Follow the highroad sidewalk back to the beginning of the walk. Along the way, look at the plants in the garden and read the plaques about some things travelers saw on their way to Mexico City on El Camino Real. There are quotes from trail travelers about what they saw.
Think about your first impressions if you traveled through a new or foreign landscape. What would you think if you saw these animals for the first time, without the reference of photos, television, or the internet?
Cottonwood Wayside Exhibit Martineztown NPS
Cottonwood (Populus sp.)
Cottonwood First Impressions AD English
Audio description of the Cottonwood first impression wayside in Martineztown.
Credit / Author:
NPS
Cottonwood (Populus sp.) “On the water-courses there is little timber to be found except cottonwoods scantily scattered along their banks. Those of the Rio del Norte are now nearly bare throughout the whole range of the settlements, and the and the inhabitants are forced to resort to the distant mountains for their fuel.” From Commerce of the Prairies Josiah Gregg. Edited by Max L. Moorhead. The etching on the panel is a photo of a cottonwood tree, this is a deciduous tree, and, in this image, the branches are bare.
Rio Grande Wayside Martineztown Walking Tour NPS
Rio Grande
Rio Grande First Impressions AD English
Audio description of the Rio Grande first impression wayside in Martineztown.
Credit / Author:
NPS
Rio Grande “The land also has many rivers in which there are fish in great abundance. There are salt marshes, too. In particular, the Río del Norte, which we can ford when it is flowing low, comes up to our saddles. When it flows during spring runoff, the current is fast and tremendous with water of the melting snows.” From A Harvest of Reluctant Souls by Friar Alonso de Benavides’s History of New Mexico, 1630. Translated by Baker. H Morrow. The image at the bottom of the panel is a landscape of the Rio Grande, this is a braided and meandering river with many sand banks throughout, and the sides of the river are thick with trees.
American Bison Wayside Martineztown Walking Tour NPS
American Bison (Bison americanus)
American Bison First Impressions AD English
Audio description of the American Bison first impression wayside in Martineztown.
Credit / Author:
NPS
American Bison (Bison Americanus) “Their meat is more delicious and wholesome than that of our cows, and the suet a great deal better.[...]The hide is not like that of our cattle, but covered with curly wool like a very fine fleece. Extremely large and good rough cloths are made of it, and from the downy hairs, vicuna hats.” From A Harvest of Reluctant Souls by Friar Alonso de Benavides’s History of New Mexico, 1630. Translated by Baker. H Morrow. The image at the bottom of the panel is of The American bison. It is like a cow but larger, the males stand at about 6ft. They have a rounded back which sits high up behind its head, and they are covered with curly wool
Piñon Pine Wayside Martineztown Walking Tour NPS
Piñon Pine (Pinus edulis)
Pinon Pine First Impressions AD English
Audio description of Pinon Pine first impression wayside in Martineztown.
Credit / Author:
NPS
Pinon Pine (Pinus edulis) The nuts are hard and easy to crack, and the trees and their cones are small. And the quantity of nuts is so great that it seems endless; a fanega of these is worth twenty-three of twenty-four pesos in Mexico City. People who customarily sell them earn a lot. From A Harvest of Reluctant Souls by Friar Alonso de Benavides’s History of New Mexico, 1630. Translated by Baker. H Morrow. On the bottom of the exhibit are three drawings of pinecones. A rounded cone, the segments of which are open to reveal where the pine nuts are found.
Mule Deer Wayside Martineztown Walking Tour NPS
Mule Deer (Odocoileus hemionus)
Mule Deer First Impressions AD English
Audio description of the Mule Deer first impressions wayside in Martineztown.
Credit / Author:
NPS
Mule Deer (Odocoileus hemionus) “There are quite a few... deer, and these sustain the Indians and provide clothing for them. They prepare and cure the deerskins into excellent chamois leather which they sell in Mexico City for five or six pesos each.” From Friar Alonso de Benavides’s History of New Mexico, 1630. Translated by Baker. H Morrow. The image on this exhibit is a male, or buck, mule deer. It has characteristically large ears and a rack of antlers.
Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep Wayside Exhibit Martineztown Walking Tour NPS
Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep (Ovis canadensis canadensis)
Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep First Impressions AD English
Audio description of Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep first impressions wayside in Martineztown.
Credit / Author:
NPS
Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep (Ovis canadensis canadensis) “There is a species of quite large mountain sheep, with thick horns. They can dash up a sheer mountain wall, though it may be smooth and high, or up a tall boulder as though it were a stairway. And, frolicking or fleeing, they hurl themselves from the highest rocks to the bottom, always headfirst. Then they quickly get back up as if nothing had happened.” From A Harvest of Reluctant Souls by Friar Alonso de Benavides’s History of New Mexico, 1630. Translated by Baker. H Morrow. The image on this panel is of three or four Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheet standing on a rocky cliff. They have large horns as described which curl away from their faces.
Mule Wayside Exhibit Martineztown Walking Tour NPS
Mule (Equus asinus x Equus caballus)
Mule First Impressions AD English
Audio description of the Mule first impressions wayside in Martineztown.
Credit / Author:
NPS
Mule (Equus asinus x Equus caballus) “This animal is...invaluable for the transportation of freight over sandy deserts and mountainous roads, where no other means of conveyance could be used to such advantage. These mules will travel for hundreds of miles with a load of the most bulky and unwieldy articles weighing frequently three or four hundred pounds.” From Commerce of the Prairies Josiah Gregg. Edited by Max L. Moorhead. There is an image of a mule on the exhibit. It carries a large load on its back, and it has its characteristically large ears, but it does resemble a horse.
Grape wayside Exhibit Martineztown Walking Tour NPS
Grape (Vitis sp.)
Grape First Impressions AD English
Audio description of the grape first impressions wayside in Martineztown.
Credit / Author:
NPS
Grape (Vitis sp.) The mode of cultivating the grape in these parts is somewhat peculiar... No scaffold or support of any kind is erected for the vines, which are kept pruned as to form a sort of shrubbery. Every fall of the year, they are completely covered with earth, which protects them during the winter. Upon the opening of spring the dirt is scraped away, and the vines pruned again. From Commerce of the Prairies Josiah Gregg. Edited by Max L. Moorhead. In the image on the plaque, a bushel of grapes and some grape leaves are shown.
Black tailed Prairie Dog Wayside Exhibit Martineztown Walking Tour NPS
Black Tailed Prairie Dog (Cynomys ludovicianus)
Black Tailed Prairie Dog First Impressions AD English
Audio description of the Black Tailed Prairie Dog First Impressions wayside in Martineztown.
Credit / Author:
NPS
Black Tailed Prairie Dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) Approaching the ‘village’, the little dogs may be observed frisking about the ‘streets’ passing from dwelling to dwelling apparently on visits...Upon seeing a stranger however, each streaks to its home but is apt to stop at the entrance and spread the general alarm by a succession of shrill yelps, usually sitting erect. From Commerce of the Prairies Josiah Gregg. Edited by Max L. Moorhead. The image at the bottom of the panel is a photo of a prairie dog. It is a small round rodent with very small ears, big dark eyes, and a very notable, black-tipped tail.
Mesquite tree wayside exhibit on Martineztown Walking Tour NPS
Mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa)
Mesquite First Impressions AD English
Audio description of the Mesquite First Impressions wayside in Martineztown.
Credit / Author:
NPS
Mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa) “The Mesquite tree...grows in some of the fertile valleys of Chihuahua to a height of thirty and forty feet with a trunk of one to two feet in diameter. The wood makes excellent fuel but it is seldom used for other purposes as it is crooked, knotty, and very coarse and brittle...” Commerce of the Prairies Josiah Gregg. Edited by Max L. Moorhead. The image at the bottom of the panel, the mesquite is a thorny bush or tree. The small leaves are lined up along a central spine.
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- El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail
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