Jerry’s Cafe – Gallup, New Mexico
The Land of Enchantment is bisected north to south by the murky and mucky Rio Grande which meanders some 700 miles through the state. Throughout the millennia, the fourth longest river in America has been the often tenuous lifeline upon which New Mexico’s citizenry has relied for sustenance and for recreation. Its precious waters are multifarious in their use–from human and animal consumption to the sustainment of agricultural systems and so much more. Depleted over time by human dependence and a perpetual drought condition, it is nonetheless a linchpin for New Mexico’s future even as demand for its resources increases and stresses on the river grow. The Rio Grande Corridor is where the vast concentration of New Mexico’s urban centers exist and more than half of its population (over one million) resides. The four most populous cities in the state–Albuquerque, Las Cruces, Rio Rancho and Santa Fe in that order–are all within this riverine corridor. It’s been that way for the estimated 10,000 years in which New Mexico has been inhabited. The arable lands near the Rio Grande, for example, is where a vast concentration of the indigenous peoples the Spaniards named “Pueblos” chose to live. Considering their dependence on…
