New Mexico - it's the Land of Enchantment, and the only place that I've ever lived!
What makes it great?
Its mountains and mesas, its canyons and river valleys, its deserts and high plains, its badlands! Its lakes and streams, its forests and barren landscapes, its natural beauty! Its sunrises and sunsets, its sunshine and turquoise blue skies, its endless sky! Its cities and towns, its pueblos and Indian Reservations, its Old West ghost towns and its ancient ruins, its abandoned mining camps and its present day boomtowns, its built legacy! Its Pueblo Indians and whites, its blacks and Hispanics, its Asians and "others", its people!
New Mexico is a small state, New Mexico is a poor state. Some people don't even know that it's a state at all!
No other state with such seemingly humble status has contributed as much to this country! New Mexico has given America art and architecture, jewelry and fashion, pottery and literature, and our distinct culture. It of course, also has given its unique culinary style and its green chile!
It also has always contributed to the history of what is now America!
New Mexico has only been a state for 94 years, but its history stretches back to the 16th century! Some of our peoples and built things date back even further. We have ruins and petroglyphs that date back thousands of years! The Pueblo Indians are descendants of the ancient Anasazi that were among the first peoples in the Western Hemisphere (going back some 20,000 years!) Acoma Pueblo is the oldest continuosly inhabited settlement in North America, it is over 1,000 years old! Santa Fe, our state capital, is the oldest state capital in America and is nearly four hundred years old (founded in 1610!) Albuquerque (my hometown), founded in 1706, celebrated its tricentennial April 23 of this year! The oldest public building in America (the Palace of the Governors), still stands on the Santa Fe plaza as it has for nearly four hundred years! Our state's current history was begun by the Spanish who first explored it in 1541. They established an outpost of the Spanish Empire here in 1598. We were first known as New Spain, but became New Mexico soon afterward. In fact, the name of our state is second oldest only to Florida. The original boundaries of New Spain covered several modern day states. New Mexico as a territory, included all of Arizona and parts of other states, well into the second half of the 19th century! We were won by America in the Mexican-American War in 1841. We finally became a state on January 6, 1912. We are the 47th state to join the union.
Our state flag with the ancient Zia sun symbol that adorns it, has been voted as the best of any state flag, and of Canadian provincial flags, by the North American Vexillological Association (flag lovers).:biggrin1: In New Mexico, the Zia is ubiquitous, and appears on everything (in many different forms) from our license plates, to business logos and signs, as decorations on homes and in rockscaping designs, to most state agency logos! Our state capitol (the Roundhouse) even takes its shape! It is the only round state capitol in the U.S. It has four entrances that radiate and extend beyond its collonade and the rotunda at its center. Much like the four sets of "rays" radiate from the central circle of the Zia sun symbol!
New Mexico has many things that make it great, but that which is the greatest, is its people! We have everything from the super rich (Los Alamos County is now the richest per-capita in the U.S.), to the very poor. We unfortunately are at, or near, the top in terms of poverty (esp. for children). Thankfully, we also have a sizable middle-class. Overall, in terms of class, I'd say we are hard working bluecollar folk, with asperations for whitecollar status. We want to become better in everyway, yet keep our uniqueness and our ways of life, and our strong sense of self! We also aren't the most educated state (as compared to others), yet we have many nationally recognized institutions of higher learning! We do have many highly educated people due to our National Labs (Los Alamos and Sandia), our high-tech sector (Intel has a plant in Rio Rancho, which is a suburb of Alb.), and our biotech-research industries. Overall, New Mexicans (besides our love for our state) seem to share a good-naturedness and friendliness that is legend, yet true! We also have bad drivers, and our casual attire and laid-backness (slowness) is also the stuff of legend, and true!:redface::tongue:
Our state motto - Crescit Eundo ("it grows as it goes"), seems to sum up well, what our state is all about!
New Mexico is a small state, New Mexico is a poor state. But, New Mexico is also a great state!:smile:
