Geronimo Trail & Ghost Towns - 1

The night in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico was well-spent. It rained during the night and was cold and dreary the next morning as we drove south to Las Cruces to check out Organ Mountains & Desert Peaks National Monument. The Aguirre Campground there sounded appealing, but when we arrived to give it a look-see, it was snowing. Nice campground, but nope, no camping this trip.

We spent another hotel night in Las Cruces, deciding exactly what we should do. We’d planned a return visit to Big Bend National Park in Texas after our last visit was cut short by a family emergency. We found, however, the campsites were by reservation only and none were available for another week. We needed to come up with an interim plan. A little research and we had more than enough to do till Big Bend.

First, we headed back north to Truth or Consequences (T or C, for short) and booked campsites at Elephant Butte Lake State Park, not far from T or C. Next, we visited the Geronimo Trail Visitor Center in T or C and got all the info we needed for exploring the city as well as the local area including a self-guided ghost town tour of old mining towns in the Black Range along the Geronimo Trail Scenic Byway. 

Elephant Butte Lake State Park is New Mexico’s largest and most popular state park. It really is a gem. Formed by the damming of the Rio Grande, Elephant Butte Lake is New Mexico’s largest lake and named for a dark, rocky island that requires a stretch of the imagination to conjure up the image of an elephant head and torso rising from the water. It’s actually an ancient eroded volcano core and looks more volcanic than elephantine.

The campground is quite nice with electric, water, grill, fire ring and shaded picnic table. For $18, sites with electric are a bargain. and cold nights aren’t bad at all with an electric heater blazing away. We had a great view of the lake and Lion’s Beach and our site is backed by sand dunes dotted with desert shrubs. Blanche was dwarfed by the neighboring large RVs and trailers, but she didn’t seem intimidated in the least. Curious roadrunners, skittering quail and timid desert cottontails seem to be frequent morning visitors.

Our first foray along the Geronimo Trail Scenic Byway was to the north on NM52. I’d read several brochures that described old mining ghost towns and thought it might be interesting to visit a few. Most mining communities thrived until the Silver Panic of 1893 when the US government changed from silver to the gold standard. Things went downhill after that for silver miners and towns. The route snaked along over sandy, drab rolling hills where open range cattle grazed peacefully along the sides of the road. Deer and coyote occasionally crossed our path. 

We passed first through Cuchillo, named for the Apache chief and nearby creek, Cuchillo Negro (Black Knife). Settled by Hispanic ranchers in the 1850s, it was a stop on the stagecoach line which brought travelers and supplies to the mining camps further west. Once the mining camps were gone, the town dwindled, too. Today, there’s not much there. A few ranchers and farmers remain as does the Old Cuchillo Bar & Store and the San Jose Mission Church.

Winston was the next stop though we really just coasted on through with a quick photo op from the van window of the old general store. Folks live there still, but there was nothing to see as far as we could tell. When I envision ghost towns, I think of totally deserted towns, but these communities still have some meager life in them though they appear isolated, tired and worn. 

Chloride was just a couple of miles from Winston, but had its own brochure with a sketch map of historic town buildings and a fascinating history of the town by Raymond Schmidt, a former resident of the town from 1905-1991. Though still inhabited, Chloride was more in keeping with what we expected of an old mining town. Nestled in the Black Range, the town was named for the silver-chloride compound in which the silver ore was found.

In the early 1880s, the town boasted eight saloons, three mercantiles, two butcher shops, a hotel, boarding houses, an assay office, livery stables, a candy store, an apothecary, a law office, a Chinese laundry, a millinery store and, of course, brothels.

Most of the public historic buildings are located on the west end of town. The ‘Hanging Tree’ is an old oak that resides in the middle of main road, aka Wall Street and the road is paved around it.

A little park at the far end of town offers parking, picnic tables, some info kiosks and restrooms which were most welcome. The Pioneer Store, a large log building, operated from 1880-1923 and is now the town museum, which was, unfortunately, closed. 

Several old log and adobe cabins served residents well when the town thrived and are now used as rental guest cabins for vacationers .The Monte Cristo Saloon, now a gift shop and gallery, also once served as a schoolhouse and local headquarters for mining companies. 

The most interesting building, I thought, was the Chloride Bank Cafe. Constructed of native stone, it failed before it could even open as a bank. We’re not sure it’s still operating as a cafe either. It showed no signs of life when we visited, but it was mid-week, so perhaps it’s open on weekends. 

We drove up a very steep, winding gravel road high above the town to visit the Santo Nino Cemetery. 

We retraced our route and took a short side trip on NM142 to visit two other little towns. Placita  (little plaza) on the Canada Alamosa River, was originally settled in the 1840s by the Sedillo family and their descendants still live here. San Lorenzo Catholic Church (1916) still stands as well as a few other historic buildings. We sometimes forget that New Mexico was originally settled by the Spanish and once belonged to Mexico. 

Monticello was a couple of miles further up the road and was a pleasant, tidy, albeit very quiet, little village. Sections of the original adobe town walls, originally constructed to protect residents from Apache attacks, are still visible. 

San Ignacio Church looks a little worse for the wear.

The abandoned, decrepit Monticello Public School is evidence, however, of just how large these communities once were. 

Enough ghost towns for one day. We planned to see more, but the day was waning. This was the end of today’s Geronimo Trail. We returned to our campsite, cooked dinner on the Coleman stove and retired to Blanche, all warm and cozy,  just after sunset as the temperature dropped. 

More ghost towns next time and it seems we unwittingly saved the best for last.

BTW, we’re heading into ‘off the grid’ territory in the next few days, so if scheduled blogs are posted late, bear with us until we return to Wi-Fi land again.