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Silver City, NM
| Chino Copper Mine | Butterfield Stage Co. | Open Pit Mining | 
 
Seldom does the history of an area combine the intricate
 
patterns of vastly diverse cultures and varied elements 
that have blended to produce the history of southwestern 
New Mexico.  Geologically, the area is complex to a point
 of perplexity.  Geographically, it encompasses great
 expanses of harsh Sonoran deserts, lush river valleys
 (the Rio Grande, Gila and Mimbres Valleys), and the
 high mountains where alpine flora abounds and cool 
streams tempt the fisherman.
 
Into this scene first came the Indian, then the Spaniard; 
the Mexican in his turn, and finally the American. 
 
Specifics of human activity are vital to the story:
 frontier forts-bulwarks against marauding Indians,
 and outpost of conquest; overland trails for man's
 weary wandering; for caravans, wagons, stagecoaches,
 and finally for ribbons of steel and asphalt.
 
 Mines and mining camps mushroomed on a thousand hills, 
some to sputter and die, others to live on to feed the 
hungry industrial plant of 20th century America.
 
 And there were cattle, the only way yet found to
 harvest the desert and mountain grasses.
Blend the land, the people, and the activities dictated 
by the land, and southwestern New Mexico has all the 
elements that contribute to the romance and excitement 
of history.
Treasure Hunters
The mountains of the Southwest were filled in those days with a set of men
 who had to face all kinds of danger from Indians, wild beasts, horse 
thieves, and outlaws.  They had to suffer more than the 49'ers who crossed
 the plains in their covered wagons.  The pioneer prospector in the Southwest
 not only had to put up with a bleak and desolate country, a land of deserts,
 but he often had to get along without water, and many times without wood or
 brush to cook a bite; he had to be on the watch for the savage Apache, who
 carried the latest firearms; and he was never safe from thieves or renegades
 who would not think twicea
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