The name Jornada del Muerto translates from Spanish as "Single Day's Journey of the Dead Man" or even "Route of the Dead Man, though the modern literal translation is closer to "The Working Day of the Dead". It was the name given by the Spanish

conquistador Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (, ; meaning 'conquerors') were the explorer-soldiers of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires of the 15th and 16th centuries. During the Age of Discovery, conquistadors sailed beyond Europe to the Americas, ...

s to the Jornada del Muerto Desert basin, and the particularly dry stretch of a route through it from Las Cruces to

Socorro, New Mexico Socorro (, '' sə-KOR-oh'') is a city in Socorro County in the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is in the Rio Grande Valley at an elevation of . In 2010 the population was 9,051. It is the county seat of Socorro County. Socorro is located south of ...

. The trail led northward from central Spanish colonial

New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the A ...

, present-day

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

, to the farthest reaches of the viceroyalty in northern Nuevo México Province (the area around the upper valley of the Rio Grande). The route later became a section of the Camino Real.

Natural history

The Jornada del Muerto desert is a wide and long stretch of flat desert landforms and

xeric Deserts and xeric shrublands are a biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Deserts and xeric (ancient Greek xērós, “dry") shrublands form the largest terrestrial biome, covering 19% of Earth's land surface area. Ecoregions in this h ...

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

about from north to south. The desert runs between the

Oscura Mountains Oscura Mountains, originally known to the Spanish as the ''Sierra Oscura'', are a ridge of mountains, trending north and south, east of the Jornada del Muerto and west of the Tularosa Valley. It is located in Socorro County and Lincoln County, Ne ...

and

San Andres Mountains The San Andres Mountains are a mountain range in the southwestern U.S. state of New Mexico, in the counties of Socorro, Sierra, and Doña Ana. The range extends about 75 miles (120 km) north to south, but are only about 12 miles (19 ...

on the east, and the Fra Cristóbal Range and

Caballo Mountains The Caballo Mountains, (Spanish: "horse") are a mountain range located in Sierra and Doña Ana Counties, New Mexico, United States. The range is located east of the Rio Grande and Caballo Lake, and west of the Jornada del Muerto; the south o ...

on the west. The western mountains block access to the

Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The length of the Rio G ...

, the most reliable water source in the region. It is one of the northernmost parts of the

Chihuahuan Desert The Chihuahuan Desert ( es, Desierto de Chihuahua, ) is a desert ecoregion designation covering parts of northern Mexico and the southwestern United States. It occupies much of far West Texas, the middle to lower Rio Grande Valley and the lo ...

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of ...

in the deserts and xeric shrublands

biome A biome () is a biogeographical unit consisting of a biological community that has formed in response to the physical environment in which they are found and a shared regional climate. Biomes may span more than one continent. Biome is a broader ...

. The Jornada del Muerto Desert remains almost entirely uninhabited and undeveloped to the present day. Located just to the east of the southernmost region of the desert is the

Jornada Basin LTER Jornada originally an old Spanish word for a day's walk or journey, often indicating a difficult one, can refer to: Places * Jornada del Muerto, New Mexico * Jornada del Muerto Volcano Newspapers * ''Jornada'' (La Paz), a newspaper published i ...

station, used for study of desert ecology, land management, plant physiology, and related topics.

Volcanism

The Jornada del Muerto volcano and malpaís are located at the northern end of the desert's region and basin. The

Jornada del Muerto Volcano The Jornada del Muerto Volcano is a small shield volcano and lava field in central New Mexico, about in size and reaching an elevation of . Jornada del Muerto means "Dead Man's Route" in Spanish language, Spanish, referring to the desolate colo ...

is a

shield volcano A shield volcano is a type of volcano named for its low profile, resembling a warrior's shield lying on the ground. It is formed by the eruption of highly fluid (low viscosity) lava, which travels farther and forms thinner flows than the more vi ...

that erupted about 760,000 years ago, reaching an elevation of . The volcano's

lava Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a fracture in the crust, on land or ...

flow created the large Jornada del Muerto malpaís

lava field Lava fields are large, mostly flat areas of surface or subaquatic lava flows. Such features are generally composed of highly fluid basalt lava, and can extend for tens or hundreds of miles across the underlying terrain. Morphology and str ...

, about , over 170 square miles (440 km2) in size. The eruption produced a slow and viscous

a'a Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a fracture in the crust, on land or un ...

lava which leaves a very rough surface, making travel across it quite difficult.

Cultural history

The name ''Journey of the Dead Man'' probably originated due to the complete lack of water, grazing, and firewood on the route of the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro through this area. Although quite flat, the Jornada del Muerto took several days to a week to cross and presented great difficulties to the earliest Spanish travelers who were on foot with carts or wagons pulled by oxen. After passing the "Jornada del Muerto" the earliest Spanish encountered, not the Seven Cities of Cíbola, but the humbler walled villages of the

Pueblo In the Southwestern United States, Pueblo (capitalized) refers to the Native tribes of Puebloans having fixed-location communities with permanent buildings which also are called pueblos (lowercased). The Spanish explorers of northern New Spain ...

dwellers, who had a well-developed agriculture and a peaceable tradition. At the first crossing the Jornada del Muerto in 1598 they named the first pueblo they came to Socorro (Spanish for 'help' or 'assistance'). In 1680, during the

Pueblo Revolt The Pueblo Revolt of 1680, also known as Popé's Rebellion or Popay's Rebellion, was an uprising of most of the indigenous Pueblo people against the Spanish colonizers in the province of Santa Fe de Nuevo México, larger than present-day New Mex ...

, the Spanish settlers were forced to retreat southward, along the Jornada del Muerto, together with Indians from the

Isleta Pueblo of Isleta ( tix, Shiewhibak , kjq, Dîiw'a'ane ; nv, Naatoohó ) is an unincorporated community and Tanoan pueblo in Bernalillo County, New Mexico, United States, originally established in the . The Southern Tiwa name of the pue ...

and Socorro Pueblos. Of the more than 2000 who left Socorro fewer than 1200 survived the crossing. The survivors resettled on the

around and just south of El Paso del Norte, 'the Pass to the North', which is now separated between the Mexican city of

Ciudad Juárez Ciudad Juárez ( ; ''Juarez City''. ) is the most populous city in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. It is commonly referred to as Juárez and was known as El Paso del Norte (''The Pass of the North'') until 1888. Juárez is the seat of the Ju� ...

Chihuahua Chihuahua may refer to: Places * Chihuahua (state), a Mexican state **Chihuahua (dog), a breed of dog named after the state **Chihuahua cheese, a type of cheese originating in the state **Chihuahua City, the capital city of the state **Chihuahua Mu ...

, and the U.S. city of El Paso,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

. In 1692, Diego de Vargas led a new group of settlers north across the Jornada del Muerto to resettle northern New Mexico. On horseback, the Jornada could be crossed in a couple of days, as described by Bishop Tamarón traveling north on his visitation to New Mexico in 1760. Leaving the Paraje de Robledo, traveling five leagues: Homesteaders in the 1860s to 1920s tried to ranch in the Jornada del Muerto, digging wells for the cattle. The first well was at Aleman, dug by Lt. John Martin, and it appears to be the last of the homesteads to be abandoned at the end of the 20th century.

Trail

The Jornada del Muerto trail was that part of the Camino Real which when traveling northward departed from the

from the Paraje de Robledo, later the site of

Fort Selden Fort Selden was a United States Army post, occupying the area in what is now Radium Springs, New Mexico. The site was long a campground along the El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro. It was the site of a Confederate Army camp in 1861. The U. S. Ar ...

, just north of

Las Cruces, New Mexico Las Cruces (; "the crosses") is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New Mexico and the seat of Doña Ana County. As of the 2020 census the population was 111,385. Las Cruces is the largest city in both Doña Ana County and southern Ne ...

. It passed northward up through a gap, between the Selden Hills on the west and Doña Ana Mountains to the east, on to the plain of the Jornada. The last opportunity for filling water barrels and watering stock before passing farther north was from the Paraje de San Diego overlooking the Rio Grande five leagues beyond Robledo and a half league from the River. The next intermittent water was at

Paraje del Perrillo Paraje del Perrillo (Place of the Puppy), was a dependable watering and stopping place along the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, where it passed through the Jornada del Muerto in the vicinity of Point of Rocks in Sierra County, New Mexico. Paraje ...

near where the trail passes

Point of Rocks Point or points may refer to: Places * Point, Lewis, a peninsula in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland * Point, Texas, a city in Rains County, Texas, United States * Point, the NE tip and a ferry terminal of Lismore, Inner Hebrides, Scotland * Point ...

which is the southernmost point of the

closed Closed may refer to: Mathematics * Closure (mathematics), a set, along with operations, for which applying those operations on members always results in a member of the set * Closed set, a set which contains all its limit points * Closed interval, ...

Jornada basin. The trail heads basically north through mesquite scrub land to another small intermittent watering place, La Cruz de Alemán, named for a fugitive German merchant who died of thirst there in the 1670s, at a time when it had no water. At that site there are now buildings of the Bar Cross Ranch built on the site of the original settlement in the Jornada del Muerto, the Alemán Ranch, established in 1867. Further north the trail crosses a number of small

ephemeral Ephemerality (from the Greek word , meaning 'lasting only one day') is the concept of things being transitory, existing only briefly. Academically, the term ephemeral constitutionally describes a diverse assortment of things and experiences, f ...

lake beds A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much larger ...

the Jornada Lakes, on the way to

Engle Lake Engle Lake, originally named ''Laguna del Muerto'' (Lake of the Deadman) by the Spanish, is a seasonal lake in the Jornada del Muerto region in Sierra County, New Mexico. It lies at an elevation or in the depression in the Jornada Del Muerto ...

then known as the Laguna del Muerto. When water was not found in the Laguna del Muerto it could be found to the west at the Ojo del Muerto, a spring in Cañon del Muerto in the southern Fra Cristobal Range nearby to the southeast of the later site of

Fort McRae Fort McRae was a Union Army post, established in 1863, then a U.S. Army post from 1866 and closed in 1876, in what is now Sierra County, New Mexico. The post was named for Alexander McRae (1829–1862) a slain hero of the 1862 Battle of Valverde. ...

that operated from 1863 to 1876.Fort McRae by Matthew A. Sterner
from newmexicohistory.org accessed December 28, 2016. At the upper end of the basin the trail was squeezed into the Lava Gate between the Fra Cristóbal Range and the

lava fields. The waterless portion of the trail ends at Paraje de Fray Cristóbal on the Rio Grande, but the trail continued north along the river for five leagues, across a small portion of the Jornada del Muerto Volcano lava fields, which originally reached across the Rio Grande. This large lava field has a very rough surface, making travel across it very difficult. This portion of the trail reached the paraje del Contadero along the Rio Grande south of the

Mesa del Contadero Mesa del Contadero, sometimes called Black Mesa, also appeared on a 1773 Spanish map as Mesa de Senecú,fords of the Rio Grande known as Val Verde from the 1780s. An extremely large Spanish rancho was later established and a large hacienda was built at the crossing at Val Verde in the early 1820s. However it was abandoned soon after under the pressure of Apache raids and attacks by 1826. In 1846, Major Philip St. George Cooke and the

Mormon Battalion The Mormon Battalion was the only religious unit in United States military history in federal service, recruited solely from one religious body and having a religious title as the unit designation. The volunteers served from July 1846 to July ...

established a wagon road south of

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_ ...

on an old trail on the west bank of the Rio Grande as far as a few miles above the vicinity of modern Hatch, New Mexico, before turning west to make the route known as

Cooke's Wagon Road Cooke's Wagon Road or Cooke's Road was the first wagon road between the Rio Grande and the Colorado River to San Diego, through the Mexican provinces of Nuevo México, Chihuahua, Sonora and Alta California, established by Philip St. George Coo ...

. Soon after the war ended and the

California Gold Rush The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) was a gold rush that began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California f ...

began, thousands of people were following Cooke's road west to

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

down the west side of the Rio Grande. Wilson, John P., Between the River and the Mountains: A History of Early Settlement in Sierra County, New Mexico, Report #40, John P. Wilson, Las Cruces, New Mexico, August 1985
/ref> With the American acquisition of

New Mexico Territory The Territory of New Mexico was an organized incorporated territory of the United States from September 9, 1850, until January 6, 1912. It was created from the U.S. provisional government of New Mexico, as a result of '' Nuevo México'' becomin ...

as a consequence of the Mexican American War, protection of settlements and travel by the U. S. Army on the lower Rio Grande below

began.

Fort Conrad Fort Conrad was a U.S. Army fort established in Socorro County, New Mexico Territory in 1851. Fort Conrad was located near modern Tiffany, New Mexico. It was on the west side of the Rio Grande. Because of its location, it was later abandoned for ...

was established in 1851 across the river and a little north of the ford of Valverde, and it was replaced in 1854 by Fort Craig miles below the ford and the Mesa, also on the west bank.George D. Torok, From the Pass to the Pueblos, Sunstone Press, Santa Fe, Dec 1, 2011 Fort Thorn was built on the west bank of the Rio Grande in 1853. It was located where a trail from the Jornada road, established by Forty-niners, crossed the Rio Grande to the west bank at

San Diego Crossing San Diego Crossing, was a major ford on the Rio Grande, in Doña Ana County, New Mexico during the 19th Century. It was named for San Diego Mountain, on the east side of the Rio Grande, located directly west of the crossing. It was 11 miles north ...

to meet Cooke's road three miles above Fort Thorn. These offered some protection on the Jornada road and also on the

Fort Craig - Fort Thorn Wagon Road Fort Craig - Fort Thorn Wagon Road, was a road ran down along the west bank of the Rio Grande, from a turnoff from the west bank route of the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro to the ford of Valverde, to Fort Craig and on to Fort Thorn. There at or n ...

down the west side of the Rio Grande to Fort Thorn. This road was also the route of supply for the forts. This Army protection, and the supply columns use of the road led to native New Mexican settlements on the lower Rio Grande, at Santa Barbara, near Fort Thorn in 1853 and San Ygnacio de Alamosa 35 miles south of Fort Craig in 1859.

Atomic test

On July 16, 1945 the first detonation of an atomic weapon occurred at the Trinity nuclear test site, approximately 40 miles NNE of the Jornada Del Muerto. Less than a month after Trinity, nuclear bomb "Little Boy" was detonated over Hiroshima, Japan.

Arts

*"Jornada del Muerto" is the title of a song that appears on

Linkin Park Linkin Park is an American rock band from Agoura Hills, California. The band's current lineup comprises vocalist/rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Mike Shinoda, lead guitarist Brad Delson, bassist Dave Farrell, DJ/turntablist Joe Hahn and drumm ...

's album ''

A Thousand Suns ''A Thousand Suns'' is the fourth studio album by American rock band Linkin Park. It was released on September 13, 2010, by Warner Bros. Records. The album was written by the band and was produced by Linkin Park vocalist Mike Shinoda and Rick ...

'', which is a concept album dealing with

nuclear warfare Nuclear warfare, also known as atomic warfare, is a theoretical military conflict or prepared political strategy that deploys nuclear weaponry. Nuclear weapons are weapons of mass destruction; in contrast to conventional warfare, nuclear ...

. *"Jornada del Muerto" is the title of a song that appears on

Nadja Nadja may refer to: * Nadja (given name) * Nadja, pen-name of Louisa Nadia Green (1896—1934), British poet * ''Nadja'' (novel), 1928 surrealist novel by André Breton * ''Nadja'' (film), 1994 vampire film by Michael Almereyda * Nadja (band) ...

's album ''Excision''. * Events described in the novel '' Mount Dragon'' by

Douglas Preston Douglas Jerome Preston (born May 31, 1956) is an American journalist and author. Although he is best known for his thrillers in collaboration with Lincoln Child (including the '' Agent Pendergast'' series and ''Gideon Crew'' series), he has also ...

and

Lincoln Child Lincoln Child (13 October 1957) is an American author of techno-thriller and horror novels. Though he is most well known for his collaborations with Douglas Preston (including the Agent Pendergast series and the Gideon Crew series, among other ...

take place in a remote biological testing facility located in the Jornada del Muerto. * A portion of the novel ''

Flashman and the Redskins ''Flashman and the Redskins'' is a 1982 novel by George MacDonald Fraser. It is the seventh of the Flashman novels. Plot introduction Presented within the frame of the supposed discovery of a trunkful of papers detailing the long life and care ...

'' by

George MacDonald Fraser George MacDonald Fraser (2 April 1925 – 2 January 2008) was a British author and screenwriter. He is best known for a series of works that featured the character Flashman. Biography Fraser was born to Scottish parents in Carlisle, England, ...

takes place in the Jornada del Muerto. * A portion of the novel ''

Dead Man's Walk ''Dead Man's Walk'' is a 1995 novel by American writer Larry McMurtry. It is the third book published in the ''Lonesome Dove'' series but the first installment in terms of chronology. McMurtry wrote a fourth segment to the ''Lonesome Dove'' chr ...

'' by

Larry McMurtry Larry Jeff McMurtry (June 3, 1936March 25, 2021) was an American novelist, essayist, bookseller and screenwriter whose work was predominantly set in either the Old West or contemporary Texas.

takes place in this region. * The 1951 film '' Only the Valiant'', starring Gregory Peck, is set in the region. *"Leaving El Paso" is the title of a song by Tom Russell, mentions the Spanish trek out of Rio Grande Valley

Notes

References

"Jornada del Muerto: Retracing the Dead Man's Journey" by Douglas Preston
New Mexico Magazine, September 1994, p. 24-31.

* *Crumpler, L. S., and J. C. Aubele, (1990), Jornada del Muerto, New Mexico, in ''Volcanoes of North America'', C. A. Wood and J. Kienle. eds., Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, p. 309-310.

External links

New Mexico Wilderness Alliance: Jornada del Muerto

Landforms of the central Jornada del Muerto: Influencing the Path of El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro

Hydrogeology of central Jornada del Muerto: Implications for travel along El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, Sierra and Doña Ana Counties, New Mexico open-file report 573 June 2015, Talon Newton, Trevor Kludt, Dave Love, and Ethan Mamer

Crossing the Jornada del Muerto: Hydrogeoogical and Geomorphological controls on traveling El Camino Real
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jornada Del Muerto Deserts of New Mexico Deserts and xeric shrublands in the United States Chihuahuan Desert Pre-statehood history of New Mexico Historic trails and roads in New Mexico Camino Real de Tierra Adentro Regions of New Mexico Tularosa Basin