Driving behind San Antonito mountain on the New Mexico/Colorado border I came across the above scene. For 45 minutes I watched while cowboys and their dogs herded these cattle across the road and into pasture on the slope of the mountain. I didn't know cattle drives still took place or that America still had honest-to-goodness cowboys left.
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The Plains of San Augustin stretch for miles and miles across the west central New Mexico landscape. This ancient lakebed is now the home to the Very Large Array (VLA), a series of more than 2 dozen multi-ton astronomical radio telescopes set on railroad tracks so that their focus can be adjusted.
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New Mexico Rt 90 winds it's way into the Sonoran desert.
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Found near the top of Fadaja Butte in Chaco Canyon is an astronomical calendar. It consists of a spiral etched into the rock and three large rocks layed over it so that the sun creates a pointer which moves across the spiral noting the seasons.
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From the Pueblo Bonito overlook one can see the width and breadth of what was North America's largest residential structure until the mid 1800's. Built around 800 years ago archaeologists are still not completely certain what Pueblo Bonito was used for. But due to its size and location it was certainly the most important structure in Chacoan culture.
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The Chacoans (now called "Puebloans") used great skill in the construction of their homes, buildings, and kivas. Here you can see some of the stonework used to achieve stability of these structures. This is from a wall at Pueblo Bontio which stood 5 stories tall. This stonework would have bene plastered over so the artwork went unseen, but always well known.
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| From the top of Chaco Mesa looking to the east of Pueblo Alto we watched this single cell thunderstorm make its way across the Four Corners region.
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