BEST
WILD
Chama and the Old Spanish Trail
Where the pavement ends and the Best begins
To reach Chama, travel the Old Spanish Trail, and explore the area requires a full day tour. See the above camping links for information on overnight stays at local park facilities. Only the food, drink and camp equipment brought to the site will be available. Motels and restaurants are available in the town of Chama, New Mexico.
Visit this GOOGLE interactive link for maps, pictures, and satellite view of the surrounding area.
Copyright 2016. Doug Heath. All rights reserved
CAMPING:
ADVENTURE TOURS
The human history of the Rio Chama Valley is rich with tales of struggle, innovation and survival. Northern New Mexico and the Rio Chama Valley in particular have been called some of the richest regions for archeology studies in the U. S. Indigenous peoples of the Southwest have inhabited the Rio Chama Valley for at least 1,000 years.
Today, the most influential native group in the Rio Chama Valley is the Jicarilla Apache Nation. Driven from their customary homelands along the Arkansas and Platte Rivers of Colorado, the Apaches waged a long and often desperate battle for survival. In 1887, by executive order of the U.S. government, a permanent reservation for the surviving Jicarilla Apaches was finally established just west of Chama, a considerable distance from their ancestral homelands. Today, gas and oil production have helped make the Jicarilla Apache a wealthy, progressive nation as they enter the 21st century.
Rich in history for Native peoples, the Rio Chama Valley is equally important to European settlers. In July 1598 (9 years before the settlement of Jamestown, Virginia) Don Juan de Onate founded the first European settlement in the West near the confluence of the Rio Chama and the Rio Grande. The small communities were faced with harsh conditions, drought and armed conflicts over rights to the land. Nonetheless, the early Hispano settlers were a tenacious lot and managed to carve out an efficient system of acequias. These irrigation canals provide the lifeblood even today for the agricultural and domestic needs of the Valley inhabitants.
During the period that Spain and Mexico claimed the territory of Nuevo Mexico, hundreds of Land Grants were made to prominent citizens. The Grants were intended to not only reward the recipient, but to provide a basis for settling and protecting the lands that were beyond the reach and resources of the Spanish Crown to defend.
At about this time, the little village of Chama was about to make history. In February 1880, the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad began construction of the San Juan extension, a route that went from Alamosa, Colorado to Silverton, Colorado by way of Cumbres Pass, Chama and Durango. Railroad service to Chama began in February, 1881 and facilities for servicing railroad equipment, a depot, warehouses and stockyards were set up along the route surveyed for the railroad.
For many years Chama remained a rowdy and exciting place to be. It was a very prosperous town with plenty of work and a great deal of entertainment in the forms of saloons, gambling houses, moonshine stills, etc. Groceries were expensive and outlaws, such as the Clay Allison gang, regularly held up the railroad pay car construction camps with large payrolls, saloons and gambling houses.
The Rio Chama Valley today offers a unique blend of cultures. In the shops and cafes you will hear a mix of English, Spanish and Native languages, often used in concert. And you’ll hear a lot of laughter. Serious conversations often turn to the environment and politics, as big changes are again underway. The local economy, once fueled by agriculture, is increasingly fed by tourism and the unique opportunity to view the abundant big game wildlife that thrives in this territory. People live in and visit the Rio Chama for the same reasons – clean air and water, open spaces, exciting scenic vistas, outdoor sports, and a warm and welcoming community that embraces cultural, religious and political diversity. The Rio Chama Valley is one of the last great places to visit or live, and each year more and more people discover its treasures.
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