NMPedia

(1827-1905) Lewis Wallace. Lawyer; Union General in the Civil War. Served as Governor of the Territory of New Mexico 1878-1881, during which period he finished his book Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, published 1880; until Gone With the Wind, this book was the best-selling English language novel in history. Was involved in bringing about the end of the Lincoln County War, famously offering amnesty to some of those involved including Billy the Kid. Was appointed U.S. Minister to the Ottoman Empire 1881-1885. Quote attributed to Wallace: "Calculations based on experience elsewhere, fail in New Mexico".

(1830-1907) Wife of New Mexico Territorial Governor Lew Wallace, who wrote Ben-Hur. A poet and author who was published before her husband, she wrote a book about her experiences in New Mexico, The Land of the Pueblos.

Archaeoastronomy site in the Sacramento Mountains, discovered after the nearby "Wizard's Roost" site was discovered to have astronomical alignments. Used by early peoples to observe solstices.

(1869-1921) William E. Walters. Outlaw who worked Colorado and New Mexico, sometimes riding with the Black Jack Ketchum gang. Involved in train and stagecoach robberies; money from several robberies was never reported as recovered and have led to a legend of "Bronco Bill's Treasure". Captured during a failed robbery attempt in Grants and spent many years in prison. After release he worked a ranch hand and died after falling from a windmill.

(1922-2001) Lawyer, first female New Mexico Supreme Court justice. WASP (Women's Airforce Service Pilot) in WWII. Went to UNM's Law School on the G.I. Bill. First woman judge of the Albuquerque District Court; first woman Chief Judge of the New Mexico Court of Appeals. Several awards in her field; inducted into the New Mexico Women's Hall of Fame. UNM's Law School presents an annual award in her name.

At the Dona Ana County Airport in Santa Teresa near Las Cruces. "Dedicated to collecting, restoring and displaying historic aircraft of the World War II and the Korean Conflict eras." Maintains more than 20 aircraft in flyable condition, as well as other military equipment and special exhibits on aviation. The Museum also has a collection of notable non-military automobiles, dating back to 1908. Open to the public.
War Eagles Aviation Museum website

AKA: Hot Springs Reservation, Ojo Caliente Reservation, Canada Alamosa Reservation. Created in the 1870s as a reservation for the Chihende ("Warm Springs") band of the Apache. Though the Reservation included the band's traditional lands, the tribe was later moved several times to other reservations in the Southwest.

(1910-1997) Influential member of the Navajo Nation, noted for work to improve health care. Daughter of Navajo leader Chee Dodge. Second woman to be elected to Tribal Council, in the 1950s. Numerous awards including the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Navajo Medal of Honor. 2000 inductee into the National Woman's Hall of Fame. Attended the Indian School in Albuquerque, honorary degree from UNM. Hosted a Navajo-language radio show out of Gallup. Author of articles for periodicals including The American Journal of Nursing.

Nickname/slogan for the New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell.

(1878-1958) Anthropologist, philanthropist. Born into the Cabot family of Boston. Traveled extensively, spending time around the Four Corners region. Owned a ranch in Alcalde. Befriended Navajo artist and medicine man Hosteen Klah; together they worked to record and preserve Navajo religious practices. Collected Navajo art, especially sand paintings, and wrote articles on the subject. With Klah in 1937 established the House of Navajo Religion in Santa Fe, later named the Museum of Navajo Ceremonial Art and the basis for the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian. Served as director of the Museum until her death, writing works on Navajo ceremonials which were distributed through the Museum. Co-author with Klah of Navajo Creation Myth - the Story of the Emergence "as recorded by Mary C. Wheelwright". Author of her autobiography, not published during her lifetime, Journey Toward Understanding.

AKA: Las Gorras Blancas. Organized protestors confronting land grant issues in New Mexico, late 1880s-early 1890s. The White Caps (named for the white head coverings they wore during demonstrations) sought the return of control of communal grazing lands as assured under the land grants, and destroyed fences and barns and scattered livestock. They also burned railroad ties in protest of poor wages paid to Hispanic laborers by the railroads, and performed protest parades through Las Vegas. While some businessmen labeled them bandits, they were often seen as folk heroes by local Hispanics. The White Caps tried, but failed, to gain governmental offices and representation. The movement lost energy after organizer Vicente Silva was killed.
State Historian webpage on the White Caps

Internet legend of a battleship mockup on the White Sands Missile Range, ostensibly used for bombing practice. The legend is fueled by aerial photos that seem to show a battleship-shaped object with central towers and gun emplacements. As revealed by several researchers including area residents, the "battleship" is an optical illusion and is actually a "borrow pit" where earth was removed to make a nearby protective berm for rocket tests; the seeming shipboard details are actually vegetation. Identification of the "battleship" as modeled on the Bismarck (occasionally, the Turpitz) comes from a 2007 newspaper article where the author repeated a local story of a mockup of a battleship, with logs for guns, to provide bombing practice on the Bismarck -- an unlikely scenario especially as the training purportedly involved pilots of the British Royal Air Force.

1960s program that employed trained dogs to locate downed missile parts along the White Sands Missile Range. Eight dogs sniffed out the parts, which had been saturated with a shark liver oil derivative that dogs can scent over long distances. The canines were very effective, often locating missiles within an hour and even digging up parts that had penetrated into the ground. The stars of the program, Dingo and Count, had a 98% success rate. The dogs worked in all conditions, with special outfits to counter the extreme temperature conditions encountered on the Range.

AKA: WSMR. Established in 1945 as the White Sands Proving Ground, name changed in 1958. Largest military base area in the United States, devoted to missile testing. Captured German V2 rockets were tested there after World War II. The WSMR also encompasses Trinity Site where the first atomic weapon was tested, the White Sands Space Harbor alternate landing strip for the Space Shuttle, and the White Sands National Monument.

Large area of dunes composed of gypsum sand, the largest gypsum dune area on the planet encompassing approximately 275 square miles. Near Alamogordo and within the White Sands Missile Range. Established as a National Monument in 1933. The dune area is popular with filmmakers, and has been featured in many movies.
White Sands National Monument website

On the White Sands Missile Range, approximately 30 miles west of Alamogordo; the primary training area for astronauts flying the Shuttle Training Aircraft. The dry lakebed surface allows for 35,000 feet of landing run. A backup landing facility for the Space Shuttle, it was used March 30 1982 for a landing of the Space Shuttle Columbia as part of STS-3.

AKA: Whole Enchilada Festival. Annual event, held on the last weekend in September in Las Cruces. The Fiesta events culminate in the production of a giant enchilada; in 2000 the 10.5-foot creation was awarded "World's Largest" by Guinness World Records. The event draws some 50,000 visitors annually, and is one of southern New Mexico's largest annual events.

New Mexico has a rich tradition of winemaking, beginning in the 1600s when the first vines were imported (actually, smuggled in) from Spain. Production was widespread and small-scale, with most towns having at least one winery and winemaking at many of the missions. By the late 1800s New Mexico was producing up to one million gallons of wine annually. Local winemaking waned after the introduction of the railroads and a 1943 flooding of the Rio Grande destroyed many vineyards; in the 1980s NM saw a resurgence in the establishing of commercial wineries, many of them using drip irrigation. The first variety introduced, Vitis vinifera, commonly called the "mission grape", is still grown in NM today. The New Mexico State University has long been active in viticulture research, including the development of a variant of the popular Zinfandel variety. NM now has over 60 active vintners, with production estimated at 800,000 gallons annually.

Archaeoastronomy site in the Sacramento Mountains. Identified as an anomalous site during a cultural survey for the Bureau of Indian Affairs in 1977, the rock structures were later determined to have astronomical alignments especially regarding solstices. Though no artifacts have been found in the area searches located another related site, "Wally's Dome", nearby.

Sometimes as "Wooton", "Wooten". Richens Lacy Wootton. (1816-1893) Frontiersman, hunter, trapper, guide who built a 27-mile toll road through the Raton Pass after he gained land across it from Lucien Maxwell. The project involved great effort to improve that stretch of the Santa Fe Trail, and after its completion Wootton exacted tolls from travelers as they passed through his fortified home/tollgate across the road. This lasted until he sold the land to the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway in 1879. Wootton's friendship with Maxwell and colorful reputation as "the last of the frontiersmen" results in his name being attached to a variety of New Mexico tales.

AKA: Lovington Lizard Races, Great Lizard Race. Annual event held on the 4th of July in Lovington. A wide variety of lizards are raced down a 16-foot ramp; the rules allow them to be encouraged by tickles from feathers, but lizards are disqualified if they try to eat an opponent. First held in 1976; re-commenced in 1981. The event has expanded and the Race is now part of Lizard Day festivities that include other activities including fireworks.
Lovington Chamber of Commerce website

Nickname applied to the New Mexico State University, the campus for which includes many fields for experimental agriculture and in all totals 6250 acres.

Nickname/slogan for the Deming Duck Race held annually in August. The slogan is a play on the "World's Richest Quarter Horse Race", the All-American Futurity race held at Ruidoso Downs.

Nickname/slogan for the All-American Futurity race held at Ruidoso Downs.

See Georgelle Hirliman

See The Helene Wurlitzer Foundation of New Mexico