New Mexico's Spanish Livestock Heritage: Four Centuries of Animals, Land, and People

Addendum: Resources for Learning About New Mexico’s Livestock History

169 Addendum Resources for Learning About New Mexico’s Livestock History F or readers who wish to learn more about New Mexico’s livestock history and to view exhibits and artifacts that connect with that story, the state has a wealth of museums and visitor centers, the majority of them along Interstate 25. Some, like the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum in Las Cruces, occupy many acres and chronicle the entire span of the state’s livestock history. Others, such as Fort Union National Monument near Las Vegas, concentrate on a single location, theme, or series of events. What follows are descriptions of eleven institutions that I believe have the most to offer. All are worth visiting. Broad-Spectrum Museums New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum Nestled in the desert on the southeastern edge of Las Cruces, this fortyseven -acre spread features six galleries and corridors that display permanent and changing interactive exhibits on ranching, farming, and livestock in the state. Outside the main building are reconstructed barns, shops, and corrals with live animals, including sheep, goats, and longhorn cattle. Daily cart tours take visitors through the livestock area. Outdoor demonstrations include sheep shearing, wool carding, blacksmithing, and a parade of the various beef cattle breeds. El Rancho de las Golondrinas Located on two hundred acres in a rural farm valley just south of Santa Fe, this complex (The Ranch of the Swallows) is a living history museum dedicated to the history and culture of eighteen- and nineteenth-century New Mexico. Visiting the open-air facility is a totally outdoor experience, where 170 • Addendum visitorsgettoseeoriginalSpanishcolonialstructuresdatingfromthe1700s. Trails lead to functioning acequias, primitive water mills, a molasses mill, a blacksmith shop, a wheelwright shop, and a winery, along with plenty of animals (including churro sheep) and working fields. Docents dressed in period costumes interpret the many aspects of colonial, Mexican, and territorial life. This is New Mexico’s finest living history museum. New Mexico History Museum/Palace of the Governors With a broad brush, these two complexes, located off the historic plaza in Santa Fe, cover the history of New Mexico from pre-Columbian times to the present. The highly successful history museum, with its state-of-theart exhibits and audiovisual programs, was completed in 2009. The Palace of the Governors, now a National Historic Landmark, goes back to 1610 and is the oldest continuously occupied government building in the United States. Together, the two of them provide the best possible introduction to New Mexico’s history and to its capital city. Hubbard Museum of the American West Set back from Highway 70 just west of Ruidoso, the Hubbard Museum focuses on horses and horsemanship—most appropriate, since it’s in the heart of horse-breeding country. The museum features a large display of wagons, carriages, and other cowboy and western artifacts. It’s more of a labeled collection than a series of educational/interpretive exhibits, however . Seven larger-than-life bronze sculptures of the principal American horse breeds, arranged in a spirited array of poses, grace the surrounding grounds outside. Theme Museums El Camino Real International Heritage Center Located in the desert just off I-25, thirty-five miles south of Socorro, this is the place to learn about the vital trade route that once connected Santa Fe with Mexico City. Opened to the public in 2005, with contributions both from Spain and Mexico, the center contains award-winning exhibits and original artifacts that interpret the role of the oldest continuously used highway in the United States. The center tells the story of four centuries of cultures linking Spain, Mexico, and the United States. Fort Union National Monument Thirty miles north of Las Vegas, this unit of the National Park system preserves the ruins of the third and final fort built at the site in 1863. A small Resources for Learning about New Mexico Livestock History • 171 visitor center houses exhibits detailing the history of the fort, which played a significant role in protecting the region’s cattle and sheep ranches from marauding Plains Indians. Outside, self-guiding walking trails lead visitors to the sprawling adobe ruins of the fort, which in its time was the largest military installation in the United States. A network of Santa Fe Trail ruts have survived here and can be viewed by visitors to the monument. Bosque Redondo Memorial at Fort Sumner State Monument At one time designated as the...