although the mountain sections of the county are rapidly being settled. The census of 1900 gave the population as 3,500, and present estimates show an increase, therefore, of 1,500, a most satisfactory growth for the year. Every indication points to the rapid increase of population of the county, as the construction of the El Paso and Northeastern Railway to the Pecos River, to a connection with the Rock Island system, must inevitably result in the promotion of a colonization project by the management of the two railroads that will result in the settlement of the thousands of fertile acres of the Sacramento Valley.

The tax rate of the county for 1901 is 2.97 per cent on the $100, as against 3 per cent for 1900.

SCHOOLS OF THE COUNTY.

Otero County can boast of a most excellent public-school system. The report of the county school superintendent shows that the number of districts is 18, number of pupils 1,600, average daily attendance 648, and the average school term something over five months. The reason for the comparatively small average daily attendance is found in the fact that the pupils in the country districts live at a great distance from the schools. The compulsory school attendance law, which is only applicable when the school is within 2 miles of the residence of the pupil, fails largely in application in the country districts because a great proportion of the scholars reside at a distance of more than 2 miles from the school. The remedy for this condition would appear to be either to compel parents to send their children a greater distance or amend the law so as to divide the present districts into smaller ones. Naturally the Alamogordo district ranks first among those of the county. The average daily attendance the past school year at Alamogordo schools was 275, with 5 teachers. The school building at the county seat was erected at an expense of $10,000, and together with the lot on which it stands represents an investment of $15,000. The teachers of the county rank high in pedagogical ability and in scholarship.

As an educational point Alamogordo is of something more than local importance in its possession of the New Mexico Baptist College, an institution under the control of the denomination in New Mexico, Arizona, and Colorado, and which represents an expenditure of $25,000. The building was completed and fitted up in February of the present year, and began its first term the same month with an enrollment of 108 pupils. The institution has an excellent faculty and bids fair to accomplish good work in the cause of education.

DEMAND FOR LABOR.

Among all the counties of New Mexico this is one of the best from the standpoint of the man looking for employment. The construction by the El Paso and Northeastern of the extension of its line from Carrizozo to the Pecos River, a distance of 127 miles, and the constant need of more men required by the expansion of the lumber industry, have created a demand for labor that lacks much of being met by the supply.

RECREATION AND HUNTING.

The charm of the far-famed Adirondacks in nowise surpasses that of the Sacramentos. The heart of the range is a veritable oasis of

vegetation—an endless expanse of forests of pine, balsam, and fir, carpeted with ferns and wild flowers and all the flora of the woods. Naturally such an idyllic spot is becoming the recreation ground of the Southwest. The hotel at Cloudcroft gives accommodations to those who in their outing adhere more or less to the conventionalities of life, but there are many who prefer to camp out and enjoy nature at its best, and the mountains are filled each summer with those who seek a change from the turmoil and care and routine of city life.

The Sacramento Mountains are a sportsman's paradise. Wild turkey, quail, blacktail deer, and cinnamon bear are found in abundance.

ALAMOGORDO.

Alamogordo, the county seat of Otero County, has been fitly dubbed "the miracle of New Mexico." Laid out but three years ago, to-day it has a population of 2,000 and enjoys the reputation of being one of the most progressive communities of the Territory. The town was platted by the Alamogordo Improvement Company, which has followed a uniform, consistent scheme in its development, the result of which is seen in its miles of wide streets, lined on each side by cottonwood trees, whose verdure marks a sharp contrast with the aridity and barrenness of much of the landscape surrounding it. The company has spared no expense or pains in beautifying the town, and some of its efforts in this direction are noted in a park a.mile long and two artificial lakes, which add to its charm.

The general offices of the El Paso and Northeastern Railway and the Alamogordo and Sacramento Mountain Railway are located at Alamogordo, as are those of the Alamogordo Lumber Company and the Southwestern Mercantile Company. The shops of the railroads and the two mills and box factory of the lumber company employ a large force of men, and the monthly pay rolls of the various corporations, circulated among the local merchants, make Alamogordo an excellent business point.

Alamogordo is well represented in all lines of mercantile activity, but no line of business is overdone, as is too often the case in Western towns, and its merchants are prosperous and satisfied. The condition of its business interests may be gauged from the statement that the local bank has deposits of $160,000.

Along social lines the progress of the town has been as marked as it has been in the direction of industrial and commercial development. It possesses four churches-Methodist Episcopal North, Methodist Episcopal South, Baptist, and Presbyterian-and the Catholics are arranging for the erection of a handsome edifice. The secret orders are represented in the Freemasons, Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias, and Improved Order of Red Men, and musical and literary societies testify to the culture of its inhabitants. The permanence of the town and the faith of its people in its future is amply evidenced by its substantial business blocks and its numerous handsome two-story residences, which would reflect credit on a city of tenfold the population of Alamogordo. Its educational advantages are emphasized by a $15,000 high-school building and a Baptist college which cost $25,000, and which is under the control of the denomination in New Mexico, Arizona, and Colorado. Bonds for the erection of a handsome $20,000 county courthouse have been authorized by the county commissioners, and the work will begin this fall upon the new building. The town has had a building boom the past year, and many thousands of dollars

have been expended in substantial improvements. It boasts of an efficient electric-light and telephone system. Plans have been drawn and approved by the directors of the El Paso and Northeastern Railroad for a new $20,000 hospital, which in point of equipment and modern improvements will be second to none in the West.

ALAMOGORDO'S WATER SUPPLY.

No review of the development of Otero County and of Alamogordo world be complete without reference to the water supply of the latter. This supply consists of the waters of the drainage of Alamo Canyon or Creek, including its tributaries, and the rights have been acquired by purchase or formal appropriation, great care having been taken to perfect such rights beyond the question of a dispute. The water source is from springs at the extreme heads of the canyons, near the summit of the Sacramento Mountains, some of which sinks and must eventually be piped to the main line, but the greater portion flows to the present intake of the pipe line. The aggregate supply, estimated by measurements by engineers, equals 4 cubic feet per second, or 2,916,000 gallons in twenty-four hours. The reservoir is located 14,600 feet from the depot at Alamogordo, and at a higher elevation of 234 feet, thereby affording a hydrostatic pressure of 100 pounds to the square inch. The reservoir is a thoroughly constructed and permanent work.

Few places in the Southwest or West can boast of a water supply as pure as that of Alamogordo, and invalids sojourning here have given as much credit to the water as to the climate for the benefit to their health which they have derived. An analysis of the water shows:

Cloudcroft, located 26 miles east of Alamogordo, and reached by the Alamogordo and Sacramento Mountain Railway, is the most charming summer resort in the entire Southwest. Situated on the highest peak of the Sacramento Mountains, at an elevation of 9,000 feet, Cloudcroft is destined to become the Mecca, the veritable "breathing spot," of this part of the country. Its pure and invigorating mountain air, laden with the healing aroma of the pine, will again tinge the faded cheek of the invalid with the rose of health, while to those seeking surcease from the monotony of a commercial occupation it offers a complete rejuvenation of fagging energies, and the sufferer returns once more to take his place in the rank of commercial activity filled with new life and vigor. To the lover of the beautiful in nature its magnificent mountain forests, traversed by delightful and grassy glades, present a picture of beauty which is enhanced by the grandeur of the surrounding mountain scenery.

This resort was planned by the enterprising management of the El Paso and Northeastern Railway and no expense has been spared to improve it. Last spring a new hotel, "The Lodge," was erected, at

an expense of $30,000, which, being in rustic style, perfectly harmonizes with the surrounding scenery. The hotel is entirely modern in all its appointments and provides accommodations for 200 people. A commodious dancing pavilion is provided for the guests, while for those who desire to combine recreation with exercise golf links and tennis courts are afforded. The resort is becoming very popular in New Mexico and Texas, and the past two seasons there have been a large number of cottages erected by those who intend making an annual pilgrimage in the torrid months of summer to this favored spot. The resort is extensively advertised by the Texas roads and by the Rock Island system.

The management set apart a tract of about 3,000 acres as a park or preserve for summer visitors and cottagers, and the greatest care will be exercised to preserve nature's handiwork intact. A portion is to be sold in town-lot form and outlying sections in acreage tracts, all subject to careful restrictions designed to guard the best interests of the community. A complete waterworks system has been installed to supply the entire tract with pure mountain water.

TULAROSA.

The oldest settlement in Otero County is Tularosa, located 18 miles north of Alamogordo, on the line of the El Paso and Northeastern Railway. The town, which has a population of 400, was settled by the Mexicans in 1861, and was the last town in the Southwest built on ancient lines. The old houses are still occupied by the founders or their descendants. These incongruities of modernism constantly remind the visitor that the thick adobe walls which surround both house and garden were planned as a defense against Indian attack, and emphasize the contrast in conditions between those days and the present. The streets of the town are beneath great cottonwoods and elms, which meet in arch overhead.

Tularosa is a prosperous community, and its mercantile activity is represented in all lines of business. The soil of the surrounding country is especially fertile, and enjoying, as it does, an excellent water supply which comes from the Mescalero Reservation, special advantages are offered to the horticulturist. Through most of the streets run the acequias, or irrigation ditches, by which the water is brought from the Tularosa canal to the tilled land.

MESCALERO INDIAN RESERVATION.

The Mescalero Apache Indian Reservation, embracing 465,720 acres, or 738 square miles, is within the confines of Otero County, and easily accessible by wagon road from Tularosa. Here the Government has made one of its most successful solutions of the problem of civilizing the Indian, the credit for the results achieved being due to the last two agents, Capt. V. E. Stotler and Dr. W. McM. Luttrell. The Mescaleros were one of the most bloodthirsty of all the allied tribes of the Apaches, and under the leadership of Victoria and Geronimo terrorized the entire Southwest until they were subdued by General Miles and General Lawton. To-day they are peaceably disposed and engaged in the pursuit of agriculture.

There are at present on the reservation 482 Indians, of whom 365 are adults, divided into 128 families. With the exception of 50 women and children, all are married. Among them they cultivate 90 farms,

have 3,000 acres of land fenced in, and 1,200 in grain.

They own

about 1,000 horses, 20 mules, 60 burros, 5,000 sheep, 600 goats, and some cattle.

The reservation is especially adapted to agriculture, the soil being as rich as any in the county, while the water supply is abundant. The western portion of the reservation is richly mineralized, and when it is thrown open to settlement it is likely some of the richest mining properties in the Southwest will be developed here.

RIO ARRIBA COUNTY.

Rio Arriba is a county of very diversified interests, of rugged and picturesque contour; well watered, well mineralized, and fruitful in the extreme as far as agricultural and horticultural interests have been carried. Stock raising is given most extensive attention by its people, with farming and mining a close second. It is one of the backbone districts of the country, whose resources as yet have scarcely been touched by the hand of enterprise. It lies between the counties of Taos and San Juan, with the Colorado line for its north boundary and Bernalillo and Santa Fe counties on the south. The area is 4,250,000 acres; the population some 18,000.

ner.

The eastern and central portions are cut by numerous streams, are mountainous, and the cultivable land here is found in sheltered valleys, many of which are thousands of acres in extent, others comprising merely the narrow river bottoms. The western portion is included in the high, rolling mesas and plains of the continental divide. The principal water course is the Chama, fed by the Rio Brazos, Rio Nutrias, the Gallinas, El Rito, Rio Caliente, Canones, Bear Creek, and other streams. The Rio Puerco cuts through its southwest corThe Los Pinos and San Antonio run through its northeast corner. The Rio Grande flows through its southeast corner. The principal agriculture is found on the Chama and its tributaries, and along the bottoms of the Brazos, Rio Caliente, El Rito, and other streams named above. Rich as they are and well supplied with water, these valley lands are as yet very sparsely cultivated. Here are opportunities for irrigation enterprises. In addition to the bottom lands there are perhaps 80,000 acres of bench or mesa lands that may be irrigated by modern ditches and brought under cultivation. The soil is composed of rich silt and is of inexhaustible fertility. Here may be found some rich prizes for farm colonies.

SOIL PRODUCTS.

The breadstuff cereals (principally wheat), oats, potatoes, beans, chilli, and all kinds of vegetables are produced. The apples, pears, and peaches of the lower Chama and La Joya, on the Rio Grande, long ago gave Rio Arriba a place among the horticultural districts of the Southwest. The first irrigation ditches on American soil were constructed hereabouts and at Los Luceros and Plaza Alcalde; and the first apples and pears produced in the Rocky Mountain region were grown here; indeed, at Los Luceros is a notable pear tree that has yielded fruit for more than two hundred years, and is undoubtedly the first tree of this variety of fruit planted in the United States.

PRINCIPAL TOWNS.

The principal towns are Tierra Amarilla, Chama, Abiquiu, Monero, Velarde, Good Hope, and Chamita. The first named is the county