There’s a lot more to New Mexico than sand, rocks and heat.
For one thing, the state constitution specifies it’s officially a bilingual state. Approximately one third of the families in the state speak Spanish at home. According to Factmonster, in addition to the standard state symbols, New Mexico even has an official cookie (the bizcochito) and a state insect (tarantula hawk wasp). It’s nickname is “Land of Enchantment”.
Not surprisingly, the state flower is the yucca plant. The roadrunner has the honor of being named the state bird. New Mexico even has official state vegetables: the chili and the frijol.
The United States acquired most of what is now New Mexico in 1848 due to the Mexican War. The rest came as part of the Gadsden Purchase in 1853. During the Civil War, Confederate troops were forced to surrender the territory to the Union Army.
New Mexico is famous for Apache Wars. However, in 1886, with the surrender of Geronimo, these and most of the other Indian conflicts in the territory ended. New Mexico entered the union as our 47th state on January 6, 1912.
Famous individuals who hailed from this state included outlaw Billy the Kid; entertainers Kathy Baker, Bill Daily, Bruce Cabot, John Denver, Bo Diddley, Greer Garson, Dennis Hopper, Demi Moore, Jim Morrison and Kim Stanley; and writers Judy Blume, Richard Bradford and Tony Hillerman. Apache leaders Mangus Coloradas and Victorio called it home, as did astronaut Harrison Schmitt and hotel executive Conrad Hilton. Painter Georgia O’Keeffe and race car drivers Al and Bobby Unser also hailed from New Mexico.
Although much of the state is flat, Santa Fe is the highest capital city in the United States, at 7,000 feet above sea level, according to 50states.com. New Mexico is also one of four corner states, sharing a border each with Colorado, Utah, Arizona and Mexico. Approximately 25 percent of the state consists of forests. It’s home to seven National Forests, including the 3.3-million-acre Gila National Forest, which has a wilderness area.
We have New Mexico to thank for the persona of Smokey the Bear. In 1950, the cub who became the National Fire Safety symbol was spotted, trapped in a tree, after a fire in Lincoln National Forest destroyed his home. In his honor, the state legislature named the black bear the official state animal in 1963.
The state contains a Navajo reservation on 14 million acres. Within the various reservations in New Mexico, tribal law often supersedes state law. The Palace of Governors located in Santa Fe is the oldest Government building the United States. White Sands Missile Range was created on the same land where the first atomic bomb was exploded. Roswell has long been associated with alleged UFO activity. The state became home to many scientists and engineers with the explosion of new laboratories at Los Alamos and Albuquerque after the World War II. As a result, New Mexico quickly had a higher percentage of resident Ph.D.’s than did any other state. Today, one out of every four workers is employed by the Federal Government.
The state is an area of contrasts. Santa Fe, home of the world-famous opera of the same name, is a cultural center. However, since New Mexico’s climate is so dry, 75 percent of the roads are deliberately left unpaved and don’t wash away. Although Santa Fe is the capital, Albuquerque is the largest city. It was founded in 1706 as a Spanish farming community and was named after a province in Spain. The state was named in the 1500s by Spanish explorers looking for gold and wealth similar to Aztec treasures discovered in neighboring Mexico. However, Native Americans have been living in the area for at least 20,000 years. When the Spanish arrived, they discovered the Pueblo, Apache, Comanche, Navajo and Ute people already settled.
The Anasazi, ancestors of the Pueblo, inhabited what is now New Mexico from the 12th through the 14th centuries. Archaeologists have identified more than 25,000 Anasazi sites to date.
Visitors are usually surprised to note that White Sands National Monument, while a desert, is actually composed of gleaming white gypsum crystals, not sand. The Carlsbad Caverns remain one of the most popular tourist sites in the state. Albuquerque is host to the world’s largest international hot air balloon celebration each October. The city of Last Cruces makes the world’s biggest enchilada the same month during the “Whole Enchilada Fiesta”.
With only 12 people per square inch, New Mexico is home to a lot more sheep and cattle than people. Two important facets of the states economy are scientific research and mining of natural resources such as natural gas, oil, uranium, potash, copper, coal, zinc, gold and silver.
