Northern New Mexico

We left Denver and headed south to Northern New Mexico. But first, we had to drive over the Raton Pass between Trinidad, Colorado and Raton, New Mexico. We were on Interstate 25 and as you approach the pass, you note the signs for the steep road ahead. It is 7,834 to the top and we couldn't get much over 50 miles per hour. The pass is famous enough to have had a movie that took place there in 1951. Of course, going up wasn't the hardest part, coming down was. The trucks with smoking brakes lined the side of the road. We did what we were supposed to and safely arrived at the bottom (Raton, New Mexico) without a problem.

Our experiences in Southern New Mexico hadn't been all that exciting when we were there. Carlsbad, of course and the Guadalupe Mountains were good but the area itself was pretty sad. Unfortunately, Raton was pretty much the same. You wonder how people make a living there. We didn't stay long and mounted up for a drive further south. Heading towards Santa Fe, we noticed signs for Fort Union National Monument.  Five miles off Interstate 25, down a twisting two lane highway through some beautiful ranch land, we arrived at the site.  There was just enough space for the RV and tow in the parking lot. A great visitor center and movie told us the history of the fort and surrounding area. 

When New Mexico became a U.S. territory after the Mexican American War, the army set up garrisons scattered along the Rio Grande. It didn't work out and the Army reorganized establishing larger forts closer to the Indians. The army commander who was responsible for the area, moved his command center and supply depot from Santa Fe which he described as, "that sink of vice and extravagance", to the area that would become Ft. Union. The first fort at this location was built in 1851 and the second built in 1861. Designed to stop a Confederate advance from Texas to the California gold fields, it never saw action. The Confederates were stopped at the battle of Glorietta Pass about 20 miles south of Santa Fe and the the civil war was essentially over for the Southwest. The third fort was started in 1863 and took six years to complete. The fort eventually became the largest supply depot for the Santa Fe Trail wagon trains and served until the railroads displaced it. The sprawling fort where thousands lived and served closed in 1891 and was abandoned. The fort has been preserved as it was left.

Continuing south, we arrived in Santa Fe. Overpriced and somewhat touristy but simply beautiful and cultured. The city has been continuously occupied for over 400 years under the flag of many countries. The Spanish influence is what overshadows everything. Exceptional colonial buildings mixed with public art and warm sunshine.

Obviously the center square of town is loaded with overpriced jewelry stores, expensive restaurants and more. But there are also, neighborhoods with great Mexican restaurants, locally made ice cream and an actual artist's community. And the museums! Our first visit was to the Georgia O'keefe Museum that was so much more than just paintings on a wall. Splendid movies, incredible displays about her life made her more of person. What an incredible life! Her art is also so much more than those few paintings most people are familiar with. 

You might think the colors are not life like, but they are. Santa Fe is a riot of pastel colors of pinks, greens, blues, and purples. 

Next stop, The Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian. The museum was founded in 1937 by Mary Cabot Wheelwright who was a Bostonian who became enamored with the Navajo religion as one of many religions she studied. She collaborated with a  Navajo "singer" or medicine man. What they developed is an amazing museum of all Indian art, including an exceptional jewelry collection.

While in the oldest capital, we visited the newest state capitol. The building is a pantheon of art. Three stories of New Mexican artists work. Simply beautiful. 

Our last stop in the area was to me the best, Los Alamos. One of the newest national monuments, established in 2015, Manhattan Project National Historical Park. The Manhattan Project was an unprecedented, top-secret program to design and build an atomic bomb. Los Alamos was so secret that an entire city was built with everyone having the same address in Santa Fe. Husbands and wives weren't able to share the details of the jobs. But it was all compartmentalized so that no one really knew more than what they were specifically working on. The exception was J. Robert Oppenheimer. It was so divided that there were numerous other facilities, each working on the their own part of the project. I really like this quote from Journalist William Lawrence in 1945, The Atomic Age began at exactly 5:30 Mountain War Time on the morning of July 16, 1945, on a stretch of semi-desert land about 50 airline miles from Alamogordo, New Mexico. And just at that instance there rose from the bowels of the earth a light not of this world,  the light of many suns in one". Exhibits, homes and more in one of the most beautiful settings imaginable.

Even the ride to the site was beautiful. Can you imagine the drive in the 1940's?

The ride back to Santa Fe.

Next time heading East.


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