When driving across New Mexico or when visiting some part of the state, one should be aware of the wealth of history that is always close at hand. Many people, when faced with what seems like endless miles of empty country, fail to realize that the very emptiness is one of the charms of the state. They also do not recognize that in the vast expanses of mountain and desert, people of the ancient past or a recent past have lived and worked and died. Sometimes the fruits of their labor are clear and evident and live on in cities and towns. In many instances, however, the mountains and desert have reclaimed their own and the works of man have succumbed. A mental picture must be cast over the landscape on which great historical events took place but which is almost empty of signs of man’s efforts. If travelers are fortunate, there may still be some sign—a ghost town, a ruined ranch, some old artifacts—to tell the story; if not, imagination must be given rein. The search is the adventure, and to give aid in that search, the following might suffice as a faint guiding light.
To simplify the descriptions of these reminders of the past, New Mexico is divided into seven geographical regions which a traveler might well visit:
1. North from Santa Fe, including U.S. Highways 64, 285, and 84, and connecting state highways.
2. The northeast, including U.S. 85 from Santa Fe to Raton, U.S. 66 east from Albuquerque to the Texas line, U.S. 56 from Springer to the state line, and connecting state highways.
3. The northwest, including U.S. 66 west from Albuquerque to the Arizona line, U.S. 666 north from Gallup to Colorado, and State Highway 44 from Bernalillo to Farmington.
4. East-central, including U.S. 60 east from Bernardo, U.S. 380 east from San Antonio, U.S. 70 from the Mescalero Indian Reservation to the Texas line, U.S. 285 from Clines Corners to Roswell, U.S. 54 from Three Rivers to Santa Rosa, and connecting state highways.
5. West-central, including U.S. 60 west of Socorro, U.S. 180-260 and State Highway 12 in Catron County, U.S. 85 from Los Lunas to Elephant Butte, and connecting state highways.
6. Southeast, including U.S. 70 from Las Cruces to the Mescalero Indian Reservation, U.S. 54 from El Paso to Three Rivers, U.S. 62 from Hobbs to the Texas line, U.S. 285 from Roswell to the Texas line, and numerous state roads.
7. Southwest, including U.S. 85 from Truth or Consequences to El Paso, U.S. 180 north from Deming to the Catron county line, U.S. 70-80 west from Las Cruces to Arizona, and state roads.
North From Santa Fe
The country north of Santa Fe is the heart of Indian and Spanish New Mexico. Here, if he looks beyond the narrow boundaries of the highway right-of-way, the traveler can see Indian and Spanish villages which have not changed significantly in two and a half centuries. Along the lush green of the Rio Grande Valley or of its tributaries dashing out of the Sangre de Cristo range to the east, these sleepy concentrations of people reveal cultural and language patterns which smack of the conquistadores of the sixteenth century or of the ancient cliff dwellers. It is a slow and easy world, perhaps most representative of the “land of mañana.” In a region already worked for centuries for what it can produce, there is no hurry. It will be there tomorrow and forever. The people of this region are typically New Mexican. The hills are dotted with piñon and juniper trees which give a greenish to black cast to the land. This, too, is typically New Mexican.
(Forest Service, U.S.D.A.)
Cool drive on a summer day, Red River Canyon
There is one short trip that would be fruitful for him who wants to know New Mexico, to feel the romance of Spanish culture, and to seek adventure off the beaten track. Just north of Española, State Highway 76 strikes east from U.S. 64. Nowhere in the state can be found so much of old world charm or spectacular scenic beauty. Heading east, the traveler passes through Chimayó, a village famed throughout the world for its weaving, though seldom visited, then on through Truchas and Las Trampas to Penasco, heart of the Penitente country. The Penitentes were a religious sect growing out of long isolation from the main threads of Roman Catholicism. They gradually reverted to relatively primitive Christian practices without guidance from main church centers but within the past few years have returned to the Church. The many white crosses that can be seen in the area attest to their former activity. From Penasco, the traveler can return to U.S. 64 via State Highway 75.
The area northwest of Santa Fe, stretching some thirty or forty miles on the southeast flanks of the Jemez Mountains, is the noted Pajarito Plateau, the home of great numbers of Indian cultures, living and dead. Many of the modern Indian pueblos will be found in this region. Also, some of the most significant ancient Indian ruins are found here, such as the Frijoles Canyon (Bandelier National Monument) and Puye Cliff Dwellings.