A Brief History of Red River

In the early 1880s, the area around Red River, New Mexico was populated largely by hunters and trappers, mostly in the Midnight country. Toward the end of the decade, settlers were moving into the valley, building cabins and staking out mining claims - the boom was on. Soon cabins were springing up everywhere and Red River was becoming a thriving town with two newspapers, a school, stores, restaurants, hotels, a post office, a doctor and law officers. Although it had all the saloons and dance halls you’d expect in a mining camp, from the beginning it had the kind of community activities to fill the needs of the families that had settled here - largely centered at the schoolhouse where socials, church, weddings and funerals were held. The Young house, having the only piano in town became a center of attraction for family musical entertainment. In 1895 a townsite was laid out, Red River City was born, land was sold and the population was said to have grown to “thousands” - likely somewhat exaggerated.

After a few years, however, the gold fever faded when it became obvious that, with the cost of getting the ore out, mining was not a profitable business in this remote location. Most of the miners left, but a few hardy citizens stayed on to find a different kind of gold - tourism. With the mass production of the automobile, more and more people were able to flock to our cool mountain climate in summer. A new road was built making the town more accessible. Tourist camps, hotels, stables, restaurants and tourist attractions sprang up to meet the needs of the flatland visitors. The Community House was built to provide a place for families to go for recreation, events and worship - all at no cost. A Women’s Club, the Red River Historical Society and a Chamber of Commerce were founded to address community needs, history and promote tourism with activities and events for guests to and locals to enjoy.

Red River took on a whole new dimension as a year-round resort when the ski area opened in the winter of 1959-60 and a new industry was born. As winter tourism grew, roads were paved and the Upper Valley was developed. With its incorporation in 1971, the Town has continued to grow and add amenities like parks, lighting, sidewalks, beautification and eventually a library and museum - all the accoutrements of civilization.

Today we have all those things and a conference center for meetings and community gatherings, more than a dozen special events throughout the year, hundreds of free summer activities at the Community House, summer attractions at the Red River Ski and Summer Area and most important of all - the quality of life and community spirit what have allowed us to survive and prosper together through all the changes that time has wrought.