Heavens Angels Around The World

New Mexico:
Francisco Vásquez de Coronado, a Spanish explorer searching for gold, traveled the region that became New Mexico in 1540–1542. In 1598 the first Spanish settlement was established on the Rio Grande River by Juan de Onate; in 1610 Santa Fe was founded and made the capital of New Mexico.

The U.S. acquired most of New Mexico in 1848, as a result of the Mexican War, and the remainder in the 1853 Gadsden Purchase. Union troops captured the territory from the Confederates during the Civil War. With the surrender of Geronimo in 1886, the Apache Wars and most of the Indian conflicts in the area were ended.

Since 1945, New Mexico has been a leader in energy research and development with extensive experiments conducted at Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory and Sandia Laboratories in the nuclear, solar, and geothermal areas.

Minerals are the state's richest natural resource, and New Mexico is one of the U.S. leaders in output of uranium and potassium salts. Petroleum, natural gas, copper, gold, silver, zinc, lead, and molybdenum also contribute heavily to the state's income.

The principal manufacturing industries include food products, chemicals, transportation equipment, lumber, electrical machinery, and stone-clay-glass products. More than two-thirds of New Mexico's farm income comes from livestock products, especially sheep. Cotton, pecans, and sorghum are the most important field crops. Corn, peanuts, beans, onions, chilies, and lettuce are also grown.

Tourist attractions include the Carlsbad Caverns National Park, Inscription Rock at El Morro National Monument, the ruins at Fort Union, Billy the Kid mementos at Lincoln, the White Sands and Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monuments, Bandelier National Monument, and the Chaco Culture National Historical Park.

New Mexico

This distinctive flag was officially adopted in 1925 and features the sun symbol of the Zia Pueblo Indians. The colors (yellow and red) were the official colors of Queen Isabella of Spain, brought to North America during the Spanish colonial era.

Official name: New Mexico
Capital: Santa Fe
Statehood: Jan. 6, 1912 the 47th state
State nickname: Land of Enchantment
Name for residents: New Mexicans
State motto: Crescit eundo
(It grows as it goes)
Abbreviation: NM

New Mexico's Historical Event's:

about 8000 bc The first people appear in New Mexico.
ad 1400-1500 The Navajo and Apache peoples arrive in New Mexico.
1536 Alvar Núńez Cabeza de Vaca becomes the first European to reach New Mexico.
1539 Father Marcos de Niza searches for Seven Cities of Cibola, a mythical city of wealth.
1540-1542 Francisco Vásquez de Coronado also searches for the Seven Cities; he claims much of the Southwest for Spain.
1582 The Spanish explorer Antonio de Espejo finds minerals in New Mexico.
1598 Juan de Ońate founds the first Spanish settlement in New Mexico at San Juan.
1610 Pedro de Peralta, the third governor of New Mexico, founds Santa Fe as the capital.
1680 The Pueblo peoples revolt with the aid of the Apache.
1692-1696 The Spanish retake control of New Mexico.
1821 Mexico gains independence from Spain, retaining control of New Mexico.
1821 American merchant William Becknell travels from Franklin, Missouri, to Santa Fe, New Mexico, starting the Santa Fe Trail.
1846 United States rule in New Mexico begins; General Stephen Kearny occupies Santa Fe.
1848 The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo cedes New Mexico to the United States.
1850 The Compromise Measures of 1850 create the Territory of New Mexico.
1853 The Gadsden Purchase adds land to New Mexico Territory.
1862 A Union victory in the Battle of Glorieta ends Confederate control in New Mexico.
1878-1881 The Lincoln County War occurs.
1879 The first railroad enters New Mexico.
1881 Sheriff Pat Garrett kills gunman Billy the Kid.
1890 The Pecos River Valley irrigation project begins.
1912 New Mexico becomes the 47th state of the Union (January 6).
1916 The Mexican rebel Francisco Villa kills 18 U.S. citizens in Columbus, New Mexico; the U.S. government sends General John Pershing in pursuit of Villa.
1922 The first commercial oil and gas production begins.
1945 The first atomic bomb is exploded at Trinity Site in the White Sands Proving Grounds.
1945 A riot occurs at Santa Fe internment camp for Japanese Americans.
1948 New Mexico Native Americans win the right to vote.
1967 Hispanic leader Reies López Tijerina raids the courthouse at Tierra Amarilla.
1971 The Taos Pueblo regain land around the Blue Lake.

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