U.S. Period

U. S. Period

After the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1846, New Mexico became a U.S. territory. One of the primary activities during the U.S period was mining. Turquoise was mined from various locations along the north edge of the Ortiz Mountains before the arrival of the Europeans and mining of turquoise was commercially pursued during the U.S. period. Gold mining and milling also took place around the now extinct settlement of Dolores, which had been established during the Mexican Period.

The railroad came into the Basin in 1880 and still passes through the village of Lamy at the northeast edge of the basin. A settlement called Manzanares was present between the Pueblo site of that name and Lamy during construction of the railroad. Manzanares Pueblo long predated the railroad and the settlement of the same name, but are another example of subsequent cultures overlaying earlier ones. Also in the Rio Galisteo valley east of Lamy Archbishop Lamy himself had a residence. The Cerro Colorado which overlooks the modern village of Lamy was the source of stone for Bishop Lamy’s grand project of building a cathedral in Santa Fe. This project was clearly dependent on the rail head in the village of Lamy.