Road Trip~Mountainair, NM

Laughing Orca Ranch is located less than an hour north of the town of Mountainair. 

Mountainair was founded in 1903 and named for the cool breezes blowing down off the nearby Manzano Mountains. The Homestead Act of 1889 brought many settlers into the area due to the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad constructing of a cutoff route to Belen through the Abo Pass. 

Mountainair was strategically sited at the summit of Abo Pass. The cutoff was complete in 1906 and the first passengers rolled through Mountainair in 1907. The Mountainair Depot was active until AT&SF ended services in the late 1960’s.

Today, the railroad no longer maintains a depot in Mountainair since the ATSF, now the Burlington Northern & Santa Fe, switched its operations from passenger and mail delivery to solely freight. Despite this, the Town still has a railroad character due to an ever growing number of freight trains still passing through town.

At one time Mountainair was known as the “Pinto Bean Capital of the World”.
Mountainair held the world’s largest pinto bean processing center and employed hundreds of workers. At peak production 765 carloads, grown on about 45,000 acres, were shipped out in one season. The World Wars boosted production as these beans were shipped overseas to feed American soldiers.

The population grew to almost 5000 residents. But in 1946, a ten-year drought struck the region. Because the farmers primarily used rainfall to water the crops, known as “dry land” farming, the drought brought an end to the pinto bean production in the area. Government subsidy was paid to the farmers to not grow anything, so as to preserve the topsoil and protect it from being blown away. This led to a shift in the economy from bean farming to ranching.

Water has always been an issue for Mountainair. The choice of its site was based on the requirements of the railroad and not on the availability of the natural resource. Early settlers hauled their water from various locations. Mountainair is above the Chupadera Basin aquifer, which is deep and often undrinkable due to a high concentration of gypsum. Today the primary water supply is in the Estancia Basin aquifer and is pumped from Willard, a tiny hamlet 15 miles northeast of Mountainair.

Due to the water issues and the fluctuating economy, the population often fluctuates, too. Currently the population is less than 2,000 people. This is one of the places where livestock outnumbers the human occupants, and signs in the windows of most of the businesses show that the real estate market is a buyer’s and renter’s market.

 

Even the store fronts along the main street, transformed and transported back to the 1950’s through the magic of Hollywood and hard work of film crews, are up for sale. The upcoming movie, "My One and Only" that stars Rene Zellweger and Kevin Bacon, was filmed in Mountainair in 2008 and is scheduled for release this year.

The real estate office doesn’t have a whole lot of traffic, though.

But you can get a great deal on a unique historic hotel and restaurant.

 

The Shaffer Hotel was built by Clem "Pop" Shaffer in 1923, after his blacksmith shop burned. The hotel served railroad travelers and workers. Shaffer decorated the building - most notably the interior & exterior of the dining room - with graphics inspired by Native American Pueblo Art Deco designs. Shaffer also built the furniture and fireplaces, as well as a concrete fence to the west of the building.

(You can see some of the interesting furniture, structures and inside of the hotel with the link above). Some even say it is haunted. Read more HERE. And HERE. Fascinating stuff!)

 

But there are some businesses hanging on and doing well, like Guston Hardware.

And My Bank.

Uncle Walter’s Thrift Store.

Today a few subdivisions are being created beyond town limits that continue to attract new residents to the local area. These subdivisions advertise to their target audience in the national media to draw new residents to the area.

And Mountainair has also seen a revitalization through the arts. This coupled with the cultural and natural attractions of the Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monuments, Cibola National Forest, and Manzano State Park, has seen an increase in tourism to the area.

I would have to agree about the arts. One only has to walk around and explore to find some interesting art to photograph.

 

The Salinas Pueblo Missions Monument Visitor Center is located in Mountainair and manages three mission church ruins (Quarai, Abo, and Gran Quivira). Because of the close proximity of the ruins, Mountainair is currently known as “Gateway to Ancient Cities.”

And the next stop on our road trip will be to one of those Ancient Cities. I hope you’ll join me!

From the Tower of,