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Special Feature - Living in the great
Southwest
Living in the great Southwest
The recent popularity of Frances Mayes’ series of books on the Tuscan region of
Italy, with its vistas, villas and vineyards, reminds us that we have our own
piece of sun here in the southwest United States. Similar in Latin influence,
the US Southwest offers everything from the American Rivera of Santa Barbara to
quaint country stuccos in rural New Mexico. Hand-crafted furniture, artisans,
folk art, small family-owned boutique wineries or sprawling estates, abundant
sunshine and mild temperatures, a laid-back attitude, casual dress, even cheese
with the completion of North America's largest cheddar cheese production plant,
located in Clovis, New Mexico.
There is a spirit alive in the Southwest, a
spirit that beckons to those with the passion to create, to follow nature, and
to live, as Thoreau so eloquently stated, deliberately.
From as early as the 1500s and the arrival of
Coronado’s men, the Southwest has drawn conquerors and visitors, miners,
ranchers, artists, and trade. The late 1800s saw the beginnings of the
establishment of Taos as an art colony, and artists, writers, and musicians have
been flocking to the Southwest ever since. The vast sky, the incredible light,
the sunsets, the wide open spaces, all contributing factors to the greatness
these artistic immigrants find in coming here.
Many famous artist make the Southwest their home.
Among them, the late Georgia O’Keeffe, famous for her desert landscapes
depicting the area around her Abiquiu, New Mexico home; R.C. Gorman, former
Arizona native turned Taos-ite, known as the premiere artist of the Native
Americans, popular for his portrayals of the Native American woman.
| Native populations including the Native Americans and
the Mexicans, have been living in the Southwest for thousands of years.
It is indeed their cultures that give the uniqueness in architecture,
heritage and lifestyle to the Southwest.
Age-old adobes built of the Earth’s own mud, festive textiles in
every form from hand-woven cloths to pottery to sleek tiles, the spicy
hot recipes of the Madre’s kitchen; all are an integral part of the
beloved Southwest. |
Rattlesnake Kachinas
Rattlesnake Museum, Albuquerque, NM.
Staff photo |
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World-class resorts, exceptional skiing
and outdoor recreation, and national forests filled with wildlife, are
also attractive benefits to the lover of the Southwest. Landscapes of
awe that will take the breath, making each native and visitor alike,
feel its discovery for the very first time. Mountain peaks crowned with
snow such as those towering above the Colorado village of Ouray, also
known as “Little Switzerland,” stand in testament to the miracle of
geological evolution, a stunning survey when taken in the US Southwest,
with the very ultimate example residing in Arizona’s Grand Canyon. |
A view from the top of Ski Apache, Ruidoso, New Mexico - Staff photo
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It is also a healing place. Hot-springs, dry arid desert air, and sacred sites
have attracted the sick, the lost believer, and the new-ager. Folks have been
coming to the Southwest to heal for well over a century to recover from ailments
such as tuberculosis, pneumonia, and depression. Silver City, New Mexico’s Fort
Bayard, an historic US Army post, was treating tuberculosis patients as far back
as 1899. The Arizona Respiratory Center in Tucson still treats tuberculosis
patients today. For spiritual healing, Chimayo, New Mexico’s El Santuario de
Chimayo, the Lourdes of America, is visited annually by some 300,000 in
pilgrimage seeking cures, blessings, or just to pay respects to its supposed
healing powers. Many new age and alternative healing centers are located in the
Southwest such as the California Institute of the Healing Arts and Sciences.
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The establishment of Spanish missionaries
brought a melding of aboriginal and European beliefs contributing to the
rise in a predominantly Catholic population, although many alternative
religions have since sought refuge in the Southwest, including the
Mormans, the Jewish, and the alternative. Some of the nation’s oldest
structures are located in the Southwest such as the San Miguel Mission,
built in the early 1600s, in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
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Albuquerque's Oldest Church
San Felipe De Neri -
est. 1706. Staff photo |
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Historically speaking, the outlaws of the
wild west were also an integral draw in its fascination to the rest of
the world. Billy the Kid, Judge Roy Bean, Wyatt Earp, Doc Holiday, Belle
Starr, and the legendary Geronimo to name a few.
World-renown archaeological digs such as
Blackwater Draw Archeological Site in Portales, New Mexico, provided
suitable evidence of human with the Late Pleistocene fauna, including
Columbian mammoth, camel, horse, bison, sabertooth cat and dire wolf.
The Anasazi of Mesa Verde, Colorado and Northwestern New Mexico, who
were some of the earliest Puebloans, and their cousins, the Mimbres of
Southwestern New Mexico and Eastern Arizona, have drawn much attention,
research and historical respect to the Southwest US.
The recently opened Valles Caldera near
Los Alamos, New Mexico, offers a rare view of a volcano estimated to be
1,000,000 years old. The California Gold-rush, the Santa Fe Trail, the
completion of the railroads, cattle-ranching, and the development of
tourist interests, all contributed to the increase in both population
and popularity of the US Southwest.
Today, we strive to keep these legends,
architectures, diets, healing practices, arts, archaeological
discoveries, diverse cultures, sacred sites, landscapes and national
treasures alive, well, and in tact, respectfully reminded that they are
the reasons we love and live in the southwest United States.
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William Bonney aka Billy the Kid
Billy the Kid grave marker, Ft. Sumner, NM
Staff photo |
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