Roswell: Highway 285 to Berrendo Road - History

 

Roswell. A street view

Eh, UFOs are an established part of our history. This stunning flying saucer is not part of my block but it typifies an outstanding part of Roswell's character. You could say that it's a sufficient part of Roswell's place in history, but not a necessary one.

Of course, there was habitation by indigenous people far back. The first settlers in the area arrived from Missouri in 1865, but water was scarce in the area so they didn't stay. John Chissum had what was, at the time, the largest ranch on the United States, the Jingle Bob Ranch, about five miles from modern Roswell  

Van C. Smith established a permanent settlement around a way station in 1871. He was the first post master in New Mexico. He named the settlement after his father Roswell Smith 

But there still wasn't a reliable water source until Bathan Jaffa drilled his well in 1890. That put Roswell on the map.

North Roswell, the Roswell North of the current city center at the intersection of Main Street and 2nd Street (US 380) didn't become a thing until the latter part of the 1960s. (That was seven years after I was born in southern Florida.) That would include the section I'm currently studying....my home range.

I'll delve more deeply into the establishment and development of Roswell as I explore more of the town.

The area called Pine Lodge is a stone's throw from my yard.

Pine Lodge

Activity along Pine Lodge Road is recorded as far back as the 1960s with the current properties constructed around 1980 or later. The area has been agricultural since the beginning and has produced crops like corn and sheep since the 1960s.

I can't find when the pecan orchard on Pine Lodge Road was established but pecan growing in the area dates back to the late 1970s and early 1980s.

A lot has happened in this area including the opening of a shopping mall, many restaurants and motels, the establishment of the Bitter Lakes National Wildlife Refuge (in 1937), and the beginning of plans for big solar farms to provide electricity for the city.

And (hrmph) I moved here in October of 2025.

Do you know the history of your home territory? Finding out can be a fascinating adventure. And how does your home town fit into the rest of the world. If you look, it might surprise you.

Roswell: Highway 285 to Berrendo Road

 This is my home territory now 

All that sky! All that land!

Roswell, New Mexico is situated in the northern Chihuahuan desert.

I make a couple of supply runs to the Walmart 1.7 miles away down a rural desert road. It's a new experience. 

I occasionally walk north on Main Street to the Tractor Supply Company (they stock good candy) and the Allsup's convenience store near highway 285.

Everyone I have known before moving here that has been here has only been to Allsup's. They're all truck drivers.

And on my recent 15 mile hike following Berrendo Creek, I covered the eastern part of this section of town. 

The main geological feature of this area is Berrendo Creek, which is dry for a long stretch.

The ground here is hardpan, alluvial deposits baked hard by the sun.

The vegetation is tough.... tumbleweeds and cactus. These gourds are common:

And, of course, the New Mexico state plant, of which I was surprised to find several species here ....yucca.

This is my home territory. 

I'll take this opportunity to talk about what I've learned about it to date. There will be several blogs in the series.

Bitter Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, 7 miles from Main Street is in this slice of town but I'll save it for it's own blog.

I've met two of my neighbors. Walking into town before a predicted wind storm, I saw her clearing tumbleweeds from her fence (I'll have to address tumbleweeds in a later blog). Later I met her husband on a tractor clearing the margin of the road. Friendly folks, like most of the people I've encountered here.

I've mentioned my enjoyment of diversity and this place is satisfyingly different from other places I have lived. I've experienced the desert winter and spring, wind storms, dust storms, a very little rain, and, now, a heat wave.

Anyone in the desert out there reading my blog? You're welcome, you're all welcome, to accompany me on this new journey.

The desert is blooming

 A special blog to dispell the idea that the desert is a dead place.

Berrendo Creek

 My first long hike in my new home followed Berrendo Creek through East Roswell, New Mexico. It begins South of my home. A mile south, it looks like a dry drainage ditch....a small, dry drainage ditch. Last year it flooded and took out a lot of property in Roswell 

You can tell where these desert streams sometimes are by the line of trees on a satellite image. 

These signs are no joke.

Here is Berrendo about a mile away as the meander runs.

Here, it has widened out into a broad flood plain. The same signs are on the road.

Less than a mile away.....

These 20-30 foot deep ravines, meanders, and oxbows were created by a powerful river, so where is it?

UFOs didn't put Roswell on the map.

Remember the Rule of Five. An average human can live five minutes without oxygen, five days without water, and five weeks without food  Communities are the same, five days without water, and the few little creeks in Roswell wouldn't bring nearly enough water to support a community. There were several settlers that tried.

Then, in 1899, Nathan Jaffa, a resident of Richardson Avenue drilled a well in his yard and hit the deep aquifer. Roswell had plenty of water from then on. The Pecos Valley Railroad came in 1892.

The Roswell basin actually has two aquifers  One is close to the surface but it's not very productive and has to be pumped. Then there's a deep layer of jointed limestone that's fed by the Pecos River and occasional rain runoff. This deep aquifer is capped by nonpermeable shale so it's under pressure and, when holes are punched through the shale, shoots water to the surface as artesian springs and wells. In other words, it pumps itself.

Normally, Berrendo Creek is fed by these artesian springs but all the farms and ranches in the area have these:

It's an artesian well. So much water is drawn from the deep aquifer for agricultural and industrial purposes (and to a lesser extent, household water) that it doesn't get to the creek 

On January 11, I set out to follow Berrendo Creek from North Roswell to the public fishing spot near 19th Avenue and Red Bridge Road.

I couldn't actually follow the creek without tromping through private properties, which I don't do without permission  I followed Pine Lodge Road through town, stopped at the Walmart for supplies and McDonalds for coffee, and continued east across the rural desert to Atkinson Avenue, where I turned South.

The desert along Pine Lodge Road 

Berrendo runs through a deep valley to the west of Atkinson. There's still no water.

A little further, Atkinson joins and becomes Berrendo Road. The bridge across the creek bed is interesting 

I don't see this conglomerate in the geological papers of the area. But it's outstanding. The cobbles are around tennis ball sized and seem to be solid, waterworn quartz.

The creek bed looks like it would form a nice waterfall here (about six feet) when there is water.

I stopped here for lunch.

A little further down Berrendo Road was an interesting ranch with a construction called "The Henge" that is mentioned as a significant example of modern architecture on the Internet 

The Henge was created by Roswell resident Herb Goldman and includes a gallery with mural painted by Willard Midgette. It is recognized on the State and National Register of Historic Places.

My hike from Berrendo to Red Bridge Road was through ranch lands. The sky is open, the land is flat, and it's a great place to spot raptors. It's not that great for taking photos of them with a phone.

Heh. You have to expand the photo to see it.

I joined Red Bridge Road at Bitter Lakes Farm which advertised Pistachios. This area has several tree nut farms including the pecan farm next to my home 

The house is an Adobe style ranch home.

New Mexico is famous for its nut crops.....piñon, pecan, pistachios, and peanuts.....and the piñon pine is the state tree. 

The hot, arid climate and long growing season that allows the nuts to mature are good for nut trees. Despite being in the desert, the Pecos River and it's tributaries have laid down some nicely fertile souls in some areas around Roswell.

Somewhere out among the ranches, an artesian spring feeds Berrendo Creek.

Just in time to fill the public fishing spot, which was well attended on the day of my hike. I was able to talk to some of the fishers who reported good catches. Catfish and bass are resident there and the creek is stocked with trout.

The water isn't green from pollution. It's calcium. I saw the same green water back East in the karst regions of Alabama, Tennessee, and Kentucky. This water certainly comes from that deep, limestone aquifer.

The ducks seem to like it, too 

But I was hiking and, with miles to go yet, I started out toward town.

 

 
The "Red Bridge" of Red Bridge Road

The first two miles into town is along ranchlands. Soon after entering town proper, there was an old cemetery that has plans to renovate (it currently looks a lot like pictures I've seen of boot hills from the 1800s.)

About a mile further brought me to Goddard High School. As memorial to the inventor of the liquid fuel rocket which developed to carry people to the moon, there are rockets out front (I will have to revisit this place some time in future explorations of Roswell )

Finally, reaching Main Street about five miles from home, I was ready to find supper. By the time I reached the home stretch, the 1.7 mile rural desert road to home, it was very dark and surprisingly cold (out came my headband flashlight, flannel shirt, and leather jacket.)

Some people talk bad about Roswell. I suppose it isn't a major party place but for people like me who values adventure and diversity, it offers plenty. 

And so does your home. Go find the hidden treasures around you.

Where does your city water come from and how is it treated? Is your home range famous for any particular crops? If so, why are they grown there and not somewhere else?