Discovering The Western Beauty Of Albuquerque
If you have never been to the beautiful western state of New Mexico
, you are truly missing out on an authentic western experience. Albuquerque is a gorgeous city, with an unlimited supply of things to do for tourists.
In order to fully appreciate the majesty of this wild western city, you need to fully understand the history, and origin. There is a rich culture of cowboys who have settled this city and made it exactly what it is today.
The western states in the 1800's were filled with colorful characters, from legendary frontiersmen to notorious outlaws. New Mexico was home to many of them, including Kit Carson, a rancher, trapper, soldier and all-around outdoorsman whose name has become synonymous with the American West.
Born on Christmas Eve in 1809, Carson spent most of his early childhood in Boone's Lick, Missouri. His father died when he was nine years old, and the need to work prevented Kit from ever receiving an education.
He was apprenticed to a saddle-maker when he turned 14, but left home for the Santa Fe, New Mexico area in 1826. From about 1828 to 1831, Carson used Taos, New Mexico, as a base camp for repeated fur-trapping expeditions that often took him as far west as California.
As was the case with many white trappers, Carson became somewhat integrated into the Indian world; he traveled and lived extensively among Indians, and his first two wives were Arapahoe and Cheyenne women. Carson was unusual among trappers for his self-restraint and temperate lifestyle.
In 1842, while returning to Missouri to visit his family, Carson happened to meet John C. Fremont, who soon hired him as a guide. Over the next several years, Carson helped guide Fremont to Oregon and California, and through much of the Central Rocky Mountains and the Great Basin.
His service with Fremont, celebrated in Fremont's widely-read reports of his expeditions, quickly made Kit Carson a national hero, presented in popular fiction as a rugged mountain man capable of superhuman feats. Carson fought in the Mexican-American war in 1846, and played a prominent role in the Civil War in New Mexico.
Beginning in 1863 Carson waged a brutal economic war against the Navajo, marching through the heart of their territory to destroy their crops, orchards and livestock. In 1864 most surrendered to Carson, who forced nearly 8,000 Navajo men, women and children to take what came to be called the Long Walk of 300 miles from Arizona to Fort Sumner, New Mexico.
The Navajo remained there in disease-ridden confinement until 1868, when a treaty was signed between the United States and the Navajo, giving them the 3.5 million-acre reservation in the Four Corners area that includes parts of New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and Colorado. After the Civil War, Carson moved to Colorado in hopes of expanding his ranching business.
He died there in 1868, and the following year his remains were moved to a small cemetery near his old home in Taos. Another legendary figure was Billy the Kid, a teenage outlaw who may be America's most famous juvenile delinquent.
Billy the Kid's real name was William Henry McCarty. It is estimated that he was born around 1860, and years later the family packed up and moved to New Mexico.
By the age of 16, the Kid was an outlaw for killing a man in Camp Grant, Arizona. He didn't stick around to face murder charges, leaving Arizona for Lincoln County, New Mexico where he found employment with an Englishman entrepreneur named John Tunstall.
Around this time, the Kid changed his name to William H. Bonney, but his friends called him "Kid." Ominously, a bitter feud was brewing between the Kid's employer, Tunstall, and a rival, James Dolan, which would be famously known as the Lincoln County War.
Tensions were high and in 1878 the feud between Tunstall and Dolan escalated into bloody violence. Tunstall was brutally murdered by members of Sheriff Brady's posse who were tight with Dolan.
In retaliation, Tunstall's men--a group that included Billy the Kid--killed Sheriff Brady and several others. By the time this deadly feud was over, scores were dead and Billy the Kid had cemented his reputation as a dangerous sharpshooter with an itchy trigger finger.
He was also again a fugitive, wanted for the murder of Sheriff Brady. As the Kid dodged the law, his notoriety grew.
Newspapers wrote about the teenage fugitive, using the name that would stick with him forever: "Billy the Kid." For the next year, the Kid made a living by rustling and gambling, and killing more men along the way.
With the excitement of the New Mexico culture, you can easily keep yourself busy with the many things there are to see and do. Check it out today!
by: Terry Daniels
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