New Mexico

The Land of Enchantment

January 6, 1912. New Mexico became the 47th state to enter the union.

Santa Fe, the capital, was founded in 1610 and is the oldest capital city in the United States.

Attention all you hot air balloon enthusiasts, find out about the Kodak Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta to be held in Albuquerque October 7 - October 15, 2000. This is the World's Most Photographed Ballooning Event!

I was born in Clovis, New Mexico and, except for about two years in California and about 5 years at Lariat, Texas, lived in New Mexico until I joined the United States Marine Corps shortly before my 21st birthday. My family and I lived in various parts of the state; northern, southern, eastern, and western. For those who are interested in geography, these are the places in which my family and I lived:

Albuquerque	Clovis*	Cotton City	Deming	Gamerco
Las Cruces	Lordsburg	Mentmore	Redrock	Rodeo
		Silver City
*At what was then the Clovis Army Air Base, now Cannon Air Force Base.
If you are unable to locate any of these places and you would like to know where they are, send me an email (gyrene@sysnet.net) and I will send the information.

I graduated from Lordsburg High School in Lordsburg. Everyone who has seen the movie "Stagecoach" should remember Lordsburg as the destination of the trip. There were three different "Stagecoach" films made. The original 1939 movie with John Wayne is the best in my opinion. The 1966 remake is most noted for the fine paintings of the cast by Norman Rockwell. I usually don't say anything about the 1986 made-for-TV version.

The 1939 movie was filmed in Arizona's Monument Valley, which is about 300 miles north-northwest of Lordsburg. Monument Valley has some spectacular scenery, but doesn't look much like Lordsburg. At least the mountains don't. The valley floor is desert and generally resembles the area around Lordsburg.

Some interesting people have, at one time or another, called New Mexico their home.

The most notorious was Billy the Kid. Born William Bonney on November 23, 1859 in New York City, he is said to have killed at least 27 people before he was killed by Sheriff Pat (Patrick) Garrett on July 14, 1881. Billy supposedly killed his first man in Silver City when he was 12 years old. Silver City is the home of New Mexico Western University (see below), which I had the pleasure to attend for a while before entering military service.

As a young lad I can remember talking to some of the old timers who, in their youth, had seen or had heard about Billy the Kid.

Lew Wallace, an American Civil War general, was governor of the New Mexico Territory for a time. While he is most remembered as the author of the famous novel "Ben Hur," Governor Wallace once offered Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett pardons. Pat Garrett accepted and became a sheriff. Billy the Kid refused, an act that led to his death.

New Mexico is also the birthplace of Bill Mauldin, the famous cartoonist. He was born in Mountain Park on October 29, 1921. He served in the United States Army 1940-1945 and was known for his powerful cartoons about soldiers (especially "Willy and Joe") and war veterans. Amoung my revered books is a copy of Bill Mauldin's "Up Front."

New Mexico is the birth place, and final resting place, of the original Smokey Bear. He was rescued by forest rangers after a forest fire in the Lincoln National Forest (Capitan Mountains). He was a long-time resident of the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. He is buried in the small town of Capitan. The late Jackson Weaver (a long-time fixture, with Frank Hardin, on radio in the Washington, D.C. area) was the voice of Smokey.

New Mexico has the dubious distinction of being the site of the world's first atomic bomb explosion. Trinity Site, where the first atomic bomb was exploded on July 16, 1945, is located at the north end of the U.S. Army White Sands Missile Range. The site is normally open to the public twice a year -- on the first Saturday in April and October. A brief history of the test, including a description of the site, and a bibliography is available in text form. Details on how to get to the site, a history, and a bibliography are also available in text form. This and other information can be found at the Trinity Atomic Web Site.

Colleges and Universities

Location	Institution	Team Name
Alamogordo	New Mexico State University, Alamogordo Branch
Albuquerque	Albuquerque Technical-Vocational Instutute
Albuquerque	Southwestern Indian Polytechnical Institute (SIPI)
Albuquerque	University of New Mexico	Lobos
Carlsbad	New Mexico State University, Carlsbad Branch
Clovis	Clovis Community College
Española	Northern New Mexico Community College
Farmington	San Juan College
Gallup	University of New Mexico, Gallup Branch
Hobbs	College of the Southwest	Mustangs
Hobbs	New Mexico Junior College
Las Cruces	New Mexico State University	Aggies
Las Vegas	Luna Vocational Technical Institute
Las Vegas	New Mexico Highlands University	Cowboys
Los Lunas	University of New Mexico, Valencia Branch
Los Alamos	University of New Mexico, Los Alamos Branch
Portales	Eastern New Mexico University	Greyhounds
Roswell	Eastern New Mexico University, Roswell Branch
Roswell	New Mexico Military Institute
Santa Fe	College of Santa Fe	Knights
Santa Fe	Institute of American Indian Arts
Santa Fe	Santa Fe Community College
Santa Fe	Santa Fe Institute
Santa Fe	St. John's College
Silver City	Western New Mexico University*	Mustangs
Socorro	New Mexico Tech (New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology)	Miners
	University of the Rio Grande	Redmen
* It was New Mexico Western College when I attended classes there.

Some places to visit:

State of New Mexico - Government

Information

New Mexico City Links

New Mexico Visitor Information

(New Mexico Web)

Viva New Mexico

Ice Caves

Apache Point Observatory

Los Alamos National Laboratory

National Radio Astronomy

Observatory

National Solar Observatory

Sandia National Laboratories

Return to "Semper Fi, Mac!"

-Darry L. Deaton, gyrene@sysnet.net