Deming Luna Mimbres Museum Circa 2011

This was the home of the Deming Luna Mimbres Museum for a number of years. This archived reference has been restored as reading material for Diane Rebus' course on indigenous art. She comes to the university from the infamous cyber agency Spectropolis where she is known for the art direction on the advertising for the luxury dog bed brand GoodNightDog.com. Using photos and animation depicting hundreds of dog breeds, the animation reveals the elegant simplicity of round dog beds made with washable designer fabrics. The online retailer currently focuses on high end dog beds and matching bandanas. Juli Clemson shares the instruction and brings another angle into the study. As an archaeologist whose specialty is the southwestern part of the US, Dr. Clemson and her team prepared the syllabus for the related seminars. All the archived websites are part of the required reading for both professors. The remainder of the reading assignments are posted on the school's site under "Clemson/Rebus course material."
Content is from the site's 2011 archived pages.

The current website for the museum may be found at: /www.lunacountyhistoricalsociety.com/

Welcome to the Deming Luna Mimbres Museum

You will find your visit here a delighful surprise. The goal of the museum is to depict the way people lived in Deming since its inception in 1881. Documenting the life of Deming citizens involves a striking diversity that defies traditional classification. You will just have to visit and see for yourself. Just to wet your appetite ...

History of the Deming Luna Mimbres Museum
The museum was founded to document the everyday lives of citizens of Deming and the Mimbres Valley. This unique charter has produced a vast range of exhibits that are sure to surprise visitors. The displays and exhibits range from antique office machines, to pottery displays containing artifacts. Many are over 1000 years old.
The charm of this museum is in its dedication to people's lives, not just history of buildings, wars, events, or specialty classifications. Perhaps the founders did not just want "His Story (history)"; they wanted "Everyone's Story". Here are just a few questions you may be able to answer after your visit:

• What did Main Street look like?
• What equipment did ranchers and farmers use?
• What was Deming's role in military history?
• What do telephone switchboards of the past look like?
• What was the culture of Deming in the early years?
• What toys did children enjoy?
• The Deming Luna Mimbres Museum was named for the City of Deming, Luna County, and the Mimbres Valley. It is housed in the old National Guard Armory which is located directly across the street from the Custom House and the Archives. Luna County Historical Society, a non-profit corporation, governs all three facilities.

• The museum continues to grow and since moving to this building, has had five major additions (art gallery, military room, ranching exhibit room, main street displays, and transportation room). In addition, the museum has acquired the Custom House and Archives which are located across the street.

Deming and adjacent area has had a long association with the military. There have been military establishments during the Apache wars, Mexican Punitive Expedtion, World War I and World War II
IMAGE: MilitaryRoom.jpg
Apache Wars - Fort Cummings (about 15 miles north of here) was established in 1862 by the California Column to secure a source of water for the Union west of the Rio Grande. Later the primary objective was to protect the immigrant route and the Butterfield stage line through Massacre Pass as well as the great spring at the entrance to the pass. The walled fort was active for almost 20 years and many artifacts were found there although the walls have largely melted back into the earth from which they came. A model of the fortr is also on display
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Mexican Punitive Expedition - The Expedtion started from Camp Furlong which was 30 miles south of here. A number of artifacts relating to the march are on exhibit. Of special interst is a Maxim Machine Gun that was probably used by Gen. Carranza in pursuit of the Villistas. It is assumed that this was part of the German armament sent to Mexico to try to persuade them to keep the U.S. too busy to interfere in Europe.

World War I - A major training base (Camp Cody) was located at the northwest corner of the city. National Guard troops from Minnesota, the Dakotas, and Nebraska trained here prior to shipment to France. A number of uniforms and other equipment are shown in the wall cases as well as photographs of the camp.

World War II - A training base for the Air Corp bombardiers was located at the southeast corner of the city. Todays Municipal arifield was a portion of the base. A large drawing of the facility is exhinited as well as numerous artifacts including weapons, uniforms and Japanese and German equpiment. We should also note that near the entrance of main hall in the case to the right are a special tribute to the men of the national guard who were on the Bataan and in the U.S. during the wwar, approx 1%.

Parked along "Main Street" are antique vehicles including a Doctor's buggy and Deming's first car, a 1907 REO. At the end of the street, you will find an antique handoperated gas pump.

The stores are built to allow visitors to take a trip down memory lane or to learn about the past by just window shopping.     

Mimbres Pottery

Thundereggs, Geodes and Nodules

	A “tiltage egg” from Rockhound State Park (New Mexico) shows an angular unconformity in the “waterline” agate and opal layers caused by an ancient landslide that took place while the layers were emplaced.
	Sugar Bowl Mine Luna County, New Mexico
	A Baker Egg lithophysa withangel-wing-type plumes encrusted with quartz instead of chalcedony, as is the case with most such colloform growths.
	The contrasting colors in this agate filled lithophysa is typical for thundereggs from the Baker Egg mine.