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The Writing on the Wall

3/14/2023

Last month, my hiking group did the short but steep climb up to the Eye of the Sandias, a bit of graffiti in the southern Sandia Mountains, overlooking Tijeras Canyon and the village of Carnue.

Where this painting came from is a mystery. In Sandia Mountain Hiking Guide, Mike Coltrin says “The Eye appeared sometime in the 1960s, but the originator is unknown.”

One blogger calls the painting an adaptation of an ancient Egyptian symbol of protection, power and health, the Eye of Horus. The artist, or some later artist, made the eye New Mexican by substituting a Zia Sun symbol for the pupil. Several sources suggest that the teardrops show the mountain's grief over the encroachment of suburbia or the roar of I-40 through the canyon below it.

source: https://pngyoung.com/Hiking/eye-of-the-sandias-hike-12102015/

The hike is not an easy one. It gains almost a thousand feet in a distance just over three miles. Some of the trails have slopes approaching 45% and are covered with granite gravel that rolls underfoot. But the views are worth it.

Our group parked at the trailhead parking lot at the top of Copper. We walked the loop trail going clockwise to avoid going down the steepest parts.
On our way up, we also encountered this rock art, which depicts three coyotes howling at the moon. It is decidedly modern, but the coyote pictured below, which is from the La Cieneguilla Petroglyph Site, west of Santa Fe isn't.

https://naturetime.wordpress.com/2012/06/19/la-cieneguilla-petroglyph-site-is-awesome/petroglyphs-sante-fe-coyote/

New Mexico has thousands of petroglyphs and pictographs. Some were created by ancient cultures: the Ancestral Puebloan and Mogollon Indians. Later, Apaches and Navajos added their contributions. Early Spanish explorers, and then Anglo frontiersmen, bored cowboys left their marks and initials on rocks. As the Eye of the Sandia proves, the art of embellishing rocks continues.

New Mexico's rock art stretches back into prehistoric times, but is still new compared to rock art in other parts of the world. The island of Sulawesi, in Indonesia has some rock art that is at least 45,500 years old. .The cave paintings at Chauvet Cave in modern day France were created sometime between 43,000 and 65,000 years ago. That's 20,000 years before the first modern humans arrived in Europe. The oldest known cave paintings, those from La Pasiega, Maltravieso and Ardales, in modern day Spain, were created at least 64,000 years ago, and most likely by Neanderthals. It appears that the desire to decorate rock is older than modern man.

My dual timeline novel The Last Song of the Swan retells the story of Beowulf, an Old English epic about a hero who destroys a monster that is raiding a Danish mead-hall. One of the timelines in the novel is modern: a present day high school girl who must write a paper on Beowulf and wonders about the characters. The other timeline is set deep into prehistory, at a time when Neanderthals and modern men co-inhabited those parts of Europe that weren't covered in sheets of ice. My son, the artist Matt Bohnhoff, created modern cave art interpretations to introduce each chapter, and to embellish the cover: rock art that never appeared on rock, but on paper.

Jennifer Bohnhoff writes historical and contemporary fiction for middle grade through adult readers. She lives in the mountains of central New Mexico, but hikes wherever trails, rock art, and beauty can be found.

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Why do Cowboys Wear Huge Belt Buckles?

3/9/2023

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In Summer of the Bombers, my novel scheduled to be published April 10, the main character's house burns down when a controlled burn turns into a wild fire. One of the things that "Punkin" Davis misses the most is her rodeo belt buckle.

When I taught in a middle school that was part of a ranching community, many of my students wore big, shiny belt buckles that they were very proud of. Western belt buckles are not just fashion; they have an interesting history and serve an important purpose in Western culture.

Until the late 1800s, most men, including cowboys, didn’t wear belts with buckles at all. Pants were high-waisted, and tightened with a cinch at the back, or were held up with suspenders. It wasn’t until after Levi Strauss began mass-producing dungaree jeans that had belt loops that men, including cowboys, gave up suspenders and began wearing belts with buckles. Most buckles then, as now, had a square or rectangular piece of metal attached to one end of the belt, with a tongue that went through a hole in the leather to secure it.

Victorian British Army Officer's buckle

The big buckles that cowboys wear have their origins in the buckles worn by soldiers in European Armies, who expected their soldiers to look sharp when they headed into battle. Each unit issued a different belt buckle to their men, making them easy to distinguish from one another. These buckles were often made of brass and engraved with heraldry or insignia that identified their leader. The buckles of officers were more elaborate, and sometimes made of gold. It became a tradition for these buckles to be worn at parades and other important events long after the war in which it was issued was over.

US Army Officer's buckle, 1855

United States picked up the practice of military belt buckles by the time of the Civil War. From 1861 to 1865, friction belt buckles were mass produced in large quantities. These buckles where the belt is pulled behind and through the buckle to keep the belt in place were issued. Those buckles don’t have a prong or hole, and were made of brass. After the end of the Civil War, many veterans kept their buckles.

Most American military units have switched back to functional buckles. The exception is the U.S. Army Cavalry, which stuck with European tradition and maintains large and ornate buckles that incorporated heraldry elements.

When competitive and organized rodeos started in late 19th century Colorado, the only cowboys who wore buckles were veterans of the American Civil War. Then, in the 1920s, men’s pants fashion changed. With the lower waistline, belts became a more practical way to keep them up. About the same time, Hollywood began glamorizing the wild west. Hollywood cowboys such as Tom Mix and Gene Autry wore flashy buckles that audiences all across America oohed and ahhed over. In 1920, the San Francisco Cow Palace in California began awarding buckles as prizes at professional rodeo events.

Because belt buckles continue to be awarded for accomplishments such as barrel racing, bull riding, team roping, tie down roping and more, trophy buckles are sort of a cowboy’s resume. The most coveted buckles are those awarded by the PRCA, and once earned, are worn with pride.

Of course, not all big belt buckles are awards. Large belt buckles are also for sale. Some have the name of a dude ranch on them and can be bought by tourists. Other buckles feature places of interest, animals, or even brands of trucks. But the ones worn with the most pride have been earned.

Summer of the Bombers, a middle grade contemporary novel about the devastating effects of a wildfire, is scheduled to be published on April 10th. You can preorder the ebook version on Amazon, or the paperback through the author.

When a controlled burn goes out of control, it burns a path a destruction through everything that fourteen-year-old Margaret “Punkin” Davis loves. Her home is destroyed, her horse is stolen, and her family is broken apart. She must find the inner strength to rebuild her life one piece at a time or lose everything.
This YA novel about resilience and self determination is based on the events of the devastating Cerro Grande Fire in May, 2000, one of many wild fires that have raged throughout the Western United States.

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A Short History of Wildfire Management

3/2/2023

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Wildfires have been a natural part of the ecosystem since the beginning of time. Fossilized charcoal shows that the first wildfires occurred approximately 419 million years ago, soon after the first terrestrial plants evolved. The fact that areas that have frequent wildfires have higher species richness and diversity than unburned old forest areas indicates that fires benefit ecosystems. However, what is good for the forest is not always good for man. Man’s intervention has led to changes in the fires themselves.

New Mexico, like much of the American West, possesses characteristics that make wildfires common. In prehistoric times, the area’s volcanism might have contributed to burns. Now, the most common non-human cause of fires is lightning. Climatic cycles also contribute to the likelihood of wildfires. The heavy rains and deep snows of wet periods create crowded stands of small trees and thick underbrush. These become fuel during periods of drought. This fuel allows the naturally occurring ground fires to become the high-intensity crown fires.

In 1872, Yellowstone, the world's first national park, was established. Fifteen years later, the U. S. Army was assigned the responsibility for its protection.

The Army did not have enough soldiers to fight all of the naturally occurring fires and concentrated on those that were close to roads or human habitation. However, several deadly fires, most notably the 1871 Peshtigo Fire, which killed more than 1,500 people, the 1889 Santiago Canyon Fire, and the 1910 Great Fire made the public believe that all fires were bad. In 1916, the National Park Service took over park management from the Army and fire suppression became the only fire policy for the next fifty years.

In the 1960s, the government changed its policy. It once again recognized fire as a necessary ecological process. Fires were to be allowed to run their courses as long as they could be contained within fire management units and accomplished approved management objectives. Controlled burns were established to reduce the low-level fuels, keeping fires from becoming crown fires. However, fires, both natural and man made, do not always follow government rules.

Jennifer Bohnhoff's next book, Summer of the Bombers, tells the story of a girl who loses everything as a result of a controlled burn that jumps the barriers and races through her town. Scheduled to be published on April 10, it is available to preorder in digital form on Amazon or in paperback directly through the author.

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Miraculous! An Interview with Author Caroline Starr Rose

2/16/2023

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Caroline Starr Rose writes middle grade and picture books that have earned awards through the American Library Association, the Junior Library Guild, ABA New Voices, and more. They've been on the Amazon Best Books of the Month for Kids list and have been Bank Street College of Education Best Books selections.

I recently read Miraculous, the story of thirteen-year-old Jack, who becomes an assistant to Dr. Kingsbury, a traveling medicine salesman. Dr. Kingsbury claims his elixir can cure everything from pimples to hearing loss to a broken heart. Jack believes the claims after Dr. Kingsbury gives a bottle of his “Miraculous Tonic” to him, and it cures his baby sister. But when the medical wagon makes a stop in the town of Oakdale, events happen that cause Jack's faith to waver. Soon, he and his new friend Cora are racing to discover truths that everyone want hidden.

This novel reminded me of Moon Over Manifest and of Tuck Everlasting, both of which have tonics with magical powers that may or may not be all they claim, and which bring about unexpected consequences. It's fast paced and exciting and will keep readers guessing.

Once I finished reading Miraculous, I got the opportunity to ask Caroline Starr Rose some questions, which she graciously answered. I'd like to share her responses with you:

Why did you choose the 1880s for Miraculous? Honestly, I don’t remember specifically why I chose the 1880s, but I knew I wanted to be well into the traveling medicine show era. Having recently written a book set in 1889-1890 (A Race Around the World: The True Story of Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland), I knew what an exciting era that was as far as innovation goes. (Big cities had electric lights, telephones, skyscrapers, steam engines — all things that would have intrigued my character Cora, a small-town girl interested in experiencing more.)

Why Ohio? I knew I wanted a town where African Americans were part of the fabric of the community. Early on I knew the story would take place in the Mid-West, but it wasn’t until I took my older son on a college trip that I settled on Ohio. On that trip we toured a park where Cincinnati, OH and Covington, KY converged. There were murals showing the history of the area with panels devoted to various industries, moments in history, and individuals. One panel honored an African American man who ran the town sawmill, was a minister, and a city official. I’d found exactly where my character, Mr. Kennedy, belonged (and with him the rest of the town of Oakdale).

Some of your books, like Blue Birds, have female protagonists. Others, like Jasper and the Riddle of Ridley's Mine, have male protagonists. In Miraculous, a number of different characters get to share their voices. Do you find it easier to have a male vs. female protagonist? What differences do you find as you write in different voices? I’m not sure if it’s easier to write one or the other, but I know I sometimes bring biases I’m unaware of to my work. I remember telling my editor early on when we were working on Jasper that I wasn’t sure how to show his emotions since he was a boy (or if he even had a very big range of emotions). She kindly reminded me that, you know, boys are human. They’ve got emotions, too. Of course they do! I felt pretty dumb (and rather disrespectful — sorry, boys!), but it showed me I’d let some unknown assumptions color my writing without even realizing it.
What I try to focus on now (thanks to my editor) is a character’s humanity above all else. How would this particular person feel and react in this particular circumstance? That’s where I start. I let each character lead.
What is the big message you want readers to come away with after reading Miraculous? I’m a bit uncomfortable with the idea of a message. Writing for me is about exploring, a way to make sense of the world. I want readers to come along on the journey and draw their own conclusions. Looking through that lens I’d say I’d love readers to consider the influence and power of persuasive personalities. I’d like them to see that while advertising techniques of the past might seem extreme or less polished than what we see today, there are very many similarities, especially when it comes to playing to our sense of our personal flaws and ways we might “fix” them. I’d like them to consider the power of friendship and forgiveness and second chances, of not being afraid to question and reevaluate.

For more information on Caroline and her books, visit her website.

Would you like a signed copy of Miraculous? Leave a comment below expressing your interest. I'll choose one lucky person and announce their name in my email on Thursday, February 23rd.

Jennifer Bohnhoff writes fiction for middle grade through adult readers. Her next book, Summer of the Bombers, will be available in April 2023. You can read more about her and her books at her website.

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A Confederate Point of View

2/9/2023

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When historians want to know what it was like to be part of the Confederate invasion of New Mexico, one of the people they turn to is Alfred Brown Peticolas.

Peticolas was was born on May 27, 1838, in Richmond, Virginia.. In 1859, he came west to Victoria, Texas, where he set up a law partnership with Samuel White.

On September 11, 1861, he joined the Confederate Army. Peticolas enlisted in Company C of the Fourth Regiment of Texas Mounted Volunteers,. This was part of Henry Hopkins Sibley's Army of New Mexico, a brigade with which Sibley intended to capture the rich Colorado gold fields, then secure the gold and harbors of California for the Confederacy. Throughout his time in New Mexico, Peticolas kept a diary in which he set down his keen observations about the country through which he traveled. He was also an artist and sketched his surroundings. The diary filled several books, the first of which was destroyed when the wagon in which is was stored was burned.

Peticolas sketched the San Miguel mission church in Socorro, New Mexico. After the Civil War, Bishop Lamy remodeled this adobe church.. .

He also drew San Felipe church, in Albuquerque's Old Town. In his sketch, the Confederate flag flies from a flag pole in the center square of the village, right in front of the church.

The Confederate, Mexican, Spanish, and American flags, flew over Albuquerque's Old Town representing all the governments that had controlled the town. In 2015, deemed too controversial, the stars and bars were taken down.

Departing Albuquerque, Peticolas' unit traveled through Tijeras Canyon, then turned north, taking the road now known as N14 towards Santa Fe. They camped for over a week in the mountain village of San Antonio. The church, the building at the far left of the picture, burned down and was rebuilt in 1957. The Confederate tents and wagons are on the far right of the picture.

After Sibley's retreat back to San Antonio Texas, Peticolas participated in the Louisiana Campaign. Finally, illness led to his reassignment as a clerk at the quartermaster headquarters, and he finished the war behind a desk.

Rebels on the Rio Grande: the Civil War Journal of A.B. Peticolas, edited by Don E. Alberts, University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 1984 is a compilation of the passages from the diary that related to New Mexico.

While he is not represented in Jennifer Bohnhoff's trilogy of novels about the Civil War, his material was instrumental in shaping the narrative and illuminating it with the little details that make historical fiction feel accurate.

Jennifer Bohnhoff is an author and educator who lives very close to the mountain town that Peticolas sketched. Where Duty Calls the first novel in her triloogy Rebels Along the Rio Grande, came out in 2022. The second, The Worst Enemy, will be published in the summer of 2023.

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A New Cover for a New Book

2/6/2023

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Back in the spring of 2000, a controlled burn in the Jemez Mountains jumped its control lines and became a raging wildfire. Known at the Cerro Grande fire, it burned over 400 homes in Los Alamos, New Mexico, shut down the National Laboratory there, and threw life into confusion and chaos for thousands of residents.

The news story stuck with me for a long time, haunting my thoughts and leading me to ask a lot of questions. What would it have been like to live through something like that? How would losing one's home affect a family? What about the pets of the people burned out? Was everyone helpful, or did predators also descend on the victims of this fire?

Finally, my thoughts propelled me to write. I began writing Summer of the Bombers in 2014, during November's National Novel Writing challenge. I got a third of the way through, then set it aside. I didn't pick it up again for eight years.

I usually create a mock-up cover early in the writing process. It helps me think about what I have to say and where the story is going. When I pulled out the manuscript began working on it again last year, I created a cover that had some of the elements of the story in it. Fire. Forest. One of the bombers that dropped fire retardant on the flames, and whose drone became the background music for the entire time that the fire raged. I also included a picture of someone on horseback because that horse and his rider are central to the story.

Does anyone recognize the horse and rider? I took that image from another of my novels!

But while creating a cover to help guide my writing is helpful, what I create isn't professional enough for the published novel itself. A published novel needs a cover that reflects the story and lets the reader know what genre the book is in. Horror covers look very different from Romance covers, and a cover for a middle grade novel must be different from a novel written for adults. Many of my latest covers have been created by a Ukrainian company called Get Covers. I gave the artist a brief synopsis of the story, similar to this copy, which I plan to put on the back cover:

When the Forest Service announces a controlled burn to clear dead wood from the National Forest, no one in Alamitos, New Mexico is worried. But the fire goes out of control, burning a path of destruction that threatens everything that fourteen-year-old Margaret “Punkin” Davis holds dear. Her home destroyed, her horse stolen and her family broken apart, she must find the inner strength to rebuild her life one piece at a time or lose everything.

Based on events during the devastating Cerro Grande Fire in May, 2000, one of many wild fires that have raged throughout the Western United States, this is a novel about resilience and self determination.

I also told the artist that Punkin was a redhead and Wildfire, her horse, was a Palomino. The novel is a YA, short for young adult novel, which means that anyone from the sixth or seventh grade on up would be able to read it. Based on that, this is what the artist came up with:

I showed this cover to my critique group, and they were less than enthusiastic. While the girl is a redhead, the look on her face made them feel that this was a horror novel, and the background was just too grim for them. They wondered if people looking at it might think she'd caused the fire. Was she a firebomber? An arsonist?

I went back to the drawing board, looking for a picture of a girl who had more emotion and more of an attachment to her horse. Also, I wanted a bomber in the picture since it was in the title. Maybe that would keep people from thinking that the girl was a firebomber who set forests ablaze! This is what the second attempt at a cover looked like:

This was closer, but not quite right, either. My critique group thought it looked like the girl's hair was on fire! They also thought the bomber looked pretty toy-like: definitely not the type of plane we'd seen leaving Kirtland Airforce Base with a belly full of slurry. Also, this girl is way fancier than my Punkin. She'd never wear a top like that one! And the horse was not the Palomino I'd written about. I went back to the artist again.

They say the third time's a charm. The artist was able to find a better plane, and make the slurry the orangy-red color that most of us had seen on news clips. She was also able to change Punkin's shirt into something a little more suitable for the character. But she wasn't able to change the horse, or get rid of the model's fingernail polish.

So the mountain came to Mohammed. I contacted my rancher friend (whose help with the horsey and cow scenes in my books has been invaluable!) who could tell me that the horse in the picture was a bay. I changed the story to make my horse a bay, and I added a scene where another character talked Punkin into trying nail polish. It's funny, the things we have to do as writers!

Here is the final cover (minus the back copy.) What do you think?

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A Sweet Book for Valentines Day

2/2/2023

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Although Saint Valentine's Day is not a public holiday in any country, it is a significant cultural and commercial celebration of romance and love. Observed on February 14, it generates millions of dollars in chocolate, flower, and card sales.

Originally, Saint Valentine’s Day recognized the martyrdom of a third century Roman priest who was executed in 269. One legend says that he was killed for performing weddings for Christian soldiers who were forbidden to marry. Another is that, while being jailed for his faith, he restored the sight of the jailer’s blind daughter, to whom he wrote a letter which he signed "Your Valentine" before he was executed.

Regardless of why and how it started, Valentine’s is a day that causes a lot of stress. This is especially true for middle grade students, who feel they are too old for the silliness of elementary school Valentines Parties, yet aren’t confident in matters of the heart.

Hector “Hec” Anderson is a good example of a middle grader blundering his way through first love. An awkward, geeky sixth grade boy, Hec finds himself speechless when a new girl, Sandy Richardson, enrolls in his school. Sandy is beautiful and kind and Hec is instantly smitten with her. Unfortunately, so is the tall, handsome and popular captain of the basketball team, who sics his goons on Hec in an attempt to intimidate him.

The Valentine’s Day Dance is coming up. Hec tries to get Sandy’s with flowers and candy, but everything he does turns into a disaster. Does he dare ask her to dance with him – and earn a chance to win her heart?

Tweet Sarts, the Valentines-themed middle grade novel in the Anderson Chronicles series, is for middle grade readers and older readers who remember the difficulties of young love.

Jennifer Bohnhoff taught middle school for years. She is now a full time writer of books for middle grade through adult readers.

Tweet Sarts is onsale to download onto an ereader from Amazon from February 2-9 for only .99. Rather have a signed copy sent direct from the author? You can do that here.

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Sweets for the Sweet

1/26/2023

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Valentine's Day is growing near, and for the Anderson family, that spells complications. Dad's long work hours makes Mom trade in her no- nonsense pony tail and sweatpants for capris and curlers. Big sister Chloe, who believes that Valentine's day is just an excuse for crass consumerism, abandons her principles and her black Goth style for pretty pinks after getting roses from an anonymous admirer. Much to his consternation, little brother Calvin's hand puppet, Mr. Buttons, falls in love. Only the youngest member of the family, Stevie, seems san as he anticipates the sweet tarts and lollypops he'll be getting at preschool,.

For Hec Anderson, a geeky sixth grader, is so inept when it comes to love that he feels like a sci-fi visitor abandoned on an alien world. All of Hec's confusion reaches a crisis point when the girl of his dreams moves to town and he must challenge the most popular boy in school for her attention at the school dance.

When Hec learns that Sandy loves polka dots, he decides that M&Ms are the way to her heart. Sandy reciprocates, giving Hec a bag of M&M-studded cookies, which he resolves to keep forever. Forever ends up being a very short period of time, and the cookies end up being eaten: by whom, I won't tell you. But if you'd like some of your own to eat, here's a recipe.

Polka Dot Cookies

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup shortening
2 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 3/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup candy-coated chocolate pieces

Heat oven to 350°
In a large bowl, beat brown sugar, butter and shortening until light and fluffy.
Add vanilla and egg and blend well.
Stir in flour, baking soda and salt.
Stir in chocolate pieces.

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for easier handling.
Shape into 2" balls and place 4" apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.
You can press an additional 1/2 cup candy into balls to decorate tops of cookies.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until light golden brown. Cool 2 minutes before removing from sheets and placing on a cooling rack. Makes 14 large cookies

If you'd like to read something sweet this Valentine's season, Tweet Sarts is available in paperback and e-reader formats from many online books stores. You can also purchase a signed copy dedicated to the one your love directly from the author. She is selling this book at a discount between now and Valentine's day because she loves her readers.

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New Mexico Strange: The PHOENICIAN Stone

1/22/2023

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I am blessed to be in a women's hiking group. We meet once a week and go a lot of interesting places. Since we all live in the greater Albuquerque area, most of or hikes are in or around the Sandia Mountains, the mountains that are in the background of this blog's header. Right now, most of our favorite trails are under a foot or more of snow. While we do use snowshoes on occasion, often we use the snowy season to go other places.

One of the places we hiked this month was to see the Phoenician Stone, which is sometimes called the Decalogue Stone. Located at the base of a basalt- covered uplift about 35 miles southwest of Albuquerque and 15 miles west of Los Lunas, it is off the beaten track but well worth seeing if you are into curiosities and strange stories.

The Decalogue Stone was first mentioned by Frank Hibben (1910-2002), who was then an archaeology professor at the University of New Mexico. Hibben claimed that he was taken to the site in 1933, guided by a man who said he'd seen the stone as a boy back in the 1880s. Hibben was convinced that the inscription was ancient, and thus authentic. Some scholars have said that the writing is ancient Hebrew and is of the ten commandments, which is why it is sometimes called the Decalogue Stone. Others have announced that the writing is Phoenician and is an account of a shipwrecked sailor wandering in the desert. It's also been called Mystery Rock and the Los Lunas Inscription Stone. Some believe that it is a forgery created by members of the Mormon Battalion, who came through New Mexico during the Mexican–American War of 1846–1848. Others believe that Hibben or a couple of his graduate assistants created the stone. And, like most strange things in New Mexico, others suppose it is a record of aliens from outer space.

Whatever its provenance, going to see it was a great thing to do on a cold, January day! We left our cars outside the Valencia County Landfill and hiked in over a dirt ranch road until we got to the base of Hidden Mountain, where we turned and walked up a ravine until we got to the stone. In the picture below, the stone is on the left, right in front of the woman on the far left.

The stone may be a hoax, but what's on the top of Hidden Mountain isn't. After a scramble up a ravine, we arrived on top, where we found a lot of petroglyphs and the ruins of an ancient settlement that might have been part of a string of look-out and way stations along an ancient trail from the Rio Grande to Acoma Pueblo. Also in the area is the Franklin Pottery Mound, where a large diversity of ancient pottery has been unearthed. Both the mound and the ruins are believed to be from between 1350 and 1500. It's pretty obvious why this site would be chosen as a look-out. The views were spectacular in all four directions. We even saw a small herd of deer (although some of us thought they were pronghorns) down below.

There's something wonderful and a bit eerie about being in a place that was occupied hundreds of years ago. It makes me wonder what life might have been like back then. What did the people who lived there feel as they stood on the edge and looked out over the vastness?

After we'd walked the whole upper portion, we went back down the ravine and had a little celebration. Two of us (including yours truly) had birthdays to celebrate.

It's not often one gets to celebrate her birthday at a landfill! My friends take me to the best places! No kidding, I can truly say that it was a wonderful experience.

Will this ever work itself into one of my books? Probably not. But it was a wonderful experience anyway.

Jennifer Bohnhoff lives in the mountains of central New Mexico. She has written a number of novels for middle grade through adult readers and has two titles that will be published in 2023. Click here to join her email list and receive information about her books.

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WildFires in New Mexico

1/19/2023

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On the Parjarito Plateau, a volcanic plateau in the Jemez Mountains of north central New Mexico, large fires used to occur about every twenty years, following a natural climate cycle. Years of heavy rains and deep snows would lead to luxuriant growth of new trees and undergrowth, which would become natural fuel during drought years. Lately, the frequency and intensity of fires has increased, and so have their damage. Some of these fires have begun naturally, most frequently from lightning strikes. Others have been started by irresponsible people who've thrown a cigarette butt out the window of a moving car or left a campfire smoldering. The latest and most destrucive have begun as controlled burns that overstepped their bounds. Here are some of the most notable of the past eighty years.

The first time a fire led to the evacuation of Los Alamos laboratories was in 1954. The Water Canyon Fire began as a trash and construction debris burn on June 5, 1954. High winds, including gusts up to 45 mph pushed the fire north. It burned out of control for several days before 1,000 firefighters and a drop in wind speed slowed it down. Between 3,000 and 6,000 acres of forest were lost.

Archaeologists walk in front of bulldozers in an attempt to preserve and protect indigenous and early sites during the La Mesa fire.

On June 16 1977, the La Mesa fire began. It took a week and over 1,300 personnel to contain the fire that investigators believe began with a spark from a motorcycle. The fire reached K-site and S-site, two facilities in Los Alamos National Laboratory used to fabricate and test chemical explosives, and burned 15,444 acres of Bandelier National Monument. Approximately 60% of the drainage basin of Rio de Los Frijoles, a tributary of the Rio Grande, was burned, leading to severe erosion when the monsoons began later that summer.

The Dome Fire, seen from Los Alamos

In 1996, the Dome Fire began on April 26, when two campers left a campfire burning. By the time it was controlled, it had burned over 16,500 acres and threatened the southern section of Los Alamos National Laboratory. Large areas of Capulin Canyon and the Dome Wilderness were charred. The fire sent flames hundreds of feet into the air and developed a spectacular plume that could be seen for miles. Over 800 firefighters fought this blaze.

Two years after that, the Cerro Grande Fire began in May 2000 as a controlled burn that was supposed to reduce fire danger in Bandelier National Monument. High winds and dry conditions led the fire to jump its bounds. The fire destroyed over 400 homes in Los Alamos and damaged or destroyed several structures at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Over 43,000-acres were charred.

Two years later, the Oso Complex Fire was intentionally started by a man as a protest against government officials whom he claimed were using environmental laws to displace the poor, Hispanic population. Begun on June 20, 1998, the fire burned 5,185 acres of National Forest, including over 1,200 acres owned by Santa Clara Pueblo. It came within 8 miles of Los Alamos before rains and over 800 fire fighters, many of whom were Native Americans, were able to stop it. The arsonist pled guilty and was given a seven-year sentence in federal prison.

When it happened in 2011, the Las Conchas Fire was the largest wildfire the state of New Mexico had ever seen. It began on June 26, 2011 when an old, dead aspen tree blew into a power line. Driven by strong and unpredictable winds, the fire burned more than 150,000 acres of Pajarito Plateau and threatened the Pajarito Mountain Ski Area, the town of Cochiti, Los Alamos, and Santa Clara Pueblo. It was surpassed in 2012 by the much larger Whitewater-Baldy Complex Fire and in 2022 by the Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire and the Black Fire.

The 2022 Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire burned 341,471 acres and blazed from early April to late June. This fire, was in the southern Sangre de Cristo Mountains, and not on Parjarito Plateau. Part of the record-breaking 2022 wildfire season, it was the largest wildfire of 2022 in the contiguous United States and destroyed or damaged nearly a thousand structures, including several hundred homes. The fire began as two separate wildfires, both of which were U.S. Forest Service prescribed burns. It was not fully contained until August 21.

However they are started, wildfires in New Mexico cause terrible damage and stress to its residents, who live in fear both for their property and their lives. As climate change dries out the forests, we must all be even more vigilant.

Jennifer Bohnhoff is a former English and history teacher who lives in a remote spot in the mountains of central New Mexico.The local fire department has told her that her own house is unlikely to be saved in a wildfire.

Her next novel, Summer of the Bombers, will be released in April 2023. Set in the fictitious town of Alamitos, it tells the story of a young woman whose life becomes chaotic after a controlled burn goes rogue and destroys her house. It is based loosely on the Cerro Grande fire of 2000.

You can read more about her and her books here.

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