But ancient Indians hold no monopoly on this vast region. Today many of the Indians of New Mexico still find homes here. The Navajo Reservation lies between Gallup and the Colorado line. Part of the Ute Reservation lies along the northern edge of New Mexico, and the Jicarilla Reservation is in the eastern part of this region. Many of the pueblo people are found between Albuquerque and Santa Fe. At Gallup each year, the famed Indian Ceremonials bring together peoples from many of the tribes in the United States.
This region is also renowned as an oil and natural gas producer and is one of the booming areas in New Mexico. But this is only one aspect of the mineral riches of the northwest; the mines near Grants, between Albuquerque and Gallup, produce tremendous quantities of uranium ores. The atomic energy capability of the United States begins at Grants. And near Gallup and Fruitland are huge open-pit coal mines.
The northwest is drained by the San Juan River, a tributary of the Colorado River, and is therefore a part of the Pacific watershed. The Navajo Dam project, just east of Farmington, is a part of this drainage pattern.
Thus the region is characterized by Indians old and new, ancient things buried deep beneath the earth, and great beauty in pastel colors and subtle contrasts—the mosaic of the land.
East-Central New Mexico
East-central New Mexico, like the northeast, is an area of plains and mountains. Here the buffalo roamed, and in their place, cattle now utilize the hardy and nutritious grasses of the High Plains. Mountains are the Manzano, southeast of Albuquerque, and Sierra Blanca, near Carrizozo, as well as numerous minor ranges. Also in this region is some harsh and desolate country, seared by the southwestern sun and lacking in rainfall, but supporting the exotic plants and wildlife typical of the Sonoran desert regions.
While the desert regions may not be attractive to the eye, they should be appreciated for their part in the historical mosaic. In the area east of the Rio Grande is the northern half of the well-known White Sands Missile Range, one of the significant test centers in the rocket and space age. It was also in this arid region that the first atomic bomb was exploded (southeast of Socorro).
The early use of this desert, however, emphasized its harshness. For centuries, the Spanish suffered across this waterless waste on their way from Chihuahua in Old Mexico to Santa Fe, for this was the Jornada del Muerto, journey of death, the hardest and most dangerous part of the trip over the Camino Real. The Camino Real was the lifeline of New Mexico from 1598 until the Santa Fe Trail was opened in 1821, and all visitors during that period were obliged to cross this arid section. A modern rocket crosses in mere seconds what took the Spaniards many days.
(Forest Service, U.S.D.A.)
Who says this is desert country?... Sierra Blanca from U.S. 70