NMPedia

28-square-mile area west of Los Lunas, home to more than 400 families. As the area was never subdivided and licensed for housing, the community is technically illegal and the residents of the area receive no services and live "off the grid", bringing in water and sometimes using generators for power. Although sometimes labeled as squatters many of the residents have purchased land and pay taxes; however, land use as a homesite may not be legally recognized by the county. The area, viewed by some outsiders as a "no man's land", is subject to widespread illegal dumping and often used as an informal shooting range.

Volcanic plateau, part of the Jemez Mountains formation. The Plateau is formed primarily of a thick layer of volcanic ash, tuff, which emerged in eruption from the Valles Caldera which bounds the Plateau to the west. As tuff is a soft material, erosion has sculpted the Plateau with deep furrowed canyons. The area offers dramatic vistas and hiking and climbing. Included in the area of the Plateau are the towns of Los Alamos and White Rock, and the Bandelier National Monument.

AKA: El Palacio. Built in 1610 in Santa Fe. Has been the seat of government during Spanish, Mexican, and American control of New Mexico, and for the 12-year period of the Pueblo Revolt was in the hands of a loose federation of Native Americans. The Palace was also briefly occupied by Confederate forces in 1862. After falling into disrepair, the Palace was restored and now is in the control of the Museum of New Mexico and houses the New Mexico History Museum. The Palace was designated a Registered National Historic Landmark in 1960 and an American Treasure in 1999.

30,000 mile road network beginning deep in South America, progressing through Central America and the United States and into Canada. In New Mexico, the Pan-American Highway includes US 85 and, because many portions of I-25 paralleled the route of US 85, portions of I-25. (In Albuquerque, that portion of the route is designated as the Pan-American Freeway.) Many portions of the Pan-American Highway, and the portions through New Mexico, are also part of the CanAm Highway connecting Canada with Mexico. Many maps, including online map sources, show the Pan-American Highway designation in addition to local names for those roads.

AKA: Mexican Expedition, American Punitive Expedition. In response to Pancho Villa's raid on Columbus, March 9 1916, President Woodrow Wilson directed Major General John "Black Jack" Pershing to take a force (initially, 4,800 men) into northern Mexico to capture Villa. The Expedition, which separated into two major components, operated out of a main base in Casas Grandes Chihuahua; it was the first time U.S. forces used airplanes for reconnaissance and motorized vehicles to move supplies and for scouting. (Notably, a young George S. Patton, with the Expedition, was involved in the first military use of an automobile.) Despite numerous clashes with Villa's forces, the Expedition failed to suppress raids across the border or to capture Villa. After nearly eleven months (March 15 1916 - January 1917) deployed in Mexico, the forces were recalled with America's entry into World War I.

AKA: Battle of Columbus, Columbus Raid. March 9 1916. The Villista Division of the North, under command of Pancho Villa, attacked the town of Columbus just north of the border with Mexico. The motivation for the raid is not fully understood, but Villa's forces looted for supplies and burned buildings. The garrisoned U.S. forces (more numerous than Villa's sources had indicated) and civilians alike resisted the invasion; eighteen of the defenders were killed, in contrast to approximately 80 Villistas. The attack raised American ire and resulted in the Pancho Villa Expedition, a punitive force that invaded northern Mexico in pursuit of Villa; the expeditionary forces under General "Black Jack" Pershing failed to capture Villa over eleven months, and were recalled when the U.S. entered World War I.

(1875-1941) Anthropologist, sociologist, and ethnographer who studied Native American tribes in Arizona and New Mexico, often involving gender roles. A controversial figure in her lifetime, she sometimes published her feminist writings under a male pseudonym to avoid embarrassing her politician husband. Also controversial was her approach to studying tribal peoples, often paying "informants" and revealing tribal secrets and internal disputes. Despite this, her large body of work is often cited as authoritative, especially Pueblo Indian Religion.

March 24 1933. A meteorite fall witnessed across New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas and Oklahoma. Notable for leaving a large luminous sphere and twisting trail of dust that lingered for hours, comprised of perhaps thousands of tons of materials. Numerous witnesses reported a sulfuric smell and throat irritation after the event. Meteorites that reached the ground were strewn along a path 28 miles long and 2-3 miles wide. Was perhaps the first such fireball to be photographed. Named for pieces of the fall recovered on the Pasamonte Ranch between Springer and Clayton in northeastern New Mexico.

AKA: The Shepherd's Play. Folk drama with associated music, performed in Hispanic communities worldwide since the 1700s and still observed in New Mexico today. The play tells the Christmas story from the point of view of some shepherds as they travel to Bethlehem to celebrate the birth of Christ; the Devil tries to tempt them from their path and saints advise them, and they eventually arrive to give the baby Jesus their humble gifts. The story has changed little over the centuries, with iconic characters such as "the lazy shepherd", "the beautiful shepherdess", and the Hermit, and traditional songs associated with each event in their journey. A group has been performing the Pastores in Belen since the 1970s.

(1885-1945) U.S. Army general who figured heavily in WWII. As a lieutenant, was a member of the Punitive Expedition chasing Pancho Villa through Mexico in 1916. Appropriately enough to his later career in commanding tanks, Patton was involved in the first military action using automotive transport; Lieutenant Patton, while on an excursion for provisions, made a surprise visit to a ranch where he engaged some of Villa's forces, resulting in the death of several of the enemy including the local commander. The bold action delighted "Black Jack" Pershing, the leader of the Expedition, and helped draw attention to Patton as a rising officer. Patton visited Albuquerque in 1943.

New Mexico artist who has gained worldwide recognition for sculpting elaborate caves into sandstone formations in northern New Mexico. The caves typically reflect detailed organic motifs taken from nature, and are variously described as "art caves", "meditation chambers", and "underground cathedrals". The self-described friendly hermit calls his efforts, performed with hand tools over many years, the "dance of digging". The majority of the caves are on private property. Paulette is the subject of the documentary film Cave Digger.

Peanuts are a major crop in New Mexico, with an average of 50 million pounds harvested annually with a value of over $10 million. The Valencia peanut, developed by New Mexico State University for local conditions, is a well-known and popular variety; most of the Valencia peanuts are grown within a 100-mile radius of Portales leading to the town's nickname "Valencia Peanut Capital of the World". Other varieties grown in NM are Runner and Spanish peanuts.There are several peanut processing plants in Roosevelt and Lea counties in eastern New Mexico.

Pecans are a major crop in New Mexico. At 75-85 million pounds annually, approximately 20% of national production, NM is a leading pecan producing state. Commercial orchards are common in the southern part of the state, especially around Las Cruces, but orchards have been established as far north as Belen.

AKA: Cicuye, Cicuique. Pueblo site southeast of Santa Fe, occupied from approx. A.D. 1300-1800. Important trade center between Pueblo and Plains cultures, which continued under Spanish control. Made a State Monument in 1935 and a National Historical Park in 1965.
Pecos National Historical Park website
State Historian webpage on Pecos Pueblo

Held in September in Santa Rosa to celebrate and raise awareness about the Pecos Sunflower and other endangered species specific to area wetlands.

Pecos Pueblo, southeast of Santa Fe, was an important trading center in the Southwest before the arrival of Europeans. Under Spanish control, the Pecos Trade Fair continued as an annual event, second in importance only to the Taos Trade Fair for the bartering of goods between the Pueblo and Plains tribes, and the exchange of European goods for hides, food, etc.

AKA: Los Hermanos Penitentes, Los Hermanos de la Fraternidad Piadosa de Nuestro Padre Jesús Nazareno, Hermanos de Sangre, Hermandad, Hermanos de Luz, Confraternity of Brothers of our Father Jesus of Nazareth, Penitente Brotherhood, Penitent Brothers, Brothers of Light, Brotherhood of the Light, Brothers of Blood. Religious group that sought to keep Catholicism active after the Spanish crown withdrew priests from New Spain once Mexico had won its independence in 1821. The Penitentes continued services in their morada churches, even when such practices put them in conflict with the returning Church under Archbishop Lamy in 1853. Penitentes still practice in northern New Mexico today, with some of their practices (such as re-enactments of the Crucifixion, and scourging) the subject of exaggerated rumor.
State Historian webpage on the Penitente Brotherhood

Investment company, composed of Pennsylvania politicians and capitalists, that sought to purchase land in New Mexico starting in 1901. Though the Fergusson Act was designed to prevent acquisition of large tracts of land by individuals or corporations the Pennsylvania Development Company, with a claim that they were acting for their employees (as well as employees of the Santa Fe Central Railway and the New Mexico Fuel and Iron Company, both largely controlled by the same men), was able to acquire valuable timberland in Valencia County. The political clash over the purchase resulted in Governor Herbert J. Hagerman being asked to resign by President Roosevelt for his part in the proceedings.

AKA: Black Jack Pershing. 1860-1948. American general officer who lead the Punitive Expedition from New Mexico into northern Mexico seeking to capture Pancho Villa 1916-1917. The Expedition, despite numerous clashes with Villista forces, failed to capture Villa, but saw the first use by the U.S. military of reconnaissance aircraft and motor truck transportation of supplies. This experience helped him coordinate changes once he was assigned command of the U.S. forces in WWI Europe, where he is credited with helping to break the trench-warfare stalemate. Pershing was also an innovator, introducing among other things a new style of combat boot and forming a separate Military Police force.

When the Pancho Villa Expedition withdrew from northern Mexico in January 1917, they brought with them some 2,700 civilian refugees who sought to enter the United States with the retreating forces. Among these civilians were over 520 Chinese who had worked with the Expedition forces; however, the Chinese Exclusion Act denied them asylum in the United States. General "Black Jack" Pershing, leader of the Expedition forces, worked to help these Chinese become citizens; the press dubbed them "Pershing's Chinese". The new American citizens eventually settled around San Antonio Texas.

"One of the largest petroglyph sites in North America, featuring designs and symbols carved onto volcanic rocks by Native Americans and Spanish settlers 400 to 700 years ago". 17-mile site along the escarpment of the West Mesa near Albuquerque. The Monument features a visitors center and several day use trails among the petroglyphs. Authorized into the National Park Service in 1990.

See Rock Art

(1868-1956) Painter; one of the "Taos Six", founders of the Taos Society of Artists. Visited Taos in 1898 with Ernest L. Blumenschein, with whom he had learned of the area from Joseph Henry Sharp. The first ot these artists to move full-time to Taos, he is considered the first member of the Taos Art Colony. Known for his paintings of Native Americans and New Mexican themes.

(1883-1964) Petroleum businessman and philanthropist who moved into ranching. He gave 127,000 acres of land in northern New Mexico to the Boy Scouts of America, which is now managed by that organization as the Philmont Scout Ranch. On the Ranch is the Villa Philmonte, a home built by Phillips. The Villa is maintained as a museum and may be toured.

On the Philmont Scout Ranch. Rotating exhibits and home to the Seton Memorial Library, the personal volumes of artist Ernest Thompson Seton, co-founder of the Boy Scouts of America.
Philmont Museum website

Originally, the Philturn Rocky Mountain Scout Camp. Large (214 square miles) site in northern New Mexico, near Cimarron; "the Boy Scouts of America's largest national High Adventure Base, with 34 staffed camps and 55 trail camps." Includes the Philmont Training Center, the Philmont Museum and Seton Memorial Library, and the Villa Philmonte, a home built by former property owner Waite Phillips.
Philmont Scout Ranch website
State Historian webpage on the Philmont Scout Ranch

See Rock Art

(1888-1967) Author who settled in Santa Fe in the 1940s and commenced writing articles about her experiences there. The articles were published in a variety of magazines around the Southwest, as well as in the Christian Science Monitor. Books collecting her articles/stories/vignettes: No High Adobe, Adobe Doorways, Roots in Adobe; Star Over Adobe collects Christmas-themed articles.

AKA: Pinyon nuts. Edible nuts of the piñon pine. The nuts have a thin dark brown shell and a rich white single nutmeat resembling an elongated egg. Eaten raw, roasted, and roasted and salted, and used in many New Mexico recipes including pesto. The nuts are collected as the cones are opening in the fall, sometimes from ground fall and sometimes after the branches have been shaken to loosen the nuts. Under the New Mexico Piñon Nut Act only nuts produced from the piñon tree may be labeled as "piñon nuts"; all others, such as the large numbers imported from China, must be labeled as "pine nuts".

AKA: Pino Alto. Originally named Birchville, after an early prospector. Boomtown in southwestern New Mexico, near Silver City, after the discovery of placer gold in 1860. Abandoned in the early 1900s, now has a small mostly seasonal population.

AKA: Plains of San Augustin. West of Socorro; a volcanic graben 55 miles long which filled with sedimentation from a lake in Pleistocene times, noted as a wide expanse of grasslands. The Plains are home to the Very Large Array radiotelescope system. The very broad and shallow basin has been used for several film productions including The Sea of Grass (1946).

AKA: Po'pay, Ripe Pumpkin, El Popé. Ca. 1630 - ca. 1688. Governor of Ohkay Owingeh (formerly San Juan) Pueblo and a prime organizer of the Pueblo Revolt. After successfully pushing the Spanish south Popé set about destroying many of the indications the Spanish had been present, and became de facto ruler of all of the Pueblos. Popé's forces resisted several attempts by the Spanish to reconquer the area, but upon his death the coalition broke apart and the Spanish were able to re-establish control.
State Historian webpage on Popé

Christmas tradition in many Hispanic communities worldwide since the 1700s, still practiced in many parts of New Mexico. The event re-enacts the story of Joseph and Mary searching for shelter until they arrive at the manger; in some communities the production is quite elaborate, with the two young people traveling on a donkey or horse as they go from home to home only to face rejection. A procession of observers typically follows them until they arrive at the manger (usually located at a church, school, or community center), where caroling and the sharing of food typically happens. In Santa Fe the event happens around the Plaza; many other communities observe Las Posadas including Barelas, Placitas, and Corrales.

See High Plains Prairie Chicken Festival

(1873-1965) Homesteader and rancher near White Sands who famously resisted the U.S. government taking his land. Beginning in 1955, the government wished to include his holdings in the expanding White Sands Missile Range. Prather refused to sell; once the land was condemned by eminent domain, he refused to vacate. The 84-year-old rancher gained national attention as a symbol of shrinking freedoms in the Southwest when, in 1957, he and his relatives barricaded themselves in the fortified ranch house to resist the seizure. In the face of public opinion, the Army compromised by allowing Prather to retain his ranch house and 15 acres surrounding. Prather's case was the inspiration for Edward Abbey's book Fire on the Mountain, later made into a film starring Buddy Ebsen. Prather's resistance inspired folk songs.
State Historian materials on John Prather

Attended UNM. Prominent architect, with works around the world. Designed the La Luz Community in New Mexico, the UNM Law School Building, the Albuquerque Museum, the Rio Grande Nature Center, and the Spencer Theater for the Performing Arts in Alto near Ruidoso. In 1989 awarded the New Mexico Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts.

(1809-1867) Colonel of the Second Regiment, Missouri Mounted Volunteer Cavalry who marched to Santa Fe as part of the Army of the West that occupied the area for the United States. When Stephen Kearny continued on to California with part of the Army, Price continued to serve as military governor of New Mexico; put down the Taos Revolt of 1847. Raised to brigadier general and named Governor of Chihuahua; engaged Mexican forces in the last battles of the Mexican-American War. Later led another force, a Confederate unit also called "The Army of the West", during the American Civil War, which sometimes causes confusion when discussing his military service.

Albuquerque native. Prominent architect, visiting instructor at UNM and other universities. Noted for distinctive, "otherworldly" homes around Albuquerque and New Mexico.

(1840-1922) LeBaron Bradford Prince. Justice of the New Mexico Territorial Supreme Court 1878-1882. Spoke at the celebration commemorating the arrival of the AT&SF Railroad into Albuquerque 1880. Governor of New Mexico Territory 1889-1893. Member of New Mexico Territorial Council in 1909; delegate to the New Mexico State Constitutional Convention of 1911. Author of numerous works involving New Mexico including Historical Sketches of New Mexico (1883), A Concise History of New Mexico (1912), The Student's History of New Mexico (1913), and Spanish Mission Churches of New Mexico (1915).

1959-60, U.S. Air Force high-altitude manned balloon experiments as successor to Project MANHIGH. Operated out of Holloman Air Force Base under their Balloon Branch and with test director Joseph W. Kittinger, free-fall parachute jumps were made from balloons to test the feasibility of techniques for high altitude emergency escapes from aircraft and spacecraft. Kittinger set a record of over 102,000 feet, which record stood until 2012.

December 10 1967 underground detonation of a nuclear device near Dulce. Part of Operation PLOWSHARE to find peaceful uses for nuclear explosions, designed to test the feasibility of fracturing underground rock to release natural gas deposits. One of three atomic/nuclear detonations in New Mexico, the others being Project GNOME and the famous first detonation at Trinity Site.

December 10 1961 underground detonation of a nuclear device near Carlsbad; part of Operation PLOWSHARE to develop peaceful uses for nuclear explosions. Intended to aid in the study of heat-to-steam uses of nuclear power. One of three atomic/nuclear detonations in New Mexico, the others being Project GASBUGGY and the famous first detonation at Trinity Site.

U.S. Air Force program beginning in 1953 and operated out of Holloman Air Force Base under their Balloon Branch to test high-altitude free-fall parachute descents from balloons. The tests were conducted with anthropomorphic dummies and were the precursor to manned high-altitude parachute programs such as Project EXCELSIOR.

(Sometimes as "MAN HIGH", "Man-High".) Formally, Biodynamics of Space Flight program. 1955, first Air Force manned balloon program, designed to test high altitude and cosmic ray effects on humans and "physiological and psychological capabilities in a space equivalent environment". Operated out of Holloman Air Force Base by their Balloon Branch. Many of the findings were incorporated into the manned space program. Later programs included Project EXCELSIOR and Project STARGAZER.

Cold War-era program which used high-altitude balloons to carry cameras over the Soviet Union. The program arose under the Balloon Branch of Holloman Air Force Base, which had used balloons to map upper-atmospheric air currents. The classified photo-reconnaissance program was halted when high-altitude surveillance aircraft and satellites became available.

AKA: Operation Mogul. U.S. Army Air Corps program, 1947-1949, which used balloons to lift microphones to upper altitudes to monitor shock waves from possible Soviet atomic bomb tests. Early designs used a chain of rubber balloons; later deployments used a single large polyethylene envelope. The classified program was disbanded after it was discovered that seismic sensors were effective and cheaper. The Balloon Branch at Holloman Air Force Base (then Alamogordo Army Air Field) launched the majority of the balloons, and a 1995 U.S. Air Force report concluded that misidentification of the debris from a Mogul balloon package may have caused the beginning of the "Roswell UFO Crash" legend.

Code name for the operation that established the Los Alamos arm of the Manhattan Project. The project took over the Los Alamos Boys Ranch and quickly grew into a development facility for the atomic bomb. Since the project was of the highest security references to Los Alamos by name were explicitly forbidden; other names used were Site Y, the Zia Project, Santa Fe Area L and, colloquially and commonly, "The Hill".

See Indian Arts Fund

See Taos Revolt

The largest such revolt against Spanish rule, August 1680. The Revolt was organized by an All-Pueblo Council (ironically, using Spanish as the common tongue for the negotiations.) The Revolt began at Taos Pueblo and swept south, within weeks causing the Spanish to withdraw from northern New Mexico; they eventually consolidated around El Paso. Spanish rule did not return to the area until 1692.
State Historian webpage on the Pueblo Revolt of 1680

AKA: Punkin Chunkin', Pumpkin Chunkin', Pumpkin Chunking. Event held during the Estancia Pumpkin Festival each year in mid-October. Eight-to-ten pound squash are hurled/projected with a variety of non-explosive devices including slings, catapults, trebuchets, and compressed-air (pneumatic) cannon. The local distance record for this event was set in 2008, with a distance of 4,483.51 feet. The event is held at "Cape Calabaza" west of town, which grounds also host a carnival and other attractions during the Festival.
Town of Estancia website

(1900-1945) Ernest Taylor Pyle. Journalist, best known for his combat coverage of WWII, during which service he was killed on an island near Okinawa. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1944; he was very popular for his depictions of the average American soldier. Before the war, he gained a following for his down-home views on the world, including articles that spoke glowingly of the Southwest in general and Albuquerque in particular. The City of Albuquerque, as the result of a campaign led by Erna Fergusson, acquired his home which was made into the first ABCLS branch library in 1948. The Ernie Pyle Middle School in Albuquerque is named in his honor. Among his popular titles: Home Country and Here is Your War: story of G.I. Joe.