Montezuma, New Mexico

Last updated

Montezuma, New Mexico
Unincorporated area
Las Vegas Hot Springs 1890.jpg
Partial page from Harpers's Weekly, 1890, describing Las Vegas Hot Springs (now Montezuma, NM). Upper image is "Mountain View near the Springs". First inset is "Taking a Mud Bath". Third image is "The Montezuma", and the top of "View in the Cañon" appears to the lower left.
USA New Mexico location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Coordinates: 35°39′08″N105°16′35″W / 35.65222°N 105.27639°W / 35.65222; -105.27639 [1]
CountryUnited States
StateNew Mexico
CountySan Miguel
Elevation
[1]
6,719 ft (2,048 m)
GNIS feature ID908848 [1]

Montezuma is an unincorporated community in San Miguel County, New Mexico, United States. It is located approximately five miles northwest of the city of Las Vegas.

Contents

The town was best known for many years for its natural hot springs, [2] and was in fact called "Los Ojos Calientes". [3] or "Las Vegas Hot Springs" until the late 19th century.

The town consists of ranches, a post office, and the United World College-USA. The ZIP Code for Montezuma is 87731. [4]

History

Prehistorically, Native Americans valued the hot springs and regarded them therapeutically. [5] According to The Montezuma (New Mexico) Story, the site was initially commercialized in 1840, when a man named McDonald petitioned the Mexican government for the land, and was granted it on the condition he became a Mexican citizen. He then set up a house by the hot springs and charged for admission to the springs. [3] In 1846, after the territory of New Mexico was conquered by the U.S. Army and taken from Mexico, a military hospital was established near the hot springs. [5] This was converted into a hotel in 1862, and replaced by a stone building in 1879 when the Santa Fe Railway bought the springs. [5] The stone building was originally called the "Hot Springs Hotel" [6] and is now called "the old stone hotel". Jesse James is among the visitors who stayed there. [3] This building remains extant and is used by the United World College-USA.

Also, during this period, the Santa Fe Railway ran a spur line from Las Vegas to a set of six ice ponds near Montezuma, which supplied ice for refrigerated cars transporting vegetables from California to eastern markets. [2] The spur also brought tourists to Montezuma. [2]

In 1881 and 1882, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway built the first of three large hotels on the site, running a new small-gauge railroad to the site [6] and renaming the city "Montezuma". Their hotel burned down, as did a much grander stone replacement. The final replacement, constructed in 1886, remains, and has been designated a "national treasure."

The railway company published books about the community in 1898 and 1900; the 1900 text notes that "The Montezuma Hotel is a handsome four-story structure in the chateau style, built of grayish red sandstone and slate. It stands on the north side of the Gallinas where the cañon widens to a small amphitheater, about one hundred feet above the river bed, and commanding attractive views of the pine-clad slopes of the surrounding hills, and a splendid vista through the cañon mouth across the plains and mesas to the dark forest ridge, thirty miles away on the southwestern horizon. The floor of the amphitheater is occupied by a pretty lawn of several acres, with firm turf, primeval pines, seats, flower-beds, and tennis and croquet grounds, while the steep slope up to the hotel is tastily parked with winding drives and walks" [7] Rates at the time were $2.50 to $4.00 by the day, and $52 – $80 by the month, with discounts available under various circumstances. [8] The book particularly recommended the hotel for those suffering from tuberculosis. The 1898 book was even more forceful in its recommendations, calling it "the most desirable resort in the world for those who are afflicted with any form of lung or throat disease." [9] The text goes on to suggest that Northern New Mexico would be palliative for all sick people except for those with "advanced stage" heart disease, who would suffer from the altitude. "Even imaginary ailments give way before forces so potent for good." [9]

The hotel was closed in 1903 and soon thereafter, floods swept away the bath house. [3] The Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad company held the property for several years, then transferred it to the Y.M.C.A. for $1, and the Y.M.C.A. in turn sold it to the Baptist church for use as a college. This institution was maintained from 1923 until 1932, after which the Baptist church allowed a variety of entrepreneurial efforts to be launched in the building, but all without success. The property was sold to the Catholic church, and from 1937 until 1972 served as a training site for Mexican priests. [3]

Geography and geology

The community lies along the Gallinas River, in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. It is only a few miles from Hermit's Peak. The water filling the Montezuma Hot Springs likely originates from snowmelt and rain from the Sangre de Cristo Mountains which infiltrates porous and permeable rocks, percolating through rock to the mouth of the Gallinas Canyon. [10] There are several theories as to how the water is heated, including geothermal gradient, heat associated with relatively recently uplifted basement rock, or magma extending from volcanism of northeastern New Mexico. [10]

See also

Flag of New Mexico.svg New Mexicoportal

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cimarron, New Mexico</span> Village in New Mexico, United States

Cimarron is a village in Colfax County, New Mexico, United States, which sits on the eastern slopes of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The population was 792 at the 2020 census, making it the fourth most populous municipality in Colfax County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raton, New Mexico</span> City in New Mexico, United States

Raton is a city and the county seat of Colfax County in northeastern New Mexico. The city is located just south of Raton Pass. The city is also located about 6.5 miles south of the New Mexico–Colorado border and 85 miles west of Texas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Las Vegas, New Mexico</span> City in New Mexico, United States

Las Vegas, often known simply as Vegas, is a city in and the county seat of San Miguel County, New Mexico, United States. Once two separate municipalities, both were named Las Vegas—West Las Vegas and East Las Vegas ; they are separated by the Gallinas River and retain distinct characters and separate, rival school districts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glorieta, New Mexico</span> CDP in New Mexico, United States

Glorieta is a census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Fe County, New Mexico, United States. It is part of the Albuquerque–Santa Fe–Las Vegas combined statistical area. The population was 430 at the 2010 census. The community is located in the southern Sangre de Cristo Mountains, along Interstate 25 on the east side of Glorieta Pass.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glorieta Pass</span> Mountain pass in New Mexico, United States

Glorieta Pass is a mountain pass in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of northern New Mexico. The pass is at a strategic location near at the southern end of the Sangre de Cristos in east central Santa Fe County southeast of the city of Santa Fe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raton Pass</span> Interstate mountain pass in the United States

Ratón Pass is a 7,834 ft (2,388 m) elevation mountain pass on the Colorado–New Mexico border in the western United States. It is located on the eastern side of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains between Trinidad, Colorado and Raton, New Mexico, approximately 180 miles (290 km) northeast of Santa Fe. Ratón is Spanish for "mouse". The pass crosses the line of volcanic mesas that extends east from the Sangre de Cristo Mountains along the state line, and furnishes the most direct land route between the valley of the Arkansas River to the north and the upper valley of the Canadian River, leading toward Santa Fe, to the south. The pass now carries Interstate 25 and railroad tracks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grand Canyon Railway</span> Historic railway to Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona

The Grand Canyon Railway is a heritage railroad which carries passengers between Williams, Arizona, and the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Montezuma Castle (hotel)</span> United States historic place

The Montezuma Castle is a 90,000-square-foot (8,400 m2), 400 room Queen Anne style hotel building erected just northwest of the city of Las Vegas, New Mexico in 1886. The current castle is actually the third on the site, the first two were the first buildings in New Mexico to have electric lighting, and they both burned down.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santa Fe 2926</span> Preserved Santa Fe 2900 class 4-8-4 locomotive

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe 2926 is a class "2900" 4-8-4 type steam locomotive built in May 1944 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works for the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway (ATSF). It was used to pull passenger and fast freight trains, mostly throughout New Mexico, until it was retired from revenue service in 1953. Three years later, it was donated to Coronado Park in Albuquerque for static display.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santa Fe National Forest</span>

The Santa Fe National Forest is a protected national forest in northern New Mexico in the Southwestern United States. It was established in 1915 and covers 1,558,452 acres (6,306.83 km2). Elevations range from 5,300 feet (1600 m) to 13,103 feet (4000 m) at the summit of Truchas Peak, located within the Pecos Wilderness. The Jemez, Coyote, and Cuba districts are located in the Jemez Mountains; the Pecos/Las Vegas district is located in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains; and the Española district is located in both mountain ranges. In descending order of land area the forest lies in parts of Rio Arriba, San Miguel, Sandoval, Santa Fe, Mora, and Los Alamos counties. Forest headquarters are located in the city of Santa Fe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lamy station</span> Train station in Lamy, New Mexico, U.S.

Lamy station is an Amtrak station at Santa Fe County Road 33, 152 Old Lamy Trail in Lamy, New Mexico, United States. It is served by the Southwest Chief. It is also the southern terminus for the Sky Railway. The station was built in 1909 by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Las Vegas station (New Mexico)</span> Amtrak train station in Las Vegas, New Mexico

Las Vegas station is an Amtrak train station at Railroad Avenue and Lincoln Street in Las Vegas, New Mexico. Built in 1899, the two-story brick station building was designed in the Spanish Mission style and features a red tile roof, ornate metal brackets and a curving parapet. The station was renovated in 2000, when approximately $1.2 million was secured from federal, state and private sources. It reopened as the Las Vegas Intermodal Facility and now houses a passenger waiting room and the city's Visitor Center.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul P. Hastings</span>

Paul Pardee Hastings was a prominent executive of the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad.

Santa Fe Lake is the name of two waterbodies: a reservoir in 0.5 mi (0.80 km) south of downtown Williams in North Central Arizona, and a natural lake in the southern Sangre de Cristo Mountains near Ski Santa Fe in Santa Fe County, New Mexico. The reservoir is behind Santa Fe Dam, built in red sandstone. It is named after the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway, which stored the reservoir's water for its steam locomotives traveling through Williams. The natural lake is formed by snowmelt from Tesuque Peak and Lake Peak. It was named after the nearby state capital of Santa Fe, New Mexico, which was founded in 1610 as the capital of the Spanish province of Santa Fe de Nuevo México.

Edward Alfred Harrison, known as E. A. Harrison, was an American architect who worked as a staff architect for the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway, with offices in Topeka, Kansas, and later in Chicago, Illinois.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alvarado Hotel</span> United States historic place

The Alvarado Hotel was a historic railroad hotel which was one of the most famous landmarks of Albuquerque, New Mexico. It was built in 1901–02 by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway and was operated by the Fred Harvey Company until 1970. With 120 guest rooms, it was the largest of all the Harvey hotels. Its demolition by the railroad in 1970 was described by preservationist Susan Dewitt as "the most serious loss of a landmark the city has sustained" and helped mobilize stronger support for historic preservation efforts in the city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Castañeda Hotel</span> United States historic place

The Castañeda Hotel is a historic railroad hotel located in Las Vegas, New Mexico. It was built in 1898 and 1899 by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, and was operated by the Fred Harvey Company until 1948. After being mostly vacant for many years, the hotel was restored and reopened in 2019. The Castañeda was listed on the New Mexico State Register of Cultural Properties in 1974 and the National Register of Historic Places in 1979 as a contributing property in the Railroad Avenue Historic District. It is located adjacent to the Las Vegas railroad station.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Montezuma Hot Springs</span> Thermal springs

Montezuma Hot Springs, also known as Las Vegas Hot Springs, are a grouping of 20-to-30 thermal springs in the Montezuma unincorporated community of San Miguel County, near the town of Las Vegas, New Mexico.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canadian Escarpment</span> Mountains in Canada

The Canadian Escarpment is part of the southernmost subrange of the Rocky Mountains, in the Las Vegas, NM area. It straddles the boundary between the High Plains and Southern Rocky Mountain physiographic provinces, north of the Canadian River. It is situated near the Las Vegas Plateau, which is bounded by the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The elevation of the area ranges from about 6,400-6,800 ft; the mountains to the west attain elevations of 10,500 ft.

Dana B. Chase (1848–1897) was a 19th-century American photographer. Chase was born in Maine and ran two photography studios in Colorado from 1873 to the 1880s. He is also known as D.B. Chase.

References

  1. 1 2 3 U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Montezuma, New Mexico
  2. 1 2 3 Bejnar, W., and Bejnar, K. C. (1979) "Structural geology related to the Montezuma Hot Springs, Montezuma, New Mexico" New Mexico Geology 2(2): pp. 21-24
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 The Montezuma (New Mexico) Story, F. Stanley, 1963
  4. ↑ "Montezuma ZIP Code". zipdatamaps.com. 2022. Retrieved November 11, 2022.
  5. 1 2 3 "The Las Vegas Hot Springs," Clarence Pullen, Harpers Weekly, June 28, 1890, p.499
  6. 1 2 "The Montezuma Hotel at Las Vegas Hot Springs, New Mexico, Louise Harris Ivers, Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, 1974
  7. ↑ Las Vegas Hot Springs, New Mexico, W. H. Carruth, Issued by Passenger Department, Santa Fe Route, December 1900, p. 28+
  8. ↑ Las Vegas Hot Springs, New Mexico, W. H. Carruth, Issued by Passenger Department, Santa Fe Route, December 1900, p. 54
  9. 1 2 Las Vegas Hot Springs and Vicinity, C. A. Higgins, Issued by the Passenger Department, Santa Fe Route, February 1898
  10. 1 2 Lessard, Robert H. and Waldemere Bejnar (1976). "Geology of the Las Vegas Area" (PDF). New Mexico Geological Society Annual NMGS Fall Field Conference Guidebooks: 107.

Commons-logo.svg Media related to Montezuma, New Mexico at Wikimedia Commons

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.