Introduction

The following are among those tour sites being considered as part of the official AAD Tour. There will also be optional sites to visit dependent upon our schedule constraints. Click here to read more about Loretto's Chapel, St Francis Cathedral and the Church at Chimayo.
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Philmont Scout Ranch

One scouter who was new to Texas but was a transplant from California branded Philmont Scout Ranch as “the Disneyland of Scouting.” Adventure, inspirational, ruggedness, and many other terms have described the summer and winter Scout wonderland. Although we are not participating in an official Philmont program, we will visit and witness the awesome power of Scouting at work when we see hundreds of scouts arrive, hundreds of scouts depart and see groups from every part of the United States. Philmont Campfire Programs are some of the best nationwide while there are almost too many museums to see during our short visit. Deer wandering close to the highway, Philmont’s own buffalo herd, and the beautiful sunsets are among the unique aspects of a camp that was given to Scouting over 50 years ago.

 
   

Capulin Volcano

Mammoths, giant bison, and short-faced bears were witness to the first tremblings of the earth and firework-like explosions of molten rock thousands of feet into the air. Approximately 60,000 years ago, the rain of cooling cinders and four lava flows formed Capulin Volcano, a nearly perfectly-shaped cinder cone, rising more than 1000 feet above the surrounding landscape. Although long extinct, Capulin Volcano is dramatic evidence of the volcanic processes that shaped northeastern New Mexico. Today the pine forested volcano provide habitat for mule deer, wild turkey, and black bear. Capulin Continued
 

Kit Carson Museum

Recreated historic site which incorporates some of the original walls of Carson's home. Stagecoach and covered wagon as well as other exhibits relating to the SFT are housed in the building. Open from June 10 to August 25, 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM. There are guided tours. Interpreters in period costume recreate life in the 1850s. Staff at Kit Carson Museum dress in period clothing and demonstrate frontier skills and crafts like blacksmithing, cooking, shooting, and farming. Each room in the Museum is outfitted with reproduction furniture and objects typical of New Mexico in the 1850s. Demonstrations are conducted in the recreated buildings.Kit Carson Continued 		 
 

Thomas E Seton Museum

the Philmont Museum houses history exhibits related to the Philmont area. The Seton Memorial Library is home to the personal art, library and anthropological collections of the founder and first Chief Scout of the Boy Scouts of America, Ernest Thompson Seton. The Gift Shop at the Museum carries a full line of Indian jewelry, Southwestern books, Pendleton blankets, drums, moccasins, and specialty items appropriate as momentos of your Philmont trek.
 

Villa Philmonte

When Waite Phillips gave Philmont Ranch to the Boy Scouts of America in 1941, he included in the gift his palatial ranch, the Villa Philmonte. Surrounding the "Big House" today are the facilities of the Philmont Training Center where each summer Scouters from across the nation participate in traing courses. The Villa has been restored to the time of Phillips' ownership and is maintained as a memorial to his generosity and foresight. Villa Philmonte Continued 		 
   

Old Mill Museum

"New Mexico's Most Unusual Museum!" Built in 1864 by Lucien B. Maxwell. The Aztec Grist Mill is in the southwest corner of Cimarron, It was built to provide ground grains for the Maxwell Ranch and the Jicarilla Apache Indian Reservation, as well as Santa Fe Trail travelers. The collection includes working mill parts, Native American tools, weapons and pottery; Maxwell Land Grant paperwork and documents; antique surgical equipment; place settings and silver from the original St. James Hotel. Today it is operated as a museum and houses working mill parts, life-size figures of local history.
 

Puye Cliff Dwellings

The Puye Cliff Dwellings are part of the Santa Clara Indian Pueblo, near the little town of Espanola, about 30 miles north of Santa Fe. Built in to the side of a cliff, the site was ocupied from about 1250 until 1577 by over 1500 Pueblo Indians. They formed part of the Anasazi culture, which is now usually referred to as the ncestral Pueblan culture. The word Anasazi is the Navajo term meaning "the ancient ones". According to the Santa Clara Indians' traditions, their ancestors lived in the area of Puye until a drought caused the springs to dry up and the crops to fail. The name Puye itself means "pueblo ruin where the rabbits assemble or meet". 		 
   

Bandelier National Monument

The Frijoles Canyon was a place where ancient peoples lived. They were Pueblo people who farmed and hunted. They inhabited the Bandolier area for some 500 years before 1600 A.D. The ground is fertile and there is a river flowing through the canyon. Villagers lived in large structures on the base of the valley. These had a large number of rooms; one with 40 rooms has been discovered. They also lived in rooms carved out of the hillsides.
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Continued Capulin

Just yesterday, on the clock of geological time, the scene at Capulin Volcano would have been one of fire, ash, glowing lava, and ear shattering explosions, for Capulin Volcano is the cone of a volcano that was active only about 10,000 years ago. This volcano represents the last stage of a great period of volcanism that had begun about 2 million years earlier. Evidence of this activity can be seen in the scores of nearby volcanic hills and peaks. The largest of these is Sierra Grande, an extinct volcano rising some 2,200 feet above the surrounding plain, about 10 miles to the southeast. To the northeast of Capulin are a number of mesas that are capped with lava, the three largest of which are Barilla, Raton, and Johnson mesas.

In this great volcanic arena, lava erupted in three flows, each separated by long periods of inactivity. The last series of eruptions created Capulin Volcano, whose conical form rises more than 1,000 feet above its base to 8,182 feet above sea level. The mountain consists chiefly of loose cinders, ash, and other rock debris. These materials were spewed out by successive eruptions and fell back upon the vent, piling up to form the conical mound.

The symmetry of Capulin Volcano was preserved because lava did not flow from the main crater but from secondary vents located at the western base of the cone, After the eruptions ceased, vegetation gained a foothold on the steep, unstable slopes and, in time, the mountain became stabilized as dense root growth and the forces of nature changed the volcanic matter into soil. The great variety and abundance of vegetation on the mountain today lends it a special beauty. The volcano is part grassland and part forest, consisting of pinyon pine, ponderosa pine, and juniper. Throughout the park, shrubs such as mountain mahogany, chokecherry, Gambel oak, and squawbush are also found. Legend has it that the mountain was named "capulin" (Cah-poo- LEEN) after the Spanish word for chokecherry. By walking Capulin's trails, you can become acquainted with the plant and animal life. Besides the flora and fauna, on a clear day you can see four states from the highest point on the Crater Rim Trail.

A 2-mile road spiraling to the top of the volcano and paved trails into the crater and around its rim provide access to explore the volcano and enjoy spectacular views of the surrounding volcanic landscape.

Kit Carson



Certified Site of the Santa Fe National Historic Trail. Lucien Maxwell and famed mountain man Kit Carson, settled here and built their residences where the Santa Fe Trail crossed the Rayado River. The Kit Carson Museum, part of the Rayado Ranch, is on the National Historic Register. Settled in 1848, Rayado was one of the 1st permanent settlements of the Sangre de Cristos, and was a military post from 1850-1851. Trail ruts are visible NE & S of Rayado.

Villa Philmonte Continued



The Villa Philmonte was built in 1927 and used as a private summer home until 1941. Modeled after buildings Phillips and his wife saw on their frequent Mediterranean cruises, and decorated mostly with furniture they bought in Europe, Villa Philmonte is a sprawling hacienda with bear-and cougar-skin rugs, a 16-person dining table with chairs of hand-tooled Moroccan leather, a custom-made piano, and a shower with seven separate showerheads. Guided tours are available by appointment throughout the year.

San Miguel Mission

The oldest existing church in North America was built during 1610. The Tlaxcala Indians built the mission, the Christian Brothers used it as a school chapel and Archbishop Jean Lamy established a Santa Fe congregation. The altar of the Mission was remodeled during the 19th century and has undergone a restoration that is faithful to its origins. The Altar Screen is renowned throughout the southwest. Among the paintings on the screen is one of Saint Terisa of Avila, Saint Michael and Saint Gertrude. The chapel is an outstanding example of Spanish style churches that still houses a bell cast in Spain during 1356.

Loretto's Chapel


Begun in 1873, the Loretto church marked its beginnings when the Bishop Jean Baptisite Lamy put out the call for priests, brothers and nuns to come to the new territory to teach. The Sisters of Loretto responded and opened the Academy of Our Lady of Light (Loretto). Through tuition, the nuns built a larger school and the chapel.

The Loretto Church is most famous for its mysterious spiral staircase, built sometime between 1877 and 1881. It makes two 360-degree turns, stands twenty feet tall and has no center support. It rests solely on its base and against the choir loft. The risers of the 33 steps are all of the same height. It's made of wood that is an apparently extinct species. The staircase was constructed with only square wooden pegs without glue or nails. The staircase is still a mystery to architects, engineers and master craftsmen and was considered a miracle by the Sisters.

As confusing as the staircase itself is its builder. The Loretto's original architect died during construction. It was only after the Chapel was almost complete that the builders realized there was no room for a conventional staircase to get to the choir loft. The Sisters weren't excited about the prospect of using a ladder to get up to the loft, so for nine days, they prayed for St. Joseph's intervention. The next day, a shabby-looking stranger arrived saying he could build a staircase but insisted on complete privacy and locked himself in the chapel for three months during its construction. Upon completion, the stranger disappeared as quickly as he arrived, with no clue as to his identity.

The mystery of the builder has never been solved. Since he left before he was paid, the Mother Superior offered a reward for the builder's identity but it was never claimed. As confusing as the builder's identity and the physics of the staircase is the wood it's made of. No one saw lumber being delivered or even saw the builder come and go during construction. When the staircase was originally constructed, it had no banister. That would obviously be an uncomfortable feeling, making two complete turns, as you rise twenty feet into the air, so a banister was later added. Due to its age and importance, two supports were later added to brace the staircase against the wall and people are no longer permitted to climb it.

In the late 1960s, the Sisters sold the Chapel and it is no longer used as a functioning church. However it is still rented for weddings and special ocassions. Santa Fe is a day's drive from Midland and it's well worth the time. The historic value of its museums, churches and adobe structures is immense. It's spiritual value is immeasurable.

St Francis Cathedral


On the site where St. Frances Cathedral stands today there was originally a small mission church. That mission was burned down in the Pueblo Revolt of 1680.

After the Spanish regained control in 1692, a more substantial adobe church, La Parroquia, was built on this site. That church served for almost 200 years.

Finally, in 1884, La Parroquia was replaced by St. Frances Cathedral. The new Cathedral, intended for the ages, was constructed of stone from local quarries and from the La Bajada Mesa, west of town. The Cathedral was the 45th church built by New Mexico's most famous Catholic prelate, Father Jean Baptiste Lamy (L'Amy), who was immortalized by Willa Cather in her Pulitzer Prize winning Death Comes for the Archbishop (1927).

This magnificent cathedral is a rare departure from Santa Fe's ubiquitous Pueblo architecture. Construction was begun in 1869 by Santa Fe's first archbishop, Jean Baptiste Lamy working with French architects and Italian stonemasons. A small adobe chapel on the northeast side of the cathedral, the remnant of an earlier church, reflects the Hispanic architectural influence absent from the cathedral. The chapel's Nuestra Señora de la Paz (Our Lady of Peace), also known as La Conquistadora, is the oldest Madonna statue in the United States. Just south of the cathedral, where the parking lot meets Paseo de Peralta, is the Archives of the Archdiocese Museum, a small museum where many of the area's historic, liturgical artifacts are on view.

Church at Chimayo



In 1816, a local resident Bernardo Abeyta, a member of the fraternity of Jesus Nazareno or Penitentes, was praying around the hills of Potrero when he saw a bright light shining from a hole in the ground near the Santa Cruz River . After rushing to the spot, he dug out a crucifix of Our Lord of Esquipulas (revered in Guatamala as "Nuestro Senor de Esquipulas," commonly called the Black Christ, "El Cristo Negro").

A procession was organized to take the crucifix to Santa Cruz where it was placed in the niche of the main altar. The next morning, according to legend, the crucifix disappeared from its niche and was found again in the same hole where it was first discovered. After the crucifix was returned to Santa Cruz two more times, miraculously disappearing and reappearing in its original site as before, the people realized that the crucifix should stay permanently in the area. To venerate it properly, a chapel was built above the hole. Over the years, pilgrims and others have traveled to Chimayo and have experienced cures for ailments, etc. After news coverage, it has gained a reputation worldwide.

Since Father Roca has been parish priest at the church, two incidents stand out in his mind. Both occurred near the end of the day, as Father Roca was preparing to lock up the church, an invalid mother carried in by family members regained her ability to move. And another time, a terminally ill little girl was apparently healed within hours of praying before the altar. Her parents called the priest to tell him that she went straight to school next day instead of to a hospital surgical ward.