The city’s name is curious to those unacquainted with its history, although the origins come from the more recent past. In 1950, the city of Hot Springs changed its name to Truth or Consequences but the story of the city reaches back hundreds of years. Hot mineral springs were the defining geological feature and attraction of the original settlement. The deep mortar holes ground into limestone rock outcroppings lining the pond at Ralph Edwards Park are reminders that Native Americans were familiar with the hot springs artesian basin in prehistoric times. The sparse settlement by the Spanish in Sierra County was a consequence of the continuous inhabitation of the area by the Apache Nation.
The Red Paint People, the easternmost band of the Chiricahua Apache, occupied the area extending from the Rio Grande westward across the Black and Pinos Altos Ranges. This group regularly passed through the area as they hunted and raided. Led by Geronimo and Victorio, the Red Paint people became prisoners of war in the late 1880s, clearing the way for permanent settlement. Apache history is still evident in the city’s place names and their descendants remain in the area.
Our Hot Springs History...
By the mid-1800s, several settlements had been established along the Rio Grande, although they were prone to raids and flooding. Las Palomas, a Hispanic community founded in 1856 and seven miles south of present day Truth or Consequences, was used to designate the first improved spring. In 1884, the first act of the newly established Sierra County Commissioners was to erect a shelter over this spring. Cowboys from the John Cross Ranch, now part of Ted Turner’s Ladder Ranch, built a bathhouse in the late 1880s.
Pictured below is the Tumble Inn, at the approximate location of Riverbend Hot Springs, pictured above.
Elephant Butte Dam - 1914
It was the building of Elephant Butte Dam from 1911-1916 that marked the city’s first boom. The second largest dam outside of Egypt at its completion, the massive construction project created an instant town of 4,000.
In the sparsely populated Sierra County, many of these new residents looked to nearby Palomas Hot Springs not only for its healing mineral waters, but spirits, saloons, and other entertainment.
The development of Palomas Hot Springs into a southwestern health resort community accompanied this grand plan, growing into the town of Hot Springs where it stands today. The hot springs basin, designated as federal reclamation land and therefore, not open to homesteaders until incorporation in 1916, had an ever-growing number of squatters, bathhouses, and other amenities and diversions for travelers.
By the 1920s and 1930s, the downtown area of Hot Springs was growing rapidly, with 455 residents in 1920, compared with 1,336 listed in the 1930 Census. This growth, as well as census occupational listings and business directories, illustrates how the economy of Hot Springs became oriented toward visiting health-seekers.
Adding another name to the mix, it was known as the ‘City of Health’ in the 1940s. Until 1950, Hot Springs more than doubled its population in each census from 1920 to 1940 and then increased its population by over 50%, to reach 4,563 by 1950.
The Ralph Edwards Years
Our little town got its big name in 1950 as part of a publicity scheme to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Truth or Consequences, Ralph Edwards’ hugely successful game show on NBC radio.
The end of World War II saw a marked decline in the number of health seekers traveling to Hot Springs.
This decline in health-related tourism was one of the reasons that residents saw the opportunity to change the town’s name from Hot Springs to Truth or Consequences as a boon. The name change was part of a national contest meant to promote the popular radio quiz show of the same name hosted by Ralph Edwards.
The winning town was promised a yearly visit by Edwards, a live coast-to-coast broadcast from the town, and tons of free publicity.
On March 31, 1950, with Edwards and his crew electioneering, the town voted to change its name. While many thought the name-change was a publicity stunt for April Fool’s day, the name remains. Long after the radio and later television quiz show had ceased broadcasting, Edwards continued to lead the annual parade in May. Despite these and other efforts, downtown businesses and bathhouses saw a marked decline in the 60s, 70s, and 80s.
While the town is still known for its healing waters, the appeal of the city has changed in recent years. As Truth or Consequences approaches a century of its founding, the community has actively embraced strategies for revitalization. The city began to be known for its emergent arts scene, eclecticism, and self-described counter-cultural impulses and residents. The recent resurgence and interest in homeopathic natural cures and remedies, an emerging eclectic arts scene, and notoriety as an edgy resort town have attracted new residents and more frequent visitors.