NEW MEXICO 



4171 



NEW MEXICO 



1 EW MEXICO , one of the rich mining 

 states of the plateau at the south end of the 

 Rocky Mountains, a state of the Southwestern 

 group, and, with the exception of Arizona, the 

 youngest of the United States. 



Size and Location. But for the L-shaped sec- 

 tion in the southwest comer of the state, west 

 of the Rio Grande, New Mexico is almost a 

 perfect square, lying on the Mexican frontier 

 between Arizona and Texas. Only three states 

 of the Union, Texas, California and Montana, 

 are larger than New Mexico, which has an area 

 of 122,634 square miles, of which 131 square 

 miles are water surface. The state is less than 

 half the size, of Texas and ninety-eight times 

 the area of Rhode Island. 



The People. Although New Mexico ranks 

 fourth in size among the states, there were, in 

 1910, only four states with fewer inhabitants. 

 The population was then 327,301, being less 

 th:m that of the District of Columbia, and av- 

 eraging only 2.7 to the square mile. On Janu- 

 ary 1. 1917, the estimated population was 416,- 

 966. The inhabitants arc of three classes, the 



h-speaking class, known as "Americans;" 

 the Spanish-Americans, called "Mexicans," and 

 the Indians. The inhabitants of Spanish de- 

 scent still keep their racial peculiarities and 

 language and the majority of tin m live in low 

 adobe hute built around a court. Many of tin in 

 have intermarried with the Indians, creating a 

 clan known as "Mestizos." There are 22,000 

 Navaho, Apache and Pueblo Indians living in 

 the state reservations, Oklahoma and Arizona 



the only states having a larger Indian 

 pon,ulation. The Pueblos live in adobe or stone 

 houses, are usually self-supporting and him* 

 been converted to Christianity. The terraced 



ricd, coininun.il 

 (i writings is remarkable and shows a fairly*-ad- 



d state of civilization, 

 proportion of Spanish- American and In- 



;n habitants is steadily decreasing, and 



about one-tenth of these people now use the 

 English language. The urban population is 

 small and the only city having over 10,000 in- 

 habitants is Albuquerque. The other principal 

 cities are Santa Fe, the capital, and Las Vegas, 

 in the center of the stock-raising district, im- 

 portant for its shipments of wool. 



Owing to the large population of Mexican 

 and Spanish origin, over three-fifths of the in- 

 habitants are members of the Roman Catholic 

 Church. The largest Protestant bodies are the 

 Methodist, Presbyterian and Baptist denomina- 

 tions. 



Education. The educational problem is un- 

 usually difficult in this state because of its 

 widely scattered and mixed population. When 

 New Mexico became a territory in ISIS, there 

 were 90,000 inhabitants who did not speak the 

 English language. A school system was not or- 

 ganized for fifty years, the first school law be- 

 in passed in 1S<)1. I'uNic education is now 

 being rapidly extended, and'the illiteracy, which 

 in 1910 was 20.2 per cent, is decreasing. Ele- 

 mentary education is free, and a compulsory - 

 education law has been passed, applying to all 

 children between seven and fourteen years of 

 age. The use of the English language is en- 

 forced in public schools. 



Industrial education is supervised by a state 

 director, and other public schools are adnun- 

 1>Y th state superintendent and local 

 boards of education. Schools are supported by 

 a state fund and taxes levied in each county. 

 district and municipality. Normal colleges are 

 maintained at Las Vegas and Silver (Y 

 state institutions of higher education an the 

 -ity of New Mexico at Albuquerque, a 

 school of mines at Socorroand a college of agri- 

 culture and mechanical arts at Mesilla Park. 

 There are twenty-six Indian schools maintained 

 by the United States government, a military 

 institute at Roswcll and a number of missions 

 .in. I church schools. 



