Planted 2 July 1999
This is a moderately hard set of clues in that they don't give you much hint of the somewhat
dramatic landscape change over the course of 24 km and 550 meters in elevation you will
experience from start to finish.
The search begins in Capitan, Lincoln County, New Mexico.
Somewhere near Capitan, NM, fire fighters found a little black bear cub, burned and frightened, clinging to a tree. Dubbed Smokey and kept for all the rest of his life at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., the bear symbolized the National Forest Service's anti-fire campaign and had
relatives who roamed the neighborhood of this letterbox.
To find it and retrieve an impression of the little Smokey stamp, start at the Smokey Bear
Museum on US Highway 380 in downtown Capitan, NM. You might get a bite to eat at the
Smokey Bear Cafe just down the street--a plate of enchiladas smothered in green chile sauce
and a cup of coffee eaten slowly to better absorb the character of the community. When your
ready to begin the search in earnest, head southwest until you strike the Rio Bonito and follow it upstream past the drowned mining town--it must have been beautiful in its heyday. No doubt Billy the Kid rode up into these mountains on
occasion, unless the fear of Apaches and bears kept the little killer down around Lincoln. When you strike the South fork, take it. You are almost there when you leave your wheels at N 33 26.79 W 105 45.30. Cross the log bridge and keep hot on the trail until you arrive at the remnants of an old homestead. The trail splits around the old cabin. Stop at the cabin and look around, you are within 100 meters of your destination.
From Smokey's stamp look 16 degrees to the cabin door, 292 degrees to a big flat rock with a
large dead Ponderosa pine nearby, 90 degrees to arboreal twins. Find your treasure beneath a
lichen covered pyramidal stone. It might strike you as a miniature fallen dolmen--or it might not.
Remove the rose colored front door on the down stream side of the tiny grotto to find Smokey's box.
Planted 14 March 2000
When asked who houses those were, the Dine replied, "The ancient ones." The ancestors of the sky city lived here before the big drought drove them east to better watered valleys. To find my imprint commemorating this antique civilization, you might begin at the city recalling the name of the Spanish Duke Francisco de la Cueva's (d. 1637) estates. Willa Cather's bishop passed through it on the way to his see.
From that town, one could go to the oldest continually inhabited city in North America and ask its inhabitants from whence they came--but, while a worthy place to visit, it might take one coming from the East out of the way. Instead, a little town whose namesake isle served as rendezvous to the Spanish galleons laden with treasure and readying themselves to return home is the waypoint to the next waypoint to this box. The little cafe on the SE side of town run by Margie Butts offers great green chiles. Stop and have some tasty regional cuisine and a good cup of coffee to refresh you for the rest of your quest to the NW.
Just beyond the badlands, (if you've gone too far Huerfano Mountain will arise to your right and you'll have passed a couple of trading posts on your left), you'll come to a left hand turn three miles short of Nageezi. Having made the proper turn wind your way through the junipers and four-winged saltbush--watching for cattle and sheep among the scatter Dine camps. Let Tony Hillerman be a guide in this country. His Thief of Time may steal some of yours, but it will also take you to the right place. You'll know you are close when you see Fajada Butte away in the distance.
Pay attention to your compass. When Fajada Butte lies at 210° look for a mushroom shaped juniper at 272°. You will of course get out of your vehicle, but not so far away that you'll violate the admonition at 30°. Scratch around along the NW edge of the rock wall for the box you seek.
I'd be pleased to know who takes an impression of this one first--e-mail me.
Directions: If you've found Smokey Bear, you are on the right track.
Clues: coming soon!