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7/20/2008 - 7/20/08

From The Santa Fe New Mexican:

July 20, 1958: There is an echo in the old mining camps, amid the dark and empty shafts. There is this one hope: "the camp will come back." At the oldest lode mine in the United States, the Mina del Tiro mine at Cerrillos, the camp has returned. Antedating the Ortiz and Santa Rita mines by 100 years, containing "the only real evidence of ancient lode mining in the southwest" the mine has a history of slave labor and torturous work, going back to the cruel days before the Pueblo Uprising of 1680. Although many of the old Spanish mines were filled in by the Indians after the uprising in 1680, Mina del Tiro was apparently left untouched. Worked to the water level, the mine has been thought worked out. Since 1956, when work started again, a crew of 15 men has worked 24 hours a day, seven days a week, on the mine. The water has been pumped out and below the water level ores of lead, zinc, silver and copper have been found. The ore that has been dug has been left inside the mine until production begins. It is thought there is enough ore uncovered to keep the mine producing for about a year.

July 20, 1983: Carlsbad — New Mexico and Texas have made a fowl deal that's a turkey for both states. The deal concerns two subspecies of turkeys the states have trapped and traded to boost the states' bird populations. In southeastern New Mexico, the trade-out means that the Dark Canyon area near Carlsbad now boasts wild turkeys for the first time in years. Ben Hanson, wildlife information officer, said 66 Rio Grande turkeys were released in January in the Dark Canyon area of the Guadalupe Mountains west of Carlsbad. The birds were trapped near Canyon, Texas. In exchange, New Mexico provided Texas with 45 Merriam's turkeys. The birds were trapped near Raton and were released in the Davis Mountains of West Texas.