THE CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA
N
New Mexico, a territory of the United States now
(Jan., 1911) awaiting only the completion of its Con-
stitution and the acceptance thereof by the Federal
authorities to rank as a state. It lies between 31° 20'
and 37° N. lat., and between 103° 2' and 109° 2' W.
long.; it is bounded on the north by Colorado, on the
east b}' Oklahoma and Texas, on the south by Texas
and the Republic of Mexico, and on the west by Ari-
zona. It is about 370 miles from east to west, 33.5 from
north to south, and has an area of 122,580 sq. miles,
with mountain, plateau, and valley on either side of the
Rio Grande. The average rainfall is 12 inches, usually
between July and September, so that spring and sum-
mer are dry, and agriculture and grazing suffer. The
climate is uniform, the summers, as a rule, moderate,
and, the atmosphere being dry, the heat is not opjjres-
sive. In the north-west and north-east the winters
are long, but not severe, while in the central and south-
ern portions the winters are usually short and mild.
In the United States census of 1900 the population
was 141,282, of which 33 per cent was illiterate; in
the census ofl910 the population was 327,396. About
one-half of the inhabitants are of Spanish descent.
The soil in the valleys is a rich and sandy loam, capable, with irrigation, of producing good crops. It is also rich in gold and silver, and important mines have been opened near Deming, Silver City, and Lordsburg, in the south-western part of the state. There are copper mines near Glorieta in the north, and near Santa Rita in the south; while coal is found in great abundance near Gallup, Cerillos, and in the north-west. The mineral production of ISfew Mexico for 1907 was $7,517,843, that of coal alone amounting to .$3,832,128. In 1909 the net product in coal, shipped from the mines, was 2,708,624 tons, or a total value of $3,881,508. A few forests exist in the east- ern plains, and abundant timber is found in the north- western and central districts. Though mining and commerce as well as agriculture are now in process of rapid development, New Mexico is still a grazing country. Sheep-farming is the most important and lucrative industry; cattle-farming is also of importance. In 1908 and 1909 severe droughts caused the sheep industry to decline somewhat. In 1909 New Mexico shipped 700,800 head of sheep; in
1908, 835,800; in 1907, 975,800. The wool shorn in
1909, from over 4,000,000 .sheep, was 18,000,000 lbs., which brought an averageof 19 cents per lb., yielding a cash production of .$3,420,000. The shipments of cat- tle in the same year amounted to 310,326, and 64,380 hides were handled in the .same period. Farming is successfully carried on in the Rio Grande and other valleys, Indian corn, wheat, and garden products being the principal crops. For the year 1907 the ter- ritorial governnor's report placed the value of the agricultural products at $25,000,000, but this was a
XI.— 1
gross overestimate. The important manufacturing
interests are those connected with mining, railroads,
etc. Lumbering is being developed by capital
brought from the East, and large lumber mills are now
in operation, notabh' at Albuquerque. There are 75
banks (41 national and 34 territorial) in the state,
with an aggregate capital of .$3,274,086. The bonded
debt of the state is $1,002,000, of which $89,579.49 is
covered by the sinking fund.
GeneralHistorv. — In April, 1536, there arrived at Culiacdn, in the Mexican Province of Sinaloa, Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, Andres Dorantes, Alon.so del Castillo Maldonado, and the nc^V" K.sfcvanico, the only survivors of the ill-fated expe- dition of Narvlez whichhad left Spain in 1528. Mendoza, the Viceroy of Mexico was fold astonishing tales l)y Cabeza de Vaca concerning the wealth of the couji- try to the north, and lie forthwith commanded Coro- nado, governor of the Province of Nueva Galicia, to prepare an expe- dition. The preparations went slowly, and Men- doza ordered Friar Marcos de Niza to make a prelim- inary exploration of the northern country. The Franciscan left Culiacd,n in 1539, accompanied by Estevanico and a few Indians. After untold hard- ships he reached the famous pueblo of ZuiSi, took pos- session of all the surrounding country, planted the cross, and named the territory "The New Kingdom of St. Francis". Marcos de Niza is, therefore, rightly called the discoverer of New Mexico and Arizona. He then returned to Mexico, and his narrative, especially what he said about the seven cities of Cibola, was an incentive to Coronado, who set out from Culiacdn in 1540, accompanied by Marcos and a large body of Spaniards and Indians. Coronado crossed Sonora (now Arizona) and entered New Mexico in July, 1.540. The expedition returned in 1542, but, although many regions were discovered, no conquests were made nor colonies established. In 1563 an expedition was led into New Mexico by Francisco de Ibarra: it is worth mentioning only for the reason that de Ibarra re- turned in 1565 with the boast that he had discovered "a new Mexico", which was, probably, the origin of the name. Espejo entered New Mexico in 1581, but accomplished nothing. In this same year a Francis-
Mexico
