If the herders knew their names, a more difficult and important question follows: *Do we know who some of their descendants are today? *

Pages 111–121 and 139 of Robert Watt's book processing notes on *Horses Worn to Mere Shadows* discreetly records something the sweeping Chief Victorio epic often fails to notice. With its explicit documentation of raids, the military responses to them, and Indian Depredation Claims filed as a result, it also documents specific Apache people who did not disperse from the Gila–Mogollon–San Francisco country even after the U.S. experiment with reservation life ended in that region. These were not mere fugitives fading up into the mountains. They were families that went on living and ranching and reporting losses and being identified by local authorities because they were already known.

Two brothers stand out. They carried the surname Leyva, sometimes pronounced Leyba.

Pat O'Connell
Gabriel Aguilera
Gregory Nibert
Commissioners,
NM Public Regulatory Commission

Dear Commissioners...how interesting that just when the energy industry is getting interesting again --- after 20 years or so of flatlined demand --- Bernhard Capital Partners now seeks to acquire The NM Gas Company. Likewise, dear Commissioners, a private firm seeks to acquire PNM.

In the '70s the energy industry suffered thru a 'supply shock', today, the industry is now facing a 'demand shock'; and as New Mexico's Energy-Regulatory Commissioners, I urge you to perform due diligence and require Bernhard Capital to provide your Commission, with a dedicated review—Bernhard's complete record of industry activity, including any and all infractions of laws and regulations.

By Ruben Q. Leyva

One of the quiet truths buried in the Apache Victorio-era record is this: the people who lived on the land often knew exactly whom they were dealing with, even when later archives attempted to portray otherwise. On page 139 of the notes for the book *Horses Worn to Mere Shadows*, utilizing original U.S. military and civilian correspondence collected by Robert Watt, Hispano sheep herders in the Mogollon and San Francisco ranges of New Mexico's Catron County are described as naming individual Apaches involved in raids, not anonymous "hostiles," but actual human beings, known through familiarity, frequent encounters, and long presence among these people. This detail matters. It informs us that Apache movement through the Mimbres–Mogollon–San Francisco corridor was not random or undifferentiated. It was discernable to those who shared the landscape.

By Paul Gessing

The Rio Grande Foundation has been clear in expressing support for a multi-pronged approach to improving our State’s roads. To be clear, the deterioration of our roads is a real issue. Their poor condition costs New Mexicans thousands of dollars annually according to recent studies.

So, we applaud the focus on roads in Santa Fe. Sadly, SB 2 which would add $1.5 billion in road funding through bonding (debt) is the wrong approach for numerous reasons. Most notably:

As West Las Vegas Schools Superintendent, I support the road package currently going through the legislature. Here’s why.

Safety. Our school buses require efficient and reliable roads, as dangerous roads are a safety hazard.

Maintenance. When buses are forced to use substandard roads, it costs the district money to make repairs. This reduces funding available for student needs.

By Dan Lewis

A recent report from a national transportation research nonprofit organization called the TRIP Report came out last week and it's not a pretty picture for New Mexico. Over the last decade, roads in this state have deteriorated dramatically and if a solution is not found soon, our state could easily become dead last in road conditions, safety, and lost time. Here are some of the facts in the report.

The New Mexico Department of Transportation has identified more than $7.5 billion in needed but unfunded transportation throughout the state to address safety, reliability and preservation challenges, states the report. That's $7.5 billion with a capital B. Since our entire state budget now runs at $11 billion, you can see that we're in a world of hurt when it comes to our roads.

This number is going up dramatically year over year as well. In the last report, our state had only $5.6 billion in unfunded projects around the state. In 2017, there were only $1.3 billion in needed but unfunded projects. As you can see, we're headed in the wrong direction.

By Ruben Q. Leyva

This essay is part of the ongoing "What Does 'Gila Apache' Mean?" series. This essay builds on the earlier pieces by showing how Apache continuity becomes legible not through fixed names or places, but through repeated actions, relationships, and returns across a shared corridor. Sabinal in this essay refers to a negotiated farm settlement located in Socorro County, New Mexico.

By now, we've learned what to trust. We believe in behavior, like farming at Apache peace settlements, more than we do Spanish administrative spelling. We understand farming is diplomacy, not assimilation.

And we know that the archive isn't a stable thing; not because it is meaningless, but because it was never built to reflect Indigenous belonging. Which leads, of course, to the pose that many a reader inevitably strikes at some point while navigating through Spanish colonial and church records: How do you read a name that refuses to stay the same?

I sympathize with Jamie Charleston's aesthetic concerns about mining operations around Silver City.( LTE: A View With a Question Mark 1/14/26)

When my wife and I moved here over 20 years ago, we discovered a hiker's paradise. If you extend your trailhead to an hour's drive circumference from Silver City, you can spend a lifetime and never explore it all. It's just magnificent.

Before Juniper pollen sidelined us, we spent many days, both on and off-trail, hiking in this area. In all that time, outside of the Gomez Peak - Little Walnut areas, I don't think we met more than a dozen fellow hikers. The question then arises, how many people in Grant County are or would be inconvenienced by mining activity, present or future? I would guess less than 10 percent, and most of us would probably rate forest fires a far greater aesthetic problem than mining operations.