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Richard Visits the State Capitol

January 30th, 2010

I’ve lived in New Mexico for many years and have spent a great deal of time in Santa Fe. You know – The City Different – the place that gives all of us a different perspective on New Mexico. A travel Mecca for people around the world. And a place that most of us who live here take for granted — as a result, we have our favorite places to visit and therefore we miss a lot.

Recently, I visited the State Capitol building for the first time. My wife, Janine, had been invited by Governor Richardson to meet with him about Travel Guide NEW MEXICO and in-state travel in general. Since I wasn’t on the invite list, I tagged along and started to look around the inside of the Capitol Building while Janine was in her meeting. After a couple minutes I asked one of the guards if it was possible to take a tour and he said, “Sure, this is the people’s building … feel free to go wherever you would like and be sure and check out the great art we have here.”

Art? In the Capitol Building? Feel free to walk around? Unescorted? Go wherever you want to go? You’ve got to be kidding! So I started off walking into the visitor’s gallery of the House of Representatives and the Senate, located on opposite sides of the building. I sat and looked in amazement at our seat of government and in awe of the fact that I could just walk around and check things out.

The art is magnificent and you are even allowed to walk into the reception area of the Governor’s suite and check out the art there. Wander the hallways and there is nothing short of a great art collection at every turn in every hallway.

New Mexico’s State Capitol was built in 1966 and from the air looks like a giant Zia sign. There is no dome … the only capitol building in the country without one! The atrium on the main floor is awe-inspiring. Just walk in and look up and you’ll see what I mean. Take in the 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th floors … walk up the steps or take the elevator. It is one building that you need to see if art is your love. Or, if you are just interested in how government works.

Martin Leger, the Advertising Manager for the New Mexico State Tourism Department, has great stories to tell of his father’s days as a state senator and I look forward to talking with him more about his Dad’s time in the “Roundhouse”, as it is called by those who work there.

If you prefer, you can arrange for a guided tour. Call first (505/986-4589) to make arrangements for a once in a lifetime tour of a building where laws are made and art is king! Janine and I have promised that everyone who comes to visit us will be treated to a tour of OUR State Capitol. A building open year-round for all of us to see and enjoy! Make sure you add it to your list of places to visit while in Santa Fe. It’s an easy two minute walk from the Plaza … so you have no excuse for not stopping by!

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Posted in Behind the Scenes, History, New Mexico Destinations, Richard's Recommendations, Silver City, Things To Do, Videos

Tags: art state capitol

Puye Cliffs

January 16th, 2010

In this video, Richard and Travel Guide NEW MEXICO visit the Puye Cliffs. For more than three centuries from the late 1100s to 1580, Puye Cliffs was home to 1500 Pueblo Indians who lived, farmed and hunted game there. In the late 1500s, Puye Cliffs inhabitants moved into the Rio Grande River valley, likely due to drought that caused springs to dry up and crops to fail. Puye Cliffs inhabitants are ancestors of the present-day Santa Clara people, who now live at Santa Clara Pueblo, ten miles east of Puye.

Puye Cliffs consists of two levels of cliff dwellings cut into the cliff face, as well as dwellings on the mesa top. The first level is over one mile long and runs the entire length of the base of the mesa. The second level is about 2,100 feet long. Stairways and paths were cut in the face of the rock to connect the two levels and to allow people to climb to the top of the mesa. Dwellings on the mesa top are examples of Pueblo architecture and were part of a single, multi-storied complex built around a large, central plaza.

The complex is known as the Community House or Great House. While the actual number of rooms is unknown, the south part of the complex had 173 rooms on the ground floor, with multiple stories in various places, similar to modern-day Taos Pueblo.

The largest of all settlements in the Pajarito Plateau, Puye Cliffs was excavated in the summer of 1907 by Adolf Bandelier, in cooperation with the Southwest Society of the Archeological Institute of America. It was the first of the ancient Pueblos of the Rio Grande Valley to be systematically excavated, and was named a National Historic Landmark in 1966.

Visiting Silver City, New Mexico

January 2nd, 2010

Nestled in the foothills of the Pinos Altos Mountains at an elevation of 6,000 feet, Silver City, New Mexico borders the Continental Divide. The summer climate is cool and comfortable. You’ll enjoy crisp clean air and sunshine and their FOUR GENTLE SEASONS!

In New Mexico’s southwest corner, Silver City isn’t the kind of place people just stumble onto. Silver miners sought it out in the late 1800s, and more recently the town’s Old-West charm and high-desert location made it a magnet for outdoorsy and creative types. The historic district is home to casual restaurants that put the area’s green chiles to good use. Outside town, The Nature Conservancy runs Bear Mountain Lodge, a hacienda adjacent to birding, biking, and hiking opportunities in the Gila National Forest.

Silver City was recently selected as one of the healthiest places to live and retire. The colorful history of Silver City, New Mexico, dates back to 1870 when silver was discovered above La Cienega (Marsh) de San Vicente. Tales from those early days tell of characters like Billy the Kid, Geronimo, Judge Roy Bean, “Dangerous” Dan Tucker, and the Hearst family. You can explore the ancient cultures and see collections of distinctive black-on-white pottery that was developed one thousand years ago by Mimbres Indians inhabiting the Silver City area.

Visit the Silver City website here.

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Posted in New Mexico Destinations, Silver City, Things To Do, Videos

Jack’s Tracks – Holiday Inn Express at Silver City

January 2nd, 2010

Travelin’ Jack here – roving bull-dog reporter. My job: checking out pet friendly spots around New Mexico. Whenever I’m in Silver City, I stay at the pet-friendly Holiday Inn Express! The pet-friendly hotel features comfortable rooms, HDTV, and for the humans in your party, enjoy a complimentary full hot breakfast, have a workout in the fitness center and enjoy a relaxing soak in the Jacuzzi.

The Holiday Inn Express in Silver City is my kind of place!

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Posted in Jack's Tracks, New Mexico Destinations, Places to Stay, Silver City, Videos

Tags: hotels pet friendly

Western New Mexico University Museum

January 2nd, 2010

Housed on the campus of Western New Mexico University, The WNMU Museum houses one of the world’s most complete and comprehensive collections of Mimbres pottery, basketry, and other artifacts, in the Eisele Collection of Prehistoric Southwestern Pottery and Artifacts. The museum is open Monday to Friday from 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM and on Saturday and Sunday: 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM. The museum is closed on university holidays. Admission is free and the museum is fully handicapped accessible. These museum’s stunning examples of ancient pottery reveal a glimpse of the cultural and artistic life of the area more than 800 years ago.

Check out our videos of other New Mexico museums here.

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Posted in Museums, New Mexico Destinations, Silver City, Things To Do, Videos

Tags: museum pottery

Pinos Altos, New Mexico

January 2nd, 2010

Historic Pinos Altos (Tall Pines) is located just six miles north of Silver City on NM 15 at an elevation of 7040 feet. Nestled into the Gila National Forest, the town began in 1860 when three frustrated 49-ers, Thomas Birch, Colonel Snively and another guy named Hicks, stopped to take a drink in Bear Creek and discovered gold.

The Main Street of this charming old gold-mining town is like an old western movie set. Many of the old buildings date back to the 1800’s and Visitors can soak up the rich history with our museums and other historical sites; enjoy great food and entertainment (including melodrama theatre); enrich themselves with fine contemporary Southwestern art; try their hand at gold panning; or simply delight in the beautiful mountain views of the Gila National Forest have been restored and decorated with original memorabilia and artifacts.

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Posted in New Mexico Destinations, Silver City, Things To Do, Videos, restaurants

Tags: forest gold-mining Pinos Altos

Gila Rangers and the Billy the Kid Shootout Reenactment

January 2nd, 2010

The controversy over Billy the Kid’s life and death started when he was shot and killed by Pat Garrett in July 1888. But did Billy die, did Garrett really kill him or was somebody else the victim of Garretts bullets? The legend holds that Billy, also known as William Bonney Henry McCarty and Henry Antrim, was born in New York, or was it Texas? His mother was Catherine Antrim, or was he born to her sister and raised by Antrim?

The controversy of his life stems far beyond what documented history can tell us. However, a few things about Billy’s life are not controversial. He was raised in Silver City, New Mexico, by Antrim and known then as Henry McCarty. After her death, he had no role models, got involved with shady characters and began his brief life of crime. Also not disputed is that Billy the Kid attended Sixth Street Elementary School in Silver City. A cabin from the movie set of The Missing was donated by the movie’s director Ron Howard and sits at the Murray Ryan Visitor Center near the site where Billy (a.k.a. Henry) and his mother lived. So, while the stories of Billy change as quickly as time passes, one fact that will always remain is the Kid will always be known as one of the Wests most rumored and remembered outlaws.

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Posted in New Mexico Destinations, Outdoor Adventures, Silver City, Things To Do, Videos

Gila Cliff Dwellings in Silver City

January 2nd, 2010

Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument offers a glimpse of the homes and lives of the people of the Mogollon culture who lived in the Gila Wilderness from the 1280s through the early 1300s. The surroundings probably look today very much like they did when the cliff dwellings were inhabited. The monument is surrounded by the Gila National Forest and lies at the edge of the Gila Wilderness, the nation’s first designated wilderness area.

This designation means that the wilderness character of the area will not be altered by roads or other evidence of human presence. Hiking in the Gila and Aldo Leopold Wilderness areas is a popular activity in the area. There are also several popular hot springs nearby. The closest, Lightfeather, is a twenty-minute walk from the Visitor Center. The most popular is Jordan, a 6- or 8-mile hike from the Visitor Center, depending upon the trailhead used.

Read more about the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument.

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Posted in New Mexico Destinations, Outdoor Adventures, Silver City, Videos

Tags: cliff dwellings forest hiking hot springs wildlife

Fort Bayard in Silver City, New Mexico

January 2nd, 2010

In 1865, General Carlton, commander of the District of New Mexico, requested that a new fort be established in the southwest region to protect the early settlers, miners and travelers from the Apache. Fort Bayard, located in the homeland of the Apache, was established in August 1866 by Company B of the 125th U.S. Colored Infactry, under the command of Lieutenant James Kerr. He established an encampment near the mining communities of Pinos Altos and Santa Rita. In 1899 the post of Fort Bayard was transferred to the Army Medical Department.

Fort Bayard was home to Native American Indian Scouts and several Buffalo Soldiers, including William Cathay (a.k.a. Cathay Williams), who was the only known female Buffalo Soldier. Military leaders such as General George Crook and “Black Jack” Pershing spent time at Fort Bayard, as well. Among its medical leaders were Major D.D.M. Appel and Major Dr. George E. Bushnell.

Both completed outstanding research discoveries and procedures in the treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis. R.N. Dita Kinney, later director of the Army Nurses Corps, supervised the inclusion of female nurses in the Army Medical Department. Fort Bayard is one of the many nearby communities just outside Silver City, less than 15 minutes from downtown, south on Highway 180.

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Posted in Hidden Treasures, New Mexico Destinations, Silver City, Videos

City of Rocks

January 2nd, 2010

Rock formations like those at the City of Rocks State Park exist in only six other places in the world. Imaginative visitors may see the rock formations as a small city with houses, chimneys, courtyards and streets. Visitors can choose from 62 campsites scattered among the rocks, from which they can hike, bird watch, picnic, bike, take in the interpretive exhibits at the visitor center, explore the parks botanical garden or star gaze.

City of Rocks State Park lies in the Mimbres Valley of the Chihuahuan desert. The park and surrounding grassland support yucca, agave, cacti and ocotillo, while growing among the rocks are Emory and gray oak. Mule deer, roadrunners, javelinas, cactus wrens, western diamondback rattlesnakes, ground squirrels, coyotes and jackrabbits all make their home here. Until 1200 A.D., Mimbres Indians roamed this area, leaving arrowheads and pottery shards as evidence of their culture.

The park also lies within the traditional homelands of the Chiricahua and Warm Springs Apache. Spanish explorers and settlers arrived in 1500 and mule trains loaded with copper from the nearby Santa Rita mine passed nearby on their way to Chihuahua from 1804 to 1834. After the Mexican War of 1846-48, the Mormon Battalion blazed a trail south of the park to link newly acquired New Mexico and Arizona with the eastern United States.