New Mexico - Silver City & Mogollon
Next on my vacation was further exploration of New Mexico. My experiences in the previous year had been that New Mexico offered some very dramatic scenery and history, in areas that were free of crowds, and where the local people were very friendly. My experiences on this trip validated that first experience -- many good places to go, quietness to reflect, and people who talked freely about their lives and experiences.
My plan after leaving southeastern Arizona was to go through Lordsburg and then on up to Silver City. Lordsburg is a desert area that's very dusty and hot, and just generally felt fairly worn. Just a couple of miles outside Lordsburg, though, is the ghost town of Shakespeare. I was surprised when I got to Shakespeare to discover that the entire townsite is privately owned and closed to the public except for tours on special days, thus there aren't any pictures of it.
Next after Lordsburg was Silver City. Adding to the pictures of my previous visit to the area, I discovered a train yard nearby with locomotives that appeared to be slowly being recycled for their parts. Since I'm always fascinated with how the remains of industry are handled, here's some pictures from that:
|
|
 |
| The odd looking rectangular structure on the far right side of the picture is part of the engine housing from a locomotive. |
 |
Though Silver City is very enjoyable to visit, the campgrounds near it are not particularly good for my needs -- luckily the KOA there has worked out to be very pleasant and quite. So, after a good overnight and chatting with locals, I head up to Mogollon. Mogollon is a largely abandoned mining area at about 6400 feet up a very winding road. On my first visit a year ago I had discovered a couple of small businesses open, but on this visit the town seemed to be completely abandoned -- in three hours of wandering around I came across only one person. The Mogollon cemetery is a couple of miles higher above the town and accessible by a rough road -- the road turned out to be too rough for my car, but the almost 600' climb (in close to 100 degree heat) turned out to be worth it.
| The entrance to the cemetery is clearly a relatively new addition. The sign over the top says "Mogollon Cemetery 1890." |
 |
 |
The cemetery looks to be largely untended, though clearly there are some newer plots that are tended (e.g., the one on the right in the picture above). Very many graves had no markers other than a ring of stones, and very many of the markers seemed to have been handcrafted locally with available materials. |
| An unusual tablet -- the details of the script are below. |
 |
 |
| Attached to the simple wooden crosses was ornamentation that looked like a string of flowers. The flowers were very thin in texture and looked almost like a plastic decoration, but they also appeared to be rusted. I didn't want to risk damaging them, so I didn't touch them. (Due to shade, the picture is artificially lightened to show the crosses better.) |
 |
 |
As I've commented in other webpages, I find it a curiosity that cultures require marking graves (often with rather elaborate markings) but then those graves become forgotten. (Due to shade, the picture is artificially lightened to show the grave marker better.) |
 |
| At a similar elevation to the cemetery is the original mine area. I had been told that the area might be accessible, but access was closed off with a very threatening sign about toxic waste and dust -- though you could get a good view (below) of some of the abandoned residences and buildings from the cemetery road (Fanny road). The next picture after this one was taken from the peak that is beyond the building with a prominent high roof that is on the ridge line. |
 |
| The abandoned mining area. The settlement in the above picture is on the slope of the peak behind the mining area, on the right side of the picture. |
 |
| The 'town' of Mogollon was much lower than the mine or the buildings in the above pictures, in a valley with a narrow stream (behind the trees on the right). |
 |
 |
These cacti have a rather striking bloom, though I've vet to find a good way to capture its color. |