Acequias: A Centuries-Old Tradition of Water Sharing

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Photo credit: LasAcequias.org

El agua es la vida.  Water is life.  It’s a universal concept, but in a dry mountain region like Northern New Mexico the words ring especially true. New Mexico has the longest continuously traceable history of human water use in the country. The tradition of acequias (UH-SAY-KEY-UHS), or shared irrigation canals, is directly linked to that history.   Western Life Camp sits next to the Gallinas River, a mountain stream tributary to the Pecos River. We and our downstream neighbors share water and honor the acequia tradition.

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An ancient Anasazi irrigation system?

Acequias are a common thread that spans centuries of New Mexico history.  The indigenous tribes of the area were the first to use gravity-powered ditches for agriculture.  As early as 1400 AD the Pueblo Indians had created complex systems of irrigation lines fed from the area’s rivers and tributaries to grow corn, beans and squash.  With the Spanish colonization of the area in the 1600s the term “acequia” as  shared watercourse began to be used.  The Spaniards noted the similarities to the native watering systems to those brought to Spain during the Moorish occupation.  The word acequia is of Arabic origin.  In Classic Arabic “as-sāqiya”  was a double entendre of “water conduit” and “one who bears water” or “barmaid”.

Today, acequias continue as community-operated irrigation ditches vital to Northern New Mexico.
Acequias are recognized as governmental units under New Mexico law.  The hierarchy goes something like this: State, County, City, Town, Acequia.  Individual acequia associations band together under the state-wide New Mexico Acequia Association.

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“Limpia”, or Spring Cleaning. Photo credit: New Mexico Acequia Association

A crucial function of each individual association is the annual spring cleaning.  In a cooperative effort orchestrated by a supervising mayordomo, the individual members, or parcientes, manually clean out the entire ditch of leaves, debris and anything else that accumulated inside the ditch over the Winter months.   When the spring rains and mountain runoff begin, the parcientes enjoy the benefit of their labor as water flows smoothly along the acequia, bringing life to their fields and crops.

Whereas acequias have a long tradition as cooperative community efforts to manage and share water, there are competing interests.  Today, municipalities compete with acequias for water usage and rights, often disproportionally due to golf courses, large lawns, hotel and motel use.  Mining and Fracking also compete for the limited amounts of water available.  As you can imagine, with the money and man power available to cities and the mining industries, it is often a David vs. Goliath struggle.   Support your local acequia by helping raise awareness of this issue and getting involved. You can share this article with others and consider donating to defense funds to help small communities in their struggle against larger municipalities.

References and more info:
History: The Politics of Water
Ancient Traditions Keep Desert Waters Flowing

Contributed by Mike Root

Hermit’s Peak and the Story of Juan Maria d’Agostini

Hermit's Peak Perhaps the mostly widely recognized landmark in the Las Vegas area, Hermit’s Peak looms over the surrounding plains at 10,263 feet.  You may remember it from a scene in the movie Red Dawn, which was filmed nearby (the 1984 version, not the remake).  It’s worth noting that Red Dawn stars the late Patrick Swayze who later returned and bought a ranch just a few miles from the mountain.
Over the years Hermit’s Peak and it’s sole resident, Juan Maria d’Agostini, have become an important part of the local culture. The mountain was known to the early Spanish settlers as El Cerro del Tecolote, or the Hill of the Owl.  That changed when an unusual figure came to the area in the 1860s.  He was described as a short and thin man with a brown eyes and a gaunt face.  He wore a long dark cape and leaned on a walking staff.  The local residents had never seen anyone so striking and mysterious.  They called him El Ermitano, the Hermit.

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Juan Maria d’Agostini

Born in northern Italy in 1801, Giovanni Maria de Agostini came from a wealthy family.  He studied Latin, French, and theology before taking the vow of Saint Anthony the Abbot. He then dedicated himself to a Monastic life of poverty, austerity and virtue.  After traveling around in Europe he set out for South America, landing in Caracas, Venezuela in 1839. In South and Central America he traveled from Venezuela to Peru, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Panama, Guatemala, and Mexico. In 1861 he journeyed to North America and arrived in New York City.  Except for voyages which required boats, his only mode of transportation was by foot.  From New York he walked up to Canada, and then down to Kansas.
Agostini found his way to Las Vegas, New Mexico accompanying a wagon train from Council Grove, Kansas along the Santa Fe Trail in 1863.  When offered a ride on one of the wagons he said that he preferred to walk, and asked only for some cornmeal mush to nourish himself.  By this time he went by the name Juan Maria d’Agostini.  But to the religious settlers of early Las Vegas he was simply the Hermit.  Due to his appearance and wise demeanor he was perceived of as a  holy man, a healer and a miracle worker.  He claimed to be none of these things.  Nonetheless, throngs of locals collected wherever he resided, seeking counsel, healing and miracles. Eventually d’Agostini set his sights on the 10,263 foot mountain, where he finally found the solitude he longed for in a cave near the summit.

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Photo by Cade Mendenhall

When I was growing up my parents ran Western Life Camp as a kid’s summer camp. I made the trek to Hermit’s Peak several times.  I remember the first part of the hike as fairly mild: gentle hills covered in Ponderosa and Spruce trees, then you reached a giant field of boulders and got your first view of the rocky precipice. The last stretch is the steepest: a series of switchbacks.  Finally atop the summit I recall an expansive view; it seemed you could see all the way into Texas.  A small somewhat flat meadow provided a great space to relax, eat your lunch and take in the view.  We then walked a few hundred yards down one side of the summit to the shallow cave where d’Agostini had resided, and imagined the simple but profound existence he had.
Hermit’s Peak is a beautiful and rewarding hike with a unique history.  Guests of Western Life Camp can enjoy this wonderful trek, and many other nearby hikes, listed on our Activities page.

Hermit’s Peak hike info:
Hike Distance: 4.25 miles (8.5 round trip)
Vertical ascent: 2,720 feet
Approximate Hiking Time: 3.5 hours, one way
The trailhead to Hermit’s Peak is 7 miles Northeast of Western Life Camp, in the El Porvenir Campground.

Contributed by Mike Root

They Call Me Montezuma

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On the way up to Western Life Camp are some historically significant hot springs that share the name of Montezuma with the neighboring village and, previously, with the hotel, or castle, that is now the United World College.  One sleepy summer, curiosity got the better of me and I researched the mystery of the name (see references below).  After a day or so in the coolness of Santa Fe’s Historical Library, viewing and taking notes from old handwritten bits and pieces of a local legend with many variations, I pieced together the legend with the parts common to most of the old stories.

montezuma-springs-1895It turns out that the Montezuma Hot Springs were sacred to the people of Pecos Pueblo, one of the largest northern pueblos in its heyday.  Not only was Pecos Pueblo prosperous and powerful, it controlled access to and from the Great Plains, making it a center of trade where the hunting tribes brought their hides and dried meat to trade for fruits and vegetables grown by the different pueblos.  Other trade items included shells obtained from the coastal tribes and rare feathers for ceremonial use.  The spiritual leaders of Pecos Pueblo kept the trading fair and had areas that were treated as sanctuary, where members of different tribes who might be in conflict could meet in peace.

One such place was at Montezuma, at the sacred hot springs.  Warriors guarded passage to and from the springs at all times.  The strong spiritual traditions were challenged one day because a spiritual leader, a cacique, was near death but had no apprentice to take his place.  This could mean the loss of sacred knowledge and traditions, threatening the stability of the people.   Death came all too quickly and the people drew lots to select the new cacique.  The lot fell to a young man of 13 summers to lead his people.  Now this young man had already begun having visions and had begun to feel the call of the medicine path.  In his visions, the Thunderbird flew, leading him and his people to a new land and signifying the end of the journey by alighting on a cactus and drawing up a serpent in its beak.  The people heard the vision of the new cacique and accepted his spiritual leadership.  Where he led, they began following him south as he, in turn, followed the path of the Thunderbird.  When the Thunderbird would alight, the people would stop to settle, gather food and hunt to replenish their supplies.  From time to time, they stopped at pueblos along the way, where the local people heard the vision and joined the throng to follow the cacique who followed the Thunderbird.  It has often been reported that many of the southern pueblos look as if they were instantly abandoned, as if the inhabitants rose from their midday meal and left as one.  This was indeed the case as, upon catching the vision of the young and charismatic cacique, they felt the call to follow.  Long months passed as the people would be certain that they were at last at their destination as, time after time, the Thunderbird would land on a cactus.  The cacique would solemnly remind them that the second half of the vision had yet to be fulfilled and they must continue their migration path until the vision was complete.

montezuma4Finally, one day when the people had all but given up that the vision would be fulfilled in their lifetimes, the second half of the vision was fulfilled.  They had been following the cacique who followed the Thunderbird through village after village, growing more and more numerous as each group of inhabitants rose as one and followed.  The cacique called a halt and gathered the people to hear the good news, that both halves of the vision had been fulfilled.  The Thunderbird had come to rest at last, alighting upon the cactus as he had so many times before but this time he had taken the serpent in his beak.  Rejoicing was great as the people knew they were where they were meant to be.  They remained to found a people, a dynasty and a country for the name of the city they built was Mexico City and the name of the young cacique was Montezuma.