New Mexico Extravaganza - The Roswell Chapter (Intro and 70/70 Quest #22)

Roswell itself is quite the outlandish (so to speak) town. Everywhere you turn you see something to remind you of UFOs and aliens. An eye-rolling but fun visit! 

For just a couple of examples: our campground and a truly stellar coffee shop in town:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Most would agree that the main attraction in Roswell is the International UFO Museum - and that became our 70 in 70 quest item #22.

The International UFO Museum and Research Center was organized to inform the public about “The Roswell Incident” – referring to the 1947 crash of an unidentified flying object northwest of Roswell, which scattered debris of unusual quality and, reportedly, unusual bodies. Many locals were aware of the Incident, and all were told by the military to not reveal anything they had heard or seen. The Museum is dedicated to the collection and preservation of information (newspaper stories, audio recordings, photos) pertaining to the 1947 Roswell Incident as well as other phenomena related to UFO research. According to their website “the Museum endeavors to be the leading information source in history, science, and research about UFO events worldwide.” The collection of information and exhibits is, indeed, vast; wandering through, looking at and reading everything from documentation about the Incident, dioramas, other reported encounters, aliens in media (movies, TV...), artwork, and more filled our morning. 

The UFO and its crew.
It "takes off" every now & then in the exhibit

One of my favorites of the artwork on display

My very favorite -
a mural on the side of the building ...and Taz the amazing (and patient) cattle dog

 

But there is more to Roswell than UFOs - as you will see in the next blog installment!

New Mexico Extravaganza Part 4 - and 70/70 Quest #21 - Fort Sumner Cemetery

 

The Fort Sumner Cemetery (a very short walk from Bosque Redondo Memorial) is famous for hosting the grave of Billy the Kid.  An inexplicably glorified human being, Billy the Kid (born Henry McCarty - aka William Bonney) was involved with multiple murders including one sheriff (William Brady) for which he was sentenced to death and two deputies when he escaped from jail prior to his planned execution – all by the time he was 21. Fort Sumner happened to be the location he fled to after his jail escape and is near where he was killed by Sheriff Pat Garrett. A marble headstone was placed on his grave in 1931, and is engraved with the word “Pals” marking the burial site of Billy the Kid as well as two of his outlaw buddies, Tom O’Folliard and Charlie Bowdre. A Colorado stonecutter, James Noah Warner, decided Billy the Kid needed his own gravestone so he carved one with the epitaphs “Truth and History” and “The Boy Bandit King. He Died As He Had Lived.” This was placed at the foot of Billy’s grave in 1940.

Several other graves are in the cemetery – including that of Lucien Bonaparte Maxwell (1818-1875), a very industrious fur trader and trapper who became the sole owner of the largest single tract of land owned by any one individual in the United States (land which included Fort Sumner after it was discontinued as a military base). He also founded the First National Bank of Santa Fe and invested $250,000 to help build the Texas Pacific Railroad.

New Mexico Extravaganza Part 3 - and 70 in 70 Quest #20 - Bosque Redondo Memorial

 A visit to the Bosque Redondo Memorial is an extraordinarily powerful and sobering experience - and highly recommended to anyone interested in the history of North America.

To quote, in part, from the website (www.nmhistoricsites.org/bosque-redondo):  

"From 1863 to 1868, Fort Sumner, New Mexico was the center of a million-acre parcel known as the Bosque Redondo Indian Reservation. The story of how the U.S. Army used scorched earth policies to forcibly remove Navajo and Mescalero Apache people from their traditional homelands to this lonely, inhospitable outpost along the Pecos River is pivotal to the history of the American West. The Navajo call this the Long Walk, when over 50 different groups made the 300+ mile journey over a period of nearly three years. Several hundred Navajo captives either died during the walk or were abducted by slave traders. ... 

... For the Mescalero, a historically migratory people who hunted and gathered freely in the mountains of the southwest, being rounded up, made sedentary on a single piece of land, and forced to ‘farm’ was in and of itself a form of cultural genocide. Confining members of these two completely disparate cultures together and pitting them against each other was another form of cruelty inflicted upon the prisoners. ...

...During their internment, the Navajo and Mescalero were prevented from practicing ceremonies, singing songs, or praying in their own language. Daily depredations at the reservation were palpable on every level. Food rationing was both meager and completely foreign (coffee beans, white flour and rank beef), while the lack of wood for heating and cooking during the bitterly cold winters led to illness, and high infant mortality. When a smallpox-like disease was contracted from the military, it ravaged the captives. The suffering from exposure, starvation, and sickness took an estimated 1500 lives. In 1865 close to 350 Mescalero made their escape and returned to their sacred Sacramento Mountains. Nearly 1,000 Navajos also fled but more than 7,000 remained. ...
...This dark chapter in our national history finally came to an end in 1868 with the signing of a treaty and the return of Navajo survivors to their traditional homelands. While the treaty established the sovereignty of the Navajo Nation, it also outlined the oppressive conditions under which they would be bound, and forever changed the way they would live. As well, the Mescalero Apache Tribe had a similar experience after they signed a treaty in 1873. The pedagogy of oppression employed throughout the US policies has reshaped their cultures on every level: mentally, politically, and spiritually.
In 2005, the New Mexico State Monuments Division and the Museum of New Mexico, with strong support from Navajo and Mescalero, created the Bosque Redondo Memorial. It stands today to acknowledge the events of the 1860s and to allow those affected by the history to have a voice to tell their history. Designed by Navajo architect David Sloan in the shape of a hogan and a tepee, the museum and an interpretive trail provide an exhibit and educational programs to all who seek it.”

 

New Mexico Extravaganza - Part 2! Tucumcari!

So there's this song which firmly planted the idea of the town of Tucumcari in my brain. With thanks to Little Feat and the song Willin':

I've been warped by the rain, driven by the snow
I'm drunk and dirty, don't you know
And I'm still, willin'

And I was out on the road, late at night
I seen my pretty Alice in every headlight
Alice, Dallas Alice

And I've been from Tucson to Tucumcari

Tehachapi to Tonopah

Driven every kind of rig that's ever been made

Driven the back roads so I wouldn't get weighed

And if you give me weed, whites, and wine

And you show me a sign

I'll be willin, to be movin; 

 

And so the town of Tucumcari landed on our 70 in 70 quest ideas list - with the intrigue of the town further bolstered by the fact that the town boasts 100 murals throughout the town as well as the New Mexico Route 66 Museum! Thus we battled wind and dust devils and wound our way to Tucumcari from the Capulin Volcano - and it was well worth the trip!

Number 17: Tucumcari, New Mexico - the town

The town itself was a delight - from our campground, to architecture, to restaurants, to plant life, and to the presence of Route 66 just about everywhere you turned.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Number 18: Tucumcari Murals

It turns out the town literature wasn't exaggerating about the murals - everywhere we turned there was astounding artwork to be seen!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Number 19: New Mexico Route 66 Museum

This Route 66 Museum is a treasure trove of Route 66 memorabilia: - photos, vehicles, newspaper clippings, knick knacks, gas pumps - you name it they seem to have it! 'Twas a very entertaining visit.

...and from the delights of Tucumcari, we head south!

New Mexico Extravaganza - Part 1 of many!

 Our 70 in 70 quest took a giant leap forward this past couple of weeks even though we had to make a quick change to Plan B (check out space aliens in New Mexico rather than space launches in Florida due to a last minute launch scheduling change). And what an excellent Plan B it turned out to be! We added 24 more adventures to our quest count during this one road trip!

Number 15: Comanche National Grasslands - Santa Fe Trail

Inscription: Santa Fe Trail 1822-1872
Marked by the Daughters of the American Revolution
and the State of Colorado 1908

As we were driving south through Colorado in trusty Hedwig, avoiding the interstate and the big cities of Denver and Colorado Springs, we lucked upon an historical marker pointing out that we could visit the Santa Fe Trail at the Timpas Picnic Area. Timpas Creek happened to be the first source of water for Santa Fe Trail travelers heading southwest after leaving the Arkansas River - and also happened to be the first opportunity for me and Taz to go on a bit of a trail run on the first day of our road trip! The Santa Fe trail was a key trade and commerce route from roughly 1822 until 1880 (when the railroad came through to Santa Fe). Within the Comanche National Grasslands, quite a bit of the trail is still runnable; Taz and I sampled just a wee bit of it, happy to stretch our legs.

Taz and a Santa Fe Trail marker

Number 16: Capulin Volcano

The Capulin volcano erupted 60,000 years ago, spewing lava high into the sky. The falling debris then accumulated around the vent creating a classic cinder cone volcano which stands out beautifully on the New Mexico landscape east of Raton. Capulin is one of many volcanic formations in the 8,000-square-mile Raton-Clayton Volcanic Field. Capulin rises 1300 feet above the plains, reaching 8,182 feet above sea level.  In 1916 President Wilson issued the proclamation declaring the mountain a national monument to preserve “…a striking example of recent extinct volcanoes…” On September 5, 1962, Congress amended the proclamation to “…preserve the scenic and scientific integrity of Capulin Mountain National Monument.”  We had wanted to check out two trails: the Crater Rim Trail and the Crater Vent Trail. Unfortunately, high gusty winds prevented us from attempting the Crater Rim Trail (so high and gusty the wind blew Kendall’s stash of dollar bills right out of his shirt pocket!). I did go down the Crater Vent Trail grabbing whatever was handy when gusts tried to blow me over.

Kendall (a rarity: hatless - due to the wind) looking out over the Volcanic Field

Starting down the Crater Vent Trail

Looking back up at tiny Hedwig & tinier Kendall from the bottom

Looking down at tiny Paula from the top