If green chile is dear to the hearts and stomachs of all New Mexicans, the Pinon is dear to their souls. This beautiful tree is a thread in the social fabric of all who have shared the high desert area. Two hundred and fifty years before the American colonies won their independence, the Spanish adventurer, healer, and lost wanderer, Cabeza de Vaca, named the Pinon and wrote the first words recorded of our cherished state tree. "There are in that country, small pine trees and the cones are like small eggs, but the seeds are better than those of Castille."