Fort Union, New Mexico

From far away it looks like a post apocalyptic movie location...or a Stonehenge type place.

But as you move closer, you realize it's the ruined remains of Fort Union. Cavalry, infantry, and a large quartermaster depot were housed here on the New Mexico plains to protect the folks using the Santa Fe Trail and to act as a supply hub for all the other forts and military positions in the Southwest.

The fort was made from adobe clay brick, wood, local stone for the foundations, and, like in the photo below, adorned with bricks hauled along the Santa Fe Trail. Nails, window glass and roofing tin were also brought along the trail to finish the fort.

The work was hastily done and the clay plaster coating the adobe bricks cracked and required constant repairs to keep the damp from seeping between the plaster and the brick. When the fort was abandoned in 1891, things just fell apart.

Officers lived here, on Officers' Row. The posts in front of the houses held the porch roofs. Officers' wives would sit on their porches to watch the goings on, fanning themselves in the summer heat. Pretty much all that is left are the brick chimneys, standing as witness to times past.

It was a pretty isolated posting, but the fort had a hospital, school, a band, dances, baseball teams, and other entertainment. About seven miles away was the village of Loma Parda, (now a ghost town) where the more adventurous soldiers could find what might be called "night life," drinking at the cantinas and dancing with the local (and sometimes imported) ladies.

I could write more, but you can read more here, instead.

Guadalupita/Coyote Historic District: Montoya Cemetery

Fall 2011 photo

 Almost a year ago the area where we live was approved as a State Historic District because of its historic, cultural and environmental significance. Here's what the application said:

"The Guadalupita/Coyote Historic District in Mora County is 8,140 acres of mountains and valleys dotted with small ranches, homes, mines and religious sites dating back to 1851. It was one of the last land grants in New Mexico. To this day, descendants of families that first settled there continue to use nearby natural resources and acequias that divert water from Rio Coyote to irrigate crops for their sustenance."

One site included in the district is the Montoya Cemetery, just a short walk across the pastures from our place. The newest grave that I can discern is from the early 1950's, a baby that died the year I was born. Others date back to the 1800's, people from a family who braved high altitudes, poor roads and frigid winters to make a life for themselves in a remote place often cut off from the rest of the state for months on end. The Montoya family is still around, some scattered to other parts of the state and country, but most still here living on ranches in the area on land kept in the family for generation after generation.

Family members take turns keeping the weeds at bay, straightening the markers that can be straightened and ensuring the fence around the site is in good repair since beef cattle live nearby.

The graves are marked with a variety of materials:  weather worn wooden and rusty iron crosses, flat stones, hand chiseled markers and one professionally done granite marker for the baby's resting place.

Fred Montoya

Dennis Montoya

When someone asks where where we live and I tell them, the most common response is, "Oh, that's God's Country!"

Summer 2012 photo

Yes, it is.

Holy Thursday

Holy Week is important to devout Catholic New Mexicans, who attend mass most days this week. When the Spanish came to New Mexico in 1598 they brought Franciscan friars with them, making this state's Christian community older than Jamestown or Plymouth Rock.

Each little village has its church and most of them have been kept in good repair by the community members themselves. One person is often named or elected the mayordomo for the church, someone who cleans and arranges for repairs or upgrades. I had a chance to visit our local church which has had extensive repairs and improvements in the past several years spearheaded by Mayordomo Becky.

The trim is painted blue as is the custom in New Mexico. I have heard that blue around the windows keeps away evil. Some people say it brings good luck. No matter, it looks beautiful against the earthen colors of the adobe.

Notice the window? Even though it isn't real, someone thought the church needed one up there. Talented local artisans do many of the repairs.

The church's bell is protected by chicken wire to deter birds.

This is the church's real window. The cemetery surrounds the front and sides of the church and is itself a wonder to behold. In the window's reflection is the grave of a WWII veteran.

Inside, the church is full of colorful folk art, Stations of the Cross framed in punched tin, hand made altar and chairs, a Spanish style Christ on the Cross, and paintings of saints important to the area. The floor and kneelers are teal blue, an excellent decision by Becky.

This church has significance to Ernest, too, because his ancestors worshiped here and many are buried in the cemetery. Besides, Becky is his sister, so there's another link.