Turquoise Trail
The name “Turquoise Trail” comes
from the now precious blue-green turquoise stone first mined by the early
Pueblo people, who dwelled along the Rio Grande as early as 900 A.D. The trail,
encompassing 15,000 square miles, is located in the heart of Central New
Mexico, linking Albuquerque and Santa Fe. Its highest peak is Sandia Crest at
10,600 feet, overlooking Albuquerque and the Rio Grande Valley. Although there
are seven towns along the trail, Dick’s short trip took him to just two: Madrid
and Cerrillos. Along the way he passed through the Garden of the Gods.
Madrid sits midway along the Turquoise Trail, and at one time
more than 3,000 people lived and worked there due to the mining of coal in the
area. At its peak 250,000 tons of coal was produced in the town. Today, the
pine and oak bar at the Mineshaft Tavern is still known as the “longest bar in
the state, a lodge pole pine bar, measuring 40 feet. The town boasted the first
illuminated baseball park west of the Mississippi, first turned on in 1922. The
stadium, still in operation, was home to the Madrid Miners, a farm team for the
Brooklyn Dodgers.
When the coal market collapsed, so
did Madrid’s infrastructure. Eventually all of the town’s residents moved away
and Madrid became a ghost town. The Wall Street Journal, in 1954, listed the
entire town for sale for $250,000. In the 1960s and ‘70s an array of artists,
crafts people and renegades rediscovered Madrid, and a new population began to
form in the town. Today, there are about 400 residents—artists, craftspeople,
gallery owners, restaurants, and business commuters to Santa Fe.
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| Cowgirl Red Trading Post |
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| Madrid Ghost Town Trading Post |
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| One of the historic old homes in Madrid |
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| Mine Shaft Tavern |
As a side note, for those of you
familiar with the movie Wild Hogs,
part of this movie was filmed in Madrid, Arizona.
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| Maggie's Diner |
Cerrillos is one of the oldest historically documented mining
districts in the U.S., dating back to as early as 900 A.D. The Indian word
“chalchihuitl,” taken from the Aztec word meaning “green,” became the name of
one of the Cerrillos hills producing the largest source of turquoise. Today there
are several working turquoise claims in the Cerrillos Mining District; rough,
polished and finished jewelry can be found in area shops.
For centuries, the Pueblo Indians
had obtained turquoise and galena (lead sulfide) from the Cerrillos Hills,
turquoise for its ritual use and for its medicinal power, and the galena for
paint used to decorate pottery.
Silver was discovered by Europeans
in the galena mined in Cerrillos Hills in the 1580s, but it wasn’t until the late
1600s that a silver and lead mining company was formed. Unfortunately, that
camp survived only a year, but it was the first settlement to bear the name
Cerrillos. The rich Cerrillos Hills remained the private property of a few
Santa Fe families, but the arrival of two prospectors in 1879 broke that
embargo and from there word spread quickly of the reputed treasures to be
found. The following year brought the railroad and soon Cerrillos Hills became
the center of activity with people coming from around the world to make their
fortune. Starting off as a tent city, Cerrillos soon became a town of hotels,
saloons, dance halls, local shops and short order houses. There were a great
many saloons, since all you needed to start a saloon was a tent, a glass, and a
bottle of whiskey. (However, if you aspired to be a first-class saloon, you
needed some upstairs entertainment.)
By 1900 the galena and silver
production had diminished, and within 10 years the smelter shut down. Cerrillos
never completely dried up, but it never achieved the dreams of so many who
sought their wealth there. The charm
and simplicity of the Old West can still be seen in Cerrillos: the streets
remain mostly dirt, with adobe homes and Spanish-style courtyards nestled among
giant cottonwood trees. Because of the 1800s feel, the town, like Madrid, is
often used for filming movies and commercials.
Tuesday was spent getting things ready for our departure on
Wednesday: checking tire pressure on both the truck and trailer, loading the
motorcycle, fueling the truck, washing the bugs from the front of the trailer,
etc. Our trip Wednesday was estimated to be about 5½ hours, so the more
preparation we can do the day before we leave, the earlier we can get on the
road.
Weather on Wednesday didn’t disappoint us: beautiful
sunshine and 57 degrees at 7:30 a.m. We were on the road by 9:30. Roads were
good for the most part, but halfway we ran into heavy winds, both headwinds and
side winds. We arrived at our destination in Sun Valley, Arizona at 3 p.m. and
were set up by 4. We had a bit of a mishap with the door side slide topper; the
screw holding the side cap came loose so it flipped off when we attempted to
extend the slide. Fortunately, Dr.
Dick was able to secure the screw to the topper so we were able to get the
slide extended fully with the topper intact.
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| Office |
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| Not the office, but it is the laundry |
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| Our site |
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| These photos were taken from our site on Saturday. |
Friends Ron and Kathryn were in the area, in Holbrook,
Arizona—just 6 miles away—so we met up with them for breakfast on Thursday, at
Tom and Suzie’s Diner in Holbrook. Breakfast
was followed by a day spent in the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert. There
are no words for this magnificent display of nature. Awesome!
Petrified Forest National Park is located in
northeastern Arizona, encompasses Navajo and Apache Counties, and covers about
146 square miles. Once a vast floodplain crossed by many streams, this area
produced tall and stately conifer trees. As trees fell over time, and swollen
streams washed them into adjacent floodplains, a mix of silt, mud and volcanic
ash from distant volcanoes buried the logs, cutting off oxygen and slowing
their decay. Then, silica-laden groundwater seeped through the logs, replacing
the original wood tissues with silica and thus petrifying the logs. Over time,
through climate change and geological shifts, what had been a tropical
environment became today’s arid grassland, and wind and water wore away the
rock layers covering fossilized plants and animals.
The varied colors in petrified wood present a kaleidoscope
of beauty. Iron, carbon, and manganese made patterns and blends of yellow, red,
black, blue, brown, white, and pink. Petrified wood at the park is almost solid
quartz, weighing in at 168 to 200 pounds per cubic foot, and is so hard it can
only be cut using a diamond tipped saw. It has a hardness of 7.8 on the
10-point Mohs scale that measures scratch resistance. (As a side note, Dick
took 310 photos of our day in the Petrified Forest…those following are just a
few…)
Although petrified wood is considered fossilized, there are
many other kinds of fossils besides trees. And, they can measure over 190 feet,
like some of the petrified logs found in the park, or small, like a single
tooth less than an inch long. One of the richest fossil-plant deposits in the
world, containing more than 200 fossilized plants, is in this area. Also found
in the park are fossil vertebrates, including giant crocodile-like reptiles,
large salamander-like amphibians, and early dinosaurs, as well as invertebrates
including freshwater snails and clams.
Our first stop was at the Crystal Forest Museum and Gift Shop at the southern entrance to the park, where we saw cut and polished petrified wood, selling for as much as $12,500 for a coffee table sized slab.
These fossils are clues to the past and tell the stories of ancient ecosystems, going back over 200 million years. The photos were taken at the Crystal Forest Museum and Gift Shop located just before we entered the park.
Our first stop was at the Crystal Forest Museum and Gift Shop at the southern entrance to the park, where we saw cut and polished petrified wood, selling for as much as $12,500 for a coffee table sized slab.
These fossils are clues to the past and tell the stories of ancient ecosystems, going back over 200 million years. The photos were taken at the Crystal Forest Museum and Gift Shop located just before we entered the park.
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| Hand-carved alabaster Navajo sculptures |
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| Fossils found together in these slabs of rock, above and below. |
Our next stop was at the Petrified Forest National Park Visitor and Information Center. Here we saw more dinosaur fossils, petrified long logs and other pieces of petrified wood.
Sites throughout the park tell of human existence for over 13,000 years. Evidence of these early people in the park fades around 1400 A.D., but their dwellings, potshards, and petroglyphs still tell their story. Inhabited between 1250 and 1380 A.D., the Puerco Pueblo Ruins are the largest known archological site within the park. These partially excavated remains are just a fragment of the original 100-room complex that surrounded a large plaza.
Another ancient Pueblo site is the Agate House, called this
because almost all of this structure is built from chunks of petrified wood.
Constructed about 900 years ago, this small eight-room pueblo is near to both
agricultural fields and petrified wood deposits, and indicates that it was not
a temporary residence or field house, but more a year-round residence for a
family unit. Like most structures from this time period (between 900 and 1200
A.D.) it probably remained in use for only about 30 years. Also discovered
during excavation were coiled and scraped pottery and various black-on-white
painted ceramics with a few black-on red, and is closely associated with other
Puebloan people, the Anasazi.
Sites throughout the park tell of human existence for over 13,000 years. Evidence of these early people in the park fades around 1400 A.D., but their dwellings, potshards, and petroglyphs still tell their story. Inhabited between 1250 and 1380 A.D., the Puerco Pueblo Ruins are the largest known archological site within the park. These partially excavated remains are just a fragment of the original 100-room complex that surrounded a large plaza.
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| The photos above and below are Puerco Pueblo ruins unearthed during an archological dig. The pottery was also found here, and is housed in the Petrified Forest National Park Visitor's Center. |
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| These petroglyphs are also at this Puerco Pueblo site. |
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| Agate House |
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| Petrified wood used in construction of Agate House |
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| My favorite photo: blooming cactus and petrified wood |
The Agate Bridge is a 110-foot long petrified log, suspended
between hard rocks after centuries of scouring floodwaters washed out the
arroyo beneath it. Due to the continual erosion by wind and water, an
architectural support of masonry pillars was erected in 1911, and in 1917 the
present concrete span replaced the masonry work. (At one time you could walk
across it, but that has been prohibted in order to preserve the bridge.)
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| This is a photo of a Western Tanager; we saw one flying around the Agate Bridge but it wouldn't land long enough for us to get a photo. The colors are beautiful! |
The Blue Mesa, one of the park’s most visually stunning and
dramatic examples of badland formation. Blue, gray, white, lavender and green
striated mounds, cones, buttes and fins rise above an otherwise flat and barren
landscape. The color bands are the combined result of mineral presence and
water levels at the time that sediments were deposited.
The Teepees were our next stop, but because of the really
high winds we were able to photograph them from the car. The bands of color,
formed of mudstone and sandstone about 200 to 225 million years ago, are
visible thanks to wind and water erosion.
One of the most amazing things we saw were the petroglyphs
that were scratched, pecked, carved, or incised on the natural rock surfaces in
the park. They represent means of communication, much like we do today through
print and the internet. Surprisingly, some may not be meant to be understood.
They probably all have a deep spiritual significance, and may even be
considered prayers by some people. They may tell a story, mark a trail, or
commemorate an event; they may have been made to ensure fertility or successful
hunting, or even to keep track of the seasons. They may also represent a clan
or family. We will probably never know their intention, and may have
significance that can be explained only by the original artist.
More than 650 petroglyphs, the largest concentration of
petroglyphs in the Petrified Forest, are etched into boulders that lie below
the cliffs above where the visitor overview is located. The dark coating on the
rock is called desert varnish, a patina which occurs naturally over time images
are etched, or pecked away with sharpened tools to expose the lighter rock beneath.
We’ll be seeing more petroglyphs this week before we leave
the Holbrook area, so be sure to visit our blog next week for more!
As we drove through the park, a storm appeared to be raging nearby, but we didn't get any rain--just wind.
As we drove through the park, a storm appeared to be raging nearby, but we didn't get any rain--just wind.
The Painted Desert is part of the Petrified Forest National
Park, and is located on the northern loop of our trek through the park. The
Painted Desert got its name because of the rainbow of colors found through this
expanse of badland hills and buttes. Here you can see colors ranging from
lavenders to shades of gray with vibrant colors of red, orange and pink formed
from iron and manganese compounds found in the fine grained rock layers.
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| This guy was merrily hopping along near one of the Painted Desert overlooks. |
Built in 1920 the structure is
constructed of wood and native stone, with walls more than two feet thick and
finished with textured earth-toned stucco. Hopi artist Fred Kabotie painted
murals on the dining room and lunchroom walls, reflecting Hopi culture. In 1935 the National Park Service purchased and began
renovating building. The inn opened in 1940 to provide hospitality services to
tourists and travelers on the Santa Fe Railroad. And for two years it offered
Route 66 travelers food, souvenirs and lodging, as well as event and meeting
space to the locals. The inn closed in 1942 as a result of America’s
involvement in World War II, when government resources were shifted away from domestic
programs.
The park scheduled the building’s demolition in 1975 because
of structural damage over the years, but a public campaign helped save the
building, which was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976,
and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1987.
Following restoration, the Painted
Desert Inn reopened in 2006, and now appears as it would have in 1949.
Highlights include six hammered-tin Mexican-style chandeliers, and enormous
skylight, and windows overlooking the desert. The skylight has multiple panes
of translucent glass painted in Indian pottery designs. The inn still has the
original murals on the dining room and lunchroom walls. And, a large and
stunning mountain lion petroglyph, discovered in the 1930s is on display in the
inn. The petroglyph is considered one of the finest, most vividly animated and
lifelike depictions of mountain lions in the region.
After this spectacular day, dinner at Mr. Maestas in
Holbrook was in order. What an eclectic display of “stuff” throughout the
restaurant! We were stuffed after a meal of chicken-fried steak, a chimichanga,
a hamburger, and a stuffed sopaipilla—oh followed by chocolate and strawberry crème
ice cream. Oh, my…
After dinner we played a hand of Golf at Ron and Kathryn’s
camper. Whew! That was Thursday.
Friday Ron and Kathryn left for the Grand Canyon. We did a
bit of grocery shopping, and visited the Wigwam Motel in Holbrook—a must see if
you’re passing through, or doing the Route 66 trek.
While passing through
Cave City, Kentucky in 1938, Chester E. Lewis was so impressed by the
distinctive design of the original Wigwam (not Teepee!) village
(constructed in 1937 by architect Frank Redford), that he purchased copies of
the plans the right to use the Wigwam Village name. The purchase included a
royalty agreement in which Mr. Lewis would install coin operated radios in the
wigwams, and every dime inserted for 30 minutes of play would be sent to Mr.
Redford as payment. Seven Wigwam Villages were constructed in various locations
between 1936 and the 1950s. Finished in 1950, Mr. Lewis’ village in Holbrook,
AZ, was the sixth, thus it is designated as Wigwam Village #6.
The Wigwam Motel is comprised of 15 free-standing concrete
basic motel rooms arranged in a semi-circle around the main office,
representing the quarters of the chief and his family. Each teepee is 21 feet
wide at the base and 28 feet high, and painted white with a red zigzag about
the doorway. The rooms feature the original hand-made hickory furniture, and
equipped with a sink, toilet and shower. Vintage automobiles are permanently
parked throughout the property, including a Studebaker that belonged to Mr.
Lewis. Part of the office has been converted into a museum, by Mr. Lewis’
family, and is open to the public. It displays Mr. Lewis’ collection of Indian
artifacts, Civil War memorabilia, Route 66 collectibles, and a petrified wood
collection. Wigwam Village Motel #6 was listed on the National Register of
Historic Places in 2002.” Excerpted from http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/route66/wigwam_village_hotel6_holbrook.html
Friday we also had a visit from Future Tire, located in
Holbrook, to repair a flat tire on the trailer. Glad to have that done, as we do not want to blow a tire as we travel!
Saturday, we rode the motorcycle back into Holbrook to the
bank, and to see the Navajo County Courthouse Museum.
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| Commodore Perry Owen; his hair was almost down to his waist by the time his service as sheriff ended in 1886. |
Originally part of Apache County, Navajo County was
established in 1881 to help bring law and order to the area which was already
torn by range wars between the newly settled Texas cattlemen and the already
established Mexican and Indian sheep men. Navajo County was a rugged stretch of
land complete with a saloon called the Bucket of Blood, so named because of a
drunken brawl and shots from a .45. Until a sheriff was hired, law and order in
Holbrook were non-existent, gambling was popular, and painted ladies far
outnumbered “proper women.” Sheriff
Commodore Perry Owens was hired to settle down the lawless elements of Navajo
County. He had already gained a reputation for cleaning up the territory, so
much so that he was called “Saint George with a six-shooter.”
Built in 1895 at a cost of just $15,000 the courthouse
included a $3,000 jail. The museum houses 3 1/2 floors of memorabilia and artifacts dating back
to 900 A.D. including pottery shards from the Puebloan community, who inhabited
the area.
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| Navajo County Courthouse, built in 1895. |
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| Holbrook was the home of the Hatchknife Pony Express |
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| Original chuckwagon used by cattle drives that went through Holbrook |
The jail was particularly sobering, as it was constructed in
the basement of the courthouse, and manufactured as complete units in St.
Louis, Missouri and shipped to Holbrook on railroad flatcars. The small, dark
cells were very effective, in that no one ever escaped from them. They leave
the jail as it is—all they do is sweep the floors. Artwork on the jail and cell
walls was done by prisoners.
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| Original sheriff's office in the basement of the courthouse, next to the jail |
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| This and the following 2 photos are of actual artwork from prisoners held in the jail. |
These Wanted Posters were posted in the sheriff's office.
It is also home to a couple of resident ghosts, the most prominent being George Smiley, the one and only man ever hanged at the courthouse. After keeping his date with the noose in 1900, he has been seen wandering about the building and pacing up and down the stairs. The Historical Society staff blames this ghost for doors closing on their own, and strange noises heard through the building, and objects that have mysteriously moved from one spot to another.
It is also home to a couple of resident ghosts, the most prominent being George Smiley, the one and only man ever hanged at the courthouse. After keeping his date with the noose in 1900, he has been seen wandering about the building and pacing up and down the stairs. The Historical Society staff blames this ghost for doors closing on their own, and strange noises heard through the building, and objects that have mysteriously moved from one spot to another.
Another ghost seen looking out of the windows is a woman
named Mary, who was a former prisoner. According to legend, Mary died inside
one of the old jail cells while looking out a window longing for her freedom. (Note: we didn't see or hear anything during our visit...)
That evening we decided to eat out at the Hopi Truck Stop
and Café, just about a mile from our site. I have to say that was perhaps the best hamburger I have ever had: ½#
ground chuck, crusty on the outside, well done but juicy on the inside, served
with a thick slice of white onion and pepper-jack cheese. YUM! Dick chowed down
on 3 enchiladas: beef, chicken and cheese. YUM!
Sunday was spent relaxing around the camper. While I worked
on the blog, Dick washed the exterior windows and checked the recently fixed
trailer tire, and removed a bent bolt from the slide topper (which will be
replaced before we head out on Wednesday).
I know this report is really long, and filled with perhaps
more than you care to read, but it’s such cool stuff! At least I know you’ll
enjoy looking at the pictures…ha!
Hope this finds you well. Still wish you could join us on
our journey.
RJ and Gail
A = Rockport, TX
B = Kerrville, TX
C = Stockton, TX
D = Carlsbad, NM
E = Santa Fe, NM
F = Holbrook/Sun Valley, AZ
A = Rockport, TX
B = Kerrville, TX
C = Stockton, TX
D = Carlsbad, NM
E = Santa Fe, NM
F = Holbrook/Sun Valley, AZ
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