“Growing Up In Tierra Amarilla An Autumn Tradition By Alfonso dé Herrera - Ulibarrí Long before the Europeans came to the southwest, people were harvesting the Piñon nut. The Washo, Shoshone, Paiutes, Hopi, Navajo, Ute, and Apache harvested and ate the Piñon nut as a major storable food, high in protein and packed with 20 amino acids necessary for growth. The yearly gathering of Piñon in Northern New Mexico continued when the first settlers appeared on the Tierra Amarilla Plateau during the 1800’s. If green Chile is dear to the hearts and stomachs of us Hispanos, the fruit of the Piñon is dear to our souls. The Piñon nut was not only part of the diet for the Spanish settlers of northern New Mexico as they settled on the Tierra Amarilla but also an item that could be sold and or used for barter. The beautiful Piñon tree is a thread in the social fabric of all who share the high desert area. Two hundred and fifty years before the American colonies won their independence, the Spanish adventurer, healer, and lost wanderer, Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca wrote the first words recorded of our cherished state tree. “There are in that country, small pine trees with cones that are like small eggs, but the seeds are better than those in Castilla”. The Spaniards were well acquainted with the Piñon. It is apparent though, that Alvar was never in northern New Mexico where the trees are thirty feet tall. In New Mexico the native Piñon tree is found at elevations between 6,500 and 7,500 feet above sea level making it abundant in the Tierra Amarilla area. The tree has a long life, grows slow and has an excellent resistance to drought and cold. It also is an abundant source for fuel, with the wonderful aroma it emits while burning in stoves. The Piñon tree grows in such abundance in this area that when there is enough moisture there is always a Piñon nut harvest at some location from La Mesa de las Viejas. Mesa del Yeso to Lower Cebolla and Nutrias every three to seven years. Growing up in Tierra Amarilla, the expression “Vamos ál Piñon” meant “pack up, we’re going Piñon picking.” An exciting endeavor for the entire family, aunts, uncles, cousins, parents, grandparents and children would prepare for a week’s stay out in the forest gathering the Piñon. My grandfather would hitch the draft horses, to the wagon; install the arcos, those wooden circular ribs that held the heavy tent material that covered the wagon. My father would make ready the 41 Chevy pickup by installing sideboards to the bed and of course the arcos and a cover, transforming both truck and wagon into early model RV’s. Food and water, lots of bedding, camp stoves to cook their food and to roast piñon, lanterns and tents were loaded, this outings were camping mini vacations, but most of all a time for the entire family to band together, meet new relations and to reflect on accomplishments or failures of the past year. Early in the morning the caravan would begin its journey, head for those areas where the Piñon was plentiful. This year it was to lower Cebolla and to the Fermín Maés Ranch at a place called “La Cañada Del Humo”, where the trees are 30 feet tall, and the Piñon is large and plentiful. The men on arrival would assemble the camp, locate plenty of firewood set up the wood burning camp stoves, tents, and make the camp as comfortable as possible before they took up their coffee can pails to gather the Piñon. The women and children, immediately as the vehicle stopped, grabbed their one-pound empty coffee cans and spread out into the forest looking for the largest Piñon nuts. They would gather under one of those huge trees on hands and knees, an experienced picker on hands and knees picking with both hands can judge a good Piñon from an empty Piñon shell by its color and weight. The pickers would begin picking the entire area from the perimeter of the tree where the nut had fallen and then work themselves toward the trunk of the tree until all the nuts were picked. After the good nuts were picked under the tree, the woman would lay canvas blankets and the men would climb up and shake the branches to release the stubborn nuts still in the cones. The horse drawn wagons, a much slower mode of transportation, arrived late in the afternoon. The provisions were soon unloaded and the wagons prepared for the loads of fire wood they would carry back home as planned. The wagon’s made several trips back and forth during the week bringing water for the campers and returning with enough wood for the coming winter. The Maés family, relatives of my grandfather, would arrive from Canjilon. The Ulibarrí’s and the Salazar’s arrived from Lower Nutrias to spend as many days as possible to visit, share food, tell stories and of course to harvest the nut. Evenings the Maés brothers, Juanito and Jésus would play the guitar and all would gather around the bonfire to sing those old ballads. The strains of La Barca de Oro, Cuatro Milpas, and Cielito Lindo were heard throughout the evening mingled with the howling of the coyotes nearby. Extended families like the Moñtano’s and Tafoya’s encamped nearby would join in the celebration. It was said that tourists driving on the highway seeing the Piñon gatherers under the trees on their hands and knees, would return home and tell stories about how faithful the people in northern New Mexico must be, because, they would say, under every tree there were people praying - on their knees. The owner of the Valley Theater, the only theater in town was not happy with the bumper Piñon crop. Patrons would crack and eat their Piñon during the movie and throw the shells on the wooden floor. The crushing of Piñon shells could be heard throughout the building when people left their seats to walk to the concession stand. You had a hard time hearing the movie because of the noise created by the shells being stepped on. As the movie progressed the cracking and crunching increased. Since movies were shown every night of the week except Tuesday’s the poor owner had a monumental task sweeping his theater every day. Drought is deadly for the Piñon tree because it cannot produce enough sap for protection against disease allowing the bark beetle to burrow and destroy the tree as we have experienced over the last few years with many trees dying. It is said that the drought is the tree killer, while the bark beetle is merely the undertaker. Thanks to the moisture in the Tierra Amarilla, the epidemic has not been as devastating as other parts of the state. Today the lowly Piñon, the pine nut that only the Native and Hispanic people used as a staple for centuries has been discovered by the rest of the world. Piñon nuts are used as an additive to many foods. Piñon can be found in fudge (mmmm my favorite), coffee, sprinkled on pizza, caramel apples, soap, incense and many more applications. A very delicious Piñon sauce is served with trout at one of my favorite restaurants; it is not just for empanaditas or sopa any more. The Piñon has gained such prominence that in 1978 the State of New Mexico enacted the Piñon Nut Act. The Piñon Nut Act reads as follows: It is unlawful for any person to package any product and label the product as Piñon nuts. “Piñon nuts” means the edible nut, which is the product of the Piñon tree. Well folks, between you and me and the gate post, I don’t think this act is enforced because pine nuts (ponderosa) are being used in food and sold under the label of Piñon nuts. Many memories come to mind from those early days when we were children traveling to the forest with our parents in the chill of autumn with the days becoming shorter to gather Piñon and a load of wood. The forest was so quiet you could hear the wind through the trees, the sound of the woodpeckers pecking away on a dead tree, the many birds calling at one another. When birds flew you could hear the rush of air passing through their flapping wings. The wonderful lunch my mother would prepare and how filling and delicious it tasted in the forest under the trees. One memory that will never leave me is the time I was four or five. In the forest I found a lid from an old can and was pretending to drive a car using the lid as a steering wheel. Well, the driver decided to put the car in reverse and back up. Unfortunately the driver stumbled and fell seat first on a sharp cactus. The wailing lasted a long time, while mother and grandmother removed cactus spines from the drivers behind. To this day every time I drive by that spot, visible from the highway, I still remember the pain of that cactus plant. Tierra Amarilla is a small village in Northern New Mexico settled in the mid 19th century by sheep owners from the Abiquiú area who had been summer grazing their flocks in the high meadows since the beginning of the early 1800’s. Tierra Amarilla is the county seat of Rio Arriba County, New Mexico. Alfonso De Herrera – Ulibarrí was born and raised in Tierra Amarilla, New Mexico He moved to Santa Fe in the late fifties and is a retired Civil Engineering Technician. He is now a part time writer, genealogist and historian. He has written a series of stories entitled “Growing up in Tierra Amarilla”.
Posted on: Mon, 15 Sep 2014 17:06:57 +0000
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