Talk:Jornada del Muerto

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Contents 1 White Sands 2 El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro 3 Size of Image 4 Not So Dry 5 Volcano Project

[edit] White Sands

The Jornada del Muerto is NOT in the same basin as White Sands. White Sands is in the Tularosa Basin on the EAST side of the San Andres Mountains. The Jornada del Muerto is to the WEST of the San Andres Mountains. Bejnar 15:52, 4 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro

I deleted material more appropriate for the general article on El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro. I deleted the damming of the Rio Grande and the reservoirs as that is on the other side of the Caballo Mountains (and the Fra Cristobal Range) from the Jornado del Muerto. Bejnar 16:40, 4 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Size of Image

The map is important to the article, 200px is too small to see any detail. Bejnar 02:51, 3 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Not So Dry

The early travelers on the Jornada chose to move away from the reliable water of the Rio Grande because the section of the River from Radium Springs to San Marcial passes through very difficult traveling terrain, a succession of sand and gravel hills and ravines, and because the Jornada was both a nice level route for wagons, and an especially well-watered section of desert with very good grazing for the livestock. The part of the "Jornada" which is closed today, the University's Experimental Range, is not part of the old route, which can be followed almost exactly today in any passenger car at least as far north as Engle. In the driest of times, short side trips were made to St. David (near Rincon) for water, and sometimes water from the springs in Maclean canyon failed to reach the Jornada Lakes near Engle, and another short side trip was required. Even in the driest of times, then, the greatest distance between dependable sources of water was about 25 miles. A transit of the Jornada typically involved travelling three days and camping two nights.

Most of the deaths which occurred on the Jornada happened in two particular incidents; when colonists were fleeing the Pueblo Revolt, and during the Civil War retreat of the Texan volunteers. Otherwise it was not considered a particularly dangerous route. It was used specifically because it was so much easier and safer than staying on that stretch of the river. Dwmonath 17:59, 15 December 2006 (UTC)

Two points: 1) several sections of the Jornada are closed to general public access. The Jornada ecological research area is composed of two entities: a) the Chihuahuan Desert Rangeland Research Center, owned and operated by the university, and the Jornada Experimental Range, owned and operated by the USDA. Other portions of the Jornada are owned by White Sands Missile Range and by Ted Turner.

2) "Jornada del Muerto" refers to two closely related but distinct things: a) the actual route taken by early travelers; b) the plain between the Fra Cristobal & Caballo Mts. and the San Andres Mts., across the western side of which the old route passes. In the first sense, the Jornada research area is not part of the Jornada, in the second sense it is. Similarly, in the first sense the Jornada does not include the Trinity Site, while in the second sense it does; and in the first sense the western edge of the lava fields are the northern boundary of the Jornada, while in the second sense the Jornada includes the entirety of the lava fields and extends well past them to around US Hwy 380. Paalexan (talk) 20:42, 16 January 2008 (UTC)

I agree, except for the strict inclusion of the lava field and the stretch up to US 380. The mountains on the west side disappear and the area of the Jornada (as opposed to route) no longer exists. There are some interesting remnant crescentic dunes in that stretch north of the lava. --Bejnar (talk) 06:49, 18 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Volcano Project

Seattle Skier is correct that a small part of the Jornada del Muerto is a large lava field. A look at the map shows that the large lava field (at the northern end) is but a very minor part of the Jornada del Muerto, less than 2%. The lava field in question basically defines the northern boundary of the Jornado. The actual fissure is north of the Jornada del Muerto. Given the uniqueness of the Jornada del Muerto Volcano, I suspect that it deserves its own article. See for example: "Jornada del Muerto Volcano" from New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science. --Bejnar 19:42, 27 March 2007 (UTC)

I completely agree with you. I was actually just minutes away from creating the article. I'll make the reference to Jornada del Muerto Volcano which I added to this article be a link to the new article. It's funny that we were both thinking the same thing simultaneously. It's nice to be able to find some common ground that we can agree on. --Seattle Skier (talk) 20:51, 27 March 2007 (UTC)