Joining History and the Present

One of the defining characteristics of most cities in the Western U.S. is their newness; Las Vegas, for instance, is barely a hundred years old. But recently, my two youngest daughters joined me in exploring Albuquerque, N.M., where written history is more than 400 years deep, giving it a complex and interesting character unexpected of a city with only about half a million people.

Yet we found a city that respects its old while striving for the new. By the end of our trip, we had visited not only historical museums and an authentic pueblo that predated the Spanish colonies by centuries, but also rode the modern marvel that is the world's longest aerial tramway.

We saw the region's history, as it were, in chronological order, stopping first at the famous Acoma Pueblo about 60 miles west of Albuquerque. The pueblo encompasses about 400,000 acres and is home to about 4,800 tribal members, but the pueblo's most interesting manifestation is the adobe dwellings at Sky City. The oldest of these is dated to the 12th century, and this is thought to be the oldest continuously occupied community in the United States. It gets its name from its location, on a mesa more than 350 feet above the floor of the surrounding valley.

After a tour of the Sky City Cultural Center and Haak'u Museum, located below the mesa, Sky City guide Fred Stevens put 20 visitors onto a bus that transported us to the city itself, atop the mesa.

Positioning the community here helped protect its residents from nomadic raiders, Stevens explained, but it didn't protect them from Spanish colonial forces, who conquered the city in 1599 and massacred most of its people.

After years of Spanish oppression, the Acoma joined the 1680 Pueblo Revolt. This bloody but largely successful rebellion won only temporary independence but did end the worst excesses of colonialism. In 1689, Spain acknowledged the Acoma as owners of their ancestral land.

The uprising killed about 400 Spanish soldiers, many civilians, and about two-thirds of the area's Catholic priests. It also reduced many missions to rubble, but the one at Sky City, the San Esteben del Rey, is still intact. Constructed from 1629 to 1641, the 21,000-square-foot adobe is open to visitors on the walking tour.

Directly in front of the mission, on the edge of the mesa, is the cemetery. It's 400 by 400 feet, and Stevens, himself an Acoma, told us it is 40-feet deep. "We have four or five layers of dead planted here," he said. We could still see what appeared to be some unoccupied spots in the cemetery.

"This is the final layer," Stevens said, "and will only be used for the older generation and sacred leaders."

Stevens said his people call the buried "planted" or "replanted" because the Acoma believe the people originally emerged from Mother Earth.

Except for a couple of people here and there, most of the earthen dwellings of Sky City appeared empty. But Stevens told us, "There are 14 families living here, which include about 30 people." Other tribal members live in villages below the mesa.

We walked the entire village on streets only as wide as a single car. Tribal members can drive here to bring supplies and so forth, but we only saw a couple of cars. There is neither electricity nor running water; rain run-off does support a few corn stalks sprouting next to the foundations. A single cottonwood tree grows at the edge of the town, where one woman took advantage of the filtered shade to set up a table where she sold her wares.

As we walked the narrow streets, we stopped a few times to admire and purchase handmade, delicately painted pots from locals who displayed their works on card tables. One resident gave us some nice, puffy fry bread with a generous helping of powdered sugar sprinkled on top. This was delicious, but since it was a windy day, we ended up wearing most of the sweetener on our clothes.

Arriving in Albuquerque in late afternoon, we went directly to our accommodations in a quiet tree-lined neighborhood of east downtown, an area the locals now call EDO.

Years ago, EDO was an area whose better days were past, but recently, young, energetic folks have renovated homes and given the neighborhood some flair. We found ourselves within walking distance of some super restaurants, including Farina Pizzeria and Wine Bar, where the chic and trendy meet for drinks. At nearly a mile above sea level, an Albuquerque summer will allow dining outside, and we loved it.

We were staying in one of three adjoining homes now owned by Kara and Steve Grant. The Grants live in one with their four children, and the others take in visitors on the bed-and-breakfast plan. The backyards are all connected, which allows a large expanse of grass beneath the mature deciduous trees. The Grants have added grapevines, fruit trees, perennials and a lovely herb garden to the landscape, making it a lovely place to sit, read and relax after a long day of sightseeing. We enjoyed it every night.

The particular guest house where we stayed, a craftsman-style bungalow, is called Spy House, because it was here that an important atomic bomb secret was traded to the Soviets. In 1945, David Greenglass, a machinist who worked at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, was boarding here on weekends with his wife. On June 2, 1945, Greenglass sold a drawing of the trigger portion of the atomic bomb to Soviet agent Harry Gold for $500. When the spy ring to which he belonged was uncovered, Greenglass made a deal to protect his wife from prosecution in return for his testimony against others, including his sister, Ethel Rosenburg and her husband, Julius. The Rosenburgs were electrocuted in Sing Sing prison in 1953, but Greenglass got off with a 15-year sentence, served 10, and is still alive.

You certainly won't have late-morning hunger pangs while staying at either the Spy House or its sister property, Heritage. Guests of both meet for breakfast at the Spy House, where fare is a kind of elegant home cooking. Our first morning there began with zucchini muffins, apricot and pecan scones and freshly cut-up fruit. This was followed by blue-corn pancakes with thick blueberry syrup, and we finished with a green-chili quiche, bacon on the side.

After such a satisfying meal, we were ready to head out for our long yet interesting day beginning at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, the official museum of the state's 19 pueblos and three reservations. After a brief self-guided tour of the museum, we watched a traditional buffalo dance performed by the Acoma Intercultural Dance Group.

Spanish ranchers began settling the banks of the Rio Grande in the late 1600s, and the town of Albuquerque was laid out there in 1706. In Old Town, we could still detect the traditional Spanish plan of homes surrounding a focal point, in this case the San de Felipe Neri Catholic Church. The original church was started in 1706 but collapsed in 1792. The "new" church was constructed the following year, and still stands, open to the public.

Five flags fly over Old Town, representing the different governments that have claimed authority there. There are the colors of Spain (1598-1821), Mexico (1821-1846), The United States (1846-present), the Confederate States of America (1862), and the State of New Mexico (1912-present).

Old Town boasts more than 150 restaurants, stores, art galleries, studios and museums, many housed in former homes. We took it slow along the brick walkways, exploring side alleys that led to delightful small specialty shops and galleries displaying photography and other arts, all out of sight from the main streets. Such pleasant surprises reward one for walking, even if you buy nothing.

Albuquerque has respected its past, but does not dwell in it. The town has reinvented its economy based on the technology of the times. Railroad transportation, and rail-based tourism, were followed by auto tourism, then science-based endeavors including nuclear energy and the computer. Microsoft was founded here.

That afternoon, we drove a short distance over to the foothills, where we boarded the Sandia Tramway. The 15-minute tram ride takes visitors 2.7 miles up the west face of the jagged Sandia Mountains to a lofty 10,378 feet. This is the world's longest aerial tramway, and once on top, we enjoyed a panoramic view said to take in 11,000 square miles, from our perch in forested mountains down to the rocky foothills and the vast Rio Grande Valley below.

It's not just the view that brings visitors here. The peak is the trailhead for great hikes most of the year, and in winter, the quickest access to Sandia Peak Ski Area, which features beginner and intermediate terrain. The peak also is a place to enjoy fine lunches and dinners at the High Finance Restaurant and Tavern, which offers variety, from steak to prime rib, seafood and pasta.

The next morning, we headed over to the Albuquerque Biological Park located near Old Town. You easily could spend more than a day taking in the sights of this park, which includes the Albuquerque Aquarium, Rio Grande Zoo, Rio Grande Botanic Garden and Tingley Beach, which features three fishing ponds and one for sailing model boats.

We especially enjoyed the botanic garden. Our favorite part was the Children's Fantasy Garden, where everything is super-sized and we experienced what an ant might feel like living in our world. We stood inside a 42-foot diameter, two-story-high pumpkin, complete with a tangle of hanging fibers supporting enormous seeds. We took a stroll in an area built to suggest burrowing underground through a garden of carrots and other enormous root vegetables. We also loved the four-acre Sasebo Japanese Garden, which features walking trails through Asian landscaping complete with pagodas, stone lanterns and a large, elegant koi pond with waterfall.

We finished our day indoors at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, spending the majority of our time at the eight permanent exhibits called "Time Tracks." These constitute a walk through time, showing what New Mexico looked like 12 billion years ago and bringing us through the dawn of the dinosaurs to New Mexico's ice age, 1.8 million to 10,000 years ago.

But for your visit, the fall is an excellent time, and the nine days beginning Saturday offer the special spectacle of the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. This is the world's largest balloon festival, and this year it features more than 600 hot air balloons with 650 registered pilots from 17 countries and 38 states. It's scheduled at this time of the year because fall brings cool morning temperatures and usually clear days. The "Albuquerque Box" effect, a combination of upper-and-lower level winds improved by the nearby Sandia Mountains, helps pilots launch and then land again in the same area.

The 365-acre Balloon Fiesta Park will be filled with balloons and vendors; guests can walk around and see the balloons up close and talk to the pilots. Highlights are the "balloon glows," "The After Glow Fireworks Show," and, most spectacular of all, a mass ascension. It's one of the most photographed events in the world, and justifiably so. Pack a camera and a high-capacity memory card.