LOS RINCONES

My story must start at the real beginning.

Paul Horgan wrote eloquently about the origins of the Rio Grande, its peoples and their cultures from which I have borrowed considerably to describe the environment in which my paternal great-grand parents, the legendary Major Rafael Chacón and Maria de la Luz Chacón found themselves in.

I must add that my maternal great-grand parents Antonio Jose Martinez and Maria Inez Sandoval, the parents of my maternal grandfather Pantaleón Martínez were also born in Peñasco. My other maternal great-grand parents, parents of Felícitas Gríego, Manuel Gríego and Margarita Vigil were also born in the area. Manuel at Peñasco and Margarita at Picuris Pueblo.

La Jicarita - Greer Garson's View from Cowles - It also dominates the Peñasco Valley on the other side!

Quoting Horgan, first, the creation of the River.

"Space. Abstract movement. The elements at large. Over warm seas the air is heavy with moisture. Endlessly the vast delicate act of evaporation occurs. The seas yield their essence to the air. Sometimes it is invisible, ascending into the upper atmosphere. Sometimes it makes a shimmer in the calm light that proceeds universally from the sun."

The valleys that form the confluence of the many streams that flow into the Rio Grande from the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of Northern New Mexico hide numerous small communities that have been known as Los Rincones. Literally translated The Corners, implies hidden as well. One of these Rincones is Peñasco in Taos County. To the outsider, those from Taos, Española, Santa Fe (La Villa) or Las Vegas; Peñasco included Vadito, Placitas, Rodarte (Santa Barbara), Llano, Llano Largo, Rio Lucio, Ojito and Chamisal. To some, Peñasco even included El Valle, Truchas, Vallecitos and Ojo Sarco. Not to the Chacón or the Durán families of Peñasco. To us Peñasco was La Corridera in the valley from La Vuelta del Peñasco to roughly the General Store owned by Juan Smith and included La Otra Banda on the south side of the Santa Barbara river that flows through the valley. Outsiders were justified in associating all the villages under the rubric Peñasco, after all Peñasco High School (PEN-HI) served all of these villages save Truchas and Ojo Sarco. The first class to graduate from PEN-HI consisted of one graduate, that was in 1931.

Others have written about Los Rincones; the noted actress, Greer Garson, who maintained a home at the Forked Lightning ranch across the mountain from us wrote the following in 1948.

"For thirteen lucky years I have called New Mexico home. Inevitably this means that whenever I am anywhere else, its mysterious magic so haunts me that I long for the day when we leave the rush and tension of the great teeming cities and return to the old Ranch in the Pecos valley, seven thousand feet up in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. There the air is pure, and to breathe it is an exhilaration. The water is delicious, the sky unbelievable high and wide and of a deep, almost palpable blue.”

“One wakens on the shining spacious mornings feeling ten years old, and life is an adventure again. The remembered silence and the pleasant country sounds refresh the wearied spirit. Vision stretches gratefully to the far distant horizons. How good to see the great peaks and mesas, the fantastic towering rocks again, and the 2,000 year old pueblo ruins silhouetted against the spectacular sunsets.”

“How fair is our valley... Pine and piñon cover the red adobe land, and in the fall the aspens, and cottonwoods along the river, burn bright gold. In winter the forests are a white wonderland of Christmas trees. All year round the nights are crisp and cool, and the stars, startlingly brilliant, float in amethyst space and seem to bring heaven nearer to earth. If ever mortals could hear the music of spheres, it would be in New Mexico."

I wish I had written that! No wonder when I describe Peñasco to my students, I finish up by telling them, "Drive up to Peñasco, it will be the closest to Heaven you will ever get." They do not know quite how to take that. I should add that if that is not Heaven it at least has the same Zip code.

But Garson continues; "We love our busy life at Forked Lightning. Here as everywhere, the human element is part of the fascination. Our friends and fellow-workers include Indian craftsmen, neighbors of Spanish-American descent, pioneer Westerners, merchants, cowboys, miners, sportsmen, ranchers, archeologists, artists and writers, a richly varied family brings all of the drama of New Mexico's colorful past into its exciting present.”

“Where else in this world can you find such wide ranging contrasts of ancient and modern Pre-historic remains and nuclear testing grounds; centuries-old Indian pueblos and modern motels; tribal Ceremonials at Gallup, al fresco Opera at Santa Fe; Spanish santéros and secret Peniténtes in the mountains, the nation's most advanced space medicine center in Albuquerque; horse-drawn wagons on the country roads, air conditioned busses and crack trains on the new ways; sleepy-hollow hidden villages, boomtowns in the uranium, oil and gas fields; ageless caverns, mysterious rocks and relics from the first furnace of creation, and close by the confident surge of today's descendants of the original homo sapiens as they build their streamlined homes and industries.”

“Possibly the march of progress is more strikingly noticeable here in this ancient territory than elsewhere in the states. Romantics, of course, deplore the parking meters in the plaza at Santa Fe. They sigh to see the backyard hens and the family cow disappear in favour of the deep-freeze Instant Goodies at the up-dated country store. But some traditions stand firm. I doubt that factory cooked pinto beans, tamales, tacos or chile will ever displace the home-made kind. And although the lovely Mexican and Navajo costumes have to compete with the drip-dries and the blue jeans, they are still proudly worn by old and young. Junk jewelry glitters in the dime stores and factory-made souvenirs in tourist shops, but they will never oust the treasured silver and turquoise, and the hand-crafted leather and pottery. The Indian languages are still in use, and Spanish is everywhere current and familiar.”

“For this is characteristic of New Mexicans... they seem to know how to combine the best of old and new in a happy compromise. All around the countryside, for example, the small neat adobe house keeps its horno, its well and the outdoor plumbing, but nonchalantly sports a TV antenna on the roof and an automobile at the ol' hitching post.”

“Ambition and enterprise are not lacking but the favorite toast among friends is still, "Salud, amor y pesetas ... y tiempo para disfrutarlos." In English roughly, "To your health, wishing you love and wealth, and the time to enjoy them."

“Most important of all, the land itself changes not. Timeless, remote, and vast, it has absorbed all invaders from mastodons to missiles. Its beauty and power have inspired the artist, the writer and the mystic. The magic can hardly be communicated, but this rich anthology gives you, Dear reader, a vivid glimpse of the Land of Enchantment."

Los Rincones of northern New Mexico is exactly the place to smell the flowers. I am glad, both I and my bride were born and raised there. No wonder I used to tell my students from time to time, "Go up to Peñasco some time. It will be the closest to Heaven you will ever get."

To those who follow us I say, go up there some time. Drive up from Dixon; some three miles after you have topped Hardin Hill, the Peñasco valley opens up. You'll see the majestic Jicaríta dominating the valley.

La Jicarita - View from the Peñasco Valley

You can now begin to smell the flowers.

A painting of La Jicarita by the famous Mónica Chacón de Glenn hangs in our family room.

You might start there!

Read On! Enjoy!