Above: The American Expansion into the West.

History Lesson - Spanish settlers were already in Santa Fe and Taos and parts of present-day Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona (and California) when the American Expansion into the West had started in earnest. The country of Mexico claimed all lands south of the Arkansas River (which is why Bent's Fort was located just a few hundred yards north of the Arkansas River).

Above: US Army Forts in New Mexico (I think that they were all in service by 1860 and most started in the 1850s).

Above: A chart of the local area's indigenous peoples from 200 AD to 1450 AD, The White Sands area had been populated by the Jornada Mogollón people. See the following image for a Pit House archeological site and example.

Above: Pit House archeological site and example in the White Sands area linked to the Jornada Mogollón people.

There is evidence that a thousand years ago this valley area had grass and water (in the form of a Savana type of Eco-System), and slowly as the land and farming died out as the land dried out, the Pit Houses and small villages started moving closer to the rivers and over time the Pit House style evolved (at least enough of an evolution to have three distinct House/Home styles).

Above: Gypsum Crystals from Alkali Flat (in the White Sands Missile Range). The white sand of the White Sands area is from wind-blown and weather worn gypsum crystals.

Above Left: The small 'glass' wire bundle wrapped in a white-cover carries more information than all of the copper wire in the metal tube.

Above: Standard equipment on a Cobra.

Above: Standard equipment on a Cobra.

Above: Meep-Meep.