New Mexico’s Rio Grande Gorge Bridge by Kaye Spencer

Taos, New Mexico is one of my favorite places to visit. ('X' marks the Taos-spot on the map.) From where I live in the southeastern corner of Colorado, it’s just a long day trip, so I’m fortunate to be able to go there every few years. The history of the area draws me. With each visit, I make sure to find a new and different place to see.

 www.infoplease.com/atlas/state/newmexico.html

At any given time of the year in Taos, you’ll find “artsy” activities going on around town, which are always entertaining experiences. During the summer and early autumn, especially in the early morning, the skyline will be dotted with hot air balloons in flight.

Taos of the 1880s is one of the settings in my western historical romance (Gunslingers & Ghostriders – currently out-of-print for 2nd edition revision). A block from the Taos Plaza is an old church, Our Lady of Guadalupe, which I will talk about in a future blog.


My most recent trip to Taos was on October 1, 2014. After my usual drive around the historic downtown area, my destination was the Rio Grande Gorge, which is northwest of town about 12 miles. Having never been there nor having researched anything about the gorge, it was quite a surprise to one minute be driving over nondescript, flat prairie with the San Juan Mountain range off to the northwest and the Sangre de Cristo Mountain range on the east and the next minute to come upon a bridge out in the middle of nowhere. Really. Nowhere.

Rio Grande Gorge, Taos, NM - flat prairie view

Rio Grande Gorge Bridge - south side view from rest area

…the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge is the second highest bridge on the U.S. Highway System. The bridge is a three-span steel continuous-deck-truss structure with a concrete-filled steel-grid deck. It was called the "bridge to nowhere" while it was being built because the funding did not exist to continue the road on the other side.

At 650 feet (200 m) above the Rio Grande, it is the fifth highest bridge in the United States. The span is 1,280 feet; two 300-foot-long approach spans with a 600-foot-long main center span. The bridge was dedicated on September 10, 1965 and is a part of U.S. Route 64, a major east-west road.

In 1966 the American Institute of Steel Construction awarded the bridge "Most Beautiful Steel Bridge" in the "Long Span" category. The bridge has appeared in several films, including Natural Born Killers, Twins, She's Having a Baby, Wild Hogs, and Terminator Salvation.
http://taos.org/art/historic-landmarks?/item/2/Rio-Grande-Gorge-Bridge

 

Kaye Spencer fall 2014

There is raised concrete walking path along both sides of the bridge. A four-foot-high steel railing keeps the observer from toppling over the edge, but if you have vertigo, a dislike of looking down from a high vantage point, or you don’t particularly care for feeling the bridge move under your feet from the traffic (especially trucks) crossing the bridge, you won’t be a happy camper here. There are "look-out points" on both sides that allow you to step farther out over the edge of nothingness. From these places, you get a good view of the gorge floor. Even without binoculars or a zoom lens on your camera, you can see the white water rapids. Apparently over the years, these lookout stations have been the jump off point for suicides.

Rio Grande Gorge - rapids

On the west end of the bridge you'll find a dirt parking area and a plethora of roadside vendors, who have touristy wares to sell. A state park rest area, with additional parking, is a short walk up a slight slope. In March 2013, President Obama designated 242,455 acres, which includes the Rio Grande Gorge as the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument.

Geologically…

• The Rio Grande Gorge is a “rift valley”, which is a separation in the earth’s crust due to fault activity some 29 million years ago.
• The valley appeared before the river, which is not typical as rivers tend to create valleys, canyons, gorges, and similar geologic features.
• The gorge has many ancient petroglyphs along its walls.
• There are hidden hot springs and ancient ruins along the river.
• The river and immediate surrounding area offers camping, fishing (brown and rainbow trout and northern pike), boating, and rafting opportunities (Class II to Class V white water rapids).
• The gorge is approximately 50 miles long running northwest to southeast of Taos.

Rio Grande Gorge from the bridge looking southerly

Rio Grande Gorge from the bridge looking northerly

For more information about the Rio Grand Gorge and the bridge:

http://www.discovernewmexico.com/articles/rio_grande_gorge_geology/index.htm

Having had more than my fill of the bridge trembling under my feet, I wandered away from the highway and walked along the canyon rim as far as the safety fence allowed. As the highway noises faded, and I took in the sight of the vast, wide-open scenery, I imagined standing here a hundred and fifty years ago. I thought of cowboys searching for cattle and wild horses or outlaws hiding from the law. From the petroglyphs and ancient ruins that tell their tales 650 feet below, it wasn't difficult to imagine Native Americans engaged in spiritual prayer and ritual in this hidden sanctuary. I thought of the animals that sought shelter, food and water, and protection from predators down in the bottom of the gorge.

My husband tells stories of a favorite fishing spot in the southern end of the gorge. He also says there are places that have a reverence about them—places where ancient memories still linger. Maybe it was the coming dusk, and maybe it was just my writer's imagination, but there was a mystical feel in the air as I stood there on the canyon's rim watching the shadows lengthen and obliterate all traces of the gorge. Perhaps Mother Nature was drawing the blanket of serenity over the secrets that lay between the canyon's walls.



Until next time,

Kaye

Note: Photographs are Kaye’s – permission granted to use and redistribute

Santa Fé, New Mexico’s “Miraculous Staircase” by Kaye Spencer

At the end of the Old Santa Fe Trail stands the Loretto Chapel. Inside the Gothic structure is the staircase referred to as miraculous, inexplicable, marvelous and is sometimes called St. Joseph’s Staircase. The stairway confounds architects, engineers and master craftsmen. It makes over two complete 360-degree turns, stands 20’ tall and has no center support. It rests solely on its base and against the choir loft. The risers of the 33 steps are all of the same height. Made of an apparently extinct wood species, it was constructed with only square wooden pegs without glue or nails… (http://www.lorettochapel.com/history.html)



 
Within the well-preserved and quiet walls of Loretto Chapel in Santa Fé, New Mexico, is a staircase steeped in two mysteries that, for many people, have yet to be solved:

1. Who built the staircase?
2. How is its construction possible?

  

Miraculous Staircase

Orb, perhaps?

The Miraculous Staircase, as it is called, was built during a six-month period sometime between 1877 and 1881. To understand the story of the staircase, we must understand a little about the chapel’s history; the vision of its founding; the courage and determination of the people dedicated to its success; and the unwavering faith of these pioneering spirits.

Loretto Chapel’s story begins in 1853 and ends in 1971 when it became a private museum for the primary reason of preserving the Miraculous Staircase and the chapel.

Here is the truncated version of the chapel’s history from the chapel’s website:

1850

• Bishop Jean Baptisite Lamy appointed to Church in Santa Fe, New Mexico Territory
• Bishop Lamy begins letter writing plea for priests, brothers and nuns to come out and help him

1852

• Sisters of Loretto send seven sisters from Kentucky
• Sisters leave St. Louis and travel to Independence, Mo.
• Encounter cholera epidemic, Mother Superior dies, and one nun is too ill to continue and returns

1853 - 1873

• Sisters open Academy of Our Lady of Light (Loretto)
• Few students to 300 students (girls) in a short period of time
• Tuition, donations, and from the sisters own inheritances ($30,000) fund the school and chapel
• Property is purchased, work on Loretto Chapel begins
• School facilities cover a square block with 10 buildings
• Architects from Paris design Loretto Chapel in the gothic style of King Louis IX's Sainte-Chapelle

1876

• Stained glass is purchased in Paris, arrives by ship in New Orleans, goes by paddle boat to St. Louis, and then travels by covered wagon via Old Santa Fe Trail

1878

• Chapel is completed
• No access the choir loft twenty-two feet above the main floor except by ladder
• Due to limited space within the chapel, there isn’t room for a staircase

Choir loft at the back of Loretto Chapel

Choir loft at the back of Loretto Chapel

[1877-1881]

• Staircase is built – without a railing

Picture of a picture of the staircase without rails

1887

• Staircase railing is added

Close-up of staircase railing

1880s & 1890s

• Chapel undergoes additions, renovations, such as the introduction of the Stations of the Cross, Gothic altar, frescoes

Front/Altar of Loretto Chapel

Pre-Vatican II Confessional & staircase - Loretto Chapel

Now, back to the mysteries of the staircase…

According to the history/legend on the Loretto Chapel website, the Miraculous Staircase is believed to have been constructed by St. Joseph, patron saint of carpenters, who answered the sisters' prayers for a solution to the access problem to the choir loft, when he arrived at the chapel with a donkey and a toolbox, and said he was looking for work. When he finished the staircase, he disappeared without payment or thanks.

Is the Miraculous Staircase a miracle, fabrication, or outright hoax? To quote a line from 'The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance'…

When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.

The 1998, made-for-television movie, The Staircase, stars Barbara Hershey as the mother superior and William Peterson as the mysterious carpenter. Yes, there's the Hollywood spin that fiddles with the *facts*; the story is a little slow, contrived, and melodramatic at times; but it’s still worth spending the 95 minutes to watch it, even if you only watch it once.

Other resources:
http://www.csicop.org/si/show/helix_to_heaven/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/15/AR2010011501810.html

Note: I took the pictures I used in this blog post. Please feel free to copy/download/use the images as you like.

Until next time,

Kaye
 

 
Fall in love…faster, harder, deeper with Kaye Spencer romances

www.kayespencer.com
Twitter - @kayespencer

Books and maps are like dear old friends - by Kaye Spencer

In 1976 or thereabouts, I came across two advertisements in the back of a Louis L'Amour novel. You’ve seen them. They all look something like this:

One of the ads was for a set of a Time-Life books about the Old West, and the other ad was for old west maps drawn by Perry C. Van Arsdale. I wanted the entire set of books so badly that I scrimped and saved pennies so I’d have enough saved up to get a money order to buy the next one. Each month, when a new volume arrived, I read it cover-to-cover and back again. They probably cost around $13 each, and I bought them one at a time in a book-of-the-month type situation.

Over the years, I've carted this set of books around throughout my many moves. They’ve made it through a basement flood; a partial house fire; an aquarium slowly leaking on the shelf above them; toddlers with crayons and scissors; and puppies with sharp teeth. ;-) I still rely on them in my writing.

This is an etsy.com image of the complete set, since mine are in storage due to the still-on-hold basement remodel after our flood last fall.

I purchased four Van Arsdale maps in 1978-ish. I don't recall how much they cost at the time, but maybe $10 or so. They, too, have their battle scars, but they're all still in good shape. My four maps are: Pioneer Texas, Pioneer Colorado, Pioneer New Mexico, and Pioneer Arizona. I kept the four maps rolled together and in a mailing tube until 2012. So about 35 years after purchasing, my dad mounted them in frames with protective glass. I cherish these maps even more now, because the framing was the last woodworking my dad did before he died in 2013. 

The pictures below give you somewhat of an idea of the hand-drawn, detailed, historical information they contain: dates of railroads, telegraph and stage lines, stage stops, freight roads, water holes, forts, etc. This map measures 35 inches tall by 28 inches wide (inside the frame). My four maps aren't the same dimensions, but they are similar in size.

Full view Pioneer Texas map

 

Close-up details San Angelo area

 Legend example

I visited the Perry C. Van Arsdale website, and I was so pleased to see the maps are still available for purchase, that I bought three. ;-) Talk about a trip down memory lane. This is the website: http://www.vanarsdalemaps.com/

Back when I bought the set of books and the four maps, I really couldn't afford them. But something urged me to buy them, but not in an impulse purchase sort of way. My commitment for the books was about two years, and I bought the maps one at a time as I could afford them. It was more of a "you need to buy these because you'll use them in your writing someday".

I'd written short stories ever since I was in elementary school, and I wrote my first novel in high school (it has mercifully disappeared it was so terrible). So being a writer/author was something I'd yearned for ever since I can remember. I started writing my first western novel in 1979, originally titled "Epitaph for a Bounty Man", and I finally published it in 2006 as a western romance called "Lonely Places", under my other pen name, A.L. Debran.

In the early years of writing this story, I plotted the character’s travels on my Pioneer Colorado and New Mexico maps, while relying heavily upon the information in the Time-Life books to make sure my details were as accurate as I could make them. Back then, these were my only sources for historical research.

I treasure my Time-Life Old West books and my Van Arsdale maps as I treasure and appreciate my oldest and dearest friends. They've been with me through the clichéd 'thick and thin', and they've never let me down.

Until next time,

Kaye

Fall in love...faster, harder, deeper with Kaye Spencer romances
www.kayespencer.com
Twitter - @kayespencer