With names like Cuchillo and Chloride, you would expect to find buildings and ruins like these in New Mexican ghost towns. And that's why I drove 1,000 miles to Southern New Mexico...to visit and photograph these unique and photogenic spots. Armed with my trusty AAA Gazetteer, a generic road map, and a smartphone map app I set out to discover and record my findings.

Following the Civil War, men and women struck out into the southwest looking for land and wealth; rumors of gold and silver discoveries stoked the imaginations of people from the Midwest and the East. Thousands came to Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado in search of riches and mineral wealth; the land (owned by Mexico until 1848) yielded gold and silver in huge quantities and was the force behind the growth of towns like Contention, Arizona; Chloride, New Mexico; and Durango, Colorado. As fast as the towns grew, they collapsed and died. People moved away and left the many ghost towns that, today, dot the Southwestern mountains and desserts.

But I found an interesting wrinkle to many of these ghost towns. They are still populated with people who are friendly and willing to share the town's story and history of the land and the peoples. Restaurants, bed-and-breakfasts, businesses, museums, and bars hide in these out-of-the-way towns. There's also evidence (evidenced by new construction) that some folks are dropping out in style and enjoying the laid-back Southwestern life style. Below are some photographs of these towns. Please enjoy...