Tales From The Back Road: Land of Spirits and Treasure

The Tularosa Basin has been good to us at Twin City. Over the past few months, we’ve traversed its canyons and explored the rugged trails. We are not the first and won’t be the last. The area around the village of Tularosa has been inhabited by humans for thousands of years. In the centuries since, wanderers, explorers, homesteaders, fortune seekers, and conquistadors have passed through this area. The area is rich in history and lore, the land has traded hands many times. The earliest inhabitants to the area left their footprints etched into the sands of time. Just a few years ago, human footprints were found at White Sands National Park not far from Tularosa. It is the earliest unequivocal evidence of human activity in the Americas. Carbon dating places the footprints between 21,000 and 23,000 years old, around the last Ice Age.

Birds eye view of the final stretch down Coyote Canyon, in Tularosa, NM.

The canyons and grasslands were also home to the mysterious Anasazi, the civilization that created the cliff dwellings and predate Christopher Columbus. This advanced civilization mysteriously disappeared, was it drought? Famine? Little is known of what happened to these once great people. Local legends now claim the souls of the Anasazi haunt the vast canyons; at night their whispers can be heard throughout cliffs. Their descendants, the Apache soon took ownership of this land and guarded it with extreme prejudice. In the 16th century, the Spanish moved through the area on their way North, seeking splendor and riches of the fabled Seven Cities of Cibola.

The conquistadors quickly realized how treacherous and dangerous New Mexico could be. Along the dreaded “Jornada Del Muerto” or Dead Man’s Journey, Spanish traders and explorers would trek a nine-day, 90 mile stretch of waterless, dry, arid, and unforgiving desert. Hard to tell how many men, women, and children lost their lives, records show some groups would lose up to 500 souls. The natives weren’t very forgiving either, clashes with Apache tribes plagued the conquistadors too.

This is where the legend of the Pavla Blanca is born. Driven by greed, the Spanish trekked North in hopes of finding the city of gold. One of these, Conquistadors was named Francisco Vazquez de Coronado. One of his trusted aids Hernando de Luna accompanied Coronado during the expedition. Too dangerous to make the trip, de Luna’s lover “Manuela” stayed behind in Mexico City, awaiting his return. Soon Coronado’s expedition set off with intents of finding the fabled city of gold. Somewhere past the Organ Mountains, Coronado’s expedition was ambushed by a band of Apache warriors. In the chaos of battle, some of Coronado’s men laid dead, Coronado and others escaped. But de Luna, gravely wounded and lost from the main party followed the fading sunset.

Legend says, de Luna wandered into the great white gypsum dunes succumbing to his injuries he was swallowed by the ever-shifting sands. His beloved Manuela never to see him again, waited for her lover to return. It is said, that before departing de Luna promised Manuela, he’d marry her. Upon hearing of the ill-fated journey, Manuela was stricken with grief and despair. Unconvinced of her lover’s demise, Manuela left Mexico City and walked North in hopes of finding Hernando. It is said, in her voyage she carried a white gown destined to be her wedding dress. Manuela soon reached those same white dunes, where she too wandered in hopes of finding Hernando within the sands. It is believed that the ghost of Manuela haunts the dunes of the great White Sands to this day. Reports of her ghost say she appears just before sunset, in her flowing white dress as a wraith flying over the dunes. Others claim its merely the wind whipping up the sand and a trick of the eye.

Tales of lost Spanish treasures and Aztec gold is said to litter the desert mountains in the area. It is said the Apache would often hide their loot in caves and crevices inside the mountains. One such mountain is Victorio Peak, a high rocky mountain in the Hembrillo Basin, in southern New Mexico within the White Sands Missile Range. The mountain was the fortress of Apache Chief Victorio of the Tchihendeh People. Local legend says the site was used to hide fortunes raided by the Apache. Theories allege that the treasure included caches of gold bars, armor, and precious jewels. Part of the treasure was supposedly discovered by Milton Ernest Noss in 1937. The site was eventually acquired by the US Army and access to the mountain was prohibited. But legend says, most of the treasure remains or was partially found by the US Army.

The Apache raids on foreigners continued during the expansion of the West. Homesteaders hoping to find fertile soil found conflict with the local inhabitants. Just East of Tularosa lies the Round Moutain, also called “Dead Man’s Hill”. In April 1868, a small group US Army soldiers and Tularosa settlers skirmished with about 200 Mescalero Apache Indians. The site, now marked with a cross to commemorate the event. Our trails in New Mexico continue to follow in the footsteps of explorers and adventure seekers of old. While our intent is purely recreational, the same passion for life and adventure fuels us. We too continue the legacy blazed by those before us as we too seek our own fortunes.

We will continue to push further into those remote canyons and desert paths deep into New Mexico for years to come. If you love exploration, nature, and the thrill of adventure then we look forward to meeting you! Twin City is not a Jeep club, it’s not an overland team, in fact, we might not be anything like anyone else. Off road team? Yeah, technically. But our vision goes farther than who can crawl over the biggest rock or who can descend down the steepest hill. We are a group of wanderers, a team of explorers, a family of homesteaders, a bunch of fortune seekers, a band of modern-day conquistadors. We’ll see you out there fellow traveler.