History & Culture

MONUMENT HISTORY
On January 16, 1891, Capulin Mountain was "…withdrawn from settlement, entry or other disposition under any of the public land laws, until such time as Congress may see fit to take action touching the same or until otherwise ordered by competent authority…"

On August 9, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson set Capulin aside as a National Monument by Presidential Proclamation No. 1340, to preserve "…a striking example of recent extinct volcanoes …" which "…is of great scientific and especially geologic interest…"

Public Law 87-635, 87th Congress, S.2973, September 5, 1962, amended the proclamation to "…preserve the scenic and scientific integrity of Capulin Mountain National Monument…" because of the significance of Capulin Volcano.

On December 31, 1987, Congress changed the Monument's name from, "Capulin Mountain National Monument" to "Capulin Volcano National Monument," by Public Law 100-225 (101 Stat. 1547)

People

Folsom Points
Excavations at the Folsom Archeological Site during 1926-28 found bones from at least 23 extinct bison (Bison bison antiqus) and 19 projectile points.

This site was found after flash flood in 1908 which killed 17 people in the nearby town of Folsom, NM. Ranch foreman and former slave, George McJunkin, inspected the range after the flood. He found the unusual bones in an eroded gully.

Some of the projectiles that came to be known as "Folsom points," were imbedded with the bones indicating the bison had been actively hunted and killed. This discovery stunned archeologists and changed the known arrival date of humans in North America from 3,000 years ago to over 10,000 years ago.