2024 RIDING CHALLENGE – LEGENDARY NEW MEXICO
with some weird stuff mixed in…
Document your visit to these sites with a picture of your bike with object listed, or if that is not possible, take a selfie at the spot. Send your pictures to Ri*************@LO*****.org to get earn points for your visits. The Google Map you will see has a lot of pictures to help you find what you are looking for. You can download the map on your computer or cell phone. Some stops have more than one photo to help you find the location and compose your own pic.
For each section of the challenge that you complete, you will automatically get an extra 5 points, as indicated on the scoresheet. Total of 100 points for the challenge. Collect 25 points and receive a challenge lapel pin. Contest Ends November 30, 2024. Winners will be announced at the Christmas party. REMEMBER to send your pictures to Ri*************@LO*****.org to earn points for your visits. Ride safe and have some fun!
CLICK HERE to View / Download Google Map with Locations and Pictures
CLICK HERE Download a GPX File for your GPS
CLICK HERE to view the Latest Score Sheet
CLICK HERE to view Pictures from Participants
NOTE – You can also access all these links from the Menu under Our Events –> 2024 Riding Challenge – Legendary New Mexico.
OUTLAWS & LAWMEN
“When legend becomes fact, print the legend,” movie director John Ford once said. Never has that been more true than with the legend of Billy the Kid, famous sociopathic outlaw. More myths, misinformation, and movie mystique has contributed to the legend of young Bill than anything else.
#1 - You can visit his grave and take a picture of the stone that has been stolen at least twice, worth 1 point.
Of course, he was eventually tracked down in the Pete Maxwell house, and killed by a reputed, one-time friend, and Sheriff of Lincoln County, Pat Garrett in April of 1881.
#2 - Take a picture of the stone marking the spot where the house used to stand when it all happened in the dark of the night, worth 1 point.
Garrett himself was not such a popular guy after the incident and years later in 1908 on his way to Las Cruces in a wagon, was ambushed and killed too. Rancher Wayne Brazell confessed to the deed but was acquitted on grounds of self-defense.
#3 - Visit the spot for 2 points or take a picture of the NM Historical marker not far away on US 70. 1 Point
Go to the old Lincoln County Courthouse, where he made his famous escape, killing lawmen Deputy Bob Olinger, a known murderer himself, and Deputy James Bell in the process.
#4 - Take pics of each of the stone markers in front and back of the courthouse. 1 point.
John Tunstall was an Englishman who had come to make his fortune in New Mexico, and it was his demise that set off the bloody, Lincoln County War between his side, which included Billy the Kid and his pals, and the Murphy/Dolan gang.
#5- Take a picture of the marker near the site where was shot. 1 point.
Pat Garrett was married in the San Jose Church to Juanita Martinez. She mysteriously died just 15 days after the nuptials.
#6 - Take a picture of that church in Anton Chico worth 1 point.
Billy the Kid’s mother, Catherine Antrim died seven years before her famous son, and is buried in the Memory Lane cemetery outside of Silver City, NM.
#7 - Take a picture of her grave in the cemetery for 2 points.
Sheriff Walt Longmire, fought injustice and drug dealers, arrested bad guys, and saved the good ones. All while being the friend and neighbor of the Southern Cheyenne of Absaroka County.
#8 - Take a picture of the County Sherriff’s office door from Durant, WY.
Black Jack Ketchum was up to no good for most of his relatively short life, robbing trains and endangering others, and shooting up the hot bed of iniquity that was the St James Hotel in Cimarron, NM on the Old Santa Fe Trail. After a botched train robbery outside of Clayton, NM, Ketchum was captured and sentenced to hang for his crimes. The execution itself was also botched and Ketchum lost his head after it was all said and done.
#9 - Visit his grave in Clayton and take a picture for 1 point.
Elfego Baca was another legendary parttime lawman, part time politician, lawyer, full time self-promoter, who, in 1884, deputized himself, and tried to arrest a drunken cowboy. The cowboy’s friends objected and engaged in a shootout with Elfego that lasted 36 hours, the death of four cowboys and the wounding of another eight courtesy of Baca himself, who remained unharmed. “The legend was that, like El Gato the cat, nine lives had Elfego Baca…”
One of the men who got killed in the shootout in Frisco was the ranch foreman of Texas John Slaughter’s San Bernardino Ranch. Former Texas Ranger and astute gambler Slaughter wanted justice for his employee, but Baca was eventually acquitted of the killing as self defense. Just a few years later, Slaughter helped Gen. Nelson Miles’ men track down Apache leader Geronimo who surrendered in Skeleton Canyon on the San Bernardino Ranch in southwestern New Mexico.
#10 - Take a picture of the statue of Elfego in Lower Frisco outside the place where he shot it out. 1 point
#11 - For an additional point, take a picture of the Elfego Baca TV Disney production shooting location for the episode where Baca was shot in the back in an attempted assassination. 1 point.
#52 – Take a picture of the ranch house and the “Mormon Battalion Marker,” in front of it for Extra Credit 2 points.
Geronimo, the great Chiricahua Apache warrior and leader of his people, fought for their traditional homeland in SW New Mexico, Arizona, and northern Mexico, where he wreaked havoc and destruction on the citizenry and the governments of the United States and Mexico. He eventually surrendered to Gen. Nelson Miles, and was taken out of the territory to Florida, and eventually Oklahoma, never to see his homeland again as he was promised.
#12 - Take a picture of the monument just across the border in Arizona commemorating the surrender. 2 points. The actual surrender site is 26 miles down a dirt and sand road in Skeleton Canyon
WWII
New Mexico’s contribution to the war was nothing short of legendary with the development of the atomic bomb and its detonation in southern New Mexico. Scientists worked long, intense and sometimes dangerous hours working on the Manhattan Project, as it was called in Los Alamos. It makes for a very good read in the book “109 East Palace,” and the recent, Oscar nominated movie, “Oppenheimer.” It was a monumental effort on the part of Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer, with help from the greatest minds of the 20th century, including Edwin Teller, and Albert Einstein.
#13 - Travel to the Trinity Site on the White Sands Missile Range the first weekend of April or the first weekend of October (ONLY!) and take a picture of the Trinity Site itself. The site is only accessible on those two weekends, enter at the Mustang gate on US 380 west of San Antonio. Worth 2 points
#14 - Take a picture of the restored Main Gate entry to Los Alamos. 1 point
#15 - Visit the Manhattan Project Historical Site and take a picture of the Oppenheimer house on Bathtub row. While you’re at it find out how the street got its name.
While the development of the bomb was the most famous of New Mexico contributions, there is a darker side to our involvement with the war effort. The roundup of Japanese/Americans citizens and holding them in, “internment camps.” was a dark period in our history.
#16 - Visit the internment site and take a picture of the monument in Santa Fe, 1 point
#17 - Visit the site of the second camp in Lordsburg New Mexico for another 1 point
Native Americans around the country have a distinguished reputation for enlisting in the armed forces over the years and serving their country. The Dineh, (Navajos,) of northwest NM, Arizona and Utah, serving in the Marines in the Pacific, were known as the “Code Talkers,” using their native tongue to relay battlefield information. The Japanese Army, having no knowledge of the language, could never break the code, and contributed greatly to the success of the island-hopping campaign to win the war.
#18 - Take a picture of the Code Talkers Statue in Window Rock, AZ for 1 point.
TOURISM
The tourism boom started in the early 1900’s with the Fred Harvey chain of railroad hotels and restaurants along the Atchison, Topeka, and the Santa Fe RR. The railroad followed the mountain route of the Santa Fe Trail over Raton Pass through tunnels at the top, the south and west through the state.
The Fred Harvey chain of hotels and restaurants, and the Indian Detours side trips, brought tourists in style to the state, with no less than 7 or 8 stops in New Mexico. Most of those hotels are gone now but two good examples have been restored in detail with the La Posada Hotel in Winslow, AZ and the La Castenada in Las Vegas. In the state we have the Harvey Girls museum in Belen, and Barstow, CA houses an excellent Fred Harvey museum.
With the invention of the automobile, more and more tourists came by car, the first car in New Mexico appeared in Raton in 1905. Eventually New Mexico built a tourist welcome center about 4 – 5 mile north of Raton on the Old Raton Pass road. (dirt)
#19 - Take a picture of the welcome center for 2 points.
By the time 1926 rolled around, US Route 66 was commissioned and made its way from Chicago to Santa Monica, bringing thousands of migrants and tourists through the state. Originally, Route 66 made a large “S” curve through the state, going north almost to Las Vegas, then all the way south to Los Lunas, then back to the well-known route, paralleled by I-40. By 1937, the route was shortened significantly, and the Mother Road,” took a more direct route through the state.
#20 - Take a picture of the remodeled Blue Swallow Motel in Tucumcari. Famous for its elaborate neon lighting, take a picture of the sign for 1 point.
#21 - Take a picture of the classic El Vado motel sign on Route 66 on Central Ave. 1 point.
#22 - Take a picture of the El Rancho Hotel in Gallup, NM where many movie stars stayed while on movie shoots in the area. The hotel is on the National Historic Register. 1 Point. Gallup is where the last vestige of Route 66 ran right through downtown. The last 7 – 8 miles of Interstate 40 was not completed until the early 1980’s
The annual International Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque, has been billed as the most photographed event in the world. Arguably, it has brought more tourists to the state than any other single event in our history.
#23 - Take your pic with at least two balloons in the air, or if you don’t want to bother, take a pic of your bike in front of the Ballon Fiesta Museum. 1 point
Legendary B & W Photographer, Ansel Adams, has two very famous photographs of the back side of two churches in the state, The Ranchos de Taos Church, and Moonrise Over Hernandez, the Capilla de San Jose. Both churches are of adobe construction, built in the 1700’s, originally in the shape of a cross, as was the custom in that period. Many a tourist has visited both scenes to duplicate those pictures and witness a part of our photogenic history.
#24, #25 - Take a picture of the FRONT of both churches. 1 point each.
TV & MOVIES
New Mexico has always been, and still is a favorite place to make movies. In the Santa Fe area, there is the Eaves Movie Ranch at Lone Butte where many westerns were shot. Down the road at Beaver Creek Ranch is where the series Lonesome Dove was filmed, and site of the recent, ill-fated production, “Rust,” which was to star Alex Baldwin. The Tom Ford Ranch south of Galisteo has also been used as a movie ranch.
#26 - The Plaza Hotel in Las Vegas has been seen in many TV and movie scenes, one notable NM movie, “No Country for Old Men,” had a tense scene filmed here. 1 point.
#27 - The Regal Inn was also the setting for the same movie and featured more intense scenes and murderous chaos, which included local resident and actor George Adelo. 1 point
#28 - Take a pic of your bike of the Diablo Canyon Trailhead on Buckman Road, 15 miles roundtrip on a well-traveled dirt road The canyon, site of many TV and movie locations, including, Cowboys and Aliens, and Two Trails West, a 1933 production also shot at close by San Ildefonso Pueblo. 2 points
#29 - Walter White and Jesse Pinkman were, “Breaking Bad,” all around the city of Albuquerque in their quest to become the wealthiest crystal meth makers that ever lived. Mr. White tried to launder the mountains of cash he got through the purchase of a car wash, the original “Octopus,” car wash at Eubank and Menaul. Worth slightly less than a hit of blue meth, 1 point
#30 - Jodie Foster spent a lot of time at the Very Large Array of radio antennas west of Socorro while filming the movie, “Contact.” Take a pic of one antenna with your bike. 1 point
#31 - Many stars have visited and lived in, and around the City Different, a.k.a. Santa Fe, including Oscar winning actress Greer Garson. (Mrs. Miniver, 1942). Take a picture of her house, which is sorely in need of restoration at Paseo de Peralta and Galisteo St. 1 point.
#32 - Join just about every Harley rider who ever lived and take a picture of your bike in front of Maggie’s Diner in Madrid, NM. On any weekend you are bound to see them congregate at the tourist trap. Shooting location for the movie Wild Hogs, in which Peter Fonda, also of Easy Rider fame, made a cameo appearance. 1 Point.
WEIRD & ODDBALL
#33 - Take a pic of the Mormon Battalion Marker just south of the old outlet mall on I-25 at the Budaghers Exit #257. 1 point. There is also another Battalion marker, #52 for extra credit.
#34 - The Mystery Stone It’s best if visited on a weekend. It requires a hike of about ¾ mile to see the strange markings carved into the stones, that no one has been able to decipher. Follow the markers people have laid out to help you find it. Find out why, and what is the connection with the Mormon Battalion? 5 points
#35 - Check out the old mining townsite of Lake Valley, south of Hillsboro, and see the restored school house. Take a pic for 1 point
#36 - Take a picture of the Elizabethtown Cemetery sign, a beautiful place to be laid to rest. 1 point
#37 - Take a picture of the Dawson Cemetery, where over 400 coal miners are buried as a result of two separate mining disasters. 1 point
#38 - Take a picture of Medal of Honor winner James McNally’s marker in the Kingston Cemetery, 1 point
#39 - Blackdom, NM. After the emancipation of slaves in the late 1800s, there was a movement to establish separate communities for African Americans, one of them in New Mexico. Take a picture of the marker. 1 point The National Park Service has an excellent example of one of these towns in northwest Kansas, Nicodemus, which does still have a few residents, and is worth a stop if you are in the area.
#40 - The Legend of Chupacabra. It is said that this creature roams the rural country and river bottoms, scaring small children and adults alike with its eerie howls and shrieks in the dark of the night. A large figure that can cut an unnerving shadow in the moonlight across a window pane as it looks into your room. Legend has it that if one is spotted in daylight, it will immediately turn into wood, held in suspended animation until it eventually rots away. Get a pic for 1 point.
#41 - Dennis Hopper was an actor, screenwriter, and director of the legendary film, and cult classic, “Easy Rider.” Filmed in many locations around the Taos area. Towards the end of his movie career, Dennis made his home in Taos. When he died of cancer in 2020, he was buried in the Jesus Nazarino Cemetery. Take a picture of the grave site 1 Point
#42 - Weirdness is one of the characteristics that make New Mexico so Enchanting. Nothing more so than the 1947, “Roswell incident.” The purported crash of a UFO in the hills west of Roswell. Complete with front page stories and people who to this day will swear that the US Government is covering it all up. With the latest release of US Navy videos from 2011 of some strange flying objects, well, Quien sabe? Take a pic of the UFO center in Roswell, 1 point.
#43 - Lesser known, but no less weird, at the site of the Hart Canyon UFO crash east of Aztec, NM, you will find a plaque talking about the lesser known crash erected by a couple who knows more about it than you or I do. There is some dirt on the way out on Hart Canyon Rd. Take a pic of the marker, 1 point
#44 - What is more legendarily weird than a sculpture in the middle of nowhere of two, “Arguing Cowboys,” on either side of US 285? Get that pic for 1 point.
#45 - Frosty the Snowman was a jolly, happy soul. Quite the entertainer and movie star in his day, he lived out most of days in this house until he seemingly melted away. 1 point
#46 - Norman Petty Recording studio, is where ancient, famed rock and roll singer Buddy Holly, from the original era of Rock ‘N Roll, made some of his earliest recordings. Take a pic in front of the studio for 1 point. If you can find the Buddy Holly Glasses sculpture, which used to be north of Taos, take a picture for 100 points!
#47 - The Tea house at Ottowi. When J. Robert Oppenheimer and some of the other scientists needed a break to relax away from the intense work they were doing on the Manhattan Project, they would make the dusty drive down the hill to the Ottowi crossing of the Rio Grande, to the Tea House. At the time, The D&RGW RR narrow gauge tracks ran right by the house but had already been abandoned in 1941. Take a pic of the building that still remains. 1 point
#48 - Sally Rooke, Cimarron Flood. For a dry, desert state, we have had our share of devastating floods over the years. San Marcial had a flood that nearly wiped out the little railroad town by Ft Craig, Silver City has had a couple too, Mogollon was devastated by one not that long ago, and the town of Folsom, NM had one in which telephone operator Sally Rooke lost her life, trying to help others escape the high waters. Take I pic of the marker in Folsom, for 1 point.
#49 - Tollgate Canyon Station & marker Not really weird or that unusual, but certainly out of the way on a very nice motorcycle road, take a picture of the remains of the stone station and the historical marker for 1 point.
#50 - Ham’s Grave. New Mexico’s contribution to our 1960’s space program was legendary for its well, rocket science, and experimentation. Robert Goddard was a pioneer of controlled, liquid-fueled rocketry. As the first and only chimpanzee to make a sub-orbital flight to prove that normal functioning during space flight was possible, Ham endured a lot of medical exams and training to make the flight. A hero among his peers, he was buried at the International Space Hall of Fame. Take a picture of the marker for 1 point. His peers were sent to a sanctuary in Florida after the program shut down to spend the rest of their days peacefully, outdoors.
#51 - Cooneys Tomb. On April 29, 1880, Sergeant Cooney, Jack Chick, and a man whose last name was Buhlman were on horseback riding to Alma to warn the settlers of an Indian attack at the Cooney mine and the town of Cooney. Victorio had led a group of Chiricahua Apache tribal members in the massacre. Shortly thereafter, Sergeant Cooney's brother Michael and miners from nearby Pinos Altos drilled, blasted and chipped a sepulcher for his remains in a large boulder. The Sergeant has remained interred there since.
#52 - Take a picture of the San Bernardino Ranch house and the “Mormon Battalion Marker,” in front of it for 2 points.
#53 - The legendary Santa Fe Trail was used to bring merchants with goods, adventurers, families and maybe a few of the first tourists to New Mexico. Visit the Trail marker where the wagon wheel ruts are clearly visible of the first Trail crossing along the Cimarron cut off. 1 point.
#54 - In my 60+ years in New Mexico, I have never been to Jal. So, I thought I would do this one for me. But you can also get extra credit for your ride there. Visit Jal, take a picture of the Volunteer Fire Station & the Post Office, (with a nod to the 2021 & 2022 Challenges) 5 points!