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After our mammoth of a drive from St. Louis, Missouri to southern New Mexico over the weekend we were in need of a quiet week. Especially since Mound City had kept us so busy during our stay. We had heard good things about St. Louis from our friends Rich and Karen but we were still pleasantly surprised by all the Gateway City had to offer.

We knew we wouldn’t be able to drive all the way to Tucson in such a short period of time so we pored over the map of New Mexico. Always looking for something new to discover we skipped over places where we’d stayed before. That put us south of Socorro and north of Las Cruces. Finally we decided to check out Elephant Butte, a place we had driven by many times before. Though fossilized mammoths and mastodons have been uncovered in the area the name comes from a distinctive landform; a large volcanic core—now an island in the lake—that purportedly resembles an elephant. I dunno, we stared at the misshapen rock but couldn’t find the elephant. Maybe we needed a different angle.

There are three entities that share the name Elephant Butte: a tiny community, the state’s biggest lake, and New Mexico’s largest state park. Of the three we were most familiar with the lake since it had piqued our interest when we skirted it on I-25 on road trips past. The town, the lake and the state park all owe their existence to the Elephant Butte Dam that impounded the Rio Grande in 1915. The embankment was authorized in 1905 as part of the Rio Grande Project (a water compact between three U.S. states, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas, and Mexico).

The Project, originally designed to control flooding and provide water for irrigation, now also generates power through the hydroelectric plant at Elephant Butte. Though all water projects in the arid southwest have downsides, one positive effect of the dam was the creation of a recreation and tourism industry in the area. Simply put, the town and state park wouldn’t exist without the lake. Though we aren’t into fishing or water sports the sparkling water of the lake enticed us to stay and play.

By play I mean we caught up on work, did laundry, cleaned, shopped, and prepared for our return to our recently purchased home in Tucson. Actually, for most of our visit the weather encouraged us to stay in and tend to our obligations—it was extremely windy. We did manage a few exploratory trips mainly to check out sights in and near Truth or Consequences, Elephant Butte’s bigger and older sister.

If you’ve ever heard of T or C it’s probably because it is the only city in the country named after a radio show. It was the result of a publicity stunt by a popular quiz show called Truth or Consequences. In 1950 the host, Ralph Edwards, announced a challenge to the nation: the program would air from the first town that renamed itself. I can’t imagine it working today but back then the residents of Hot Springs voted to change the name of their town. As the Geronimo Springs Museum proudly recounts, what was slated to be a one time event turned into an annual one. Edwards continued to broadcast the show from T or C once a year, even after the show made the leap to TV.

Other than its zany name-changing stunt T or C’s other claim to fame was the inspiration of its previous name, hot springs. There are several natural hot springs in the town with a combined flow of ninety-nine liters per second (more than double the flow of the famous springs in Hot Springs, Arkansas). As with other geothermally heated waters across the continent the springs had long been visited by those who believed in the restorative powers of the springs.

In the center of what is now a city park is a jumble of boulders known locally as Apache Rocks. Bands of Apaches from all over the Southwest would trek to the hot springs to soak in the healing waters. The boulders bear silent witness to these visitations; there are deep impressions ground into the rock, evidence of food preparation, and smoke stains coating the roof of a small overhang from their cooking fires. What we were most surprised to learn is that these pilgrimages by the Apaches continued into the 1940s!

These days you don’t have to camp out in the park in order to soak in T or C’s springs (in fact, they discourage that). Of the forty or so spas that existed in town before WWII roughly eight still offer soaking opportunities. Though it sounded awfully tempting we decided not to test the waters. That week we preferred quiet walks along the Rio Grande (which I believe is quite a misnomer since the river is truly not grand or large). It was a welcome change as we shifted gears from our RV travels of the summer to planning to pick up where we left off on house work. Painting? Yard work? We’re looking forward to it!

Photos: View our photos from Elephant Butte, New Mexico.

Dates: We stayed in Elephant Butte, New Mexico from 09/27/09 to 10/02/09.