Tumacacori National Historical Park and the Queen Mine

Tumacacori National Historical Park (a part of the National Park Service) is 20 miles south of where we are staying in Green Valley. The area was first settled in 1691 by Jesuits from Spain.  King Charles III, in 1767, abruptly banishes all Jesuits from his realms.  In their place were the Franciscans.  They used the church the Jesuits built in 1757, but it was not big enough for their needs, so in 1800, they began building the church you see in the photos.  The church was finally finished in 1828.  The Mexican-American war in 1846 - 1848 cuts supply lines to the Franciscans and along with Apache attacks and a cold December of 1848, Tumacacori was abandoned.  It was created as a Monument in 1908 under the U.S. Forest Service, put under the NPS in 1916 and changed to a Historical Park in 1990.        
The Queen Mine is located in Bisbee, Arizona, about 75 miles SE of Tucson.  At one time, it was the largest copper mine in the world.  It closed in 1975 after almost 100 years in operation.  Significant amounts of gold, silver, lead and zinc were also mined.  Tours of the mine started Feb. 1st of the next year. The tour takes you 1,500' into the mine (horizontally, not vertically). 

The alter is under the white dome.

The 'church' part is to the left; the right side was used as offices and classrooms.

The ceiling was supposed to be dome shaped, but they didn't have enough money, hence, the flat roof.  The artwork on the back wall is what is left of the original.

Cousin of the GEICO gecko ?

Entrance to the Queen Mine.

Ready to go in !

Sorry it's a little out of focus; I had to hurry or they would have left me behind.

Sonny, our tour guide.  He worked in this mine for 20 years and was the last man out when it was closed in 1975.

Stuff left behind.

More equipment used in the mine.

Yes, it's what you think it is.  Sonny said that when you go down in the mine, you didn't come out until the end of your shift - gotta go somewhere !!

Do I look like a miner ??

Some of the minerals and metals brought out of the mine.  Mother nature can sure make some pretty stuff. Looked even better in person.

These and the ones above were in the mine museum in downtown Bisbee.

Petroglyphs, White Sands National Monument & Gila Cliff Dwellings

I normally don't put so many photos in one post, but we didn't have internet for 6 days, so I got a few days behind.  The Three Rivers Petroglyphs (engravings on rock) were at a Bureau of Land Management site about 50 miles north of Alamogordo in south central New Mexico.  There are about 21,000 petroglyphs scattered over a 50 acre area and were done by the Jornada Mollogon people between 900 and 1400 AD.  White Sands National Monument is 15 miles west of Alamogordo.  It is 275 sq. miles of gypsum, not sand, so it is white, not tan like sand.  If you go on a serious hike, they tell you to take a good map, a compass, plenty of water and let someone know where you are going,  I took a short hike and almost got disoriented; all the dunes look alike, so I could see how easily one can get lost. The Gila Cliff Dwellings were also created by a group of Mollogon people. They only lived in them for about 25 years: 1275 to 1300.  No one knows why they left or where they went.  There are 46 rooms that housed between 10 to 15 families.

Coming over the Sacremento Mtns. to Alamogordo, New Mexico. In the background is White Sands National Monument (photos further down) and Alamogordo just in front of it. 

One of the petroglyphs at Three Rivers. No one is sure what this circle represents - it's about 8" across.

Sierra Blanca rises 12,003' (tallest peak just to right of center). Taken from the petroglyph trail.

A bighorn sheep pierced with 3 arrows.  This is supposed to be the most frequently photographed petroglyph.

There are at least 6 petroglyphs on this rock.  The face at the bottom is about 10" across.
Just on the other side of the background mountains, about 30 miles away, is the Trinity Site. That is where they denonated the first atomic bomb. The site is open to the public just 2 days a year: April 1st & Oct. 1st.

 On the way back from Three Rivers was apistachio farm, alongwith the world's largest pistachio.  I just had to have my photo taken in front of my favorite nut !!

A small portion of the 12,000 tree pistachio farm.  They are about 10' to 12' tall.

White Sands National Monument. The tallest dune in the Monument is 60' high.

Sierra Blanca in the background, about 50 miles away.

Caroline, the White Sands nomad !

'Sleighing'  down one of the dunes on a plastic disc.

They seem to go on forever.

Passed the Great Continental Divide on the way to the cliff dwellings.

The road to the cliff dwellings also took us high enough in the Mogollon Mtns. where there was still quite a bit of snow.

Fantastic views along the way.



Here we are !

The Gila River runs through the Monument.

First glimpse of the cliff dwellings.

Posing in front of one.

The 'roof' in all of them are black from the fires made by all the inhabitants of the caves.

An inside view.

I doubt if the Mogollon people cared, but it is definitely 'a room with a view.'

 One of the stairs leadingto the dwelling.

Not bad for someone who doesn't like going up (or down) a ladder.
The person in the upper center of the photo gives you an idea of the size of the dwellings.

Another outside view.

A pictograph near the dwellings. A pictograph is a painting on a rock.

Gaudalupe Mountains and Carlbad Caverns National Parks

There are not to many photos for these 2 parks.  The day we were at Guadalupe, it was about 45 degrees with 50 to 60 MPH winds.  Not much fun !  At Carlsbad Caverns, due to user error, none of my photos in the caverns came out; either underexposed or blurry - sorry. We had never heard of Guadalupe Mountains NP until we started looking at the route we were going to take to get to Carlsbad.  Guadalupe is about 3 miles SE of Carlsbad, right at the border in Texas.  Both were worth the trip.

On the road to Guadalupe Mountains NP.  The tallest point in Texas, the one just to right of center, is Guadalupe Peak at 8,751'.

The entrance.

On one of the trails.

The remains of a stagecoach way station.

The mountain peak to the left is El Capitan.

Self portrait.I didn't have a heavy coat, so I had to bundle up in layers.

The visitors center from the trail.

A small pond created by ranchers who lived there about 60 to 70 years ago.

A small spring along a nature trail.

It was just about as cold and windy when we arrived here the next day. Good thing it was all underground.

Going down to the entrance.

Would have been rough going down without the meandering walkway.

Yes, it was just as dark down there as it looks !