17 years, various private interests attempted
to make this project financially profitable, but
without success. Learn
more here.
DEXTER
New Mexico Dairy Day
features milk-carton boat races, and an ice cream
eating contest in early June.
LINCOLN
"Lincoln is perhaps the
best preserved example in the entire West of a
frontier cow town. Lincoln, originally La
Placita del Rio Bonito, "the little
town of the beautiful river," was founded
about 1854 by Hispanic farmers from the Rio Grande
Valley, who took advantage of U.S. military protection
from the Apaches to farm these fertile lands.
In 1873 there were about 100 people in town, with
only one Anglo family. By 1880 thee were sixty
structures including the Murphy-Dolan Store, built
in 1874, and the Tunstall-McQueen Store, built
in 1878. Lincoln was the focus of the Lincoln
County Cattle War of 1878, in which the rival
Murphy-Dolan and tunstall-McSween factions fought
for control of southeastern New Mexico's new ranching
economy." (Source: Riskin, Marci L., editor,
The Guide to National & State Register
Sites: New Mexico's Historic Places)
LOVING
Lea
County Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage
Center portrays the history of Lea County
as seen from the perspective of Indians, buffalo
hunters, soldiers, open-range homesteaders, and
settlers. Exhibits spotlight outstanding county
ranchers and rodeo performers.
MALAGA:
named for the abundance of sweet
wine grapes once grown nearby.
McDONALD
RANCH: now know as Trinity Site---the
first atom bomb test blast; it was at the ranch
where the plutonium core of the bomb was assembled.
The ranch house was built in 1913 by Franz Schmidt,
a German immigrant, and an addition ws aconstructed
on the north side in the 1930's by the McDonald
family. Abandoned in 1942, when the land was used
for WW2 bombing crews, the house stood empty until
the Manhattan Projet personnel arrived in early
1945.
NOGAL
Aguayo Familoy Homestead
ROSWELL
Chisum Ranch
John Chisum, a failed rancher in Texas, moved
to the Pecos Valley of New Mexico and became operator
of the world's largest cattle herd. During the
years 1870 to 1881 his ranch extended some 200
miles.
Diamond A Ranch House and
Bunkhouse
Bill & Birdie Dee Eccles
Farmhouse
Flying H Ranch
Millhiser/Baker Farmhouse
Milne/Bush Ranch, Ranch House
and Barn
Slaughter/Hill Ranch Log
House
Tweedy Family Farmhouse
Urton Orchards Farmhouse
& Milkhouse
RUIDOSO
Dowlin's
Old Mill
The historic Dowlin's OLD MILL, the oldest building
in Ruidoso, was built in 1868 by Captain Paul
Dowlin and his brother, Will. "Captain Paul",
as he was known by the locals, was brought to
New Mexico to serve at Fort Stanton during the
Civil War.
The Old Mill was a grist mill, saw mill, bean
thrasher, black smith shop, general store and
(legend has it) a place to purchase, "moonshine",
from 1868 to the turn of the 20th Century. The
town of Ruidoso was actually called "Dowlin's
Mill" in the early days.
For many years the Old Mill was
in a state of ruin until Carmon and Leona Mae
Phillips renovated the collapsing structure. Together,
they virtually saved a historic New Mexico landmark,
which they opened as a gift shop in 1950.
One of the few remaining large-scale
working water wheels in the Southwest, it still
grinds flour and corn meal on the premises.
Hubbard
Museum of the American West
This beautiful museum features
exhibits on food, farming and ranching traditions
in the American West. Including a section on cowboy
foods and chuckwagons. But its main focus is on
the horse. Throughout history, the horse has played
a dramatic role in the exploration and expansion
of the cultures of the world. More than just a
collection of wagons and photos, the Hubbard Museum
of the American West chronicles the contributions
of the horse, a remarkable animal. The museum
has gained prominence among museums located in
the Southwest. The awesome equine sculpture by
Dave McGary, "Free Spirits at Noisy Water,"
graces the museum entrance. It has a richly diverse
collection of fine art, family heirlooms, and
western memorabilia.
Annual
Chuckwagon Cookoff
TATUM:
Buffalo hunt site
Several rock mounds along the
Mescalero Ridge between Tatum and Roswell are
believed to have been buffalo traps used in the
days before the Indians had horses. The most primitive
and dangerous method of hunting buffalo was on
foot. Wearing wolf skins, the Indian stalked his
prey until he was within bow shot. This slow and
tedious method ws succeeded by trapping. Wearing
a buffalo pelt, the Indian attracted the animals
by his antics. As they moved nearer the edge of
the cliff, the Indian darted behind a mound for
protection, and other Indians who had crept up
behind the buffalo frightened them, causing them
to stampede over the edge to their destruction.
A third method came in with the horse, when the
Indian covered with a buffalo robe, worked his
way into the herd and killed several before there
was a stampede. Later, some Indians used the rifle
but the majority relied on the spear or bow and
arrow.
Women's work began once the buffalo
were killed. They used sharp stones or bone knives
to do the skinning and quartering. If the kill
had been large, they were busy for days taking
care of the meat and every part of the carcass.
If the weather was cool, much of the meat, after
a few days' cooling, was folded in leather blankets,
to be carried away to their permanent home or
stored in underground pits for future use. When
the weather was warm, they sliced it almost paper
thin, and smoked and dried it in the sun. This
was called "charqui" or jerked meat.
Dried meat was often pounded with fat and seasoned
with herbs and berried to make pemmican. (source:
New Mexico: a guide to the colorful state,
compiled by the Writer's Program of the WPA, 1940)
TULAROSA:
Historic District
Pistachio groves
RIO
GRANDE VALLEY
South
HATCH:
chile pepper
farming community
LAS
CRUCES
Chile Pepper
Research Center & Garden
Farm &
Ranch Museum
Roberto's
Restaurant
Whole Enchilada
Festival
MESILLA:
historic farming
village
Stahlmann Farms: pecan groves
Central
ALBUQUERQUE
Champion Grocery Building
(622-626 Tijeras NW)
Cottage Bakery (Spot
Ice Cream Company---2000 Central Ave, SE)
Creighton Foraker Farmhouse
(905 Menaul Blvd., NW)
Indian Pueblo Cultural Center
& Museum
Manzano Day School (formerly
La Glorieta)
La Glorieta, a focal point of
regional activity for more than a century, is
among the mot important historical residences
in the city. Two wings of the building date back
to the Civil War period. With subsequent additions,
the four-sided adobe encircled a "placita"
(little plaza), and served as home to such influential
farm and business families as the Hunings and
Fergussons.
Maxwell Museum of Anthropology
La Posada de Albuquerque
formerly the Albuquerque Hilton built by New Mexico
native Conrad Hilton in 1939.
Los Poblanos Agricultural
District
Pig 'n Calf Lunch (University
Cafe at 2106 Central Ave, SE)
Robert Dietz Farm
ACOMA:
USA's oldest continuously inhabited
community & agricultural heritage site
Sky City Museum & Interpretive Center
BELEN
P & M Farm Museum
Harvey House (Valencia
County Historical Society Museum)
Matanza: Valencia County
Hispano Chamber of Commerce annual community butchering
tradition (see New Mexico Magazine/January
2004)
Valencia County Flour Mill
A wood-frame and tin mill erected
in 1914, when flour milling came to area. Wheat,
a staple village crop in the 1880's, remaining
a primary regional grain until 1930.
BERNALILLO:
historic district
Upper class Spanish colonists
received large land grants from the King of Spain.
The Gonzalez-Bernal family owned the largest spread
and the town was named for them. They along with
the Montoyas, Bacas, Castillos and Pereas
lived in 40 room homes and protected
their privacy by fencing their immaculately kept
grounds with high adoe walls. Inside their houses
were finely carved tables and tall cupboards that
were hauled up from Mexico. They ate with silver
knives and forks, sometimes off silver plates.
These families hired paisanos to tend the new
crops they introduced to the region, such as grapes,
Castillian wheat, plums and peaches, and to look
after their vast herds of cattle and sheep.
These field workers, along with servants
and their families, lived in Las Cocinitas (Little
Kitchens) a barrio of squat adobe houses whose
ruins may be seen today at the south end of Bernalillo.
Bernalillo Mercantile Company
(1871)
Kuaua
Pueblo ruin & murals at Coronado State Monument
Kuaua kiva containing reproduction
of murals (left);
one of the murals on display at nearby museum (right)
Spanish explorer Coronado and
his party camped near the Tiwa pueblo of Kuaua
("evergreen") in 1540. By the time that
Oñate arrived in this area in 1598, the
village was largely abandoned. The Visitor's Center
contains exhibits on the Rio Grande Valley's prehistory
and history. Murals, which were removed from a
kiva at the site, are now on display in the museum.
The kiva where the murals were
recovered from has been rebuilt and is open to
the public with reproductions of the original
murals adorning its walls.
Range
Cafe: history of a community eating spot
The Range Cafe debuted in September
of 1992 in a funky, old adobe building at 681
Camino del Pueblo, main street Bernalillo. The
locals anxiously awaited to see what two gringos
had up their sleeves. That first day was so busy
that the restaurant ran out of food and could
not open for dinner. It took about a month before
things settled into a groove and confidence was
built enough to tackle the evening shift.
Before long, people spread the
word about this great little place in Bernalillo
serving ordinary food made extraordinarily well.
A fire destroyed the entire place in 1995. The
Range Cafe was now homeless. What happened over
the next two months is a tribute to the kindness
of the people who were considered the Range Family.
Almost immediately people came
to help clean up the smoke damaged furnishings.
Food was delivered to those who came to help.
Offers poured in for anything and everything that
could be considered help. A benefit was organized
to help rebuild The Range. It was a movable feast
sponsored by three local bed and breakfasts. Hor’s
deurves were served at Hacienda Placitas, dinner
at Hacienda Grande and dessert at Hacienda Vargas.
There was an art auction with art donated by local
artists, whose art still adorn the walls at The
Range. Hundreds of people showed up and when it
was through over ten thousand dollars was raised.
Although the amount was no where near what was
necessary to rebuild, the confidence it gave to
go on was priceless.
The next challenge was where
does The Range go from here? The search began
again for a new location. One day, Antoinette
Silva asked if The Range would go look at the
soda fountain her and her sister Rose were thinking
about renting. At first it was thought she meant
just the soda fountain. Then after looking at
the space it was realized it was not just the
soda fountain, but the hardware store, grocery
store and auto parts store their family had run
since the 1960’s.
The building was built around 1905 and was once
used as the warehouse of the Bernalillo Mercantile.
Throughout the years it was home to a jewelry
manufacturing company, a bus stop and the Lovato
Drug Store. The original tin ceiling is still
in place and there are still remnants of the old
drug store. It was realized right away that this
would be the new home of The Range Cafe. In April
of 1996 a deal was struck and by December of that
year The Range Cafe officially re-opened for the
third time at 925 Camino del Pueblo in downtown
Bernalillo.
CORRALES
Casa San Isidro
Casa San Isidro entrance gate (source)
Prior to moving to Corrales,
Ward Alan and Shirley Jolly Minge began accumulating
scarce Hispanic New Mexican artifacts that would
have otherwise been lost to time. To accommodate
their growing collection, the Minges, in 1952
sought out the perfect location for their new
home. They found a venerable old adobe house in
the Village of Corrales located across the road
from the old San Ysidro Church. The church and
the house is named for the patron saint of farming,
San Ysidro Labrador. The property once belonged
to the descendants of don Felipe Gutiérrez,
recipient of the Bernalillo Township Grant in
1704.
kitchen (source)
Without delay, the Minges began
a restoration and reconstruction project on the
house, taking nearly four decades to achieve the
present result which is a replication of an 18th
century rancho complete with a small family chapel,
a central plazuela and an enclosed corral area
to the rear of the main dwelling.
Cookhouse (source)
The Gutiérrez home, dating
from the 1870s, consisted of four rooms organized
around a central hallway. This floor plan was
characteristic of the Greek Revival style then
popular in the eastern United States. Hispanic
and Anglo residents enthusiastically adopted the
floor plan but built their version of our traditional
adobe brick with flat roofs supported by vigas,
creating a new "Territorial Style" of
architecture which linked Spanish Colonial and
American house types.
Sometime in the 1890s, the Gutiérrez
family added two more rooms, bringing the total
number to six and creating an L-shaped facade
reminiscent once again of typical New Mexican
homes of the Spanish Colonial period. This, then,
was the extent of the house when the Minges acquired
it in 1952.
Learn more about Casa San Isidro
here.
ESTANCIA
Historic agricultural area
LOS LUNAS
Luna Mansion Restaurant (NM
state landmark building)
Teofilo Restaurant (NM
state landmark building)
MANZANO (apple in Spanish)
Traditional apple orchards
planted by Franciscan friars in 17th century
MAGDALENA: one
of the last cattle baron strongholds in the state
and site of a traditional rodeo for non-professionals
MOUNTAINAIR
Pinto Bean traditional production
center
SAN ANTONIO
Birthplace of Conrad Hilton founder of legendary
hotel chain
Owl Cafe
SOCORRO
Plaza & historic district
Hammel Museum features
the history of the Illinois Brewing Company. Jacob
Hammel settled in St. Louis with his friend Eberhard
Anheuser, who wanted him to go into partnership
in a brewery. Hammel decided to start his own
brewery, the Illinois Brewing Company, instead.
Anheuser's business became the Anheuser-Busch
Company. Hammel's sons brought the family business
to Socorro in the 1880's, where it fourished until
shut down by Prohibition.
El Camino Real International
Heritage Center
TIJERAS
Tijeras
Pueblo Site & Interpretative Center
North
ALCALDE
Onate Monument & Agriculture
History Exhibit
ABIQUIU
Ghost Ranch
BRAZOS
El Barranco Community Ditch
The village of Los Brazos and the nearby villages
of Los Ojos, La Puente, Tierra Amarilla and Plaza
Blanca are among the least-altered 19th century
Hispanic New Mexico farm communities. The network
of seven irrigation systems serving these villages
was and is vital to the local government and economy.
(New Mexico's Historic Places by Marci
L. Riskin)
Samuel Sanchez Barns
CHAMA: Cumbres
& Toltec Railroad (former cattle transport)
CHIMAYO: Plaza
del Cerro
CORDOVA: Trujillo
Mill
DIXON: historic
orchard & farming community
Community Seed Exchange,
annual April event
Jeff Spicer in his newsletter
The
Coop explains:
"One, we provide (free)
seed brought and donated by local growers and
seed companies. It might be surplus seed of commercial
quality, or it may not meet commercial standards
in some way. But at this price, are you complaining?
Last year we had several varieties of squash,
melons, beans, gourds, lettuce, tomatoes, greens,
leeks, chile, flowers, and more in generous quantities.
You can take just a few seeds, or any amount that
you will actually plant. It is a great way to
try something new without buying a whole packet,
or to get gardening on the cheap. It is also a
way to offer seed you have bought but will not
use to other growers.
And secondly, we provide a meeting
place for growers to talk about and share the
seeds of special varieties they have grown themselves.
And this is where it gets interesting. What makes
these seeds special? A good many of them are not
available commercially, and each has its unique
qualities. It might be an heirloom variety, maintained
by local growers for generations, uniquely adapted
to growing conditions in the area. Or it could
be a variety that has been dropped by commercial
sources, that still tastes, or grows, or stores
(or all of these) better than the “improved”
introductions that drive the market. It might
be an orphan, an edible plant or herb that has
been overlooked. Or a rare variety from another
part of the world. Whatever it is, the grower
treasures it enough to save the seeds, share them
with us, and tell us why they love it so. We welcome
all edible plants, and flowers and herbs to the
exchange.
Last year’s treasures included
a blue corn from Taos, and Rex Salvador’s
white meal corn from Acoma Pueblo. I grew three
rows of the white corn, bought a stone mill on
e-Bay, and we are enjoying the best cornbread,
hoecakes, and grits we have ever tasted. The Culinary
Arts chefs at Santa Fe Community College love
it too. There were sacks of chile, from Ana Mae
Salazar in Velarde, and from Ojo Caliente. Big
Jerusalem artichokes from Taos (I hesitated and
did not get any). Five kinds of melon and three
squashes from Acoma (two of the melons grew very
well for me and tasted sublime, and the pink pumpkins
took over a garden in El Bosque). Growers offered
seeds of rare herbs, a short season butternut
squash, dye plants, mountain orach, Greeley onions,
Pepa de Zapallo and Taos Pueblo beans, and scores
more, every one a gem.
How do you take part? Show up;
bring seeds or plants to share if you have them
but don’t worry if you don’t; browse
the seeds and select any that interest you; chat
with the growers; and contribute $1 if you can
spare it."
EMBUDO STATION:
"Located along the banks
of the Rio Grande between Espanola and Taos is
the remains of the railroad station at Embudo.
The word embudo means "funnel" in Spanish
and it describes how the Rio Grande valley narrows
into a deep canyon at the site. Some of the locals
pronounce it Em-BEUW-doe, but most just say Em-BOO-doe.
This was a helper station at
the base of the 4 percent grade that climbs out
of the canyon and on to Barranca. Locating engineers
found this the least difficult grade out of the
valley and if you have ever been north into the
massive Rio Grande gorge then you will know why.
A Depot, Freight House, Turntable
and Water Tank were all here at one time. Crews
could get a hot meal at the Eating House and catch
some sleep in the Bunk House. The turntable was
a concrete walled pit with a steel girder bridge."
Continue reading about Embudo
Station here.
Historic Chile Line railroad
"Railroads loved colorful
names for the routes and engines they operated,
it helped to attract riders. The Chili Line was
named for the now popular ristras (bunches of
red chili peppers) hanging on the front porches
and walls of the houses along the route.
It was always General Palmer's
the intent for the Denver & Rio Grande to
reach Mexico. Even after court rulings with the
AT&SF limited the D&RG expansion to 90
miles south of Conejos, a close neighbor of Antonito,
the railroad continued its effort to reach Santa
Fe. Construction of the Chili line coincided with
construction of the branch line to Durango in
1880. Some records indicate there were more resources
allocated to the Chili line than the Durango route.
Espanola, New Mexico was the
end of the line for the D&RG name. Santa Fe,
a scant 34 miles away, could not be accessed directly
without General Palmer forfeiting his exclusive
rights to the rich ore districts in the Colorado
mountains. Therefore, a separate railroad was
established in Santa Fe, to connect with Espanola
and extend south to Albuquerque, NM.
The from Santa Fe was first named
the Texas, Santa Fe and Northern. In 1886 the
TSF&N was in deep financial trouble and was
reorganized before completing construction to
Espanola in 1887. Shortly after completion the
railroad was again in foreclosure and then operated
as the Santa Fe Southern until purchased by the
Rio Grande & Santa Fe (a wholly owned subsidiary
of the D&RG) in 1896.
The D&RG eventually bought
the line to Santa Fe and incorporated it into
the Espanola Branch in 1908. However, no great
wealth was ever freighted out of the route to
Santa Fe. One of General Palmers grandest schemes
became a dud. The Espanola Branch was basically
a low traffic passenger route with services to
the neighboring farming communities. During 60
years of operation the routine changed very little.
In 1941 the narrow gauge Chili Line was closed
due to low usage." (Source
Denver & Rio Grande Railroad website)
The railroad was the main link
with the outside world for the many small villages
and farms in this canyonland area. Farm supplies
and produce including the chile harvest were transported
in both directions via the railroad.
Learn more about the Chili Line
Railroad here.
Historic Gauging Station.
The name Embudo (Spanish for funnel) was given
to the narrow canyon of the fast-flowing Rio Grande.
The U.S. Geological Survey in 1888 built the nation's
first research center for the study of river flow,
temperature, evaporation and depth. The station
was also a training center for hydrologists and
represents a significant advance in the science
of hydrology. (Riskin)
ENSENADA:
Community Ditch
Ramon Jaramillo House and
Barn
Miguel Valdez Barn
ESPANOLA
Guaje Water/Soil Control
Site
GALISTEO
San Lazaro Pueblo Archaeological
Site
GLORIETA
Pigeon's Ranch
JEMEZ SRRINGS
Borrego Mesa Agricultural
Site
LOS ALAMOS AREA
BANDELIER
is best known for mesas, sheer-walled
canyons, and several thousand ancestral Pueblo
dwellings found among them, Bandelier also includes
over 23,000 acres of designated Wilderness. The
best-known archeological sites, in Frijoles (beans
in Spanish) Canyon near the Visitor Center, were
inhabited by farmers from the 1100s into the mid-1500s,
and earlier groups had used the area for thousands
of years. The park was named for Adolph Bandelier,
a 19th-century anthropologist. Ceremonial cave
is thought to have held tethered turkeys used
for feathers and food.
LOS ALAMOS
Historic Los Alamos Ranch
School founded in 1918 by Ashley Pond who
believed that standard book-learning was balanced
by having boys learn to farm, ride horses, take
care of stock, cut fire wood and do other hard
work required by ranch life.
Otowi Bridge:
Edith Warner's Tea House
LOS LUCEROS: Hacienda
"Los Luceros, in a floodplain
about 300 yards from the Rio Grande in the middle
of a commercial apple orchard, is an historic
ranch or hacienda that includes four historic
structures around a two -story double-galleried
house with Greek Revival syle decorative detailing.
This main house probably incorporates parts of
the 18th century rancho of CAptian Sebastian Martin
Serrano, a leader of the reconquest and may be
on a prehistoric sitea as well (evidenced by ceramics
dating from around the 15th century). Mary Cabot
Wheelright, art collector and founder of Santa
Fe's Wheelright Museum, acquired Los Luceros in
the 1920's and carried out some Pueblo Revival
style remodelling.
The historic ranch complex is
one of he most complete haciendas in northern
New Mexico was a territory of the United States.
Various changes of ownership in the late 20th
century left the buildings in a state of disrepair."
(Source: Riskin, Marci L., editor, The Guide
to National & State Register Sites: New Mexico's
Historic Places)
LOS OJOS: traditional
sheep ranching community
Parkview Community Ditch
Parkview Fish Hatchery
A complex constructed in 1932
to 1933 as a WPA project devised to breed fish.
Designed in decorative Beaux Arts style, the hatchery
produces 7 million rainbow trout eggs annually,
as well as brown trout and kokanee and coho salmon.
Parkview Grocery (T. D. Burns
Store)
PENASCO
Laureano Cordova Mill
POJOAQUE
Bouquet Ranch
RANCHOS DE TAOS:
historic agricultural community
St. Vran's Mill Site
SAN ANTONIO
"San Antonio may be but
a blip on the map, but its storied and pioneering
history make this sparsely populated agricultural
community arguably one of New Mexico's most important
towns.
In 1629, San Antonio was the
site on which Franciscan friars planted the first
vineyard (for sacramental wine) in New Mexico
(in defiance of Spanish law prohibiting the growing
of grapes for wine in the new world.)
San Antonio was the birthplace
of Conrad Hilton, founder of the ubiquitous Hilton
Hotels
San Antonio was also the gateway
to the Trinity Site in which the first atomic
bomb was detonated in 1945." (source: Gil
Garduño of Gil's
Thrilling Web Site)
The Owl Cafe
"While these events are
historically significant, they are also inextricably
bound by one common element--the uncommonly ordinary
facade that houses the extraordinary, world-famous
Owl Cafe.
Conrad Hilton's father once owned
the saloon in which the bar in the Owl Cafe once
held prominence and presumably sold the fruit
of the vine whose progenitors may have been among
New Mexico's original grape stocks. According
to local lore, the fathers of the nuclear age
spent much of their free time cavorting at the
Owl Cafe where original owner Jose Miera installed
a grill and started crafting the green chile cheeseburgers
that would ultimately achieve unprecedented acclaim.
Ostensibly, the restaurant was
named the Owl because legal gambling was conducted
at all hours of the night in the back of the restaurant,
ergo by "night owls." Today feathered
fowl are still important to San Antonio's local
economy as thousands of bird watchers flock to
the nearby Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge to
crane their necks for a glimpse of geese, ducks
and cranes. The Owl Cafe offers welcome respite
from the rigors of bird-watching.
Rowena Baca, a descendent of
the Owl Cafe's founder and current proprietor
of the Owl Cafe, holds on to tradition, preparing
the world-famous green chile cheeseburger in much
the same way as her grandfather did. The meat
is ground on the premises, patties are hand-formed
and the ingredients (mayo, lettuce, tomato, pickles,
onion cheese and the world famous San Antonio
green chile) are unfailingly fresh. On a double
meat burger, the succulent meat and melted cheese
bulge out beyond the buns. The meat positively
breaks apart (the consequences of not using filler)
and its juices make consuming one a lip-smacking,
multi-napkin affair. The green chile is as near
to green chile nirvana as you'll find on any burger
in New Mexico. Non-natives might find it a bit
hot, but locals think it's just right.
Another Owl tradition you can't
help but notice is all the dollar bills tacked
on the restaurant's walls. Patrons leave messages
or write their names on dollar bills then tack
them on any available free space. Once a year,
the money is collected and given to charity with
more than $7,000 donated thus far.
In 2003, Jane and Michael Stern,
rated the Owl Cafe's green chile cheeseburger
on Epicurious.Com as one of the top ten burgers
in America--lavish praise indeed for one of New
Mexico's historic gems. It has garnered similar
acclaim by other notable critics, having transcended
the generations by sticking to a time-tested formula
of providing great food at reasonable prices.
Disputably there may be better green chile cheeseburgers
out there, but there are none more famous."
(source: Gil Garduño in Gil's
Thrilling Web Site)
SAN LORENZO
Acklin Store
SANTA CLARA PUEBLO
Puye Cliff Dwellings
SANTA
FE AREA
Acequia Madre
Acequias (ditches) played a critical role
in the early history of Santa Fe. By cutting off
the water supply from the Acequia de la Muralla,
which ran along the north wall of the city, Pueblo
Indians forced the Spanish colonists to evacuate
the Palace of the Governors in 1680. Using a similar
strategy 13 years later, Vargas regained control
of the city. Although little remains of that main
ditch, the Acequia Madre, on the south side of
the Rio de Santa Fe, still flows when the irrigation
gates are opened. This site is listed on the State
Register of Cultural Properties and the National
Register of Historic Places.
Bishop's Lodge: historic
inn, restaurants, apricot tree and orchards
EcoVersity teaches sustainable
food and life systems and is located in the historic
farming community of Agua Fria.
La Fonda Inn
Museum of Fine Arts
features food-related murals and art.
Museum of Indian Arts and
Culture includes a pueblo kitchen, Apache
wikiup and a Navajo hogan. The adjoining research
facility Laboratory of Anthropology sponsors the
annual Sun Mountain Gathering with exhibits and
demonstrations of Indian technology, food production
and cooking.
Museum of International Folk
Art features folk art much of which is food
related.Museo Cultural de Santa Fe offers cooking
lessons that teach history and food awareness.
Palace of the Governors Museum
displays farming and cooking implements that span
the history of Santa Fe.
El
Rancho de los Golondrinas is a living history
museum
The New Mexico "Williamsburg"
is located on 200 acres in a rural farming
valley just south of Santa Fe, New Mexico. The
museum, dedicated to the heritage and culture
of Spanish Colonial New Mexico, opened in 1972.
Original colonial buildings on the site date from
the early 18th century. In addition, historic
buildings from other parts of northern New Mexico
have been reconstructed at Las Golondrinas. Villagers
clothed in the styles of the times show how life
was lived in early New Mexico. Special festivals
and theme weekends offer visitors an in-depth
look into the celebrations, music, dance and many
other aspects of life in the period when this
part of the United States was ruled by Spain and
Mexico.
Los
Golondrinas park map
Santa Fe Children's Museum
features a vegetable garden and rain water irrigation
systems.
Santa Fe Farmers Market
Tesuque Village Market
Wheelwright Museum of the
Amercian Indian
TIERRA AMARILLA
The village and isolated farmhouses
of Tierra Amarilla are among the best preserved
examples of late 19th century Hispanic New Mexico's
settlement patterns, folk architecture and building
techniques.
TRAMPAS (traps
in Spanish)
TRUCHAS (trout
in Spanish) film site of Milagro Beanfield
War
TAOS
Ceran
St. Vrain (1798-1890) was a Frenchman born
in St. Louis who settled in Taos in 1860's. He
was a successful businessman, farm and mill operator.
His hacienda, which contained many thouands of
acres under a Spanish grant, followed the lavish
traditions of French and Spanish hospitality.
Scores of servants, former Virginia plantation
slaves, as well as captured Indian children who
had grown up in the household, served the St.
Vrains.
Historic Taos
Inn
Kit Carson
Home & Museum
The Hacienda
de los Martinez
Martinez
Hacienda Museum
The Hacienda de los Martinez
is one of the few northern New Mexico style, late
Spanish Colonial period, "Great Houses"
remaining in the American Southwest. Built in
1804 by Severino Martin (later changed to Martinez),
this fortress-like building with massive adobe
walls became an important trade center for the
northern boundary of the Spanish Empire. The Hacienda
was the final terminus for the Camino Real which
connected northern New Mexico to Mexico City.
The Hacienda also was the headquarters for an
extensive ranching and farming operation.
Architectural rendering of Martinez
Hacienda (source)
Today the Hacienda's twenty-one
rooms surrounding two courtyards provide the visitor
with a rare glimpse of the rugged frontier life
and times of the early 1800s. Additionally, regularly
scheduled demonstrations present the continuing
traditions of northern New Mexico.
Learn more about this food heritage
site here.
Taos Pueblo
VELARDE: traditional
vegetable & fruit growing area
North
of Taos
ARROYO HONDA:
Turley Farm, Mill &
Distillery
In 1830, Simeon Turley established
a prosperous cattle and sheep ranch. He also planted
acres of corn and wheat. Turley dammed the Rio
Hondo, built a grist mill and hired Hispanic settlers
and Taos Pueblo Indians to work for him. He was
probably best known for the "Taos Lightning"
that he distilled. This moonshine often was the
cause of disruption at fiestas in northern New
Mexico. During the uprising of 1847, Turley escaped
after a two day battle at his ranch, during which
his mill was burned. He sought refuge at a neighboring
ranch, only to be killed there by his pursuers.
COSTILLA VALLEY:
Sangre
de Cristo Agricultural Producers Coop
QUESTA
D.H. Lawrence Ranch
Lawrence ranch house (photo: Rick
Scibelli Jr. for The New York Times)
On May 5, 1924, when D. H. Lawrence
and his wife Frieda moved to the Kiowa Ranch,
two dwellings and a small barn existed on the
property. Of the two, Lawrence and Frieda chose
the Homesteader's Cabin, the largest house, as
their mountain home. English painter and Lawrence
disciple, Dorothy Brett lived in the smallest
cabin.
The cabin features three rooms
-- a kitchen/dining area, a large middle room
and a bedroom -- and was probably built sometime
during the later part of the 19th century by John
Craig, who homesteaded the land in the 1880s.
Ponderosa pines cut from the property were used
to build this and the other cabins. An adobe plaster,
a mixture of mud, straw and water, can be seen
between the pine logs. The west wall of the Homesteader's
Cabin features a striking picture of a buffalo
painted in 1935 by the Taos Pueblo artist Trinidad
Archuleta. Directly south of the cabin is the
meadow that was created when the trees were cleared.
This is also where Mary and William McClure, the
second owners of the ranch, grazed their angora
goats at the turn of the 20th century.
When Lawrence, Frieda and Brett
arrived they found the Homesteader's Cabin and
other ranch buildings in a sad state of disrepair.
Lawrence, with the help of three Taos Pueblo Indians
and a local carpenter, spent May and part of June
1924 repairing the buildings. The chimney of this
cabin was rebuilt with adobe bricks and all the
buildings were restored and reroofed. Lawrence
even climbed over the tin roof on a hot day with
a wet handkerchief over his mouth to clear out
the rats' nests. It was in this cabin that Lawrence
worked on his manuscripts with typing duties shouldered
by Lady Brett since Lawrence did not know how.
Learn more about the Lawrence ranch here.
Northern
New Mexico Historical Society & Museum
Sources
Cheek, Lawrence W., Santa
Fe: Compass American Guide
Gil Garduño Gil's
Thrillling Website
Harbert, Nancy, New Mexico:
Compass American Guide
Niederman, Sharon, The Santa
Fe & Taos Book
New Mexico Office of Cultural
Affairs, Enchanted Lifeways: the history,
museums, arts & festivals of New Mexico
Riskin, Marci L., editor, The
Guide to National & State Register Sites:
New Mexico's Historic Places
Click on the images
below to visit all the New Mexico Food Heritage
Exhibits.
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