Previous Scenic Trips to the Geologic Past have emphasized scenic tours of local areas in New Mexico. This book lays out a mosaic of facts and fancies concerning the state’s landscapes, the rocks that underlie and make up the landscapes, and the history of the people now living or who have lived amid New Mexico’s exciting and varied scenery. We hope these short articles will help you enjoy our state, whether you are a tourist driving through at seventy miles an hour, a visitor with a little time to explore, or an old-timer who remembers the cattle drives.

The idea for this publication grew out of a booklet, New Mexico Mosaic of Science and History, that was written for the 1963 National Science Fair-International held in Albuquerque. The National Science Fair booklet was directed specifically to the Fair participants and emphasized their tours to famous scientific installations in New Mexico, areas of scenic geologic wonders, and points of historic and archeologic importance. The booklet had only limited distribution; subsequent interest in this kind of publication about New Mexico led to the preparation of this book.

Scenic Trips No. 8 is in two major parts. First, there are articles of general statewide interest to acquaint visitor and resident alike with the Land of Enchantment—its history, flora and fauna, geology, and scenic beauty. Second, there are articles describing specific scenic, geologic, historic, and recreational places to give a depth of understanding and a more intimate view of New Mexico. The entire mosaic of New Mexico thus presented is a permanent record to recall vistas of New Mexico’s enchanting land and fascinating history.

Acknowledgments

Many people have contributed their time and talents to this co-operative undertaking. We thank each of the authors of the articles; where their affiliation is not given, they are staff members of the New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources division of the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology. Professor Christiansen is a member of the Humanities Department of the Institute’s College division. This book would have been incomplete without the co-operation of the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, the Museum of New Mexico, the New Mexico Department of Development, the State Park Commission, the U.S. Park Service, and the Forest Service, Southwestern Region, U.S. Department of Agriculture. Our special appreciation goes to Dr. Ross Calvin for his interpretative description of New Mexico’s unique flora.

Black and white photographs were contributed by Robert Bieberman, Roy Foster, and Teri Ray of the Bureau of Mines staff and by the authors or their agencies. Some of the drawings were made by David H. Moneypenny. Acknowledgment is also made to Mr. Elliott S. Barker and the Forest Service for their willing loan of color transparencies.

Among the numerous personnel of the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology who aided in preparation of this book, appreciation is due Helen Waxler, Lois Devlin, Lola White, Mary Ann Grandjean, and Sharon Ballenger for typing of manuscripts and William Arnold, Robert Price, and Raymond Molina for drafting maps and figures. Teri Ray deserves special mention for her interest and editorial advice and for nursing the material from rough manuscripts into printed pages.

PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION

The kind reception given our attempt to provide a brief but comprehensive guide to New Mexico’s scenery, rocks, and history resulted in distribution of 5000 copies in two years, and led to this second edition. In this revision, we have incorporated changes that have occurred during these two years, especially the addition of State Parks, and Teri Ray has added an index to make the book more usable. Each author has re-edited his article and made changes where necessary. William Arnold added much material to the index map; typing of the revision manuscript was carefully done by Lois Devlin. Alfred Coulloudon and Wayne Bera supplied additional photographs. Teri Ray initiated revision of the first edition, worked with authors, and guided the manuscript from the authors to the final copy.

PREFACE TO THIRD EDITION

The first edition appeared in 1964, the second in 1967, and a reprint in 1968. In the present edition front matter has been re-styled, printed matter has been altered on the inside and outside of the covers, a footnote added to page 104, and a less bulky paper used.