A Tour of the American Southwest

 Back in early October I took a couple weeks to drive through the American Southwest on my way to and from my mother's house in Southern California. I knew I had some boxes there that were left behind when I moved to KC so I thought I'd make a trip out of it.  And here it is!

The first stop along the way was Dodge City. It is a very touristy spot but, the Boot Hill Museum holds some really great items.

It is definitely worth the visit. The next stop was a sleeping stop in Clayton NM. I did a search to see what might be around, and came up with a couple things. First, just about 30 minutes out of town was the Clayton Lake State Park, and home of dinosaur tracks. This was really cool to see.

They were all filled with water from the rain the night before. probably makes them stand out more for photos anyway.

Then, back in town was the gravesite of the notorious outlaw Black Jack Ketchum. Unlucky is probably more like it. He got the date wrong for the train holdup and showed up by himself to rob the train. The gang had attempted it the week before I think it was. Anyway, the conductor was ready, and gave ole Black Jack a load of buckshot, severely wounding and unhorsing him. The posse found him lying by the tracks. Took him to jail in Clayton, tried him and sentenced him to hang. Unfortunately for Black Jack, they had never had a hanging in Clayton so no one really knew what to do. The hangman made the rope too long, and when he was dropped, it pulled off his head. I guess it was a quicker death than it would have been.

Heading out from Clayton I was on the way to Pecos National Historical Park when I saw a sign for Ft Union. Built prior to the Civil War to suppress the Apache, it was the gathering place for Union Forces before they marched into New Mexico to meet the Confederate threat from Texas. So I took the 20 minute drive off the interstate to see what was there. The fort is all ruins, being built of adobe for the most part, and abandoned in the late 1800s. But, it was a really cool stop regardless. 

The two pics above show the remains of the Civil War era redoubt

The jail was the only non-adobe structure

The best preserved adobe structure is the hospital

Then it was on to Pecos National Historical Park. Pecos is home to the ruins of the old spanish mission, and the ruins of the Pecos Pueblo.  Definitely worth a visit. The ruins of the mission were one of the landmarks along the Santa Fe trail for those travelling west. 

The second thing to see at this park is the Glorieta Pass battlefield, or a portion thereof. There are some good hiking trails, and some good signage. Unfotunately, there are so many trees that the battlefield sightlines are impossible to see. And envisioning the battle was near impossible. I guess they do have tours from the main visitors center, which is a mile or two from the battlefield portion. Most of the preserved battlefield sits on what was known as artillery hill.

The battlefield as it looked back then

The next day was the Painted Desert/Petrified Forest for some cool scenery and some unexpected historical items pueblo ruins and pictographs

Lots of stunning views to go with the many pictographs and the pueblo ruins.

After this it was the Grand Canyon

A few days at moms then a return through Utah stopping at Bryce Canyon

Canyonlands, which is a stunning park, and a must see in my opinion,.

And Arches

Ran into a big snowstorm crossing the Rockies, so I cancelled the planned drive up Pike's Peak. By the time I got out of Denver I was too tired and tired of driving to check out Sand Creek, or Ft Hays Kansas the next day. I just wanted to get home. Maybe next year. I kind of have in my mind a Yellowstone, Rosebud Creek, Little Bighorn, Mt Rushmore circuit. We will see how that goes.

Next weekend I'll get a painting post up. I have several planned, just gotta do 'em.