| I | INTRODUCTION |
New
Mexico, one of the Mountain states, located in the southwestern United
States. A land of plains, plateaus, and mountains, New Mexico is famed for the
great variety and magnificent colors of its scenery. Much of the land is used
for livestock grazing. Manufacturing and other urban-based economic activities
are carried on in only a few cities. Tourists, attracted not only by the scenic
beauty of New Mexico’s deserts and mountains but also by the rich Native
American and Spanish cultures that distinguish the state, have become an
important part of the state’s economy.
The state’s small population is composed of
Native Americans, people of Spanish descent, whose ancestors entered what is now
New Mexico in the 16th century, and the so-called Anglo-Americans. Together
these groups constitute a multicultural society unlike that of any other
state.
Much of New Mexico is reminiscent of an
earlier time. Examples are its Native American festivities, its adobe villages,
and its many remnants of pre-Columbian and Spanish architecture. However, New
Mexico also played a role in the development of the atomic age. With the
explosion of the first atomic bomb at the Trinity site at White Sands Proving
Grounds in 1945, New Mexico became an important center for nuclear research and
development.
The region north of Mexico was named Nuevo
Mexico by a Spanish explorer in the 1560s. The name was translated and applied
to the United States territory organized in 1850 and later to the state when it
became the 47th member of the Union on January 6, 1912. New Mexico is called the
Land of Enchantment. Santa Fe is the capital of New Mexico. Albuquerque is the
largest city.
| II | PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY |
New Mexico covers 314,917 sq km (121,590 sq
mi), including 606 sq km (234 sq mi) of inland water. It is the fifth largest
state in the United States. The state is roughly square in shape, and its
extreme dimensions are 565 km (351 mi) from east to west and 629 km (391 mi)
from north to south. The state’s highest point is Wheeler Peak at 4,011 m
(13,161 ft), and the lowest is Red Bluff Reservoir at 866 m (2,842 ft). The mean
elevation in New Mexico is about 1,740 m (5,700 ft). It is bounded on the north
by Colorado, on the east by Oklahoma and Texas, on the south by Texas and
Mexico, and on the west by Arizona.
| A | Natural Regions |
Four natural regions make up the New
Mexican landscape: the southernmost portion of the Southern Rocky Mountains,
part of the Colorado Plateau, part of the Basin and Range province, and part of
the Great Plains.
The Rocky Mountains reach southward into
New Mexico in two branches, one on each side of the Río Grande Valley. To the
east are the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, the state’s highest and most extensive
mountain range, which reaches as far south as Glorieta. Within these mountains,
near Taos, is Wheeler Peak. About 80 km (about 50 mi) farther south is North
Truchas Peak, which reaches 3,993 m (13,102 ft).
To the south and west of Santa Fe are
numerous mountain ranges. Most of these are ragged ridges varying from a few
kilometers to 130 km (80 mi) long and running generally parallel from north to
south. They are mostly fault-block ranges: chunks of the earth’s surface that
have been broken and slowly pushed up above the surrounding land. The larger and
higher of the ranges are the Sandia, Sacramento, Mogollon, Guadalupe, and
Manzono mountains and The Black Range.
Between the fault-block ranges are wide
extensions of the Basin and Range province: the Tularosa Valley, Río Grande
Trough, and the area along the western side of the Colorado Plateau. Many of
these basins have no drainage to the sea and are slowly filling up with sand,
gravel, and soil washed down from the mountains.
One of the largest such basins in the
world is the Tularosa Valley, between the Sacramento and San Andres mountains.
The sands in and around White Sands National Monument, composed of tiny grains
of gypsum, cover 582 sq km (225 sq mi) of the valley’s floor. Other similar
basins are the plains near Deming, the Playas Valley near Lordsburg, the
Estancia Valley, the Jornada del Muerto, and the Plains of San Agustin. The
western two-thirds of the Basin and Range province is the northernmost extension
of the Mexican Highland. The eastern portion is generally called the Sacramento
section. The mountainous areas west of the Río Grande include the Nacimiento
Uplift, the San Juan Mountains, and the Jemez Mountains. These ranges have deep
canyons and several peaks rising above 3,300 m (11,000 ft). All are largely
volcanic in origin, and in the center of the Jemez Mountains is a great
collapsed crater, the Jemez Caldera. At nearly 470 sq km (180 sq mi) in area,
the caldera is one of the largest in the world. Long extinct, the crater is now
a grassy valley known as Valle Grande. Hot springs are numerous in this
region.
The Colorado Plateau in western New Mexico
is a land of great horizontal layers of rock consisting of brightly colored
sandstones, limestones, and shales. These are largely the hardened sediments of
ancient sea bottoms and sandy shores. New Mexico’s portion of the Colorado
Plateau is divided into two sections. South of Gallup the region is known as the
Datil section and north of there as the Navajo section. The general elevation of
the plateau is from 1,500 to 2,100 m (5,000 to 7,000 ft). The rock layers are
sharply broken off and worn away to leave high cliffs, mesas, buttes, and deep
canyons. Each mesa, or plateau, is deeply eroded, showing the edges of rock
layers. Over many centuries vast amounts of rock have crumbled and washed down
the Colorado River. The Colorado Plateau area is the most thinly inhabited part
of New Mexico but one of the most beautiful. The red sandstone cliffs near
Gallup are well known, as is the golden-brown sandstone butte of the Enchanted
Mesa near Grants.
In the same area volcanic rocks have
pushed up through the sedimentary rocks. Mount Taylor, in the San Mateo
Mountains, is an old volcano near Grants that rises 3,445 m (11,301 ft).
Elsewhere the volcanic rock poured out as spreading sheets of lava. Some of
these sheets have been eroded to leave mesas and buttes; others have been eroded
away almost entirely, leaving only hardened cores where the lava was originally
forced up. Ship Rock is a volcanic plug with radiating dikes that rise about 430
m (about 1,400 ft) above the present level of the land.
Part of the vast level expanse known as
the Great Plains Province lies within eastern New Mexico, stretching from its
northern to its southern tip in a belt from 160 to 240 km (100 to 150 mi) wide.
The High Plains, the flattest section of the Great Plains, extend southward into
New Mexico from Colorado. The High Plains are also called the Llano Estacado, or
Staked Plain. The Spanish name is believed to be derived from the plain’s
escarpment on the north and west having a palisaded, or stockaded,
appearance.
Elsewhere, the Great Plains are more
eroded and rolling. To the north of the Llano Estacado the Canadian River has
cut a canyon 300 m (1,000 ft) deep, and to the west the Pecos River occupies a
wide rolling valley. This region, known as the Pecos section, is a maze of rocky
cliffs and mesas and narrow ravines and canyons. Isolated hills and buttes are
scattered throughout the plains, especially in the Raton section in northeastern
New Mexico. These peaks, some rising above 2,700 m (9,000 ft), were important
landmarks in early days. The best known of these are The Wagon Mound (2,122
m/6,930 ft) and Capulin Mountain (2,494 m/8,182 ft), which is an almost
perfectly shaped cone of lava and cinders in Capulin Volcano National
Monument.
| B | Rivers and Lakes |
New Mexico’s major river is the Río
Grande, originating in southern Colorado, and flowing southward for 760 km (470
mi) through the state. Between the San Luis Valley and Española Valley the river
flows in a deep canyon known as the Río Grande Gorge; then, below White Rock
Canyon, it flows through several valleys containing agricultural land. Most of
the water of the Río Grande is used to irrigate these valleys. The Río Grande’s
waterflow in New Mexico is extremely low.
One of the major tributaries of the Río
Grande is the Pecos River, which rises in northern New Mexico and joins the Río
Grande in Texas. Other tributaries of the Río Grande in New Mexico are the Rio
Puerco, Galisteo Creek, Rio Chama, and Red River.
The Continental Divide, made up of ridges
and other high ground separating rivers draining to the Atlantic from those
draining to the Pacific, crosses the state from north to south. The Canadian
River runs eastward from New Mexico to join the Arkansas River. The San Juan and
Gila rivers flow westward to join the Colorado River. Most of the state is
drained by dry washes, called arroyos, which after summer thunderstorms can
carry large amounts of water, causing flash floods.
The largest bodies of water in New Mexico
are reservoirs built to irrigate the dry lands. These include Elephant Butte and
Caballo reservoirs, and Cochiti Lake on the Río Grande; Conchas Lake and Ute
Reservoir on the Canadian River; Navajo Reservoir on the San Juan River; Abiquiu
and El Vado reservoirs on the Rio Chama; and Lake McMillan on the Pecos River.
In the Sangre de Cristo Mountains are numerous small glacial lakes, mostly at
elevations above 3,300 m (11,000 ft).
| C | Climate |
The climate of New Mexico is generally
mild, sunny, and dry. Most of the state has between 250 and 500 mm (10 and 20
in) of rainfall annually. Winters are drier than summers. Temperatures and
precipitation vary widely from night to day and from winter to summer. In
addition, climate varies greatly within each natural region. Higher mountain
areas have a much cooler and wetter climate than lower areas nearby.
Average annual precipitation ranges from
about 200 mm (about 8 in) in the Río Grande and San Juan river valleys to more
than 760 mm (30 in) in the northern mountains. The overall average for the state
is 330 mm (13 in) per year. July and August are the wettest months. Nearly half
the year’s precipitation occurs during the summer, mostly in the form of brief
but often heavy thunderstorms. Winter precipitation falls as snow in the
mountains and as either rain or snow at lower elevations. At times during the
winter, cold air masses moving southward from Canada invade the state and
produce blizzards and cold waves, especially in the northern parts. Annual mean
temperatures vary from about 16° C (about 60° F) in the south to about 10° C
(about 50° F) in the north. The southern areas, however, have many days of
summer temperatures in the upper 30°s C (lower 100°s F). Temperatures in the
lower -20°s C (below 0° F) can occur in all areas during the winter.
| D | Soils |
Soils typical of semiarid regions are
extensive in the lower elevations of the southern half of the state. These have
developed by gradual weathering and leaching of coarse textured sands and
gravels washed down from surrounding mountains. They create landscapes having
many colors, varying between red, yellow, brown, and gray. Many of them retain
characteristics acquired during cycles of heavier rainfall related to
continental and alpine glaciers. They can be quite fertile, if irrigated, but if
not properly managed can form dense subsurface layers, called caliche, that are
in places harder than concrete.
In cooler and moister areas in the
northern one-third of the state and along the eastern counties, soils typical of
the Great Plains are common. These are dark colored, fine textured silts and
clays similar to the soils found in the wheat belt of Kansas and Oklahoma. They
are quite fertile and extensively cultivated for both dry-land and irrigated
crops. In some places, older soils pre-dating the last glacial episode can be
found. These are used extensively for agriculture, but also must be carefully
managed to sustain their economic importance.
The youngest soils are found along the Río
Grande Valley and in the San Juan basin. They are irrigated for alfalfa
production and a variety of other field crops. Thin soils and rock outcrops
dominate the higher elevations in all of the mountain ranges throughout the
state. For the most part these remain uncultivated.
| E | Plant Life |
Within the borders of New Mexico all the
major biomes of the world can be found except for the tropical rain forest.
Seven major life zones are present in the state. They range from Lower Sonoran
to Alpine. From alpine tundra at the top of Wheeler Peak to sparse yucca at
White Sands, present-day climates support a variety of forest, woodland,
grassland, and desert scrub communities. Elevation, topography, slope
orientations, and New Mexico’s location in the pathway of both tropical Pacific
and polar continental air masses create a mosaic of vegetation giving the state
unmatched scenic beauty. The Alpine zone ranges in elevations between 3,500 and
4,000 m (11,500 and 13,000 ft). This is above the timberline and supports
grasses and shrubs. The Hudsonian and Canadian zones range in elevation from
2,600 to 3,700 m (8,500 to 12,000 ft) and are forested with mainly englemann
spruce, alpine fir, and corkbark fir at the higher end and Douglas fir, white
fir, and limber pine at the lower end. Intermingled within these zones are large
expanses of aspen that turn brilliant yellow in September. The Transition zone
contains the ponderosa pine forest from elevations ranging from 1,700 to 2,600 m
(5,500 to 8,500 ft). The next zone is the Upper Sonoran, which contains piñon
pine and juniper woodlands, at elevations between 1,400 and 2,300 m (4,500 to
7,500 ft). This is the most extensive of all zones boasting about 7.8 million
hectares (19 million acres) within the state. The major tree species found here
are piñon pine, Utah juniper, alligator juniper, one-seed juniper, and rocky
mountain juniper. It also contains a mixture of large to medium size oaks which
are found in the foothills in the southern quarter of the state. The Lower
Sonoran zone occurs at elevations of about 900 to 1,600 m (2,900 to 5,000 ft).
This zone contains many grasses interspersed with shrubs such as creosote bush,
mesquite, four-winged saltbush and a variety of cacti. The plants in many of
these zones can be found in other areas because of unique climatic conditions
within a particular area.
Although the elements of New Mexico’s
plant life have their origins many millions of years ago, today’s patterns and
composition are the result of glacial climates that ended only 10,000 to 12,000
years ago, or reflect changes brought on by gradual drying and warming as the
alpine glaciers receded. The perception of New Mexico as a desert, therefore, is
largely incorrect. There are many pockets of plant life that retain vestiges of
their former climates. Human impacts on these historical “gardens,” as well as
on some of the younger cactus gardens, is a serious threat to New Mexico’s
environment.
Perhaps the most serious threat to
riparian vegetation along New Mexico’s water courses is the invasion of salt
cedar, or tamarisk. This plant, native to the Middle East, was introduced into
Texas in the late 1800s and has since spread along all of the major waterways
and tributaries of the Río Grande and Pecos River. Its rapid growth and
reproduction, combined with its ability to replace native vegetation and tap
precious underground water, has classified it as a noxious weed.
| F | Animal Life |
New Mexico is home to a great diversity of
animal life. Many of the species are wide-ranging over the forests of western
North America, especially those in the forested higher elevations. There are
many more species that are limited in their ranges by a combination of latitude,
elevation, and the availability of water. The patterns in today’s wildlife show
the effects of widespread grazing, fire-suppression, logging, road-building, and
other human impacts that tend to disrupt the free range of animals. Some of the
more remarkable species include the coatimundi, black bear, mountain lion, mule
deer, white-tailed deer, pronghorn, elk, several species of fox, chipmunk,
bushy-tailed woodrat, muskrat, Abert’s and fox squirrel, yellow-bellied marmot,
bobcat, cougar, beaver, and porcupine. There are a few Rocky Mountain bighorn
sheep in the more remote, higher elevations of the central mountains and Mexican
Desert bighorn sheep in the southwestern ranges. The Mexican wolf, now extinct
in the state, is being considered for reintroduction in the Gila Wilderness Area
in southwestern New Mexico.
Common forest birds include the northern
goshawk, blue grouse, band-tailed pigeon, flammulated owl, northern pygmy owl,
northern saw-whet owl, Steller’s jay, scrub jay, piñon jay, several species of
woodpecker and sapsucker, Clark’s nutcracker, the western and mountain
bluebirds, mountain chickadee, wild turkey, various species of wood warbler, the
bald eagle, and a variety of hawks and falcons. In the colder waters of high
mountain streams and lakes are a variety of trout, including rainbow, lake,
brook, cutthroat, and brown, and kokanee salmon.
At lower elevations, particularly in the
drier, southern half of the state, wildlife is seldom seen. Many of the animals
are small and nocturnal, or active only at night. Most noted among these are
several varieties of bats, which reside during the day in caves and caverns and
which venture forth at dusk by the millions. Other small animals include
kangaroo rats, pack rats, jackrabbits, ground squirrels, and a variety of
lizards and snakes. In the grasslands along the eastern border with Texas and in
the Río Grande and Pecos River valleys, prairie dogs were once plentiful but are
becoming rare. Peccaries (or javelinas) are fairly common in the southwestern
“bootheel” part of the state. Coyotes are common statewide and pronghorn can be
seen from the highway all along the eastern plains. Birds in the southern brush
and scrublands include quail, cactus wren, and The roadrunner is the state bird.
At wildlife refuges along the Río Grande, huge flocks of migratory birds travel
the midcontinent flyway on their way north or south. Some of these birds, such
as snow geese, whooping cranes, sandhill cranes, and ducks, winter over before
returning northward for the summer. Warm water fish in the lower elevations
throughout the state include a variety of bass, yellow perch, green sunfish,
channel catfish, bluegill, white crappie, walleye, and northern pike.
Human impacts, including agriculture,
pollution, encroachment, and the introduction of foreign species, have put many
species at risk. By the mid-1990s some 26 species of fish (including the Gila
trout), 21 species of amphibians and reptiles (including several species of
rattlesnake and the Gila monster), 32 birds (including the bald eagle and
Mexican spotted owl), and 15 mammals were listed as threatened or
endangered.
| G | Conservation |
Most of New Mexico’s environmental
programs are managed by the state departments of health and environment. The
state also runs the Department of Energy, Minerals, and Natural Resources, which
is responsible for forestry, parks, soil and water conservation, and regulation
of the mining industry.
Much of New Mexico’s conservation efforts
focus on controlling groundwater pollution, maintaining air quality, and keeping
the biodiversity of the forests and wilderness areas. Progress is being made in
efforts to reduce pollution; in the period 1995–2000 the amount of toxic
chemicals discharged into the environment was reduced by 98 percent.
| G1 | Water Quality |
Protection of groundwater resources is a
high priority in New Mexico. In a 1987 study the state’s groundwater program was
rated one of the ten best in the nation. Much of the population depends on
groundwater for industrial, agricultural, and drinking purposes. Major
contaminants of concern include organic chemicals, nitrates (from fertilizer),
sulfates, brine, and metal salts.
| G2 | Air Quality |
Although air quality in most of New
Mexico is quite good, several areas at one time experienced poor air quality.
Albuquerque and surrounding Bernalillo County consistently exceeded the standard
for carbon monoxide in the 1980s, but by the early 1990s were in compliance with
federal regulations. Other counties have had difficulty in controlling dust and
wood smoke. The Four Corners area, in the northwest, has received national
attention for its suspected contribution to acid rain, because of its large
coal-burning power plants. In the mid-1980s, New Mexico began a program to
control toxic air pollution.
| G3 | Waste Management |
In 1986 New Mexico required that all
hazardous waste be exported to other states for disposal. In 2006 the state had
12 hazardous waste sites on the federal priority list for cleanup due to their
severity or proximity to people. New Mexico has its own program to deal with
other waste sites.
Of special concern is a federal
radioactive materials facility, the Waste Isolation Pilot Project, near
Carlsbad. The U.S. government has constructed this facility to store certain
radioactive waste deep underground. In 1990 a law was passed that establishes a
comprehensive program for solid waste; the program includes recycling, source
reduction, and reuse of waste.
| III | ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES |
Spanish settlers, who first arrived in the
region that is now New Mexico in the 1600s, set up a self-sufficient farming and
ranching economy. Because of the dry climate, most settlements were along the
rivers. No major economic change occurred until after the completion, in 1879,
of the region’s first railroad. In the next few decades cattle ranching grew on
a large scale. The mining of gold, silver, and other minerals became important,
and agriculture spread to newly irrigated land as more settlers moved to the
region. A new aspect was added to the economy when the Los Alamos National
Laboratory, established in 1943, developed the world’s first atomic bomb. This,
along with other military and United States Department of Energy establishments,
stimulated the growth of associated private industry.
New Mexico had a work force of 935,000
people in 2006. The largest share of the workers—42 percent—held jobs in the
service industries, including occupations catering to tourists or doing such
work as computer programming or serving in restaurants. Another 20 percent were
employed in wholesale or retail trade; 23 percent by federal, state, or local
government, including those in the military; 7 percent in construction; 17
percent in finance, insurance, or real estate; 4 percent in manufacturing; 3
percent in farming (including agricultural services) or forestry; and 2 percent
in mining. In 2005, 8 percent of New Mexico’s workers were members of a
union.
| A | Agriculture |
Despite its generally dry climate,
agriculture in New Mexico is an important economic activity. Ranching and
commercial farming added $2.6 billion to the state’s economy in 2004. Nearly
half of this income was derived from Chaves, Curry, Roosevelt, and Doña Ana
counties. There were 17,500 farms in 2005, of which 32 percent had annual sales
of more than $10,000. Farmland occupied 18 million hectares (44.5 million
acres), of which just 6 percent was devoted to raising crops. Some 33 percent of
the cropland is irrigated either by river water or by groundwater from
aquifers.
The greater part of New Mexico’s
productive farmland is found along the Río Grande and in the Pecos, San Juan,
Canadian, and Gila river valleys, where crops can be irrigated with river water.
Some areas, such as that around Deming, are irrigated by pumped wells. The
production on the irrigated land accounts for much of New Mexico’s agricultural
output by value. Dry farming (farming without irrigation) is practiced in the
extreme eastern part of the state and in a few small areas in the mountain
valleys.
Ranching is far more important than
farming, especially in eastern New Mexico. Livestock sales provide 78 percent of
the state’s farm income. The cattle herds were largest in the early 1920s, but
the grasslands were greatly overgrazed. Since then the number of cattle has been
reduced and efforts have been made to improve grazing practices. At one time the
cattle were marketed chiefly in Kansas City, but now many cattle are slaughtered
in New Mexico and much of the beef is sent to California. Sheep are grazed in
the northeastern plains, in the northern mountains, and in the Navajo areas of
the northwest. National forests include grazing land for sheep and cattle. While
growing cattle and calves for meat remained steady during the 1990s, the value
of dairy products increased markedly, becoming the second most valuable
agricultural product. The state also has farms that produce eggs and hogs.
In the late 1990s hay, vegetables, and
nursery and greenhouse items were the leading cash crops in New Mexico. Hay is
grown mainly in Chaves, Eddy, and San Juan counties, and most of it is fed to
livestock on the farms where it is grown rather than sold. The most important
vegetables raised are chili peppers and onions; others include potatoes,
lettuce, and pinto beans. Corn, cotton, peanuts, grain sorghum, and wheat are
the most important field crops—most grown on irrigated farms. Orchard crops are
primarily pecans, grown in Doña Ana County, and apples, grown in Rio Arriba and
San Juan counties.
| B | Forestry |
Forests cover 21 percent of New Mexico’s
land area. Ponderosa pine is the chief wood processed.
| C | Mining |
Mining is New Mexico’s primary economic
activity based on natural resources, and New Mexico ranks among the leading
states in mineral production. The most important minerals are natural gas,
petroleum, coal, copper, potash, crushed stone, and sand and gravel used in
construction.
There are major oil fields in Eddy, Lea,
and Chaves counties in the southeast and in McKinley and San Juan counties in
the northwest. McKinley and San Juan counties also have major natural-gas
fields. In 1997 New Mexico ranked fourth among the states in the production of
natural gas and seventh in petroleum production. Coal is produced in the
northwest and the northeast. Nearly all of it is used in coal-burning power
plants in the Four Corners region in New Mexico and Arizona. The York Canyon
Mine near Raton, however, supplies large quantities of coal to states in the
upper Midwest.
Almost one-fifth of the annual U.S.
output of uranium was once mined in New Mexico. In the late 1990s, however, only
a small amount was being produced by processing mine water because of a dramatic
decline in demand. Uranium was discovered at Haystack Mountain in 1950. Major
sources of uranium were McKinley and Valencia counties and Shiprock, on the
Navajo Reservation in San Juan County.
Copper is New Mexico’s most important
nonfuel mineral. In 1997 New Mexico ranked third, behind Arizona and Utah, in
copper production. The Chino mine, near Santa Rita, is today one of the largest
in the world. Other copper operations are situated near Animas, Tyrone, and
Bayard. Silver and gold are obtained largely as by-products of copper smelting.
Potash, a potassium concentrate used mainly in fertilizer, is the state’s second
most important nonfuel mineral. Copper and potash together usually account for
four-fifths of the value of New Mexico’s nonfuel mineral production. Much of the
nation’s potash is mined near Carlsbad and Hobbs. New Mexico is also the
country’s leading producer of perlite, and its second largest producer of pumice
and mica.
| D | Manufacturing |
Until the late 1940s manufacturing was of
only minor importance. It was limited to the making of construction materials,
some food processing, smelting, railroad maintenance, and Native American
crafts. Industry was slow to develop because New Mexico lacked a large consuming
market, either within its borders or nearby. However, since World War II
(1939-1945) industry has been boosted by federal government activities. The
United States Department of Defense brought ordnance and the making of
components for transportation and electronic equipment to the fore in New
Mexico. In addition, improved transportation and population shifts contributed
to the growth of industry in the 1970s and 1980s. The state also has oil
refineries.
In 1996 the leading industries in the
state were the manufacturers of electronic equipment, chiefly semiconductors;
printers and publishers, mainly newspaper publishers; food processors;
manufacturers of instruments, such as missile guidance systems and surgical
appliances; makers of transportation equipment, including aircraft engines and
parts and motor vehicles; and manufacturers of machinery, led by computer
makers. Albuquerque is the state’s chief industrial center.
| E | Electricity |
Almost all of the electricity generated
in New Mexico comes from steam-driven power plants burning fossil fuels, mostly
coal, and less than one percent comes from hydroelectric power plants. Much of
the electricity is produced in the Four Corners area in the northwest and is
consumed outside the state. The coal-fired Four Corners Power Plant is one of
the largest fossil-fuel steam-driven power plants in the world.
| F | Tourism |
The many national and state recreation
areas, beautiful scenery, Spanish colonial heritage, and renowned art galleries
draw thousands of visitors to New Mexico every year. Popular events such as the
International Hot Air Balloon Festival and the New Mexico State Fair, and sites
such as Carlsbad Caverns continually attract visitors from around the world.
During the summer, the state’s mountains, rivers, and lakes are havens for
outdoor enthusiasts. Winter sports, such as downhill skiing and cross-country
skiing are enjoyed by residents and visitors alike.
| G | Federal Government |
Much of New Mexico’s industrial activity
is concerned with research and development in the fields of nuclear energy,
space exploration, and ballistic rocketry. The many government installations in
the state include the Air Force Missile Development Center at Holloman Air Force
Base, near Alamogordo; Los Alamos National Laboratory, operated by the
University of California for the United States Department of Energy; the
Department of Energy’s Sandia National Laboratories, at Albuquerque; and the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) White Sands Test Facility
and the United States Army’s White Sands Missile Range, both located in the
Tularosa Valley. Other military bases include Kirtland Air Force Base near
Albuquerque, and Cannon Air Force Base, near Clovis.
| H | Transportation |
An ancient road system focusing on the
Anasazi community in Chaco Canyon and other sites in the Four Corners region
testify to the advanced cultures that occupied what is now New Mexico several
thousand years ago. The first road constructed after the arrival of Europeans
was El Camino Real, traveled by the Spanish in the 1600s along the Río Grande
from northern Mexico to Santa Fe. The Santa Fe Trail became a common trading
route from St. Louis, Missouri, to Santa Fe in the early 1800s, following the
routes blazed by French and English trappers. Subsequently, the trail became a
major route for wagon trains moving westward from the 1830s to the 1870s. By the
first decades of the 20th century, a national highway (eventually named Route
66) linking Chicago with Los Angeles snaked its way across New Mexico. These
historical corridors are still followed today, but most use the original
roadbeds only in part. New Mexico had 102,610 km (63,759 mi) of highways in
2005, including 1,609 km (1,000 mi) of the federal interstate highway system.
The principal east-west route is Interstate 40; the main north-south route is
Interstate 25.
Railroads entered New Mexico in the 1880s
upon completion of the Raton Tunnel. Tracks spread rapidly for the next 30
years, linking agricultural and mining centers throughout the state with markets
in both the eastern and western United States coasts. While many of the spur
lines built during this period have since been abandoned, active
transcontinental freight and passenger lines still cross New Mexico. In 2004 the
state had 2,741 km (1,703 mi) of railroad track. Coal accounts for 72 percent of
the tonnage of goods shipped by rail in New Mexico.
New Mexico had 11 airports in 2007, many
of them private airfields. The airport in Albuquerque, the state’s busiest,
handled 3.3 million passengers in 1996. Feeder services link many other
population centers.
| IV | THE PEOPLE OF NEW MEXICO |
With a population of 1,819,046, New Mexico
ranked 36th among the states in 2000. The population density was only 6 persons
per sq km (16 per sq mi) in 2006. Like other states in the Southwest, New Mexico
underwent a rapid population increase after 1950. Migration from other parts of
the United States contributed to this growth. In 1950 only 681,187 people lived
in the state. The population increased by 40 percent in the 1950s, by 7 percent
in the 1960s, by 28 percent in the 1970s, by 16 percent in the 1980s, and by 20
percent in the 1990s. The regions around Albuquerque and Santa Fe are the most
rapidly growing areas.
| A | Population Patterns |
The population is unevenly distributed.
Most of the people live near the Río Grande, Pecos, and San Juan rivers.
Albuquerque is located on the Río Grande. More than one-third of the state’s
total population lives in the Albuquerque metropolitan area. In 2000 some 75
percent of the state’s inhabitants were classified as living in urban areas. Of
the remainder, classified as rural residents, some lived on isolated farms and
ranches, but the majority lived in small villages, especially in the north.
New Mexico’s rural population tends to
live in or around settlements related to its tri-cultural history. Most of the
villages and towns are small, but relatively stable, adhering to traditional
cultural values. In the eastern counties, Anglo-American populations are still
primarily tied to agriculture or energy production; in the central and
northwestern regions, Native Americans are rapidly modernizing their economies,
but remain faithful to their reservations and traditional lifestyles. Throughout
the state, but particularly in the north-central mountains, Hispanic towns
dating back to the early period of Spanish and Mexican land grants represent
enclaves of traditional life and family culture.
Small towns and villages throughout the
state often provide too little employment and have too little agricultural
potential to provide steady and secure income to their residents. Long distance
commuting for employment at federal or state government facilities, or local
employment in extractive industries such as mining and lumbering or tourist
services provide the economic means for these settlements to continue.
New Mexico is proud of its tri-cultural
heritage, which is evident in its cuisine, architecture, languages, and cultural
events. Native Americans, Hispanics, and Anglo-Americans each contribute to the
unique culture that is New Mexico.
Many Native Americans, comprising 9.5
percent of the population, reside on six reservations and in 19 pueblos. They
are the fourth largest Native American community in the United States. Some of
the pueblos, such as Taos, Acoma Pueblo, and Santa Domingo, predate the Spanish
conquest of New Mexico. The three major Native American cultures are the Navajo,
Pueblo, and Apache. Most of the Navajo live on a large reservation in
northwestern New Mexico and adjoining states. Many Navajo raise sheep, but they
also earn income from oil and other mineral production, manufacturing of missile
guidance systems for the United States Department of Defense, lumbering, and
from vast expanses of irrigated cropland. The Navajo irrigation project is one
of the largest in the state.
Most of the pueblos are located in the
Río Grande Valley. A few of the pueblos (Zuni, Acoma, and Laguna) are found in
west central New Mexico. Some of the best-known pueblos are Taos, Zuni, Santa
Clara, San Idelfonso, Acoma, and Jemez. Most of the pueblo people are employed
in cities near the pueblos, although some engage in farming. Los Alamos National
Laboratory employs many pueblo people who live nearby. Traditional arts and
crafts are a source of income for the pueblos and are sold to both tourists and
local residents.
Two groups of Apache, the Jicarilla and
the Mescalero, live on separate reservations. The Jicarilla reside in
northwestern New Mexico, on land rich in oil and gas. They also derive income
from lumbering and ranching. The Mescalero occupy land in south central New
Mexico and are engaged in lumbering and ranching. They also own and operate the
Ski Apache resort, the only ski area in the southern part of the state.
The newest source of income for many
reservations in New Mexico is gambling. Large casinos have been built on these
lands and are becoming a significant contributor to the Native American
economy.
Hispanics, who may be of any race but in
New Mexico are primarily of Mexican descent, represented 42.1 percent of the
state’s population in 2000. The exploration and conquest of present-day New
Mexico by the Spanish and, later, the Mexicans, introduced a culture that
continues to influence the character of New Mexico. The Camino Real became a
major trade route between parts of New Mexico and Mexico, introducing new foods
and other cultural attributes to the area. In some of the northern counties,
Hispanics constitute a large majority of the population, and in some parts of
New Mexico, Spanish is the primary language. Early Hispanic settlers were
granted lands first by Spain and later Mexico. Many of these land grants, most
of which are in northern New Mexico, are owned today by the descendants of these
early settlers.
Anglo-Americans are the third component
of the tri-cultural character of the state. Whites comprised 66.8 percent of the
state’s population in 2000. This percentage included many of the Hispanics, who
are classified as being of any race. In the early and mid-1800s, trappers and
explorers entered the state. When the Santa Fe Trail opened, it served not only
as a conduit for trade with the Hispanics, but as a route of travel for
Anglo-Americans in their westward expansion. Many chose to settle in New Mexico.
Though Anglo-Americans occupy most areas of the state, many reside in the large
urban areas or in the eastern part of the state where ranching and the
extraction of oil and gas are primary sources of income.
In recent decades, other ethnic groups
have settled in New Mexico. In 2000, blacks constituted 1.9 percent of the
population, Asians were 1.1 percent, and Native Hawaiians and other Pacific
Islanders were 0.1 percent. Those of mixed heritage or not reporting race were
21 percent.
| B | Principal Cities |
New Mexico’s largest city is Albuquerque,
which was one of the fastest-growing cities in the United States in the second
half of the 20th century. From 35,449 in 1940 the city’s population rose to
504,949 in 2006.
Santa Fe (72,056 people in 2006), the
state capital, is the second oldest city in the United States, after Saint
Augustine, Florida. It is known for its narrow winding streets, adobe and
colonial buildings, and restrictive zoning. Roswell (45,582) is the chief city
of the Pecos Valley and eastern New Mexico. Las Cruces (86,268) and Alamogordo
(36,069) are the main cities of the southern part of the state. Farmington
(43,573) is the principal city in the northwest. Los Alamos (18,822) is a modern
city located in the forest on the Pajarito Plateau along the eastern side of the
Jemez Mountains. The site was selected by the federal government in 1942 as a
location for nuclear research. Carlsbad (25,410) is famous for its underground
caverns. Taos (5,193), although small, is one of the nation’s notable art
centers.
| C | Religion |
Roman Catholics formed the largest single
religious group in New Mexico, representing about one-third of all church
members. The two largest Protestant denominations are Baptists and
Methodists.
| V | EDUCATION AND CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS |
| A | Education |
Throughout the periods of Spanish
colonialism and government under Mexico, education in what is today New Mexico
was largely in the hands of religious orders. Although a royal decree provided
for a public school system for the territory in 1721, it was not until New
Mexico became a United States territory in the 1850s that the first permanent
schools were founded. The first public school law was passed in 1891.
Educational opportunities are available to
all residents throughout the state and at virtually all levels. Navajo
educational facilities include primary and secondary schools, a vocational
training school, and a community college. Native American schools are generally
subsidized by the federal government though some tribes have sought grants and
provided their own funds to enhance government educational facilities.
Elementary and secondary public schools
are controlled by a 15-member board of education, headed by an appointed
superintendent of public instruction. Attendance is compulsory from ages 5 to
18. Some 7 percent of the children attend private schools. In the 2002–2003
school year New Mexico spent $8,469 on each student’s education, compared to a
national average of $9,299. There were 15 students for every teacher (the
national average was 15.9 students per teacher). Of those older than 25 years of
age in 2006, 81.5 percent had a high school diploma, while the nation as a whole
averaged 84.1 percent.
| A1 | Higher Education |
New Mexico had 28 public and 15 private
institutions of higher learning in 2004–2005, a large number considering its
relatively small population. Among the more notable is the University of New
Mexico, in Albuquerque. The university also has branch campuses in Gallup,
Valencia County, and Los Alamos; graduate centers in Los Alamos and Santa Fe;
and an education center in Taos. Other public institutions of higher learning
are New Mexico State University, in Las Cruces; New Mexico Highlands University,
in Las Vegas; Western New Mexico University, in Silver City; New Mexico
Institute of Mining and Technology, in Socorro; and Eastern New Mexico
University, in Portales. Private institutions include St. John’s College and the
College of Santa Fe, both in Santa Fe; and United World College-USA, in
Montezuma.
| B | Libraries |
New Mexico has 89 public library systems,
and a state library, which is in Santa Fe. State aid to rural libraries began
with the establishment of the state library extension service in 1929. The
public libraries annually circulate an average of 4.9 books for every resident.
Among the special libraries in the state are those operated in conjunction with
museums, the university libraries, and the scientific library at Los Alamos. The
largest public library in New Mexico is in Albuquerque.
| C | Museums |
The state-run Museum of New Mexico was set
up in Santa Fe’s Palace of the Governors in 1909. The museum includes the Museum
of Fine Arts, the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture/Laboratory of Anthropology,
and the Museum of International Folk Art. The Wheelwright Museum of the American
Indian and the El Rancho de las Golondrinas are also in Santa Fe. In 1997 the
Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, which exhibits paintings, drawings, and sculpture by
the renowned artist who died in 1986, opened in Santa Fe. O’Keeffe’s home and
studio, located in the small town of Abiquiu approximately 50 miles north of
Santa Fe, is now owned by the Georgia O’Keeffe Foundation, and limited tours are
made available to the public.
In the metropolitan area of Albuquerque
there are several widely recognized museums and galleries. The Albuquerque
Museum has collections of traditional and contemporary art from New Mexico and
displays over 400 years of regional cultural history. The New Mexico Museum of
Natural History and Science features a collection of dinosaurs, a walk-through
volcano, and an “evolution elevator.” The Indian Pueblo Cultural Center features
performances of traditional Pueblo and other Native American dances and
demonstrations of traditional crafts. Other museums in Albuquerque include the
Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, the University Art Museum and Jonson Gallery,
the National Atomic Museum, the National Hispanic Cultural Center of New Mexico,
and the Explora Science Center and Children’s Museum of Albuquerque.
Other museums throughout the state cater
to a variety of interests. At the Roswell Museum and Art Center is a collection
of Robert H. Goddard’s experimental rockets. The Bradbury Science Museum at Los
Alamos houses exhibits dealing with the history and current research of the Los
Alamos National Laboratory. Museums displaying Native American, Spanish, and
Mexican crafts, anthropological artifacts, pioneer relics, and objects of
regional interest are housed at state and national monuments and at colleges and
universities.
| D | Communications |
The first newspaper in New Mexico was
El Crepúsculo de la Libertad (“The Dawn of Liberty”), issued in Santa Fe
in 1834. In 1847 the Santa Fe Republican began publication, printing two
pages in Spanish and two in English. In 2002 there were 15 daily newspapers. The
Albuquerque Journal, the Albuquerque Tribune, the Las
Cruces Sun-News, and the Santa Fe New Mexican have the
largest circulations of the daily newspapers.
The first radio station licensed in the
state, KOB in Albuquerque, began operation in 1922. KOB-TV in Albuquerque, New
Mexico’s first commercial television station, began broadcasting in 1948. In
2002 New Mexico had 40 AM and 65 FM radio stations and 18 television
stations.
| E | Music and Theater |
Spanish missionaries carried European
theater traditions with them to New Mexico, where they merged with the Native
Americans’ rich heritage of ceremony. This legacy continues in the state, with
active community theaters operating in many locations. The Santa Fe Community
Theater has performed since 1918, and the Albuquerque Little Theater was founded
in the 1920s. Other theaters in the two cities specialize in musicals,
contemporary, or experimental works.
The Santa Fe Opera performs in an outdoor
theater in July and August. The New Mexico Symphony Orchestra, based in
Albuquerque, was organized in the 1930s, and professional or semiprofessional
orchestras are active in Roswell, Farmington, Las Cruces, Portales, and Santa
Fe. The Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival began in 1973 and has inspired similar
festivals in Taos and Angel Fire.
| VI | RECREATION AND PLACES OF INTEREST |
The rugged and spacious beauty of New
Mexico’s mountains and deserts offers many recreational opportunities and places
to visit. Ruins of early Native American civilizations, abandoned Spanish
missions, crumbling military outposts, battlefields of the American Civil War
(1861-1865), and deserted mining towns are reminders of the state’s colorful
past. Pueblos that existed before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadores
continue to flourish, as do Spanish and Mexican communities.
Outdoor sports can be enjoyed year-round in
New Mexico. Fishing, boating, and water skiing are popular sports in the state’s
lakes and reservoirs. Fly-fishing is a common sport on many streams and rivers
in the state, and rafting and kayaking on the Río Grande below Taos are enjoyed
by many people. Facilities for winter sports such as skiing and snowboarding are
operated at nine resorts. Five national forests provide facilities for hiking,
camping, and fishing.
| A | National Parks |
Carlsbad Caverns National Park, in the
southeast, is famous for the largest and most extensive underground caves and
corridors found in North America. Eleven areas have been made national
monuments. Near Alamogordo is White Sands National Monument, a huge desert of
pure-white gypsum dunes. Bordering the monument are the military proving grounds
where the first atomic bomb was tested in 1945. An extinct volcanic cinder cone
rises 300 m (1,000 ft) in Capulin Volcano National Monument. El Malpais—“the
badlands” in Spanish—is a volcanic area with a lava tube system 27 km (17 mi)
long and ice caves. The area is also rich in ancient Pueblo history and features
diverse ecosystems. Fort Union National Monument, north of Las Vegas, was once a
military depot on the Santa Fe Trail. El Morro National Monument southwest of
Grants, is a sandstone cliff popularly known as Inscription Rock. The oldest
date on this historical autograph album is 1605, inscribed by Juan de Oñate, the
Spanish colonizer of New Mexico. Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument, near
Mountainair, preserves a 17th-century Spanish mission.
The most notable and accessible ruins of
prehistoric Pueblo culture in New Mexico have been made into national or state
monuments. Aztec Ruins National Monument preserves the site of a 500-room
dwelling occupied by the Pueblo (not Aztec) people during a period before the
14th century. Archaeological sites that provide glimpses into the 12,000 year
span of human occupation of the Albuquerque area are preserved at Petroglyph
National Monument. More than 15,000 Native American and Hispanic petroglyphs
(images carved in rock) stretch 27 km (17 mi) along Albuquerque’s West Mesa
escarpment. Chaco Culture National Historical Park has 13 major Native American
ruins and hundreds of smaller sites representing the high point of Pueblo
pre-Columbian civilization. Other Pueblo sites are at Bandelier National
Monument and Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument, and at Pecos National
Historical Park.
| B | National Forests |
A bear cub rescued in May 1950 from a
forest fire in the Capitan Mountains, located in Lincoln National Forest, became
famous as Smokey Bear, living symbol of forest fire prevention. Named for Kit
Carson, noted frontier scout, the Carson National Forest includes the Sangre de
Cristo Mountains, and the highest point in the Southwest, Wheeler Peak. The
Cibola National Forest encompasses four wilderness areas in central New Mexico:
the Sandia Mountain, Manzano Mountain, Withington, and Apache Kid wildernesses.
The Gila National Forest contains vast areas of rugged mountain ranges, little
affected by civilization, and includes the Gila Wilderness Area. The Santa Fe
National Forest is crowned by the spectacular Pecos Wilderness Area. Also in the
state is the Kiowa National Grasslands and seven national wildlife preserves.
Many migratory birds can be seen at the Bosque Del Apache National Wildlife
Refuge on the Río Grande in central New Mexico.
| C | State Parks |
New Mexico has 33 state parks and
recreational areas. The state parks at Bluewater, Bottomless, Conchas, Elephant
Butte, Navajo, and Storrie lakes have facilities for a variety of water sports.
City of Rocks State Park has a desert setting, and Hyde Memorial State Park is
in a forest high in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Ruins of old pueblos are
found at Jemez and Coronado state monuments, both located northwest of the town
of Bernalillo. The state maintains the Old Lincoln County Courthouse, from which
Billy the Kid escaped in 1881. El Palacio State Monument, the Palace of the
Governors, is in Santa Fe. This adobe structure, built around 1610, served as
the seat of government during the successive periods of Spanish, Mexican, and
finally U.S. territorial rule.
| D | Other Places to Visit |
A few blocks away from El Palacio is the
Mission of San Miguel, dating from 1710. Mesilla and the Old Town in Albuquerque
retain traces of Spanish occupation. White Oaks, Cabezon, Mogollon, and many
other ghost towns re-create for the visitor the early ranching or mining
days.
| E | Annual Events |
New Mexico’s traditions are preserved in
its numerous Native American ceremonials, Spanish festivals, and rodeos. Popular
events include the Santa Fe Fiesta commemorating the city’s conquest by the
Spanish in 1692; the New Mexico State Fair in September in Albuquerque; the
International Hot Air Balloon Festival in October in Albuquerque; and the Hatch
Chile Festival in September. Native American dances include the Harvest Dance at
Jemez Pueblo’s Fiesta of San Diego in November, and the Sun Dance at Taos
Pueblo’s Fiesta of San Geronimo in September. The dramatic Shalako Ceremonial is
performed by the Zuni in early winter. The International Ceremonial, held in
Gallup each August, attracts Native Americans from as many as 30 ethnic groups.
Taos hosts the April Talking Picture Festival, which features an international
film festival and media literacy forum. Other popular annual events include the
Deming Duck Races; Bernalillo Wine Festival; and the Whole Enchilada Fiesta and
Annual International Mariachi Concert, in Las Cruces in October.
| VII | GOVERNMENT |
New Mexico is governed according to a
constitution that became effective when statehood was achieved in 1912.
Amendments may be proposed in either house of the legislature and must be
approved by both houses and by a majority of the electorate before becoming law.
A more complex process is necessary for amendments involving the right to vote,
school lands, and the languages used in education.
| A | Executive |
New Mexico’s executive officers, who
include the governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, treasurer,
attorney general, auditor, and land commissioner, are elected for four-year
terms and cannot serve consecutive terms.
| B | Legislative |
The state legislature consists of a
Senate and a House of Representatives. The 42 senators are elected for four-year
terms, and the 70 representatives for two years. The legislature convenes
annually on the third Tuesday of January for sessions not exceeding 60 days in
odd-numbered years and 30 days in even-numbered years. There are also special
sessions.
| C | Judicial |
The judicial branch of government is
headed by a supreme court of five justices, who are elected for staggered terms
of eight years. New Mexico also has an appellate court, district courts,
juvenile and probate courts in each county, and municipal and magistrate courts
in more densely populated areas. All judges in the state are elected.
| D | Local Government |
Each county is governed by a board of
three to five commissioners, who are elected for two-year terms. Municipalities
are incorporated as cities, towns, or villages, with their own governments. The
Native Americans have their own forms of self-government by way of reservation
elective councils.
| E | National Representation |
In addition to its two senators, New
Mexico elects three representatives to the Congress of the United States giving
the state a total of five electoral votes.
| VIII | HISTORY |
| A | Early Inhabitants |
The first known inhabitants of what is
now New Mexico were members of the Clovis and Folsom cultures, so named because
the first remains of their cultures were found near the towns of Folsom and
Clovis. These early nomads may have lived more than 10,000 years ago. Later
Native American cultures practiced farming and irrigation. The Anasazi culture
flourished in the San Juan River Basin in the 1st millennium ad. By AD 1300 thousands of Pueblo
people, descendants of the Anasazi, lived in several towns along the Río Grande
from Taos south to Isleta (below present-day Albuquerque). The Pueblo were
advanced in domestic arts and crafts—pottery, weaving, and home decoration. Some
of their adobe dwellings were five stories high. They domesticated turkeys, and
in the fields near their towns, they raised corn, beans, and squash for food and
cotton for weaving into blankets. In southwestern New Mexico a people called the
Mogollon, whose culture included elements of Anasazi culture, built massive
cliff dwellings in the 13th century, which they appear to have abandoned soon
afterward.
In the 15th century the lives of the
Pueblo were disrupted by the arrival of the nomadic Navajo and Apache peoples.
The newcomers raided the prosperous Pueblo settlements for food, clothing,
tools, and Pueblo children, whom they enslaved, initiating four centuries of
warfare between the two groups.
| B | Arrival of the Spanish |
The first European to approach
present-day New Mexico was Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, who was shipwrecked with
about 300 men on the Texas coast in 1528. The expedition also included
Estevanico, a slave from Azamor, Morocco. Only Estevanico, Cabeza de Vaca, and
two others survived the Native American attacks and disease. Cabeza de Vaca led
the group west across Texas and then south to Mexico City on what became an
eight-year journey, during which he and Estevanico gained the friendship of many
Native American peoples, who told them about a kingdom of wealth called the
Seven Cities of Cíbola. Cabeza de Vaca’s report about the possibility of wealth
interested the viceroy of New Spain.
In 1539 Estevanico guided a small band
led by Father Marcos de Niza that set out to find the Seven Cities. Although he
found no riches, De Niza reported that he had sighted one of the cities. Zuni
Pueblo killed Estevanico on this expedition. In 1540 a stronger party led by
Francisco Vásquez de Coronado visited the Pueblo country of New Mexico but found
no treasure. Coronado discovered that the Seven Cities of Cíbola were actually
pueblo communities of the Zuni people that contained little wealth. He then
headed northwest to find Tusayan, a group of Hopi pueblos rumored to contain
many riches. Again he was disappointed by the simple villages he encountered.
From Tusayan, Coronado dispatched a small party west under Garcia López de
Cárdenas that was the first group of Europeans to see the Grand Canyon of the
Colorado River.
| C | Conquest of New Mexico |
In 1581 a party of soldiers and
missionaries from Santa Barbara, on the northern frontier of New Spain, traveled
to New Mexico to find out more about the Pueblo peoples. After an extensive
survey of the country, the missionaries stayed and the soldiers returned to New
Spain. In 1582 an expedition led by Antonio de Espejo set out for New Mexico,
mainly to find out what had happened to the missionaries. After learning that
they had been killed, Espejo returned, searching for minerals along the
way.
The king of Spain did not support
efforts to colonize New Mexico in 1590 and 1593 that eventually failed, but in
1595 Juan de Oñate, born in New Spain (now Mexico) and related by marriage to
Hernán Cortés and to the Aztec ruler Montezuma II, won a royal contract to
settle the region. Oñate’s expedition left in 1598. When it reached the Río
Grande near present-day El Paso, Texas, Oñate took possession of New Mexico for
Spain. Proceeding upstream, the Spanish reached a pueblo near the junction of
the Río Grande and the Rio Chama, renamed it San Juan de los Caballeros, and
decided to build the capital of New Mexico near there, calling it San
Gabriel.
| D | Spanish Exploration |
As governor of New Mexico, Oñate
extensively explored the present-day Southwestern United States to fulfill the
terms of his royal grant. He went as far north as Kansas in 1601, and in 1604 he
journeyed to the Gulf of California, on the return trip inscribing his name on
the high rock of El Morro, a few miles east of Zuni Pueblo.
The economic failure of his colony and
his abuses of power brought Oñate into disfavor in 1606. He was removed from
office the next year and replaced by Pedro de Peralta, who founded a new capital
for the colony at Santa Fe in 1610. Despite the lack of gold and silver, Spain
retained possession of New Mexico in order to continue missionary work among the
Native Americans.
| E | Pueblo Revolt |
As the colony grew slowly in the 17th
century, the Pueblo peoples became increasingly hostile to the Spanish, who
frequently compelled them to work as slaves. In addition, the missionaries often
imposed Christianity on them by force. When it became apparent that Christianity
was not replacing indigenous religious beliefs, priests tried to prevent native
ceremonies. As a result, minor revolts against the Spanish occurred sporadically
from 1640 until 1680. That year a medicine doctor of the Tewa Pueblo named Popé,
supported by the Apache, led a rebellion against the Spanish, destroying the
missions and killing priests and Spanish colonists. The Spanish returned in
force, reoccupying Santa Fe in 1692, and by 1696 they had reconquered the whole
area.
| F | Spanish Society |
During the 18th century, colonization
and trade increased in New Mexico. The Comanche and Apache to the east and the
Ute to the north brought in skins, buffalo meat, tallow, and horses to exchange
for manufactured goods. Annual trade fairs developed at Taos and Pecos. New
Mexicans, in turn, went south to Chihuahua, Mexico, to exchange their goods for
the European products brought in through Mexico City. Some covert trade
developed with the French, who had claims to the region east of New Mexico, but
the threat of French interference in New Mexico ended in 1763 when France
transferred to Spain title to the lands west of the Mississippi River and north
of the Arkansas River to the Rocky Mountains.
Through much of the 18th century the
Navajo, Apache, Comanche, and other nomadic Native American peoples repeatedly
raided both Spanish and Pueblo communities, and enough troops to defend the
province were seldom available. Some of the Ute, Comanche, and Navajo agreed to
peace treaties in the 1770s and 1780s, but the Apache in the southwest remained
enemies of the Spaniards. By the end of the 18th century the Hispanic population
had grown to about 20,000.
| G | Republic of Mexico |
In 1821 Mexico won its independence
from Spain. The Spanish had excluded foreigners from New Mexico, but under
Mexican rule, trade with the United States was permitted. The same year a
merchant, William Becknell, brought a pack train from Franklin, Missouri, to
Santa Fe. Pack trains began to move back and forth along the route, known as the
Santa Fe Trail. American merchants and trappers came to Santa Fe and Taos. The
trade also created friction between Americans of European origin who spoke
English (called Anglos), on the one hand, and New Mexicans of mixed Spanish and
Native-American ancestry and Native Americans on the other. By this time, those
of entirely Spanish ancestry were few, but the Spanish culture was still
dominant. Most inhabitants of New Mexico spoke Spanish and were members of the
Roman Catholic church, although the Native Americans retained their dialects and
traditional ceremonies.
As trade increased along the Santa Fe
Trail in the 1830s and 1840s, U.S. government involvement in New Mexican affairs
grew, creating more friction between Hispanic New Mexicans and U.S. citizens. In
1841, forces of the new Republic of Texas entered New Mexico, hoping to claim
the land east of the Río Grande for Texas, but the Texans were captured and
marched to Mexico City, where they were imprisoned and then later released.
| H | United States History |
The 1845 annexation of Texas, which
continued to claim the land east of the Río Grande, encouraged U.S.
expansionists to demand the annexation of all the Southwest and California.
After moving U.S. troops to the mouth of the Río Grande, which Mexico considered
a provocation, United States President James K. Polk declared war on Mexico in
1846 and sent General Stephen Watts Kearny and the Army of the West to invade
New Mexico. Kearny took Santa Fe without firing a shot and claimed New Mexico
for the United States on August 18, 1846. The Mexican War ended in 1848 with the
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which formally ceded New Mexico to the United
States (see Mexican War).
The Congress of the United States
created the Territory of New Mexico under the Compromise Measures of 1850, which
were designed to ease the tension between the South and the North over the
extension of slavery in the new territories. The compromise divided the area
east of California into the territories of New Mexico (now New Mexico and
Arizona) and Utah, and both were opened to settlement by both slaveholders and
antislavery settlers.
In 1853 President Franklin Pierce sent
railroad entrepreneur and diplomat James Gadsden to purchase territory from
Mexico to use for a railroad. He reached an agreement for $15 million, which
Congress later reduced to $10 million. The purchase added a considerable amount
of new land south of the Gila River to New Mexico (see Gadsden
Purchase).
During the American Civil War
(1861-1865), New Mexico territory was temporarily controlled by the Confederacy.
In July 1861 Texans captured the southern part of the territory, and the
Confederacy organized the region south of the 34th parallel, calling it the
Territory of Arizona. In 1862 the Confederates briefly captured Santa Fe but
then lost their supplies at the Battle of Glorieta and were forced to withdraw
from the territory. After the Confederate withdrawal, the U.S. government
organized the Arizona Territory in 1863 in the western portion of the Territory
of New Mexico, reducing New Mexico to its present boundaries.
| I | Economic and Social Development |
Mining quickly became a substantial
industry. Gold had been discovered in the Ortiz Mountains in 1828 and at Pino
Altos in 1860. Another gold strike occurred in north central New Mexico in 1867,
and in 1869 the discovery of rich silver lodes caused a boom in the southwestern
mountains, creating rough mining towns such as Elizabethtown and Silver City
almost overnight. Coal mining developed west of Raton in the 1880s.
Sheep raising dominated New Mexico’s
early livestock industry. Wool from the Spanish churro breed supplied
local weavers, and throughout most of the 19th century large flocks were driven
south and sold in the mining towns of northern Mexico. In 1866 Texas longhorn
cattle were introduced, and large cattle ranches began appearing in New Mexico.
These ranchers competed with sheepherders for water and land and frequently
resorted to force to control these resources. As they became more powerful, some
ranchers opened their own stores and banks. Other ranchers opened rival
businesses, and as in the struggle for water, often the competition turned
violent. Ranchers and businessmen hired bodyguards—sometimes even local law
officials—for personal protection.
One of these intense rivalries led to
the Lincoln County War, which lasted from 1878 to 1881. The war began after a
sheriff’s posse and hired gunmen of a rival rancher and merchant murdered John
Tunstall, who had opened a competing store and a bank. Tunstall’s own bodyguards
included Billy the Kid, who then led a group of Tunstall employees seeking
revenge. Billy had reportedly committed his first murder when he was 12, and
eventually claimed to have shot and killed 21 men in his lifetime. In 1880
Sheriff Pat Garrett of Lincoln County captured Billy. Sentenced to hang, Billy
killed two deputies and escaped from jail on April 28, 1881. Shortly after the
escape, Garrett trapped and fatally shot Billy the Kid in Fort Sumner, New
Mexico.
The arrival of large numbers of
settlers after the railroad reached New Mexico in 1879 helped reduce the
lawlessness of the cattle ranchers. Settlers fenced the land and began farming,
slowly reducing the open range on which ranchers had built their fortunes. The
dry land, however, was difficult to farm, and settlers turned to irrigation. The
first large-scale irrigation project was in the Pecos River valley in 1890.
Other private irrigation projects were undertaken during the 1890s, and the
federal government built others after the turn of the century. Dry-farming
techniques spread quickly, especially in the northeastern section of the
territory.
| J | Statehood |
New Mexico waited 62 years for
statehood, partly because of prejudice against the predominantly
Spanish-speaking, Roman Catholic population of the territory. Opponents also
characterized New Mexico as an inhospitable land of uneducated settlers and wild
Native Americans. But in 1910 Republican President William Howard Taft finally
supported statehood. Congress permitted New Mexico to draw up a constitution,
and on January 6, 1912, New Mexico became the 47th state of the Union.
| K | Growth as a State |
After 1912 the New Mexican economy
expanded considerably. The tourist trade flourished; Native American ceremonies
and crafts and the state’s natural scenic wonders proved strong attractions. The
warm, dry climate drew many people concerned about their health. Mining also
continued, and the first oil well was sunk in 1909; in 1922 commercial gas and
oil production began.
In 1916 the Mexican rebel Francisco
Villa, known as Pancho, led a band of revolutionaries into New Mexico and
attacked Columbus after the United States had recognized Villa’s opponent in the
struggle for power in Mexico, Venustiano Carranza. Villa and his men killed 18
Americans and burned much of the town. United States President Woodrow Wilson
sent troops under General John J. Pershing after Villa, eventually crossing into
Mexico itself to pursue him. Villa eluded capture, however, and increasing
Mexican opposition to Pershing’s expedition caused Wilson to withdraw the force
in 1917.
The United States entered World War I
(1914-1918) soon after the Pershing expedition. About 17,000 New Mexicans served
in the military during the war. In World War II (1939-1945), New Mexico
contributed about 65,000 men. During the war the state’s economy benefited from
large federal expenditures on military installations and nuclear research. In
1943 the U.S. government created the town of Los Alamos high in the Jemez
Mountains as a nuclear research laboratory. The first atomic bomb was produced
there and was tested on July 16, 1945, at Trinity Site in the White Sands
Proving Grounds near Alamogordo. Federal expenditures at facilities such as the
Department of Energy’s Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque continued to
stimulate New Mexico’s economy in the postwar period.
| L | Japanese Internment |
On February 19, 1942, two months after
the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, that brought the United States into
World War II, U.S. president Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed Executive Order
9066, authorizing the removal of Japanese and Americans of Japanese descent from
the West Coast. Many of these people spent the war at an internment camp at
Lordsburg, New Mexico. Others, however, deemed for various reasons to be
especially dangerous, were interned at a camp on the edge of Santa Fe.
Few of the first internees there were
actually dangerous; but in 1945, approximately 300 militantly pro-Japan Japanese
American men sent from the Tule Lake Relocation Center in California rioted when
camp officials tried to remove their leaders and send them to other camps. After
tear gas and hand-to-hand combat, camp guards put down the riot and seized the
leaders, who were eventually deported to Japan after the war.
| M | Recent Developments |
New Mexico’s population almost doubled
between 1940 and 1960. Growth continued through the 1970s, accelerated after
1980, and the population exceeded 1.5 million as the end of the century neared.
In 1969 New Mexico’s voters narrowly rejected a proposed new constitution that
would have reduced the size of the government and redirected power in the state
government away from the legislature and toward the governor. A variety of
groups opposed the new constitution: some business leaders were against a
government-appointed business commission; hunters feared the new constitution
might lead to new restrictions on their activities; and Hispanics and Democrats,
who were currently successful at the polls, opposed any reduction in the number
of elective offices. However, in 1970 voters approved constitutional amendments
extending the terms of office of all elected state officials from two to four
years and granting cities more local autonomy and the power to impose
taxes.
During the 20th century Native
Americans in New Mexico used the courts to secure their rights. Native Americans
won the right to vote in 1948, when a federal court set aside a provision of the
state constitution. In 1970, after more than half a century of attempts to
regain rights to the Blue Lake, which has religious significance to many in Taos
Pueblo, the U.S. Congress transferred the area to the Pueblo.
In 1963 the state’s Hispanic residents
began to seek redress for lands lost by their ancestors while New Mexico was a
U.S. territory. The aggressive Alianza Federal de Mercedes (Federal Alliance of
Land Grants), led by Reìes López Tijerina, argued that the U.S. government
should reopen land-claim cases that had followed the Mexican War. The movement
argued that the United States had failed to protect the land claims of Hispanics
as it had been required to do under the terms of the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe
Hidalgo. In 1967 Tijerina raided a courthouse at Tierra Amarilla, freeing some
of his imprisoned followers and taking two hostages. He was captured after an
extensive search, and although acquitted of kidnapping, Tijerina was imprisoned
on federal charges. In the 1990s, many Hispanic residents of Santa Fe began
protesting the growth of Santa Fe, which had become a fashionable place for
wealthy English-speakers to live. The influx of money to develop the town,
however, began changing the Hispanic flavor of the city, and many
Spanish-speaking residents objected.
In 1981 the U.S. Department of Energy
began construction of its Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, an estimated $700-million
facility near Carlsbad for the storage of radioactive waste material—by-products
of nuclear weapons production—in salt beds more than 610 m (2,150 ft) below
ground. Despite protests from environmentalists and antinuclear activists, the
facility was scheduled to open in 1988. The opening was postponed that year,
however, after scientists and engineers challenged the facility’s design and
construction. In 1989 it was found that intense geologic pressure was causing
the facility’s salt walls to close in on each other faster than expected. As a
result, the facility’s opening was postponed pending more assurances of safety.
The plant eventually opened in March 1999.
At the beginning of the 20th century,
political power was concentrated in rural New Mexico, which held 86 percent of
the population. By the 1990s, power had shifted to the state’s only metropolitan
area, Albuquerque-Rio Rancho. This shift was accompanied by an increase in
Republican voters in a state that for many years was dominated by Hispanic
Democrats, especially in the north. The 1997 election of Republican
Representative Bill Redmond to the Congress of the United States from the Third
Congressional District was an example of this change. The new political climate
also coincided with a decline in direct federal revenues to New Mexico and an
expansion of the microelectronics industry. Intel Corporation led the trend with
a multimillion-dollar plant at Rio Rancho.
New Mexico remains one of the poorest
states in the country, and funding is particularly weak in areas such as health
and education. Agriculture, ranching, mining, and timbering continue to be
displaced by high-tech manufacturing and tourism. The rapid fall of oil prices
in 1986 hurt the state’s petroleum industry, causing unemployment and a sharp
fall in oil and gas tax revenues, to the detriment of state funding for
education. In the early 1990s immigrants from California fueled a housing boom
in Albuquerque and Las Cruces, while wealthy visitors stimulated the market for
second homes in Santa Fe and Taos. Despite the immigration, per capita income in
the state continued to decrease, and fewer city residents were able to purchase
homes.
New Mexico’s Native Americans, facing
cuts in funding from the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Indian Health Service,
continue to diversify their economies. Native Americans have bought shopping
centers, built resorts and gambling casinos, and invested in real estate.
The history section was contributed by
Marc Simmons. The remainder of the article was contributed by Stanley A.
Morain.
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