USA > New Mexico > Santa Fe County > Santa Fe County: The Heart of New Mexico, Rich in History and Resources > Part 2
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"The sunshine of Santa Fe is proverbial; there is annually re- corded 77 per cent of the possible amount, against 69 per cent at Denver, 65 per cent at St. Louis, 59 per cent at Washington, 54 per cent at Boston, and 53 per cent at Chicago. With all of these cities, excepting Denver, Colorado, the greatest amount of sun- shine occurs in summer, while here the highest percentage is in the fall, spring and winter, in the order named. Expressed differ- ently, this means that there is a partial veiling of the sun's rays during the heat of the summer, but a full and free bestowal of its glorious rays during the remaining nine months of the year. Oc- casionally, the amount of sunshine reaches the marvelous total of 98 per cent of the possible 100 per cent (December, 1903), and 96 per cent in October, and also in November, 1903, and it has never fallen below 48 per cent (February, 1905). In actual hours of sun- shine, the record averages 3,352 hours in a year, 9.2 hours for each day.
"The average relative humidity is slightly below 46 per cent; it is highest, slightly below 55 per cent, in January, and lowest, 33 per cent, in June. The annual relative humidity at Denver is 50 per cent; at St. Louis, 70 per cent; at Boston, 72 per cent; at Washington, 73 per cent; at Chicago, 77 per cent, and at Jackson-
TESUQUE VALLEY,
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ville, 80 per cent. For the warmest months of the year (June, July, August and September) the average at St. Louis is 66 per cent; Chicago and Boston, 75 per cent; Washington, 75 per cent and Jacksonville, 82 per cent; in other words, the humidity during the heat of the summer in the eastern cities is considerably greater than the annual average, while just the opposite condition prevails in Santa Fe, where it is a dry heat, thus always free from ener- vating effects.
"The average hourly wind movement is low, 6.9 miles per hour, and it is rare indeed that a storm velocity, 40 miles an hour or higher, is attained, there being but thirty-seven such records in twenty-one years. There is no record of the wind ever having at- tained a velocity of 60 miles an hour at Santa Fe.
"Summarized, the climate may be described as one that is mild and equable, much given to sunshine, free from great heat, high winds, humidity, and debilitating effects so noticeable in the cent- ral and eastern cities, free also from the cold, snow and storms of other northern cities, a climate of clear skies, small rainfall, few storms and those of short duration, one which is usually warm in the sun in winter and cool in the shade in summer."
At Santa Fe in winter, on sunny days, and nearly every day has sunshine, the temperature in the sun runs up from 50 to 80 de- grees. Even a temperature of 97 degrees, the highest ever recorded at Santa Fe, on account of the great dryness of the atmosphere and the invariably cool summer nights, is not so oppressive as a maxi- mum temperature of 83 degrees at Chicago or New York.
The year 1904 was by no means a favorable one so far as climate goes, vet the official record of the United States Weather Bureau at Santa Fe shows that there were only sixteen cloudy days during the entire year. The sunshine averaged 80 per cent of the total possible amount, or a total of 3,554 hours, almost ten hours of sunshine every day-spring, summer, fall and winter. In the month of December, when most needed, the sunshine percentage reached its maximum, 98 per cent. In October and November, other cool months, it was 96 per cent. August, when cloudiness is grateful, had the minimum record, 69 per cent. The following average is the monthly sunshine record for the past fifteen years : January, 76 per cent ; February, 71; March, 73; April, 78; May, 75; June, 79; July, 69 .; August, 72; September, 77; October, 81; November, 80; December, 79; average for the fifteen years, 77 per cent.
These are official statistics of the United States Weather Bureau and not manufactured to bolster up claims to superiority of cli-
LORETTO ACADEMY, SANTA FE.
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mate, which facts will not sustain. These same records show that the precipitation during 1904 was 14.10 inches, nearly 12 inches having fallen during the months from June to October, inclusive, while during the other seven months it did not amount to three inches. The wind movement during the year averaged less than seven and one-half miles an hour, while the maximum velocity re- corded was forty-six miles an hour, and there was but one other record of a velocity greater than forty miles an hour. The relative humidity, an important factor of salubriousness, reached only 42 per cent. The highest monthly average was 61 per cent, caused by unusually heavy rains on a few days in October. In April of 1904 the remarkably low average of 28 per cent was recorded. Not a single fog was observed at Santa Fe during the year. The coldest month was January, with an average of 27.4 degrees, but an aver- age in the sun of 54 degrees. The warmest month was July, with an average of 69 degrees. The highest temperature recorded was 86 degrees, on July 10th. The lowest was zero, on December 27th. The mean daily range in temperature was merely 22.1 degrees, while the greatest daily range recorded was only 35 degrees. This equa- bility in temperature is a great factor in the comforts of health- seekers and of well persons, and helps to make Santa Fe the great- est climatic summer and winter resort on the western continent.
It has been stated by medical writers that tuberculosis can be treated successfully in any climate. All experience is against such a conclusion. It has been demonstrated beyond question that cer- tain sections of the United States, of which Santa Fe is the type, possess climatic characteristics which are peculiarly adapted to the successful management of the disease. The vast and salubrious stretch of country, which is so many times alluded to as a "land of sand, sagebrush and cacti," possesses in an almost unlimited de- gree those very elements which observation has proved to be of the utmost value in the treatment of tuberculosis.
Where medicines have failed, the elements are succeeding. A pure atmosphere, containing an abundance of oxygen and elec- tricity, in conjunction with a large amount of sunshine, is today fulfilling in an eminently satisfactory manner the mission hereto- fore mapped out for such agents as cod liver oil, creosote and the various remedies known as serums.
The importance of climate as a factor in the treatment of pul- monary tuberculosis is daily manifesting more and more its value, whether taken separately or coupled with the various specific plans of therapy now advocated and employed in this important branch of practice. Physicians are informing themselves more widely
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upon this vital question, and the experiences gained by the prac- titioner living amidst such ideal climatic conditions as exist in New Mexico are being looked upon with more interest and kindly consideration than heretofore has been accorded them.
The consensus of opinion, as expressed by the leading authorities on tuberculosis at the International Congress held at Moscow, Russia, a few years ago, and later at London, England; Madrid, Spain; Atlanta, Georgia, and at Paris, France, was unanimously in favor of the climatic treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis over all other methods considered.
The southwestern section of the United States has thousands of residents who came as tuberculosis patients, some of them as long as twenty-five years ago. They are today, and have been for many years, in good health; have married and reared children who are to all appearances absolutely free from tubercular disease.
Animals, as well as the human race, are likewise remarkably free from tuberculosis in this region, as has been shown by the re- searches of Herrera and Lopez of Mexico, where the climatic con- ditions are practically similar to those existing in Santa Fe. These investigators report that they have found but forty-five cases of tuberculosis in cattle out of 73,000 killed and examined at the government abattoir in the City of Mexico.
It may be stated in a general way that all specific plans of thera- peutic treatment thus far suggested for the cure of tuberculosis, and especially of the pulmonary form, have failed, so that one must look to nature rather than to the laboratory for the weapons to combat this enemy of the race.
The early diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis is of the utmost importance, for it is in the beginning of the disease that the greatest benefit is derived in the largest proportion of cases from the climate or the out-of-door plan of treatment.
New Mexico is essentially a "land of sunshine and blue skies." Here there is a dry and bracing climate, with no extreme heat nor cold, a climate which, for the most part admits of an existence out-of-doors almost all the year round. It is these qualities of air and sky that have caused this favored region to be known today over the entire civilized world as the "Land of Sunshine." The peculiar adaptability of such a climate to the successful manage- ment of consumption and other diseases of the lungs and respira- tory tracts is causing invalids to flock here in great numbers, ex- perience and observation having demonstrated beyond further ques- tion the fact that the sea coast resorts have proved dismal failures
BATTLEFIELD OF GLORIETA.
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in exercising either a corrective or retarding influence upon the disease mentioned above.
In the past few years the medical profession, as well as the laity, has been made aware, through various channels, of the vastly superior climatic conditions existing throughout the Territory of New Mexico, and patients are seeking relief here by the hundreds where formerly they came only by the score.
The famous Dr. Osler, recently much in the public eye, says : "The requirements of a suitable climate are a pure atmosphere, and a maximum amount of sunshine." The purity of the atmos- phere is the first consideration, and it is this requirement that is met so well at and around Santa Fe.
The problem of the prevention of the further spread of tuber- culosis and its ultimate and complete eradication from the human race will be solved when physicians realize the importance of at once placing the patient suffering from or threatened with this disease in a suitable climate. Children inheriting this peculiar condition of the cellular structures and cell elements known as a tubercular tendency will develop, in a favorable climate, a cell antagonism to the disease which can never be acquired in a climate where tubercular diseases are more common and one which favors the causes that lead to tubercular disease.
It is generally conceded by writers upon bacteriology that cli- matic conditions play a most conspicuous part in both development and retardation of microbic life. Epidemic diseases which have for their vehicles certain conditions of the atmosphere, such as heat and moisture, constantly demonstrate their power of spread- ing contagion, the moisture contained in the air being the chief factor in preserving the vitality of the germ.
To anyone familiar with the extreme climatic difference between the Atlantic Coast States and the Southwest, the great role played by the climate in each locality named will at once become strikingly apparent to the most indifferent observer. Epidemics, such as la grippe, so fatal and destructive in their train of sequelae, are un -. known in New Mexico. The climatic conditions; more especially the rarity and purity of the atmosphere, together with the almost constant direct rays of the sun, are the most powerful bactericides known to science today. A climate where discarded animal and veg- etable substances undergo prompt and rapid desiccation after brief exposure to the atmosphere, with but little manifestation of de- composition, argues most strongly against bacterial development. The tuberculosis bacilli lose their infective power in a very short
{FIELD OF WILD COSMOS AT AN ELEVATION OF 10,000 FEET.
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time after exposure to the sun's rays in the arid atmosphere. This clearly explains the curative effect of climate upon pulmonary tuberculosis. Constant inhalation of what may be properly termed an aseptic atmosphere, in time, brings about in the pulmonary tis- sues, inflamed by tuberculosis deposits, that very desiccation effected upon animal and vegetable substances exposed directly to the air.
Although there are many invalids, principally persons with tu- berculosis, there is not a case of tuberculosis on record in New Mexico that was communicated from the diseased to the healthy through the medium of the atmosphere. That the native people of this section experience such wonderful immunity from tuber- culosis, especially of the respiratory tracts, must have its explan- ation in the very favorable climatic conditions.
In order to derive all possible benefit from such a climate as that of New Mexico, the health seeker should live out-of-doors. If he has the strength to get about at all, the best he can do is to go into the forests and hills surrounding Santa Fe and camp out. The life of the tent dweller is the best treatment for incipi- ent pulmonary tuberculosis. A year's out-of-door life in the dry, bracing air will arrest most cases of pulmonary tuberculosis, if the sufferer has the necessary strength and vitality to begin such a course of treatment and takes ordinary precautions against undue exposure and over-exertion.
Recognizing the superior climatic advantages of New Mexico for the treatment of diseases of the respiratory system, the United States government has established, and now has in successful oper- ation, two large sanitariums, one at Fort Bayard, operated under the auspices of the War Department, and the other at Fort Stan- ton, under the United States Marine Hospital Service, where cli- matic and other conditions are almost as favorable to health seekers as at Santa Fe. Hundreds of soldiers and sailors afflicted with tuberculosis have been cured by the climatic and tent treatment, which is the chief feature at both of these establishments. Fresh air in abundance, both night and day, is the first and most im- portant factor in this treatment. Coupled with this are sunshine, healthful and abundant diet, moderate exercise, and amusements and recreations of a suitable character to banish homesickness. These constitute the plan followed at both places, and they are proving each day the immense advantages they possess over the old methods of treatment.
Another triumph for New Mexico climate as a factor in the cure of consumption was achieved when, in the early summer of 1905,
CLIFF DWELLINGS OF PAJARITO PARK.
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the representatives of the Associated Fraternities of the United States, after a searching and personal investigation of the climatic features of the Southwest, selected for the site of the Fraternal Sanitarium for the cure of consumption, Las Vegas Hot Springs, forty miles east of Santa Fe, with climatic conditions almost similar, except that the minimum temperature in winter is con- siderably lower, the maximum temperature in summer several de- grees higher, and the percentage of humidity a trifle greater at Las Vegas Hot Springs than at Santa Fe, according to the official Weather Bureau records. Almost a million dollars' worth of land and buildings has been acquired for that purpose, and the results that will be achieved would have been deemed impossible a few years ago.
Care of Health Seekers.
Naturally, the first question asked by the health seeker, after deciding upon a point at which to locate and try the climate cure, is the character of the accommodations and their cost. Fortun- ately, Santa Fe is capable of taking care of an almost unlimited number of health seekers in the best possible manner. Sunmount, the pioneer tent city in New Mexico, has been in operation suffi- ciently long to demonstrate its success and permanency. Its ac- commodations are elastic, for it undertakes to care for every comer, tent and furnishings being supplied on short notice, even if every one of the sixty or more commodious tents is occupied. It is ideally located on a tableland overlooking Santa Fe, yet sheltered on every side except the south, from which direction it receives the grateful rays of the sun during the day. Although isolated, it is still within fifteen minutes' walk of the business portion of the city. The pinion, cedar and spruce forests encroach upon and partly surround it, while the shelter of the magnificent moun- tain ranges to the west, north and east protect it from winds and cold. Here the patient receives full benefit of the pure and ex- hilarating mountain air and the copious sunshine, which tend to up-build quickly his general health. Immediately upon taking up residence one notices an infrequency of night-sweats, an absence of fever, and almost invariably a gain in weight, which is apparent from the very start. These facts, together with the endorsements and recommendations of many leading physicians of the country, are a positive assurance that tent life at Sunmount means resto- ration to health for those suffering from tubercular or bronchial diseases. Tours into the mountains and various other places of interest near Santa Fe are features of frequent occurrence and
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SUNMOUNT.
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promote the health and strength, of the patients. The latest sani- tary tents are in use and they are furnished for light house-keeping at the Tent City, whose cuisine is especially adapted to the require- ments of consumptives. Physicians visit Sunmount daily, and the telephone connection with the city assures prompt attendance in case of necessity. A casino, with piano and dance floor, lawn tennis and croquet grounds, are provided, all being free to the residents of Sunmount. The tents have ample space around them to assure privacy without destroying that pleasant sociability that makes life so agreeable to the stranger in a strange land, and is the most potent foe to homesickness. The rent for furnished tents is from $10 a month upward, according to size, location and furnishings. Meals at the restaurant are from $6 a week upward. The private water supply is secured from pure mountain springs, and so great has been the caution in piping the water to this model village that it is absolutely uncontaminated.
A tent sanitarium with a resident physician and for a select class of patients has been established in the southern portion of the city. The cottages are of the latest design and the place is known as the Glorieta Sanitarium.
It is proposed to establish a tent city in the Tesuque Valley, seven miles north of Santa Fe, and also on the Pecos Forest Reserve, twenty miles east of Santa Fe. In and around the town, in fact, throughout the entire county, can be seen tents here and there occupied by health seekers or their families, and by owning their own tents and providing their own meals, health seekers can live at an expense of only $4 a week, without stinting themselves of the essentials for recovery.
The Sisters of Charity maintain a sanitarium in Santa Fe, which gives excellent service to health seekers from $10 a week upward. This includes personal care by the good Sisters and a cuisine that is especially adapted to the needs of invalids. The accom- modations at this sanitarium are limited to a hundred persons, but plans are maturing for enlarging it. Being situated in the center of the city, fronted by a beautiful park, it is patronized not only by health seekers, but by persons who have chosen Santa Fe as their permanent home, even though not in the city for health reasons.
Hotel accommodations at Santa Fe are ample. Although the patronage of health seekers is not especially sought, yet they offer pleasant homes for a temporary period until accommodations can be secured elsewhere. There are a number of private boarding houses where rooms and board can be secured from $6 a week up-
ST. VINCENT'S SANITARIUM AND ORPHANS' HOME.
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ward. Furnished rooms rent at $8 a month upward, according to location and furnishings. Hotel and private accommodations can be found, in addition to those at Santa Fe, at Cerrillos and Espanola, as well as in the smaller settlements. The stranger may be certain of accommodations and a welcome in many private homes, for hospitality is still a recognized virtue throughout the Southwest.
INDUSTRIES-Agriculture.
Tilling of the soil is the principal industry of Santa Fe County, although only one out of every fifty acres is under cultivation at the present time. Ten times that area could be reclaimed at mod- erate cost, either by the construction of irrigation works or dry farming methods. The principal agricultural valleys are those of the Rio Grande, from White Rock Canon to Santa Cruz; the Santa Cruz Valley, with the settlements of Santa Cruz and Chi- mayo; the Pojoaque Valley, with the settlements of Pojoaque and San Ildefonso; the Nambe Valley, with the settlement of Nambe; the Tesuque Valley, with the settlements of Tesuque, Tesuque Pueblo, Cuymungue, Jacona and Rio Medio; the Santa Fe. Valley, with the city of Santa Fe and the settlements of Agua Fria, Cie- nega, Cieneguilla; the Canoncito Valley, with Canoncito and sev- eral other small settlements, and the Galisteo Valley, with the vil- lage of Galisteo and a number of patches under cultivation along its upper course. Some farming is also done along the Arroyo Hondo and lesser streams, while in the mountains dry farming is successful. Although about 20,000 acres are under irrigation and under cultivation, and the area cultivated without irrigation varies from 5,000 to 15,000 acres, no real test of scientific dry farming has been made thus far. The crop production in the county is valued at from $1,000,000 to $1,500,000 a year. Along all the streams and in the hills are many fine reservoir sites, and several irrigation projects, especially in the vicinity of Santa Fe, have been surveyed and found to be practical at comparatively small cost.
Irrigation.
('rops are raised in the mountain valleys much the same as in the more humid east. On large areas, especially in draws, sinks and former river and lake bottoms, the Campbell method of soil culture will enable the energetic husbandman to do well without irrigation, or with scant irrigation, but as a rule, irrigation is necessary to the successful pursuit of agriculture, and it is really !
HOTELS AT SANTA FE.
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the ideal condition under which to raise crops, as has been proved by five thousand years of history in the fertile valleys of Egypt, Mesopotamia, Hindostan, China, north Africa and northern Italy. No excessive moisture, no drouth, worries the husbandman who ' possesses an irrigation right in a perennial stream, who has for- tified himself with a reservoir, who has struck artesian water, or who has wells from which he can pump the underflow. Irriga- tion means intensive farming, it means that the land will be fer- tilized at the same time it is watered, it means certain crops and a maximum production per acre. In its perfection, agriculture by irrigation is as distinct an advance over the methods of agri- culture in the more humid states as manufacturing with machinery is over manual labor.
There are in the county a few medium sized irrigation canals and many small community ditches held by the small farmers and the Pueblo Indians. The origin of these ditches is lost, even in local tradition, and it is probable that some of them were in use before the advent of the Spaniards. Under the community system, each ditch is held and controlled by the owners of the land it irrigates, who usually live together in a village or pueblo. In the fall of each year a mayordomo is elected, who has control of the ditch for the following season. He assesses the land for the labor necessary to clean the ditch and keep it in repair during the irrigation sea- son, apportions the water to each consumer according to the local conditions, and in general supervises all matters pertaining to irri- gation. While the apportionment of labor varies, it is generally such that a farmer holding a tract of six acres is required to fur- nish the labor of one man in cleaning and repairing the entire ditch in the spring, while he who holds twelve acres furnishes a man's labor when necessary during the whole season. The ditches have no regular gates or sluices, and flooding is the only means of irrigation. Corsequently the use of water is extremely wasteful. The average cost of constructing a ditch is $1,738 per mile and $6.40 per acre of land under ditch. The irrigated farms make greater use of the public domain for grazing purposes than do those which are unirrigated, and an income is thus secured in addition to that obtained directly from the land owned or leased.
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