Every Lake
New Mexico
The oldest capital city in the country, and the Rio Grande running straight down the middle.
New Mexico in relief
The land itself, cut in six steps of birch from the lowlands to the high ground — the cities starred, the summit and rise on the title block. No counties, no roads: just the shape of New Mexico.
About New Mexico
New Mexico is nearly square, its lines all surveyed, with only a small bootheel notched into the southwest corner. The Rio Grande runs the length of the state from the Colorado line to Texas, cutting the Rio Grande Rift and separating the ranges on either side. The Sangre de Cristo Mountains come down from Colorado and end near Santa Fe — the southern tip of the Rocky Mountains — while the east is the flat Llano Estacado and the south is Chihuahuan desert with the white gypsum dunes at Tularosa. Thirty-three counties, most of them enormous.
New Mexico entered on January 6, 1912 as the 47th state, after more than sixty years as a territory. Santa Fe, founded about 1610, is the oldest capital city in the United States and the highest, sitting above 7,000 feet at the end of the trail that carried wagons from Missouri. The board hangs on that history layered together: the pueblos along the river, the Turquoise Trail, Carlsbad Caverns, and I-25 and I-40 crossing at Albuquerque.
- Six layers of birch — the land in elevation steps
- The summit and total rise on the title block
- The major cities, starred and named
- Title block with the admission date and capital
- A double rule engraved around the edge
- Every county line and the state border
- The interstates with their shields — 8 on this board
- The major cities, starred and named
- Title block with the admission date and capital
- A mile ruler engraved around the frame
