¬ Ever since I've had sheep, which is going on six years now, I've been taking my fleece to the wool mill in Mora NM. This journey to the mill is one we always look forward to. It’s a journey through friendly mountains, which we usually only get to visit for this purpose. Each journey always includes a stop at Teresa’s tamales before or on the way out. The Mill is in the heart of downtown Mora with a store front that has a small cafe and gallery for all things wool. Just up the road is the old adobe gristmill where folk would bring their wheat harvest to be ground by stone powered by water diverted from the river. If you have never been to the Mill or Mora in general, and are in the neck of the woods it would be worth stopping in.
The Mill in Mora is the only commercial wool mill west of the Mississippi and is a conglomeration of various Mills from around the state that have gone out of business at one time or another, with equipment ranging from small to massive. The spinning machine was built with seats for over twenty people, now it would be rare to see more than two. Though at a glance at the processing facility it might be disheartening to think of all the potential and the time when this equipment was used at full capacity, the space is still radiates with life.
It’s hard to think of the dwindling nature of the wool industry, and those that make/made it up, which has been in slow decline since the army stopped using so much wool and sheep herders switched to cattle. It’s one of those things like the railroads, that seems on the verge of becoming obsolete. If you were to speak to any older norteño about borregos likely you will find yourself on the other end of a story rooted in hardships, solitude and beauty. Almost everyone here in Northern New Mexico either had sheep or worked with them in some way or another. A relative of mine tells stories of how he would be sent out with a horse with a riffle into the woods to graze the flock as early as ten years old. Unlike cattle, sheep are constant prey with almost any flesh eating creature is their predator, and really only man as protector. Raising sheep is hard work. More so when large flocks were grazed public lands. The reward that comes from such work however makes it all worth it. For us, the sheep we raise provides us a nice supply of natural and very warm fiber as well as a great source of food and the joy of carrying on a tradition that made us who we are today. There is a sweet film called ‘Sweetgrass’ that shows one of the last pastoral shepherds in Montana on the last few years of their operations.
The Mill is ran by JD who is a shinning light, both in the world of wool but in general, that makes this process such a joy. JD and his very small team are one of the few threads to the past of New Mexico’s culture of raising borregos we have left. We’re grateful for him and his team that keep this special place going, and we’re happy to be able to be a part of it.
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