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The first permanent
English settlement in North America was Jamestown in
1607, located in what is now the great state of
Virginia. Meanwhile, far from the madding crowds back
east, the future inhabitants of New Mexico were settling
a town of their own-Santa Fe, founded in 1609. New
Mexico was, and still is today, a cultural mix of
Mexico, Spain, Native America, and the Anglo explorers
from Europe's northern half. The sometimes historically
tentative marriage has lately exploded into a world of
color and vibrance that is hard to match, and even
harder to describe.
Just think about this: the Rocky Mountains, San Juan,
and Sangre de Cristo ranges; the Canadian, Gila, and
Pecos Rivers; and the great Rio Grande all carve their
peculiar topographical niches here. In the middle of all
this, there are basins and plateaus too numerous to
mention, six different vegetation zones (most states
claiming more than two are considered downright
polymorphous), a city that's nearly 400 years old and
the booming metropolis of Albuquerque (spell that fast,
with your eyes closed). With the state's fierce
diversity extending to its most remote geographic
corners, it's no wonder people have learned how to get
along here. Is it, as the state slogan says, the "Land
of Enchantment"? We're still brushing the stardust from
our eyes.
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