We usually don’t feature letters to the editor from newspapers. But this one recently published in the Santa Fe New Mexican is intriguing enough to take a closer look.
Andrew Black wrote that President Joe Biden and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, in the final days of their administrations, ought to declare the 106,000-acre Caja del Rio south of Santa Fe as a national monument to permanently protect it. The land contains La Bajada Hill, a prominent early alignment of Route 66.
Caja del Rio was used for hundreds of years as a footpath for local Pueblo Indians, then as part of the El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro that connected the region to Mexico City.
Black wrote:
Centuries later, portions of this route were designated New Mexico Highway 1 running up La Bajada Hill. Considered one of the world’s greatest engineering feats, this highway became part of New Mexico’s push for statehood. Decades later, portions of N.M. 1 crossing the Caja became part of Route 66, the “Mother Road” that brought forth western expansion and hope out of the Great Depression.
For millennia, the Caja del Rio has told the complex story of the confluence of New Mexico’s cultures and speaks to the sacred connection between the people, land, water and wildlife that makes us who we are today. […]
With major threats to develop and sell off America’s public lands under the next administration, Biden and Haaland must act now to protect the Caja del Rio for future generations of New Mexicans and Americans. To again quote (Martin Luther) King Jr., “The ultimate measure of a person is not where they stand in moments of convenience and comfort, but where they stand at times of challenge and controversy.”
Whether Caja del Rio can be declared a national monument on such short notice is unknown. All significant government actions, including those by the president, usually require some sort of process.
Making Caja del Rio a national monument likely would clarify issues regarding public access to La Bajada Hill and possibly give it more protection.
The Cochiti Pueblo blocked access to La Bajada Hill in mid-2017, citing damage to the area. And the desecration of petroglyphs in the area two years ago means it probably won’t be reopened, save for some sort of intervention.
With the centennial of Route 66 less than two years away, it might give the president more incentive to do something with Caja del Rio.
La Bajada Hill served as Route 66 from 1926 until 1932, when the highway was realigned.
(Vintage postcard of La Bajada Hill via 66Postcards.com)