March 8 & 9 Silver City New Mexico

New Mexico

We are now traveling in New Mexico. The landscape has changed to more rolling but as always
there are mountains where ever you look in any direction

Silver City

Silver city is another mining town that has had to transform itself into modern day. They have done a pretty good job with an excellent tourist information center. The down town is just art galleries, books stores, and a good variety of antique and collectable shops. They are also the entrance to the Gila Cliff dwellings. They also have an excellent craft Brewer and Distillery called Little Toad Creek.

Around 1875 this area was producing $16,000 of silver bullion a week.

To day this is known as "The Big Ditch", but it was originally the main street of Silver city.
In 1895 flood waters 12 feet high and 300 feet across roared through the heart of the town 
and wiped out the mail street and left a ditch 35 feet deep, in 1903 another food deepened
 the ditch right to the bed rock at 55 feet. The excavation ran for about 15 miles.

This old theater is still operating . A bit hard to see but it has the typical kiosk between the
entrance and the exit to collect the money.

Lots of old buildings like his on the main street.

I want a shirt like this. They cut 2 shirts in half and sewed them back together

We camped in the Gila National forest. These guys were hanging around

Gila Cliff Dwellings

The Mogollon people lived in this region from late 1200 until around 1300.

These dwelling were made up of 4 caves and 40 rooms and they believe numerous

 families resided here at the same time

Hiking up to the dwellings

The entrance to the caves

some of the rooms,

Looking out from the entrance to the dwellings. The drop of is a few hundred feet into the canyon below. A one time this area had to have been under water for the caves to be created .