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Francisco Vásquez de Coronado, a Spanish explorer
searching for gold, traveled the region that became New Mexico
in 1540–1542. In 1598 the first Spanish settlement was
established on the Rio Grande River by Juan de Onate; in 1610
Santa Fe was founded and made the capital of New Mexico.
The U.S. acquired most of New Mexico in 1848, as a result of the
Mexican War, and the remainder in the 1853 Gadsden Purchase.
Union troops captured the territory from the Confederates during
the Civil War. With the surrender of Geronimo in 1886, the
Apache Wars and most of the Indian conflicts in the area were
ended.
Since 1945, New Mexico has been a leader in energy research and
development with extensive experiments conducted at Los Alamos
Scientific Laboratory and Sandia Laboratories in the nuclear,
solar, and geothermal areas.
Minerals are the state's richest natural resource, and New
Mexico is one of the U.S. leaders in output of uranium and
potassium salts. Petroleum, natural gas, copper, gold, silver,
zinc, lead, and molybdenum also contribute heavily to the
state's income.
The principal manufacturing industries include food products,
chemicals, transportation equipment, lumber, electrical
machinery, and stone-clay-glass products. More than two-thirds
of New Mexico's farm income comes from livestock products,
especially sheep. Cotton, pecans, and sorghum are the most
important field crops. Corn, peanuts, beans, onions, chilies,
and lettuce are also grown.
Tourist attractions include the Carlsbad Caverns National Park,
Inscription Rock at El Morro National Monument, the ruins at
Fort Union, Billy the Kid mementos at Lincoln, the White Sands
and Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monuments, Bandelier National
Monument, and the Chaco Culture National Historical Park. |
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