Looking west from Morphy Lake, the
highest point is Cebolla Mountain at 11,870
ft. North of this peak several small, bowlshaped or amphitheatrelike reentrants occur in the ridge of Precambrianrocks.These
featureswere formed by small mountain glaciers that developedon the east side of ihe
photocollection
NMBMMR
byRobertW.
Eveleth,
NewMexico
Bureau
ol MinesandMineral
Resources,
Socorro,
NM87801
Ho for the silver camps of the the Black
Range!Suchwas the cry of the 19th century
prospectorand miner in territorial New Mexico. By earlv 1.881the buccaneerof oick and
pan could, if he so desired,purchasea ticket
and enjoy the first classaccommodationsof
San
the Atchison, Topeka and SantaFe Railroad,
Antonio
disembarkat San Marcial or Engle, and procure passageon an adequate (if not luxuriously appointed)coachof the Pioneeror other
History and surrounding area
stage line. "Stages (left) promptly upon the
When Mora was founded in 1835. New arrival of trains" for the Black Range silver
camps including St. Charles, Philipsburg,
Grafton, Robinson,Fairview,Roundy, Chlo- '
ride, and Hermosa(Fig.1) and went "ihrough
by daylight" in 8 to lOiours if we can betie"ve
the advertised schedule (Fig. 2). Oa if the
Iucky traveler was bound for the famed silver
small group of Irish founded the community mines of Lake Valley he could ride the rails
of Cleveland just west of Mora, naming it right into town.
The readerneed not feel dismayedif these
after PresidentCleveland.
Numerous scenicareas are near Morphy place names sound unfamiliar; Iike stars in
LakeStatePark.Westof Mora, NM-3 croises the heavens,these camps blazed for a time
the Sangrede Cristo Mountains to Taos.Much and then quickly faded with the silver crash
of the route follows the Rio Pueblo. a beau- of 1893,never to shineagain.Sadly,they and
tiful mountain stream with excellent trout the wav of life brieflv described above have
fishing. The high ridge west of Morphy Lake vanishedin the misti of time, although Fairis within the PecosWildernessin which nu- view (now Winston), Chloride, and Lake
merous trails lead past spectacularmountain Valley partially survive today. But memories
vistas and alpine lakes and meadows. San- live on in imagessuch as the ones shown on FIGURE1-Location map of the Black Range,
tiago, Pacheco,and EncantadoLakesoccupy the following page (Figs. 3-5), a small sam- southwestNew Mexico,and silvermining camps
cirques.Difficult to reach, they offer excellent pling of the more than 1,000 views in the in that areabeforethe silvercrashof 1893.
fishing plus the exhilaration of the alpine New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral
country above timberline. North of Mori via Resources'photo collection.
The core of the collectionconsistsof pho- therefore, their use may be restricted. The
tos made by various Bureau engineersand large majority, however, can be used freely
geologistsfrom the 1940'sto the present,but if source credits and acknowledgmentsare
more than a century of mining and industrial 8rven.
activity is represented.Some of the images
The collectionwas recentlyenhancedwith
have been purchased from other collections, the acquisitionof a large group of U.S. Geosuchas the Rio GrandeHistoricalCollection/ logical Survey photos and, most -p=
Facilities
NMSU
and the Silver City Museum, and,
Morphy Lake has been enlarged by conskuction of a small dam. Water comes into
the lake via an intake canal near the north
side of the dam. The natural drainage area
--O
FOR
t--E
:BL-A-C==
R-A-\TG:EI
!
is quite small, and the lake basin has a max-.._lVfA.l+
imum storagecapacityof a little more than
400acreft (about 130million gal) and covers
an area of about 25 acres.The State Game
and Fish Department stocks the lake with
rainbow trout. Tables, fireplaces, and toilet
facilities are provided in the park, but drinking water is not available.
PIOI'IEEH
PIOI\IEE
Stryq
Stugq
LINEI
llrakes
Corlnectlotrt
RLACII
RAIrtlGE,
LINE!
Rallroad
wlth
at SAN
on tbc llne of tlreR.R.
polnt
!|ARlcIAL,
belng
the nearcat
Slxty mlleesavedbytaklrrgthtsroute.
to
thc
THROUGHIIY DAYLIGHT: TTMD.8 TO 10 HOURS.
i<ARNS & MoCONKEY, Prop's.
FIGURE 2-Advertisement for Karns & McConkey's Pioneer Stageline from San Marcial to the Black
Range.-Taken trom Beckwith'sguide to the great mining and stock-lrowingdistrictof central New Mexico:
Times Printingllorse, Leavenworth, Kansas, ca. 1881. Original is courtesy of Huntington Library,
rare book no. 3M952, p. 77.
New Mexico Geology November 1984