15-RUIDOSO, NEW MEXICO - Part 1

We arrived in Ruidoso yesterday.

The first thing we did was to visit the Hubbard Museum of American West. We had high hopes for this museum as it is an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institute.  Apparently we hit it at an odd time and we were a bit disappointed with the current exhibits.

There was a sizeable display of horseless carriages and buggies on the lower floor.

The entire upper floor was all black and white photography. This one appealed to me as it was definitely an “action picture.” The rest of the pictures were confusing as there didn’t seem to be much continuity to it.

I found the pictures of the Indian children at their schools interesting because the boys were photographed separately from the girls. It seemed rather strange. Cute little kids, though.

Most of the pictures were of the Isleta Pueblo near Taos, New Mexico from around the turn of the century.

There were two employees here at the museum (probably volunteers). I asked a question of one young man about the Isleta Pueblo since that was the focus of their display. He obviously knew very little about the the people the exhibit represented. He told me that people had lived in the pueblos for “over 100 years.” I sort of choked as I walked away counting my own 70 plus years (not all that far from 100) and knowing full well that people have lived in the pueblos for closer to 1000 years than 100 years. Oh, well. When you go to museums you never know what you will learn…or not.

I did find this picture interesting. It is of women from the Acoma Pueblo meeting tourists at a train station and selling them their pottery.  It was taken about 1910. It was of particular interest because we have a number of Acoma pots. (However, I don’t carry them around on my head!)

There was a small display of old firearms.

However, there was a beautiful display of native American pottery…

…as well as basketry and beading among other artifacts. This was the best part of the museum for us.

Other pictures of the black and white photography just didn’t make sense. It seemed like everyone in town who had once owned a black and white photo had brought it in and put it on display with not much rhyme or reason to it.

Ruidoso is now a busy tourist town. There is a main two-lane street that goes through town and is jammed with traffic.

These two pictures show the contrast since the turn of the century…

…and 1920. Ruidoso had been discovered! You should see it now! The streets are lined with shops, galleries and restaurants and lots of cars. The shops are fun places to wander through.

We found one gallery where the owner was very knowledgeable of Acoma pottery. In fact she had been in one of the homes on top of the Acoma Pueblo (a highly unusual experience!!) and took a pottery class from one of the renown Acoma potters. Visiting with this lady was really fun. (We have been to the Acoma Pueblo four times.) We both experienced a bit of lusting over a $1200 pot that was in her shop. In case you’re wondering, it is still there. 

Also it seems to be a pretty big ski area judging from the number of ski shops and the mountain that towers over the town. Not a lot of snow right now, which works just fine for us.

The really exciting discovery we stumbled on here will be on the next blog posting. Sorry, but you’ll have to wait.