Pinos Altos or Birchville - New Mexico Ghost Town

PINOS ALTOS or BIRCHVILLE

NAME: Pinos Altos or Birchville
COUNTY: Grant
ROADS: 2WD
GRID #(see map): 7
CLIMATE: Cool winter, hot summer
BEST TIME TO VISIT:Anytime

COMMENTS: Semi-Ghost.
REMAINS: Many original buildings.

The town never reached the status of being a "boom town" despite a population of 9,000 in the 1880s and 90s. Pinos Altos or tall pines in Spanish would not be an appropriate name for the town today for all the tall pines, ground cover and clear water streams are gone, denuded by prospectors and miners during the period from 1860 to the turn of the century. The town originally was named Birchville after one of three prospectors whose last name was Birch that discovered a few nuggets when sifting the gravel in a creek bed in 1860. As the town began to grow, Apache Indians beset it with frequent raids. It was during this period the settlers exhibited treachery of the worst sort. When a partially successful treaty had been established resulting in a certain amount of confidence on the part of the Indians, they were invited to attend a dinner to celebrate the signing of the treaty. Some sixty responded, entering the camp unarmed. As soon as all were seated, the host opened fire, killing many and maiming others. From that time forward, the whites were in continued jeopardy until the establishment of military forts in the vicinity in 1869. Pinos Altos began to show the usual signs of slowing down around the 1900s and today is only a memory of what was once a site of tall pines and running streams. Submitted by Henry Chenoweth. \|Pinos Altos Church - 1898 Courtesy Dolores Steele \|Pinos Altos New Mexico Courtesy Dolores Steele	Pinos Altos Courtesy Tom McCurnin Pinos Altos Courtesy Tom McCurnin Pinos Altos Opera house Courtesy Dolores Steele

The town never reached the status of being a "boom town" despite a population of 9,000 in the 1880s and 90s. Pinos Altos or tall pines in Spanish would not be an appropriate name for the town today for all the tall pines, ground cover and clear water streams are gone, denuded by prospectors and miners during the period from 1860 to the turn of the century. The town originally was named Birchville after one of three prospectors whose last name was Birch that discovered a few nuggets when sifting the gravel in a creek bed in 1860. As the town began to grow, Apache Indians beset it with frequent raids. It was during this period the settlers exhibited treachery of the worst sort. When a partially successful treaty had been established resulting in a certain amount of confidence on the part of the Indians, they were invited to attend a dinner to celebrate the signing of the treaty. Some sixty responded, entering the camp unarmed. As soon as all were seated, the host opened fire, killing many and maiming others. From that time forward, the whites were in continued jeopardy until the establishment of military forts in the vicinity in 1869. Pinos Altos began to show the usual signs of slowing down around the 1900s and today is only a memory of what was once a site of tall pines and running streams. Submitted by Henry Chenoweth.

|Pinos Altos Church - 1898
Courtesy Dolores Steele

|Pinos Altos New Mexico
Courtesy Dolores Steele

Pinos Altos
Courtesy Tom McCurnin

Pinos Altos
Courtesy Tom McCurnin
Pinos Altos Opera house
Courtesy Dolores Steele

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