Tularosa Basin

Tularosa Basin. . From south to north, the Franklin, Organ, San Andres, and Oscura Mountains border the western edge of the Tularosa Basin. The fertile Rio Grande valley lies just beyond, but here in the Tularosa Basin, water is a scarce commodity. Water that does collect in the ancient playa lake beds on the basin floor is often so alkaline that it is not drinkable. The ancient climate was much cooler and wetter, but today the Tularosa Basin is a virtually flat expanse of desert scrubland, some 50 miles wide and 200 miles long., White Sands National Monument is 30 miles to the southwest. The origin of the white sand is Lake Lucero, at the base of the San Andres Mountains. Seasonal rains fill the ancient playa lake bed. As the water evaporates, the fine gypsum sediments dry, and are blown downwind. In this manner, the vast gypsum dunes are slowly advancing further south and east. Volcanic lava flows, known as the Malpais, are about 20 miles to the northwest. This Spanish word means "bad lands." The last lava flow occurred as recently as 1,500 to 2,000 years ago. One can only imagine what the prehistoric inhabitants of the time thought of such an awe-inspiring event., The lava spread southward 44 miles, covering 125 square miles. At its thickest point, the lava is 160 feet thick. It is a rough terrain. Despite its ruggedness and its formidable name, the lava flows are a fertile environment for a diversity of plant life. Animals inhabiting the Malpais include mule deer, Barbary sheep, coyotes, foxes, and birds. Some rodents, lizards, and a type of snake inhabiting the lava flows have adapted to their environment by developing a darker coloring. They blend with their surroundings, making it difficult for predators to spot them. The same species that are dark-colored in the Malpais are light-colored in the White Sands National Monument., The Tularosa Basin has been inhabited by humans for 10,000 years or more. The past residents left behind various traces of their ways of life, including petroglyphs, pottery, stone tools, and village ruins like those here at Three Rivers. Europen-descended settlers arrived in the Tularosa Basin in the late 1800's. They used the land for mining, farming, and ranching. Many ranching families had to give up their holdings in the 1950's and 1960's, when vast tracts of land were withdrawn for military use. Today, a large portion of the Tularosa Basin is occupied by the White Sands Missile Range and Holloman Air Force Base.