Posts Tagged ‘New Mexico’
Taos Pueblo…Over 1,000 Years of Living
We have lived upon this land from days beyond history’s records, far past any living memory, deep into the time of legend. The story of my people and the story of this place are one single story. No man can think of us without thinking of this place. We are always joined together.
Tribal Manifesto
We recently visited the Taos Pueblo in Taos, New Mexico and the memories continued to run through my mind long after we left. It moved me and, at the same time, energized me because of its history, the battles and meeting the people.
The Taos Pueblo and their people have been here about 1,000 years. The Pueblo was most likely built between 1000 and 1450 A.D. There is a Hlauuma (north house) and Hlaukwima (south house) and approximately 150 Taos Indians still live within the Pueblo. Approximately 1,900 members of the tribe live outside the Pueblo on tribal land. Those that live on tribal land come to their living quarters inside the Pueblo during traditional holidays such as the Foot Race and Corn Dance, the Turtle Dance, Deer or Buffalo Dance, Santa Cruz Feast, The Taos Pueblo Pow-Wow and many other rituals.
As you walk towards the entrance of the Pueblo, you can’t help but glance at the beautiful Sangre de Cristo mountains that stand watch over the remains of the second San Geronimo (St. Jerome) church built in 1706.
The church was originally built in 1619 but was destroyed during the Spanish Revolt in 1680. It was rebuilt on the same site in 1706 and was ultimately destroyed in 1847 by US Troops in retaliation of the murder of Gov. Charles Bent.
No longer willing to be treated as slaves and have their land taken away, several townspeople and some of the Taos Pueblo leaders fought back by killing Gov. Bent and several others. There were approximately 150 Indian women and children hiding inside the church when it was destroyed. None of them survived. The bricks and the church bell are all that remain. This is when it became the official cemetery for the Taos Indians.
Side Note: The history of the tenuous relationship between Gov. Bent and the Taos Indians can be read here.
Row after row of crosses fill the area behind the church remains. Taos Indians can still be buried there today. When the wooden crosses fall they are put to the side of the cemetery to continue honoring those that have passed. Along with the crosses are modern tombstones scattered through out. However, the crosses dominate the cemetery. Once a year volunteers come in and tend to the graves.
This is the current San Geronimo church built in 1850 on a site not far from the original church. It houses many of the original Santos (saints) of the destroyed church. The women had moved them by the altar of the church to protect them as US Troops destroyed the church.
This church is a combination of Catholic and Native religious practices and is now a Registered Historical Landmark. The Virgin Mary is comparable to the Indian’s Mother Nature. While the Indians still observe many of the Catholic rites, their Native religion is quite prominent in their lives.
Side Note: The Taos Pueblo was admitted to the World Heritage Society in 1992 as one of the most significant historical cultural landmarks in the world (other sites include the Taj Mahal, Great Pyramids and the Grand Canyon in the United States).
Inside the Pueblo walls are residences and a school for the children. The children attend the Pueblo school until the 8th grade and then transition into public schools. While in the Pueblo school they are taught the Tiwa language in all grades. Once they attend public school it is up to the parents and relatives to continue teaching the children their native language.
The Pueblo homes were originally entered by putting a ladder through the roof and climbing down. The opening in the roof also served as a source of light. The roof entry was used as a way to protect themselves against enemies. Now, all the residences have doors and windows. The large round bee-hive structures that you see in the above photo are Horno’s. These large outdoor ovens can bake up to 25 loaves of bread at a time.
I was intrigued by the brightly painted doors. Behind many of those doors were individual shops that featured handmade jewelry, drums, Kachina figures, food, paintings, carvings…the list could go on and on.
The Pueblo is three stories high with walls that are sometimes 3-4 feet thick and have common walls to each residence but no connecting doors. Each family residence is passed down to the next generation. Once a year the Pueblo is given a thick coating of mud to preserve it. Because of the thickness of the walls the living areas stay cool during the summer and warm during the winter.
This is the front of one of the shops in the Pueblo. Notice the ladder leaning against the front that still honors how they originally entered their homes.
The ladders are still used to enter the two Kivas in the Pueblo. The Kiva is used for sacred ceremonial rituals and is used exclusively by the men. Women are only allowed to enter if invited.
I bought a beautiful wall hanging of Prayer Feathers from Chili Flower, which is her Indian name. Her American name is Rosalie. This wall hanging is made from many elements of nature and its simplicity was what made it beautiful to me.
In a room behind Chili Flower’s shop, was her uncle’s shop. He makes Indian drums, varying in sizes from small to large. I bought this drum for my son…the musician.
Side Note: Every shop keeper that we spoke with shared some of their history. The information flowed. Chili Flower’s grandfather, First Snow, (who lived to be 103) had taken President Woodrow Wilson, and some of his cabinet members, 27 miles into the Sangre de Cristo mountains to do some fishing. As a token of thank you, one of the cabinet members gave First Snow a bottle of whiskey. Once back in Taos, law officials saw the whiskey and sentenced First Snow to one year in jail. When President Wilson heard about the sentence he gave First Snow a pardon and fined the cabinet member for giving him the whiskey!
Red Willow Creek’s clear water winds through the center of the Pueblo with Red Willows growing along the banks. The Red Willows are used to make baskets. In keeping with tradition all water used in the Pueblo is drawn from the creek. There is no electricity or running water allowed inside any of the residences inside the walls. They are allowed to use propane for any cooking that needs to be done.
The creek is fed from their sacred Blue Lake. Blue Lake, Ba Whyea, as its known by the Taos Indians, and sits hidden in the mountains of Sangre de Cristo. It is a sacred site that is only accessible to this tribe.
Side Note: Blue Lake was taken from the Indians by the U.S. Government in 1906 and made a part of the National Forest land. This was like a stab in the heart to the Indians who had always used this area for their sacred ceremonial rituals. It was one more thing taken from them and their traditional way of living. Finally, in 1970, after years of fighting for the rights of their land, the Taos Indians were deeded back 48,000 acres of mountain land that included their beloved Blue Lake, bringing the total amount of land owned by them to 100,000 acres. This includes an Indian owned casino on this land that helps bring in revenues.
Life in the Pueblo seemed peaceful and happy. The people were very open and willing to help you in any way and the dogs happily ran through the center area playing with each other. In the Pueblo, the Taos Indians are free to continue their traditions while they continue living a modern life.
For me…traditions are worth keeping and should be honored no matter your ethnicity.
It seems no matter where we visit we always come across a dog that makes us smile. We stopped for an Indian Taco while inside the Pueblo. This little dog kept running around, rolling in the grass and scratching her back. We asked the woman who was making the tacos what the dog’s name was.
She laughingly told us that she had named the dog Dotty, because of a dot on her head, and was going to adopt her. She then found out that “Dotty” already had owners and that her actual name was…
Fiona Marie Jackson
We think Fiona is a fine ending to this very moving visit. We will come back here again someday and we highly recommend the Taos Pueblo be added to your bucket list.
Stay strong and steady with the wind always blowing at your back
as you travel down the road to your next adventure.
Until next week…keep creating Sentimental Journeyz in your RV.
Solo Woman RVer…almost since birth!
In the last two blogs here and here, this woman has popped up in photos with other fellow RVers. This week’s blog will tell you about this remarkable woman and her life…so far.
Cathie Sandell is one of those people that you meet and all of a sudden you are being taken on trips around the world as she relays her travel experiences. She is currently working at the RV Park where we are staying for the summer. After listening to her talk, I asked her if she would let me interview her. Come meet this interesting solo woman RVer.
I asked Cathie what led her to RVing. Little did I expect the answer that she gave. Cathie’s parents had been RVing before she was even born. She remembers the family traveling in a 1957 Shasta trailer to Alaska. From that point on, the RV’s just kept getting bigger.
Side Note; The photo above is from Retro Restoration photos and is a restored 1957 Shasta. Thought you’d like to see what one looked like.
Cathie was born in Boston, while her Dad was in the military, but her family moved back to Las Cruces where she grew up. She’s been RVing since she was six months old. She graduated from New Mexico State University and later got her Masters Degree in Outdoor Education at Northern Illinois University. She taught Physical Education for several years.
But, she got wanderlust and applied for, and received, a position with Special Services in Germany. She stayed there for four years while touring the country. She later worked for nature centers teaching kids about the outdoor environment…which is around the clock teaching.
Cathie has traveled all over the United States as well as in other countries. In 1996 a friend of hers told her about a ship sailing to Tahiti. They were looking for volunteers and this just happened to fit into Cathie’s travel plans. For six weeks she watched the monitors on the ship to make sure they worked correctly. The crew was mapping the ocean floor. She got enough time off to tour and visit Tahiti. Pretty good work when you can find it. And, Cathie seems to have a knack for excelling at finding work when she wants it.
After Labor Day, Cathie will head out to Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. She’s been volunteering at the refuge for the last four winters. She’s also worked at different nature centers to educate herself and helped develop a program for one of them.
As you can surmise from the above, Cathie loves the outdoors as well as birding, hiking, and researching animals that interest her…such as an immature Trumpeter Swan that she found and started researching to identify. She has many friends who are into birding, including the State Ornithologist, and she called upon them for advice about saving this baby. Unfortunately, this particular swan died as did its sibling.
One other thing that Cathie has done over the years is rescue ferrets. That’s Harley pictured above. He loves going on walks after 8pm when its darker since ferrets are most active between dusk and dawn. He also loves sticking his head down gopher holes and helping them dig. Each evening, just after dark, you can see Cathie walking Harley on a lease around the park. In case you’re wondering…he doesn’t take much flak from dogs or cats. He can hold his own.
I asked Cathie if she had any advice to women wanting to solo RV. She thinks the best advice is to just get out there and do it. She suggests that if you aren’t comfortable with towing a camper behind you to start out in a Class C cab over. She generally stays at state park campgrounds and always feels safe there.
When I asked her where she saw herself in ten years, she had to stop her eyes from rolling at my frivolous question. She plans to still be RVing. She has Plan B all set to go should that not be possible.
I’ve never heard Cathie say anything negative and she always seems to be happy. She has a curiosity that keeps her moving forward all the time. I guess it’s safe to say that RVing is in her blood. This is how she was raised. To do anything different would probably be a foreign concept for her.
We hope that when we return to this park next summer that Cathie will be here as well. This is a friendship worth nurturing.
Stay strong and steady with the wind always blowing at your back
as you travel down the road to your next adventure.
Until next week…keep creating Sentimental Journeyz in your RV.
Elizabethtown – Fast and Furious
We had pulled off the side of the road so that the car behind us could de-magnetized itself from the rear-end of our car, and get on his way…she said tongue-in-cheek.
Good thing we did because we almost drove past the sign that said Elizabethtown Museum. This was going to be the first ghost town to visit on our list. 
I looked across the road and saw a herd of horses grazing in the pasture and then ambling towards the lean-to that must have held grain. There was one lone stallion high on the rocks watching over the herd. It was then that we saw the other sign pointing us to Elizabethtown.
We had been told that there wasn’t much to see but we filled up a couple of hours taking in different sights and buildings. While I love the written history of places, I enjoy “hearing” the story told by looking at old buildings, pictures and land. We crossed Hwy 38 and ambled down the gravel road trying not to kick up too much dust.
We turned left and received further instructions from this truck. It was hard to keep your eyes on the road because this area is so beautiful.
Side Note: I didn’t pick up a sense of despair or sadness from this deserted town. Perhaps because there is a descendant of one of the original citizens that is reviving it. I wonder if some of the early citizens were relieved to be moving to another town since I’d read that Elizabethtown was known for being a layover spot for outlaws. Its cemetery is known to be comparable to Boothill and other wild west towns.
This building is supposedly Froelick’s Store, once thriving and now just a memory, almost aching to tell its story. Hard to imagine that this building serviced 7,000 people at one point.
A few feet from the store were the remains of the Mutz Hotel. We were about to learn the history of that building. One sad aspect of these remains is the number of people who have taken stones from the building for souvenirs. I can’t imagine what they’ll do with the stones once they arrive home and can’t remember why they have them. Pieces of history gone due to the insensitivity of others.
Once we arrived at the museum, which is a group of old buildings that have been moved into the area, we were met by Beni-Jo Fulton, curator of the museum. She has kept the town open for the public. She is also a descendant of one of the families who lived in Elizabethtown.
Beni-Jo ushered us into the “theater”, a small one room house, and inserted a video that explained the history of Elizabethtown. As the story of the town unfolded there was an older man featured called “Mighty Whitey”. He sang a couple of songs, while playing a guitar placed in his lap, that wove part of the story together for us. Mighty Whitey looked a lot like photos you see of old miners, grizzly, beginnings of a white beard and missing some teeth. It somehow made him endearing and his songs more meaningful. Now, whenever I hear Ghostriders in the Sky, I’ll think of him.
In 1866, Captain William H. Moore was given some “pretty rocks” by an Indian friend. Capt. Moore realized that what he was holding in his hand was copper. He had his friend take him to where he’d found the rock. It was there at the 12,441 foot Baldy Mountain (pictured above), just across the Moreno Valley from the 13,161 foot Wheeler Peak (the highest point in New Mexico), that Capt. Moore’s life forever changed. Because not only was there copper, there was also gold.
In 1867, Capt. Moore and his brother, John, opened a general store that sold supplies to the miners. In 1868, John Moore and other businessmen incorporated the village and John named the town after his daughter, Elizabeth. It later became known as E-Town by the locals.
Side Note: Elizabeth (1863 – 19??) lived her entire life in Elizabethtown. She was a school teacher, married Joseph Lowery and had eight children, who either lived in the town or close by. Elizabeth is buried in the town cemetery, a lasting legacy to the place named after her. Pictured above is her home across the valley from Elizabethtown.
The town quickly grew from 400 residents to 7,000 at its peak and boasted seven saloons, three dance halls, five stores, a school, and two churches. One of several hotels, the Mutz Hotel was built by George W. Mutz, a rancher and cattleman of the area. The above photo, taken around 1943, shows the abandoned Mutz Hotel before it deteriorated.
Another contributor to the video about Elizabethtown’s history said that he remembered when he and his sister were quite young, the family would go to the hotel’s second floor dance hall and dance to the music. When the children grew tired, they were put to sleep on the window ledges, which were evidently quite wide.
After watching the video we toured some of the small buildings filled with antiques.
Above are photos of the Mutz family along with Mrs. Mutz’s wedding dress. There were several other pieces of clothing on display including a pair of very fuzzy, furry chaps!
The White Horse Saloon and a building that housed the tack for the horses are just a few of the buildings that are on the land.. They give you a feel for what the old mining town might have been.
The poles for a tee-pee sat among various bed frames, hip baths and an old iron stove with ashes that declared it still worked. I suppose it’s feasible that a tee-pee could have been erected there since it was an Indian who showed Capt. Moore to this place. However, I’m thinking the Indian probably stayed in one of the cabins!
One cabin had this forlorn woman sitting on the bed, obviously still waiting for her true love to return. She was last heard to be singing, “I’m tired, tired of love uninspired. Let’s face it. I’m tired.” a little ditty by Elizabethtown’s minstrel singer, Mel Brooks.
As happens with a lot of mines, Elizabethtown’s mine had played out by 1917 and the gold rush boom was over. Some of the people in town slowly started moving away leaving their homes abandoned because there wasn’t anyone to buy them. Others took their houses apart and moved everything down to Therma (later to be named Eagle Nest) over the next couple of years. By 1931, the post office officially closed their doors and Elizabethtown was left to the elements of nature and its former inhabitants memories..
The Elizabethtown Cemetery sits on a hill overlooking the Moreno Valley. It’s a serene setting that makes you want to linger and a final tribute to those who contributed, lawfully or unlawfully, to Elizabethtown’s history.
A light breeze gently blows over old graves and recent graves. It seems to be a town that died…and yet, won’t die.
Elizabethtown may have had a fast and furious history but it’s easy to see why people settled there, other than for the copper and gold. Maybe the views of the Moreno Valley explains why more and more people are trying to revive the old town. Wouldn’t you love to send out moving announcements with this photo?
Gruesome Detail: It appears that not far from Elizabethtown there was an evil person by the name of Charles Kennedy. He had a couple of spare rooms in his house so he would invite travelers to stay overnight to rest from their travels. However, once in the house, they never left and their rest became eternal. He would murder them, cut them up and slowly dispose of their bodies.
When his Indian wife discovered that he had killed their son, he locked her in a room and then proceeded to get drunk. When she heard him snoring in a drunken stupor, she climbed up the chimney and walked 19 miles to Elizabethtown to tell the authorities what he’d done. A group of vigilantes, including the notorious Clay Allison, rode out to Kennedy’s house. They brought him back to town and dragged his body behind a horse up and down the center of Elizabethtown until he was dead and…continued long after he was dead, so vile was his deed.
Remember the herd of horses I told you about in the beginning? Well, I fell in love with this Pinto Princess. The other horses in the herd were beautiful as well. But this one caught my eye until…..
that lone stallion, from high on the ledge in the beginning of this story, came trotting by. He literally stood by the fence in front of where the Pilot was taking pictures and blocked his view. We got the message:
Don’t mess with my ladies!
We’re looking forward to exploring more of the ghost towns around us. Maybe at some point we can all share our scary stories. Until next week…
Stay strong and steady with the wind always blowing at your back as you travel down the road to your next adventure.
Until next week…keep creating Sentimental Journeyz in your RV.
Angel Fire…Almost Heaven!
We finally arrived in Angel Fire, NM late Friday afternoon. It was a long beautiful drive bringing us to Eagle Nest, our last town before turning off towards Angel Fire. This is also where the Pilot decided to change into Levis and tennis shoes. The temperature had dropped to 64 degrees and we knew all was right in the world.
Eagle Nest Lake greeted us as we rounded our last curve in Cimarron Canyon which had brought us up to 8,400 feet. This view is what I think serenity looks like…the lake, the peacefulness of the valley with homes tucked here and there and knowing we were almost at the end of our trip.
We drove into Monte Verde RV Park around 5:30pm. Lynn and Maria, owners of this park, were really good about guiding us as we backed into our site. I sighed in relief as we put the slides out after spending three days closed in with a large dog attached to our leg at all times.
Side Note: We choose to believe that Bella isn’t insecure or neurotic but just has an abundant amount of love to share!
This is the view from our front window. We woke up Saturday morning to temperatures of 50 degrees, birds singing and cold floors! Mind you, I’m not complaining but I did run back to the closet and put on some slippers. The flowers pictured in the field are purple Penstemon. We also have feathered Sage growing around our patio.
Oh, you know that 8,400 feet elevation I referred to above? Well, it has somewhat knocked the breath out of me…literally. It’s difficult for me to breathe right now but I know with a few days of acclimation everything will be back to normal. It hasn’t affected the Pilot as much. But, both of us have experienced some light-headedness. Of course, that could be from the giddiness we’re experiencing in being in such a beautiful place!
As you look to the right out our window you can see a horse shed. I can hardly wait to see the horses. I want to take a trail ride around the area but don’t know if I can talk the Pilot into doing it too. He’s allergic to those beautiful creatures.
Further to the right of the horse shed and nestled at the base of the mountain is a 12 denominational church. There’s a little bit of something for everyone there. However, not to be missed is actually communing while in the outdoors and thanking whoever your greater power is for creating this beautiful land.
Our very first challenge has been getting us connected to the Internet… consistently. Fortunately, the RV park is set up for it but we are being blocked by twos huge 5th wheeler/toy hauler and some trees. This is a problem that we need to resolve for not only here but at other campgrounds. In order to do this blog I had to go outside get a connection. We’ve been on the phone with Verizon…with no help and will call Wilson tomorrow.
The first neighbor we met was Brett Wolfe, Chairman of the Technical Advisory Committee and Advisor of FMCA Forum at Family Motor Coach Association. He and the Pilot have had their heads together since we arrived. It’s like living next door to your doctor!
He filled the Pilot’s head with great information and when the Pilot offered to share his knowledge of jet engines, Brett’s hilarious response was,
“They’re like black boxes to me and as long as they stay in the air I’m happy.”
I think that we’re going to thoroughly enjoy ourselves here as we tour the surrounding areas. We’ve got quite a few magazines and pamphlets to figure out what to do.
Then, I’m going to start baking and see what changes I’ll need to make along the way. That, and copious notes on those same changes! In the interim, picture us contented…and cool!
Side Note 2: A special thanks to our BFF FB FT RVing friend, Candace Rivero, for recommending this RV park…via her FT RVing Mom, Lu Kaegi. For those of you who hate acronyms, BFF FB FT stands for Best Friend Forever on FaceBook Fulltiming RV friend.
Our heartfelt sympathy goes out to John & Peggi McDonald as they fight the good fight in John’s battle with cancer. Peggi wrote RV Living in the 21st Century. It was one of the first books we bought when we were researching this lifestyle. I’ve followed her blog ever since. You can read her blog at http://www.rvliving.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=4823 for any updates. Our prayers are with them during this time. Please add them to yours.
Stay strong and steady with the wind always blowing at your back
as you travel down the road to your next adventure.
Until next week…keep creating Sentimental Journeyz in your RV.
Ghost Towns
I’ve been doing research this past week for one of the many things that we plan to do while in Angel Fire, New Mexico. Visit ghost towns. While the history behind many of them is interesting…it’s also sad.
As history has shown, it seems to continuously repeat itself, so shows these deserted towns. Hard work, very little money and always moving your dream on to somewhere else, leaving hearts and homes empty.
We love history and seek it out as much as we can. From our brief time in New Mexico earlier this spring we saw why it’s known as the Land of Enchantment. Now, we’re ready to explore its past.
I’d started a list of ghost towns that we’ll be close to; Agua del Lobo, Amizette, Glen Woody, La Belle, etc. to name but a few. Most of these places now just hold memories and maybe a scattering or two of bricks where home sites had been built with hope.
North of Albuquerque, in Hagen, NM, sits the remains of the once Grand Hotel built because the town had been growing from all the coal mining. The railroad would be running through this town and, it did for six years until the mines played out. The once thriving town was deserted leaving the buildings to crumble into themselves to mark an era gone by.
Mogollon was another cast off because of failed metal values after WWI. The town was started in the late 1880’s and lasted until the late 1940’s. Fires and floods contributed to its decline. It’s now a historical site made famous by a gold and silver mine called the Little Fannie. Mogollon is about 12 miles northeast of Glenwood.
Cuchillo is another ghost town located just 15 miles west of Truth or Consequences in southern New Mexico. While the town has mainly been deserted it does boast a population of 35. Those residents have been there a long time. It’s not known how many, there are other reported residents of the supernatural type…that make loud noises and go “Bump” in the night! Truly!
Josh Bond, current owner of the Old Cuchillo Bar and Store, rents the place out to interested people. It’s also listed for sale. Here’s your chance to have your own little ghost town.
I’m always open to learning about new things but I have to tell you that sometimes I’m shocked beyond belief. Here’s why. It appears that a high-tech ghost town is going to be built for 1 billion dollars! Yes, you read that right. That’s a photo above of how part of it will look.
The new ghost town will be built near Hobbs, NM as a testing site for new technology, courtesy of Pegasus-Global Holdings. Uh, don’t get too excited though. No people will be allowed to live there.
On the upside however, it will create a lot of jobs for the people in NM. If you’re interested in reading more about it you can go to this link Pegasus-Global Holdings and read all about it. Who would have ever guessed that someone would actually build a ghost town?
A lot of people died while trying to realize their dreams. Mines played out, accidents happened and fires that could start at a moments notice destroyed towns, people and dreams. That’s where the sadness lingers.
We’ll tread respectfully on the ground that many others crossed before us and learn more about the history of this Enchanted Land.
Stay strong and steady with the wind always blowing at your back
as you travel down the road to your next adventure.
Until next week…keep creating Sentimental Journeyz in your RV.
Welcome to Aging Gracefully...Without Fear. Please join us as we travel the road to a richer more fulfilling life as we age. This blog is for people who are aging and their family and friends. We're here to share our experiences with others so that we may all age gracefully...and without fear.