It's been almost four months since the state's hundredth birthday! The birthday party lasted one day, but Old New Mexico is still alive and kicking. Is it all about the candles and cake and not about the history? We are celebrating the fact that one of our most beautiful states joined the union one hundred years ago! The places where all these events happened are still here. Photos, anybody?
On the other hand, this is "the land of mañana," an old saying that means we move slowly, tomorrow is another day. But what a day it might be!
On January 6, 1912 this land of enchantment became the 47th state to join the union. People in AZ and NM had voted for and against statehood in 1906 when they and most of the western part of the country were still New Mexico Territory. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo added ten of our states, and the Gadsden Purchase completed the deal.
The U.S.-Mexican War . War (1846-1848) . Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo | PBS
Gadsden Purchase | Ask.com
The Southern Pacific Railroad was the reason for the purchase, and by the turn of the century the first transcontinental railroad was in place. My father and grandfather were railroaders in NM. Does anybody have any railroad stories?
Things were starting to change. In 1920 women were given the right to vote and by 1922 New Mexico voted in the nation's first hispanic woman, Soledad Chacón, to hold legislative office. What other women are holding office in NM today, besides the governorship?
Women Wielding Power-New Mexico
The 1930's and the Great Depression actually brought some growth to NM during the New Deal, including health resorts and the Carrie Tingley Hospital for Crippled Children in Truth or Consequences (formerly Hot Springs). Today it is the State Veteran's Home, and the site of a half-sized replica of the Vietnam Memorial. Any military stories from the past 100 years?
Veterans Memorial Park: Military Museum & Vietnam Wall
The 1940's meant two devastating things for New Mexicans: the Bataan Death March, and the BOMB. Secret laboratories arose in Los Alamos, and in 1945 the world's first atomic bomb was detonated in southern New Mexico at Trinity SIte. Certainly New Mexicans remember those days?
The Trinity Site, New Mexico
That must have attracted somebody's attention, because in 1947 a UFO crash-landed in Roswell creating a mystery yet to be explained.
The Roswell New Mexico UFO Mystery
The 1950's, what can I say? Uranium was discovered near Grants, and Buddy Holly recorded Peggy Sue in Clovis, and the rest of the world and NM relaxed for a while with toys, TV, big fins, rock n' roll, and a cold war. One town in New Mexico changed its name, having fun for the first time in decades. Would love to hear your take.
The 1960's and 1970's saw young people going back to the land, as hippie communes grew up in northern New Mexico, a haven for flower children disgruntled with the VIetnam War. Any "old hippies" out there?
Amazon.com: Books About the Hippie Communes of Placitas, New Mexico
The most exciting thing to happen back then was the courtroom raid in Tierra Amarilla when Reies Tijerina wanted to win back the Spanish land grants to the descendants of the early Spanish settlers. A very interesting time.
Reies Tijerina - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Las Cruces overtook Santa Fe as the second largest city in New Mexico. 1982 was an exciting year as we watched the the space shuttle Columbia land at White Sands Space Harbor near Alamogordo. Who was there?
New Mexico Museum of Space History » Alamogordo, New Mexico » Celebrating the significant role the state of New Mexico has played in the development of the U.S. Space Program
In 1998 New Mexico welcomed a direct descendant of Christopher Columbus (Cristobal Colon XX) for its cuartocentenario (400th birthday). That was a very big birthday party.
The turn of the century has brought the railroad back between Santa Fe and Belen in the shape of a roadrunner. The Rail Runner is now planning its extension to Engle and possibly El Paso. Any news on that?
Albuquerque: Rail Runner Express Reaches Santa Fe, Success Inspires Calls for Further Expansion - Light Rail Now
What's next?
A ride to the moon--via New Mexico?
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