White Sands National Park Service

Department of the Interior

White Sands National Monument

History & Culture of the Tularosa Basin

Who were the peoples that called the Tularosa Basin home? Where did they live? How did they live? Over the last 12,000 years, this seemingly 

barren basin has been home to numerous populations and each of these 

cultures left their mark on the land. 

Paleoindians:

Ancient Hunters

8,000 - 12,000 years ago

Small bands of nomadic hunters 

roamed the basin tracking large game 

animals that once lived here, like 

mammoths and camels. Fossilized 

tracks, evidence of these giant 

mammals, still exist within park 

boundaries. Chipped stone spear 

points and other traces of “Folsom” 

technology have been found across 

the lowlands and along the shorelines 

of ancient lakes throughout the 

Tularosa Basin.

Archaic Period:

Hunter–Gatherers

6,000 BC - 200 AD

As the climate began to change, 

becoming warmer and drier, 

paleoindian hunters began to change 

their way of life. With large game 

animals now extinct, people began to 

hunt the remaining smaller animals. 

Since smaller animals provided less 

meat, the people began to depend 

more on plants for food and became 

known as hunters and gatherers. 

Eventually these people began to 

trade with others from different 

cultures and areas and started to settle 

near water sources. 

The Mogollon became known for 

their distinctive style of pottery, pit 

houses, and later pueblos. They 

disappeared from the area around 

1350 AD, most likely because of 

drought. Numerous settlements in the 

Southwest were abandoned around 

this same time.

After the departure of the Mogollon, 

the basin remained empty of human 

inhabitants until the Apachean 

peoples arrived. 

The start of this period coincides 

with the first appearance of pottery 

and semi-permanent to permanent 

living structures. The Mogollon were 

hunter-gatherers who settled down 

and became farmers in this region. 

Evidence suggests they grew corn, 

squash and beans although they 

still hunted and collected wild plant 

foods to supplement their diet. Some 

believe they traded far and wide with 

other cultures—from Mexico and 

across the Southwest to as far away as 

the Pacific Ocean. 

Jornada Mogollon

(hor-nah-dah moh-gee-own)

200 AD - 1350 AD

The visitor center in 1944

Apachean

1450 - today

The Apachean cultural groups are 

believed to have arrived in this 

area around 1450 AD, although 

some historians say it may have 

been earlier. Apachean peoples 

are descendants of the Athabaskan 

speakers from Alaska and western 

Canada. They established seasonal 

villages in the Tularosa Basin near the 

Sacramento Mountains to hunt and 

gather plants. 

Mimbres “black-on-white” potsherd

Encountering few outside influences, 

the Apache lived in relative peace 

until the late 1800’s. Beginning in the 

1860’s, Euro-American and Hispanic 

farmers and ranchers began settling 

in the areas of La Luz and Tularosa. 

Conflicts between Indians and 

Europeans became commonplace. 

The Mescalero Indian Reservation 

was established in 1873 and today 

encompasses 463,000 acres. 

Ranching and tourism are major 

sources of income for the tribe. 
Spanish Colonialism and 

Exploration

1536 - 1800’s 

In 1536, the first Spanish explorers 

came to New Mexico, led by 

Cabeza de Vaca. He was followed by 

Francisco Vasquez de Conorado in 

1540 who was searching for the fabled 

cities of gold reported to be in New 

Mexico. No gold was ever found. 

The greatest legacies from their 

visits were the horses and cattle left 

behind. These forgotten animals were 

the sources of all the wild herds that 

roamed the area. 

The remaining cattle formed the first 

of the Spanish cattle herds. In the 

late 1700’s and early 1800’s, Spaniards 

came from El Paso to gather salt from 

the dried up beds of Lake Otero. They 

hauled the salt back to El Paso in 

“carretas,” or carts, pulled by oxen. In 

1821, Mexico declared Independence 

from Spain. In 1846 the Mexican 

American War began, ending in 1848 

as New Mexico was annexed to the 

United States.

Early Settlers 

& Wild West

1800’s - 1930’s

After New Mexico was named a U.S. 

territory, European settlement of 

the Tularosa Basin began in earnest 

in 1850. Lush grasslands attracted 

ranchers who established the towns 

of La Luz and Tularosa, building 

on the eastern edge of the basin 

where water was readily available. 

Homesteads were established to 

control permanent water sources as 

well as agricultural and grazing lands. 

By the 1890’s, the land was becoming 

overgrazed. The verdant grasslands 

disappeared and became desert. 

Conflicts among ranchers and 

farmers and other ethnic groups led 

to dispute resolution old-West style. 

Well-known figures of this period 

include rancher and gunfighter Oliver 

Lee, ranchers Jose and Felipe Lucero, 

Sheriff Pat Garrett, and William 

McCarty, also known as Billy the Kid. 

Other key economic activities at this 

time were largely based on mineral 

mining operations. During the early 

1900’s, the gypsum sands and salt flats 

were being mined to produce plaster 

of Paris, salt, and other minerals. 

The largest town in the basin, 

Alamogordo (Spanish for fat 

cottonwoods) was founded as a 

planned railroad community in 1898. 

The streets of Alamogordo were laid 

out and cottonwood trees planted to 

attract settlers. Only one area of the 

town could sell liquor per the town’s 

early ordinances, which would remain 

in effect until it was challenged in the 

1980’s. 

In 1912, New Mexico became the 47th 

state in the Union, before the Great 

Depression and droughts of the 1930’s 

brought the frontier era to a close.

Modern History

1930’s to Present

To learn more about White Sands National Monumnet, visit http://www.nps.gov/whsa Revised 03/01/2014

Like many areas of the country, the 

Great Depression brought many 

changes to the Tularosa Basin. First, 

White Sands National Monument was 

established in 1933 by a decree from 

President Herbert Hoover to preserve 

the gypsum sand dunes. As part of 

President Roosevelt’s New Deal, the 

adobe buildings at the monument 

were constructed by the Works 

Progress Administration. 

The greatest changes in the history of 

the basin came as a result of World 

War II. The Alamogordo Bombing 

and Gunnery Range was the first 

land withdrawn from the basin for 

military purposes. Comprised of 

1,243,000 acres of grazing allotments 

and private land, this property 

encompassed most of what is now 

White Sands Missile Range and 

Holloman Air Force Base. 

In 1942, construction began on both 

the Alamogordo Army Air Field (now 

Holloman Air Force Base) and White 

Sands Proving Grounds (now White 

Sands Missile Range). 

On July 16, 1945, the first atomic 

bomb was detonated at the Trinity 

site located about 100 miles north of 

the monument on the White Sands 

Testing Range. This momentous event 

heralded the birth of the nuclear 

and space ages, all right here in the 

Tularosa Basin. 

Both Holloman Air Force Base 

(HAFB) and White Sands Missile 

Range (WSMR)continued test and 

research activities following the war. 

Today, they play a major role in the 

Tularosa Basin’s culture and economy. 

HAFB remains an important training 

ground not only for American but 

for German pilots as well. WSMR 

continues to break new ground in 

Soldiers at White Sands in September, 1942 scientific and technological research. 

The Monument Today Since its first year as a national 

monument, visitation to the park has 

steadily increased. Today, we are one 

of the most visited national parks in 

New Mexico. Almost half a million 

people from all over the world come 

to explore this amazing landscape. 

The dunes themselves act as a living 

laboratory, providing insights into our 

past and glimpses of our future. From 

drought resistant microbes that help 

plants grow in waterless regions to 

understanding the gypsum dunefield 

on Mars, new discoveries are being 

made all the time. Modern or ancient, 

stories about the geology, culture, and 

ecology of White Sands continue to 

add to a legacy that began long ago.

Infamous gunman Billy the Kid