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Native stories, for fish and people, are still untold
Since 1867, an obelisk has stood in the center of Santa Fe’s downtown plaza to honor fallen Union soldiers in Civil War battles fought in New Mexico, as well as soldiers who fought against “savage Indians." Another structure nearby honors Kit Carson who, as a Union colonel, did as much as anyone to push the Southwest’s Indigenous People to the brink of extinction. A statue on the grounds of one of Santa Fe’s prominent cathedrals honored…
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Keeping a secret, even when the secret’s out
Given its dearth of trout fisheries, the state of New Mexico can boast of very few secret hot spots. One of these, a favorite of mine forever, is prone to extreme high water temperatures during the summer but becomes decent at the end of irrigation season. Its browns and cuttbows come out to play when the leaves turn yellow, hitting…
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These hips don’t lie
Crawling around small creeks was an exercise in bad yoga, as I dragged myself to standing by grabbing branches and logs. When I finally had the hip examined, I was told what I already knew
Two summers ago, I agreed to join a backpacking trek with some friends I hadn’t seen since college. Our mission -- honoring the life of a mutual friend who’d passed away -- took us deep into the Sierra Nevada range, a 54-mile journey filled with golden trout and jaw-dropping views of ice-etched peaks and verdant hanging valleys. As…
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Senate bills protect our rivers, address drought
Editor's note: This piece first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. Often referred to as the hardest-working river in America, the Colorado River provides drinking water to 40 million people and irrigation water to 5.5 million acres of farm and ranch land across the Southwestern United States. According to the Washington Post, the upper reaches of…
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Is it good … or bad to obsess?
Fly fishing is arguably the ideal pastime for someone with obsessive tendencies. Inches matter on the stream, as do thousandths when it comes to spools of tippet or fly-tying thread. A guy I once fished with said he never saved leftovers from home-cooked meals; it was a sanitary thing. Sure. I remember thinking he probably ironed his underwear before putting them away, but…
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From the vault: Canjilon
Editor's note: This piece was first published in August 2020. Periodically, we'll republish content we liked a lot when it first hit the internet. The village of Canjilon sits within a donut of low hills to the west and south, and a gradually rising wall to the north and east. Its establishment in the 1870s seems late by New Mexico standards, but that tracks with…
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Looking for America
A drive deep into the West can heal the soul and freshen commitment to causes
The original plan was to drive east to meet my wife’s family in North Carolina. The time away from her mother, sisters and Gus’ cousins had been torture, but every state along our route was preparing to open up while the virus was still out of control. As we saw it, forcing customers and employees…
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