The Mountainair independent., 1917-11-29
NEW MEXICO AS
SEEN FROM THE
OTHER SIDE
Hea!tilseeker Tells Why lie
Likes the Sunshine
State"

cause Ol us people, lHey oiC hhlN,
hospitable, and democratic. Perhaps
they are no more kind than people else
where, but do believe they are more
hospitable, and more democratic. At
one time, my work was such that was
compelled to drive great deal over
this state with buggy and team. In
more than year, only cne man refused
me a nights lodging. ] have spent
many nights in the homes Of poor
Spanish American families. They al
ways gave me the best they had and
often there was no charge. | came to
know and to love them. Out here, the
wealthy banker or business man speaks
to the poor man or the street as il it
were pleasure to do so, not an obliga-
ton. 1t isn't what you've got that
counts, but what you are. Further
more, these people are possessed Of a
pull together, never-say spirit that
surmounts obstacles and knows not the
meaning of the word defeat That is
the spirit of the West.
like New Mexico, too, for its beauty
and the grandeur OF its scenery. Gre
who travels through this state en- rail
road train may get the impression that
it is a vast desert plain and a mass Of
barren, rugged mountains. Yet, the
majestic grandeur OF these mountains
fills one with a sense of glorious rapture.
In winter, when they are covered with
snow, they aie often mass Of Leauti-
full coors, purple and blue and white;
and at sunset they are pink or gold or
old-lose, The colors are always chang
ing; so the mountains never seem the
same.
An automobile tip over the smooth
roads of an irrigated farming district
in April or May, when the fruit trees
are in blossom, and the green alfalfa is
knee high to the blooded stock, which
are to be seen in the fields, is an ex-
perience which fills one with supreme
Joy in living. One cannot see New
Mexico from a railroad train.
A writer once called this state the
land of sunshine, silence and adobe.
He was correct as TO sunshine and the
adobe We have less than fifty CLOUDY
days in year, A New Mexico sunset,
when clouds are low in the west, and
the setting sun colors them red and
yellow and gold, is one Of the beautiful
sights CT this earth.
Finally, Ike New Mexico, because
cf tie splendid future it offers to those
who are honest, industrious, and econ
omical. 1t is a state Of immense nat
ura resources. In the mountains are
vast forests Of pine. There are hundreds
of thousads of acres Of cCal land in
which the coal veins are from six to
twenty five feet thick In tie n rt.eIn
part Of the state, covering an area Of
some rs, coo acres, are three coal veins
lying one above another which eggre-
gate almost fifty feet in thickness
These coal veins outcrop along the sides
of the mountains and are easily acces-
sible for mining purposes. This coal
area is remote from any railroad and
belongs to the Navajo Indians. Hence
it is undeveloped. Geoloiists say there
are vast oil deposits within this state.
There are several producing gold and
copper mines. In the river valleys are
fine farms which are irrigated either by
artesian wells or by pumping. In some
valleys, water is found in sufficient
quantities for pumping at depths from
twenty-five to a hundred feet. The
Elephant Butte, the largest irrigation
dam on the American continent, has
just been completed. 1t cost ten mil
liens of dollars and will store water
enough to irrigate 1856, 900 acres oflsnd
1t is in the southwestern part Of New
Mexico, There are within this state
about twenty million acres Of govern
msnt land which is open to homestead