NMPedia

A private independent institution of anthropology funded by John D. Rockefeller Jr. in 1927, opening its doors in 1931 with Jesse Nusbaum as director. Funding faltered during the Great Depression, and the Laboratory was eventually incorporated into the Museum of New Mexico.

(1901-1963) Anthropologist and ethnologist who wrote many fictional works about New Mexico including Laughing Boy, a novel that won the Pulitzer Prize in 1930, and Enemy Gods about a Navajo boy returning to traditional ways after being sent to boarding school. His stories published in prominent national magazines were sympathetic to Native Americans and he was a champion for Indian Rights in the United States and Mexico, serving as president of the Association on American Indian Affairs. He also wrote a column for the New Mexican in Santa Fe. Author of his autobiography, Raw Materials.

(1887-1971) Son of chef and hotelier Henry Lambert, who operated the St. James Hotel in Cimarron. Fred grew up in the hotel, as a youth serving as bartender, and met many famous and infamous people who came to stay. A childhood friend of Agnes Morley Cleaveland, who wrote of him in several of her books, especially Satan's Paradise. Fred Lambert was an early member of the New Mexico Mounted Police, moving from horseback to motorcycle to automobile in his career. He also served as Sheriff of Cimarron. A poet, he also published and contributed to several books and made many pen & ink drawings and paintings. Author of Bygone Days of the Old West.

(1838-1913) Birth name Henri Lambert. Chef and hotelier who had a hotel in Elizabethtown, then co-owned (with the support of land baron Lucien Maxwell, whose mansion was across the street) the St. James Hotel in Cimarron. Said to have been chef to Ulysses S. Grant, and later Abraham Lincoln. Hosted many famous and infamous people during the 1870s and 1880s. Father to Fred Lambert.

(1814-1888) Jean Baptiste Lamy (sometimes given as Jean-Baptiste, Juan Baptiste, John B.). French Roman Catholic clergyman and first Archbishop of New Mexico. Entered Santa Fe in 1851 with a goal to reform the church in New Mexico, to which end he created new parishes and arranged for new churches and schools to be built. Became Archbishop of Santa Fe in 1852. Famously arranged for the building of both the St. Francis Cathedral and the Loretto Chapel. Invited Jesuit priests into New Mexico area in the late 1870s. Was a driving force in the assemblage of funds to build a spur rail line from Santa Fe to Galisteo Junction, which was renamed Lamy in his honor.
State Historian webpage on Archbishop Lamy

Originally called Galisteo Junction, renamed in honor of Archbishop Lamy in 1881. When the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway drove south through New Mexico the topography made it impractical to put the rails through Santa Fe. The Lamy stop, 18 miles to the south, was created as a compromise, with road transport giving access to the capital. Area merchants raised funds to construct a spur line connecting Lamy with the Santa Fe Depot; the spur line continued until 1926, and is now used by the Santa Fe Southern Railway for excursions. In its early days Lamy had a reputation as a "wild" town; from the 1920s it served as the departure point for "Harveycars" - excursion buses to Santa Fe and surrounding points of interest - leaving from the El Feliz Hotel run by the Fred Harvey Company. Lamy was also the closest rail stop bringing scientists to the Manhattan Project.

Both the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and the terms of the Gadsen Purchase required the United States to recognize valid Spanish and Mexican land claims in the newly-gained territories. Abjudication was spotty and slow to arrive in the Southwest, measuring practices varied culturally, and the Surveyors General assigned to the area were often overwhelmed. Legal disputes over land ownership were common, and the system was seriously bound up in the late 1870s; Congress created a court in 1891 to settle disputes, but disagreements and challenges continue to this day, with some cases having been in the courts for decades. As some of the land grants were very large, control of them has had a significant impact on New Mexico's history. Protest movements regarding land grant rights have occurred several times, notably the White Caps in the 1890s and La Alianza in the 1960s.
State Historian webpage on land grants in New Mexico

Official State Nickname of New Mexico. The application of the term is credited to author Eugene Manlove Rhodes who used the phrase "a land of enchantment and mystery" in a 1911 story, and again in 1914. (Author Lilian Whiting used the term in 1906 to apply to the whole Southwest, but Rhodes was speaking lovingly of New Mexico in particular.) The New Mexico Tourist Bureau published a pamphlet entitled "Welcome to the Land of Enchantment" in 1937; the nickname spread and the state began putting it on license plates in 1941. Adopted as Official State Nickname in 1999.

Wry "motto" for New Mexico, in reference to its being the only state with annual cases of bubonic plague.

Located near the summit of South Baldy Peak in the Magdalena Mountains near Socorro. Devoted to studies of atmospheric processes, with a special focus on lightning; noted for innovative research in triggered lightning. Named in honor of Irving Langmuir, winner of the 1932 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Operated by New Mexico Tech with funding from the National Science Foundation. Open to visitors in July and August.
Langmuir Laboratory website

(1897-1985) Mathematician and astronomer who came to New Mexico during WWII to work with the military in ballistics. Helped in researching the Japanese "fugo" balloon bombs directed against North America. Joined UNM in 1945 where he founded the Institute of Meteoritics, serving as its director until 1966. Served as head of UNM's Dept. of Mathematics and Astronomy, and as Director of the Division of Astronomy. Was involved with research into the "green fireball" phenomenon in the late 40s; LaPaz himself had witnessed the phenomena, and with his expertise in ballistics and meteoritics it is considered one of the best-researched UFO cases to date. Quoted in 1957 as feeling that the Russian launching of Sputnik "posed a danger to the free world". Co-author, with wife Jean LaPaz, of Space Nomads: Meteorites in Sky, Field, and Laboratory.

(1859-1930) Fourth governor of New Mexico, 1918-1920. Elected to the New Mexico House of Representatives in 1927 and 1928; served as a United States Senator in 1928, the first of Mexican-American heritage. Famously changed his party affiliation in 1911 to Republican when the Democratic Party in New Mexico refused his proposition that half of all delegates be Hispanic to reflect the Latino majority in the state.
State Historian webpage on Ocataviano Larrazolo

20 foot high sculpture of a roadrunner at a rest stop along I-10 near Las Cruces, created by local artist / blacksmith Olin Calk. The giant work, entitled Big Bird, with an estimated weight of one ton, is constructed entirely of waste from the local landfill; the project started as a lesson in consumer waste for schoolchildren.

AKA: Ruth Laughlin Alexander, Ruth Laughlin Barker. (1889-1962) Ruth Barbara Laughlin Alexander. Journalist and novelist, and co-founder of the Old Santa Fe Association. Best known for her 1948 novel The Wind Leaves No Shadow about Santa Fe gambler La Tules. Also wrote (as Ruth Laughlin Barker) Caballeros, a book about the history, culture, and architecture of Santa Fe.

Numerous lava flows have occurred in New Mexico's history, along the Rio Grande Rift and other rift basins around the state; New Mexico exhibits some of the most recent lava flows in North America, with the McCarty's Flow occurring only 3000 years ago. The Carrizozo Malpais / Valley of Fires flow (dated at 5000 years ago) extends almost 40 miles; the Zuni-Bandera Flow which encompasses the McCarty's Flow extends almost 60 miles. The Albuquerque Volcano Field encompasses a number of features including several lava flows; other distinctive "volcano cliffs" are evident north and west of Bernalillo. Volcanism in New Mexico is considered dormant, and such flows may recur.

(1885-1930) David Herbert Lawrence. Visited Taos in 1922 at the invitation of Mabel Dodge Luhan; returned in 1923 to live in the area with his wife Frieda Lawrence, though often traveled. Developed tuberculosis. Though his stay in Taos was brief, he is remembered as having a great impact on the Taos Art Colony. He wrote many essays & short stories about NM including "The Princess", "The Wilful Woman", & "Woman Who Rode Away"; his novella St. Mawr is also set in NM. As a poet, he is included in Signature of the Sun; Southwest Verse, 1900-1950.

See Bob Root

Self-proclaimed title of Anthony New Mexico, shared with Anthony Texas. The town holds an event on leap years to honor people born on February 29.

At over 120,000 square miles, the State of New Mexico encompasses six of the seven Merriam Life Zones, which differentiate by temperature and biome. From south to north the Life Zones are Lower Sonoran, Upper Sonoran, Transition, Canadian, Hudsonian, and Arctic-Alpine.

Oft-heard reason given by artists, painters, photographers, and filmmakers for their fascination with depicting New Mexico. The distinctive light (and landscape) is often mentioned in reviews of films shot in NM.

"The Lightning Field (1977), by the American sculptor Walter De Maria, is a work of Land Art situated in a remote area of the high desert of western New Mexico. It is comprised of 400 polished stainless steel poles installed in a grid array measuring one mile by one kilometer. The poles -- two inches in diameter and averaging 20 feet and 7½ inches in height -- are spaced 220 feet apart and have solid pointed tips that define a horizontal plane. A sculpture to be walked in as well as viewed, The Lightning Field is intended to be experienced over an extended period of time. A full experience of The Lightning Field does not depend upon the occurrence of lightning, and visitors are encouraged to spend as much time as possible in the field." - from the website. Maintained by Dia Art Foundation, which offers overnight visits during the months of May through October.
Lightning Field website

Benjamin Vernon Lilly, "Ol' Lilly". (1856-1936) Noted hunter and outdoorsman; labeled the "last true Mountain Man of the Southwest". Ranged from Louisiana into Mexico; served as hunting guide to President Theodore Roosevelt. Settled on a ranch in the Gila Wilderness. Buried in the Silver City cemetery. There is a monument to Lilly near Pinos Altos. Book: The Ben Lilly Legend by J. Frank Dobie.

Volunteer posse created in 1879 with the support of Governor Lew Wallace in an effort to quell violence during the Lincoln County War. The warrant-bearing posse, comprised primarily of supporters of Alexander McSween and members of the Hispanic community, achieved little during the few weeks of its existence save for arresting James Dolan and two of his supporters; the other men escaped custody and Dolan was subsequently freed.

AKA: Lincoln County Range War. One of the largest range wars in the Old West, capturing lasting worldwide attention as symbolizing the struggle for control of resources in the American West and famous for the participation of Billy the Kid. The War began with two factions struggling to control the mercantile trade in the area; as the conflict escalated, each side hired gunmen to act as defense and enforcers. The explosive mix involved businessmen, cattlemen, politicians, and lawmen, and culminated in a running siege, the "Five-Day Battle", which resulted in Army troops being called in. The Battle of Lincoln was one of the largest shootouts of The Old West, and has been examined in many books and films.

See State of Lincoln

AKA: Lucky Lindy. As President of the Trans-Continental Air Transport Company, sought in 1929 to establish an air transport hub at Onava near Las Vegas. However, the facility was never built, perhaps due to concerns with the altitude of the site. An airfield was built at Clovis; people were transported from Los Angeles to Clovis by plane, then continued to Oklahoma by train where another plane took them to another train stop in Ohio and then on to New York. Lindbergh also visited Albuquerque in 1930. Friends with rocket scientist Robert Goddard and often visited him at his workshop near Roswell.

Near Carlsbad. Features the plant and animal life of the Chihuahuan Desert zone. Picnic facilities, no camping.

AKA: Staked Plain, Staked Plains, Palisaded Plain. Western High Plains region in eastern New Mexico and northwestern Texas; at 37,500 square miles, one of the largest mesa tablelands in North America. The climate is cold semi-arid, with little rainfall. Coronado named it in 1541; the name -- which translates to "Palisaded Plain" -- refers to the steep cliffs he saw along the edge of the plateau. The mistranslation as "Staked Plain" has led to a number of folk explanations, including the use of stakes as trail markers during winter.

AKA: W.H.H. Llewellyn. (1851-1927) William Henry Harrison Llewellyn. Became Mescalero Apache Indian Agent in 1881, and in 1883 agent for the Jicarilla Apache. In 1885 opened a law office in Las Cruces in partnership with William L. Rynerson. Several times elected to the Territorial Legislature. Served in the Rough Riders during the Spanish-American War, including the Battle at San Juan Hill. Maintained connections with ex-commander Teddy Roosevelt. Served several years as U.S. Attorney for New Mexico.
State Historian webpage on William Llewellyn

Built in 1899 by the Alamogordo and Sacramento Mountain Railway; destroyed by fire in 1909, rebuilt in 1911. Now operates as a resort and spa, offering meeting space, spa treatments, and a 9-hole golf course.

See Kid Curry

AKA: Navajo Long Walk, Long Walk of the Navajo, Long Walk to Bosque Redondo. After a "pacification" campaign over the winter of 1863-1864, led by Kit Carson and designed to starve the Navajo into submission, some 11,500 Navajos were gathered together near Fort Defiance (near present-day Grants) and started on a march to Bosque Redondo in southern New Mexico, a distance of some 400 miles. While referred to as "The Long Walk", the journey was actually comprised of dozens of forced marches. 8,500 Navajos reached the internment camp; while some had escaped, others died along the way. Conditions at the internment camp were miserable, eventually drawing national attention. The 1868 Treaty of Bosque Redondo returned the Navajo lands, and the Navajos had another "long walk" home.
State Historian webpage on The Long Walk

Raised in Roswell. Professional golfer who has won over 50 pro tournaments. Only woman to win LPGA Rookie of the Year, Player of the Year, and the Vare Trophy in the same season (1978). Inducted into the LPGA Hall of Fame in 1987. Co-author of Nancy Lopez's the Complete Golfer and The Education of a Woman Golfer.

Formally, the Sisters of Loretto Academy. The first school in southern New Mexico, established in Las Cruces in 1870. The Academy operated until 1943.

Once a Catholic Chapel in Santa Fe, now deconsecrated and operated as a private museum and tourist attraction. Designed by Antoine Mouly and son, who had been brought to New Mexico by Archbishop Lamy to design the St. Francis Cathedral. Home to the Miraculous Staircase, a distinctive helical spiral staircase with a legend around its construction.

Formally, VIVA New Mexico Chile Festival. "A party and a celebration of the centuries-long tradition of agriculture in the Middle Rio Grande Valley." Held in late August since 2013. The 3-day event features food, music, a wide variety of chile products, and chile contests.

See Los Lunas Mystery Stone

AKA: Los Lunas Mystery Rock, Los Lunas Decalogue Rock, New Mexico Mystery Stone, Ten Commandments Rock. Large flat stone on the side of Hidden Mountain near Los Lunas, bearing inscribed lines of symbols that appear to be Paleo-Hebrew, though all interpretations and translations of the text are controversial, as is the source of the symbols. One translation claims it is a version of the Ten Commandments, hence the nickname of the Stone: "Ten Commandments Rock". Other translations suggest a pre-Columbian contact. The surface of the stone has been so affected by visitors over the years, especially by cleaning and the use of chalk to bring the symbols into sharper relief, as to make scientific dating basically impossible. Some of the symbols have also been vandalized.

Original name of Bosque Farms

Sometimes: Diggin's, Diggins. One of the great lost treasure tales of the American Southwest, the subject of many books and the movie Mackenna's Gold. The story is told in many forms, but all include an 1862 discovery of gold "in an unlikely place" (usually in a slot canyon), the miners being driven away by Apaches, and Adams never being able to find the site again (though he spent the rest of his life leading expeditions to find it). Search for the Diggings continue today; many researchers focus on central western New Mexico. Book about the search in NM: The lost Adams diggings : myth, mystery and madness by Jack Purcell.

Sometimes: "Sublette". The story of a lost mine in the Guadalupe Mountains in southeastern New Mexico was presented by J. Frank Dobey in his popular books of the 1930s. Told with variations; the common thread is that William Collum "Ben" Sublett found a rich source of gold the location of which he would never divulge, disappearing periodically to refresh his supply while evading those who followed him. Sublett died having left only minor clues to the location of the mine, which is variously conjectured as being a natural lode or a stash of gold which had been mined elsewhere. Dobey's colorful retelling of the story led to many searches for the legendary "mine".

See World's Greatest Lizard Race

AKA: Lubin Moving Picture Co.. Motion picture company, one of the first to do location shooting in the Southwest. The Company shot 13 films in the Silver City area in 1913, almost all of them produced, directed, written by and starring Romaine Fielding, at the time one of the most popular film actors in America.

Composer of the official Spanish language state song Asi Es Nuevo Mejico.

AKA: Maxwell-Abreu House. On the Philmont Scout Ranch, near Cimarron. An early home of land baron Lucien Maxwell, rebuilt and now part of a museum complex. "Begun in 1850... and includes remnants of the Maxwell House (built in 1848). The existing house, only portions of which date back to the 19th century, is part of the Rayado Ranch, which is on the National Register of Historic Places and the New Mexico Register of Cultural Properties. The house shares the Rayado site with the Rayado Chapel (owned by the Catholic Church), the Martinez House, an adobe shed and barn, and other historic structures." Sometimes confused with the Maxwell House in Fort Sumner, to which site Maxwell moved his operations after selling off the Maxwell Land Grant.

(1879-1962) Mabel Ganson Evans Dodge Sterne Luhan. New York socialite who established herself in the Taos area in 1918. Luhan had close ties with the Taos Society of Artists and did much to foster interest worldwide regarding Taos as a destination for artists and literati; some of those she invited and hosted include Georgia O'Keeffe, Mary Austin, and D.H. Lawrence, about whom she wrote the book Lorenzo in Taos. Other noted works include Edge of Taos Desert, Movers and Shakers, and Winter in Taos. Luhan's influence was integral in creating the Taos Art Colony. Featured as a fictionalized character in The Taos Truth Game by Earl Ganz.

Christmas Eve tradition practiced across New Mexico, wherein candles are placed in paper bags (weighted with sand) and used to outline walkways, buildings, roofs, streets, and loved ones' graves. The tradition is that the lights lead the Christ Child to one's home. Streets, neighborhoods, and business districts may work together to present contiguous displays, and such areas are popular with visitors on Christmas Eve. Electric strands and plastic enclosures are sometimes used in place of the candles and paper bags, on large buildings and sometimes homes, but the flickering warm candlelight is a noted feature of the displays. There is an ongoing debate over nomenclature: generally speaking, northern New Mexicans prefer the term farolitos, "little lanterns", for the sack lights, whereas southern New Mexicans usually reserve that term for the small bonfires that sometimes line seasonal processions. Luminaria are spreading to other parts of the U.S. as a Christmas decoration.

(1859-1928) In 1884 walked from Cincinnati to Los Angeles, passing through New Mexico, sending articles to the Los Angeles Times later collected into his book A Tramp Across the Continent. Lummis returned to New Mexico in 1888, settling at Isleta Pueblo. A prolific freelance author, he often wrote about southwest history and peoples, including his observations on New Mexico and collections of Pueblo folk tales. He spent ten months in Peru with friend Adolph Bandelier, serving as photographer to the expedition, before returning to Los Angeles in 1894 where he served as editor for Out West magazine and then became a librarian with the Los Angeles Public Library; helped found the Southwest Museum there. Lummis was noted as an outspoken activist for Indian Rights. Made perhaps 10,000 photographs of New Mexico, 1884-1925. Noted books about New Mexico: The Land of Poco Tiempo and Strange Corners of Our Country and The Spanish Pioneers and Pueblo Indian folk-stories.

(1870-1900) Son of Tranquilino Luna of Los Lunas. Served in the Spanish-American war as an officer with Roosevelt's Rough Riders. Killed while serving in the Phillipines.

(1858-1912) AKA: "King Saul". Born in Los Lunas; graduate of Saint Louis University. Rancher who became the largest sheep rancher in New Mexico. President of the Bank of Commerce in Albuquerque. Served as treasurer of Valencia County, delegate at the state constitutional convention then delegate for New Mexico after statehood. Uncle to Maximiliano Luna and Nina Otero-Warren. Los Lunas High School named in his honor. Inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners of the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in 1963.

(1847-1892) Native of Los Lunas. Elected Territorial Delegate in 1880 and again in 1882. Gave a speech at the commemoration of the arrival of the AT&SF Railroad into Albuquerque in 1880. Father of Maximiliano Luna.

Historic home in Los Lunas; the only surviving example of Victorian Colonial-Southern architecture constructed of adobe. Built as a gift to the influential Luna/Otero family by the Santa Fe Railway for access through their land holdings; Tranquilino Luna was a founding member of the New Mexico Town Company, a subsidiary of the AT&SF devoted to land development in the Albuquerque area. Now operates as a restaurant. Reputedly haunted.

Term, common during the period, for the many people with tuberculosis who came to New Mexico 1880-1940 seeking a better climate to help cure their disease.
State Historian webpage on tuberculosis "lungers"