Mission San Xavier del Bac

This mission complex is to Tucson what the Eiffel Tower is to Paris, except it's more ancient. Founded in 1700 by the Spanish missionary Father Kino, 10 miles south of what is now downtown Tucson on the Tohono O'odham Indian reservation, San Xavier del Bac is considered one of the finest examples of Mexican folk baroque architecture.

Indian Day Celebration at Mission San Xavier

When we arrived at Mission San Xavier del Bac we realized that a big Indian Day celebration was taking place with a parade, music and food booths.

Indian Fry Bread was on the menu with many choices of toppings...  sweet which is topped with sugar, beans or meat with lettuce and tomatoes like a taco.

Plaza in front of the church was filled with food vendors....seemed very hot for cooking. The temperature reach 100 while we were walking around......

Silver City, NM

Historic downtown Silver City, NM, it's story tied to the western mining rush both Silver and Copper.

Jan met a new friend as we were checking into Rose Valley Ranch RV CG......

What use to be the main street of Silver City was washed away in a series of floods beginning in the early 1890's.  The creek is now 55ft below grade.  The Warren House below was the only structure left standing on "Main" St after the flooding.

Bullard Street is now the main street of town and nice walking through the historical buildings, artist galleries  gift shops and two bead shops.

      The controversy over Billy the Kid’s life and death started when he was shot and killed by Pat Garrett in July 1888. But did Billy die, did Garrett really kill him or was somebody else the victim of Garrett’s bullets? The legend holds that Billy, also known as William Bonney Henry McCarty and Henry Antrim, was born in New York, or was it Texas? His mother was Catherine Antrim, or was he born to her sister and raised by Antrim?

     The controversy of his life stems far beyond what documented history can tell us. However, a few things about Billy’s life are not controversial. He was raised in Silver City, New Mexico, by Antrim and known then as Henry McCarty. After her death, he had no role models, got involved with shady characters and began his brief life of crime. Also not disputed is that Billy the Kid attended Sixth Street Elementary School in Silver City

Veterans Memorial & other T or C Sites

Very well done Veterans Memorial in Truth or Consequences, NM. There is a replica of the Vietnam Wall and a park area with tablets for each war or conflict that the USA has been a part of.

The museum at Veterans Park has a collection of items from Veterans in the Truth or Consequences area and surrounding towns.

Veteran's Park is just 2.5 miles off I25 at exit 75.

Red or Green? Had a wonderful NM style meal at Maria's and tried both red and green pepper sauces.

Ted's favorite hangout at Sierra del Rio Golf Course at Turtleback Mountain Resort. 

Chloride, NM "Ghost Town"

Area mines continued producing ore mostly copper, lead and zinc -- from the turn of the century until about 1931. The post office was open until 1956. About 20 people still live in Chloride, including Mr. and Mrs. Don Edmund. They own a number of the old homes and buildings in town and have restored the Pioneer Store, which is open as a museum. The Edmund Family plans to open a cafe in one of the restored building within the next year.

An Englishman named Harry Pye, a mule skinner and prospector, was delivering freight for the U.S. Army from Hillsboro to Camp Ojo Caliente in 1879 when he discovered silver in the canyon where Chloride is now located. After completing his freighting contract, he and two others returned to the area in 1881 and staked a claim. A tent city grew up nearby and then a town, originally called Pyetown, then Bromide. The name "Chloride" was finally selected, after the high-grade silver ore found there. It became the center for all mining activity in the area, known as the Apache Mining District.

 

During the 1880s, Chloride had 100 homes, 1,000-2,000 people, eight saloons, three general stores, restaurants, butcher shops, a candy store, a lawyer's office, a doctor, boarding houses, an assay office, a stage line, a Chinese laundry and a hotel. Residents even hoped the town would become the county seat. The "Black Range" newspaper operated from 1883 until 1897. (Apaches attacked the Chloride store on Jan. 18, 1881, killing two and injuring one. Harry Pye was killed by Apaches a few months later, apparently because his gun jammed.)

The Don Edmund Family has spent the last 20+ years restoring buildings in Chloride to presserve the history and stories of the New Mexico mining pioneers.  Don Edmund's daughter, Linda Turner, showed us through the Pioneer Musuem and the Monte Cristo, which is now a gift shop with local artists' creations on display and for sale. Click the following link for insight into the town and his family's restoration project.....Choride a piece of NM history

Winston, NM

Originally called Fairview, the town was settled in 1880-81 by miners who found the area more agreeable than nearby Chloride. By 1884, it had 3,100 people, a school, a newspaper, horse races and a bar, and featured literary readings, plays and songfests at Cloudman Hall (named for the local butcher, William Cloudman.y readings, plays and songfests at Cloudman Hall (named for the l

Winston declined as silver prices dropped. By 1940, the population was about 400, and was 250 by 1946. Today, only a few families remain. Some old buildings still stand, including the school (built in 1890), Frank Winston's home, his carriage house and store. A flood in the 1950s wiped out many others.

   Map showing Geronimo Trail Ghost Towns and points of interest...

Cuchillo, NM along the Geronimo Trail Scenic Byway

San Jose Church circa 1907......

The town of Cuchillo was founded by ranchers and farmers in the 1850s. It was named for nearby Cuchillo Negro(Black Knife) Creek, which took its name from a local Apache chief.

When stage and freight lines ran from the railroad station at Engle to the silver mines at Winston, Chloride and Hermosa in the 1880s & 90s, Cuchillo was a natural choice for the stage stop because it lay midway between the two and was a thriving agricultural community with plenty of supplies for men and horses.
At the end of the mining boom, plus a series of devastating floods on the Cuchi1loNegro Creek, changed Cuchillo.
Today, it is a small village with some ranching and farming and a great deal of history and charm.

    Scenery along the Geronimo Trail Scenic Byway

Truth or Consequences, NM

Truth or Consequences is a spa city and the county seat of Sierra County, New Mexico.  It is commonly known within New Mexico as T or C.
     Originally named Hot Springs, the city changed its name to Truth or Consequences, the title of a popular NBC radio program. In 1950, Ralph Edwards, the host of the radio quiz show Truth or Consequences, announced that he would air the program from the first town that renamed itself after the show. Hot Springs won the honor. Edwards visited the town during the first weekend of May for the next fifty years. This event was called "Fiesta" and included a beauty contest, a parade, and a stage show. The city still celebrates Fiesta each year on the first weekend of May. The parade generally features area celebrities such as the Hatch Chile Queen. Fiesta also features a dance in Ralph Edwards Park.

Sunset view from our campsite at Cedar Cove RV Park.....