|#4591 New Mexico 2012 Postage Stamp
With this New Mexico Statehood (ForeverŪ) stamp, the U.S. Postal Service honors the 100 years
that have passed since January 6, 1912, when New Mexico became the 47th state in the Union. Today, New Mexico is the fifth-largest
state in the U.S., known for its rich history, vibrant cultures, and stunning geographic diversity.
The stamp art shows a landscape
in northern New Mexico, about 65 miles northwest of Albuquerque. In this sweeping view of the high desert, junipers and piņon pines
grow in the foreground. In the middle distance, the Rio Puerco courses through an arroyo, while in the background, two peaks known
as Cerro de Santa Clara and Cerro de Guadalupe are silhouetted against a vast sky.
When Spanish missionaries arrived in present-day
New Mexico in the 1500s, they found a region already settled by Pueblo and Navajo people. The flags of both Spain and Mexico flew
over the land before it became American soil. In 1848, northern New Mexico was ceded to the U.S. at the end of the U.S.-Mexican War.
Two years later, Congress established the New Mexico Territory. English-speaking cattle ranchers, cowboys, and miners mingled with
the earlier Native American and Hispanic residents to create the unique cultural diversity that characterizes New Mexico today. Even
after it became a state in 1912, New Mexico retained much of its frontier and Old Mexico flavor, and Spanish and English are both
A resident of New Mexico for more than 35 years, artist Doug West is best known for his southwestern landscapes and
skies. Art director Richard Sheaff selected one of West's existing oil paintings for the stamp art.
New Mexico Statehood is being issued
as a Forever stamp. Forever stamps are always equal in value to the current First-Class Mail one-ounce rate.