Old as the Hills
Celebrating the centennial of the legislation that preserved the Gila Cliff Dwellings.
This month, the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument will unveil a special traveling exhibit honoring the centennial of the Antiquities Act, dovetailing the national celebration into its own milestone birthday. The special exhibit, "The Secret Behind the Parks of Enchantment," has been traveling around the state and will arrive mid-month at the Cliff Dwellings visitor's center in time for the facility's own 99th anniversary.
The Antiquities Act is the milestone legislation that establishes and preserves national historic sites. In 1906, Congress passed the act giving protection to historic and prehistoric "antiquities" on federal lands, granting the president the authority to set aside areas of natural or cultural interest as national monuments. The Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument, described in the documentation as a "group of cliff-dwellings known as the Gila Hot Springs Cliff-Houses," was set aside by President Theodore Roosevelt on Nov. 16, 1907.
During the special antiquities exhibit, the Cliff Dwellings visitors' center will collect suggestions and ideas from the community to help plan activities for its 100th year, themed "Celebrating a Century of Storytelling."
Hours for the Gila Visitor Center are 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m., 7 days a week. Closed Thanksgiving Day, Dec.25, and Jan. 1. Winter hours for the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument trailhead are 9 a.m.-4 p.m. daily, 365 days a year. Guided tours of the dwellings are offered once daily at 12 noon from fall to spring, and twice daily at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. from spring to fall. Allow 20-30 minutes to hike to the tour starting point. For more information contact the Visitor Center at 536-9561 or see www.nps.gov/gicl.
Run, Bill, Run!
20 symptoms of Potomac fever.
With Gov. Bill Richardson poised to win a landslide re-election this month and one of the top contenders for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination—former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner—abruptly bowing out, speculation inevitably turns to Richardson's possible White House ambitions. As a public service to New Mexicans, we present these 20 ways to tell that Bill Richardson is running for president. Watch for these warning signs:
- 2006 re-election campaign signs do not include year or office he's seeking, for possible recycling.
- Subscription to Guns & Ammo magazine is already being forwarded to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
- Proposes moving Spaceport America from Upham, NM, to New Hampshire.
- To emphasize Hispanic heritage, begins wearing oversized, floppy sombrero.
- Launches campaign to change New Hampshire license-plate slogan from "Live Free or Die" to "Red or Green?"
- Starts calling possible 2008 running mates out of the blue, asking about their height, to make sure they aren't taller than he is.
- Unexplained trips to Mount Rushmore with tape measure.
- Assigns aide to Photoshop his face over Teddy Roosevelt's.
- Pandering simultaneously to Iowa caucus-goers and gun nuts, proposes crash program to develop ethanol-powered assault rifles.
- New Mexico declares war on neighboring Arizona; likely 2008 GOP rival Sen. John McCain spirited away to face "secret tribunal."
- Incessant late-night phone calls to former Clinton strategist James Carville.
- Whiteboard list of "My Second-Term Agenda" seems overly ambitious for a mere second term as governor ("Fix Social Security system," "Energy independence," "Lunch w/ Halle Berry?").
- Starts interviewing painters for official White House portrait.
- Launches smear campaign against Alexander Hamilton in order to clear a spot on US currency.
- Map of Washington, DC, in his office shows Washington Monument replaced by gigantic jalapeno.
- Annual "State of the State" address renamed "State of the Union"—"just for practice."
- Lt. Gov. Diane Denish seen measuring governor's office for new drapes.
- Four words: "Hillary Clinton voodoo doll."
- Finally comes out against cockfighting.
- Gets adult haircut.
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