Silver City

Silver City is a town in Grant County and the county seat. and the home of Western New Mexico University It is located in southwestern New Mexico, USA. In 2013, the population was 10,273.

History

The valley that is now the site of Silver City once served as an Apache campsite. With the arrival of the Spaniards, the area became known for its copper mining. After the American Civil War, a settlement developed and became known as la Ciénega de San Vicente (the Marsh of St. Vincent). With a wave of American prospectors, the pace of change increased, and Silver City was founded in the summer of 1870. The founding of the town occurred shortly after the discovery of silver ore deposits at Chloride Flat, on the hill just west of the farm of Captain John M. Bullard and his brother James. Following the silver strike, Captain Bullard laid out the streets of the Silver City, and a bustling tent city quickly sprang to life. Although the trajectory of Silver City's development was to be different from the hundreds of other mining boom towns established during the same period, Captain Bullard himself never lived to see even the beginnings of permanence, as he was killed in a confrontation with Apache raiders less than a year later, on February 23, 1871.

The town's violent crime rate was substantial during the 1870s; Grant County Sheriff Harvey Whitehill was elected in 1874, and gained a sizable reputation for his abilities at controlling trouble. In 1875, Whitehill became the first lawman to arrest Billy the Kid, known at the time as William Bonney. Whitehill arrested him twice, both times for theft in Silver City, and would later claim that Bonney was a likeable kid, whose stealing was a result more of necessity than criminality. His mother is buried in the town cemetery. In 1878, the town hired its first town marshal, "Dangerous Dan" Tucker, who had been working as a deputy for Whitehill since 1875.

Mrs. Lettie B. Morrill, in a talk given to the Daughters of the American Revolution chapter in Silver City on September 19, 1908, stated, "John Bullard was placed in the first grave dug in Silver City, having been killed while punishing the Indians for an attack upon the new town; the brothers were Prospectors about the country for many years. The last one left for the old home about 1885, saying, ‘It is only a matter of time until the Indians get me if I stay here.’" It was also known as the starting point for many expeditions hunting treasures such as the Lost Adams Diggings.

In 1893, New Mexico Normal School was established. It was later known as New Mexico Western State Teachers College. In 1963, it was renamed Western New Mexico University. Today, WNMU offers 8 graduate degrees, 41 baccalaureate degrees, and 18 associate degree and certificate programs. The WNMU athletic team is referred to as the Mustangs. Recognition for the university includes the 2003 Zia Award, the 2005 Best Practice Award (for the School of Education), the 2006 Chamber of Commerce Large Business of the Year Award, the 2008 Piñon Award, and the 2008 Compañero Award.

The town had originally been designed with the streets running north to south. The town was also built in the path of normal water runoff. Businesses sprang up, and people learned to deal with the inconveniences of the summer rain. Silver City was built with high sidewalks in the downtown area to accommodate high flood waters. Meanwhile, uncontrolled cattle grazing thinned down plant life on hills surrounding the town, as did deforestation. During the night of July 21, 1895, a heavy wall of water rushed through the downtown business district, leaving a trail of destruction. A ditch 55 feet (17 m) lower than the original street level was created in what was once known as Main Street. Businesses on Main Street began using their back doors on Bullard Street as main entrances and eventually, were permanently used as the new front entrances. To this day, the incorrect odd/even addressing conventions on the east side of Bullard Street are a reminder that the buildings were addressed on Main Street originally, not Bullard Street. Main Street now ends near the back of the Silver City Police Station, where the Big Ditch Park begins.

The Mimbres Mogollon Indians (A.D. 200–A.D. 1140/50) once lived in the area, along with other prehistoric groups, including the Salado. Mimbres archaeological sites are located throughout Silver City and surrounding communities on federal, state, municipal, and private property. Collecting of Mimbres pottery by landowners and others is documented as far back as the late 1870s. Collecting was something that occurred during a Sunday picnic in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Some individuals maintained collections that can now be seen in the Smithsonian, and other museums, who sent individuals out to acquire collections in the nearby Mimbres Valley during the early 1900s. Others dug into the ancient sites and used the pottery they found for target practice—something that occurred into the 1930s according to oral histories. Collecting, and the looting of Mimbres Mogollon sites did not stop with archaeological research conducted on private lands during the 1920s, 1930s, and 1970s, nor with the passage of the New Mexico "Burial Law" in 1989. Sadly, unlawful looting continues to this day, and many prehistoric sites have been badly damaged or completely obliterated.

The Apaches occupied areas in the vicinity of Silver City beginning in the late 1500s to early 1600s based on archaeological evidence.

Geology

The local geology of the Silver City area is complex. Sedimentary gravels are found in the form of alluvial gravels called the Mangas Valley gravels. Metamorphic schist and gneiss is also found. The downtown area is mostly made of granite outcrops. Silver City lies just east of the continental divide.

Arts & culture

Silver City is home to many musicians and artists and has a thriving downtown arts district. The Silco Theater, built in 1923, is undergoing renovations to return it to a 200-seat community movie house.

Mimbres Region Arts Council (MRAC) has been named #1 arts council in New Mexico for a decade and is the recipient of the 2013 New Mexico Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts. MRAC presents the Silver City Blues Festival each May and Pickamania—a Bluegrass, Americana, Folk and acoustic festival—each September, in addition to a number of other arts events throughout the year. MRAC's Youth Mural Program has brought school children together with artists and community members to create over 40 public murals throughout the region.

Grant County Community Concert Association presents numerous performance events each Fall/Winter. The first Southwest Festival of the Written Word was held in 2013, at multiple venues in historic downtown Silver City. Over 50 presenters—fiction and nonfiction writers, poets, bloggers, journalists, lyricists, editors, dramatists, and publishers from throughout the Southwest—were represented.

The Red Paint Pow Wow, Chicano Music Festival, Silver City Clay Festival, Red Dot Studio & Gallery Tours, Chocolate Fantasia, Gila River Festival, Red Hot Children's Fiesta, Tamal Fiesta y Mas and the Silver City Fiber Arts Festival are also held in Silver City.

Transportation

Airports

• Grant County Airport, located 10 miles (16 km) southeast of Silver City.

Major highways

• U.S. Route 180
• New Mexico State Road 90

Points of interest

The Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument is about 44 miles (71 km) north of Silver City, via the winding NM 15. At the monument, the remains of Indian inhabitants within five caves in a cliff can be found. They were built sometime between 1275 and 1300 AD by the Mogollon culture. In addition to ancient ruins, there are plenty of places to camp, hike and fish within the Gila Wilderness.

The Catwalk is a trail enclosed by a metal walkway that suspends 25 feet (7.6 m) above the Whitewater Canyon hugging the canyon walls. It follows water-pipe routes built by miners in 1893. When the pipes needed repair, the miners walked on them. Visitors can explore the walkway and trail, picnic, and enjoy the river. It is located 70 miles (110 km) north of Silver City on U.S. Route 180 near Glenwood, New Mexico.

There are several lakes in the area. Lake Roberts is 72-acre (290,000 m2) about 27 miles (43 km) north of Silver City on NM 15 near the NM 35 junction. Other lakes in the Silver City area include Bill Evans Lake, Snow Lake, Wall Lake, Bear Canyon Dam. Anglers have a choice of brown and rainbow trout, catfish and bass. In addition, several mountainous rivers can be found nearby. Some of note are the Gila River, Negrito Creek, San Francisco River, and Willow Creek.

City of Rocks State Park is an area of interesting rock formations created by volcanic eruptions long ago. People can enjoy climbing the rocks, picnicking, and camping. The City of Rocks is located off NM 61.

The Kneeling Nun is a natural rock formation located about 20 miles (32 km) to the east of Silver City along NM 152. Several legends have developed explaining its origin.

In popular culture

Silver City was the finish line in the 2001 movie Rat Race, in which several people race from Las Vegas, Nevada to a locker containing $2 million in Silver City's train station. In reality, there is no longer a train station in Silver City.

Silver City is mentioned in the 2007 movie There Will Be Blood, whose screenplay was written by Paul Thomas Anderson and was based on the 1927 novel, Oil! by Upton Sinclair. Upton Sinclair based his novel on the experiences of Edward L. Doheny, a prospector and oil tycoon living in the Silver City area (near Kingston, New Mexico). In the movie, Henry, the man claiming to be Daniel's half-brother, says that he had been in Silver City for two years drilling on his own.

In the 1956 film Backlash starring Richard Widmark as Jim Slater, Slater goes to Silver City with the body of the deputy sheriff he killed. Slater is advised to leave quickly for Tucson by the sheriff who advises him "We don't like gunfights here in Silver City".

In the 2010 road trip movie Friendship!, the two friends Veit and Tom are stopped and arrested by Silver City police because of driving naked. Since their car was damaged, they need to rest and raise some money in Silver City for getting their car repaired before being able to continue their trip.