Colorado

Deep in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains, almost hidden in a steep canyon that bottoms out 8,000 feet above sea level, sits an old mining town that provided marble for some of America’s most famous memorials. Abandoned and revived over and over through the years, the town of Marble is now enjoying another new life, in both industry and the arts.

Ever since it was established, in 1989, the Marble/marble Symposium (held, not surprisingly, in the town of Marble, Colorado) has grown in national and even international acclaim. Every summer, the event offers three 8-day sessions to sculptors of all interests and skill levels. The sessions, which accommodate 45 participants, include five teachers, an array of…

You may not have heard the term “acequia,” but it describes one of oldest, most common-sense systems of irrigation on the planet. The basic idea is to use, and share, a river’s natural patterns rather than rely on the predominant American system—namely, trap it, pipe it, and race to be the first to use it. Our writer tours the globe to track down the acequia’s history, and its leading practitioners.

You’ve probably never heard the term “acequia,” but it describes one of the oldest methods of irrigation on the planet. Too bad American ranchers have largely ignored it.

Acequias arrived with the legendary (or infamous, depending on one’s perspective) expeditions to New Mexico and Colorado led by the best-known conquistadors: Francisco Vásquez de Coronado, Juan de Oñate, and Diego de Vargas—all native-born Spaniards. Less commonly known is the fact that these conquistadors who brought acequias to the southwestern U.S. region were most often…