Fridgehenge - Consumerism Stonehenge

How Hot Springs, NM, Became Truth or Consequences

New Mexico's Big Bird

New Mexico Fun Facts & Trivia

The Roswell Incident and the International UFO Museum & Research Center

Smokey Bear Historical Park, Museum & Grave in Capitan

Snakes Alive in Albuquerque

Tiny Town - Art That Dies to Live

Do you know of a quirky attraction that we should list on our Roadside Adventures, please send us an email.

The only monument to Lucien B Maxwell, the owner of the largest land grant in the United States is a primitive concrete folk-art sculpture in Cimarron, New Mexico . However, the current curator of the Aztec Mill, Buddy Morse, tells a story that the statue was actually built for Henry Springer, but when the artist presented it, Henry didn't like it and stated that statues were to be built for people who were dead, so between the two of them, it was decided that the statue would be of Maxwell instead. Photo June, 2006, Kathy Weiser.

Tiny Town - Art That Dies to Live

Just north of the ghost town turned artist colony of Madrid, sits an unusual array of bones, discarded toys, bottles, old cars, and other cast-off material that a local artist has created on an acre of the Lodestar Ranch.

As you enter this quirky exhibit, a sign proudly displays “If it isn’t broke, dead, or rusted, well I just can’t use it.” As the sign implies, a short sojourn through this roadside display will turn up all manner of strange displays in this ever-evolving miniature ghost town.

Created by Tammy Jean Lange, known familiarly in the area as Tatt2 Tammy, for her years as a tattoo artist, her specialty is creating art from “road kill.”

Atop an old trailer, painted to look like it’s made of brick, sits a chopper motorcycle made of bones and old bicycle parts. Hanging on metal poles and wooden stumps, more collections of bones, antlers, and skulls can be found by the curious traveler.

Lange actively searches for road kill as a source of bones, so much so that she encourages area locals to alert of new finds, which she uses for her most “special” art. When alerted to a new “find,” she is happy to retrieve the animal carcass which she then buries so it can decompose, later digging it up to clean and bleach the bones.

At least nearby Madrid doesn’t suffer from the plight of many small towns where junk is piled haphazardly next to homes and in yards – these folks have a ready and accepting artist who will happily accept take their cast off treasures.

Earlier reports by travel writers describe this acre as having its own saloon, church, courthouse and jail; rivers made of broken glass, and roads made of tarpaper, complete with yellow lines. However, when Legends of America visited, there was little sign of the acre of haphazard material resembling a town. Perhaps this is because several years ago an art scout came upon Lange’s town and arranged to have much of it boxed and shipped to the Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore.

Evidently, this was the jumping board for success, as the artist now sells many of her creations in local shops.

New Mexico's Big Bird

Boasting 350 days of sunshine per year and a history that dates back some 4,000 years, Las Cruces, New Mexico has become a popular southwestern destination, offering a number of events and attractions.

Tiny Town "Art" Display?

June, 2006, Kathy Weiser

This 42 foot long Roadrunner looks out upon the Mesilla

Valley near Las Cruces, New Mexico.

Photo by Bill McIntosh, courtesy city-data.com

That being said, one of its most distinctive attractions is a giant roadrunner, crafted entirely of trash, that beckons a warm welcome to visitors at a rest stop on I-10 about ten miles west of Las Cruces. This whimsical statue, made entirely from junk retrieved from the city dump, was built in 1992 by artist Olin S. Calk.

Standing atop a hill overlooking I-10, the roadrunner, representing New Mexico's state bird, can’t be missed as she stares endlessly across the fertile Mesilla Valley at the majestic Organ Mountains across the way. This giant bird, approximately 20 feet tall and 42 feet long, was actually built at the city dump, until it closed several years ago. The city fathers, wondering what to do with the larger than life sculpture, made an excellent decision when they decided to move it to the roadside stop in 2000.

This large bird, touted as the world’s largest roadrunner, has a belly created with old shoes, with other parts of its body sporting everything from office fans, to computer parts, to children’s toys.

The rest stop and big bird are on the south side of Interstate 10, about ten miles west of Las Cruces between mile markers 134-135.

Las Cruces is located in the Mesilla Valley in south-central New Mexico and is the second largest city in the state (yes, larger than Santa Fe).

Beep Beep!

From the Rocky Mountain General Store

Video Store - Legends of America and the Rocky Mountain General Store has collected a number of DVD's so that you can check out your destinations before you travel. Sixty minute videos will provide you with historic treasures, cultural icons, natural wonders and portraits of Americans from coast to coast revealing the heart & spirit of the U.S.