Southwest New Mexico History
American Southwest New Mexico has a rather long and interesting history dating way back to the 16th century when it was captured by Spain, then later on, it was claimed in 1821 by Mexico. However, not long afterwards in 1848, it became part of USA- after the signing of the Guadalupe Hidalgo treaty. New Mexico's population is made up of three sets including the Native Americans, Hispaniola, and the Anglo populations. The prevalence of tension between the three sets is a clear reminder of the rivalry that existed in the early days. This rivalry has inspired so many writers to document their different versions of the New Mexico's history through novels such as “The Milagro Beanfield War” by Marmon Silko in 1974.
Southwest New Mexico still possesses the old west kind of lifestyle characterized by cowboys and cattle driving. In New Mexico, you will find the great flat plains and rugged mountain ranges that form a great part of its beautiful landscape. While the large part of the state is rocky and unfit for agriculture, most of its southern provinces are in indispensable to farming. They account for the biggest percentage of the state's agricultural products such as milk, maize, and other vegetables. The level at which a region is elevated from the sea level determines the productivity of the area in terms of vegetation. Higher a region is elevated, the more indispensable it becomes to farming since there is abundance of rainfall. Northwest part of New Mexico is the Colorado plateau which has many volcanic mountains formed by the lava flows that occurred in the past.
The first immigrants to the American Southwest New Mexico settled along the streams for easier access to water since water was very scarce in most of the other parts of the state. After Spain captured the area, they occupied the large part of central valley where they could easily access Rio Grande. Today, New Mexico is ranked among the states with lowest per capita income. The major economic activity in this state is service sector while a few extractive industries occupy the remainder. However, tourism industry is been a major boost to the state's economy as it hosts millions of visitors a year. Tourist influx hits the peak mostly during summer time especially in the high class resorts situated at the cool mountains of New Mexico. Visitors normally flock these areas to enjoy the great sceneries around the mountains, go fishing, attend the famous redoes and other festivals, or even go for camping. There are other tourist enchantment areas such as the parks and historical monuments situated in different parts of the state.
During the early days, transport sector was very poor to a point where it took someone about six months to move from Mexico City to Santa Fe. However, the situation has been improving since the establishment of the railroads in the late 1880s. Today in the American southwest New Mexico, transport industry has taken tremendous steps towards the improvement of travel services. There are several highways linking the major parts of the state, railway network across the country, and a functional air transportation that links different centers of population.
