Rise and Fall and Decline of Organ, New Mexico
Driving west on US 70 out of Alamogordo, New Mexico, the San Andres and Organ Mountains rise straight up from the desert floor. To the north, triangulated sections of the San Andres Mountains divide the Tularosa Valley from the Jornada del Muerto, a desolate segment of the Camino Real where so many early travelers lost their lives. To the south, the Organ Mountains, named by seventeenth century Spanish explorers for their pipe-like spires, puncture the sky. US 70 cuts through…