History
Archaeological evidence has shown that humans have existed in New Mexico for at least 13,000 years now, as shown by the existence of "Clovis points" - arrowheads first found near the town of Clovis. For the next several millennium, a long line of Native American cultures lived, prospered, and perished here, the most well-known being the Ancestral Puebloans also known as the "Anasazi", though that term has recently fallen out of favor who emerged around AD 700 and by AD 1100 has established impressive settlements in what is now the northwestern region of the state and were part of a far-flung trade network that reached south to what is now Mexico. However, in the 12th and 13th centuries they abandoned their settlements for reasons not entirely clear; drought, environmental degradation, pressure from other groups, and religious or cultural change are all considered possibilities. It is commonly believed today that the inhabitants of today's Pueblos of New Mexico are the descendants of the Ancestral Puebloans. Of course, Puebloans were not the only Native American group to establish themselves here; despite changing climates, war, and European and later American aggression, many Navajos, Apaches, Comanches, and Utes also make the state their home today.
The first Europeans to arrive in New Mexico were the Spanish. The explorer Cabeza de Vaca may have passed through a portion of the area, but it was the expedition of Francisco Vázquez de Coronado in the 1540s that marked the first significant European contact in the area. Coronado came seeking the mythical Seven Cities of Gold, but found nothing of the sort. His contact with the Puebloan residents in New Mexico was marked by violence against the Natives, which sadly set the stage for more bloodshed to come. Though Coronado returned to Mexico in disgrace, his reports paved the way for the first settlers to arrive in 1598, who were led by Juan de Oñate and established the first European village in the area near present-day Española. Oñate displayed vicious cruelty toward the Puebloans, and after being chewed out by the Spanish Empire a new governor was appointed who led the construction of a capitol city, Santa Fe.
Over the next several decades, the Puebloans continued to be the victims of repression on the part of the Spanish, particularly Franciscan missionaries who found that while many Puebloans were receptive to Catholicism, they were also unwilling to abandon their traditional religions. Tension grew until finally the Pueblos banded together in 1680 to drive the Spanish out of New Mexico. It wouldn't be for another 12 years that Europeans returned, this time through a reconquest led by Diego de Vargas. Though there were some military campaigns involved, the Pueblo Revolt had taught the Spanish the consequences of oppression and the Puebloans were granted rights and land in exchange for allowing the Spanish to live side-by-side with them. This partnership largely worked; indeed, Spaniards and Puebloans frequently banded together to wage war against the nomadic tribes Apaches, Comanches, Navajos in the area.
Mexico gained independence from Spain in 1821, but New Mexico's isolation meant that little changed in the relationship between the settlers and rulers, with the exception that Mexico was more willing to trade with the United States. This set the stage for the creation of the Santa Fe Trail - a rugged wagon route that brought American goods and settlers to New Mexico, as well as opening the floodgates to encroachment from the east. An attempt on the part of the then-independent Republic of Texas to gain control of New Mexico ended in humiliating defeat, but within several years Texas was part of the U.S. and the vision of an America "stretching from sea to shining sea" brought New Mexico into the Mexican-American War. Mexican officials didn't focus much on defending New Mexico - American General Stephen W. Kearny marched into Santa Fe without firing a shot - but the residents reacted to U.S. presence with a mixture of welcome and deep suspicion; New Mexico's early years as a U.S. territory were marked by rebellion and bitter land disputes.
Under American rule, New Mexico experienced combat in the American Civil War. Most of New Mexico remained loyal to the Union, and Confederate forces mounted a campaign to stake their claim here. Their presence was short-lived however, as Union forces soon drove them back south after winning a couple of key battles near Santa Fe. The Civil War over, the Union returned to focus on breaking the Comanche, Navajo, and Apache forces in the area, with considerable success.
The arrival of the railroad in 1880 brought numerous new settlers to the area and caused an explosion of growth in towns along the rail lines. Ranching and mining came to New Mexico in full force, becoming the mainstay of the economy. Following statehood in 1912, a new set of visitors came to New Mexico as the state shed its wild west image: artists established themselves in the Santa Fe and Taos areas, tourists came via the railroad to experience the scenery and culture of the Southwest, and tuberculosis patients came to live the rest of their lives in New Mexico's mild climate. With the rise of the automobile came the arrival of Route 66, bringing a new wave of arrivals to the state.
World War II brought a new industry to New Mexico: nuclear science. The world's first atomic bomb was constructed in the top secret government town of Los Alamos and tested at the Trinity site in southern New Mexico. Federal investment in military research brought money and new migrants to the state, which coincided with considerable urban growth in parts of the state, particularly the Albuquerque area. The 1960s and 70s manifested itself in civil rights battles for Latinos and the arrival of a large number of Hippies in the northern part of the state who were attracted by New Mexico's relative isolation.
The last couple of decades have seen a modernization effort in New Mexico. The metro areas of Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and Las Cruces are still experiencing major urban growth, and the typical features of today's built American landscape - cell phone towers, gas stations, Wal-Marts - have certainly arrived, along with the problems - traffic, pollution, etc. However, New Mexico remains a place isolated enough from the rest of the country that one can still venture out of the city and find great, wild beauty, and still catch a glimpse of what New Mexico was like hundreds of years ago.
Understand
Understanding New Mexico starts with grasping the overpowering importance of two of its geological features: the Rio Grande, which bisects the state north to south, and the nearby Sangre de Cristo Mountains, southernmost range of the Rocky Mountains and a part of the same large-scale geological structure that produces the Rio, the "Rio Grande rift." The eastern third of the state is an extension of the Great Plains both geographically and culturally and has more in common with the western parts of Texas and Oklahoma than with the rest of New Mexico. The western third, beyond the Rio and the assortment of minor mountain ranges Nacimientos, Magdalenas, and the not-so-minor Jemez Mountains to its west, is part of the same "basin and range" geography as comprises much of Arizona and Nevada, with a little Utah canyon country thrown in toward the northwest corner.
It's the area in between these two sparsely inhabited regions that gives the state much of its identity, houses the majority of its population, and contains many of its travel attractions. The "Rio Grande Corridor" starts at the Colorado state line and includes from north to south such well-known places as Taos, Los Alamos, Santa Fe, Albuquerque, and Las Cruces at the southern end of the state. Travelers who have seen only the flat emptiness of the eastern side or the rugged desolation of the western third simply do not expect this region, with its snowcapped mountains, fertile riparian habitat along the Rio, and a population density that, while not high by the standards of the United States let alone Europe, is still unusual in the Southwest. Most of the state's many American Indian reservations the pueblos are here Navajo Nation, however, is in the northwest region, as are the most conspicuous remnants of the Spanish influence resulting from the state's ties to Mexico that persisted into the 19th century. At the same time, the relative prosperity of this area although no part of New Mexico can really be considered "wealthy" except in isolated neighborhoods is making several of its communities into high-tech centers, for example the Albuquerque suburb of Rio Rancho that houses a great manufacturing plant for computer components. The Sangre de Cristos and Jemez also create a relatively cool and moist at least compared to the rest of the state climate zone in which snow can persist in the highest mountains nearly year-round.
There is also a more subtle north/south dichotomy to the culture and geography that breaks basically along the route of Interstate highway 40, which follows the historic Route 66 across the state. Most of the north/south differences apart from the observation that the north is higher and cooler than the south are political in nature and affect residents more than travelers, but they lead to the state self-identifying the six regions given under the "Regions" heading of this article. Note that there is no "South Central" region; the Rio Grande Corridor narrows toward the southern end of the state, and features along the southern Rio are treated in the southwest region.