The State of New Mexico Trivia Quiz

Answer: Rutherford B. Hayes

President Hayes was known during his presidency for his wide travels of the United States. His most ambitious tour was an extended trip to the West Coast and return in the fall of 1880 - "The Great Western Tour". This was the first time a sitting president had crossed the continent. U.S. Grant made it as far as Utah in 1875. The journey, originally planned for the spring of 1879, was not particularly political in its motivation and Hayes gave few formal speeches. The trip also gave Hayes a way out of Washington politics in late 1880 and effectively removed him from the Republican machinations of the 1880 presidential campaign. Army Chief-of-Staff General William T. Sherman planned the trip's route and modes of transportation. Accordingly, Hayes' party stopped at military posts and seldom used hotels - sometimes lodging with well-known local business men.

The Hayes' party started west from Chicago in September 1880. For the next two months the travelers logged about ten thousand miles on train, ship, and horse-drawn carriage. On the way west, stops were made in Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, finally ending the journey west at San Francisco Bay. From here they went northward to Oregon and the Washington Territory. They returned to San Francisco by ocean steamer and visited Yosemite National Park. Hayes' party caught the Southern Pacific Railway via Los Angeles and headed into Arizona and New Mexico. In Arizona and New Mexico, the Army posted pickets and stationed fresh horses along the route. Field ambulances were used for the perilous two-day journey across the Arizona and New Mexico desert. Hayes arrived in Santa Fe on October 28, 1880 and then went back to Ohio by train (aborting a planned stop in Denver) to cast his vote for James A. Garfield for president on November 2, 1880.

Author James Garvey described the New Mexico portion of the trip as follows:
"At dawn they left Fort Cummings by army ambulance and wagons, for Palomas, sixty miles away, and camped there overnight. On Wednesday the caravan covered another twenty-eight miles up the Rio Grande River near Fort McRea, and then a final twenty miles to the railhead, where an Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe special waited to take them the final two hundred miles to Santa Fe. On Thursday morning, about ten o'clock, the presidential train pulled into Santa Fe, and the rest of that day and evening the travelers witnessed a great celebration culminating in an evening concert and fiesta. From Santa Fe their special train headed northeast, reaching Kansas early Saturday, October 30." A fact lost to history is if Hayes ordered red or green chile on his enchiladas.

Ref:
1. Davison KE. "Travels of President Rutherford B. Hayes", Ohio History, 1971(80)60-72
2. James J. Garvey, "Rutherford B. Hayes: The Great Western Tour of 1880," (Loyola University, Chicago, Illinois, January 1966) pgs 55-60

Answer: The Deming Duck Races

In 1980, over beers, a group of Deming locals came up with the idea for duck racing as a tourist attraction. The races are held in a park near the Luna County Courthouse and are now known as The Great American Duck Race of Deming, Inc.

For years, participants trained their own ducks for the races. Later, to stop unscrupulous duck trainers from spoiling the fun, participants were assigned a duck from the pool of Deming's own racing ducks, cared for throughout the year specifically for use in the two day event. The ducks "race" (really they kind of waddle) down an eight lane track to the delight of onlookers. Although absolutely no skill is involved on the part of the participating people, the winning duck nets about $1500 for his assigned participant.

Answer: San Juan Pueblo

New Mexico trivia aficionados will know that in 2005, San Juan Pueblo changed their name back to their original Tewa name of Ohkay Owingeh. The pueblo is thought to have been founded around 1200 AD. Of course there's a bit of historical background to be learned here:

The Tewa inhabitants of the Upper Rio Grande Valley, originally built two villages: Ohkay Owingeh (Place of the Strong People) and Yungé Owingehthey (Place of the Mockingbird) directly across on the west bank of the river. Everything was peaceful until ... The Spanish colonization of their land by Juan de Oñate in 1598 brought the harsh reality of the Spanish presence to the people of these two pueblos. Oñate renamed Ohkay Owingeh to San Juan Bautista after his patron Saint John the Baptist. Later the capricious Juanito renamed the pueblo San Juan de los Caballeros (Saint John of the Cavaliers), apparently finding his gentrified cavalry more reliable than his Patron Saint for purposes of subjugation.

Finally having decided on a Spanish name for Ohkay Owingeh, Oñate chose to make Yungé Owingeh (the western pueblo) the capital of the New Spanish colony of Santa Fe de Nuevo México (modern day New Mexico). He decided to call it San Gabriel de Yungé. In an especially endearing gesture, Oñate kicked out the native inhabitants of Yungé and forced them to go to Ohkay so his party could redecorate and move into their 400 apartments at Yungé. Oñate was a big zero as a leader and returned to Mexico when it became clear he wasn't going to find any mineral wealth in the region. The capital of New Mexico was moved in 1610 from San Gabriel de Yungé to La Villa Real de la Santa Fé de San Francisco de Asís, where it remains to this day.

For the next eighty years after Oñate, the people of Ohkay Owingeh and other pueblos in New Mexico suffered greatly under Spanish rule. The Pueblo religious activities were suppressed and went underground where they remain today. In 1675, the relations with the Spanish conquerors reached a boiling point when 47 Pueblo religious leaders were jailed and whipped for practicing the Pueblo religion (three of the Pueblans were hanged). Among those released after the torture was Popé, a medicine man from Ohkay Owingeh, who would later go on to lead the Pueblo Revolt of 1680.

The remaining choices are all active pueblos. There are nineteen active pueblos in New Mexico. They are: Sandia Pueblo, Santo Domingo Pueblo, Cochiti Pueblo, Santa Ana Pueblo, Zia Pueblo, Jemez Pueblo, Acoma Pueblo, Isleta Pueblo, San Felipe Pueblo, Picuris Pueblo, Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo, Zuni Pueblo, Taos Pueblo, Laguna Pueblo, San Ildefonso Pueblo, Santa Clara Pueblo, Pojoaque Pueblo, Nambe Pueblo and Tesuque Pueblo.

Answer: Copper and Aluminum

The chemical formula for turquoise is: CuAl6(PO4)4(OH)8·4H2O. It's usually found near copper deposits and its impurities are what give it character as New Mexico's state gem. In the 1920s, New Mexico was the leading producer of turquoise in the US, but it's pretty well mined out now although, the Lost Mine of Enchantment has still produced some medium to high grade turquoise.

There's a fun story here. What is now known as The Lost Mine of Enchantment was first identified on an 1895 map of the region as old Indian diggings. The mine was rediscovered as a turquoise source in the Sacramento Mountains in 1958 by a gold miner prospecting in the region. The exact location of the mine remained a well kept secret until 1997, when the miner visited the Turquoise Museum in Albuquerque and wondered aloud why the museum didn't have any turquoise from Lincoln County, New Mexico. He was told that there weren't any turquoise deposits in Lincoln County. "Poppycock!" he said, and later returned with samples from the old Indian Diggings. The secret was out, and the owners of the Turquoise Museum later acquired the claim. It is reportedly the first new turquoise mine discovered in New Mexico since the days of Coronado in the 1500s and opened for mining in May, 1997.

Answer: Rita Blanca

New Mexico has five National Forests: Cibola National Forest, Gila National Forest, Carson National Forest, Santa Fe National Forest, and Lincoln National Forest. New Mexico also hosts a beautiful National Grassland: Kiowa National Grassland. The Kiowa includes secluded short grass prairie and portions of the Canadian River Canyon and the Santa Fe Trail. The grassland has a total area of about 140,000 acres in Eastern and Western sections in the northeast quadrant of New Mexico.

Although Rita Blanca and Kiowa National Grasslands are both administered by the Cibola National Forest as a single ranger district, the Rita Blanca National Grassland portion is actually located in Texas and Oklahoma. (Cibola NF also administers Black Kettle and McClellan Creek National Grasslands located in Oklahoma and Texas respectively).

Answer: Utah

Originally in 1850, the New Mexico Territory consisted of the 37th north parallel from the California border to the Continental Divide, part of present day Nevada and all of present day Arizona. The border followed the Continental Divided north. East of The Divide, the border shifted to the 38th north parallel east to the 103th meridian - part of present day Colorado.

From the Congressional Record of the 31st Congress, 1st session::
"And be it further enacted, That all that portion of the Territory of the United States bounded as follows : Beginning at the point in the Colorado River where the boundary line with the republic of Mexico crosses the same ; thence eastwardly with the said boundary line to the Rio Grande ; thence following the main channel of said river to the parallel of the thirty-second degree of north latitude ; thence east with said degree to its intersection with the one hundred and third degree of longitude west of Greenwich ; thence north with said degree of longitude to the parallel of the thirty-eighth degree of north latitude ; thence west with said parallel to the summit of the Sierra Madre ; thence south with the crest of said mountains to the thirty-seventh parallel of north latitude ; thence west with said parallel to its intersection with the boundary line of the State of California ; thence with said boundary line to the place of beginning - be, and the same is hereby, erected into a temporary government, by the name of the Territory of New Mexico." The summit of the Sierra Madre referred to in the act is the Continental Divide in the San Juan Mountains.

Answer: Albert Fall

Albert Fall was New Mexico's second senator. He was involved in the Teapot Dome Scandal in 1921. This scandal involved Fall leasing California and Wyoming oil fields to Henry Sinclair and Edward Doheny without competitive bidding and accepting in return for an interest free $100,000 "loan". Oops. When caught, Fall later spent a year in prison and paid a fine.

Manuel Lujan, Jr. was also a congressman from New Mexico who went on to be the secretary of the interior. Unlike Fall, Lujan was a conscientious and ethical leader.

Answer: Santa Fe - it has almost always been the capital.

La Villa Real de la Santa Fé de San Francisco de Asís or Santa Fe was founded in 1610 as the capital of the Spanish province of Nuevo Mexico. After the War of Mexican Independence in 1810, Santa Fe was the capital of the Mexican province of Santa Fé de Nuevo México. In 1846, with the Mexican-American War, New Mexico Territory was claimed for the United States. This annexation was made official in 1848 with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Since territorial, and later state designation, Santa Fe has continuously served as the capital. It's also the highest altitude state capital at 7199 feet.

There is the belief among some that Las Vegas, New Mexico was the first territorial capital, albeit only for one day. The actual story behind this is a little different. During the Civil War, the Confederate troops (mostly Texans) fought the New Mexico militia at Val Verde, a battle the Confederates won when the Unionists retreated. The Rebs proceeded toward Santa Fe with the New Mexican Unionists in hot pursuit. When the Rebs approached Santa Fe, New Mexico Governor Henry Connelly and the Union troops at Fort Marcy left the capital in Santa Fe. They temporarily relocated the seat of power to Las Vegas, New Mexico. They took all of their supplies with them.

On March 10,1862, the Confederates entered evacuated Santa Fe, and held the city for about two weeks until their defeat at the battle of Apache Canyon on March 26,1862. The executive branch then moved back into Santa Fe. Las Vegas, during this time, was not designated as the "new" New Mexico capital, but rather the location of the executive branch in exile. Santa Fe remained the capital during this time even though it was occupied by Rebel troops.

*Oh, and for all of you thinking, "Wait, in question three didn't you say that San Gabriel de Yungé was New Mexico's first capital?" Well yes I did, but it wasn't a choice. Had it been a choice, it would have been the correct answer.

Answer: True

In 2007, according to the 2007 USDA Census of Agriculture (yes there is such a thing!), there were 2,635,041 head of cattle in the State of New Mexico. The July 1, 2007 population estimate for New Mexico, published by the Census Bureau (2007 round of estimates) was 1,969,915 head of people.

The 2007 Bureau of Business and Economic Research Population Estimate for New Mexico was 2,053,923. Either way, at that point, the cattle had New Mexicans out numbered.

Answer: Coal

New Mexico has produced three times the revenue from coal annually than the second place contender, copper. Coal may well remain the number one mineral produced in the state. In fact, in 2007 the Navajo Mine in northwestern New Mexico was the seventeenth highest coal producing mine in the US with production of 8,529,955 short tons.

Of note is that New Mexico has the highest production of perlite in the US. This is a volcanic glass used for insulation and bricks. In 2007 New Mexico produced about 12,800 troy ounces of gold (400 kilograms). This all came as a byproduct of copper mining. New Mexico ranked seventh in state gold production in 2007 and probably lower - some states' data is incomplete as mines withhold this data to avoid disclosing company proprietary information.