Capulin Volcano, Photograph by Lail, 2002.

Geology

Located in northeastern New Mexico, approximately thirty miles east of the town of Raton, Capulin sits in the middle of a volcanic field on the Great Plains surface. The Great Plains surface is a geologic area spreading eastward from the Rocky Mountains. The volcanic field, referred to as the Raton-Clayton volcanic field, includes a large area between the towns of Raton and Clayton, where evidence of volcanic activity is visible far and wide. This volcanic field boasts not only Capulin Volcano, but also the largest freestanding volcano in the world, Sierra Grande. Other lesser volcanoes and evidence of volcanic activity exist throughout this field.

Capulin Volcano is a cinder cone volcano that formed "as fragments of foamy lava, hurled into the air from avolcanic vent, fell back to the ground." The slopes of the volcano are made up of these loose basaltic pellets of lava or cinder, giving these types of volcanoes their name, cinder cones. Cinders are pieces of gas filled lava which become pumice like after being spewed from the vent of the volcano. This presence of gas and the absence of water is what basically differentiates cinder from flowing lava. Cinder cones are one "of the most common volcanic landforms on Earth." The cinders are expelled, landing in a cone shaped pile around the volcano vent, thereby forming a small steep mountain. Capulin Volcano is one of these steep cinder cones, rising 8,182 feet above sea level, and 1,300 feet above the surrounding plain. It is estimated to be approximately 56,000 to 62,000 years old.

Small cinders are not the only thing that erupted from the Capulin Volcano vent. Larger lava clumps, spewed high into the air by the volcano, took on the shape of oblongs as the projectiles fell back to earth. These hardened projectiles are called volcanic bombs and are about the size and shape of large footballs. These bombs can be found around the volcano and the surrounding ranchlands. Another unusual geologic factor is the slightly higher northeast side of the volcano resulting from predominately southwest winds which wear down the southwest side of Capulin. These southwest winds are also believed to have affected the actual drift and settlement of the original cinders. This "downwind blanket of cinders over basalt" is visible from an airplane and somewhat visible from the top of the volcano. New vegetation, deterioration of the cinders, and changes in water flow influence the visibility of the volcano’s original developmental features.

Most important to the presently well preserved volcano are the dynamics of the Capulin lava flows. The flows did not emerge from the top of the volcano. Fluid magma squeezed through cracks at the base of the volcano and the released lava traveled through channels or bocas spreading across the plains. This break through of magma at the base, instead of a lava flow from the vent, preserved the volcano vent at the top of Capulin, allowing it to remain one of the most perfectly preserved cinder cones in the world. Many volcanoes emit lava from the top vent which eventually changes the shape of the volcano. The higher ground to the west of Capulin, visible to the left of the volcano in Fig. 1.1, is the area where lava emerged at the greatest frequency from the main boca. The remnants of Capulin’s four major lava flows can still be seen from the top of the volcano as well as from nearby plateaus and aerial photography. As the main lava flows hardened, other magma squeezed up through cracks and fissures forming lumps and clumps around the volcano, referred to appropriately as squeeze ups or tumuli. These squeeze ups are visible on the volcano and the surrounding countryside.

Map of Capulin Lava Flows, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, Capulin Volcano National Monument, New Mexico, Official Map and Guide, National Monument (Washington D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1985).

Capulin has been compared to Paricutin, a recently formed cinder volcano in Mexico which shares many similarities with the older Capulin. Paricutin started from ahole in the ground which farmer Dionisio "Pulido had been trying to fill for years." In February of 1943, the hole started spewing ash and smoke as Dionisio watched in disbelief. By the next day, a ten meter high volcano stood in his once prosperous corn field. Over the next nine years, the volcano would rise to over four hundred meters before resorting back to inactivity. Although volcanic ash and lava create rich soil for generations of the future, lava cannot be plowed and ash is only useful immediately for farming in small plowable amounts. Paricutin wrought devastating, long lasting effects on the surrounding people. The study of this recent volcano has helped geologists to determine the nature of cinder cones and the possible geologic history of Capulin Volcano.

Lava Squeeze Up or Tumuli at Capulin Volcano National Monument, Photograph by Lail, 2002.

Creation and Founders

Before its establishment as a monument, Capulin Volcano and the area surrounding the volcano attracted the attention of many people for a variety of reasons. Besides being a geologic curiosity, the volcano possessed natural resources as well as commercial possibilities for the surrounding community. Wood, pinon nuts, berries, open grazing land, and diverse wildlife populations provided locals with needed resources. Local ranchers regularly used the volcano and vicinity to graze their cattle.

Modern cattle grazing near Capulin Volcano, Photograph by Lail, 2002.

One local who took aspecial interest in the volcano was Mrs. William H. Jack of the Crow Foot Cattle Ranch. The Crow Foot Ranch was not a small operation, and the Jacks were considered important enough to merit the printing of their name on a 1889 map of the region. This was not an uncommon practice for the sparsely populated area. Jack can be seen on the left side of the map, northwest of Capulin Mountain, located on the lower portion of the 1889 map.

Mrs. Jack eventually became the first part time custodian of the volcano, beginning in 1916 and ending, unofficially, in 1921, when she asked Homer Farr to take her place. Her husband William, also called Will or Bill, was well liked in the community and made his living herding and selling cattle for the Crow Foot. His cattle ranch kept many people in the region working. One of his more famous ranch supervisors was George McJunkin, who discovered the Folsom site. The common herding method of the time was to put together a "Dutch Crew" of herders who would individually help carry the expenses of the job in order to receive a share of the profits once the herded cattle were sold. The region around Capulin was an important stopping point and grazing area for many of the cattle that Will Jack and his crew herded to market.

Mrs. Jessie Jack Foot (left), first custodian of Capulin Volcano National Monument, and Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Owens (right), 1920.

In an article written about his family history, Carlos Cornay reveals the importance of the grazing area around Capulin to the Jacks, as well as to others dependent on the cattle industry. Cornay explains that his grandfather, also named Carlos, ran cattle with Mr. Jack. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, Cornay and Jack went to Mexico by way of El Paso and put together herds of cattle to bring back to the Crow Foot Ranch. The return journey could take over six months. The cattle were kept in the Capulin Mountain region, usually throughout the summer, to fatten them up. Then they were driven to rail lines in Kansas. The coming of the railroad ended the need for cattle drives to a Kansas depot; instead, the cattle could be kept in the Folsom stockyards and shipped from the new Folsom depot north of Capulin. An early herding crew photo shows Carlos Cornay and Will Jack, as well as several others.

Cattle were often sold by head at an estimated weight, so the more grazing lands available to the cattle, the fatter the cattle could become, bringing a better price at market. Capulin Mountain offered avaluable open grazing range. According to historian Dietmar Schneider-Hector, Mrs. Jessie Jack was primarily interested in the Capulin Volcano region in order to maintain access to these important grazing rights. Grazing right issues would eventually play a large role for the monument, however, the people of Folsom had other plans for the volcano and surrounding region.

Homer Farr with the first car to drive to the top of Capulin Mountain, Dec 25, 1925.

Homer Farr

In 1907, twenty-two year old Homer Farr, born in Kansas in 1885, came to the town of Des Moines, N.M. His brother-in-law asked him to come out and help him run his Des Moines store. Homer eventually bought one hundred and sixty acres located where the town of Capulin currently exists. He greatly admired Capulin Volcano and decided that he would work to preserve the volcano as well as use it to bringin tourists and settlers to the community. He hoped to sell his land to settlers and profit while building a new community. Homer proved to be quite an entrepreneur, starting businesses, bringing in new residents, and promoting Capulin Mountain as a must see tourist attraction. Farr started a lumber business, served as post master, ran a newspaper, speculated in land sales, and generally promoted the town of Capulin. According to historian, Francis Stanley, he ultimately became the "one man Chamber of Commerce" for the town of Capulin.

Because of his interest in the volcano, Mrs. Jack eventually asked Mr. Farr if he would like to look after the monument once she resigned her position as custodian. In 1921, she asked Mr. Farr to unofficially take over her position. Homer Farr accepted the unofficial position and would later, in 1923, become an official custodian of Capulin Mountain. Farr took great interest in the volcano for he saw the monument as a profitable park and tourist attraction. Farr officially served the National Park Service and Capulin Mountain National Monument, later to be renamed Capulin Volcano National Monument, from 1923 to 1955. His honorable thirty-two year effort to manage the monument covered the parks early development and management.

            Text from Capulin Volcano National Monument: An Administrative History, 2003.

Homer Farr, (left), with visitor J.N. McNeany. The photo was sent to Farr from McNeany’s home in Enid, Oklahoma. circ. 1950. Property of Leonard Farr, Private Collection.

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