A couple of weeks back I began to tell the story of trip that took up New Mexico State Road 14, better known to locals as the Turquoise Trail, through the rural mountains. My original plan that day was to travel up to the top of Sandia Crest (east of Albuquerque) and take some photos of the city from that lofty vantage point. As it ended up I zigged instead of zagged and I instead opted for an exploratory trip up unfamiliar roads towards unknown destinations.
As I mentioned in my prior article, my first discovery was the old mining town of Madrid. That was a very pleasant surprise indeed, but it wasn't where my journey would come to and end however.
I had spent quite a while in Madrid looking around and taking photographs, yet it was still early so I decided to continue onward north up the 14.
About three miles further I found myself in the town of Los Cerrillos. I stepped out of my car and traveled back in time ... or at least that's what it seemed like. I was standing in an almost perfectly preserved old western town. Everything was just like the set of any western movie or television show down to the saloon and hitching posts.
Ironically, that's when I looked up at the sign above the saloon doors. It read "Thank you citizens of Cerrillos for your time and help - Young Guns".
I had somehow managed to find myself in the town that the movie Young Guns (1988) had been filmed in just the year before.
It was easy to see why the production team had chosen Los Cerrillos for the film, due to it being a location that hadn't changed very much in over a hundred years. They would have had very little to do to transform the location into a perfect reproduction of a frontier town.
Heck, I had thought that I had walked into a Twilight Zone episode or something.
A quick check of IMDB reveled that Young Guns was not the only western (or any other kind of movie for that matter) to be shot there. It's an impressive list that includes: 3:10 To Yuma (2007), Every Which Way But Loose (1978), Convoy (1978), Shoot Out (1971), Outlaw Justice (2009) and The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez (1982).
Los Cerrillos is a census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Fe County, New Mexico, United States. It is part of the Santa Fe, New Mexico Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 229 at the 2000 census. Accessible from State Highway 14 or The Turquoise Trail, Cerrillos is on the road from Santa Fe to Albuquerque, closer to Santa Fe. There are several shops and galleries, a post office, and the Cerrillos Hills State Park, which has five miles of hiking trails. The Cerrillos Turquoise Mining Museum contains hundreds of artifacts from the American Old West and the Cerrillos Mining District. It also displays cardboard cutouts of characters from the film Young Guns and information on other movies which have been filmed in and around Cerrillos. This is a good place to view Cerrillos Turquoise from the Browns' turquoise claim, The Little Chalchihuitl.
As is the case with the nearby town of Madrid, Los Cerrillos owes its existence to the mineral rich hills that surround it and the mining industry that was developed to extract those minerals.
History:
The Tano Indians were the first people in the Cerrillos area. Their pueblos, large and small, were spread out randomly through the Galisteo Basin. Archaeologists believe these sites were occupied by the Tano with no more than a few thousand at one time. Some of the pueblos may have been abandoned when the farm lands wore out. Evidence has shown farm land (Burnt Corn Ruin) five miles east of Cerrillos were destroyed in battle. Tumbled stones, broken potsherds, and discarded tools of rock were discovered as records of their passing.
Cerrillos was rediscovered in 1879 by two prospectors from Leadville, Colorado. Word spread fast of the treasures and soon many miners swarmed the hills of Cerrillos. The town became well known and people came from around the world to mine these materials for profit. The settlement started off as a tent city but soon grew into a town of many buildings, homes, a church, a school, and stores.
The rapid growth of Cerrillos gave opportunity for people who moved in. Hotels were built along with saloons, dance halls, shops, and short-order houses. There were not only profits for miners but businesses that provided for them as well. One of the town’s leading businesses was the Cerrillos Supply Company, which stocked equipment miners needed—shovels, picks, tools, steel and fuses, to name a few.
By 1900 the mines began to shut down, and the booming town started to dwindle. A fraction of the population stayed in Cerrillos. Today, only a few of the buildings from Cerrillos' boom remain. Some of the buildings still show evidence of past movies filmed ("Young Guns" and "Outrageous Fortune") on Main Street. The church still stands at the end of Main Street and the local people attend mass on Sunday. A few businesses are open that tourist and locals can use, along with a petting zoo and a trading post featuring Cerrillos turquoise and a mining museum. Cerrillos Hill State Park has 5 miles of multi-use trails with an ADA trail to the village overlook. The State Park is located a half mile north of the village on CR 59. - Wiki
Love this place. Had a drink with a friend of mine in Mary's Bar about 2 years ago. My dad lived in Cerrillos way back back in early 1900's and played baseball in Madrid Park with his school. They had several concerts their in the day and 4th of July in Cerrillos was always a blast. Mary's daughter from Mary's Bar told me they don't celebrate the 4th like they used too.
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