Zia Zone

04/29/2026

Just a lizard on a fence post.

01/06/2026

12/05/2025

The moon rises over the Manzanos looking east while the sun sets near the Ladrones looking west.

11/07/2025

Rise of the Beaver Moon over the Manzanos Mountain Range as seen from Belén on Wednesday.

08/30/2025

08/11/2025

900 years old.
400 rooms.
3 stories.

08/01/2025

After the Public Health Administration acquired Fort Stanton, it became a Tuberculosis Sanitorium specifically for the Merchant Marine, which led to the need for a cemetery. Between 1899 and 1953, 1500 Merchant Marines were buried here, including veterans of the Spanish War, World War I, World War II, and the Korean War.

While Ft. Stanton served as an internment camp during World War II, four German sailors were buried here, as well.

Eventually, Governor Martinez developed a plan for New Mexico State Veterans' Cemeteries to honor those veterans whose families live too far from the National Cemeteries in the State. In 2017, this became the Fort Stanton State Veterans Cemetery.

07/30/2025

Between Lincoln and Fort Stanton is Fort Stanton - Snowy River Cave. It is one of the largest caves in the United States and second largest in New Mexico, but is completely off limits to the public, primarily to protect the bats from white nose syndrome.

07/29/2025

Fort Stanton was established in 1855 on what was the original Mescalero Apache Reservation before that was relocated. Although occupied by Confederate forces briefly in the 1860s, it was a U.S. Army fort through 1896. In 1899, it became the first federal tuberculosis sanitorium. During World War II, it was a detention center for German and Japanese enemy aliens.

07/28/2025

On Saturday, we visited Lincoln, New Mexico, site of the 1878-81 Lincoln County War, where Billy the Kid earned his infamy.