Colonel Martin L. Crimmins photographs of petroglyphs

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sova.nmai.ac.238

Summary: This collection includes 43 photographs taken by Col. Martin L. Crimmins of petroglyphs in Three Rivers, New Mexico.

Biographical / Historical: Martin Lalor Crimmins (1876-1955) was born in New York City. He attended Georgetown University and the University of Virginia Medical School. He joined the Rough Riders in 1898 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant. He continued in his military career until 1926 when he retired at the rank of colonel due to physical disability. Outside of the military, Crimmins was an accomplished herpetologist, studying snake bite treatment. He went so far as to inject himself with venom until he became immune and then gave blood transfusions to snake-bite victims. He worked with physicians to come up with new methods and serums for treating snake bites. On one notable occasion, right before giving a lecture on snake bites, Crimmins was bit by a copperhead he had brought in and had to oversee his own treatment at the hospital as he was the expert. Crimmins spent his retirement writing about Texas, New Mexico, and Military history and published over 200 articles.

Citation: Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Colonel Martin L. Crimmins photographs of petroglyphs, image #, NMAI.AC.238; National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution.

Processing Information: This collection is unprocessed. Collection record written by Mattie Lewis, Archives Technician in 2025.

Rights: Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not modified in any way, the Smithsonian Institution copyright notice (where applicable) is included, and the source of the image is identified as the National Museum of the American Indian. For more information please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use and NMAI Archive Center's Digital Image request website.

Scope and Contents: This collection contains 43 black and white photographs taken by Colonel Martin L. Crimmins of petroglyphs at Three Rivers, New Mexico. Image numbers P06591 - P06633.

Restrictions: Access to NMAI Archives Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).

Related Materials: From 1987 to 1992, the Archeology Society of New Mexico Rock Art Recording Field School completed a survey of the over 21,000 petroglyphs at the Three Rivers site and published their findings, which can be found online.

NMAI.AC.238

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sv44d3a465e-b872-41cb-af1a-b585ff7af342

NMAI.AC.238

NMAIA