by Mike Lavelle
Continuing in our ongoing series of local southwest towns to visit, on our motorcycle ride, the last part of our trip took us from Las Cruces to Hatch, on Highway 25, and then west on 26 towards the town of Nutt and then 27 to Hillsboro, and then through the Black Range on State Road 152, before spending the night in Silver City.
Hatch, although a small town, is well known for its green chili. The area altitude, climate and soil are very good for growing these chili peppers. The peppers have a long history in the area. The New Mexico chili pepper is protected by a certification program to protect consumers, as the peppers are very highly regarded, as evident by the official state question, which is “Red or Green?” You can get the peppers as either red or green, and fresh, roasted, or dried. What is also important to discern is if the pepper is hot or mild, and red or green as each could be hot or mild.
The Black Range, in the Gila National Forest, can be traveled via state road 152. It is a very windy and well-maintained road that offers some wonderful views of the surrounding mountains and valleys in the area. If you visit Silver City, it is worth taking a detour through the Black Range to Hatch and back.
Founded in 1870, Silver City gets its name from the discovery of silver ore deposits that led to a population boom, like many other western towns. Even today copper ore is mined from the Tyrone and Chino mines. Historical figures such as Kit Carson, Butch Cassidy and associates, Cochise, Geronimo and Billy the Kid all had local ties (his mother is buried in the town cemetery). In addition, the famous Buffalo Soldiers (Black cavalry and infantry troops), were stationed at a close-by army fort, Fort Bayard, founded in 1866.
Although officially founded in 1870, the area has been lived in by Apache and Mimbres Mogollon native peoples for a very long period of time. It is not uncommon to discover pottery shards or even a two-piece grinding stone known as a metate (bowl) and grinding stone (mano), on your home property, as did I when I lived there. With respect to the ancient peoples, I relocated the metate and mano to the back porch where hopefully it still sits today, a silent reminder to the people that once lived and worked in that very same area I once called my home. This ancient past can best be seen by visiting the “cliff dwellings” north of the city, via state road 15. The Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument contains ancient ruins of the Mogollon native peoples who lived in the area from around 200 to 1450.
Silver City is also adjacent to the vast 3.3 million-acre Gila National Forest, notable for being the first congressionally designated wilderness area in the United States, (in 1924). Naturally very rugged, there are large areas that are unspoiled. I am reminded of when I first moved there in 1998, of reading a story in a Reader’s Digest issue regarding the difficulty of finding some lost cattle in the wilderness. My mind conjured up visions of some rugged wild western wilderness, and at the end of the story, I was surprised to find that the author was referencing Silver City!
At 6,000 feet, the mild climate is a nice break from Tucson heat in the summer. To learn more about the city and surrounding area, visit http://www.visitsilvercity.org/
Next month, with a bit of a change, I will write about a recent trip to Puerto Penasco, Mexico, also known as Rocky Point. While not part of our local southwest local drives, at a little over 200 miles, it is not a far trip, and well worth a visit.
