La Ventana: A New Mexico Ghost Town Dependent on The Rio Puerco, Coal, and A Short-Lived Railroad
— Daniel J. Koning

La Ventana is a ghost town located along the Rio Puerco, 21.7 km (13.5 mi) south of Cuba. Farming and related settlement by
Hispanics probably began in the middle of the 19th century but is poorly documented. By 1910, the Rio Puerco eroded a deep arroyo and
this made irrigated farming very difficult. Local coal mining during 1925–1932, coupled with the availability of water from the Rio Puerco,
supported a town of 150–260 people (in the town and including the nearby population). Centered on the east bank of the Rio Puerco, La
Ventana featured a 16-room hotel, general merchandise stores, restaurants, two churches, a school, and a post office. Essential to the coal
mining operations was the construction of the 45-km (28-mi)-long Santa Fe, San Juan, and Northern Railroad. This spur line followed the
Rio Salado and Rio Puerco, connecting La Ventana with the Santa Fe Northwestern Railroad in San Ysidro. Coal mining and the town
thrived when coal demand was high during the late 1920s. But with dampened demand and lowered prices during the early part of Great
Depression, coupled with the cost and difficulty of maintaining the railroad spur to the town due to flood-related erosion, coal mining
became uneconomical. The railroad and major mining operations shut down by 1932, and not even its location along the road between San
Ysidro and Cuba (State Road 44 and U.S. Route 550) could keep La Ventana alive.