Photo by Patrick Allen Mohn, 505-471-9157

Cerrillos

Central region of New MexicoThough the tiny town of Los Cerrillos wasn’t founded until 1879, the area’s history dates back more than 1,500 years to a time when turquoise and lead deposits played an important role in the lives of the first Native American inhabitants and influenced early Spanish explorations and the settlement of New Mexico .

Before the Spanish arrived, the Native Americans had mined turquoise in the mineral rich hills around Los Cerrillos. Turquoise mined here even made its way into the Spanish Crown Jewels after the arrival and commencement of mining by the Spanish. At one point, the Spanish actually considered making Los Cerrillos the capitol of Nuevo Mexico because of the mining activity here.

The mineral boom of the Cerrillos Hills peaked in the mid 1880’s when miners were extracting gold, silver, lead, zinc and turquoise from their crusty depths. At this time there were some 3,000 prospectors working the area hills and in the leisure time supported some 21 saloons , five brothels, four hotels, and several newspapers in the city. The town became so well known that it was seriously considered for the capitol of New Mexico . After Cerrillos' peak mineral production in the 1880's coal mining began to take over as the mainstay of the economy in the area.

Few of the area mines survived into the 20th century, the biggest of which was the American Turquoise Company, a subsidiary of Tiffany’s of New York. With the commencement of World War I several of the lead mining operations were reopened, including the Cash Entry and the Tom Paine mines. By the time the depression began in 1929, all large company mining was ceased. Today, some small private mines continue to be worked by hobbyists, but the majority of turquoise mined in New Mexico still comes from these beautiful hills.

The charming, tree-shaded town of Los Cerrillos is now officially a "ghost town," though many residents continue to live there and the town thrives as a Santa Fe day trip destination. On some days, these dusty streets are filled with traffic much like they were more than a century ago. The washboard dirt roads of Los Cerrillos and the remaining buildings on its old Front Street look much like a movie set, and in fact have been used as in some 13 movies. The films The Nine Lives of Elfego Baca , Young Guns, Young Guns II, and Vampires were made there, as well as John Wayne’s 1972 movie, The Cowboys, filmed just north of the town.

http://www.cerrillosnewmexico.com/

For more information about this area try the Turquoise Trail Business association site
http://www.turquoisetrail.org/

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