Link to PDF - a Family of the West

Nuestras Madres
Casimira Torres
Grandaughter of Gertrudis Márquez
A Story of Lincoln County
New Mexico
Version 11-2011
Nuestras Madres............................................................................................................ 0
About the author/editor ............................................................................................. 3
Dedication ................................................................................................................. 4
Purpose.......................................................................................................................... 5
Introduction ................................................................................................................... 5
The Players and the Scene ............................................................................................ 6
Section 1 - Four Women ............................................................................................... 8
Francisca Antonia Ortega ......................................................................................... 9
Married; Francisco Herrera ................................................................................... 9
Gertrudis Márquez .................................................................................................. 10
Married; Antonio Torres ..................................................................................... 10
María ‗Lorenza‘ Salas ............................................................................................. 11
José Torres, Manuel Padilla and Juan Gonzales ................................................. 11
Doña Rita Baca ....................................................................................................... 12
Married: Don Gregorio Sánches ......................................................................... 12
Social Standings ...................................................................................................... 13
Respect & Influence ................................................................................................ 14
Living Conditions ................................................................................................... 15
Antepasados de Tomé y Manzano .......................................................................... 17
The Salinas Basin Reoccupied ................................................................................ 20
The Reconquest of New Mexico .......................................................................... 20
Resettlement of the Rio Grande Valley ............................................................... 21
The Expansion of Settlement into the Salinas Basin ........................................... 22
Land Grants in the Salinas Basin ....................................................................... 23
The Manzano Grant ............................................................................................ 24
BioBit- Hot Grease Saves Pioneer Women ............................................................ 29
Section 2 - The Beginnings of Lincoln County .......................................................... 32
The First Settlers ..................................................................................................... 35
The Military Roads ................................................................................................. 37
Excerpt from ―A Military Expedition to NM‖ ........................................................ 38
The 1860s Begin ..................................................................................................... 42
Places in the Rio Bonito Area ................................................................................. 42
The War Comes ...................................................................................................... 43
Section 3 – The Reoccupation of La Placita ............................................................... 45
The Manzano Crowd............................................................................................... 45
BioBit- Padilla, Guevara and Family Intrigue ........................................................ 45
Missouri Plaza......................................................................................................... 50
BioBit- Mauricio Sánchez....................................................................................... 51
Meanwhile, back at the Fort.................................................................................... 52
Military Groups- A Little Background ................................................................... 57
La Placita becomes Lincoln County ....................................................................... 57
Places in the 1870s .................................................................................................. 60
Section 4 - Descendant Charts of our Fore Mothers ................................................... 63
Francisca Ortega ..................................................................................................... 63
Gertrudis Márquez .................................................................................................. 69
Lorenza Salas .......................................................................................................... 74
Rita Baca ................................................................................................................. 81
Section 5 - The 1870s and Early 1880s ...................................................................... 86
María ‗Juliana‘ Martín and Fernando de Herrera ................................................... 86
Descedents of Juliana Martín .................................................................................. 87
Moving Out of the Valleys ..................................................................................... 92
The Miners .............................................................................................................. 93
The Teamsters ......................................................................................................... 94
BioBit- Aniceto Lueras and Librada Herrera.......................................................... 95
The Farmers and Ranchers...................................................................................... 97
BioBit- Theophilus Lalonde (Lalone) & Estanislada Padilla ................................. 98
The Horrell War ...................................................................................................... 99
Seeds for Trouble Planted ..................................................................................... 100
The Merchants and Problems................................................................................ 101
Recommended Reading ............................................................................................ 101
Section 6 – The Richardson Files ............................................................................. 102
Descendants of Nobertita Archuleta ..................................................................... 103
A Story of my Family ........................................................................................... 105
Querino ................................................................................................................. 107
Nathan ................................................................................................................... 108
Memories at Cerro Hueco ..................................................................................... 109
Ma Tita .................................................................................................................. 111
Ma Manda ............................................................................................................. 113
Section 7 - The 1880s thru 1910ish .......................................................................... 116
BioBit- George Sena and Teresa Carrillo ............................................................. 116
Lincoln‘s New Era ................................................................................................ 118
Indian Relations ................................................................................................ 119
Ups and Downs ................................................................................................. 119
Cloe Elizabeth Fairchild and ―Coll‖ Lacey .......................................................... 121
Descendants of Cloe Elizabeth Fairchild .............................................................. 123
More Opportunities and Expansion ...................................................................... 126
Changes ..................................................................................................................... 134
History of the Lincoln National Forest ................................................................. 134
A Couple of Articles ................................................................................................. 140
"Bones Don't Lie" ................................................................................................. 140
―The Good Old Days in Lincoln County‖ ............................................................ 146
Observations and Conclusions .............................................................................. 149
About the author/editor
Rich Eastwood is a canvas man, auto trimmer and pattern maker by trade. His
favorite accomplishments are teaching Sunday School and Christian Education
leadership. He is retired, lives in Ensenada, Mexico and is an amature historian.
His collection ―A Family of the West‖ follows his mother‘s family as they came west;
the Laceys from the British Isles through colonial Virginia, the Lalondes (LaLones)
from France through Quebec and the Luceros and Padillas from Spain and up the
Camino Real to New Mexico.
Publishing data
I have decided to self publish this book, any of my original work that you would like
to use for non-comercial purposes is fine with me. I have tried to credit all other work
to the apporpriate source. I have received permission to use some of the copywrited
material, some of it I wasn‘t able to figure out how to obtain premission or even if
that was necessary. Rich Eastwood
Dedication
To Auntie ‗Cille
Eleanor ‗Lucille‘ Lacey Waite
1909 to 2008
Without her inspiration we might have never
re-trod the paths of Lincoln County
Purpose
 My purpose in telling this story is to tell the tale of the not so famous or
infamous people of early Lincoln County, New Mexico
Introduction
This work borders on being more of a collection rather than a great scholarly work.
The history and circumstances will be ‗my take‘ of events, the genealogy and data I
have endeavored to report accurately with sources (somewhere) but many of the
family bios and other tid-bits were collected from other sources that I will try and
credit. Note that my genealogical data is far from complete. Any additions or
corrections would be greatly appreciated. My e-mail is [email protected]
In my family the women passed on the stories and the women seemed to be the
shapers of our identity. As I have studied Lincoln County and the families that were
there in the beginning, I have noticed that mothers and their daughters seemed to have
made more of a trace than the men; consequently I came up with the idea of writing
about three women who probably never lived in Lincoln County but their families
had a profound influence on the community. Of course as things go, the more you
plan, the more there is. Therefore my three became four women, matriarchs from the
Manzano area, and for good measure, three ladies that came a little later. All wrapped
around a hopefully, enlightening and interesting view of Lincoln County history.
My hands down favorite is Francisca Ortega who married Francisco Herrera. Her
daughters married men who were the foundation of post Civil War Lincoln. Another
mother is Lorenza Salas who married first José Torres then Manuel Padilla and
finally Juan Gonzales. She must have had a difficult life as a young woman but none
the less contributed to many parts of the county through her children and grand
children; and she, incidentally, was my ancestor. The third mother is Gertrudis
Márquez the wife of Antonio Torres. The final mom was an above average member
of her community, doña Rita Baca, who married don Gregorio Sánches, the matriarch
of many of the Sánchez‘ of Lincoln Co.
These women shared a common background; they were products of the Tomé/San
Fernando area of the Rio Abajo and their families moved on to the Manzano
settlement. The impact of the Manzano area became substantial in the development of
Lincoln County.
The three others came a little later. Juliana Martín was married to the colorful
Fernando Herrera. They made their appearance from the Rio Arriba area of New
Mexico, as a family in the early 1870s. Then Noberta Archuleta and her husband
Cornelio Lucero moved from Colorado in the late 1870s or early 1880s. The final
subject that I chose is Cloe Elizabeth Fairchild, the wife of Joshua Collins Lacey.
They came from Texas about 1888 and represent the last wave of settlers to come by
horse and wagon; she was also my Grandfathers Aunt, which gave me a little better
view.
The Players and the Scene
-The Players:
New Mexicans; I like the term Hispanos, it differentiates the people of New
Mexico from other Latino or Hispanic groups.
Indians; The Mescalero Apaches were historically found in the Lincoln Co.
area.
Anglos; This group needs a little definition. The first of which is that, it
doesn’t mean Anglos as in England, rather European Americans. This group consists
of Texans and Yankees or Easterners. The folks that came thru Texas had a different
disposition and history than other Anglos.
- The Scene:
The scope of this project is to cover the period from the mid 1850s to around
1900 or so. The emphasis is on the not so famous or infamous people of Lincoln
County, which in its early days included the Tularosa area and eastward to the Pecos
Valley.
An explanation:
When I started this project, I started with my family just like everybody else.
This led me to discover my Manzano roots; then I discovered that the Manzano folks
were a significant factor in the early years of Lincoln County.
Therefore I have approached this story from this beginning, so you will find
more detail on the first couple of generations of what we now know as Lincoln Co.
and not as much detail on the last couple. This, of course, means that the places and
people of Early Chavez and Otero Counties, that were once a part of Lincoln, have
been a bit neglected. Maybe I‟ll get back to them or better yet maybe you‟ll do it.
Rich Eastwood
Facts and conventional wisdom will be in standard type.
Speculation and opinions of the editor will be in italics.
Questions to answer someday, ¿will be like this?
Now for the fun!
Map showing the Manzano-Rio Bonito relationship
Partial map of “Old Territory and Military Department of New Mexico”.
United States Topographical Bureau, Washington D.C., 1867.
http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?gmd:11:./temp/~ammem_s0AF:
The American Memories web site sponsored by the Library of Congress
Section 1 - Four Women
The women portrayed were selected not for their social standing or their respect; but
for the impact they had on Lincoln County and the fact that Catholic Church records
and the New Mexico Genealogical Society made them easy to track. This statement is
not to demean their character or quantify their backgrounds; looking back on our
families they can better be judged by whom we are, the product of their efforts. These
women, no doubt, had the same drive to care for and nurture their children and
hopefully set them on a path that would lead them to a life better than theirs.
As products of the American Frontier, it is better to understand our fore-bearers
without prejudice as to race, religion or social standing. Therefore this project is
offered as neutrally as possible. The DNA in my family has all the components:
Western European; American Indian; and Sub-Saharan African. My family
background is generally working class, middle American; like my West-Texan roots,
it seems that we should be judged by our fellow mankind by what we do and what we
produce and not whom we appear to be.
These four women are representatives of many women in the West. They didn‘t
choose their lot; they did their best with what was cast for them. As Lincoln County
developed, the people developed, spurred by what went before and molded by what
came their way. Although the path has been sometimes rocky, the mothers of Lincoln
County can be proud of the folks they created.
The following four pages give a brief introduction to these four; assembled from the
pages of the Tomé and Belén Marriages 1783-1856 by the NMGS and from the Tomé
Baptisms Vol. I or Vol. II, 1793-1881 by the NMGS with a few notes. They are
presented to familiarize you with them.
Francisca Antonia Ortega
Daughter of Juan José Ortega and Gertrudis Sánches
Born 2 Jul 1800 in Sandia, NM
Married; Francisco Herrera
Son of Juan Herrera and Rafaela Maldondo
They were married 9 Nov 1819, residents of Tomé
(Her name appeared only on the side of the page and no parents were given)
Padrinos: Miguel Olona and Bárvara Sánches
Children of Francisco and Francisca:
José „Gregorio‟ Herrera m. María „Geralda‟ García
Baptized 19 Dec 1820, age 3 days in las Mansanas
Godparents: José María Márques and María Manuela Ortega
María „Polonia‟ Herrera m. José Encarnación Padilla
Baptized 4 Mar 1823, age 24 days in las Manzanas
Godparents: Julián Sánchez and Rafaela Romero
María „Gertrudis‟ Herrera m. José Antonio Otero
Baptized 30 Apr 1826, age 3 days in the Tomé Parish
Godparents: Bartolo (no surname) and Placidia Chaves
María „Lorenza‟ Herrera m. José Torres then José de Gracía Flores
Baptized 5 Aug 1830, age 12 days in Manzano
Godparents: Dario Apodoca and Paula Olona
‗Juana‟ María Herrera m. Antonio Torres
Baptized 13 Feb 1834, age 6 days in the Tomé jurisdiction
Godparents: Joaquin Sánchez and Manuela Cháves
María „Librada‟ Herrera m. José „Aniseto‟ Lueras
Baptized 6 May 1840, age 10 days in Mansano
Godparents: Anto. José Sánches and Ma. Feliciana Sánches
Gertrudis Márquez
Daughter of José Márquez and Petra Yturrieta
Married; Antonio Torres
Children of Antonio and Gertrudis:
María de la „Luz‟ Torres m. José „Rafael‟ Montoya
José „Prudencio‟ Torres m. Julianita Lucero
Baptized 6 Jun 1809, age 14 days, in Tomé
Godparents: Alejandro Cháves and Josefa Baca
María Felipa Antonia Torres
Baptized 1 May 1811, age 1 day, in Tomé
Godparents: José Miguel Olona and Ma. Guadalupe Artiaga
María „Dolores‟ Torres m. Lorenzo Montoya
Baptized 13 Jul 1814, age 6 days, in Tomé
Godparents, don José Salazar and his sister, doña Ma. Dolores Salazar
„José‟ de los Reyes Torres m. Trinidad Cháves
Baptized 20 Feb 1820, age 1 month, in Tomé
Godparents: José Márquez and Rosa Márquez
María de la Cruz Torres
Baptized 30 Sep 1821, age 16 days, in San Fernando
Godparents: José Miguel Pineda and Franca. Antonia Toledo
José María Torres m. Lorenza Herrera
María „Lorenza‟ Salas
Parents of Lorenza: Lorenzo Salas and Antonia Teresa Gutiérres
Lorenza was married to or had children by:
José Torres, Manuel Padilla and Juan Gonzales
The child of José and Lorenza:
Ana María Torres m. Santiago Toledo then Ygnacio Guevara
The child of Lorenza and Manuel:
José Encarnación Padilla m. Julianita Lucero then Polonia Herrera
Baptized 25 Mar 1814, age 7 days, in San Fernando
Godparents: Pedro Anto. Padilla and Josefa Lente
Juan Gonzales parents; Santiago Gonzales and Teresa Jollanca (or Lucero)
Juan was first married to Mariá Antonia Montolla
He married Lorenza on 27 Sep 1816 in the Tomé jurisdiction
Padrinos: Felipe Gonzales and Ana María Gonzales
Children of Juan and Lorenza:
María Dolores Gonzales m. Juan Antonio Lucero
Daughter, Baptized 20 Jan 1817, age 4 days in San Fernando, NM
Godparents: Joaquin Perea and María Antonia Gonzales
María Antonia Gonzales m. Joaquín Perea
Daughter, Baptized 13 Mar 1819, age 4 days in San Fernando, NM
Godparents: Pablo Toledo and Ma. Josefa Padilla
Juliana de los Dolores Gonzales m. Juan José (Montoya) Márquez
Daughter, Baptized 14 Apr 1822 in San Fernando, NM
Godparents: Santiago _____ and Juliana Toledo
Baltazar de los Reyes Gonzales
Son, Baptized 6 Jan 1825, age 6 days in San Fernando, NM
Godparents: Francisco Baca and Anna Ma. Mirabal
Doña Rita Baca
Daughter of don Bartolemé Baca and doña María de la Luz Cháves
Married: Don Gregorio Sánches
Son of don Cristobal Sánches and doña Juana Cháves.
Children of Rita and Gregorio:
(This is not necessarily a complete list of children)
Juan Cristoval Guillermo Sánches
Baptized 14 Feb 1810, age 2 days, in San Fernando
Godparents: Juan Baptista Vigil and Rafaela Sánches
José Manuel Sánches
Baptized 4 Feb 1812, age 5 days, in San Fernando
Godparents: doña Manuela Carrillo and her son, don Pablo Anto. Salazar
Diego Antonio Alvino Sánches
Baptized 21 Dec 1813, age 4 days, in San Fernando
Godparents: Nereo Montolla and Ana Ma. Aragon
Santiago Sánches m. Mariana Perea
Baptized 25 Jul 1816, age 1 day, in San Fernando
Godparents: Christoval Torres and Manuela Baca
José María Sánches
Baptized 22 Jul 1818, age 3 days, in San Fernando
Godparents: El Sn. Cura de Alburqqe. , Pro. don José Franco. Leyba and doña
Manuela Baca
José Mauricio de la Trinidad Sánches m. María Jesús Gonzales
Baptized 24 Sep 1820, age 2 days, in San Fernando
Godparents: don José Ma. Alarid and doña Ma. de la Luz Cháves
María Francisca de Paula Benigna Romula Sánches
Baptized 17 Feb 1822, age 2 days, in San Fernando
Godparents: don Juan Baca and doña Guadalupe Sánches
Julián de Jesús Sánches
Baptized 9 Jan 1827, age 2 days, in San Fernando
Godparents: don Jacinto Sánches and doña Ma. Gertrudis Castillo
Social Standings
In Colonial Mexico social standing started out pretty much as you would expect. At
the top of the pile were the Spanish (Españoles) and their children that were born in
the Colonies (niños de España); followed by (as Rafael Chacón put it) genteel
Creoles, or Indian and Spanish mixed race generally from the more educated families.
The next group, and as it turns out the group to dominate Mexico, is the Mestizos,
whom we, of course, know as Mexicans today. For our story there comes another
group, Genizaros, who were Indians that had lost their tribal identity and had adopted
Spanish ways, culture and language; and often lived in their own communities. The
final major group was the Indians. In our part of the world they were primarily
Pueblos, Navajos and Apaches with a smattering of Plains Indians thrown in (Kiowas,
Comanches, Utes and others). On the outside of these groups were the Coyotes, a
mixed bunch that didn‘t fit well with the others and stayed at the outskirts of society.
Genizaros need some special discussion since they play a key role in our story.
During the time of Spanish New Mexico large groups of Pueblo Indians were
assimilated into the Spanish culture, from other tribes women and children captured
in fighting with Indians were also brought into the Spanish ways, often as slaves or
servants. The Church treated the Indians (at least on paper) the same as the more
Spanish elements of society; the Genizaros set up a parallel society with the same
conventions as their Mestizo counterparts. For some of us therefore, we may not be
able to trace a certain part of our ancestors back to Spain, although they may share the
same community and the same family names as someone who does.
Our mothers, the subjects of our story, are offered to you without comment to their
exact racial composition; if that‘s important to you, you try and figure it out. They are
presented in context: a part of a homogenous society where, as their Anglo frontierswoman sisters, a person was rated by personality and productivity.
The primary product of all women is the care and nurture of the next generations;
our mothers prepared the way for some of the founders and leaders of Lincoln
County, a job well done.
Respect & Influence
Before the Americans came, cash in the form of gold and currency was in limited
supply and most of that was in the hands of a few. Payment was made in kind, a term
used to denote an exchange, as in grain or livestock; in fact Court or Church
documents often stated the exact rate, for example how many sheep or how much
corn, was required to fulfill a certain obligation.
In a cashless society wealth was determined by respect and influence and this often
was brought about by education and ability. On the frontier, people were evaluated by
their ability to organize a defense or interpret a document; getting more out of less,
whether it be farming, livestock raising or manufacture. These characteristics
generally come from education or the innate capacity to produce. As New Mexico
culture evolved and new communities developed, the natural leaders took their
places.
Not necessarily good or bad, but can he get the job done, does he know enough
legalese, does he know the right person, will that person make a contract with him,
will others follow him; these were the marks of a leader on the frontier, the title was
Patron.
The patrones were addressed, in the Spanish manner, as don and their wives as doña
and this passed down to their children. In the Rio Abajo area patrones were the
cornerstone of their communities and operated repressively in a manner more akin to
peonage. The patrones had more exposure to education and social mobility and thus
more opportunity. The others in the community had very little opportunity and were
for the most part content to do whatever was put before them with very little drive to
change their lot.
Living Conditions
In colonial New Mexico manufactured goods of any sort were almost nonexistent.
Santa Fe was at the end of the line. Once a year, supplies that had been gathered in
Chihuahua, in northern central Mexico, were made up into one huge caravan and
proceeded north on El Camino Real. The journey was difficult and dangerous; it took
months for a round trip. That concept is a little hard for us to visualize but it was a
fact of life to our ancestors.
Books were nearly impossible to obtain, paper was used by the government, the
Church and business; for most, no personal letter writting or journaling. It‘s a wonder
that literacy even existed at all. Fine quality cloth was scarce and available only to the
ricos, the rest of the folks wore homespun. In the kitchen there were few, if any,
metal pots and pans; cooking was done in pottery vessels. The cooking was done in
indoor fireplaces, the baking was done outside in an earthen oven called an horno.
Knives were highly prized possessions, essential to life. The men had it equally
rough; plowing and digging were done with shaped sticks. Firearms were in short
supply as was gunpowder; hunting and defense from Indians was frequently done
with bow and arrows. Every piece of metal was recycled over and over. So if your
grandmother has a hard time throwing things away, you know where she gets it.
The better off classes had buildings made of adobe (like in the movies) but most of
the folks lived in dugouts called chozas or simple structures made of poles set on end
to form the outer wall and filled together with sticks and mud, called jacales. Houses
were recycled as well. If you moved into an area where others had lived before, you
started with what they left. The typical family lived in a one or two room home with
no bathroom. The bathroom facilities were furnished by mother nature where you
took your chances with wild animals, snakes and Indians.
One thing these folks excelled at was water management. Most places were built
near water, running water was usually diverted so there was water near at hand. In
farming they were masters of the irrigation ditch, the acequia, building quite
extensive systems. The Indians, way before the Europeans came, developed the skills
for raising corn and cotton. Potatoes or other root crops were common; add a little
chili and you have a fiesta.
As we study the Anglo frontier history, no place remained frontierish for more than a
generation or two. New Mexico, except for a handful of towns, was frontier-like for
two or three hundred years. The culture, a combination of Indian and Spanish,
developed some strange customs and superstitions; for many, I think, there was a sort
of fatalisim tempered with a drive to be relatively free.
The Tomé and later Manzano communities exhibit that characteristic; ever looking
outward and in the case of the Manzano folks developing superior freighting and
freightway skills. With the opening of the Santa Fe Trail in 1821 things began to
change, slowly I‘m sure, but none the less change. To paraphrase ―How ya gonna
keep them down on the farm after they‘ve seen Missouri?‖
Antepasados de Tomé y Manzano
INTRODUCTION -From the New Mexico Genealogical Society book “New Mexico
Baptisms – Nuestra Señora de la Inmaculada Concepión de Tomé”:
―Tomé, as it is known today, was originally settled about 1660 by Tome
Dominguez de Mendoza, the son of a Spanish officer of the same name who had
come north to Nuevo Mexico with Oñate in 1598. The younger Tome was
commissioned into the Spanish Army and eventually achieved command as
Lieutenant Governor of the New Mexico Colony. About 1659, he received from
Governor Lopez de Mendizabel an encomienda to the area south of Isleta. This placed
the local Indian population under his control. He was responsible for their
safekeeping and Christianizing, and, in turn, he could use their services as partial
compensation for their debt to the crown for protection and other services that the
crown performed.
―The Dominguez family established an estancia west of El Cerro de Tome
and appeared to have good relations with the Isleta Indians. However, during the
Pueblo Revolt of 1680, thirty-eight members of the Dominguez family were killed
and the survivors were forced to flee south to El Paso del Norte. Although Tome
chose not to come back, his son Juan attempted to return with Governor Otermin but
retreated when the entrada failed. The Dominguez family did not return after the
reconquest by de Vargas in 1692 and the lands remained vacant.
―In 1739, a group of Genizaros, Indians who had adopted Hispanic ways,
culture, and language, petitioned Juan Gonzales Bas, the alcalde mayor of
Albuquerque, for permission to settle the area known as ―Lo de Tomé, or Tome‘s
Place. The grant was approved July 30, 1739.
―The first order of business was to build a church. Permission to build the
church was granted in 1742 with the structure being completed in 1750 and dedicated
in 1754.
―Tomé, as it came to be known, continued to develop as a community. The
area was largely dependent on agriculture, though with the Camino Real traveling
through Tome, the community was able to keep abreast of events and material culture
outside of the area. Additionally, many of the men of the area became employed as
drivers, herders, etc., initially on the Camino Real and later on the Santa Fe Trail.
―With the American takeover of New Mexico in 1846 came not only political
change but also a religious jurisdictional change as well. Until the Anglo-American
takeover, New Mexico had been under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Mexican
Synod and the Bishop of Durango. In 1850, jurisdiction was transferred to the
Council of Baltimore in the United States. Pope Pius IX appointed a young French
priest, Fr. Jean Baptiste Lamy, to be the bishop of the newly formed New Mexico
Province.
―Bishop Lamy, realizing the lack of priests in New Mexico, brought many
young French priests, including Father Jean Baptiste Ralliere, ―El Padre Eterno.‖
Ralliere took over the parish of Tomé in 1858 at the age of 23 and continued to serve
the parish for the next 55 years! Father Ralliere was active in local, state, and
diocesan politics and helped the people through births, marriages, floods, droughts,
and deaths, to say nothing of their religious development.
―Throughout the years, Tomé was a political center of the Rio Abajo. It was
the county seat for Valencia County, a county that stretched from Texas to California.
It was also the postal distribution center for settlements from Alameda to Socorro
during the Mexican period.
―Today, though no longer the powerful community it once was, Tomé remains
a thriving close—knit agricultural community whose strong religious character
continues to endure.‖
The object of that introduction is to set the time and locale so that we can see where
we came from, ed.
(Tomé is just across from Belén near where Highway 47 and 304 intersect)
These Missions were probably a little too ambitious, by the 1670s drought conditions
prevailed and things started to unwind and these particular Missions were being
abandoned. The Pueblo Revolt of 1680 finished things off, as with most of the rest of
the colony.
Now we shift gears, a little back in time. After the arrival of settlers in 1598, the
Franciscan Order began their mission work. As part of their approach they began to
build Missions near existing Pueblo Indian towns. By the mid 1600s they had quite an
extensive Mission system. Among them were the Missions of Abó, Quarai and Gran
Quivira to the East of the Rio Abajo area. Just to put this all in a historical
perspective; Jamestown was founded in 1607 and in 1701 Thomas Lacy (ancestor of
many Lincolnites) hit these shores.
For some interesting reading on the subject see the National Park Service web site
„Salinas Pueblo Missions NM‟ and the New Mexico Historical Society‟s History of
New Mexico.
The re-conquest and resettlement of New Mexico began in 1692 and the upper Rio
Grande area flourished and expanded down to the Tomé area of the Rio Abajo.
The next section is taken from the NPS web site: “Salinas Pueblo Missions NM:
Architectural History (Chapter 8):
The Salinas Basin Reoccupied
The Reconquest of New Mexico
―New Mexico remained separated from the Spanish Empire for twelve years,
until the campaign of Governor Diego de Vargas in 1692. Governor Antonio de
Otermin made an unsuccessful attempt to recapture the lost province during the
winter of 1681-82, and other expeditions made punitive strikes at the Pueblo Indians
in 1688 and 1689, but during most of the twelve-year period, the pueblos were left to
themselves.
―The Spanish presence was not forgotten, however. The Indians continued to
use many of the tools, livestock, and farming methods that they had learned about
from the Franciscans, and many people with some percentage of Spanish blood lived
in the pueblos. Some pueblos were abandoned and reestablished in more defensible
locations, probably in fear of the return of the Spanish as well as because of increased
friction between pueblos and between the pueblos and nomadic Indians.
―De Vargas began the reconquest in 1692, but not until 1696 did he have the
province firmly in hand. He set up the machinery of government again, but many of
the old ways were gone. De Vargas did not reestablish the encomienda system*, and
the broad powers of the Franciscans were severely cut back. The conflict between the
governor, the encomenderos, and the church was over. Missions became doctrinas in
fact, exercising little influence over the daily lives of their pueblos. In place of the
encomienda, the Spanish Government maintained a permanent force of regular army
troops in the province. The governor began the use of the land grant to encourage the
establishment of towns and settlements that would have some ability to defend
themselves. Pueblos and towns would receive a formal title to a specific tract of land
for their use. Individuals and groups had the same privileges. In spite of the danger
and the efforts of the government, many small, undefended settlements grew up, only
to be destroyed by nomadic Indian raids.
*The enomienda system was used before the Pueblo Revolt, certain individuals
(ecomenderos) were give tracts of land over which they had almost absolute power;
in exchange for this they had to colonize and defend the land and were required to
send a certain payment to the Royal Treasury.
Resettlement of the Rio Grande Valley
―Through the eighteenth century, settlements slowly filled the northern Rio
Grande valley and began to be established farther and farther south. In 1706, the
governor founded the villa of Albuquerque in the middle of what had been the richest
and most extensive farming area of the seventeenth century. It served as the starting
point for colonization farther south.
―In 1739 Governor Gaspar Domingo de Mendoza created the town of Tomé,
eleven miles south of Isleta Pueblo on the east side of the Rio Grande. The governor
selected the ruins of the estancia of Tomé Dominguez de Mendoza for the site of the
new town. Since the Dominguez de Mendoza family abandoned the ranch during the
Pueblo Revolt in 1680 the site had been called the Cerro de Tome, or ―Tome‘s hill.‖
Tome was effectively the southern limit of settlement on the east side of the Rio
Grande in New Mexico for most of the eighteenth century. Across the river and five
miles south, the town of Bethlén, now called Belén, was settled in 1740. Eleven miles
south of Belén also on the west bank, was the fortified settlement of Sabinal,
established in the mid-eighteenth century. Just across the river on the east bank the
town of Las Nutrias had been established about the same time as Sabinal, but it was
abandoned in 1772 because of Apache raids.
―Tomé had been colonized with genizaros, hispanicized Indians, who were to
form the first line of defense against Plains Indian raids up the Rio Grande valley
from the south. When the town was founded, the settlers were ‗under obligation to go
out and explore the country in pursuit of the [Plains Indians], which they are doing
with great bravery and zeal.‘ Tomé bore the brunt of many Plains Indian raids
throughout the eighteenth century. For example, in 1777 Comanches killed twentyone settlers of the Tomé area, and in 1778 another thirty persons died during a raid by
unnamed Indians. The friction between the Spanish and the Plains Indians kept the
area south of Tomé untenable for the next twenty years.
―The government of the Province of New Mexico began a new effort to
colonize the southern Rio Grande in the last decade of the eighteenth century. Plans
were made to reoccupy the pueblos of Sevilleta, Alamillo and Socorro, all within
forty-five miles south of Belen. The new settlers had begun construction on the
defenses of Alamillo and Sevilleta by 1800. The reconstruction of Socorro was
delayed until about 1815. Colonists had built a new town in the ruins by 1817.
―As the interest in expansion down the Rio Grande strengthened in the period
from 1800 to 1815, settlers began to trickle through the ‗Bocas de Abó‟, the mouth of
Abó canyon, toward the abandoned pueblos and estancias east of the Manzano
Mountains. Note: By 1853, at least, the road through Abó pass was one of the best in
New Mexico. Carleton says, “these passes are known, in the language of the country,
as Los Puertos de Abó. The summit of the right hand pass is 19 miles and 63 yards
from Casa Colorada, and lies east twenty degrees south from that town. The road for
this whole distance is by far the finest we had seen in New Mexico, and is not
surpassed, in any point of excellence, by the celebrated shell road at New Orleans,”
Major James H. Carleton, U.S.A. Artifacts in the trash dumps of the towns
established here indicate that the first reoccupation of Abó and Quarai occurred soon
after 1800. In 1815, at the same time that it was encouraging the reoccupation of
Socorro, the government began actively recruiting colonists to resettle ‗the ancient
pueblo of Manzano‘, probably referring to the ruins of the Zalazar estancia and its
surviving apple groves four miles northwest of Quarai.
The Expansion of Settlement into the Salinas Basin
―The land in the Rio Grande valley was filling up, and ranchers and farmers
began to look outside the valley for new territory. The Salinas basin, abandoned since
the 1670s, held a large expanse of land unclaimed by Indian pueblos or private
owners. Everyone knew of the good land on the east slope of the Manzano
Mountains, and everyone had heard the stories of pueblos and missions that had once
been there. The basin was more exposed to Apache and Navajo raiding than the Rio
Grande valley, making settlement of the area a risky business, but there were always
people willing to take risks for good land.
―In 1800, small groups of settlers started moving through Abó Pass to the
eastern slopes of the Manzanos, then called the Abó Mountains. Because of their
strategic location near dependable springs on the main route east, small settlements
immediately formed at the ruins of Abó and Quarai. From Quarai, the explorers and
settlers moved north, establishing themselves at other water sources along the eastern
slope of the Manzanos. By 1815, settlers were reclaiming the ruins of the Zalazar
estancia where the village of Manzano is now located. By 1819, Joseph Nieto‘s
estancia, where the town of Torreon now stands, was reoccupied. The more extensive
remains of the pueblos of Tajique and Chililí were resettled before 1840. By 1850,
Torreon, Tajique, and Chililí had become the dominant towns of the western Salinas
basin.
―In the sudden flurry of land speculation and colonization, Abó and Quarai
had promising beginnings, but a combination of local political maneuvering and
Navajo raiding prevented their development from equaling that of the towns farther
north. Las Humanas, in an area that was more exposed to raids and with a less
dependable water supply, never aroused much interest among the colonists. The
success and failure of the settlements directly influenced the rate of disturbance and
deterioration at the three missions. In fact, the survival of the churches and conventos
of Abó, Quarai, and Las Humanas in relatively good condition can be attributed to the
lack of long-term occupation at these three locations.
―No documents directly recorded the reoccupation of Abo and Quarai. Events
at the two pueblos can be reconstructed only in the most sketchy manner, from
remarks in the records of the successful colonies, travelers‘ journals, and an
examination of the structural changes. Rough dates for the stages of the rise and fall
of the new settlements are indicated by the trash thrown onto the refuse heaps around
the reoccupied buildings.
Land Grants in the Salinas Basin
―Petitions for land and for the right to establish churches, kept in the Spanish
Archives of New Mexico and the Archdiocese Archives of Santa Fe, record most of
the sparse historical information concerning the settlements east of the Manzano
Mountains. An examination of these records indicates that already established
landowners in the Rio Grande valley frequently sponsored the resettlement efforts
and became the official owners of the reclaimed land. Among these sponsors, or
patrones, as they were called, were Bartolome Baca of Tomé and the Lucero family
with lands in the same area. Note: Local tradition states that Miguel and Juan
Lucero were two of the five patrones who dominated Manzano in the mid-nineteenth
century. Miguel Lucero was also justice of the peace and responsible for judging
miscreant peons. The other patrons were Filimeno Sánchez, whose father Tomás was
supposed to have built the Torreon at Manzano, Antonio Roble, and Juan Otero.
―Captain Bartolome Baca requested a grant of land in the Salinas Basin in
1819. This land, known as the Torreon Grant (not to be confused with the Torreon
Community Grant made in 1841), was the first official permanent Spanish presence
east of the Manzanos since the abandonment of the Jurisdiction in 1673. Baca
established a ranch on the land and pastured sheep, cattle, and horses there. While
Baca himself lived in Tomé; the ranch was run and protected by resident herders.
Ranch headquarters was at Torreon Springs, where José Nieto‘s estancia stood from
1650 to 1680 and near the present town of Torreon. The name ―Torreon,‖ meaning
―fortified building‖ or ―tower,‖ was already associated with the area when Baca
petitioned for title to the tract, and may indicate that recognizable traces of Nieto‘s
buildings still stood.
―Baca‘s ranch served to encourage and support other efforts at colonization
nearby. Baca was governor of the Province of New Mexico from 1823 to 1825 and an
influential landowner for most of the first three decades of the nineteenth century.
The development of the nearby settlement of Manzano depended on Baca‘s support
both directly and indirectly. He actively encouraged the other colonization efforts
around his Torreon Grant. At the same time, he employed a number of the people
who were settling in the area of the ruins of the Zalazar estancia, soon to become the
town of Manzano.
Manzano, because of its greater population and strong defenses, survived the Indian
raids that came with increasing severity from 1822 to 1833 and caused the
abandonment of virtually all other new settlements east of the Manzano Mountains.
Note: Apache raids became so severe in the late 1820s that Baca was forced to
abandon the Torreon grant in ca. 1830. Afterwards he permitted the regranting of
most of the land as town grants.
―Much of the reoccupation and construction at Quarai was directly influenced
by developments in Manzano, and the raids of ca. 1830 apparently caused many of
the people of Quarai to move to the better-defended town. The settlers at Abó,
abandoned at the same time, apparently returned to Tomé and the other towns of the
Rio Grande valley.
The Manzano Grant
―Governor Alberto Maynez had begun the effort to establish the town of
Manzano in 1815. Several landowners in the Tomé area were interested in developing
the eastern slope of the Manzanos. Among these was the Lucero family, led by
Miguel and Juan Lucero (Julianita‟s brothers). Their efforts met with success,
Manzano was an established settlement by 1823, when the petition for the creation of
the Casa Colorado grant, supported by the Luceros and other Manzano settlers,
specifically mentioned the town.
Note: The Casa Colorado Grant, a tract on the west slope of the Manzanos around
Abó pass, was requested by a group of people who referred to themselves as the
pobladores, or founders, of the town of Manzano. The petition contains forty-two
names, of which fourteen are on the 1829 request for the Manzano Grant. The
occupation of Manzano can be pushed back even further by historical references: in
testimony collected by the Surveyor General concerning the history of occupation of
the Torreon Grant of Captain Bartolome Baca, Clemente Chaves states that his
uncle, mayordomo of the Baca ranch; was a resident of Manzano in 1822, July 5,
1815, the governor of New Mexico requested volunteers to resettle Socorro and “the
ancient pueblo of Manzano.” Four Luceros were among the original petitioners for
the Manzano Grant: Miguel (brother) and Domingo (Julianita‟s father) Lucero were
in the list of original settlers, and Santiago and Juan Lucero were “new settlers.”
Further, Miguel and Domingo Lucero were among the “settlers of Manzano” who
petitioned for the Casa Colorado Grant in 1823.
―By 1829, the Manzano settlers were obviously prospering in spite of the
increasing Apache raids. Because the colonists depended on sheep ranching and
subsistence farming, they did not settle in a simple nuclear town pattern, with the
village in the center and fields and pastures surrounding it. Instead, the central
fortified compounds of Manzano (called plazas), with their dependable spring-fed
irrigation systems, attracted a number of families who depended largely on farming
for subsistence, while the families whose principal interest was sheepherding formed
loose settlements centered around other fortified compounds in outlying areas. The
ruins of Abó and Quarai each attracted a group of these families. Both sites had
enough water that the families could practice limited subsistence farming, but most
activities centered around sheep. For the sheep-dependant families, Manzano was one
of the market towns to which they carried their wool, woven goods, and mutton for
sale or trade. All the settlers, however, thought of themselves as part of the Manzano
colonization effort, whether they lived in town or at Quarai or Abó.
―The town of Manzano was as spread out as the surrounding settlements. It
consisted of at least two parts. One was called the Plaza de Apodaca, and was
apparently the present main plaza of the town.
Note: The term “plaza” was apparently used in the sense of “fortified village,”
rather than specifically referring to the town square. A typical “plaza” such as
Abiquiu or Chimayo consisted of a square formed by continuous rows of buildings on
all four sides, enclosing a central plaza area. The use of the term “Casa de Apodaca”
as a synonym for “Plaza de Apodaca” in the Alcalde‟s decree implies that this part of
Manzano was such a defensive compound, probably built and occupied largely by a
family named Apodaca. If so, it was early in the life of Manzano, because no
Apodacas are listed in the families of the Manzano area by 1823.
―This part of town clustered around the springs, reservoir, and headwaters of
the irrigation system that watered the fields. Associated with the Plaza de Apodaca
were two apple orchard enclosures owned by the Catholic Church. The orchards were
apparently present when the first settlers arrived to establish the town of Manzano.
The available evidence implies that they were planted by the occupants of the Zalazar
ranch, the ruins of which were incorporated into the new town. Local tradition,
however, had forgotten the Zalazars and considered the ruins and the orchards to be
the work of Franciscan missionaries, somehow associated with Quarai. Because of
this tradition, the Catholic Church claimed the orchards.
Note: The origins of the orchards are conjectural, based on the available evidence.
For some reason the orchards of Manzano have inspired a long-lived minor
controversy. The orchards mentioned in the founding documents of the town and the
petition for the church are certainly the same apple orchards which were the
namesake of the village and mentioned by most traveler‟s journals. The smaller
orchard is now occupied by a house and yard, although portions of the old wall still
stand. A number of trees still survive in the larger enclosure, even though most of the
wall has fallen.
The apple orchards of Manzano are one of the best-documented features of the
Quarai area. After they were described in the church and land petition records in
1829, they were frequently mentioned again.
―The second part of the town was the Plaza de Ojitos, where, remarks the
petition, most of the citizens of the town reside. Ojitos was approximately one mile
southeast down the Arroyo de Manzano, and according to local tradition was on the
site of an Indian pueblo. Adolph Bandelier visited Ojitos in 1882-83, looking for the
supposed pueblo. He could find no traces of any large occupation. Wesley Hurt
apparently saw the surviving traces of the Plaza de Ojitos ―at the spring about a mile
east of the present village of Manzano‖ in 1938-40, and was told that it was a very
early settlement of the people of Manzano.
―On September 22, 1829, the residents of the Manzano area petitioned the
Territorial Deputation of Tomé for a community grant. The settlers requested a tract
of land that included all the areas of their scattered settlement, from the mission of
Abó on the southwest to the general area of present Torreon on the north, and from
Jumanos Mesa on the east to the Manzano Mountains on the west, an area about
twenty miles on a side. This was only a little larger than the community grant
established for Tomé and indicated that the people of Manzano were ambitious and
thought their settlement to be, potentially at least, the equivalent of Tomé. The
Deputation considered the requested area to be too large, and instead granted a four
square league tract out of the land originally requested on November 28, 1829.
Jacinto Sanchez, in compliance with the order of the Deputation, surveyed and
officially granted the four-league tract to the citizens of Manzano on December 24,
1829.
―The tract formed a square centered on the town of Manzano, with sides 5.2
miles long. The ruins of Quarai fell just inside the boundary. A great deal of territory
that the Manzano settlers were used to thinking of as theirs was left out, including the
small settlement at Abó. This reduction of Manzano territory undoubtedly had an
effect on the settlement of outlying areas such as Abó and Quarai, and may have
induced some of the settlers to move closer to Manzano. The pressure of Indian raids
encouraged such centralization of the settlement, with the result that during the 1830s
Abó was abandoned and Quarai was greatly reduced in population.
―On August 25, 1829, a month before they petitioned for their community
grant, residents of the extended Manzano area filed a petition for the right to build a
chapel with the avocation of Maria Santisima de los Dolores. Curate Don Francisco
Ygnacio de Madariaga, the parish priest in Tomé, approved the petition on August 29,
and on September 4, Bachiller Don Juan Rafael Rascon, the Ecclesiastical Governor
of the territory of New Mexico, granted official permission for a church to be built in
Manzano.
―In the petition for the town grant, the citizens of the Manzano area indicated
that they would construct their chapel in the main plaza of the settlement. At some
time soon after September 22, 1829, a majority of the citizens changed their minds,
electing instead to build the new chapel in a plaza of the pueblo of Quarai a short
distance southwest of the old mission church.
―The mission church still had its choir loft and most of its roof in the late
1820s, and was used for the burial of those among the local settlers who died or were
killed by occasional Apache attack. By this time the building was probably so
dilapidated that it was dangerous to use for any purpose, for fear of the roof
collapsing onto visitors. In late 1829 or early 1830, an Apache raid struck at the
settlement of Quarai, killing at least one person and burning out the surviving roofing,
choir loft, and lintels of the church. Several other buildings were probably destroyed
in the attack.
―The decision to build the new chapel of Manzano at Quarai was probably
intended to replace the old mission church. Whether this move was prompted by the
deterioration of the building, or by its destruction, cannot be determined. The
decision, however, caused a conflict between the residents of the town of Manzano
and the other settlers on the Manzano grant.
―The Lucero family, influential members of the Manzano Grant citizenry,
apparently lived at Quarai. The Luceros were undoubtedly responsible, at least in
part, for the decision to build the new chapel at Quarai, rather than in Manzano
proper.
Note: The citizens of Manzano apparently filed a petition in early 1830 to build the
chapel at Quarai rather than at Manzano. Permission must have been granted by
Church authorities. The presumed petition of early 1830 and the official permission
to build at Quarai, if they exist, have yet to be located, at present. The later reversal
of this decision, moving the location of the new chapel from Quarai to Manzano, was
probably a result of the shift of political power in the Manzano Grant. The power
changed as a result of the effective loss of Quarai by the Luceros, apparently as the
result of an Apache raid, and the influx of the „New Settlers‟ at Manzano. The raids
may have been responsible for the temporary abandonment of most of the Quarai and
Abó settlements in about 1830, an abandonment that lasted through the 1840s. This
abandonment is suggested by a lack of artifacts from those years in the middens
(trash dumps) of the houses near the pueblos and churches. There seems to have been
no abandonment of the houses within the convento of Quarai, however, indicating
some continuing effort on the part of the Lucero family to maintain their holdings
there.
―In spite of the disagreement among the settlers, construction began on the
chapel at its new site in the pueblo of Quarai. Opposition, however, continued to
grow until on July 6, 1830, the citizens of Manzano petitioned the parish priest Don
Francisco Madariaga for the privilege of moving the site of the chapel from Quarai to
the town of Manzano. It was only just begun, they stated, and they were suffering
‗difficulties and inconveniences…. because of having to build [it] in the Pueblo of
Quarai….‟ They insisted that it would be better to build the church in the Plaza de
Apodaca at Manzano. The controversy was resolved when the alcalde of Tomé, Jose
Manuel Apodaca, officially ordered on July 10 that the chapel be built ―at the Casa de
Apodaca‖ in Manzano. Bachillor Don Francisco Madariaga followed suit by giving
his approval for the change on July 11. The parish priest assigned the income from
one of the apple orchards near Apodaca Plaza to defray the expenses of services in
the new chapel.
―The settlement at Abó remained small. The failure of the attempt to include
Abó and its adjacent settlement in the Manzano Land Grant, and the increase in
Indian raids through the decade of the 1820s, appears to have led finally to the
abandonment of the settlement about 1830. By the time the Cisneros family settled at
Abó about 1865, the first settlers were forgotten. Little was left but the ruins of a few
houses on top of the earlier Pueblo ruins, and scattered trash in the kitchen middens.‖
For a transition from Manzano to Lincoln I‟ve selected a little story about some of
Gertrudis Márquez‟ family. The segments beginning with BioBit- are essays from
various sources that are intended to add a personal view to our story.
BioBit- Hot Grease Saves Pioneer Women
Taken from a newspaper clipping dated May 26, 1961. The name of the newspaper is
unknown; I assume it was a Lincoln County local paper, ed.
By J. S. C.
―Maria Torres y Sandoval, member of a family of one of the first settlers of
Lincoln County, who died at a ripe old age, used to relate the following Indian
episode which took place in the ancient village of Manzano in the year of 1858.
―Her family, which consisted of her parents, Jose and Trinidad Torres; three
brothers, Juan, Jose and Doroteo; two sisters, Viviana and Isiquia, and herself, and
also a widowed aunt whom they called Yilla, lived at that hamlet in a high rock
dwelling with a loft and two high, small windows barred with cast iron. The one door
was built of heavy timber and could be securely bolted from the inside.
―Yilla‘s husband had been killed in an Indian uprising and she lived with her
sister and family of six, who ranged in ages from two to 12 years.
―Maria was eight at the time and she remembers clearly the tribulations they
underwent by the ever-marauding Indians.
―Her father, a full-blooded Indian, had been drafted in the U.S. Cavalry to
pursue his brethren and also as an interpreter whenever they were victorious in
skirmishes with the long-tressed redmen.
―Once in a great while, when the men folks were not on the hot trails and
events warranted it, they would go to their home to replenish the dwindling larder
(the high loft) and also haul and cut sufficient firewood for the hearths.
―Some would return only to find the ugly truth that their families had been
massacred and their homes ransacked from the bin of corn meal and dried jerky to the
milk goats and cows.
―The women went about their daily chores with an alert eye for impending
danger, and before the sun had set in the horizon they gathered their offspring in the
one-room house and bolted the heavy door for the night.
―One afternoon, just about dusk, as related by Mrs. Sandoval to her children
and grandchildren, her aunt Yilla was frying ‗sopaipillas‘ in an earthenware pot on
the fireplace, when she saw a fleeting shadow high on the opposite wall from one of
the barred windows. She turned slowly without uttering a sound and saw the hairs of
an Indian, who was peering through the opening at his intended prey. The women had
forgotten to fetch in the house ladder with oaken rungs fastened with rawhide thongs,
and the Indian had found it to good advantage.
―Yilla, who was a hardy woman of steel nerve, picked up that pottery with
boiling mutton tallow and edged to the wall beneath the window, and with a mighty
heave of her arm hurled the pot with hot grease in the prowler‘s face. He toppled
down with the ladder and they could hear his screams of agony as he groped and
stumbled away from the house.
―When there was absolute silence from the outside, they huddled in a corner
to eat their meal, after which they put out the fire and tucked the children to sleep.
―The elders stood watch through the night, listening for more unwanted
visitors and smoking punche in their corncob pipes and papers smoothed out from
cornhusks. (Punche is raised to this day in Anton Chico and vicinities.)
―As the sun was about to rise the next morning, there was a hard knock on the
door and a gruff voice accompanied it. It was Jose Torres, the man of the house, and
he had an Indian child in his arms.
―They had routed the Indians in defeat and taken many squaws and papooses
captive, all of whom had been taken to the soldier‘s outfit as refugees. The mother of
this child had been killed and Torres adopted him with the commandant‘s consent.
―The child was christened Teodoso and when he grew to manhood, he became
an expert an expert hunter with bow and arrow and kept the household well supplied
with venison and other wild game, including bear.
―In one of those encounters with a grizzly, he was mauled and chewed beyond
recognition, and threw in the sponge as a brave hunter, then he died before he could
be carried to his loved ones.
―When Trinidad told the tale to Torres of what had happened the night before,
he trailed the moccasin tracks of the warrior to the rock barn where they kept their
two milk goats, an old mule, one cock and a few hens. There in a heap of cornhusks
lay the lifeless Indian with bulging eyes and blistered face, Torres dug a trench
behind the barn and buried him with out ceremony.
―No more Indians appeared, as was to be expected, so it was assumed that the
lone Indian was on a scouting foray, or else had strayed from the beaten and
retreating tribe.
―When the Civil War came to an end, Torres and his family, and many of his
soldier cronies, who had already been in these parts on their tour of duty, decided to
come and stake their luck in the uninhabited and virgin lands east of the Rio Grande
and what is now Lincoln County.
―Among them were: Col. William Brady, Capt. Saturnina Baca, Corporal
Jesus Sena Sandoval, Christobal Chavez, Juan Andres Silva, Aniceto Lueras,
Apolorio Sedillo, Dan McKinley, Jose Chavez y Baca, Pablo Pino, Joseph Swan and
others whose names we do not recall.
―Torres homesteaded below Nogal, where he raised his family, many head of
cattle and about 500 head of burros.
―Maria married Sandoval who continued with the U.S. Cavalry in Ft. Stanton
as mail carrier and scout on muleback with lead pack mule, until he sold his Ojo
Sandoval ranch and moved to White Oaks, where he died in 1898.
―Viviana died in childhood and Isiquia married Jose Vega an immigrant from
old Mexico, who became one of the respected and outstanding citizens of Lincoln
County.
―Doroteo married Veneranda Cordova, Juan married Rita Padilla and Jose
married Tiburcia Telles.
―Sandoval, we might add; was a veteran of the battles of Valverde and
Glorieta Pass.
―Torres died at the age of 105 and Trinidad was nearing the century mark
when she passed away.
―A musician in old Manzano composed ―La Indita de Cochiti‖. After he and
his entire family were massacred by the Indians, another musician composed ―La
Indita de Jose Luis‖ in his memory.
―Our grandmother Maria used to hum these tunes as a lullaby for her small
grandchildren.
―All those mentioned in this article have gone to the promised land, but left
many sprouts of their generation scattered all over the Land of Enchantment.
End BioBit
Section 2 - The Beginnings of Lincoln County
The Mescalero Apaches call the Sacramento Mountians home; this area and the
surrounding area (including what was to become Lincoln County) was theirs. For
many many years, perhaps hundreds of years, as they ranged across the Southwest,
they always returned to the familiar sanctuary of these mountains. They went
northward to Utah, southward to Mexico, westward to California, eastward to midTexas and always returned, usually in the summer to the Sacramentos.
Apaches like the Comanche had never quite come to terms with the Europeans that
came to their land. The best they could find in their unwanted neighbors was a steady
source of food, the four legged kind; after all, they had always helped themselves to
what their indigenous agrarian neighbors had, why should the white men be any
different?
The only outsiders that were tolerated in the Sacramentos were the occupants of the
sawmill on the upper Tularosa River (later Blazer‘s Mill), which had been there since
before 1800. It was fortified and only supported a limited community…. What threat
was that? There were virtually no settlements outside of the Rio Grande valley in
southeastern New Mexico when the Americans took over in September of 1846.
In the fall of 1854 Indians had helped themselves to some livestock up near Anton
Chico; needless to say the local settlers took that in a dim view…. The U.S. Army
was called in. The Army‘s job in that era was twofold, try and figure out through
mapping and surveying what the United States had acquired and to control the
Indians. Actually those two pursuits complemented each other, understanding the
Indians required understanding the geography and vise-versa.
When the Army figured out that it was the Mescaleros who had helped the livestock
take wings; it launched a two-pronged scout to see what could be done about it. It
sent Capt. Henry Stanton in command of 29 troopers of Co. B, 1st Dragoons (Cavalry)
and two Lieutenants with 50 (mounted) Infantrymen of the 3rd Infantry from Fort
Fillmore, and Capt. Richard Ewell with two Lieutenants, a doctor and 61 men of Co.
G, and 20 men of Co. K, 1st Dragoons from the Anton Chico area. Capt. Stanton led
his men across the desert and up the Tularosa, through the mountains to the Ruidoso
and down to its confluence with the Bonito and set up camp. Capt. Ewell (later Gen.
Ewell of the Confederate Army) led his men down the Pecos and up the Hondo and
rendezvoused with Capt. Stanton at la junta, the junction, on Jan. 13 1855. In this
party was a man named Gleason and a contingent of Hispano scouts.
After setting up a base camp they set out to find the Indians. At this point I will
directly quote from Capt. Ewell‟s report of his scout:
― After combining the two commands I moved south toward the Guadalupe
and Sacramento Mountains and then on January 17th 1855, encamped on the Peñasco,
a fine stream running toward the Pecos. Up to this time we had seen no Indians or
signs, though constantly on the trail of the cattle, now six weeks old and few in
number, which had been stolen by the Indians. This night the camp was attacked by
the Indians with arrows and firearms and at the same time they tried to burn us out.
―Next morning the Indians seemed in force with every mark of defiance and
during the whole day opposed our march, disputing every ravine at times under cover
within arrow shot.
―A body of skirmishers, first of infantry, under charge, at different times, of
Lieutenants Daniels and Walker, and then of mounted and dismounted dragoons,
under Lieutenant Moore, was engaged the whole day in clearing the line of march.
The country was broken into high hills, with deep ravines crossing the line of march.
Lieut. Moore, with some of the best horses, gave chase to some Indians on the open
ground but a winter march of 450 miles had reduced the horses too much to catch the
Indians on their fresh animals. The Indians gave the impression from their boldness
that they were trying to keep us from their families.
―Hoping to bring a close fight, we kept up the march as rapidly as possible.
During the day some 15 of them were shot from their horses and carried off by their
comrades, leaving the ground marked with blood and at one time, after the fall of the
boldest, they collected on a high hill and set up a lamentation, afterwards becoming
even bolder in their attacks. None of my guides had ever seen the country I passed
through after reaching the Peñasco.
―About 3 PM on the 18th of Jan, I came to the first of their abandoned camps
where the command was halted for the night and Capt. Stanton was directed to take
his company, with some additional men and examine a small open valley to the right
where there were some more abandoned lodges, about 500 yards distant, and
endeavor to find the direction taken by the Indians when they left.
―This officer, after reaching the place designated, charged after some Indians
he saw in front and in following up the steep hillside in the ardor of the chase, became
separated from some of his men, badly mounted, who were unable to join him when
he sounded the rally. After rallying about a dozen men he proceeded up the valley
until he became satisfied that the Indians had not retreated in that direction, he then
started back, leading his horses. About three-fourths of a mile from the camp the
valley narrowed with trees, and there he was ambushed and fired into, the first fire
killing one of his men. He ordered his party to take to the trees, but the Indians being
in to great force, he mounted and ordered his party to retreat, remaining in the rear
himself, firing his Sharps carbine, when he received a shot in the head and was
instantly killed.
―One of the men when he first charged, Private Duger, Company B, 1st
Dragoons, was dismounted, surrounded and lanced after killing an Indian. As soon as
I ascertained that Capt. Stanton was engaged, I ordered Lieut. Moore forward, with a
strong party on foot, whose approach dispersed the Indians. Lieut. Moore brought in
the bodies of Capt. Stanton and the two men killed, and the horse and rifle of the
Indian killed by Duger. After the Indians had disbursed, my guides were utterly
incapable of tracking them, and on the 20th, having past the source of the Peñasco, I
started back with my horses so worn out that I was forced to lead them to the post.
Within five miles of my camp the day of the fight were over 300 newly abandoned
lodges.‖
That little excerpt provides a grim but exciting look at life and death in what would
become Lincoln County; also a stereotype for screenwriters in Hollywood in years to
come.
After Capt. Ewell and his command rested and regrouped at their camp (Camp
Stanton) at la junta, they spilt the command and returned to their respective forts
quite satisfied with their efforts and convinced the Apaches had been damaged and
had moved on south to the Guadalupe Mountains.
In February of that year, the army began making plans for a permanent fort on the
Bonito at the Camp Stanton location to interdict and discourage further Mescalaro
incursions into the Pecos and Rio Grande Valleys. To that end, Lt. Colonel D. S.
Miles, 3rd Infantry led a force from Ft. Fillmore, up the Tularosa and down the
Ruidoso to Camp Stanton. At the same time Major James H. Carleton of the 1st
Dragoons led a force from Albuquerque down the east side of the Manzano
Mountains, through the Manzano area, southward to Patos Lake up through the
Capitan Gap and down the Bonito to Camp Stanton at la junta. As these two groups
converged they built the first wagon roads into the Rio Ruidoso and Rio Bonito
Valleys. The officers of this command agreed it was a distance of about 170 miles to
either terminus.
After a detailed evaluation of the surrounding countryside, they decided a more
advantageous location for a fort would be fifteen miles up the Bonito on an elevated
piece of land close by plenty of wood, water and grass; having the further tactical
advantages of being close to the main area used by the Mescaleros, their trails from
the Capitans, the Peñasco and the Sacramento Mountains also covering the Apache
exit trails to La Jolla, Manzano and Anton Chico. On April 29, 1855 Col. Miles and
his men commenced work on Fort Stanton.
The First Settlers
After careful study I have come to the conclusion that there was no organized
settlement prior to 1855 in the Rio Bonito valley. This isn‘t to say that some hardy
souls might not have set up housekeeping there but they would have had a good
relationship with the Apaches and have been very self reliant with no wagon roads
into the area and no towns closer than a 150 miles. The Army dispatches don‘t
mention any locals and there were no guides familiar with the Peñasco River area,
which reinforces my thinking. The land had been explored and the rivers and
mountains named but it was unsettled land.
So when did the first non-military come to stay? In the summer of 1855 Col. Miles
brought 200-300 soldiers to build a fort and control the Mescaleros; that included a
contingent of volunteer militia that had been called up to deal with the Indians, the
likes of Capt. Miguel Pino of Santa Fe and the company he raised. When the Army
showed up to build Ft. Stanton they had three months of rations with them and were
well supplied. But an army isn‘t too happy on a steady diet of hardtack and dried
beef; of course that‘s why they built roads.
As soon as the wagons started to roll and the hired teamsters and militia members
returned home with their tales of a bountiful land protected the by army, things began
to happen. Typically Hispanos didn‘t wander off and start all over again like their
Anglo brethren; more likely, influential men, patrones, would gather a group and set
out as an organized party. Enrique Trujillo, Francisco Fajardo and Sabino Gonzales
were just such men. The Torreón in Lincoln is dated in most writing to 1855 so that
means as soon as they built jacales or chozas to live in they went to work on the
Torreón for protection. Defensive structures like torreones were a common part of
many early New Mexican settlements.
If 1855 was indeed the year the Torreón was built, then the families that first came
must have came prepared for the long haul. There was a close association with the
teamsters, so keeping things going wasn‘t too much of a problem. That fall and even
the winter were given over to construction; there was much to do to get ready for the
spring planting. The community of La Placita sprang to life.
Something that the people of New Mexico had seldom had before the Americans
came was cash; one of the benefits of an army town is that every U.S soldier gets
paid, a fact that I‘m sure wasn‘t lost on the patrones. Fresh food, whiskey, sewing,
saddlery, blacksmithing, light manufacture and repair of every type coupled, with
partying, were good ways to get the soldiers and their support infrastructure to part
with cold hard cash. The Census and other documents are a little deceiving, for
everyone listed as a farmer probably had a little sideline specialty as well.
By 1860 the Rio Bonito district, with La Placita at its heart, had a grand total of 275
citizens (50 some households) and 180 military related folks to boast of. Out of that
total there were about 12 households, which had considerable personal property that
were Anglo or headed by Anglos. Some of these families, apparently, had been in
New Mexico quite some time a few had taken Hispano wives. An interesting example
of this is Hugh Beckwith, who had married Refugia Rascon y Pino up in the Santa Fe
area, and had moved his family to the valley.
Hugh Beckwith and family, who by 1870 are found down on the Pecos at Seven
Rivers, are well documented in the Lincoln County War. Lilly Klasner in her book
My Girlhood Among Outlaws mentions briefly that the Beckwiths had lived in the
Rio Bonito district before they moved to Seven Rivers. After studying the 1860
Census, I have come up with an interesting observation.
My great-grandfather, Tiofilo Lalonde(Lalone), is mentioned in connection with the
Casey Ranch and Mill, and like the rest of us, I didn‘t think too much in detail about
it. When I was typing the 1860 Census of Rio Bonito I noticed that H.M. Beckwith
(born in Virginia) had an extensive spread. He valued the real estate alone at $10,000
dollars and $8,000 in personal property (livestock). Listed in his extended household
was John Corby (from Germany), occupation miller.
Making a few assumptions:
-That the Census enumerator did his work in more or less an orderly fashion, moving
from point A to point B.
-That there were not very many places in 1860 Rio Bonito district that would
accommodate these holdings (the largest by far).
-And, that it takes some time and money to build a large spread and a mill. I think that
Hugh Beckwith, possibly with Pino family backing, built the Casey Mill and Ranch.
The period between 1855 and the Civil War in 1861 things on the Rio Bonito /Rio
Hondo were pretty tranquil enabling an endeavor like that to be undertaken. The Civil
War substantially changed the picture, as we will see in the section that deals with it.
The Military Roads
In the beginning there were just two wagon roads into the Fort Stanton / La Placita
area. The road from Fort Fillmore (the Mesilla area) across the White Sands, up the
Tularosa by the Lumber Mill (Blazer‘s) and down the Ruidoso to La Junta (the
junction with the Bonita). This is the road that was blazed by Lt. Colonel Miles. The
second road was blazed at the same time by Major Carleton, following the existing
road from Albuquerque down the east side of the Manzanos, then across the
wilderness to Patos Lake, through the Capitan Gap and to Fort Stanton or down the
Bonito to La Placita and finally to La Junta.
Of course, shortly after Fort Stanton was established, a road was cut to tie it directly
to the Tularosa road. This probably led to the slower development of the Ruidoso
valley since commerce from that direction then by-passed the length of the valley.
A third road was created later, during the Civil War era. This followed a major
Indian trail that came down the Pecos. Some miles above where Roswell is now, it
cut across to the Hondo and then up to La Junta. This trail became an important
wagon supply route after Fort Sumner was established in 1862. Where the road joined
the Hondo, some fifteen miles above the Pecos, the short-lived town of Missouri
Plaza was located. By 1869, Fort Sumner was closed as a military installation and this
road lost its prominence. However the road up the Hondo continued to be the gateway
for the Pilgrims coming out of Texas well into the 1900‘s.
With the fading of Fort Sumner, an alternative branch on the Manzano road, heading
northeast from the Patos Lake area it connected to Las Vegas, NM and the railroad
east and its markets became prominent.
It is important to understand these roads, the nature of freighting and the
significance of freighting in the development of Lincoln County. The ebb and flow of
the population and the make up of individuals were dictated by these tracks.
The following I have included to give you a look at what travel was like in the early
days, ed.
Excerpt from “A Military Expedition to NM”
By Col. William A. Thornton, who served as Chief of Ordnance of the Dept. of New
Mexico 1855 to 1857
May 5, 1856
Left Santa Fe for Stanton at 9 ½ a.m. and reached Algodones at 5 p.m.
General Garland, Col. Grayson, Major Thornton, Capt. Easton and Lieut. Craig. Day
very cold causing the use of overcoats and buffalo robes - distance 43 miles.
May 6, 1856
Left Algodones at 7 a.m. and reached Albuquerque at 11 a.m. Weather cold
but more moderate. Frost has cut off much fruit and vegetable plants. Remained at
Albuquerque the 7th, 8th, and 9th awaiting the arrival of Major Smith from Fort
Defiance to take advantage of our escort.
May 10, 1856
Left Albuquerque on the 10th at 11 a.m. and encamped opposite Los Lunas at
3 p.m. in a bosque(?). Thunderstorm at sundown. Major Smith joined us after dark,
and so did Captain Emitt with a detachment of dragoons 50 strong - distance 23
miles.
May 11, 1856
Marched at 6 ½ a.m. down the river. At 10½ left the river south and took over
the hills on our left and encamped 4 p.m. near the ruins of Juan Luján. Day warm in
the morning but threatening a storm before night. Country a prairie for 20 miles, then
our route lay over the Manzano Mountains. Good wood and but little water, and poor
grazing - distance 40 miles.
May 12, 1856
Marched at 6 a.m. Passed the ruins of Abo, differing from anything of the
kind seen before by me. Thin flat stones with a joint of mud in place of mortar. Age
of structure unknown. Passed at 11 a.m. the ruins of Quivira in all respects the same
as its antecedents. Encamped at 11½ because there was no water to be found on our
route for a long stretch from this point. Country quite beautiful being along the foot of
the Manzano Mountains - distance 20 miles.
May 13, 1856
Marched at 6 a.m. and encamped at the foot of the Gallinas Mountains.
Country prairie with hills of sand causing the road to be heavy. No water found on the
route. Had to send 1½ miles for cooking water. Wood in abundance and grass pretty
fine. Morning foggy. Grand Quivira ruins seen on our right a great distance from our
road. Antelopes and deer frequently seen. Turkeys gobbling at sundown all around us
but could not be found - distance 38 miles.
May 14, 1856
Marched at 6 a.m. and encamped at Patos or Duck Creek at 5 p.m. Crossed a
range of Gusano Mountains and Tecolote. Road for the first eight miles very rough
and stony. The remainder over beautiful prairies and down ravines. Came in sight of
the White Mountain, said to be the highest point in New Mexico, distance to its top
not less than 60 miles. It is almost constantly covered with snow. Game plenty, no
water during the march. Wood and grass in abundance and water quite near camp.
Foundations indicating building regularly laid out for defenses. Indian scenes painted
on the bodies of large trees after the bark had been taken off. The Capitan Mountains
due east of us. Carrizo Mountains north of northwest of us, rising high in the clouds
not two miles from our camp. Capitan Mountain about 10 miles from our camp distance 45 miles.
May 15, 1856
Marched at 7 a.m. and reached Fort Stanton at 11 a.m. Weather warm, road
good, and scenery beautiful. This post is located 33, 30 latitude and 105 longitude.
Santa Fe is in latitude 35, 40, longitude 106. It is in a beautiful valley on the right
bank of the Rio Bonito which runs northeast in passing the fort, down the said pretty
valley. As you look up this valley the top of the White Mountain covered with snow
seems to terminate it but the valley does not reach to the foot of the mountain. The
mountain is about 40 miles from the fort, but the air is so pure and clean that distance
to the mountain does not appear to be over 20 miles. North of northeast from the fort
rises the beautiful Capitan Mountain about 20 miles off. The White Mountain is south
of southwest from the fort, while still close at hand rises other points not so
commanding as those named. The river passing the fort turns to the eastward. It is but
a small stream made by the snow on the White Mountain, but it is alive with fine
trout. About 60 Indians came in to see the General. They are a hard set and from
appearances have never been flogged. Captain Stanton fell by their hand. We got
them to make a treat of arrow shooting which showed how formidable they are in
battle. Major Van Horn commanding post - distance 20 miles. Commenced the
inspection of ordnance stores.
May 16, 1856
Engaged in the inspection of ordnance property and making out the usual
papers.
May 17, 1856
Closed inspection duty and acting as a member of a General Court Martial.
May 19, 1856
Closed our duties and making preparation for our return march.
May 20, 1856
Marched at 9 ½ a.m. and encamped at 5 p.m. Carried water with us to shorten
the next days march and watered our animals at 2 p.m. in passing our former camp distance 30 miles.
May 21, 1856
Marched at 5 ¾ a.m. and encamped at 1 p.m. on our old ground at the Gallinas
Mountains. Major Sprague and Van Horn with us for Santa Fe. Lost a horse from the
great fatigue and want of water.
May 22, 1856
Marched at 6 a.m. and reached Manzano, an apple town, at 3 p.m. This the
most abominable town I have seen in New Mexico. The people are noted for their
vileness and thieving disposition. They are dirty, and as we passed through one of our
mules died in the harness from fatigue. We had hardly disengaged it from the wagon
when it was surrounded by about 30 Mexicans who soon stripped its hide off and
divided it up to eat. It is located in a beautiful valley and if the people chose, they
could raise any quantity of corn, wheat, oats, etc. Timber in great abundance. The
grazing good and wood and water plentiful - distance 38 miles.
May 23, 1856
Marched at 6 a.m. and at 10 a.m. parted company with Sprague and Van Horn
who had to go by Albuquerque, while we took a more direct route across the country
and reached Buffalo Spring at 11½ a.m. - distance 20 ¾ miles. A large herd of sheep
here. Lunched and watered our animals and set forward and encamped about 10 miles
east of the San Dios Mountain, about opposite Algodones on the Albuquerque road.
No wood or water, but good grass. Killed a rattlesnake as we were putting up our tent.
During our march passed through several Mexican villages - distance 35 ¼ miles.
May 24, 1856
Marched at 5 a.m. and reached Santa Fe at 2 p.m. At 7 a.m. came abruptly on
the valley of Gallisteo affording the grandest landscape view I have ever seen. We
had been traveling for many days on a mesa, or tableland, and the top of Old Baldy
had been constantly in view from the time we left the Gusano Mountains at least 150
miles, and notwithstanding we were approaching him for several days, he did not
seem to loom up any larger. The cause of this was that the ground over which we
were journeying was gently rising, which kept down Old Baldy‘s white head.
Unexpectedly as I have said, we came abruptly to the termination of this tableland,
and our road descended rapidly into a valley of a thousand or more feet. From the
foot of this mesa to the top of Old Baldy, a distance of at least 60 miles, was a
landscape spread before us that would be hard to surpass in grandeur and beauty.
Around us on every side rose towering mountains, some of which are covered with
snow almost the year round, while thousand of others poked their heads of every
shape high in the air. The scene burst so unexpectedly on us that we all shouted with
surprise and halted to take a long look. The deep furrow cut on the face of nature by
the long chisel of time showed many a deep gorge, many a bold bluff of rocks, many
a pile of earth partly shaded by the deep green of pine and cedar trees. Nature had
labored hard but her work, as a whole was perfect. We passed down into the valley
and trotted along through Galisteo and other Mexican towns and finally closed our
tramp over mountain and moor, over rough and good roads, with and without water,
and with no little fatigue - distance 36 miles.
Distances
From Santa Fe to Albuquerque
67 miles
From Santa Fe to Fort Stanton
253 miles
Returned by Gallisteo
From Fort Stanton to Santa Fe
174 ¼ miles
This ends an excerpt from “A Military Expedition to NM”
The 1860s Begin
The 1860 U.S. Census tells us a lot about the early development of Lincoln County.
There were 275 individuals listed plus the military contingent; 11 of them were
shown as teamsters, 23 listed as farmers, a handful of tradesmen and the balance
recorded as laborers or herdsmen plus all the wives and children.
The farmers reported a varying degree of holdings from $550 of Joseph White, an
Irishman (and his New Mexican wife) to H.M. Beckwith (and his New Mexican wife)
with $18,000. Of the sixteen or so farmers that claimed at least $1500 in net worth,
three were Hispanos. Which leads a person to wonder if some Anglos overstated their
claims or if they somehow had more? Remembering that at that time there was no
actual ownership of the land but just ownership of the improvements; also it makes
you wonder if the Hispanos really cared about the Census.
I have tried to track some of the people in the 1860 Census back to Manzano, to little
avail; the only exception was William Miller and his wife Manuelita. They were
enumerated in Manzano as well as Rio Bonito due to several months‘ difference in
enumeration dates. William, a Canadian, became a blacksmith and Manuelita was
from Manzano. Her father was Julián Carrillo and her mother was related to
Francisco Herrera.
However there must have been considerable influence from the Manzano area and
Manzano freighters. One other documented story of a Manzano person is the
unfortunate end of Gregorio Herrera, Francisca Ortega‘s son. By 1861 he had moved
his family to La Placita. In August of that year he was killed in a drunken row,
leaving a young wife, Geralda García, and several children. Perhaps Gregorio was a
teamster, for his family immediately moved back to Manzano and care into the care
of Geralda‘s aunts. This also brings another facet of life in the early days; as some
accuse the Anglos of wantonly shooting folks (which is, by in large, untrue). The
Hispano men were big on carrying knives and on occasion butchered each other when
provoked.
Places in the Rio Bonito Area
The names of localities within the La Placita neighborhood were not used in the
1860 Census. Starting downriver the name La Junta encompassed the area
comprising the Beckwith Ranch or what was to become Picacho, possibly a little way
up the Ruidoso (the Schwabacher Ranch) and the extreme lower Bonito. The Ruidoso
wasn‘t much settled perhaps due to its exposure to the Indians. Up the Bonito the only
place name I can figure out would be Las Chozas the home place of the Mirandas; the
ranch or farmers‘ names would have identified the rest of the valley. Of course the
community centered on the Torreón was called La Placita. The upper Bonito was a
series of farms apparently including the area of the Salado flats (the flats are just out
from present day Capitan). At the very upper end of the Bonito was Fort Stanton.
The War Comes
The Civil War didn‘t happen overnight but simmered and then came to a boiling
point. Even in the far reaches of the West, as tensions built, men had to decide which
side they were for and what they would do. At Fort Stanton and other forts throughout
the West, officers were making decisions and some with Southern sympathies were
even recruiting enlisted men to go with them. When secession came many officers
resigned their commissions and headed to the Confederacy to offer their services.
Likewise with the settlers of La Placita both Anglo and Hispanic: the Anglos largely
made their choices based on their background; for the Hispanos it was a little more
complex. For most New Mexicans, who they owed allegiance to didn‘t much matter,
whether it was the United States, Mexico or Spain. What did matter to most of those
who thought about it, were the Texans. Texans had twice tried to invade New Mexico
and had to use other tactics to try control New Mexico. With the threat of Texas
becoming a Confederate State most Hispanos found it easy to choose the North.
There were a quite a few, none-the-less, which went for the South, especially the
wealthy leaders (ricos) in the southern part of New Mexico, but still the minority.
When secession came, in Texas, John Baylor quickly raised a column of men to
invade the Territory of New Mexico. After some initial successes they came through
El Paso and occupied Mesilla on the Rio Grande. A column of Union troops trying to
retreat from Fort Filmore to Fort Stanton surrendered in a humiliating fashion to a
smaller Texan force. News of this quickly spread to Fort Stanton and panic ensued.
On August 2, 1861, Lt. Col. Benjamin Roberts ordered a hasty retreat northward;
setting fire to everything they couldn‘t carry. This fire was poorly laid and following
a summer thundershower, it ultimately did little damage and left substantial stores
untouched. This unleashed a series of events that caused more polarization in the
Bonita Valley.
In a week or two a Texan Cavalry Company arrived followed by some wagons and
set about gathering up what military supplies they could. They sent 51 wagons laden
with military supplies back to Mesilla. The Indians in the area, emboldened by the
disarray of the white man, stepped up their attacks and pilfering. The Texans fought a
few skirmishes with them while they were at the Fort. Orders then came to abandon
the Fort and withdraw to Mesilla. On September 8th, as preparations were under
underway, the night before they were to leave; word came of a heavy and sustained
attack on La Placita. A detachment of 15 troopers was sent to their aid. After heavy
fighting through the night and the killing of five Indians, the attackers were driven
off. The next day the Confederates left for Mesilla after completing the destruction of
the Fort that the Union soldiers had started.
Panic set in, with no Army for protection or to buy their goods, the settlers left the
area. Southern sympathizers headed down the military road for Mesilla and the rest
left up the road for Manzano. At the end of September a party of 25 men returned
from Manzano to harvest their abandoned crops, which took longer than expected and
involved a fight with the Mescaleros in which one Indian was killed but no farmers.
Their delayed return caused much consternation back in Manzano. Thus for more
than a year the Rio Bonita valley was unoccupied by settlers. In the winter of 1862,
Col. Kit Carson and troops of the 1st New Mexico Volunteers (Union) returned to
Fort Stanton and resumed operations against the Mescaleros. The boys of the 1st New
Mexico spent a hard first year back at the Fort. So undermanned and under supplied
they could hardly mount patrols against the Indians.
Section 3 – The Reoccupation of La Placita
The Manzano Crowd
As early as December of 1862, Col. Carson reported settlers returning, ‗returning
everyday‘ he stated in his report. Of course, since the only road from Union country
came through Manzano, many of Manzano‘s more intrepid citizens took advantage of
this turn of events. Lorenza Salas‘ son, José Encarnación Padilla, and his wife
‗Polonia Herrera, Francisca Ortega‘s daughter, set up a ranch on the Salado Flats
where road starts its final approach to Fort Stanton. As the Bonito runs out of Fort
Stanton and turns east, at the head of the valley that contains La Placita, Antonio
Torres and his wife, Juana Herrera, another of Francisca‘s daughters, founded Rancho
Torres.
As the settlers filtered back, some took over abandoned homesteads and a few
returned to their own properties. Only two Anglos, William Miller, the blacksmith,
and Alexander Duvall, the Fort sutler (a civilian provisioner), are found in the La
Placita area on both the 1860 and 1870 Census; only a handful of Hispanos that were
there before the Civil War returned as well. So 1862-63 saw a changed re-population
in La Placita. During the next few years the Rio Bonito, Rio Ruidoso and upper
Hondo valleys filled up.
BioBit- Padilla, Guevara and Family Intrigue
By Rich Eastwood
Now that you‟ve memorized everything and have a complete grasp of the
historical setting, New Mexico, Manzano, maps and charts and all that sort of thing,
here is an intriguing story.
There are four different individuals that are key players in this tale. I might
add that if you aren‘t from the families involved, but you have family from the
Manzano area, the story may stay pretty much the same and all you have to do is
change the names.
In San Fernando Ana María Torres was born, probably between 1805-1810,
her parents were José Torres and Lorenza Salaz.
On February 28, 1811, 2-day-old María Juliana „Julianita‟ Lucero was
baptized. Her parents were don Domingo Lucero and doña Manuela Mirabal of San
Fernando.
On March 25, 1814, 7-day-old José Encarnación Padilla was baptized; his
parents were Manuel Padilla and Lorenza Salaz, (the same), of San Fernando.
(Lorenza later married Juan Gonzales)
In Tomé, José Prudencio Torres was born, May 23, 1809, to Antonio Torres
and Gertrudis Márquez.
Julianita‟s father, don Domingo Lucero was quite an influential person.
Their house was on the old church grounds at Quarai and perhaps he kept another
house in San Fernando, which was not uncommon for those better off. In this
environment Julianita grew up, learning, undoubtedly, at an early age to keep an eye
open for rattlesnakes and Indians. A major Apache raid in 1829 or 1830 struck Quarai
and apparently had a devastating effect on the Lucero finances.
In San Fernando, November of 1824, Ana María Torres married Santiago
Toledo. In March 1826 they had a son, Nazario, in San Fernando. There is no further
record of them in the Tomé parish. Perhaps they moved to the mining camps up on
Ortiz Mountain, where Santiago died. Ana Maria remained a widow until May of
1844 when she married Ygnacio niño ladrón de Guevara. They made their home in
the mining area in a community called El Tuerto. Ygnacio and Ana María‘s marriage
records state that they had known each other for 12 years; the clerk stated that he had
known both parties for 12 years. Ygnacio was a widower and had a teenage son,
Placido. He had recorded a mining claim on Ortiz Mountain in 1833, which leads you
to believe that he and Ana María had been in the mining camps for some time.
Back in Manzano, a June bride is always happy. In June 1832, Prudencio
Torres married Julianita Lucero and the following May they were the proud parents
of a daughter, Casimira. Their happiness was cut short however, Prudencio died
sometime in the next few years. Julianita then married José Padilla and they had a
son, José ‗Senobio‘, in December of 1839. José and Julianita apparently prospered,
sheep herding and wool production were big commodities in the Manzano hills. June
of 1842 brought another son, José ‗Ysidro‘, and in May of 1846 a daughter, María
Estanislada ‗Lada‘, was born.
Now comes the mystery, the question marks; basically what happened to
Julianita and when. In January 1848, José and Julianita had a daughter, María
„Teresa‟ de Jesús. The baby was baptized at the age of two months. Family tradition
says Lada‘s mother died when Lada was very young therefore Julianita could have
died in childbirth or right after, which was not uncommon in those days. But like all
good mysteries, the plot thickens.
Follow the next series of events:
1848 New Mexico becomes a part of the United States and of course becomes
subject to the decennial Census.
January 1850 a daughter, Maria Manuela, is born to José Padilla and Polonia
Herrera.
June 1850 Census, Manzano, Valencia Co.
José Padilla, age 36, male, occ. Farmer, Real Estate value $100
Pelonia Padllia, age 38*, female (Polonia Herrera)
Casimira Padilla, age 18, female (Casimira Torres)
Senobio Padilla, age 10, male
Ysidro Padilla, age 8, male
Manuela Padilla, age 1, female
*Polonia was actually 28, there are many errors in the Census‟.
June 1850 Census, the goldfields of Santa Fe Co.
Ygnacio Guebara, age 50, occ. Farmer, Real Estate value $100
Ana Maria Guebara, age 30, female
Nasario Guebara, age 20, male
Placido Guebara, age 18, male
Estanislada, age 4, female
Juana Padilla, age 30, female (¿Julianita?)
October 1850 José Padilla married María Apolonia Herrera.
April 1856 another daughter María ‗Francisca‘ was born.
Aroud 1863 José and Polonia moved to Salado Flats near Ft. Stanton.
October 1866, in Rio Bonito José and Polonia had an adopted Indian boy
baptized by the Priest from Manzano; José Alberto ―Adan‖ Padilla.
How‟s that for forensic intrigue? If Julianita died right after the birth of
Teresa, why did José wait to get married? Where was Teresa?
Perhaps the Juana listed in Ygnacio‘s household is really Julianita, the age
doesn‘t line up but neither does Ana Maria‘s, why is she there?
What is the relationship between Juana/Julianita and Lada, and Ygnacio and
Ana María? The answer to this was discovered by Guevara researcher, Charles
Hayes, Ana María was José Padilla‘s half sister.
When did Julianita actually die? If she was at the Guevara‘s she might have
died between June (the date of the Census) and October 1860 giving the priest the
freedom to marry José and Polonia. Other questions obviously arise, but it sure makes
an interesting scenario.
Whatever the story entailed, the real outcome was that Lada was raised in
Ygnacio‘s household and she called him her tio (uncle) and in his final years, the mid
1880s, she was the one to care for him.
José Padilla‟s sons located in the La Placita area as well and became an
integral part of the local community. His daughter Teresa married Lyon Phillipowski
and when he was killed in a gunfight she married Sam Corbet. José died, before 1880,
Polonia with her daughter Francisca and son Adan continued on at the home place on
Salado Flats. Francisca married neighbor David McKinley.
Upon becoming part of the United States, of course, the legal system and
political system changed. At the local level many of the political and judicial leaders
chose not to remain in office and in Santa Fe there was a whole new structure. In
modern literature, the do-gooders will lead you to believe that the Anglos
(Americans) took wholesale advantage of the locals and stripped them of everything,
which, with some notable exceptions, is untrue. Under the Mexican system, if you
settled on unused land and improved it, you had rights (which is true in Mexico
today); under the American system, title to the land was everything and that gradually
was put in place in the 1870s. Many Hispanos didn‘t understand this system and lost
out, also many early Anglo settlers lost out as well. See Mrs. Casey‟s trials after
Robert was killed, in Lilly Klasner‟s book “My Girlhood Among Outlaws”.
In the goldfields of Santa Fe County, Ygnacio felt it was time to change as
well. Sometime during the 1850s he moved his household down the Camino Real and
up to Manzano, no doubt because of Ana María‘s family connections. By the 1860
Census, Lada was still in the family and Ygnacio‘s son Placido, had married María
Sánchez and had a son Maximo (age 4). Interestingly, about seven houses away was
José Padilla‘s family with the additions of María Manuela (age 8) and Especial
(Francisca) (age 3). So what ever the affairs of 1850 were they seemed to have sorted
themselves out in short order.
The country around what would become Lincoln County, New Mexico, in the
early 1860s, was sparsely populated. In 1855 the U.S. Government had built Fort
Stanton in the hills south of the Capitan Mountains to help contain the Mescalero
Apache Indians; the perceived security allowed a small community, La Placita, to
spring up nearby (present day Lincoln). With the Civil War over, in 1865, focus was
brought to bear on the Indian question. From Ft. Stanton, down the Hondo and up the
Pecos was its companion fort, Ft. Sumner, connecting them was an old Indian trail
that followed the rivers. Re-supply is always an issue at a military installation, the
same was true in 1866, and wagons and mule trains were rolling between the two
forts. Roughly halfway in-between, on the banks of the Hondo was a lovely, wellwatered spot, with fertile soil, just right for a little settlement. In 1866-67, some 30
families from the Manzano area migrated down and made their homes there. They
named it San José, probably because they arrived on that saint‘s day, since they knew
of another town in New Mexico by that name the teamsters in the crowd thought they
could call it San José de Missouri (St. Joseph) a place they had been many times
going down the Santa Fe Trail. The Anglos that came along later called it Missouri
Bottom but it was commonly referred to as Missouri Plaza.
Ygnacio niño ladrón de Guebara and household were among the settlers.
Young ‗Lada Padilla, who had married and become a widow within a short time, was
included and Theophilus Lalonde was also among the settlers. In about, 1867/68 they
were married at Missouri Plaza. Lilly Klasner remembered them when she came to
Missouri Plaza as a child, about 1868.
End BioBit
Missouri Plaza
Meanwhile in other parts of the Territory the Indian Wars were heating up. In 1862
Fort Sumner was built on the Pecos, about 80 miles above where the Hondo joins it.
9,000 Navajos and Apaches were held there as prisoners in 1864. Fort Stanton had
regained its position of supplying the Mescalero Reservation with supplies. This
created a tremendous need for freighters, teamsters and farmers. The military opened
a road down the Pecos to Fort Stanton. This road followed an old Indian trail, which
cut across and joined the Hondo some 15 miles above the Pecos. At this point on the
Hondo some Manzano freighters and entrepreneurs founded a colony of Manzano
folks called San José. Since there was another San José in New Mexico these
freighters, who had been up the Santa Fe Trail many times, called it San José de
Missouri; the Anglos generally called it Missouri Plaza or Missouri Bottom.
Missouri Plaza boasted about 330 people in the 1870 Census compared to the Bonita
Valley down to the upper Hondo with about 410 people. Obviously it was the largest
or second largest settlement in the area; depending how you look at it. In those days
the Hondo was running enough water to keep the farms along its banks productive.
Rita Baca and Gregorio Sánches‘ son, Santiago and his wife Mariana Perea were
there with their children and their families nearby. Rita‘s son, Mauricio, and his wife
María Jesús Gonzales and their family lived close by Santiago. Also in town were
Gertrudis Márquez and Antonio Torres‘ son, José de los Reyes, and his wife Trinidad
Cháves and their family. Lorenza Salas‘ daughter, Ana María Torres and her husband
Ygnacio Guevara and their family lived there also.
Like so many good things this wasn‘t to last. Fort Sumner closed in 1869 and water
needs further up the Hondo and its tributaries caused the water to slow to a trickle.
Missouri Plaza was doomed; sometime shortly after 1870 the site was abandon and
most of the inhabitants moved up stream and relocated in other parts of what had
become Lincoln County.
BioBit- Mauricio Sánchez
Taken from an article by George A. Sanchez in the magazine Herencia, Oct 1995
―José ‗Mauricio‘ Sánches, the son of doña Rita Baca and don Gregorio
Sánches was born Sept. 24 1820 and baptized two days later in the village of San
Fernando. In June of 1843 he married ‗María Jesús‘ Gonzales, Daughter of Ramón
Gonzales and Juana Montoya.
―It is not clear when they came to Lincoln County but it is certain that they
settled in the community of Missouri Plaza, probably when it was founded, for
Mauricio had become one of its wealthier citizens by 1870. With the collapse of
Missouri Plaza they might have tried some other areas like Agua Azul or Las Tablas;
they finally settled in the Ruidoso Valley upstream from San Patricio. The family
prospered. He and his sons and daughters and their spouses developed extensive
holdings in the Ruidoso Valley. The family also had large sheep camps in the
Reventon area.
―On April 19, 1869, the citizens of the newly formed Lincoln County elected
Richard W. Ewan as their Probate Judge. (Lawrence G. Murphy who opposed Ewan
received only one vote.) For the office of Sheriff, the voters elected Jesús Sandoval y
Sena. Three other individuals were also candidates for that position: Mauricio
Sánchez, Silas W. McPherson and George W. Pippen. The following month both
Ewan and Sandoval resigned and on May 12, 1869, acting Governor, H.H. Heath,
commissioned L.G. Murphy Probate Judge and Mauricio Sánchez as Sheriff of
Lincoln County.
―Thus, Mauricio was the first Sheriff of Lincoln County. His great-great
grandson Ernest Sánchez served four terms as Sheriff of Lincoln County in the late
1960s thru 1980s.
End BioBit
Meanwhile, back at the Fort
An excerpt from “Fort Stanton during the Civil War” by Dr. Walter Earl Pittman
On the Fort Stanton Web Site
―Rarely and poorly paid, badly mounted and armed, raggedly clothed and
inadequately fed, lacking shelter from the elements and living isolated from normal
society, Fort Stanton‘s soldiers did their duty and generally did it well. The men at
the Fort, either garrison troops or those operating from the Fort, came from U.S.
Regular forces, New Mexico Volunteers, California Volunteers and some special
scouts or ―spy‖ companies, drawn from New Mexicans. Units passed through the Fort
from 1862 to 1865 with dizzying speed depending upon the circumstances of the
campaigns. Command of the Fort was in the hands of the senior officer assigned
there. At least nine men exercised this function from 1862-1865. They included Maj.
Joseph Smith, Capt. George Hollister, Maj. William Brady, Lt. Col. Emil Fritz, Capt.
Thomas Chapman as well as four New Mexico officers. These were Col. Kit Carson,
Maj. Rafael Chacon, Maj. Arthur Morrison, and Capt. Francisco Abreu. Morrison and
Smith remained the longest in command. Most of the units assigned to or operating
from, the Fort were cavalry, or more rarely infantry, either mounted or on foot, but
sometimes, artillery units were assigned there.
―These were the forces that Gen. Carleton used to pacify the Mescalero
Apaches. During the Confederate invasion, in 1861 and 1862, the Army campaigns
against the Apaches and the Navajos had been suspended. The result had been
widespread raiding in which hundreds of soldiers, settlers and travelers had been
killed and thousands of head of livestock stolen. Carleton was eager to renew the
offensive against the Indians but he still had to watch the invasion routes from Texas
in case of another Confederate incursion. Therefore he reversed Gen. Canby‘s
strategy of warring first on the Navajo and then the Mescalero in order to keep his
best troops in the South until he was certain no new threats would emanate form
Texas. There was another factor. Carleton, and other Union officers, felt strongly that
they had been betrayed by the Mescalero who had signed peace treaties in the Spring
of 1861 only to sweep across the land in a wild wave of murder, robbery, arson and
rape as soon as the Federal troops withdrew in the face of Gen. Sibley‘s invasion.
Therefore, Carson was sent with five companies of the 1st NM Volunteers to Fort
Stanton to resume hostilities against the Mescalero and he was ordered to kill all
grown males and to take no prisoners. If the Apaches wanted peace they would have
to go to Santa Fe, under a flag of truce, to Gen. Carleton and accept his terms.
Apparently the Mescalero, at least most of them, did want peace.
―Remembering the campaigns of 1860-61 the Apaches understood what the
massing of troops in their territory implied and quickly sought refuge under Army
control. Bands led by Manuelito and Cadette made contact with Carson through the
Indian Agent, Lorenzo Labadie, in September 1862 and made arrangements to send a
delegation to meet with Carleton in Santa Fe. The massacre, if it was a massacre, of
Manuelito‘s band at Gallinas Spring by Paddy Graydon did not derail the surrender
process. In fact, it seemed to accelerate it, perhaps by emphasizing the Army‘s
ruthless determination.
―The surrendering Mescalero came into Fort Stanton quickly and were just as
quickly sent on their way to their new reservation at the Bosque Redondo where Fort
Sumner was established. Carson lacked the manpower to guard the Apaches or the
food to adequately feed them. Some came in from far south of the Guadalupe
Mountains. They were allowed to camp near enough to the Fort to draw daily rations
until approximately 100 had gathered and then they were sent to the Bosque
Redondo, accompanied by wagons carrying rations for the trip. By February, 1863,
Carleton reported to Washington that some 350 Mescalero had been settled at Fort
Sumner including most of the major leaders. Some 100-200 recalcitrants remained
scattered through the mountains as far west as Arizona and continued to constitute a
successfully extricating his escort from an ambush on the Jornada. Gen. Carleton was
particularly enraged by an attack on two of his express riders from Fort Stanton near
the Gallinas Mountains on 28 June 1863. One man was killed but Pvt. N. Quintana
was wounded and captured. The Indians then tied him to a stake and burned him
alive. On June 20, Capt. A. H. Pfeiffer of the 1st N.M. Vols. left Fort McRae for an
outing at the nearby hot springs with his wife, two female servants and a small escort.
They were attacked by Apaches. Two men were killed and three wounded, including
Capt. Pfeiffer. The women, who had been bathing separately, were all shot and left
for dead. But a servant girl survived and identified the leader of the band as a
Mescalero named Lorenzo that she had witnessed surrendering to authorities at Fort
Stanton a few weeks earlier. The officials at Fort Sumner insisted that no one could
have left that post. But someone killed Mrs. Pfeiffer. Indians were not the only thing
the soldiers from Fort Stanton looked for. The threat of a new Confederate invasion
was always there, although any real possibility grew even fainter through time.
Nevertheless, patrols were constantly sent out, at least monthly, from Fort Stanton,
down the Hondo to the Pecos and down it to the Horsehead Crossing, north of present
day Pecos. Other Union patrols from Franklin and Mesilla also covered approach
routes as far as the Horsehead Crossing. From the other side the Confederates sent
their own scouts westward as far as the Horsehead Crossing. The various patrols
sometimes detected one another‘s presence but avoided contact. The scouts down the
Pecos were long and hard, in excess of 300 miles and although they were usually
small (10-20 men) they were a constant strain on men and horses.
―Even without contacting the Rebels, these patrols could be dangerous. Lt.
Juan Marques was returning from the Horsehead Crossing on 19 July 1863 with his
15 man patrol when he was attacked by 50 Apaches on the Rio Hondo, probably near
Tinnie, while he was in camp. The New Mexico Volunteers fought until their
ammunition was expended and as the enemy strength had grown to over 200, his men
destroyed their rifles, abandoned their horses and mules and made their escape,
leaving one man dead. Meeting the fugitives, a patrol under Capt. Emil Fritz returned
to the battlefield and tracked the Apaches toward the Capitan Mountains. When he
caught up with them the Indians broke into small bands, one of which raided Placitas
[Lincoln] killing one man.
―There simply were not enough of either men or horses at the Fort to
adequately perform all the missions that were assigned. The number of troops
assigned to Fort Stanton averaged 1-200 men. Some men had to be assigned to guard
the horse herds and hay camp. Escorts were required for mail and supply trains. The
post required a garrison and guards. There were never enough horses healthy enough
to take to the field. One Fort Commander, Maj. Joseph Smith, pointed out that he
never had more than 70 mounted men available for field operations. A year later
Capt. William Brady had so few horses that the only way he could carry out his
orders was to chase the Apaches on foot. He was so short of personnel that, at times,
he didn‘t have a full guard mount available. Both men begged for more men and
horses. But the Navajo campaign was by then soaking up all the resources available
to the Army in New Mexico.
―The Fort‘s garrison hardly had enough manpower to even defend itself and
the immediate area around. Twice in 1863, Indian raiders, probably Navajos, drove
off most of the Fort‘s livestock, horses, mules, oxen and cattle. Farmers and ranchers
nearby also were victimized. In December, 1863, Navajos ran off horses and cattle
from the Hopkins and Gilam hay farm. In February 1864, Capt. Emil Fritz chased a
band of Apache horse thieves to the Guadalupe Mountains after they raided Placitas.
Capt. William Brady followed another band that stole horses from Fredrick Stipich‘s
farm near Placitas to the Peñasco before rain obliterated the trail. In August, 1864, Lt.
Henry Gilbert, commanding a detached party sent by Capt. Francis McCabe to follow
the trail of an Indian raiding party, followed it into Dog Canyon on the western slopes
of the Sacramento Mountains. Although warned by the guide, Gilbert marched his
men into an ambush. He, the guide and another soldier were killed, and the other
troops fled in panic abandoning horses, weapons and Lt. Gilbert‘s body.
―Most patrols resulted in no contact being made with hostile Indians. The
frustration was best expressed by Maj. Joseph Smith after a lengthy scout from Fort
Stanton along the western edges of the Sacramento Mountains. They had returned,
Smith reported, ―having accomplished nothing but the killing of one horse and
learning a little of the geography of the Sacramento Mountains.‖
―By mid 1864 the bloody campaigns to control the Apaches and Navajos were
winding down, at least temporarily. The Army‘s entire scheme of pacification based
upon settlement of the wild tribes on the Fort Sumner reservation was rapidly
collapsing. Overwhelmed by nearly three times as many Indians as they had expected
to capture, the Army could not feed nor clothe them. In fact, the Army wasn‘t able to
feed or clothe its own soldiers adequately. Crop failures in 1864 and 1865 at the
Bosque Redondo completed the disaster. As early as 1863 some of the Mescalero
had slipped off back to their beloved White Mountains and by the Fall of 1864 most
were gone from Fort Sumner and all were by the Fall of 1865. To avoid Army
attacks, many of the Mescalero settled near Fort Stanton where their visibility was
their protection. Fort Stanton, in 1864 and 1865 gradually took on the nature of what
would be its next function, the Reservation for the Mescalero Apaches.
―The decision to retain Fort Stanton as an active Army post was made by Gen.
Carleton who justified his actions to his superiors, describing the fort in glowing
terms. Carleton, who had been stationed there in the 1850‘s was obviously fond of the
―Little Fort on the Bonito‖. He was also under pressure from settlers in the Tularosa,
Bonita, Ruidoso and Hondo River basins who were anxious for the protection of the
U.S. Army and eager for the market the Fort represented. Carleton, himself, viewed
white settlement as the u
allowing them to take their discharge in the Territory and to purchase their Army
horses and weapons. Many did, and these were the men who determined the course of
history in Lincoln County for decades. They included, William Rynerson, Emil Fritz,
Lawrence Murphy, Warren Bristol, William Brady and others. Of the Confederates,
only Alex Duval and Henry Beckwith are known to have returned to Lincoln County
after the war.‖
Military Groups- A Little Background
Many early families had ties to the U.S. Military; this is a small effort to explain the
various elements that influenced Lincoln County.
U.S. Regular Army came to New Mexico with General Kearny in 1846. During the
next 40 years its primary duty was to provide security for the inhabitants of the
Territory. Many of the men who had joined the Army in the East took their discharge
in the West (or just deserted) and settled down. Life was hard in the Army especially
in the pre-Civil War era. An outstanding narrative of this is found in “Forts and
Forays – A Dragoon in New Mexico, 1850-1856” by James A. Bennett, published by
the University of New Mexico.
1st New Mexico Volunteers was a regiment that was formed from local citizens at
the beginning of the Civil War as a part of the U.S. Army in response to the threat of
the Confederacy in the Southwest. It had its roots in various volunteer companies that
assisted the Army in prosecuting the war against the Indians in the years prior. The 1st
NMV gave good service against the Texan invasion in 1862 and then continued in
service against the Indians for several years, even after the Civil War was over. See
the web site offered by the 1st NM Vols. a reenactment organization:
WWW.1stnmvi.com for more detail.
The California Column was a part of the California Volunteers that consisted of
several regiments of Cavalry and Infantry raised in California at the beginning of the
Civil War; at that time California was full of men from all parts of the U.S. as a result
of the Gold Rush of 1849. As regular army units were returned to the East for active
service the California Volunteers filled their places along the West Coast; with the
threatened invasion from Texas, a Column was sent overland to New Mexico to lend
a hand. They served for the duration of the War and when they were disbanded many
of the California men took their discharges in New Mexico.
See the web site: www.yubaroots.com/Civil%20War/ind.htm
La Placita becomes Lincoln County
The following is taken from the book “New Mexico State Monument – Lincoln”
By John P. Wilson
―The Rio Bonito country is unusual in that there are so few descriptions of the
settlements there. One exception was an 1866 survey of the crops and population by
Major Lawrence G. Murphy, a name soon to become familiar. He listed three hundred
Mexicans and five Anglo-Americans tilling a total of 625 acres in the Bonito Valley.
One year later, a land surveyor found some forty houses and twenty-one stores in the
town of La Placita. The stores must have been small, indeed; perhaps the front rooms
in homes.
―The best account of early-day La Placita/Lincoln was penned many years
later by Lily Casey Klasner, who had arrived in what was still Socorro County as a
five-year-old:
‗In 1868, Lincoln was not known as Lincoln, but was called simply La
Placita.... I distinctly remember my first visit to La Placita.... Scattered along
the two sides of a crooked stretch of road were twelve or fifteen houses, which
might be credited with a certain degree of pretension. They were adobe, flatroofed, angular in shape, and one story in height. In the rear of the houses
fronting on the street were a number of jacales, that is, houses of a simpler
type made by standing up cedar or juniper posts and daubing them together
into walls by applying mud.‘
Interiors were whitewashed with jaspe, a gypsum solution. Most of the people earned
their livelihood by farming tracts of land along the narrow valley. In the business
section, according to Lily:
‗José Montano had a store and a saloon, and Jacinto Sánchez a store... Alec
Duval ran a saloon, which was also a branch of L. G. Murphy & Co.'s store.
Pete Bishop, a large, bald-headed old man, ran a regular saloon in the town;
that is, his place was exclusively for the dispensing of alcoholic liquors.‘
Other prominent citizens included Mariano Trujillo and Captain Saturnino Baca, the
latter then living some miles to the west.
―Lincoln had become a town with very bright prospects. It might also have
resembled a large cornfield. The 1870 census showed 1,695 acres under cultivation
along the Rio Bonito; from these farms came an estimated 1.3 million pounds of corn,
together with assorted wheat, oats, and barley, much of this produce destined for sale
to the army and the Indian agency.‖
I have taken this excerpt from MORE Tales of Tularosa, the section about Saturnino
Baca, by Mrs. Tom Charles based on the work compiled by her late husband. Stories
gathered for more than 25 yrs. before his death in 1943. Copyright 1961
“Capt. Saturnino Baca, one of Lincoln County‘s most loved citizens, was
the Father of the county. As a member of the Territorial Legislature in 1869 he
sponsored a bill, which created Lincoln County.
―The new county comprised seventeen million acres, or well over one—fifth
of New Mexico‘s total of seventy-eight million acres and was created largely out of
Socorro County with portions of eastern Valencia and Doña Ana counties. It was
bounded on the north by San Miguel and Valencia counties, on the west by Socorro
and on the east and south by the state of Texas. Within these boundaries are the
present day counties of Chaves, Curry, Eddy, Lincoln, Roosevelt, and parts of De
Baca and Otero.
―Captain Baca was born in Cebolleta, Valencia County, November 29, 1830,
and attended a private school there. After rounding out a long life filled with stirring
events, he passed away at old Lincoln in 1924, at the age of 94.
―Captain Baca often related how he managed to get his county division bill
through the legislature. Thomas B. Catron, who later served as U. S. Senator from
New Mexico, was then a rising young lawyer, living at Mesilla, and had been elected
to the legislature from Doña Ana County. Catron had served with the Confederate
army through the Civil War, but because he had never taken the oath of allegiance to
the United States, he faced opposition in being seated in the legislature.
―Knowing Captain Baca‘s chief interest in the legislature was to obtain
creation of the new county Tom Catron asked him for help in getting himself seated,
and promised in return to use his influence in getting the county bill passed.
―Baca told Catron to draw up his resolution for membership and that he would
introduce it in the legislature. This passed unanimously, the clerk was called and
Catron was sworn in immediately as a member.
―Catron, in return, introduced the Baca Bill creating Lincoln County, which
also passed without opposition. Legislators suggested that it be named Baca County
but Captain Baca modestly declined the honor, asking that it be named for the
recently martyred President Abraham Lincoln. The county seat also was named for
Lincoln. It had been previously known as Placita del Rio Bonito.
―Backing and assisting Saturnino Baca in his movement for the new county
was a committee of prominent citizens seeking establishment of better law and order
in southeastern New Mexico. The group included Lawrence G. Murphy, then post
trader at Fort Stanton; William Brady, a retired army Major; Florencio Gonzales, a
rancher, and Dr. J. H. Blazer, owner of Blazer‘s Mill at Mescalero.
―The Governor appointed Major Brady as first sheriff of the new county; Dr.
Blazer, Florencio Gonzales and Paul Dowlin as county commissioners; and Saturnino
Baca was the first probate judge. There was no superintendent of schools appointed at
that time, as there were no schools. In addition to his service as probate judge Captain
Baca later served four years as sheriff, also as county commissioner, and as a member
of the State Penitentiary Commission.‖
Places in the 1870s
The Census for 1870 shows a considerable growth from the 275 or so individuals in
1860 to 1680 or so (not counting military); considering the population essentially
started all over in 1863. Precinct 1 encompassed Fort Stanton down the Bonito to La
Junta and down the Hondo to about the Casey Ranch; 515 persons in 215 households.
Precinct 2 followed the Ruidoso up to Dowlin Mill; 160 persons in 47 households.
Precinct 3 was made up of two different areas; (a) the lower Hondo (Missouri Plaza)
with 335 persons in 100 households and (b) South Spring to Seven Rivers on the
Pecos with 40 persons. Precinct 4 was the Tularosa / Blazers Mill area with 630
people.
Patrones and Honchos in Precincts 1,2 & 3a numbered about 46 Individuals that had
a net-worth of over $1000. Of these, 11 were merchants; the remainder were farmers
who also provided services like freighting and other trades.
1870 Lincoln County Census, Precincts 1,2,3- Persons over $1000 Net Worth
Fam.
P1-1
P1-1
P1-1
P1-1
P1-4
P1-26
P1-28
P1-59
P1-73
P1-79
P1-80
P1-83
P1-102
P1-105
P1-108
P1-114
P1-120
P1-132
P1-147
P1-174
Name
Murphy, Lawrence G
Fritz, Emil
Duval, Alexander
Dolan, James J
Varnick, William
Harrison, Henry B
Padilla, Jose
Torres, Antonio
Baca, Saturnino
Farmer, James H
Montoya, Rafael
Brady, William
Miranda, Jose
Gonzales, Florencio
Storm, Joseph
Clenny, Avery M
Chaves, Juan de Jesus
Warner, David C
Casey, Robert
Trujillo, Enriques
P1-188
P1-196
P1-203
P1-214
P2-11
P2-32
P2-40
P2-43
Sanchez, Jacinto
Montana, Jose
Gonzales, Sabino
Miranda, Felipe
Trujillo, Felix
Gutierrez, Manuel A
Gylam, Jack ?
McPherson, Silas W
Age
35
38
50
21
33
42
65
42
38
37
70
36
42
37
38
46
40
31
41
50
28
32
60
46
41
38
33
32
RealEst
Occupation
Value
Wh. Merchant
$10,500
Wh. Merchant
$10,500
Salesman
$1,000
Drygoods Clerk $2,000
Butcher
$1,000
Farmer
$1,000
Farmer
Farmer
$500
Farmer
$6,000
Farmer
$2,000
Farmer
$1,000
Farmer
$1,500
Farmer
$800
Farmer
$2,500
Farmer
$4,000
Farmer
$1,500
Farmer
$2,000
Farmer
$1,500
Famer
$1,500
Farmer
$2,000
Wh. Dry Goods
Merchant
$175
Dry Gds. Merchant
Farmer
$2,000
Farmer
$500
Farmer
$1,000
Farmer
$1,500
Farmer
$1,500
Farmer
$1,500
PersProp
Value
$2,000
$2,000
$500
$250
$1,000
$1,000
$800
$500
$2,000
$300
$700
$1,500
$200
$800
$800
$600
$500
$300
$1,000
$1,500
$1,000
$1,000
$1,500
$175
$800
$1,000
P2-47
P3-2
P3-4
P3-20
P3-25
P3-36
P3-43
P3-70
P3-74
P3-77
P3-78
P3-79
Dowlin, Paul
Sanchez, Mauricio
Torres, Nicolas
Ricken, Frank
Lucero, Ambrocio
Silva, Manuel
Hudson, James
Analla, Jose
Sylva, Juan
Ricken, Frank H
Jones, Haiskel
Culp, Adam
40
48
54
32
51
33
36
40
36
28
40
26
P3-81
P3-83
P3-87
P3-88
P3-91
P3-92
P3-94
Vose, Rufus C
Newcomb, John
Smith, Frederick
Nickerson, Joseph B
Smith, Van C
Hartman, George
Chick, Ulyses
36
40
36
46
30
25
33
Lumber Merchant $10,000
Farmer
$1,000
Farmer
$800
Farmer
$2,000
Farmer
$500
Farmer
$300
Farmer
$500
Farmer
$500
Farmer
$500
Farmer
$4,000
Farmer
$600
Farmer
$800
Wh Dry Goods
Merchant
$5,000
Farmer
$1,500
Farmer
$800
Farmer
$1,000
Salesman
$1,500
Hotel Keeper
$1,000
Farmer
$800
$5,000
$800
$550
$1,500
$1,000
$1,000
$2,500
$750
$800
$500
$800
$700
$10,000
$1,550
$500
$560
$500
$500
$700
With the collapse of Missouri Plaza about 1871 or 1872 the pressure on the valleys
grew and folks started setting up in other places. Agua Azul and Las Tablas and other
areas on the northern side of the Capitans can trace back to this era. The canyons that
emptied into the valleys also saw home places spring up in the search for more room
to run a few cattle and do a little farming. Many of the place names of today were
established in the two decades between 1865 and 1885: Picacho, Tinnie, Hondo (La
Junta), San Patricio, Ruidoso (the area around Dowlins Mill); Chavez Flats, Fritz
Spring, Brady Hill, Salazar Canyon, Salado Flats, Nogal and White Oaks to name a
few.
The influx of people continued. In Texas during the Civil War most of the cattle were
left unattended due to the serious manpower shortage on the frontier. It took a couple
of years for things to sort themselves out; then they found they had more cattle than
they could use, so they set out to take them to market. The great and legendary cattledrives north to Kansas and the likes were during this period. They also took their
cattle west across the West Texas plains to the Pecos River. Some turned north to
markets up river and in to Colorado, others continued west up such places as the
Hondo and then westward. Of course this wasn‘t a static situation but a constant ebb
and flow. As word worked its way back down the trail of the opportunities in Lincoln
County a steady flow of families with small herds or wagon trains of settlers began to
appear. This continued until about 1900. Hispanos from other parts of New Mexico,
Mexican Nationals and Hispanics from Texas also contributed to the growth of
Lincoln County.
Section 4 - Descendant Charts of our Fore Mothers
The following charts were compiled from the Tomé and Belén Marriages 1783-1856
by the NMGS, from the Tomé Baptisms Vol.I or Vol. II, 1793-1881 by the NMGS,
from the Santa Rita Church, Lincoln Co. Marriages 1869-1910 by the HGRC; and
from various internet postings, primarily the RootsWeb World Connect project and
Ancestry.com. The Gertrudis Márquez work was helped along by Mike English and
Ida Jo Fenech. The Rita Baca chart was guided by the Herencia, Oct. 1995, article
on The Sánchez Family by George A. Sanchez.
Francisca Ortega
Daughter of Juan José Ortega and Gertrudis Sánches
Born 2 Jul 1800 in Sandia, NM. Married Francisco HERRERA, 9 Nov 1819, Tomé Parish.
Spouse, Francisco HERRERA, Son of Juan Herrera and Rafaela Maldonaldo
1.1 José 'Gregorio' HERRERA (1820-1861)
Born 16 Dec 1820. Married Francisca Maldonaldo, Manzano, NM. Married
María Soledad LUCERO 4 Oct 1847, Manzano, NM. Married María 'Geralda‘
GARCÍA "abt 1858", Manzano NM. Died 18 Aug 1861, Lincoln, NM. Killed in
a fight.
Spouse (1) Francisca MALDONADO ( -1847)
1.1.1 María Concepcion HERRERA (1845- )
Born 6 Sep 1845.
Spouse (2) María Soledad LUCERO
1.1.2 María Bentura HERRERA (1848- )
Born 14 Jul 1848, Manzano, NM.
1.1.3 José Eugenio HERRERA (1851- )
Born Mar 1851, Torreón (Manzano Area), NM.
1.1.4 José Elogio HERRERA (1853- )
Born 7 Sep 1853.
1.1.5 María Cipriana HERRERA (1856-)
Born 7 Sep 1856.
Spouse (3) María 'Geralda' GARCÍA (1842- ) She later married Octaviano Salas and
she had more children.
1.1.5 Remedios HERRERA (1859- )
Born 1859. Married Antonio BARRAGÁN, 24 Jun 1874,
Lincoln Co, NM.
Sp. Antonio BARRAGÁN
1.1.5.1 Beatrice BARRAGÁN
Born about 1878.
1.1.5.2 Erculano BARRAGÁN
Married Adelaida OTERO 25 Feb 1901, Lincoln ,
NM.
Sp. Adelaida OTERO, daughter of Antonio OTERO and
María Dolores ARCHVEQUE
1.1.5.3 Regina BARRAGÁN
Married Eulogio BACA, 6 Jun 1904.
Sp. Eulogio BACA, son of Silvestre BACA and Eulogia
GALINDRE
1.1.6 Lorenza (Lorencita) HERRERA (1861- )
Born 10 Aug 1861, Las Placitas. Married José Delbros
MIRANDA, Torres Ranch, Lincoln Co.
Sp. José Delbros MIRANDA, son of Felipe MIRANDA and María
'Dolores' CHÁVEZ
1.1.6.1 Emilio MIRANDA
1.2 María 'Polonia' HERRERA (1823- ) Born Feb 1823, Manzano, NM. Baptized 4
Mar 1823, Manzano, NM. Married José Encarnación PADILLA, 31 Oct 1850,
Manzano, NM.
Spouse José Encarnación PADILLA (1814- ), son of Manuel PADILLA and Lorenza
SALAS
1.2.1 María 'Manuela' PADILLA (1850- )
Born 19 Jan 1850, Manzano, NM. Baptized 18 Feb 1850,
Manzano, NM.
1.2.2 María 'Francisca' PADILLA (1856- )
Born 10 Apr 1856. Baptized 30 Apr 1856. Married David
MCKINLEY, 16 Jul 1871, Lincoln, Co. Married John MACK, 12
Dec 1897, Nogal, Lincoln Co.
Sp. David MCKINLEY
1.2.2.1 Emiliano MCKINLEY
Born about 1871. Married María Consepcion
PADILLA.
Sp. María Concepcion PADILLA, daughter of José Leon
Sr. PADILLA and Juana María 'Nestora' ZAMORA
(1857- )
1.2.2.2 Ysidro MCKINLEY
Born about 1873. Married Apolonia HERRERA,
12 Jan 1896, Lincoln, Co.
Sp. Apolonia HERRERA, daughter of Eulogio
HERRERA and Anastacia ARCHULETA
1.2.2.3 Adan MCKINLEY
Sp. John MACK (1852- )
1.3.2 José 'Guadalupe' OTERO (1850- )
Born 12 Feb 1850, Manzano, NM.
1.3.3 Francisco Antonio OTERO (1854- )
Born 26 Oct 1854, Manzano, NM.
1.3.4 Lorenzo OTERO
Born about 1857.
1.3.5 Castulo OTERO (1860- )
Born 26 Mar 1860.
1.4 María 'Lorenza' HERRERA (1830- )
Born 24 Aug 1830, Manzano, NM. Married José María TORRES, 23 Nov
1852, Tomé Parish. Married José De Gracia FLORES.
Spouse (1) José María TORRES ( -1861), son of Antonio TORRES and Gertrudis
MÁRQUEZ
1.4.1 Genobeva TORRES (1855- )
Born 25 Dec 1855.
1.4.2 María Longina TORRES (1856- )
Born 13 Mar 1856.
1.4.3 Francisca TORRES (FLORES) (1860-1954)
Born Apr 1860. Married Mariano ALDAZ. Died 13 Mar 1954,
Roswell, NM.
Sp. Mariano ALDAZ (1848-1916), son of Palvin ALDAZ and Tomasa
SENA
1.4.3.1 Pablin ALDAZ (1883- )
Born Oct 1883. Married Antonia MIRABAL, 22
Nov 1892.
Comment by priest on marriage certificate about his
age.
Sp. Antonia MIRABAL, daughter of Jesús MIRABAL
and Nepomuncena TORRES
1.4.3.2 Tomasita ALDAZ (1887-1979)
Born 17 Aug 1887, Lincoln, Co. Married Jesús
María MONTES, 22 Feb 1908, Lincoln Co, NM.
Died 7 Mar 1979, Roswell, NM.
Sp. Jesús María MONTES (1883-1953)
1.4.3.3 Epifano Torrez ALDAZ (1893-1974)
Born 22 Sep 1893. Died 28 Dec 1974.
Sp. Margarita C (Unknown)
1.4.3.4 Isabel ALDAZ (1895- )
Born Nov 1895.
Sp. Ramonsita (Unknown)
1.4.3.5 Luz ALDAZ (1899- )
Born Jun 1899.
Sp. Bartola JIMÉNEZ
1.4.3.6 Antonia ALDAZ (1900-1993)
Born 27 Dec 1900, Lincoln, NM. Died 8 Apr
1993.
Sp. Mauro SÁNCHEZ
1.4.4 María 'Petra' TORRES (FLORES) (1861- )
Born 2 Aug 1861.
Spouse (2) José De Gracia FLORES
1.4.5 José 'Ramon' FLORES (1864- )
Born 5 Jan 1864, Manzano, NM.
1.4.6 Alberto FLORES
Born about 1865.
1.4.7 Francisca FLORES
Born about 1866.
1.4.8 Tomas FLORES
Born about 1868.
1.4.9 Manuela FLORES
Born about 1874. Married Gabriel OLGUIN, 2 Mar 1891,
Lincoln, NM.
Sp. Gabriel OLGUIN, son of Aniceto OLGIN and Rosa BARELA
1.5 'Juana' María HERRERA (1834- )
Born 7 Feb 1834. Bap 13 Feb 1834, Tomé Jurisdiction. Married Antonio
TORRES.
Spouse Antonio TORRES ( 1830-1892)
Son of Diego Antonio Torres and María Encarnación Márquez. Born about 1830 in
Manzano, NM. Died Jul 1892 in Lincoln Co.
1.5.1 María 'Ambrocia' TORRES (1851- )
Born 8 Dec 1851, Manzano, NM. Died.
Sp. Julián LÓPEZ
1.5.1.1 Emilia LÓPEZ
Born about 1868.
1.5.1.2 Serafina LÓPEZ
Born about 1874.
1.5.1.3 Maximiliana LÓPEZ
Born about 1878.
1.5.1.4 Abenicia LÓPEZ
Sp. Eduardo NAJAR, son of Rufino NAJAR and Quiteria
NAVÁREZ
1.5.2 José Ramon Nestor TORRES (1854- )
Born Mar 1854, Manzano, NM.
1.5.3 Teolida TORRES
Born "abt 1856", Manzano, NM.
Sp. José 'Manuel' ZAMORA (1847- ), son of 'José de Jesús' Blaz
ZAMORA (1811-1858) and María 'Ysabel' MALDONADO
(1814-1901)
1.5.3.1 Ramona Quirina ZAMORA (1875- )
Born 12 May 1875.
Sp. Juan CHÁVEZ
1.5.3.2 Delfin ZAMORA (1875- )
Born 24 Dec 1875. Married María 'Gertrudes'
OTERO, 5 Jul 1900.
Sp. María 'Gertrudes' OTERO (1885- ), daughter of
Matias(Pablo) OTERO and María 'Ramona'
CHÁVEZ (1852- )
1.5.3.3 Santiago ZAMORA (1880- )
Born 28 Jan 1880.
1.5.3.4 Manuel Antonio ZAMORA (1882- )
Born 22 Jul 1882.
Sp. Apolonia MÁRQUEZ
1.5.3.5 Emiliana ZAMORA (1884- )
Born 22 Aug 1884.
Sp. Antonio OTERO
1.5.3.6 Leandro ZAMORA (1887- )
Born 1 Feb 1887.
Sp. Ester LUJÁN
1.5.3.7 Cruzita ZAMORA (1891- )
Born 3 May 1891.
Sp. Abeslin LUJÁN
Sp. Jesus BACA
1.5.3.8 Candelario ZAMORA (1894- )
Born 2 Feb 1894.
1.5.3.9 Pedro ZAMORA (1897- )
Born 31 Jan 1897.
1.5.3.10 Emilio ZAMORA (1899- )
Born 6 Apr 1899.
Sp. Clara GRIEGO
1.5.4 María Josefa TORRES (1860- )
Born 10 Jul 1860, Manzano, NM.
1.5.5 Cecilio TORRES
Born about 1868.
Sp. Isabel TORRES, daughter of Juan TORRES and María BARELA
1.5.5.1 Benabi TORRES
Born Lincoln , NM. Died TX.
Sp. Mary PADILLA
1.5.5.2 Guadalupe TORRES ( -1891)
Died 14 May 1891.
1.5.5.3 Juana TORRES (1888- )
Born 28 Sep 1888, Torres Ranch, Lincoln Co.
1.5.5.4 Clemente TORRES (1896- )
Born 20 Jun 1896, Torres Ranch, Lincoln Co.
1.5.5.5 Antonio TORRES (1898- )
Born 18 Mar 1898, Torres Ranch, Lincoln Co.
1.5.5.6 Librado TORRES (1900- )
Born 24 May 1900.
1.5.6 Leonarda TORRES (1871- )
Born May 1871.
1.5.7 Ramona TORRES (1871- )
Born May 1871.
1.5.8 Sosteno TORRES (1874- )
Born Jun 1874. Married Beatriz OTERO, 10 Jan 1898, Torres
Ranch, Lincoln Co.
Sp. Beatriz OTERO, daughter of José Antonio OTERO and Tomasa
LUCERO
1.6 María 'Librada' HERRERA (1840-1929)
Born 26 Apr 1840. Married José 'Aniceto' LUERAS, 20 Apr 1860, Manzano,
NM. Died 1929, Lincoln Co, NM.
Spouse José 'Aniceto' LUERAS (1838- ) Born 27 Apr 1838 in rural Socorro, NM.
Died 1926 in Carrizozo
1.6.1 José 'Dolores' LUERAS (1861- )
Born 1861, Manzano, NM.
Sp. Felicita OTERO (1870- ), daughter of Jose Antonio OTERO and
Tomasa LUCERO
1.6.1.1 Alejandra LUERAS (1888- )
Born 1888, White Oaks, Lincoln Co. Married
Melquior MÁRQUEZ, 4 Aug 1902, Capitan,
Lincoln Co.
Sp. Melquior MÁRQUEZ, son of Gabriel MÁRQUEZ
and Ana María SERNA
1.6.1.2 Angelito LUERAS (1890- )
Born 1890.
Sp. Rosa HERRERA
1.6.1.3 Santiago LUERAS (1892- )
Born 1892.
1.6.1.4 Jose LUERAS (1894- )
Born 1894.
1.6.1.5 Andrea LUERAS (1897- )
Born 1897.
Sp. Eduardo NAJAR
1.6.1.6 Teresa LUERAS (1899- )
Born 1899.
Sp. Daniel MCKINLEY
1.6.1.7 Juan LUERAS (1901- )
Born 1901.
1.6.1.8 Dolores LUERAS (1904- )
Born 1904.
1.6.2 José María LUERAS (1865- )
Born 31 Mar 1865, Manzano, NM. Married Catarina GARCÍA, 2
Aug 1886, Lincoln Co. Married Eulogia DURAN 25 Oct 1902,
Lincoln Co.
Sp. Catarina GARCÍA, daughter of Roman GARCÍA and Remidios
BARELA
1.6.2.1 Patrocinia LUERAS
Sp. Luis LUERAS
Sp. Eulogia DURAN, daughter of José DURAN and Macaria SEDILLO
1.6.3 Andrés LUERAS (1869- )
Born 30 Nov 1869.
1.6.4 Manuel LUERAS (1870- )
Born Jul 1870. Married Josefa LÓPEZ 10 Nov 1904, Lincoln
Co.
Sp. Josefa LÓPEZ, daughter of Severiano LÓPEZ and Bibiana
ROMERO
1.6.5 David LUERAS (1873- )
Born 1873.
1.6.6 Francisca LUERAS (1875- )
Born 1875. Married Martín ALDERETE 28 May 1891, Lincoln,
NM.
Sp. Martín ALDERETE, son of Martín C. ALDERETE and Josefa
BORUNDO
1.6.7 Josefina LUERAS (1877- )
Born Jan 1877.
Gertrudis Márquez
Married Antonio TORRES.
Spouse, Antonio TORRES
1.1 María de la 'Luz' TORRES
Spouse, José 'Rafael' MONTOYA (1800- )
1.1.1 Juan Bautista MONTOYA (1826- )
Born 1 Apr 1826, Casa Colorada, NM.
1.1.2 José Arcadio MONTOYA (1830- )
Born 19 Jan 1830, Manzano, NM.
1.1.3 María 'Gertrudis' MONTOYA (1832- )
Born 28 Mar 1832, Manzano, NM. Married Nestor AGUILAR,
24 Feb 1851, Manzano, NM.
Sp. Nestor AGUILAR (1826- ), son of Antonio AGUILAR and Lorenza
ULIBARRI
1.1.3.1 Gabina AGUILAR
Sp. Henry FARMER
1.1.4 José Romulo MONTOYA (1835- )
Born 8 Feb 1835, Manzano, NM.
1.1.5 María Paula MONTOYA (1838- )
Born Feb 1838.
1.1.6 Juana María MONTOYA (1840- )
Born 7 Oct 1840, Manzano, NM.
1.1.7 José Ramon MONTOYA (1843- )
Born 10 May 1843, Manzano, NM.
1.1.8 Mariantonia MONTOYA (1846- )
Born 2 Sep 1846, Manzano, NM.
1.1.9 José Antonio MONTOYA (1846- )
Born 2 Sep 1846, Manzano, NM.
1.1.10 José Aquilino MONTOYA (1850- )
Born 5 Jul 1850, Manzano, NM.
1.1.11 Tranquilino MONTOYA
Born "abt 1851", Manzano, NM.
1.1.12 Carlota MONTOYA
Born "abt 1851", Manzano, NM.
1.1.13 Amanda MONTOYA
Born "abt 1860", Manzano, NM.
1.2 José 'Prudencio' TORRES (1809- )
Born 22 May 1809, Tomé Parish. Married María Juliana "Julianita" LUCERO,
28 Jun 1832, Tomé Parish.
Spouse, María Juliana "Julianita" LUCERO (1811- ) daughter of Domingo
LUCERO and Manuela MIRABAL
1.2.1 Casimira TORRES (1833- )
Born 12 May 1833. Married José 'Nicolas' PEREA, 26 Oct 1854,
Tomé Parish. Married Juan José MÁRQUEZ in 1851. Married
José Pablo SERNA in 1849.
Sp. (1) José Pablo SERNA
Sp. (2) Juan José MÁRQUEZ, son of José María MÁRQUEZ and Ana
María ORTEGA
1.2.1.1 María Eulogia MÁRQUEZ (1853- )
Born 2 Sep 1853, Manzano, NM.
Sp. (3) José 'Nicolas' PEREA (1831- ), son of José María PERA and
María SÁEZ
1.2.1.2 Octaviano PEREA
Married Teodora GARCÍA, 30 Jun 1887, Lincoln ,
NM.
Sp. Teodora GARCÍA, daughter of Antonio Jose
GARCÍA and Consepcion MÁRQUEZ
1.2.1.3 José Ygnacio PEREA (1860- )
Born 31 Jul 1860, Torreón (Manzano Area), NM.
1.2.1.4 Juan José PEREA (1867- )
Born 27 Dec 1867, Torreón (Manzano Area), NM.
1.3 María Felipa Antonia TORRES (1811- )
Born 30 Apr 1811, Tomé Parish.
1.4 María 'Dolores' TORRES (1814- )
Born 7 Jul 1814, Tomé Parish. Married Lorenzo MONTOYA.
Spouse, Lorenzo MONTOYA
1.5 José de los Reyes TORRES (1820-1928)
Born Jan 1820, Tomé Jurisdiction. Baptized 20 Feb 1820, Tomé Jurisdiction.
Married Trinidad CHÁVEZ. Died 25 Feb 1928, Capitan, Lincoln Co.
Spouse, Trinidad CHÁVEZ, daughter of Diego Antonio CHÁVEZ and María 'Rozalía'
BARELA
1.5.1 María 'Saturnina' TORRES (1845- )
Born 30 Sep 1845, Manzano, NM. Baptized 2 Oct 1845,
Manzano, NM. Married José 'Senobio' PADILLA.
Sp. José 'Senobio' PADILLA (1839- ), son of José Encarnación
PADILLA(1814- ) and María Juliana "Julianita" LUCERO (1811-)
1.5.1.1 Antonia PADILLA
Born "abt 1864".
1.5.1.2 Celestino PADILLA
Born "abt 1869".
1.5.1.3 Irineo PADILLA
Born "abt 1873".
1.5.1.4 Severo PADILLA
Born "abt 1875". Married Josefa SÁNCHEZ, 4
Mar 1899, Lincoln Co, NM. From Tucson, Lincoln
Co.
Sp. Josefa SÁNCHEZ, daughter of Esiquio SÁNCHEZ
and Isabel ANALLA
1.5.1.5 Bonefacia PADILLA
Born "abt 1878". Married Ysidro ZAMORA, 21
Jul 1896, Lincoln Co.
Sp. Ysidro ZAMORA (1867- ), son of Santiago
ZAMORA and Dolores PEREA
1.5.1.6 Juliana PADILLA
Married Julían SERNA, 28 Jan 1897, Lincoln Co,
NM.
Sp. Julían SERNA, son of Victor SERNA and Maria
FLORES
1.5.1.7 Dolores PADILLA (1882-1974)
Born 4 Apr 1882, Capitan, Lincoln Co. Married
Victoriano ARTIAGA. Died 15 Aug 1974, Belen,
NM.
Sp. Victoriano ARTIAGA (1882-1923), son of Manuel
ARTIAGA and Eliza MILLER
1.5.1.8 Celso PADILLA
1.5.2 Juana TORRES
Born "abt 1850".
1.5.3 María TORRES ( -1910)
Born "abt 1852", Manzano, NM. Married Jesús SANDOVAL Y
SENA, 15 Oct 1866, Rio Bonito, NM. Died 24 May 1910,
Carrizozo, NM.
Sp. Jesús SANDOVAL Y SENA ( -1898), son of Miguel SANDOVAL
and Maria SENA
1.5.3.1 Esiquia SANDOVAL (1870- )
Born 1870. Married Jesús María Jr. PADILLA.
Sp. Jesús María Jr. PADILLA (1859- ), son of Jesús
María Sr. PADILLA (1821- ) and María 'Sostena'
CARRILLO
1.5.3.2 Leonore SANDOVAL
Born "abt 1871". Married Boston FREEMAN.
Married Nicolas PERALTA, 24 Jan 1898, Lincoln
Co, NM.
Sp. (1) Boston FREEMAN
Sp. (2) Nicolas PERALTA, son of Filomeno PERALTA
and Ylaria PADILLA
1.5.3.3 Dolores "Lola" SANDOVAL
Born "abt 1873", Lincoln Co, NM. Married José
CHÁVEZ, 22 Nov 1890, Lincoln, NM.
Sp. José CHÁVEZ, son of José María CHÁVEZ and Ana
María BACA
1.5.3.4 Josefa SANDOVAL (1875-1949)
Born Jul 1875, TX. Married José María VEGA.
Died 8 Mar 1949, Albuquerque, NM.
Sp. José María VEGA (1845-1919)
José had a brother Antonio, they both filed for
homesteads in Lincoln Co.
1.5.3.5 Benino SANDOVAL
Born "abt 1879". Married Josefa LÓPEZ, 21 Jun
1896.
Sp. Josefa LÓPEZ, daughter of Severiano LÓPEZ and
Bibiana ROMERO
1.5.3.6 Candelario SANDOVAL (1884- )
Born 2 Feb 1884, Nogal, Lincoln Co. Married
Benigna BUENO, 25 Oct 1905, White Oaks,
Lincoln Co.
Sp. Benigna BUENO, daughter of Marcos BUENO (1866) and Encarnación GONZALES
1.5.3.7 Bernardino SANDOVAL (1891- )
Born 29 May 1891.
1.5.3.8 Rosa SANDOVAL (1885- )
Born 30 Aug 1885. Married Pablo TELLES, 8
Mar 1902.
Sp. Pablo TELLES, son of Luis TELLES and Tiburcia
LÓPEZ
1.5.3.9 Teodosa SANDOVAL
1.5.4 Juan Estevan TORRES (1853- )
Born 25 Dec 1853.
1.5.5 Esiquia TORRES
Born about 1856. Married José María VEGA, 17 Jan 1878, Tom
Greene Co. TX. Died about 1889, Nogal, Lincoln Co.
Sp. José María VEGA (1845-1919)
José had a brother Antonio, they both filed for homesteads in
Lincoln Co.
1.5.5.1 Antonio (#1) VEGA
Died At 5 Yrs.
1.5.5.2 Margarite VEGA (1880-1936)
Born Jan 1880, Nogal, Lincoln Co. Married
"Fred" Fredrico LALONE. Died 1 Apr 1936, Sierra
Madre, CA. Buried Sierra Madre Cemetery, Sierra
Madre, CA.
Sp. "Fred" Fredrico LALONE (1878-1958), son of
"Tiofilo" Theophilus LALONDE (1837-1908) and
"Lada" María Estanislada PADILLA (1846-1913)
1.5.5.3 Florencio VEGA (1882-1966)
Born Jun 1882, Lincoln County, NM. Married
Juanita UDEROS. Died 15 May 1966, Lincoln
County, NM.
Sp. Juanita UDEROS, daughter of Guillermo UDEROS
and Refugia ORTIZ
1.5.5.4 Antonio "Benito" VEGA ( -1928)
Born "abt 1882", Lincoln County, NM. Married
Lucila (Unknown) Died Dec 1928, Lincoln County,
NM. Buried Evergreen Cemetery, Carrizozo.
Sp. Lucila (Unknown)
1.5.5.5 Elvira VEGA
Died young.
1.5.5.6 Alejandra VEGA
Died young.
1.5.6 José TORRES
Married Lucinda FRÉSQUEZ, 20 Nov 1883, Lincoln Co, NM.
Married Adelaida GARCÍA, 29 Nov 1885, Nogal, Lincoln Co.
Married Tiburcia TELLES, 15 Jun 1893, Ruidoso, Lincoln Co.
Sp. (1) Lucinda FRÉSQUEZ, daughter of Vicente FRÉSQUEZ and
Antonia TAFOYA
Sp. (2) Adelaida GARCÍA, daughter of Pedro GARCÍA and Leonor
GURULE
Sp. (3) Tiburcia TELLES, daughter of Luis TELLES and Tiburcia
LÓPEZ
1.5.7 Albino TORRES
1.5.8 Doroteo TORRES
Sp. Veneranda CORDOVA
1.5.9 Donicia TORRES
1.5.10 Viviana TORRES
1.6 María de la Cruz TORRES (1821- )
Born 4 Sep 1821, San Fernando, NM.
1.7 José María TORRES ( -1861)
Married María 'Lorenza' HERRERA, 23 Nov 1852, Tomé Parish. Died 1861.
Spouse, María 'Lorenza' HERRERA (1830- ), daughter of Francisco HERRERA and
Francisca ORTEGA
1.7.1 Genobeva TORRES (1855- )
Born 25 Dec 1855.
1.7.2 María Longina TORRES (1856- )
Born 13 Mar 1856.
1.7.3 Francisca TORRES (FLORES) (1860-1954)
Born Apr 1860. Married Mariano ALDAZ. Died 13 Mar 1954,
Roswell, NM.
Sp. Mariano ALDAZ (1848-1916), son of Palvin ALDAZ and Tomasa
SENA
1.7.3.1 Pablin ALDAZ (1883- )
Born Oct 1883. Married Antonia MIRABAL, 22
Nov 1892.
Comment by priest on marriage certificate about his
age.
Sp. Antonia MIRABAL, daughter of Jesús MIRABAL
and Nepomuncena TORRES
1.7.3.2 Tomasita ALDAZ (1887-1979)
Born 17 Aug 1887, Lincoln, Co. Married Jesús
María MONTES, 22 Feb 1908, Lincoln Co, NM.
Died 7 Mar 1979, Roswell, NM.
Sp. Jesús María MONTES (1883-1953)
1.7.3.3 Epifano Torrez ALDAZ (1893-1974)
Born 22 Sep 1893. Died 28 Dec 0174.
Sp. Margarita C (Unknown)
1.7.3.4 Isabel ALDAZ (1895- )
Born Nov 1895.
Sp. Ramonsita (Unkown)
1.7.3.5 Luz ALDAZ (1899- )
Born Jun 1899.
Sp. Bartola JIMÉNEZ
1.7.3.6 Antonia ALDAZ (1900-1993)
Born 27 Dec 1900, Lincoln , NM. Died 8 Apr
1993.
Sp. Mauro SÁNCHEZ
1.7.4 María 'Petra' TORRES (FLORES) (1861- )
Born 2 Aug 1861.
Lorenza Salas
Married or had children by José TORRES and Manuel PADILLA. She married Juan
GONZALES 27 Sep 1816, San Fernando, NM.
Spouse (1) José TORRES
1.1 Ana María TORRES
Married Santiago TOLEDO 30 Nov 1824, San Fernando, NM. Married
Ygnacio GUEVARA 11 May 1844, San Felipe, NM. Died Lincoln County, NM.
Spouse (1) Santiago TOLEDO
1.1.1 José 'Nazario' TOLEDO (GUEVARA) (1826- )
Born 28 Mar 1826.
Spouse (2) Ygnacio GUEVARA (1803- abt 1885)
Born 23 Mar 1803, Nanzas, Durango, Mexico. Married Dolores
CAYALES. Married Ana María TORRES 11 May 1844, San Felipe, NM.
Died about 1885 in Lincoln County, NM.
I have included the child of Ygnacio‟s first wife- Dolores CAYALES. Placidio‟s family came
to Lincoln County around the same time as Ana María and Ygnacio and is a part of our story, ed.
(To confuse you, this group has its own numbering)
1.1 Placidio GUEBARA ( -1904)
Married María SÁNCHEZ. Relationship Tecla SISNEROS. Married Librada
BARELA 12 Aug 1892, Lincoln County, NM. Died 31 May 1904, Lincoln
County, NM. Buried White Oaks, Lincoln Co.
Spouse (1) María SÁNCHEZ ( -1884)
1.1.1 María Mercedes GUEBARA
1.1.2 Maximiano GUEBARA (1856-1915)
Born 19 Aug 1856, Lincoln , NM. Married Felicita MONTOYA.
Died 22 Nov 1915, Carrizozo, Lincoln Co.
Sp. Felicita MONTOYA ( -1930)
1.1.2.1 Abel Liberato Flores GUEBARA (1882-1933)
Born 12 Feb 1882. Died 4 Jul 1933, Salt Lake
City, UT.
Sp. Esther GONZALES (1888-1968)
1.1.3 Albino GUEBARA (1862- )
Born 1862. Died, accidentally shot as a young boy.
1.1.4 Justa GUEBARA (1869- )
Born 5 Jul 1869.
1.1.5 Manuel GUEBARA (1870-1937)
Born 17 Jun 1870, Lincoln , NM. Married Donacina GARCÍA
1888. Married Concepción GARCÍA 1904. Married Olympia
GARCÍA 1904. Married Petras GONZALES 26 Mar 1909, White
Oaks, Lincoln Co. Died 2 Oct 1937.
Sp. (1) Donacina GARCÍA
1.1.5.1 Alejandro GUEBARA (1890- )
Born 2 Oct 1890.
Sp. (2) Concepción GARCÍA
1.1.5.2 Sarah GUEBARA (1885- )
Born 19 Dec 1885.
Spouse, Juan GONZALES
1.1.5.3 Daniel GUEBARA (1900- )
Born 15 Sep 1900.
Sp. (3) Olympia GARCÍA
1.1.5.4 Manuel Jr. GUEBARA (1906- )
Born 27 Jan 1906.
Sp. (4) Petras GONZALES (1890-1957)
1.1.5.5 Abraham GUEBARA
1.1.5.6 Patricia GUEBARA
1.1.5.7 Juan GUEBARA (1910- )
Born 10 Feb 1910.
1.1.5.8 Manuela GUEBARA (1911- )
Born 17 Sep 1911.
1.1.5.9 Samuel GUEBARA (1914- )
Born 8 Feb 1914.
1.1.5.10 Pedro GUEBARA (1916- )
Born 12 Jan 1916.
1.1.5.11 Mary Isabel GUEBARA (1918- )
Born 19 Nov 1918, White Oaks, Lincoln Co.
Sp. Hugh Allen JONES (1922-1944)
1.1.5.12 Pablo GUEBARA (1918-1919)
Born 19 Nov 1918, White Oaks, Lincoln Co. Died
1919.
1.1.5.13 Antonia GUEBARA (1924- )
Born 23 Jul 1924.
1.1.6 Lorenzo GUEBARA (1873-1939)
Born Aug 1873, Lincoln, NM. Married Maximiliana
BILDERAIS 20 Nov 1893, Lincoln County, NM. Married Elena
GONZALES 14 Aug 1913, Lincoln County, NM. Died 21 Mar
1939, Lincoln County, NM. Buried Capitan, Lincoln Co.
Sp. (1) Maximiliana BILDERAIS (1875-1913), daughter of Jesús
BILDERAIS and María De Los Santos TORRES (1842- )
1.1.6.1 Lucila GUEBARA
1.1.6.2 Dolores "Lola" GUEBARA (1895- )
Born 6 Feb 1895. Married Clemente TORRES 27
Feb 1911, Lincoln County, NM.
Sp. Clemente TORRES
1.1.6.3 Cruz GUEBARA (1897- )
Born 9 May 1897. Married Hipolito GONZALES
16 Nov 1912.
Sp. Hipolito GONZALES
1.1.6.4 Mariana GUEBARA (1898- )
Born 17 Aug 1898.
1.1.6.5 Alvino GUEBARA (1900-1946)
Born 24 Jan 1900. Married Nobora SUERAS
about 1925, married Nellie GALLEGOS. Died 24
Mar 1946.
Sp. (1) Nobora SUERAS
Sp. (2) Nellie GALLEGOS ( -1998)
1.1.6.6 Adalia GUEBARA (1902- )
Born 13 Feb 1902. Married Pedro PEREA 2 Jun
1917.
Sp. Pedro PEREA
1.1.6.7 Flora GUEBARA (1904- )
Born 8 Jul 1904. Married Feilpe MARTÍNEZ 19
Oct 1918, Lincoln Co, NM. Married Serapalo
TORRES 17 Sep 1934, Lincoln Co, NM.
Sp. (1) Feilpe MARTÍNEZ
Sp. (2) Serapalo TORRES
1.1.6.8 Lorenzo Jr. GUEBARA (1906- )
Born 17 Jan 1906.
1.1.6.9 Adelina GUEBARA (1907- )
Born 13 Nov 1907.
1.1.6.10 Zenaida GUEBARA (1909- )
Born 30 Jul 1909.
Sp. (2) Elena GONZALES
1.1.6.11 Romualdo GUEBARA (1914- )
Born 2 Jul 1914.
1.1.6.12 Alberto GUEBARA (1916- )
Born 5 Mar 1916.
1.1.6.13 Eutilia "Tillie" GUEBARA (1918- )
Born 11 Mar 1918.
1.1.6.14 Julián GUEBARA (1920-1936)
Born 19 Apr 1920. Died 4 Dec 1936.
1.1.6.15 María GUEBARA (1922- )
Born 17 Mar 1922.
1.1.6.16 Jane Ema GUEBARA (1924- )
Born 22 Feb 1924. Married William ALRED.
Sp. William ALRED
1.1.6.17 Apologia GUEBARA (1928- )
Born 10 Apr 1928.
1.1.7 Ana Debara GUEBARA (1875- )
Born 19 Oct 1875.
1.1.8 Francisco GUEBARA (1878- )
Born 1878. Married Jesucita LEAL about 1902, Lincoln Co,
NM.
Sp. Jesucita LEAL (1874- ), daughter of Manuel LEAL and Refugia
ORTIZ
1.1.8.1 Gilberto GUEBARA
1.1.8.2 Lupe GUEBARA (1907- )
Born 7 Feb 1907, Alamogordo Otero Co.
Sp. Miguel AVINA
1.1.8.3 Frank GUEBARA (1908-1998)
Born 13 Jun 1908, El Paso TX. Married Mary
Isabel ANDERSON 28 Aug 1930. Died 18 Sep
1998, El Paso TX.
Sp. Mary Isabel ANDERSON (1910-1982)
1.1.8.4 Jamie GUEBARA (1909- )
Born 22 Mar 1909.
Sp. Consuelo PERCHES
1.1.9 Alvino GUEBARA (1880- )
Born 1880. Died.
Relationship (2) Tecla SISNEROS (1839-1908)
1.1.10 Felis GUEBARA (1859-1930)
Born 20 Oct 1859. Married Carmelita TORRES 19 Dec 1883,
Lincoln Co, NM. Died 30 Dec 1930.
Sp. Carmelita TORRES (1869-1934), daughter of Crecencio TORRES
and Miguela MIRANDA
1.1.10.1 Amado GUEBARA (1903- )
Born 3 Aug 1903.
1.1.10.2 Samuel GUEBARA (1905-1947)
Born 16 Mar 1905. Married Fidelina
JARAMILLO 29 Jul 1937, Lincoln Co, NM. Died
10 May 1947, Lincoln Co, NM.
Sp. Fidelina JARAMILLO
1.1.10.3 Solamon GUEBARA (1906- )
Born 13 Aug 1906.
Sp. Joelita BARLEA
1.1.10.4 Beatriz GUEBARA (1908- )
Born 20 Apr 1908. Married Tom CURRENT 27
May 1934, Lincoln Co, NM.
Sp. Tom CURRENT
Sp. (3) Librada BARELA
Here we continue with Lorenza‟s direct family.
Spouse (2) Manuel PADILLA
1.2 José Encarnación PADILLA (1814- )
Born 25 Mar 1814, San Fernando, NM. Married María Juliana "Julianita"
LUCERO. Married María 'Polonia' HERRERA 31 Oct 1850, Manzano, NM.
Died.
Spouse (1) María Juliana "Julianita" LUCERO (1811- ), daughter of Domingo
LUCERO and Manuela MIRABAL
1.2.1 José 'Senobio' PADILLA (1839- )
Born Nov 1839, Manzano, NM. Bap 8 Dec 1839, Manzano, NM.
Married María 'Satrunina' TORRES.
Sp. María 'Saturnina' TORRES (1845- ), daughter of José de los Reyes
TORRES (1820-1928) and Trinidad CHÁVEZ
1.2.1.1 Antonia PADILLA
Born about 1864.
Sp. "Tiofilo" Theophilus LALONDE (1837-1908), son of Louis
LALONDE and Mary Unk.
1.2.3.1 Louis #1 LALONE (1869- )
Born 21 Oct 1869. Died in infancy.
1.2.3.2 "Beckie" Rebeca LALONE (1871-1934)
Born 18 Mar 1871, Lincoln County, NM. Married
Dave TINNON White Oaks, Lincoln Co. Died 26
May 1934, El Paso, TX.
Sp. Dave TINNON ( 1856-1901 )
Buried in White Oaks, Cedarvale Cemetery
1.2.3.3 Fannie #1 LALONDE (1872- )
Born 23 Dec 1872. Died in infancy.
1.2.3.4 "Fannie"Epifinia LALONE (1876-1978)
Born 3 Dec 1876, Magado Creek, Lincoln Co,
NM. Married Peter Elijah "Doc" LACEY 14 Dec
1898, White Oaks, Lincoln Co. Died 7 Nov 1978,
Pasadena, CA. Buried Sierra Madre Cemetery,
Sierra Madre, CA.
Sp. Peter Elijah "Doc" LACEY (1870-1937), son of
Lewis Madison LACEY (1835- ) and Margaret
WHITE
Buried Sierra Madre Cemetery, Sierra Madre, CA.
1.2.3.5 "Fred" Fredrico LALONE (1878-1958)
Born 29 Oct 1878, Nogal, Lincoln Co. Married
Margarite VEGA. Died 31 Dec 1958, Sierra Madre,
CA.
Sp. Margarite VEGA (1880-1936), daughter of José
Maria VEGA (1845-1919) and Esiquia TORRES
1.2.3.6 Antonio LALONE (1880- )
Born 2 Jun 1880, Nogal, Lincoln Co. Died as a
child.
1.2.3.7 "Carrie" Carolina LALONE (1881- )
Born 8 Nov 1881, Nogal, Lincoln Co. Married
Julián LEAL 20 Mar 1897, Lincoln County, NM.
Died Sierra Madre, CA. Buried Sierra Madre
Cemetery, Sierra Madre, CA.
Sp. Julián LEAL (1872- ), son of Manuel LEAL and
Refugia ORTIZ
1.2.3.8 Pauline LALONE (1884- )
Born 15 Jun 1884, Nogal, Lincoln Co. Died as a
child.
1.2.3.9 " Addie" Adelaida LALONE (1885-1914)
Born 31 Jul 1885, Nogal, Lincoln Co. Married Joe
SÁNCHEZ 12 Feb 1903, White Oaks, Lincoln Co.
Died 1914, Lincoln Co, NM.
Sp. Joe SÁNCHEZ (1881-1954), son of Crecencio
SÁNCHEZ and Maria Unk.
1.2.3.10 Louis H. LALONDE (1887-1946)
Born 11 Sep 1887, Nogal, Lincoln Co. Married
Elvira UDEROS 25 Sep 1909, Carrizozo, NM.
Died 11 Mar 1946, Los Angeles County, CA.
Sp. Elvira UDEROS (1893- ), daughter of Guillermo
UDEROS and Refugia ORTIZ
1.2.4 María 'Teresa' PADILLA (1848-1882)
Born Jan 1848, Manzano, NM. Bap 8 Mar 1848, Manzano, NM.
Married Lyon PHILLIPOWSKI. Married Samuel Robert
CORBET. Died 10 Feb 1882, Lincoln , NM.
Sp. (1) Lyon PHILLIPOWSKI ( -1873)
Killed in gunfight with William Burns.
1.2.4.1 María Dolores "Lola" PHILLIPOWSKI(1866- )
Born 10 Oct 1866, Rio Bonito, NM.
Sp. (2) Samuel Robert CORBET (1851-1923)
1.2.4.2 Carolina CORBET (1880-1881)
Born 16 Jul 1880, Lincoln , NM. Died 13 May
1881, White Oaks, Lincoln Co.
Spouse (2) María 'Polonia' HERRERA (1823- ), daughter of Francisco HERRERA
and Francisca ORTEGA
1.2.5 María 'Manuela' PADILLA (1850- )
Born 19 Jan 1850, Manzano, NM. Bap 18 Feb 1850, Manzano,
NM.
1.2.6 María 'Francisca' PADILLA (1856- )
Born 10 Apr 1856. Bap 30 Apr 1856. Married David
MCKINLEY 16 Jul 1871, Lincoln, Co. Married John MACK 12
Dec 1897, Nogal, Lincoln Co.
Sp. (1) David MCKINLEY
1.2.6.1 Emiliano MCKINLEY
Born "abt 1871". Married María Concepción
PADILLA.
Sp. María Concepción PADILLA, daughter of José Leon
Sr. PADILLA and Juana María 'Nestora' ZAMORA
(1857- )
1.2.6.2 Ysidro MCKINLEY
Born "abt 1873". Married Apolonia HERRERA
12 Jan 1896, Lincoln, Co.
Sp. Apolonia HERRERA, daughter of Eulogio
HERRERA and Anastacia ARCHULETA
1.2.6.3 Adan MCKINLEY
Sp. (2) John MACK (1852- )
1.2.7 "Adan" José Alberto PADILLA (1865- )
Born 1865. Bap 14 Oct 1866, Rio Bonito, NM. Adopted Indian
child, adopted of Indian parents. Married Teodora G.
Sp. Teodora G. Unk.
1.2.7.1 Manuelita PADILLA
Married Tomas ARCHULETA 25 Jul 1908,
Lincoln Co, NM.
Sp. Tomas ARCHULETA , son of Antonio
ARCHUELTA and Eloisa MORAGA
Spouse (3) Juan GONZALES ( - )
1.3 María Dolores GONZALES (1817- )
Born 16 Jan 1817.
1.4 María Antonia GONZALES (1819- )
Born 9 Mar 1819. Died.
1.5 Juliana De Los Dolores GONZALES (1822- )
Born 8 Apr 1822. Married Juan José MÁRQUEZ.
Spouse, Juan José (Montoya)MÁRQUEZ, adopted son of José María MÁRQUEZ and
María Manulea ORTEGA
1.5.1 María 'Nicanora' MÁRQUEZ (1839- )
Born Jan 1839, Manzano, NM. Married 'José' Sinforiano
CARRILLO. Died.
Sp. 'José' Sinforiano CARRILLO (1833- ) son of Julian CARRILLO
and Juana Barbara HERRERA
1.5.1.1 'José' Espiridion CARRILLO (1854- )
Born Dec 1854, Manzano, NM.
1.5.1.2 Doroteo CARRILLO (1857- )
Born 2 Jun 1857, Manzano, NM. Married Felicita
CHÁVEZ 28 Jul 1879, Lincoln , NM.
Sp. Felicita CHÁVEZ daughter of Unk. Chávez and
Gabina Torres
1.5.1.3 Mariano CARRILLO (abt. 1864)
1.5.1.4 Teresa CARRILLO (1867- )
Born 16 Aug 1867, Manzano, NM.
Sp. George SENA, son of Ygnacio SENA and Agapita
ORTIZ
1.5.1.5 Juanita CARRILLO
Born May 1870. Married Antonio CHÁVEZ 14
Feb 1885, Lincoln, NM.
Sp. Antonio CHÁVEZ, son of José CHÁVEZ Y
MONTOYA and Apolinaria LÓPEZ
1.5.1.6 Beatriz CARRILLO
Born about 1875.
Sp.José Luis Baca
1.5.1.7 Virginia CARRILLO
Born about 1873. Married José TORRES.
Sp. José TORRES
1.5.2 Antonio MÁRQUEZ (b. abt. 1842)
1.6 Baltazar De Los Reyes GONZALES (1825- ) Born 2 Jan 1825.
Rita Baca
Daughter of don Bartolemé Baca and doña María de la Luz Chaves
Married, José 'Gregorio' SÁNCHEZ. son of don Cristobal Sanches and doña Juana Chaves
Spouse, José 'Gregorio' SÁNCHEZ
1.1 Juan Cristoval SÁNCHEZ (1810- )
Born 14 Feb 1810.
1.2 José Manuel SÁNCHEZ (1812- )
Born 30 Jan 1812, San Fernando, NM.
1.3 Diego Antonio SÁNCHEZ (1813- )
Born 17 Dec 1813, San Fernando, NM.
1.4 Santiago SÁNCHEZ (1816- )
Born 24 Jul 1816, San Fernando, NM. Married Mariana PEREA 1870, Lincoln
Co, NM.
Spouse, Mariana PEREA
1.4.1 Ygnacio SÁNCHEZ
Born about 1846.
1.4.2 Samuel SÁNCHEZ
Born about 1850.
1.4.3 Amancio SÁNCHEZ
Born about 1852.
1.4.4 María 'Dolores' SÁNCHEZ
Born about 1856. Married Agapito GALLEGOS 25 Mar 1870,
Lincoln Co, NM.
Sp. Agapito GALLEGOS
1.4.4.1 Jesucita GALLEGOS
Married Reyes MIRABAL 7 Feb 1898, San Ysidro
(Ruidoso), Lincoln Co.
Sp. Reyes MIRABAL, son of Juan Nepomunceno
MIRABAL (1808- ) and María 'Guadalupe'
TRUJILLO (1842-1912)
1.4.5 Angela SÁNCHEZ
Born about 1857.
1.4.6 Rita SÁNCHEZ
Born about 1862.
1.5 José María SÁNCHEZ (1818- )
Born 19 Jul 1818, San Fernando, NM.
1.6 José 'Mauricio' SÁNCHEZ (1820-1892)
Born 22 Sep 1820, San Fernando, NM. Married María Jesús GONZALES 2
Jun 1843. Died Nov 1892, San Patricio, Lincoln Co.
Spouse, María Jesús GONZALES (1828- ), daughter of Ramon GONZALES and
Juana MONTOYA
1.6.1 José 'Antonio' SÁNCHEZ (1844-1894)
Born 12 Dec 1844, Tomé Jurisdiction. Married Telesfora
MIRABAL 9 Mar 1877, Tularosa, Otero Co. Died 22 Aug 1894,
San Patricio, Lincoln Co.
Sp. Telesfora MIRABAL (1862-1939), daughter of Juan Nepomunceno
MIRABAL (1808- ) and María 'Guadalupe' TRUJILLO (18421912)
1.6.1.1 Salomon SÁNCHEZ (1878-1952)
Born 15 Jul 1878, Tularosa, NM. Married Jennie
GILL 6 Dec 1900, Ruidoso, Lincoln Co. Died Nov
1952, Ruidoso, Lincoln Co.
Sp. Jennie GILL (1881-1913), daughter of William James
GILL (1839-1889) and María 'Alta Gracia'
HERRERA (1856-1893)
1.6.1.2 Jesusita SÁNCHEZ (1883- )
Born Jun 1883. Married Julián SILVA.
Sp. Julián SILVA
1.6.1.3 Manuel SÁNCHEZ (1884-1945)
Born 17 Dec 1884, Glencoe, Lincoln Co. Married
María Estella GILL 13 Jun 1909, Ruidoso, Lincoln
Co. Died 28 Dec 1945, Lake Arthur, Chávez Co.
NM.
Sp. María Estella GILL (1887-1938), daughter of
William James GILL (1839-1889) and María 'Alta
Gracia' HERRERA (1856-1893)
1.6.1.4 Danios SÁNCHEZ (1890- )
Born 24 Oct 1890. Married Lupe VALLES.
Sp. Lupe VALLES
1.6.1.5 Guadalupe SÁNCHEZ (1892- )
Born 17 May 1892. Married Juan MONTEZ.
Sp. Juan MONTEZ
1.6.1.6 Senida SÁNCHEZ (1895- )
Born 6 Aug 1895, Glencoe, Lincoln Co. Married
Johnny MACK 1 Feb 1912, Ruidoso, Lincoln Co.
Sp. Johnny MACK ( -1927)
1.6.1.7 Arsenia SÁNCHEZ (1898- )
Born Feb 1898. Married Charles CURRY.
Sp. Charles CURRY
1.6.2 Estalono SÁNCHEZ (1847- )
Born 1847, Torreón (Manzano Area), NM. Married Cornilia
PACHECO 21 Jul 1871, Rio Bonito, NM. Died.
Sp. Cornilia PACHECO, daughter of Francisco PACHECO and Romula
ISABELLA
1.6.2.1 Felipe SÁNCHEZ (1874- )
Born 21 Jan 1874, Lincoln , NM.
Sp. Candelaria PADILLA (1879- )
1.6.2.2 Eluticia SÁNCHEZ
Sp. Erinello GALBADON
Sp. Augustin CHÁVEZ
1.6.2.3 Valentin SÁNCHEZ
1.6.2.4 Aurelio SÁNCHEZ
Married Anastacia ARAGON 11 Oct 1907.
Sp. Anastacia ARAGON, daughter of Manuel ARAGON
and Pofina GONZALES
1.6.2.5 Presiliano SÁNCHEZ
Married Guadalupe MARTÍNEZ 12 Sep 1906,
Lincoln Co, NM.
Sp. Guadalupe MARTÍNEZ, daughter of Antonio
MARTÍNEZ
1.6.2.6 Celia SÁNCHEZ
Sp. George TORRES
1.6.2.7 Estolano Jr. SÁNCHEZ
Married Barbarita TORRES 28 Feb 1910, Lincoln,
NM.
Sp. Barbarita TORRES, daughter of Crecencio TORRES
and Miguela MIRANDA
Sp. Elena CHÁVEZ
1.6.2.8 Rosario SÁNCHEZ
Sp. William Jr. BRADY, son of William BRADY and
Bonifacia CHÁVEZ
1.6.3 Reymunda SÁNCHEZ (1853- )
Born May 1853. Married Florencio GONZALES.
Sp. Florencio GONZALES ( -1897)
1.6.3.1 Erlinda GONZALES
Married Francisco CHÁVEZ 29 Mar 1890.
Sp. Francisco CHÁVEZ, son of José Saturnino de Jesús
CHÁVEZ (1825- ) and María 'Francisca' LUNA
1.6.3.2 Juan GONZALES (1870- )
Born 1870.
1.6.3.3 Prospero GONZALES (1871-1937)
Born 1871. Married Telesfora MIRABAL 28 Mar
1900, Glencoe, Lincoln Co. Died 20 Aug 1937, San
Patricio, Lincoln Co.
Sp. Telesfora MIRABAL (1862-1939), daughter of Juan
Nepomunceno MIRABAL (1808- ) and María
'Guadalupe' TRUJILLO (1842-1912)
1.6.3.4 Alfredo GONZALES (1873- )
Born 1873.
1.6.3.5 Leopoldo GONZALES (1873- )
Born 3 Mar 1873. Married Reymunda SEDILLO
28 Nov 1898, San Patricio, Lincoln Co.
Sp. Reymunda SEDILLO, daughter of Juan SEDILLO
and Josefa FAJARDO
1.6.3.6 Aurora GONZALES (1879- )
Born 21 May 1879. Married George ROMERO 19
Nov 1900, San Patricio, Lincoln Co.
Sp. George ROMERO (1880- ), son of Juan de Dios
ROMERO and María 'Cristina' CASTILLO ( -1932)
1.6.3.7 Epiminondas GONZALES (1879- )
Born 25 May 1879. Married Alvira GONZALES
14 Feb 1900, Lincoln , NM.
Sp. Alvira GONZALES, daughter of Jose GONZALES
and María CHÁVEZ
1.6.3.8 Areopagita GONZALES (1883- )
Born 12 Oct 1883. Married Transito Francisco
POLACO 8 Nov 1900, San Patricio, Lincoln Co.
Sp. Transito Francisco POLACO, son of Alejandro
POLACO and Segundia GALLEGOS
1.6.3.9 Isoila GONZALES (1898- )
Born 4 Aug 1898. Married Frank VIGIL 5 Dec
1909, San Patricio, Lincoln Co.
Sp. Frank VIGIL, son of Ramon VIGIL and Victoria
MAES
1.6.3.10 Aurelia GONZALES (1898- )
Born 28 Nov 1898. Married Miguel N. LUNA 28
Nov 1898, Lincoln, Co.
Sp. Miguel N. LUNA, son of Miguel LUNA and Josefa
TORRES
1.6.3.11 Florencio Jr. GONZALES (1907- )
Born 17 Aug 1907. Married Albesa SÁNCHEZ.
Sp. Albesa SÁNCHEZ
Sp. Ambrocio CHÁVEZ (1872-1934)
1.6.4 Francisco SÁNCHEZ
Married Concepción TRUJILLO 19 Mar 1873, Lincoln, Co.
Married Virginia PADILLA 14 Nov 1910, Lincoln, Co.
Sp. Concepción TRUJILLO
1.6.4.1 Napoleon SÁNCHEZ (1876- )
Born Jan 1876. Married María CHÁVEZ 10 Feb
1902, San Patricio, Lincoln Co.
Sp. María CHÁVEZ , daughter of Meregildo CHÁVEZ
and Dolores SILVA
1.6.4.2 David SÁNCHEZ (1878- )
Born Dec 1878. Married Francisca ARCHULETA
8 May 1902, San Patricio, Lincoln Co.
Sp. Francisca ARCHULETA, daughter of Antonio
ARCHULETA and Simona PACHECO
1.6.4.3 Antonio SÁNCHEZ (1880- )
Born Feb 1880. Married Carolina ROMERO 9 Jan
1901, San Patricio, Lincoln Co.
Sp. Carolina ROMERO (1884- ), daughter of Juan de
Dios ROMERO and María 'Cristina' CASTILLO ( 1932)
1.6.4.4 Mauricio SÁNCHEZ (1881- )
Born Sep 1881.
Sp. Delfina ROMERO (1885- ), daughter of Juan de Dios
ROMERO and Maria 'Cristina' CASTILLO ( -1932)
1.6.4.5 Patricio SÁNCHEZ (1884- )
Born 1884.
Sp. Iselia TRUJILLO
1.6.4.6 Jacobo SÁNCHEZ (1886- )
Born Apr 1886.
1.6.4.7 Eloisa SÁNCHEZ (1888- )
Born Feb 1888.
Sp. Felipe SAIZ, son of Pablo SAIZ and Celestina
ARAGON
1.6.4.8 Refina SÁNCHEZ (1889- )
Born Jul 1889.
1.6.4.9 Conrado SÁNCHEZ (1896- )
Born Apr 1896. Married Josefita PADILLA.
Sp. Josefita PADILLA, daughter of José Leon Sr.
PADILLA and Juana María 'Nestora' ZAMORA
(1857- )
Sp. Virginia PADILLA, daughter of José Leon Sr. PADILLA and Juana
María 'Nestora' ZAMORA (1857- )
1.6.5 Juan Francisco SÁNCHEZ
Born about 1852. Married Florencia GONZALES.
Sp. Florencia GONZALES
1.6.6 José Manuel SÁNCHEZ
1.6.7 María 'Visitación' SÁNCHEZ
Born about 1863, Manzano, NM.
Sp. Juan 'Rafael' Jr. SÁNCHEZ (1847- ), son of Juan 'Rafael'
SÁNCHEZ and María de la 'Luz' BARCELO
1.6.7.1 Reymundo SÁNCHEZ
Married Agustina ULIBARRI 17 Dec 1910,
Lincoln Co, NM.
Sp. Agustina ULIBARRI, daughter of Vicente
ULIBARRI and Zeferina UNK.
1.6.7.2 Amanda SÁNCHEZ
Married Luis PENA 12 Jan 1903, Lincoln Co, NM.
Sp. Luis PENA
1.6.7.3 Eduardo Barcelon SÁNCHEZ (1893- )
Born 13 Oct 1893. Married Seniada MONTOYA
8 Oct 1920, Carrizozo, Lincoln Co.
Sp. Seniada MONTOYA
1.6.8 Donaciano SÁNCHEZ
Married Vidal ANALLA.
Sp. Vidal ANALLA, daughter of Pedro ANALLA and Refugia
CHÁVEZ
1.6.9 Amanda SÁNCHEZ (1862- )
Born Dec 1862. Married Pablo CHÁVEZ 20 Jul 1883, Picacho,
Lincoln Co. Died.
Sp. Pablo CHÁVEZ (1857-1938)
1.6.9.1 Abran CHÁVEZ
1.6.9.2 Transito CHÁVEZ (1887- )
Born 29 Jul 1887. Married Angelita CHÁVEZ 15
Apr 1905, San Ysidro (Ruidoso), Lincoln Co.
Sp. Angelita CHÁVEZ, daughter of Roberto CHÁVEZ
and Lucia WALTERS
1.6.9.3 Florlinda CHÁVEZ (1891- )
Born 6 Dec 1891.
1.6.9.4 Olympia CHÁVEZ (1893-1911)
Born 23 Oct 1893, Picacho, Lincoln Co. Married
John MACKEY 26 Apr 1909, Ruidoso, Lincoln Co.
Died 1911, Lincoln County, NM.
Sp. John MACKEY (1892- )
1.6.9.5 Candido CHÁVEZ (1895- )
Born 23 Jun 1895. Married Estella WEST 31 Oct
1910, San Patricio, Lincoln Co.
Sp. Estella WEST, daughter of Johnny WEST and María
Cecilia MONNET
1.6.9.6 Pablito CHÁVEZ (1899- )
Born 1899.
1.6.9.7 Adelaido CHÁVEZ (1903- )
Born 16 Dec 1903. Married Lupe
VALENZUELA.
Sp. Lupe VALENZUELA
1.6.9.8 Hermando CHÁVEZ (1914- )
Born 24 Feb 1914.
Sp. Pablo CHÁVEZ, son of José Saturnino de Jesús CHÁVEZ (1825- )
and María 'Francisca' LUNA
1.7 María Francisca SÁNCHEZ (1822- )
Born 15 Feb 1822, San Fernando, NM.
1.8 Julián de Jesús SÁNCHEZ (1827- )
Born 9 Jan 1827, San Fernando, NM.
Section 5 - The 1870s and Early 1880s
María „Juliana‟ Martín and Fernando de Herrera
The first of our next group of mothers, came from the Rio Arriba area of New Mexico
with her husband Fernando Herrera. They represent the influx of other New
Mexicans that were attracted Lincoln County.
Juliana was born February 13, 1832, in Santa Cruz de la Cañada; the daughter of J.A.
Martín and María Gómez. On September 24, 1856 Juliana married Fernando in Santa
Cruz de la Cañada, Rio Arriba, New Mexico. The 1860 Census finds them still living
in Rio Arriba in the home of Fernando‘s parents. Sometime toward the end of the
1860s they moved to the Rio Colorado in the Taos area where, in 1870, they are
found living next to one of Fernando‘s relatives and apparently work on his farm.
The folks in the upper parts of New Mexico had a little different background than
their southern counterparts; they tended to be more independent and ran their
communities accordingly. Fernando seems to have been dissatisfied with his lot;
Descedents of Juliana Martín
María „Juliana‟ MARTÍN
Born 13 Feb 1832 in Santa Cruz de la Cañada, NM. Daughter of J.A. Martín and María Gómez
Married José 'Fernando' de HERRERA 24 Sep 1856, Santa Cruz de la Cañada, NM.
Spouse, José 'Fernando' HERRERA (1836-1915), son of Pedro HERRERA and María
ARCHULETA
1.1 María 'Alta Gracia' HERRERA (1856-1893)
Born 15 Apr 1856, Santa Cruz de la Cañada, NM. Married William James
GILL 15 Jul 1880, Nogal, Lincoln Co. Married Antonio VALENZUELA 27 Jul
1892, Ruidoso, Lincoln Co. Died 26 Jun 1893, Ruidoso, Lincoln Co.
Spouse (1) William James GILL (1839-1889), son of Robert GILL and Lydia
NORRIS
1.1.1 William GILL
Married Conferina SÁNCHEZ.
Sp. Conferina SÁNCHEZ
1.1.2 Jennie GILL (1881-1913)
Born 19 Married 1881, Nogal, Lincoln Co. Married Salomon
SÁNCHEZ 6 Dec 1900, Ruidoso, Lincoln Co. Died 13 Dec 1913,
Glencoe, Lincoln Co.
Sp. Salomon SÁNCHEZ (1878-1952), son of José 'Antonio' SÁNCHEZ
(1844-1894) and Telesfora MIRABAL (1862-1939)
1.1.2.1 Virginia SÁNCHEZ (1902- )
Born 13 Apr 1902, Glencoe, Lincoln Co.
Sp. Candelario RANDOLPH
1.1.2.2 José Enrique SÁNCHEZ (1903- )
Born 3 Sep 1903, Glencoe, Lincoln Co.
Sp. Carolina GAMBOA
1.1.2.3 Saloman SÁNCHEZ (1905- )
Born 6 Jan 1905, Glencoe, Lincoln Co.
Sp. Teresa de Jesús SALAS
1.1.2.4 Telesfora SÁNCHEZ (1906-1993)
Born 15 Jul 1906, Glencoe, Lincoln Co. Died 18
Nov 1993, Alamogordo, Otero Co.
Sp. Teodoro PENA
1.1.2.5 Eduvigan SÁNCHEZ (1908-1999)
Born 23 Apr 1908, Glencoe, Lincoln Co. Died 7
Mar 1999, Roswell, NM.
Sp. José Antonio SILVA
1.1.2.6 Onofre SÁNCHEZ (1910- )
Born 22 Jun 1910.
1.1.2.7 Anatalia SÁNCHEZ (1911-1969)
Born 10 Sep 1911, Glencoe, Lincoln Co. Married
Julián HERRERA 28 Apr 1934. Died 23 Feb 1969,
Snyder, TX.
Sp. Julián HERRERA
1.1.2.8 María Consuelo SÁNCHEZ (1913- )
Born 22 Apr 1913, Glencoe, Lincoln Co. Married
Benito SILVA 2 Mar 1937.
Sp. Benito SILVA
1.1.3 Alice Vivian GILL (1882- )
Born 15 May 1882. Married Peter HALE.
Sp. Peter HALE
1.1.4 Masedonio GILL (1883- )
Born 9 Feb 1883.
1.1.5 Newman GILL (1885- )
Born 30 Oct 1885. Married Rita SÁNCHEZ
Sp. Rita SÁNCHEZ
1.1.6 María Estella GILL (1887-1938)
Born 12 Aug 1887, Nogal, Lincoln Co. Married Manuel
SÁNCHEZ 13 Jun 1909, Ruidoso, Lincoln Co. Died 29 Mar
1938, Glencoe, Lincoln Co.
Sp. Manuel SÁNCHEZ (1884-1945), son of José 'Antonio' SÁNCHEZ
(1844-1894) and Telesfora MIRABAL (1862-1939)
1.1.6.1 Estolano SÁNCHEZ (1910-1910)
Born 1910. Died 1910.
1.1.6.2 Amanda SÁNCHEZ (1910-1982)
Born 15 Jul 1910, Glencoe, Lincoln Co. Married
Luis TORRES 29 Nov 1927, Roswell, NM. Died
19 Mar 1982, Roswell, NM.
Sp. Luis TORRES (1896-1970), son of Perciliano
TORRES (1868-1931) and Delfina BACA (18801946)
Sp. Antonio VALENZUELA (1853-1922), son of Jesús VALENZUELA and Rita
NÚÑEZ
1.1.7 Rosalia VALENZUELA (1893- )
Born 13 Jul 1893.
1.1.8 Benancio VALENZUELA (1894- )
Born 6 Jun 1894.
1.2 José 'Andrés' HERRERA (1858-1911)
Born 27 Nov 1858, Santa Cruz de la Cañada, NM. Married Rosaria
RODRÍQUEZ 1882. Died 1911.
Sp. Rosaria RODRÍQUEZ (1869-1940), daughter of Jesús RODRÍGUEZ and
Francisca SÁNCHEZ
1.2.1 Fernando Antonio HERRERA (1885- )
Born 13 May 1885.
Sp. Paula WARNER
1.2.2 Lino HERRERA (1885- )
Born 13 May 1885.
1.2.3 Teodora HERRERA (1889- )
Born Nov 1889.
Sp. José SAIZ
1.2.4 Marcelo HERRERA (1892- )
Born 16 Jan 1892.
Sp. Conferina SÁNCHEZ
1.2.5 Juan Sacramento HERRERA (1894- )
Born 8 Mar 1894.
1.2.6 Rosa Perfecta HERRERA (1896- )
Born 28 Apr 1896.
1.2.7 María Petra Rosa HERRERA (1899- )
Born 28 Apr 1899.
Sp. Benjamin SÁNCHEZ
1.2.8 Marcelino HERRERA (1901- )
Born 2 Jun 1901.
1.2.9 Donacino HERRERA (1905- )
Born 19 Jul 1905.
Sp. María Fidelia JARAMILLO
1.2.10 Andrés HERRERA (1909- )
Born 1 Aug 1909.
Sp. Surfia APODACA
1.3 María 'Antonia' HERRERA (1860-1912)
Born 7 May 1860, Santa Cruz de la Cañada, NM. Married Josiah "Doc"
SCURLOCK. Died 27 Nov 1912, Acton, TX.
Sp. Josiah "Doc" SCURLOCK (1849-1929)
1.3.1 María Elena SCURLOCK (1877- )
Born 19 Aug 1877, Ruidoso, Lincoln Co.
1.3.2 Viola Inez SCURLOCK (1878- )
Born 13 Aug 1878, Lincoln , NM.
1.3.3 Josiah Gordon Jr. SCURLOCK (1879- )
Born 11 Oct 1879, Ft. Sumner, NM.
1.3.4 John Josiah SCURLOCK (1881- )
Born 21 May 1881, Rua Ranch, Oldham C. TX.
1.3.5 Amy Antonia SCURLOCK (1884- )
Born 14 Jul 1884, Wilbarger Co. TX.
1.3.6 Martha Ethlinda SCURLOCK (1886- )
Born 10 May 1886, Wilbarger Co. TX.
1.3.7 Presley Fernando SCURLOCK (1888- )
Born 27 Aug 1888, Wilbarger Co. TX.
1.3.8 Delores SCURLOCK (1891- )
Born 10 Mar 1891, Wilbarger Co. TX.
1.3.9 William Andrés SCURLOCK (1893- )
Born 14 Apr 1893, Wilbarger Co. TX.
1.3.10 Josephine Gladys SCURLOCK (1893- )
Born Aug 1893, Johnson Co. TX.
1.4 María Baitol de la Cruz HERRERA (1861- )
Born 23 Aug 1861.
1.5 María 'Nicolása' HERRERA (1862- )
Born 8 Dec 1862. Married Antonio VALENZUELA.
Spouse, Antonio VALENZUELA (1853-1922), son of Jesús VALENZUELA and Rita
NUÑEZ
1.6 María Marta HERRERA (1864- )
Born 24 Apr 1864. Died.
1.7 María 'Manuela' HERRERA (1866-1939)
Born 20 Apr 1866, Santa Cruz de la Cañada, NM. Married Charlie BOWDRE.
Married José PORTILLO. Married Maximiliano CORONA. Married James
SALSBERRY. Died 13 Feb 1939, San Patricio, Lincoln Co.
Spouse (1) Charlie BOWDRE ( -1880)
Spouse (2) José PORTILLO
1.7.1 José Jr. PORTILLO (1893- )
Born 1893. Married Julianna YBARRA.
Sp. Julianna YBARRA
Spouse (3) Maximiano CORONA
1.7.2 Manuel CORONA (1886- )
Born 1886. Married Suzana HERRERA 24 Feb 1909, Ruidoso,
Lincoln Co.
Sp. Suzana HERRERA, daughter of Bonifacio HERRERA and Lorensa
SILVA
1.7.3 Dorotea CORONA (1887- )
Born 6 Feb 1887.
Spouse (4) James SALSBERRY
1.7.4 Ellena SALSBERRY (1889- )
Born 17 Feb 1889, Ruidoso, Lincoln Co. Married Robert
PROVECIO 4 Aug 1922.
Sp. Robert PROVECIO
1.7.5 Augustin SALSBERRY (1896- )
Born 26 Oct 1896. Married Augusta PADILLA.
Sp. Augusta PADILLA
1.7.6 Tomasa SALSBERRY (1897- )
Born 29 Dec 1897. Married Jacob SALAS.
Sp. Jacob SALAS
1.7.7 Martina SALSBERRY (1901-1917)
Born 30 Jan 1901, Glencoe, Lincoln Co. Married Antonio
SÁNCHEZ. Died 7 Sep 1917, Glencoe, Lincoln Co.
Sp. Antonio SÁNCHEZ, son of Felipe SÁNCHEZ (1874- ) and
Candelaria PADILLA (1879- )
1.7.8 Dorotea SALSBERRY (1902- )
Born 5 Feb 1902, Ruidoso, Lincoln Co. Married Ruben Andrés
GONZALES.
Sp. Ruben Andrés GONZALES (1901- ), son of Prospero GONZALES
(1871-1937) and Telesfora MIRABAL (1862-1939)
1.7.9 Fernando SALSBERRY (1904-1937)
Born 13 Apr 1904, Ruidoso, Lincoln Co. Married Lorenza
MONTOYA 15 Jun 1929. Died 11 Sep 1937, San Patricio,
Lincoln Co.
Sp. Lorenza MONTOYA
1.7.10 Santiago SALSBERRY (1906- )
Born 26 Jun 1906. Married Lucia ANAYA.
Sp. Lucia ANAYA
1.7.11 Florinda SALSBERRY (1910-1978)
Born 15 Mar 1910, Ruidoso, Lincoln Co. Married Ramon
SÁNCHEZ 20 Feb 1927. Died 27 Mar 1978, Hondo, Lincoln Co.
Sp. Roman SÁNCHEZ (1904- ), son of Mauricio SÁNCHEZ (1881- )
and Delfina ROMERO (1885- )
1.7.12 Enrique SALSBERRY (1912- )
Born 11 Aug 1912. Married Lola SÁNCHEZ.
Sp. Lola SÁNCHEZ
1.7.13 Frederita SALSBERRY (1914- )
Born 1914.
1.7.14 Gregorio SALSBERRY (1915- )
Born 1915.
1.7.15 Carmen SALSBERRY (1919- )
Born 1919.
1.7.16 Felecita SALSBERRY (1923- )
Born 1923. Married Margarito CHÁVEZ.
Sp. Margarito CHÁVEZ
1.7.17 Margarita SALSBERRY (1925- )
Born 1925.
1.8 Juan Donaciano HERRERA (1868- )
Born 7 Sep 1868.
1.9 Celedonio HERRERA (1870- )
Born 20 Apr 1870.
1.10 José HERRERA
Born about 1871.
1.11 Augustin HERRERA (1872- )
Born 4 Apr 1872.
1.12 Teodoro HERRERA (1873-1924)
Born Apr 1873. Married Tomasa MONTOYA. Died 23 Mar 1924, Otero Co.
NM.
Spouse, Tomasa MONTOYA (1880- ), daughter of Felipe MONTOLLA and Marcellla
CHÁVEZ
1.12.1 Levorio HERRERA
1.12.2 Carmen HERRERA
1.12.3 Manuel HERRERA (1889- )
Born Jun 1889.
1.12.4 Felipe HERRERA (1905- )
Born 5 Aug 1905, San Patricio, Lincoln Co.
Sp. Paublita RIVERA
1.12.5 Julían HERRERA (1909- )
Born 14 Feb 1909, San Patricio, Lincoln Co.
1.12.6 Petra HERRERA (1912- )
Born 1 Jun 1912, San Patricio, Lincoln Co.
1.12.7 Fernando HERRERA (1914- )
Born 18 May 1914, San Patricio, Lincoln Co.
1.12.8 Causelo HERRERA (1915- )
Born 5 Jun 1915, Roswell, NM.
1.12.9 Gregorio HERRERA (1917- )
Born 13 May 1917, San Patricio, Lincoln Co.
Sp. Elizabeth MADRID
Moving Out of the Valleys
If you were anchored on a great observation platform in the sky, at a point where the
Hondo joins the Pecos, looking west, Lincoln County would lay before you as a great
stylized ‗Y‘. The center would be the Hondo Valley; about 15 miles up would be the
location of Missouri Plaza, a little farther up Picacho, then Tinnie and at the
intersection, Hondo or La Junta. The left or south side of the ‗Y‘ would be the
Ruidoso Valley; the right or north side would be the Bonito Valley. Approximately
in-between the top of the ‗Y‘ you would find Fort Stanton.
Development of the Ruidoso Valley was limited to just the canyons that fed into it,
by the Mescalero Reservation to the south; nonetheless there were many fine
locations in the Valley. San Patricio just upstream from La Junta, the Coe ranch an
Glencoe, Turkey Canyon where Fernando Herrera ran cattle (later Hollywood) and of
course Ruidoso which grew up around the location of Dowlin Mill to name a few.
The north fork, the Bonito, developed much the same in the very early years. To the
right or north above La Junta was Chavez Flats. Up stream to the left was Las Chozas
where the Miranda family held sway. Travel about halfway up the valley and you find
La Placita or Lincoln. A little further on is Salazar Canyon on your right, then up the
valley to Rancho Torres. At the top of this side of our stylized ‗Y‘ you might imagine
a large flourish; the Bonito becomes more of a creek and rises southward toward Fort
Stanton, Magado Creek rises a little more westward toward Nogal and the Salado
Creek flows through the flats that lie just north and west of present day Capitan.
The Capitan Mountains form the northern flank of the Bonito Valley and
development radiated in many directions through and beyond them in the 1870s and
into the 1880s; we will visit a few of these settlements. Up Salazar‘s Canyon another
canyon intersects, called Padilla Canyon. Here Jesús María Padilla (no relation to
José Encarnación Padilla), a teamster from the Socorro area, homesteaded. Further up
Salazar‘s Canyon, Saturnino Baca had a place. Back down the valley to Chavez Flats,
at the eastern end of the Capitans we find such places as Arabela and Agua Azul; as
the Capitans start rounding off to the north, Las Tablas and Encinoso on the north
slope. As our circle of The Capitans continues we come to the Capitan Gap, portal in
the early days from the north, toward Manzano; below the gap, to the north, some of
the ranching country was called Texas Park. Continuing clockwise, to the north and
west was Patos Lake and later the community of Reventon; then to the west and south
in our circle, White Oaks.
The mining country was in the west of the county starting at the upper reaches of the
Bonito with Angus and the old community of Bonito, where Bonito Lake is now; then
northward to Nogal, then White Oaks and up into the Jicarillas. The road map of
Lincoln County was different in the late 1800s; all roads radiated out from Lincoln
and Fort Stanton and connected as the needs of each individual community dictated.
The Miners
Mining or some simple form of extracting gold from the stream beds was common
through out Spanish New Mexico; however for most, the exigencies of daily life kept
them farming or practicing a trade rather than wandering about looking for gold.
In the Jicarilla Mountains, in the northwest part of Lincoln County, a small gold
rush had begun in early 1861. In August of that year, when the Texan Cavalry
showed up, they were apparently successful in recruiting some of the miners for their
cause. The Jicarillas were completely deserted by September, 1863, but miners
seemed to have reappeared in 1864.
According to the 1870 Census, there were twenty-four individuals, some with
families, listed as miners; ten of those were Anglos. Studying the Census it appears
that they were grouped for the most part west of Ft. Stanton in the area that would be
called in the 1880 Census the ―Nogal Mining District‖, or perhaps as far north as the
Jicarillas. Of the 500 or so heads of households in the entire county, this represents a
significant portion of the population.
The following excerpt is from an Essay “White Oaks, NM: Foundation to Fadeout”
by Max Turner.
―Gold was apparently found in the nearby mountains by the 1800's, though no
mining efforts were conducted by the locals. The local natives were eager to find just
enough 'free gold' to perhaps purchase some new sheep or a bottle. Whatever the
case, the secret of gold was kept quiet. The area of what was to become White Oaks
was only mentioned in the local cantinas and that in passing. The Mal Pais country
thus maintained its secret until a California '49er stopped in San Antonio, New
Mexico, and overheard a conversation of 'free gold' in the area. His hearing of ‗gold
in them thar hills‘ changed the face of New Mexico.
―A native of Missouri, John J. Baxter had been luckless on the coast and
remembered New Mexico. Knowing enough Spanish to understand the locals, Baxter
made his way to the area. There, after combing around the gulches and arroyos, he
found some of this 'free gold'. The year was 1878, and the beginning of the White
Oaks legend had begun.
―Baxter was unable to keep his discovery quiet, however, for by 1879, the
word had spread to Jack Winters and John E. Wilson, both of whom were panning
Baxter Gulch, as it was now known. The two commenced to work hard, every
morning transporting the water necessary to wash the dirt on the backs of mules from
the spring two and a half miles away. Then, in the evening, they would pack in all of
the pay dirt possible back to their cabin located at White Oaks Spring. This was done
all summer, the men finding enough nuggets to make their efforts worthwhile. Still,
no vein had yet been discovered. The arrival of a certain Tom Wilson would change
all that.
―Reportedly a fugitive from Texas justice, Wilson was accepted into the
partnership. Working the head of Baxter Gulch, he came upon the sudden discovery
of a vein while taking a rest. Sitting down on a boulder to eat his lunch, Wilson's eye
was suddenly caught by the glistening of crystals in a nearby rock. Striking the stone
with his pick, he picked up the slivers and returned to camp, showing his partners his
find. Immediately they returned to the site, digging and exposing the vein. This was
the basis for the famous Homestake Mine.
―Tom Wilson, apparently afraid of news of gold getting to the authorities, sold
his share to Jack Winters for a couple of silver dollars, two ounces of gold dust
($38.00), and a pistol, then left for parts unknown. No matter, the first great vein was
found at White Oaks.
―John E. Wilson and his partner Jack Winters set out to make good their
newly found vein. The Homestake claim, 1,500 feet long by 600 feet wide, was split
between the two men, Wilson taking the south half, Winters the north. Named the
North Homestake and the South Homestake, the two claims brought about the
customary gold-rush to the area. Within a short amount of time, all of Baxter
Mountain and most of nearby Lone Mountain were covered with claims. White Oaks
was beginning to grow.‖
Further observation from this essay will appear later. Ed
The Teamsters
As we have observed, the teamsters and freighters brought Lincoln County to life;
some individuals listed their occupations as teamsters others as farmers but hauled
freight as events warranted. Some like José María Padilla came to Lincoln as
teamsters others like Aniceto Lueras came through family ties, freighted some and
then moved on to other endeavors and some like Henry Farmer did both.
BioBit- Aniceto Lueras and Librada Herrera
By Claudio Leroy Dimas, 2006, Mountainair, New Mexico
―Aniceto and Librada were both born in or near Manzano. He in 1838: she in
1840. Manzano church records show them married there in 1860. During the War
Between the States, he served in the Union Army as a soldier in the New Mexico
First Cavalry Regiment, as reflected in his mustering out documents.
Note: The Lueras family came to Lincoln County from the Manzano area in the early
1860s. Aniceto and Librada settled, first, near Antonio Torres and his wife Juana
Herrera (Librada‟s sister) possibly on Torres Ranch. They are listed there in 1870
and 1880 Census with their family. In 1880 Aniceto was listed as a freighter, his son,
José, was listed as a teamster and son Andrés was listed as a herder. As a teamster
and former resident of Manzano he would be very familiar with the area around
Patos Lake for it was common for journeyers to camp there on their way to or from
Manzano; it was also near where the freight road turned off toward Las Vegas, NM.
Perhaps he had set up a sheep camp there earlier as noted by the following:
―The July 25, 1974, issue of the Lincoln County News included an article by
Frederika Powell about the village of Reventon and the Lueras‘. Excerpts from
that article are included here with their permission.
―So far as is known the first to settle north of the Capitan mountains were the
Manzano families of Aniceto Lueras and Maria Librada Herrera, and Juan Chavez
and Maria Gertrudes Herrera Otero. (Note: Maria Librada and Maria Gertrudes
were sisters, daughters of FranciscoAntonio Herrera and Francisca Ortega of
Manzano.)
―Aniceto, described as blue-eyed, fair complexioned and of Spanish descent,
joined up with the Union Army and fought in the battle of Valverde in 1862. He was
a sheepman. The valley to which he came was well protected on the south by
Patos Mountain and to the north and west by the Jicarillas. He built a log house close
to a spring ‗which never ran dry‘.
―The story goes that both the Spanish and the Indians had fought over the
spring, but just when this happened is not told. When the Lueras family settled,
however, the Jicarilla Indian reservation extended to the foothills of the Sierra
Blancas and the Mescalero Reservation.
―It wasn‘t long before Aniceto had ‗many many sheep‘ as told by his
granddaughter, Rosa Sanchez. But she tells of one day when they were grazing
along the Patos …a cloudburst (in Spanish: un reventón) opened up on the Patos
Mountain. The creek flooded and and most of the sheep were washed downstream
and drowned. The year of this tragedy is unclear.
―Manuel Lueras, grandson of Aniceto, tells of when his grandfather and greatgrandfather Juan Jose hitched up the oxen and started for the Staked Plains, east of
the Pecos River, to hunt for buffalo. They reached the plains but during the hunt Juan
Jose died of a heart attack. On the long trek back to Reventon, Aniceto slept in the
freezing weather in the wagon beside his dead father. Buried near the Lueras home,
a triangular stone still marks the grave.
―Schooling was a problem for all the early settlers. Aniceto sent his two
youngest sons, Manuel and David, to school in Las Vegas. Dolores, the oldest,
Andres and Jose Maria remained at home. By the time his daughter Francisca was
ready for school (approx. 1880), he had built a one-room schoolhouse of rock— parts
of the walls still stand. The old school was the scene of many bailes or ‗fandangos‘
as the dances were called.
―By 1880 White Oaks was born. Two years later the population exploded to a
census of 1000. A post office opened in 1880 and Dolores Lueras took the mail each
day from Reventon in a buggy. Four years later, his brother David was to be the
postmaster in Reventon. Before this all the mail had to be carried to Fort Stanton.
―By the time the grandchildren of the early settlers began to grow up and
marry, the old way of life began to fade. 73 families were listed in Reventon in 1902
when White Oaks had dwindled to only a few, but the ranchers in Reventon no longer
had the large herds of sheep or the wool with which to barter for supplies. Nobody
was ever bothered too much about cash, but now it took on new importance. Panning
for gold in the Jicarillas had always been popular but not too profitable. The men of
the village began to sign up and work for the cattlemen. By 1940 the valley was
deserted. The Lueras family had gone, most of them to Carrizozo, and some back
towards the Manzano area.
―Aniceto and Maria Librada had five sons: José Dolores b. 1861, José Maria
b. 1864, Manuel b. 1870, David b. 1873, Andrés; and two daughters: Francisca b.
1875, and Josefita b. 1877. José Dolores (my great-grandfather) married Felicita
Otero, daughter of José Antonio Otero and Tomasa Lucero, of Manzano. Felicita
was born in Punta de Agua (near Manzano) in 1870, which shows that the Lueras‘
maintained contact with the Manzano people long after moving to Lincoln County.
―Sons and daughters of José Dolores and Felicita include: Alejandra (my
grandmother) b. 1888 in White Oaks, who married Melcor Marquez Aug 4, 1902 in
Carrizozo (see Marquez family story); Angelito b. 1890; Santiago b. 1892; José b.
1894; Andrea b. 1897; Teresa b. 1899; Juan b. 1901; and Dolores b. 1904. Andrea
married Eduardo Najar, and Teresa married Daniel McKinley. Alejandra and Melcor
Marquez had eleven children: Elvira b. 1903; Luisita b. 1905 (died young);
Concepción (Chona) b. 1906; Dolores b. 1908; Tomasita b. 1910; Maria b. 1912;
Eduardo b. 1913; Felicita b. 1917; Manuelita b. 1919 (died young); Gabriel b. 1921;
and Eva. Only Eva is alive. She lives in the South Valley of Albuquerque and was
the source for many of the details of this story.‖
End BioBit
The Farmers and Ranchers
The farms and ranches of the valleys were still relatively small, 160-acre
homesteads for the most part, some bigger. In the Census‘ of 1870 and 1880 they
were listed as farms but many folks ran cattle on their acreage as well, some were
even dairy farms and specialized in milk and butter. It was a busy time, things were
going well; the two biggest problems were the strangling effects of the House of
Murphy (as the mercantile empire of Lawrence Murphy was called) and the need for
eternal vigilance regarding Indians.
BioBit- Theophilus Lalonde (Lalone) & Estanislada Padilla
By Rich Eastwood
The family Lalonde traces its roots back to French Colonial Canada. Theophilus
was born June 4, 1837 in Ogdensburg NY, although he referred to himself as Canadian.
His parents were Louis and Mary Lalonde. He left home at age 14 to find his own way
on the busy St. Lawrence River working first as pilot, then mate and finally captain. In
1857 he left Kingston, Ontario and headed west. 1860 found him in Shorter County,
Nebraska in the company of another Canadian who was a trader and two men from
Mexico or perhaps, New Mexico, who may have been teamsters or muleteers. Shorter
County was on the Oregon Trail but if he followed the South Platte River instead of the
North Platte that would take him to Colorado then New Mexico is easy. By the mid
1860s he was associated with the Manzano folks who formed the community of
Missouri Plaza on the Hondo. Somewhere along the line, Theophilus Lalonde's name
changed and became americanized. The spelling "Lalone" more carefully matches the
French pronunciation although in legal documents it was spelled Lalonde. According to
family tradition he was called Tiofilo instead of Teofilo, the Spanish equivalent of
Theophilus.
Estanislada (‗Lada) Padilla was born May 6, 1846, in Manzano, her mother was
Julianita Lucero, Julianita‘s father, Domingo Lucero was one of the community leaders
in the resettlement of Manzano in the early 1800s. ‗Lada‘s father was José Encarnación
Padilla a farmer and sheep man of Manzano and also one of the groups who resettled to
Lincoln County. Estanislada‘s mother died when ‗Lada was young and she was raised
by her uncle, Ygnacio Guevara and his wife, Ana María Torres. In 1867 she was
married to Pat Ryan, who was accidentally killed loading a gun into a wagon (such were
the hazards of the west). In 1867 or 68 Theophilus and Estanislada were married in
Missouri Plaza on the Hondo.
About 1868, Lily Casey Klasner came to the Rio Hondo area, in her book, "My
Girlhood Among Outlaws", she mentions the Lalones and vividly describes growing up
in the area. At one time Theophilus, or Tiofilo as he became known, owned the ranch
that the Casey's bought. The Lalones farmed their way across Lincoln County as it
developed. After moving from the Missouri Plaza area; Tiofilo farmed on the lower
Bonito, then in the Salado area during the Lincoln Co. War, then in Nogal. He raised
hay for others, sold milk and butter to Fort Stanton and vegetables in White Oaks.
Although he was a hard worker, Tiofilo wasn‘t much of a businessman, coupled with a
penchant for drinking too much and then letting others take advantage of him, the family
often went hungry. ‗Lada maintained a close relationship with the Guevaras and 1885
State Census shows ‗Lada‘s tio, Ygnacio, living on the farm with the Lalones. The
Lalone children were Rebeca, Epifinia, Fredrico, Carolina, Adelaida and Louis.
The 1900 and 1910 Census shows Tiofilo and ‗Lada‘ living in White Oaks. The
mines in White Oaks attracted many people. Locally ‗Lada‘s cousins, the Guevaras
came to work in the mines. From Texas, J.C. Lacey brought his family to ranch nearby
and with them was his nephew P.E. ―Doc‖ Lacey. The prosperity in White Oaks drew
the Lalone children. Beckie married Dave Tinnon, foreman at the Old Abe Mine. Fanny
married ―Doc‖ Lacey November 7, 1898 in White Oaks. ―Doc‖ was cowboying at the
time down in Carrizozo, he moved Fanny to a little house not far from the ‗big house‘
on the ranch but it was lonely time for her. Brother Fred and his wife, Margarita Vega
who was the daughter of José María Vega and Esiquia Torres, lived in White Oaks for a
few years then moved to Carrizozo. Fred was a deputy sheriff for a while. Carrie
married a miner, Julián Leal, Julián‘s sister, Jesucita married Francisco Guevara. Addie
married Joe Sánchez. And Louis (who took back the old family name LaLonde) married
Elvira Uderos who was half sister to the Leal‘s. It‘s been said that everyone in Lincoln
County are cousins, if you follow the family relationship web out, the Lalones certainly
did their part.
As things changed and the children left home the Lalones moved down to
Carrizozo. Tiofilo seemed to be well liked; he had many friends including Captain
Saturnino Baca. Tioflio died January 3, 1908 and ‗Lada died May 9, 1913 in Carrizozo.
When Tiofilo died, money was short, the Catholic priest said there would be a fee, but
the Baptist Minister said he would perform the service without charge. The funeral
service was at the Baptist Church, Tiofilo and ‗Lada are buried in Evergreen Cemetery
and most of the family is Protestant to this day.
End BioBit
The Horrell War
From John P. Wilson‟s book “Lincoln”
―….. in 1873 when an upsurge in shootings initiated what Lily Klasner called
‗the Reign of the Six Shooter‘. Technological improvements in firearms spurred this
new violence. Samuel Colt's Peacemaker, a .45 caliber revolver, and the Winchester
Model 1873 rifle came on the market that year. Both used reliable, center-fire,
metallic cartridges and marked a great advance in firepower. Some of Lincoln's
citizens liked to mix whiskey with their gunpowder, which created an even more
volatile mixture. Old Monongahela or similar brands rolled into town by the
barrelful.
―These citizens were almost entirely Spanish-speaking and included AngloAmericans who had married into Hispanic families. Another population element was
the ranchers from Texas who had settled lower down near the Pecos, mostly
peaceable but including some who were prone to violence. Antagonisms between the
newer and the older settlers boiled over in the Horrell War during December 1873
and January 1874.
―The five Horrell brothers, with a dozen or so kinsmen and assorted hangerson, had left four dead state policemen in Lampasas County, Texas. In New Mexico,
they bought a homestead on the lower Ruidoso. One day, Ben Horrell and some
cronies tanked up on liquor and proceeded to shoot up the streets of Lincoln. This
climaxed with a big gunfight that left the town constable and three of the Texans,
including Ben Horrell, shot down. With no arrests made and feelings running high,
the Horrells nursed their grudge. They rode into Lincoln the night of December 20
and found a wedding bailie, or dance, in progress in the building then called
Chapman's Saloon, also used as the courthouse and now known as the Convento.
They fired through the windows and doors, killing four of the celebrants and
dangerously wounding three others before riding away. There were more killings and
armed groups roved the countryside. In late January, James Dolan led a ‗posse‘ down
the Ruidoso and burned down the Horrell ranch. The Texans in turn threatened to
attack Lincoln and torch the town. Instead, they sold their 1,098 head of cattle to one
of Murphy's agents and made their way back to Texas.‖
Seeds for Trouble Planted
Again from John P. Wilson‟s book “Lincoln”
―The Horrell War planted the seeds for trouble beyond anything that
Lincoln County had yet seen. The army had twice prevented an outbreak just by
having troops present, establishing a possibly useful precedent. They would try it
again in July 1878, only to find their bluff called.
―The year 1875 began with the Mesilla News congratulating L. G. Murphy
on completing one of the finest buildings in the territory, namely his new store and
residence. This was the most positive note all year. On August 1, Robert Casey left
his family, including daughter Lily, now thirteen, at their ranch on the Rio Hondo
while he rode into Lincoln for a political convention. He ate lunch at the Wortley
Hotel with a former employee, William Wilson. Afterward, as Casey walked along
the street, Wilson confronted or ambushed him, leaving Casey mortally wounded.
The sheriff took charge of the accused and put him in the Fort Stanton guardhouse,
the only jail available. In time, he was tried, convicted, and sentenced to hang, in
what would be Lincoln County's first legal execution. On the appointed day,
December 10, Murphy himself mounted the platform and kicked the trigger to
spring the trapdoor, sending Wilson's body through it. After nine and a half minutes,
he was cut down and put in a coffin, but a woman lifted the lid and peeped in, then
screamed, "For God's sake! The dead has come to life!" Wilson indeed was still
breathing. The army took charge now; the condemned man was dragged from the
coffin and hanged a second time, for a full twenty minutes, preventing any
repetition of the first mistake. A week later, following a fatal knifing in Lincoln, the
Mesilla News observed that ‗... tragedies such as [these] ... have ceased to excite the
passions of the people of Lincoln County. They are accustomed to the smell of
blood.‖
The Merchants and Problems
It was during this era that one of the biggest events in the history of Hollywood
movies and the printed book happened: the Lincoln County War and Billy the Kid.
We are not going to visit the minutia of this over-reported and over-digested event
with two exceptions; to recommend a book (Nolan‟s) and to mention events that
affected the lives of the people in the rest of our story.
Recommended Reading
Of the books I have read on Lincoln County here are a couple that I consider „must
read‟.
―My Girlhood Among Outlaws‖ by Lilly Klasner, from the University of Arizona
Press
And my favorite version of the Billy the Kid saga.
―The West Of Billy the Kid‖ by Frederick Nolan, from the University of Oklahoma
Press
Another book that is out of print, but an excellent view of the development of Lincoln
County; if you can find it.
―Ranch on the Ruidoso The Story of a Pioneer Family in New Mexico, 1871-1968‖
by Wilbur Coe, from Alfred A. Knopf, Publishers
A good look at early 1800‟s New Mexico. ―Legacy of Honor‖ by Rafael Chacón
Section 6 – The Richardson Files
This section was created primarily by Ida Jo Richardson and vividly portrays various
aspects of daily life in early Lincoln County. It showcases another of our mothers,
Nobertita Archuleta, and her family.
The Richardson files begin with:
―Maria Noberta Archuleta was a captured Ute Indian known as ‗Na-ho-cos‘ to the
Utes, North Star to the Whites and Noverta to the Mexicans. She was adopted and
raised by Jose Miguel Archuleta and his wife, Maria Isabel Casados. Noberta, who
was also known as "Tita" (Nobertita) married Jose Cornelio Lucero on 27 Feb 1857.
Together they raised 6 children: Jose Epimenio, Maria Benina, Doroteo, Apolonio,
Habrana, and Inez.
―On June 15, 1893, their eldest daughter, Benina married Andrew McNeely
Richardson. Benina had a child from a previous marriage, Jose Candelaria. In
addition to Jose, the couple raised 6 other children: Bonifacia, Edward, Tomas,
Granville, Lavinia and Melvin. Granville was my grandfather.‖
Descendants of Nobertita Archuleta
María 'Noberta' ARCHULETA Born 1838
Spouse, José 'Cornelio' LUCERO (1820-1912)
1.1 José Epimenio LUCERO
1.2 Benina María LUCERO (1865- ) Born 13 Feb 1865, La Servillita, CO.
Married Andrew McNeely RICHARDSON 15 Jun 1893, Lincoln , NM. Died 19
Feb 1921.
Spouse, Abran CANDELARIA
1.2.1 Jose CANDELARIA (1884-1966) Born 16 Nov 1884. Married
Dominga PACHECO 29 May 1906. Married Rebecca Unk. "abt 1910".
Died Sep 1966.
Sp. Dominga PACHECO, daughter of Anselmo PACHECO and Teresa
GALLEGOS
Sp. Rebecca Unk.
Sp. Isidra SÁNCHEZ
Spouse, Andrew McNeely RICHARDSON (1843-1905)
1.2.2 Bonifacia RICHARDSON (1888-1923) Born 5 Jun 1888. Married
Roman PACHECO 29 Sep 1904. Died 21 Jun 1923.
Sp. Roman PACHECO, son of Anselmo PACHECO and Teresa
GALLEGOS
1.2.3 Edward Hubble RICHARDSON (1890-1944) Born 19 May 1890,
Arabela, Lincoln Co. Died 11 May 1944.
1.2.4 Tomas EMC /.-17(n P)-4(ACH)-6(E)4(CO)] ToLkO
..4.4
1.3.7 Semondosea LUCERO
1.3.8 Daniel LUCERO
1.3.9 Elvira LUCERO (1895-1966) Born 24 Dec 1895. Married José de
Jesús SÁNCHEZ 9 Aug 1911, Lincoln Co, NM. Died Apr 1966, Tularosa,
NM.
Sp. José de Jesús SÁNCHEZ (1889-1963), son of Higinio SÁNCHEZ
(1859-1934) and Nicolasa MAES (1865-1948)
1.4 Apoloino LUCERO
1.5 Habrana LUCERO
1.6 Inez LUCERO Born "abt 1874".
Spouse, Edward Patrick MCTIEGUE
A Story of my Family
By LynetteRichardson and Ida Jo Richardson
―In the late 1870's or early 1880's, four Spanish families came from
Walsenburg, Colorado, and settled on the ranches at the southeast end of the Capitan
Mountains. These settlers, the Lucero, Quintana, Maes and Sanchez families, called
their new home Las Tablas, probably referring to the timber they used for building.
Tablas means boards or planks. In 1886, Andrew McNeely Richardson moved from
the family farm in Pettis County, Missouri, to Las Tablas and opened a general store.
Around the year 1887, he married Benina Maria Lucero. She was the third child of
Cornelio and Noverta Lucero. Andrew called her "Lucy". When Andrew was
appointed postmaster in 1901, he changed the name of Las Tablas to Arabela in honor
of the daughter of one of the settlers. Andrew and Benina were the parents of
Granville Richardson, my grandfather. Granville married Amanda Maes on August
27, 1915. Amanda was the great grandchild of Quirino Maes, one of the 4 pioneer
families that originally settled at Las Tablas. My dad, Alberto, was a son of Granville
and Amanda.
―The Richardsons lived in Arabela in a small two room house called a jacal.
The house was made of wooden poles standing upright. The roof and the walls were
packed with mud by a laborer called the enjorrador. The mud was utilized to seal the
cracks to keep the cold air and the bugs out. It also provided insulation on the cold
winter nights. The floor was dirt. It was not loose dirt, but a mixture of clay and mud
to make the floor hard and to keep the house from getting so dusty. Granville built
onto the house since more room was necessary with such a large number of children.
―On the ranch goats, pigs, horses, sheep, and chickens were raised. Crops
were planted to feed not only themselves, but the many animals they raised. One of
Albert's chores was to herd the goats and sheep to keep them from getting into the
corn. At night he would have to pen them up. His father had a forest lease which
meant that he could set his cattle loose in the forest without getting into trouble with
the government. When the time came for branding he helped his father round up the
cattle from the forest, then afterward they were once again set free again to run in the
forest. In the fall, roundup time came again. This time Albert helped his father round
the cattle up so that they could be driven to Roswell, New Mexico, about fifty miles
away. Roswell was the common marketplace for the small settlements surrounding it.
Along the route, other ranchers would add their cattle to the Richardson's, and soon
the group of cattle became larger and larger. They took along a chuck wagon because
the drive took from four to five days to complete. When the group arrived at the
railroad stockyard in Roswell, the cattle would be separated and loaded onto
stockcars to be shipped to Kansas. The cattle were usually already sold before they
arrived in Roswell.
―About six to eight times a year, usually in the winter, Granville cut a cord of
wood, loaded it up on the wagon and took it to sell in Roswell. Before he returned
home, he bought sugar, flour, and other home essentials needed at home. The trip to
Roswell with the load of wood took about three days, but the trip back took only two
days. In the spring, Albert helped his father shear the sheep and goats. They sheared
their own sheep and goats and occasionally those of neighboring ranchers. The wool
would then be taken to Roswell to be sold.
―Medical problems in Arabela were taken to la Curandera, a midwife named
Dona Pilar. When la Curandera was summoned by one of the children, she would
arrive with her little black bag filled with healing herbs and ointments.
―Meanwhile at a ranch in Alamo Canyon, near Hondo, New Mexico, the
family of Jesus and Tomasita Montes were living largely the same lifestyle as the
Richardsons in the 1920's. The parents of Jesus were Alejo and Angelita Montes.
Tomasita's parents were Mariano and Francisca Aldaz. My mother, Emma, was born
to Jesus and Tomasita. Emma was the 7th of eleven children raised by the couple,
and one of four girls in the family.
―Albert began his education in primary school at Arabela and continued
attending school there until he finished eighth grade. Approximately forty students
attended the two room schoolhouse off and on. When Albert first started school,
there were two teachers. One teacher taught the primary grades while the other
taught the older students. Most of the children spoke only Spanish. Albert chuckles
when explaining that one of the first English phrases they learned, was said with two
fingers raised. When a child raised two fingers and said "My go?", he would be
excused to go to the outhouse.
―The school day lasted from nine o'clock in the morning until four o'clock in
the afternoon. Sometimes Albert and his siblings walked to school and other times
they rode horseback. Lunch usually consisted of beans and tortillas carried to school
in half gallon cans with wire handles, which originally contained syrup. During
recess, the children played basketball or baseball or with their marbles and wooden
tops.
―After completing eighth grade, Albert moved to Carrizozo, New Mexico,
where he was employed by a family for room and board. During his stay there, he
babysat the children and did chores around the house. He attended ninth grade at the
high school in Carrizozo. While living there, he seldom got to see his family, but
once a month, the Catholic priest would make a trip to Arabela to say Mass there.
Once in a while Albert accompanied the priest in order to visit his family.
―In 1938 Albert moved back to Arabela to help his father run the ranch, then
in 1939 he moved to Hondo, New Mexico, about 25 miles away, to return to school.
He did not start school until after all the harvesting was done on the ranch, which
was about a month after school began each year. For his six-weeks exam, he would
be allowed two weeks study time. The grade he made on this exam would be
dropped one letter grade because of the time he had missed.
―Around this time, Albert and his younger brother Alfred cared for the ranch
in Arabella alone. He and Alfred had many exciting times on the ranch. Once, while
riding horses, Alfred threw a match at a snake and started the whole field on fire. It
took some doing, but the two managed to put out the fire alone.
―Emma attended elementary school and high school in Hondo, New Mexico,
about 8 miles from the ranch at Alamo Canyon. She graduated from high school in
1940 and dreamed of going to college, but her parents would not allow it.
―Around 1942, a day after graduating from high school, Albert set out with
two of his friends out to California. His father had given him $20 for the trip, and that
was all the money Albert had to his name. The three friends hitchhiked all the way to
Los Angeles in about two days time. After renting a room in Los Angeles, they
hunted jobs. Albert went to work at a hotel/restaurant operation called the Biltmore
Hotel. He proudly sent his parents a post card the next week telling him about the
new job.
―He was happy to work six days a week and receive $16 pay at the end of the
week. He had money in his pocket now! After about three months, he decided to
return to New Mexico. He had planned to attend college in Albuquerque, but found it
too complicated to register, so he left and headed south to El Paso, Texas where he
worked at Fort Bliss for about two months.
―After leaving El Paso Albert headed back west to Morenci, Arizona, to work
in the silver mines. While in Morenci, he received a letter from his parents asking
him to return home.
―Finally in 1942, Emma's parents relented and she entered college at
Highlands University in Las Vegas, New Mexico. After attending school for two
years, because of the shortage of teachers during the war, Emma was needed to teach.
She taught Elementary school at Hondo for about two years.
―In 1946, Albert and Emma were married. After deciding to get married, all
the wedding plans progressed quickly. They made the decision that morning, and
went to speak to their parents. Afterward they stopped by Emma's sister Amanda's
house, and asked her and her husband, Ignacio Torrez, to be the witnesses. This all
happened on a Sunday, so the courthouse in Carrizozo was closed. They went to the
county clerk's house to ask if they could get the license on Sunday. The clerk agreed
and by the time they returned to Hondo, their mothers had the wedding fiesta ready.‖
Querino
By Alberto Richardson (Ida Jo‟s father)
―My great great grandfather on my mother's side was among those families
that moved from southern Colorado to New Mexico. His name was Quirino Maes.
My great grandfather's name was also Quirino Maes. His brother, Jesus Maes,
settled in Agua Azul in Lincoln County, named for a spring of water located near his
settlement.
―My grandfather, Cornelio Maes, met and married my grandmother, Constancia
Sambrano, a citizen of El Paso, Texas, while he was working at a livery stable there.
They later moved to Patos, New Mexico, where my mother, Amanda, was born in
1900.
―Patos Creek, in Lincoln County, heads in the Patos Mountains and flows
north and east into Cienaga del Macho. Patos Lake, in Lincoln County, had lots of
water in the early days, as well as many wild ducks; hence the name. Now it is
mostly dry. Freighters between Socorro and Lincoln used to camp there overnight.
There, also, are the Patos Mountains, named for the Lake located five miles east of
White Oaks, Lincoln County. Cienaga is a Spanish word for marsh; also known as
Chupadero, Spanish for ‗sink hole‘.
―My great grandfather, Prudencio Sambrano, and great grandmother, Adeliada
Alvillar, on my grandmother Constancia's side probably came from Mexico.
Ostensibly, after living some time in New Mexico, they moved back to El Paso
because my mother, Amanda, remembered living „en el Calle Missouri‟ and going to
mass at Angel de La Guardia Catholic Church across the railroad tracks from where
they lived. Her uncle, Francisco Alvillar, worked at the round house for the Southern
Pacific Railroad.‖
Nathan
By Alberto Richardson
―Religion has been the cause of numerous objections and dislikes of many
people, as it could have been for a young boy in Ireland, Nathan Richardson.
He may have come to America because of problems with the government of
his country, or maybe with just the will to travel to America, the land of the
free, to strike it rich, or maybe for religious reasons. This young man,
however, was my great great grandfather.
―One of his sons, John Richardson, born in 1812 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
was my great grandfather. John Richardson married Louisa DeLany of
Hopedale, Ohio. In 1857 my great grandfather and great grandmother moved
to Pettis County, Missouri, where they bought a farm. My grandfather,
Andrew M. Richardson, was 14 years old when they moved to Missouri,
having been born in June, 1843, in Ohio.
―In 1878 my grandfather Andrew came to Peñasco, presumably part of
Lincoln County, New Mexico. He was a 37-year-old sheepherder at this
time. In November, 1894 my grandfather, his brother Melvin, and Horace
Thurber associated themselves as a body corporate under the name of
‗The Capitan Sheep Company‘. The principal office was located at the
Block Ranch in Lincoln County, Territory of New Mexico.
―By 1900 my grandfather, Andrew, had already married my grandmother,
Benina Maria, age 35, a native of Colorado and the mother of one child,
Jose Candelaria. They lived in Agua Azul, Lincoln County. They eventually
had six children; Bonifacia, Edward, Thomas, Granville (my father), Lavinia,
and Melvin.‖
Memories at Cerro Hueco
By Alberto Richardson
―What I remember of my childhood days, as far as I can go back, is that we
lived at El Cerro Hueco. It was something like a six room house, apparently, a three
family dwelling. It was built in the shape of a squared-off letter "C". In the back of
the house, off to one side, there was a cement water tank with a drainpipe at the
bottom. A ditch ran around the east side of the house, right down the front, and then
headed straight south to fill up another pond. The house was built of red clay adobes,
and it seems to me that each part of a family dwelling had a fireplace. El Cerro
Hueco was straight across a small valley in front of the house.
―I remember my dad came home one day and brought a small shingling
hatchet. My brother, Andrew, and I were playing with it. We got to fighting and I
got hit on the head with it. I was crying so my dad came and picked me up and sat
me on his shoulder, then carried me down to the orchard. I thought he was such a
strong man.
―Later, I remember my dad built a two room house across the arroyo from El
Cerro Hueco. He built it out of piñon posts and plastered the cracks with mud and
straw. It only had two rooms with a fireplace in one room. The roof of the house was
gable only halfway around. The other half was flat and covered with mud about ten
inches thick. On one of the outside corners of the flat part of the house, there was a
big juniper tree right next to the house. There was a big hole next to it they had dug
to mix the mud for plaster. We had a big yellow cat that looked like Morris the Cat.
He was climbing up a ladder to the flat roof when I followed, trying to grab him.
Just as I grabbed him, he jumped to the tree and pulled me with him. I fell into the
mud hole, which was full of water at the time. I looked around, trying to hide, ran
into the house, and hid under my mother's sewing machine. I was all wet and I must
have left a pretty good trail, because it didn't take Mother long to find me. There was
a little crippled man, Don Jesus Sanchez, that sat on a wagon outside all the time.
When he heard Mother find me, he hollered at her not to whip me. He said,
‗Amanda, come and listen to my story....it is a funny one....I saw it all!‘ He saved my
hide, but would never let me forget. As long as I can remember, every time he saw
me, he would ask, ‗Are you still chasing cats?‘
―My dad used to run cattle in the forest, and I rode along with him at roundup
time. We would be riding along and all of a sudden, my dad would say, "You wait
right here", then he would take off through the woods chasing cows. After about an
hour or maybe two, he would come back to get me. Each rancher around us rounded
up his cattle about the same time, and as they drove the cattle from one ranch to
another, the herd kept getting bigger and bigger. When they got to Roswell with the
cattle, there were buyers at the embarcadero. The cattle were then separated and
loaded onto railroad stock cars and shipped off.
―El Cerro Hueco is a hill that has a big cavity right on top, with two small
access holes to it. I never went in it, but I did let my younger brother, Alfred, down
with a rope and he did some of the exploring. He said there were some animal
skeletons in it; that's about all he could see.
―Across from our Cerro Hueco home, there was a small two room house built
in the shape of the letter ‗L‘. This house was dug out on the side of the hill ‗El Cerro
Hueco‘, and roofed with sticks and dirt. All you could see was the front. Here lived
Mi Tia Luz and Mi Tio Antonio Archuleta. Mi Tia Luz was a small, chunky lady
with a long black dress, who wore her hair in a molote (bun). Mi Tio Antonio was a
big man who wore coveralls, and was deaf. I remember that people used to say Mi
Tia Luz was a bruja, (a witch). They had a son we called Mi Primo Jose Miguel, and
his wife was Mi Prima Sara. Mi Tio Antonio used to work for my dad, hoeing the
cornfields. My father used to send us to go help Mi Tio Antonio with the hoeing.
One day while we were out in the corn patch with him, we stopped to rest at El
Cedro Grande, a big juniper tree that was at the far end of the cornfield. One of my
brothers looked up at the tree and saw a small owl we called a lechuza, and started
throwing rocks at it. Mi Tio Antonio told us to stop throwing rocks at the owl. "It is
your Tia Luz....she came to check up on me, so leave it alone". We did, and after a
while, the small owl flew off. Mi Tia Luz was a sister to my Grandmother. Whether
she was a bruja or not, I didn't take any chances. I stayed out of her way.
―Farther on down the road lived Don Octaviano Gallegos and his wife Doña
Pilar. Don Taviano was the Justice of the Peace and Doña Pilar was a curandera.
Every time one of us got sick and had a high fever, Mother would send one of my
older brothers to get Doña Pilar to come and cure us. Doña Pilar also wore a long
black dress. She wore an apron made of blue denim and a black shawl. Under her
long skirts, she carried a long bag made of rag that looked like mattress rag with lines.
Here she carried some of her very special potions. She also carried a case in her
hand full of medicines. I remember Doña Pilar was kind of ugly. She was dark
complected and had a very grainy voice. I know all these things because one time
when I was very sick, she came and said that I was empachado. I hated her because
she gave me an enema. I couldn't understand why she did that when it didn't hurt me
down there. After that, I was fed atolito de camposanto. I guess the medication
worked because I got well.
―I mentioned that there was a concrete tank in back of El Cerro Hueco House
that was full of water. The water came from way up in the mountains from a spring in
an arroyo. They would dam up the arroyo and the water would run down a small
ditch to a dirt holding tank. After it was full, they would pop off a big wooden
stopper at the lower end of the dirt tank. The water would then run down a small
ditch on the side of the hill to the concrete tank. This was done for awhile until all the
tanks down the line were full and everybody had water for awhile until it had to be
done again. I only helped to clean the ditches once that I can remember. After a few
years, the water level must have dropped, because not many springs of water are seen
anymore. The only place where there is still water is a place we call ‗Las Canalejas‘.
At one time, water came from a spring down canalejas dug out of pine logs. Later,
they were changed to canalejas made like a ‗V‘ from 2 x 8 boards. Later, they dug
up and buried pipe line in the ground. This water line runs to Nick Brill Ranch.‖
Ma Tita
By Ida Jo Richardson
―When she was born on August 17, 1887, her parents named her Tomasita
Aldaz. She married when she was twenty-one, and, as was often the case in those
days, had many children, seven of them were sons, and four were daughters. My
mother was her youngest daughter. To me and the rest of her numerous
grandchildren, she was known only as Ma Tita.
―When I was three years old Ma Tita became a widow. It was at this time that
my earliest memories of her began. She stood about four feet, ten inches tall, and
weighed less than a hundred pounds. She always wore the same style, a dress that
was belted at the waist with an A-line skirt that was hemmed to fall well below her
knees. It would be made of fabric in a drab pattern with either black, brown, or gray
as the predominant color. Her shoes were black and shiny, with one-inch heels, and
were secured with shoelaces. Brown cotton stockings, supported with elastic garters,
covered her legs no matter what time of year it was. She twisted her long gray hair
into a round bun, which she fastened to the nape of her neck, then covered it with a
thin hairnet. The only morsel of flamboyance she allowed herself was with the
colorful scarves she wore knotted tightly under her chin.
―Although she lived for a long time with the youngest of her sons, she would
visit the rest of her children for two or three weeks at a time, sometimes not returning
home for several weeks. She didn't drive, so arrangements were made by the various
children to pick her up and take her to her next destination. We knew when we were
told, "Ma Tita is coming," that we were in for a lot of hard work, a lot of praying, and
a lot of scolding. She would arrive at the door with her brown suitcase. Inside the
suitcase, beside her clothing , I knew there would be a little box of Queen Anne
Chocolate Covered Cherries.
―When she was with us, we couldn't dally with our chores like we could when
she was gone. I still can hear her urging us to do our work quickly, ‗para que miren
que son muy mujerotas...,‟ (so that they will see that you are really big girls). When
we were done with our work, we were rewarded with a chocolate covered cherry.
Heaven help us if we disobeyed. My younger brother and sister still talk about the
day she chased them home with a switch she had cut from a bush on her way to go
look for them because they had gone without permission. She spoke only Spanish to
us, and we would giggle behind her back when we heard her speak in English.
―We couldn't understand how she could find so many things to do. She must
have crocheted miles and miles of doilies and embroidered hundreds of pillowcases
and dishtowels. While she crocheted, I watched as yards and yards of thread from the
spools in her bag came coiling out of her fingers, amazingly transformed into
beautiful flowers, grape clusters, and ruffles. She talked and smoked as she
crocheted, the burning cigarette dangling out of her mouth as her hands moved
furiously. The long ash would grow and grow, then begin to droop, until I knew it
would surely fall off into her delicate work and ruin it, but somehow she always got it
into the ashtray in time. My sisters and I were presented with our own crochet hooks,
needles, and thimbles and she gave us lessons in crochet and embroidery. When it
was time to prepare dinner, the click-ta-click-ta of her wedding band, hitting the
rolling pin as it turned, kept rhythm, while the savory smell of cooking tortillas filled
the house. She made dozens of tortillas in one session. She kept two griddles hot on
the stove as she rolled the dough out for each tortilla. Somehow, when she was ready
to put one on to cook, another one would be done, and yet another would be ready to
turn over and cook on the other side. She was a one-woman assembly line! She
handed us each the rolling pin with a small wad of dough, then cooked the crooked
little tortillas we created, and placed them on top of the steaming pile.
―Religion and prayer filled her daily life, and while she was with us, it filled
ours too. A little plastic bottle full of Holy Water, her rosary, and prayer book went
everywhere she went. Pinned under her dress was a medallion bearing the likeness of
the Virgin Mary and the Blessed Heart, which she said, was there to protect her from
harm. She told us stories about how el diablo would take different forms and appear
to children who were bad. Every night we would pray the rosary and ask God's
forgiveness for all the wrongdoings of the day. On Sunday she was the first one
ready to go to Mass. As she waited for us to get into the car so she could sit by the
door, she would remind us to call on the Holy Family for protection so we would
arrive at the church safely. She gave us our own medallions, which we carefully
pinned to our clothes. Soon it was time for her to move on to the next family she
would visit.
―After I was married, I didn't see her as often anymore. I moved away and the
demands of my own life seemed justification for putting off visiting Ma Tita when I
should have. At the time of her death at age ninety, I don't know how long it had
been since I had seen her. During the last couple of years of her life, her visiting days
came to an end, as she had become too frail to travel, and needed full-time care.
―I think of her often. She's in my mind, especially when I work on a sewing
project, or when I stop to ask God to be with me before beginning an automobile or
airplane trip.....when I see a box of Queen Anne Chocolate Covered Cherries. I never
thanked her for the things she taught me. Like most children I was, if not ungrateful,
then perhaps just unaware of how important they would become.‖
Ma Manda
By Ida Jo Richardson
―Amanda Maes was born on September 06, 1899 in Patos, New Mexico. Her
parents were Cornelio and Constancia Sambrano Maes. Amanda's great grandfather,
Querino Maes was among four families that moved from southern Colorado to New
Mexico in the early 1800's . Cornelio met and married Constancia in El Paso, Texas
and then later moved to Patos, New Mexico, in Lincoln County. Constancia's
parents, Prudencio Sambrano and Adeliada Alvillar were probably from Mexico.
Amanda married Granville L. Richardson on August 27, 1915, and moved to his
home in Arabella, New Mexico.
―Amanda had about three different names her grandchildren used for her. She
was either ‗Ma Manda‘, ‗Gramo Manda‘, or just ‗Gramo‘. Ma Manda, as I called her,
always wore a plain white or light colored apron over her dress. She pinned the
straps to her dress rather than using straps over her arms. She never wore pants. Ma
Manda was afraid of the thunder and lightning, and when she thought she saw a cloud
that looked particularly menacing, she would smooth down her apron (a mannerism
she displayed quite often) and say ‗Hay! Que zumbido trae esa nuve!‘ (My! That
cloud is humming so loudly!) This would quickly be followed by her running into
the house to retrieve her butcher knife, which she would use to slice the air in the
direction of the cloud. Next, she grabbed some salt in her hand and made a cross in
the air with the salt in hopes the cloud would go away. Her son, Albert (my Dad),
who loved the rain, said he always wondered why she wanted to stop the rain, and
secretly hoped the exorcism wouldn't work. Ma Manda had other rituals depending
on the type of weather she saw. During a lightning storm, she called for help from
Santa Barbara to guard against the lightning bolts by saying, „Santa Barbara Don
Seya, libra nos del rayo y la sentia.‟ To the demon in a whirlwind, she said, ‗Ponte
las cruces, Machiche!‟ and made the sign of the cross with her thumb in front of her.
―My memories of my grandmother, Ma Manda, began when we lived across
the road from her and my grandfather. She was much more stern than Pa Bill, my
grandfather, and the grandchildren were often in trouble with her, but we all loved her
and all the goodies she kept for us. She rationed the goodies out to us depending on
our behavior. The house had a large kitchen and two rooms besides the enclosed
front porch. Both rooms contained beds--there was no living room furniture, so
guests would sit on the beds when visiting. Until the late 50's, when my father built
an indoor bathroom, a wooden outhouse stood behind the house. Even after getting
the indoor plumbing, Ma Manda still kept el vasin (the chamber pot )under her bed.
She had two little storage closets, one on either side of the front porch of her house,
that were always locked. In there she kept all her secret treasures. We always loved it
when she would take her keys and go to the front of the house to get us a treat.
Around Christmastime she always had a little bag full of hard candy, nuts and an
orange for us. For some reason, most of the time the hard candy was all stuck together
in a big blob, but we didn't care. It was exciting to see her smooth down her apron
and reach into the pocket for her keys because we knew she was headed for her
hiding place.
―Ma Manda had her own recipe for what we now call "Granny Cookies".
They were a sort of sugar cookie, but they were soft. She rolled out the dough and cut
the shapes with a drinking glass, and she wasn't particular whether all the cookies
were round or not. Many of them had an arc-shaped part missing on the side, because
she would re cut all the dough left after she had cut the initial batch. We didn't care
what shape they were in either because I have never tasted any other cookies as good
as hers. She baked them in her Montgomery Ward wood cookstove, which my family
still owns. I remember once, when I was visiting, I asked her for the recipe. She gave
it all to me, but the measurements she used were in fingers, dashes, and handfuls.
Needless to say, my cookies didn't turn out anything like hers.
―Ma Manda was widowed in 1963 when Pa Bill died of cancer and lived alone
for many years. My cousin, Marcella, lived with her and helped her for awhile so she
could remain at home, but eventually she required the care of a nursing home. Her
house had been rented from time to time, but in 1981, just having been divorced , I
decided to move back from Albuquerque to Ruidoso, my hometown. Ma Manda's
house in Hondo was vacant, so my dad asked me if I wanted to move myself and my
sons into the house. I jumped at the chance and lived there for about two years. The
porch had been opened up and the two locked closets were gone, but Ma Manda's
Montgomery Ward cook stove still graced the kitchen.
―During that time, I was visiting my Aunt Lucera (Marcella's mom), who
lived on a ranch in Alamo Canyon, not too far from Hondo. Aunt Lucera had made a
batch of the cookies like Grandma Manda used to make. I asked Aunt Lucera for the
cookie recipe and she told me she had never given the recipe to anyone else that had
asked, but she felt it was time to pass it down. She gave me the recipe in cups and
teaspoons and measurements I could understand. I couldn't wait to go home and try it
out in Ma Manda's old Montgomery Ward stove. They came out perfect! My Aunt
Lucera passed away the following summer at the age of 56, a year and a half before
her mother.
―Ma Manda died on November 4, 1984 in Roswell, New Mexico, at the age of
85. Her old stove sits in a place of honor at my sister, Barbara's home, in Ruidoso,
New Mexico--and it still bakes "Granny Cookies" better than any modern stove ever
could!
Section 7 - The 1880s thru 1910ish
BioBit- George Sena and Teresa Carrillo
Written by Annette Mooney Wasno, © 2000, revised November, 2003
―The late 1800‘s were times of great adventure, change, lawlessness, and
growth for the city of Lincoln. Among those who settled in the town during this
vibrant time was a teenager named George Sena (b. 23 Apr 1864, d. 20 Mar 1927)
who would prove to be an upstanding citizen dedicated to public service. He was as
much at ease with Anglos as with his own people, and could speak and write
eloquently in both English and Spanish. If he is mentioned at all in the Lincoln
County history books, it is as a footnote to the stories of law enforcement in the Wild
West era. But to read contemporary accounts of his life is to begin to discover a
complex individual who likely played a role in the society of Lincoln city and the
early history of the state of New Mexico.
―In the early 1880‘s, George moved with his parents, José ‗Ygnacio‘ Sena and
Agapita ORTIZ, from Las Vegas in San Miguel County, New Mexico to Lincoln.
Ygnacio was a blacksmith, as his father Henriques had been, and opened a shop next
to the Dolan store within a year after arriving in Lincoln. Ygnacio could read and
write, which was unusual for an adult in this time, and most likely was involved in
law enforcement in Las Vegas; the 1870 census shows two men whose occupations
were listed as prisoner in jail living in the Sena household. It was in Las Vegas that
George received his formal schooling. Family legend had it that George was a deputy
sheriff at the time of Billy the Kid‘s escape in 1881. What the family failed to
mention was that Sheriff Pat Garrett had deputized every male in Lincoln County old
enough to carry a gun. Although it‘s not certain when the Sena family moved to
Lincoln, the earliest record of their presence is a record of payment to George for his
services as Probate Court Interpreter in early July of 1884.
―In July of 1885, George married Teresa Carrillo (b. 16 Aug 1867, d. 1911).
Teresa had arrived in Lincoln with her family in about 1872. Her father, José Carrillo
and her mother, Nicanora Montoya Marquez had traveled to Lincoln from Manzano,
Valencia County, New Mexico. George and Teresa started their new family soon after
they married and by their twentieth anniversary Teresa had given birth to nine
children. In naming their children, they gave them one set of names at baptism but
then called them by nicknames, usually anglicized versions of their Spanish nombres
de pila. Use of the nicknames was so ingrained in them that years later one of the
children declared the name on her baptismal certificate to be completely wrong. She
continued to use her nickname as her legal name for the rest of her life. Their
children were: Manuela (Mela); Vicenta (Bessie); Soraida (Zora); Ignacio (whose
nickname Nacho does not appear on official records); Martina Agapita (Anna,
Annie); Maria Adela (Avie); Jose Candido (Joe). There were also twin daughters,
unnamed, who died soon after their birth. The family claimed that the twins had been
born alive, but that the doctor who delivered them was drunk at the time. In his
excitement over having birthed twins, he supposedly drowned them while bathing
them. Daughter Zora later claimed the twins were buried in the front yard of San
Juan Church, but because there is no graveyard there it‘s not known for certain where
they are buried.
―The Sena‘s home was across from the church, where the children sang in the
choir, and next to the Torreon, a place where the children would often play. In the
early 1960‘s, Zora returned for Old Lincoln Days and noted that only one room of
their house remained standing; all the rest had fallen. Today what is left of the Sena
home is a storage room for the Las Placitas Gift Shop.
―In reading Sacramental records of the Hispanic Catholic Church in New
Mexico one discovers the names of extended family and close friends among the
witnesses and sponsors. The Sena family records included many surnames you
would expect--Chavez, Lucero, Baca--and a few you might not--West, Norman,
Moeller. In later years, George would play host to future statesmen Octaviano
Larrazolo (New Mexico Governor, 1919-1921) and John Nance Garner (United
States Vice President, 1932-1940). His social circle clearly encompassed the
Hispanic- and Anglo- communities, political leaders as well as cherished relatives and
neighbors.
―It seems that George was a man of many talents. Various documents
recorded his occupations while living in Lincoln as bookkeeper and clerk in Andrew
Richardson‘s General Merchandise Store, court interpreter, tax collector, County
Clerk, and Sheriff. His tenure as sheriff, which began in 1894, was cut short in
March of 1896. One source says he was removed from his position by Governor
William Thornton for failure to enforce the law. This occurred during an era when
many local New Mexico lawmen refused to pursue a known criminal unless the
governor posted a reward for his capture. Following this practice could be what cost
George his job. A newspaper account of the day and various legal documents state
George‘s bondsmen asked the court ‗to be relieved from further liability for the acts
of said Sena as such sheriff‘. Judge H.P. Hamilton granted the petition and Emil Fritz
II (son of the Emil Fritz of the Lincoln County War) was appointed to serve out
George‘s unexpired term. Despite this apparent ignominy, George continued in
public service to Lincoln County for many years after his removal from office. He
even served as deputy sheriff under his successor Fritz. He clearly reveled in his role
as Wild West Lawman. A studio photo of him circa 1915 shows a beefy man in a suit
and ten gallon hat holding his six shooter. The gun is pointed at the forehead of a
young man playing the hapless outlaw. The criminal‘s left hand reaches for the sky
while gun-holding right hand is grasped firmly at the wrist by the sheriff.
―In about 1907, George moved his family to Santa Rosa, Guadalupe County,
New Mexico. While he lived there, he served as County Clerk, Court and Senate
Interpreter, Prohibition Agent, and Superintendent of Schools. Though his
professional life was very successful during these years, he also suffered much
personal tragedy. In 1911 his wife Teresa died of unknown causes at the age of 44.
George then married Matilde ‗Tillie‘ Henderson in 1913 and they had two children
together: George Coronel and Antonio Louis (called Louis or Pershing). But even as
these children came into his life, three of his daughters--Mela, Bessie, and Anna--died
in the 1918 Flu Epidemic leaving behind husbands and young children. Not long
after that, George began to experience the symptoms of pernicious anemia, a painful,
fatiguing disease. Then in 1923, George‘s son Ignacio was killed in a car crash while
he was en route to visit his ailing father. Ignacio‘s wife and three children were also
fatalities of the accident.
―What remains of his writings shows a man who could display pride, religious
fervor, pathos and righteous anger all on the same page. In a letter to his grown
daughters Zora and Avie, this stern disciplinarian scolds them saying their
disobedience is like a blow that ―split(s) open my soul. It tears and saddens my
heart.‖ He admonishes his daughters that ―life is very short, very burdensome and
sad at times . . .To live in harmony, to give and take is the best motto for life.‖ Later
in the same letter he describes a race riot that broke out between two community
basketball teams: Hispanics from Santa Rosa and Anglos from Corona. He talks of
how he got into the fray saying, ―It was like I was 25 years old and was like a true
lion.‖ As the blood was being cleaned from the basketball floor, a passerby asked
had happened. George says, ―I told him, ‗He is cleaning some of the White-S*** that
one of those White-Men from Corona left here.‘. . . We have the best team there is in
the state and the players burn with pride that they are Hispanos.‖
―In March of 1927, George succumbed to cancer of the gall bladder just one
month shy of his 63rd birthday. On the day of his funeral, schools and businesses in
Santa Rosa were closed. His obituary said his funeral procession was one of the
largest ever seen in the city, citing it as proof of the popularity he enjoyed from his
fellow citizens and neighbors. The article concluded, ‗With the death of George Sena
the state of New Mexico has lost one of its finest citizens and the Hispanic-American
people one of its most illustrious and noble defenders‘.‖
End BioBit
Lincoln‟s New Era
From John P. Wilson‟s book “Lincoln”
―Lincoln gradually began to shed its reputation for settling disputes with a sixgun and entered into its era of greatest prosperity. The population in 1880 was almost
triple that of a decade earlier, although only fifteen persons returned themselves as
farmers. The most common occupation was laborer. Still, the tilled acreage had
increased to 2,111 acres, mostly planted in corn and wheat. No one identified himself
or herself as a rancher or stock raiser, but this type of activity had become prominent
elsewhere in the county. Perhaps most remarkable was that in 1880, Lincoln was a
town of widows, grim testimony to the human toll of the Lincoln County War. Nearly
25 percent of the households-39 of 167—were headed by women, and thirty-three of
the thirty-nine ladies were widows. Sue McSween was the only Anglo among them;
the others were all Hispanic. Some, such as Sue herself and Bonifacia Brady,
managed or even expanded their husbands' estates, but others were left in difficult
circumstances. Sue remarried in June 1880, to George Barber, and she went on to
acquire substantial real estate interests across southeastern New Mexico, including a
prominent farm and ranch at Three Rivers.
―There were other changes, most importantly new economic opportunities.
The railroad arrived at Las Vegas, New Mexico, in April 1879, and within four years
Kansas contractors were underbidding local merchants for the delivery of hay and
grain at Fort Stanton, a situation that a Las Cruces newspaper labeled "villainous."
What happened to the 1,182,496 pounds of corn raised on Rio Bonito farms in 1879
is not clear, but the farmers may have been substantially overproducing. Within a few
years, they began switching to new fruit and forage crops, especially alfalfa, and
probably followed the lead of Roswell area agriculturalists by irrigating
pasturelands.‖
Indian Relations
By the early 1880s the Mescaleros had finally settled down to reservation life, gone
were the days of eternal vigilance protecting life and property. In the late 1880s, in
southern Arizona along the New Mexico border, the Chirachaua Apaches were
defeated and the Indian Wars were officially declared over.
Ups and Downs
Again from John P. Wilson‟s “Lincoln”
―This country (Lincoln County) was still young, scarcely thirty years old, and
economic opportunity became a byword. From 1885 to 1886, the number of buildings
in Lincoln (Town) doubled.
―However, the community‘s hold on prosperity was a tenuous one that
depended heavily on supplying the range cattle industry. The ranges were now
overstocked, and whenever drought hit, trouble followed. By 1889, it was apparent
that range cattle could no longer compete with grain-fed stock in the markets. Already
24 percent of tilled lands in Lincoln County produced alfalfa, virtually unheard of ten
years before. In 1888, Roswell boomed, initially by the promises of large irrigation
companies that soon failed; but beginning in the 1890‘s with artesian water for
expanding its farms. The economic importance of the Bonito and Ruidoso Valleys
dwindled by comparison with the new wealth of the Pecos Valley. Professional
people from Lincoln were moving to Roswell while the gold mines at White Oaks
attracted many by their offer of steady employment.
―Another blow to Lincoln came when the Territorial legislature voted to
divide the sprawling county into two more separate entities—Eddy and Chaves
counties. This split became official on January 1, 1891. Fort Stanton, which had
supported Lincoln during its first twenty-five years of existence, closed officially in
1896. Three years later, the old post was set aside as a tuberculosis sanatorium,
administered by the U.S. Marine Hospital Service, and as a hospital it came to be a
principal employer.‖
Cloe Elizabeth Fairchild and “Coll” Lacey
Our final mother and very typical of the later arrivals in Lincoln County.
Cloe Irene Elizabeth Frances, was the oldest child of Amos Fairchild and Lucretia
Jane McDonald. Cloe was born Aug. 10, 1852 in Jefferson Co. IL. The Fairchilds had
moved to Texas as part of a larger group related to Ruth McDonald Lacey.
Mr. Fairchild met an untimely end during the last stages of the Civil War, doing his
part to make the Texas frontier safe. Cloe, at 13, was left to help her mother care for
five other sisters and brothers.
Cloe‘s next younger sister was Louisa ―Curly‖ Fairchild who married Jerry
Hazelwood. Curly and Jerry moved to Lincoln County about 1883. Curly was the
mother of Charlie and Bill Hazelwood, sisters Minda Hazelwood Frambrough and
Lou Ellen Hazelwood Dale of Lincoln County; Fannie ―Kid‖ Hazelwood, John
Wesley Hazelwood and Susie Lucille Hazelwood lived their adult lives in Douglas,
Cochise Co. AZ. Curly and Jerry had moved to Douglas as well, they had extended
family there.
Joshua Collins ―Coll‖ Lacey was born Mar. 5, 1842, in St. Claire Co. IL. He was the
next to the youngest of the eight children of Elijah and Ruth McDonald Lacey. The
Laceys left Illinois for Texas in 1853 or 54. They went down the Mississippi to New
Orleans then by Coastal Packet to Indianola. The families were in Goliad for a while,
and then they finally settled down in San Antonio and in Gillespie Co. The Lacey
children spread out; the oldest Jack Locke and half-brother, Lewis Lacey settled at
Locke Hill (12 mi. from downtown San Antonio) on the Fredericksburg Road and
most of the rest settled with relatives at the other end of the Fredericksburg Road (10
mi. past Fredericksburg) at Spring Creek. Cloe and ‗Coll‘ lived in both areas during
the next 20 or 30 years.
The Civil War came to the Texas frontier and in Oct. 1862, Coll made his way to
New Orleans and joined the 1st Texas Cavalry USA. When he enlisted he gave his
occupation as ‗drover‘. He was promoted (elected) to 1st Sergeant. He was wounded
Oct. 1863 and captured. He escaped from the Confederate Hospital in Alexandria and
returned to his unit Dec. 1863. He mustered out Oct. 1865 in San Antonio.
He married Cloe Elizabeth Fairchild on Christmas Day 1867. His father, Rev. Elijah
Lacey, performed the ceremony; witnesses were William Alexander and Joseph
McDonald. They were married in Gillespie Co.
Coll and Cloe first made their home in Spring Creek; it was a dangerous part of the
world in the years after the Civil War. On Apr. 18, 1872,
Coll enlisted in the
Gillespie Co. Minute Men (Texas Ranger frontier defense) and was elected
Lieutenant, Commanding Co. F. Many of his kinsmen were in this outfit, Laceys,
McDonalds, Taylors and others. The Minute Men were only called up for
emergencies. He was discharged Dec. 12, 1872 with more than 30 days service.
An older brother, Asa Lacey, had itchy feet and during the course of his life, he lived
in various places on the edge of the frontier. In about 1879 he moved with his family
to White Oaks and tried his hand at mining and had a ranch about 6 miles to the
southeast of town. With Asa was his son-in-law, J.W. Alexander, married to daughter
Ruth Jane; three of their children were born in White Oaks. About 1885 the Laceys
and Alexanders moved back to Gillespie Co. but his tales of opportunity there must
have fired up J.C. for in 1887 or early 1888 the family moved to Lincoln Co. The
Lacey family first settled 3 miles north of White Oaks on the west side of the Jicarilla
road. The family dugout is still visible from the road today, up on the hillside beyond
the metal cattle pens.
The Lacey children were born in Texas, except for the last one, who died as a baby
and is buried at the Cedarvale Cemetery in the family plot. They became an integral
part of the life in Texas Park and White Oaks, they were mentioned in old-timers
reminiscences and the Lacey name adorns some geographical locations. His oldest
sister, Mahala Lacey, lived in the area for a while coming in 1894. She was with her
son, Tobe, and his family, they later moved to Douglas, Arizona. Sometime (possibly
1894 with Tobe) Colls nephew, P.E, ―Doc‖ Lacey joined the family in White Oaks.
At various times there were a lot of Laceys living in the White Oaks/Texas Park area
including P.E.‘s sister, Victoria Mae Thompson and her children around 1915.
On January 26, 1901 Coll died at his home in Texas Park. Judging from his estate
papers he was a well-respected and active participant in local affairs. Cloe continued
to live in the community bolstered by her children until her death on January 19,
1926.
Descendants of Cloe Elizabeth Fairchild
Born 10 Aug 1852, Jefferson Co. IL. Married Joshua Collins LACEY 25 Dec 1867, Gillespie
Co. TX. Died 19 Jan 1926, White Oaks, Lincoln Co. Buried Cedarvale Cemetery, White Oaks.
Spouse, Joshua Collins LACEY (1842-1901), son of Elijah LACEY (1804- ) and Ruth MCDONALD
(1809- 1877)
1.1 Amos Oliver LACEY (1868-1894)
Born 12 Oct 1868, TX. Died 28 Dec 1894, Lincoln County, NM.
1.2 Frances Elizabeth Ruth LACEY (1869-1950)
Born 27 Mar 1869, Lockehill, Bexar Co, TX. Married William Henry
WALKER 1892.
Died 1950, Redding, CA.
Spouse, William Henry WALKER (1863-1922)
1.2.1 Frank WALKER (1891-1912)
Born 5 Dec 1891, NM. Died 4 Mar 1912, NM.
1.2.2 Benjamin Henry WALKER (1893- )
Born 16 Aug 1893, Encino, NM. Married Mary Pearl WARD 6
Dec 1924.
Sp. Mary Pearl WARD (1893- )
1.2.3 Bessie Frances WALKER (1895- )
Born 11 May 1895, White Oaks, Lincoln Co. Married John
ROGERS 7 Dec 1913, Lexington, OK.
Sp. John ROGERS
1.2.4 John Lacey WALKER (1897- )
Born 30 Dec 1897, Capitian, Lincoln Co. Married Lulu
CURRENT 22 Sep 1922, Carrizozo, NM.
Sp. Lulu CURRENT (1905- )
1.2.5 William Phelps WALKER (1901- )
Born 21 May 1901, Alto, NM. Married Bettie Lou WARD 25
Dec 1922, Carrizozo, NM.
Sp. Bettie Lou WARD
1.2.6 Ruth WALKER (1902-1949)
Born 25 Dec 1902, Alto, NM. Married Grady DOTY 9 Oct
1926, Roswell, NM. Died 13 Sep 1949.
Sp. Grady DOTY
1.2.7 Dora Ann WALKER (1905- )
Born 8 Oct 1905, Alto, NM. Married Ellis LESLIE 25 Dec 1921,
Carrizozo, NM.
Sp. Ellis LESLIE (1886- ) , son of Robert LESLIE
1.2.8 Henry Warnick WALKER (1907- )
Born 1 Nov 1907. Married Wanda RILEY.
Sp. Wanda RILEY
1.2.9 Melvin WALKER (1910- )
Born 27 Sep 1910. Married Pearl HILDEBRANT 26 Feb 1945.
Sp. Pearl HILDEBRANT
1.3 Jackson Gilmore LACEY (1874-1910)
Born 26 Jan 1874, Lockehill, Bexar Co, TX. Married Alice Louise
BARTLETT. Died 1910, White Oaks, Lincoln Co.
Spouse, Alice Louise BARTLETT (1878-1928) , daughter of William BARTLETT
1.3.1 Julia May LACEY ( -1913)
Died 8 Jan 1913, Globe, AZ.
1.3.2 Jesse Gillmore LACEY (1894-1951)
Born 26 Jul 1894, White Oaks, Lincoln Co. Married Gussittie
Elvina AMSDEN 26 Jan 1913, Globe, AZ. Died 19 Dec 1951,
Safford, AZ.
Sp. Gussittie Elvina AMSDEN (1895-1956), daughter of Harry
AMSDEN
1.3.3 Henry Lee LACEY (1900-1966)
Born 24 Nov 1900, White Oaks, Lincoln Co. Married Edna Etta
WALDRIP 3 Jul 1920, Globe, AZ. Died 12 May 1966.
Sp. Edna Etta WALDRIP (1903- )
1.3.4 Annie Ruth LACEY (1902- )
Born 30 Jul 1902, White Oaks, Lincoln Co. Married Otis
MCNEELY 18 Feb 1918, Lordsburg, NM.
Sp. Otis MCNEELY
1.3.5 Bertie Elizabeth LACEY (1909- )
Born 17 Jul 1909, White Oaks, Lincoln Co. Married George
Leroy GILLETTE.
Sp. George Leroy GILLETTE (1906- )
1.4 Acel Phelps LACEY (1876-1956)
Born 10 Jun 1876, Lockehill, Bexar Co, TX. Married Ida Mae CLEGHORN 26
Feb 1901, Nogal, Lincoln Co. Died 16 Jan 1956, Roswell, NM.
Spouse, Ida Mae CLEGHORN (1868- )
1.4.1 Lorena Francis LACEY (1902-1922)
Born 15 Aug 1902, Lincoln County, NM. Died Feb 1922.
1.4.2 Margie Lee LACEY (1905- )
Born 8 Feb 1905, Lincoln County, NM. Married Henry
CHEWING 1 Jul 1928, Carlsbad, NM.
Sp. Henry CHEWING
1.4.3 Elmer Phelps LACEY (1908- )
Born 7 Jun 1908. Married Dollie LAMBERT 22 Jul 1929,
Roswell, NM.
Sp. Dollie LAMBERT (1910- )
1.5 Lewis Harvey LACEY (1878-1934)
Born 23 Sep 1878, Lockehill, Bexar Co, TX. Married Callie Pearlee SLACK
14 May 1909, Lincoln County, NM. Died 24 Jul 1934, Van Nuys, CA.
Spouse, Callie Pearlee SLACK (1891-1964), daughter of Joseph Franklin SLACK and
Elizabeth Matilda PIKE
1.5.1 Arthur Harvey LACEY (1912- )
Born 20 Oct 1912, Ada, OK. Married Dorothy Frances KEITH.
Sp. Dorothy Frances KEITH
1.5.2 Velma Elizabeth LACEY (1915-1918)
Born 22 Mar 1915, Roswell, NM. Died 17 Oct 1918, White
Oaks, Lincoln Co.
1.5.3 Ethel Alayne LACEY (1919- )
Born 10 Sep 1919, Roswell, NM. Married Harry Ellsworth
PIERCE.
Sp. Harry Ellsworth PIERCE
1.5.4 Jewell Kristine LACEY (1921- )
Born 16 Nov 1921, Ada, OK. Married Richard EASTER.
Married Arthur Walter CURTIS.
Sp. Richard EASTER
Sp. Arthur Walter CURTIS
1.5.5 Retha Colleen LACEY (1923- )
Born 22 Sep 1923, Antlers, OK. Married Clinton Eugene
MITSCHKE.
Sp. Clinton Eugene MITSCHKE
1.5.6 Louis Elton LACEY (1927-1964)
Born 31 Jul 1927, Van Nuys, CA. Married Baryle Yvonne De
WALD. Died 18 Feb 1964.
Sp. Baryle Yvonne De WALD
1.5.7 Irene Evelyn LACEY (1929- )
Born 19 Jan 1929, Van Nuys, CA. Married Clyde TINDALE.
Sp. Clyde TINDALE
1.5.8 Lester LACEY (1930-1930)
Born 5 Aug 1930, Van Nuys, CA. Died 5 Aug 1930, Van Nuys,
CA.
1.5.9 Roy Glenn LACEY (1931- )
Born 8 Aug 1931, Van Nuys, CA. Married Barbara Mae
BILLUPS.
Sp. Barbara Mae BILLUPS
1.6 Erastus Columbus LACEY (1881- )
Born 6 Mar 1881, Kerrville, TX. Married Annie FEWELL. Died.
Spouse, Annie FEWELL
1.7 Robert Warden LACEY (1884- )
Born 2 Aug 1884, Gillespie Co. TX. Married Angie BARTLETT 1 Sep 1901.
Died.
Spouse, Angie BARTLETT (1885- ), dau. of Jasper Newton BARTLETT
1.7.1 Bessie Lea LACEY (1902- )
Born 9 Oct 1902, Roswell, NM. Married William Smith
TONCRAY.
Sp. William Smith TONCRAY
1.7.2 Effie Alma LACEY (1905- )
Born 11 Mar 1905, White Oaks, Lincoln Co. Married Geroge C.
WOFFORD.
Sp. Geroge C. WOFFORD
1.7.3 Pearl LACEY (1907- )
Born 6 Aug 1907, Corona, Lincoln Co. Married Douglas
REDING.
Sp. Douglas REDING
1.7.4 Archie Robert LACEY (1909- )
Born 6 Jun 1909. Married Marie DAUGHERTY.
Sp. Marie DAUGHERTY
1.8 Elijah "Doc" LACEY (1887-1967)
Born 16 Feb 1887, Gillespie Co. TX. Married Lela Lida KING 22 Apr 1925.
Married Annie King BLANKENSHIP 16 Jul 1963. Died 29 Jun 1967, Ft.
Sumner, NM.
Spouse (1) Lela Lida KING (1906-1925)
Spouse (2) Annie King BLANKENSHIP (1904- )
More Opportunities and Expansion
The following continues the Essay “White Oaks, NM: Foundation to Fadeout” by
Max Turner.
From isolation to prosperity...
―At the time of the discovery of the Homestake White Oaks, which was
officially founded on August 15, 1879, was a long way from anywhere. The main line
of travel through New Mexico was south from Las Vegas and Santa Fe to El Paso via
the Rio Grande. The nearest post office was ninety miles to the west in San Antonio.
The Homestake find changed all this for in late 1879 the camp, now growing into a
small town, applied for a post office. The petition was granted and a mail contract
was awarded to the National Mail Company.
―Morris B. Parker's family was amongst the new wave of 'miners' hoping to
strike it rich at White Oaks during the summer of 1882. Coming from all over the
country, people flocked to the small valley, claiming whatever areas they could in
hope of finding that one special spot. Parker's family relocated from St. Louis in what
he describes as a 'new start.‖ His father, Erasmus Wells Parker, had managed to
purchase the South Homestake in 1881, yet knowing almost nothing about mining.
Returning to St. Louis, Parker gathered his family, convinced his wife of the
opportunities, and headed for White Oaks in 1882.
―After making the trip to Las Vegas by train, the family of five had to make
the last 175 miles to White Oaks by buggy. This was no easy feat for the toughest of
families, for there was the constant threat of Indian attack, dehydration, or simply
getting lost. Luckily for the Parkers, they did not meet up with any Indians and made
the journey to their new home with relative ease.
―Once in the town, which numbered around 500 inhabitants in 1882, the
Parkers set about 'fixing-up' their two-room cabin, made entirely from wood, with a
flat, mud roof. This was the common house for the average family, for White Oaks
was still in its 'infant' stages as a boomtown in 1882. The main street, White Oaks
Avenue, ran through the middle of the town. Trees were quickly planted on both sides
of it to provide both shade and beauty. The town had grown from the mining camp
into a small tent town and from there into a shantytown. After the sudden population
boom of 1880-1882, the town went from a so-called hog town into the final stage of a
beautiful, little mountain paradise.
―With a strong population apparently here to stay, Jonathan H. Wise
organized the town's first newspaper, the White Oaks Golden Era, which was handed
out in December 1880. By 1882, Starr's Opera house was completed as well as an
attempt to start another newspaper called the White Oaks Scorpion, but this one never
made it off the ground. Stores, saloons, a school, even a town hall were soon built,
adding to the growing town. J. Howe Watts laid out the entire town and was named
surveyor. Arthur Lampson was named the first postmaster.
―Supply prices were generally higher than elsewhere in New Mexico, but
nobody seemed to care for everyone was waiting their chance to strike it rich. Flour
was six dollars for a hundred pounds, butter for fifty cents a pound, canned fruits for
sixty cents a can. Drinking water was still cheap, at forty cents a barrel, for it was also
being used for panning, which was in the general interest of the entire town. The town
hall, constructed in 1882, measured 24 x 48 square feet. This building was to be the
focal point for most town activities. Church, Sunday school, day school, dances,
political meetings, plays, and just about everything else happened at the town hall in
the early days of White Oaks. Lyman Hood held the first services for the new church
in early 1884. He was paid the salary of $75 a month, most of which was raised by
church members.
―The early and rapid growth of White Oaks called for a stage line to cover the
ninety miles between it and San Antonio. At first biweekly, then daily, a stage line,
was organized to transport the newcomers across the barren Mal Pais country to the
secluded valley of White Oaks. During these 'infant' stages of the town, every day
held moments of fun, tragedy, and most of all, disappointment. The influx of people
to White Oaks was a motley bunch, consisting of the serious miner down to the
violent outlaw. Good men and bad, all gold-hungry, visited the streets and hoped to
find their luck in the hills of Baxter Mountain.
―While all these newcomers were in town, money was in great circulation.
Local storeowners found themselves hard pressed to keep up with the supply
demands. The money that gave them stability more than made up for any misgivings,
however. All in all though, times were tough in White Oaks, and getting tougher.
―The gold found along Baxter Gulch had long been exhausted and no other
significant find had yet been discovered. Not until 1885, almost six years after the
initial discovery, would another significant find be found. Most of the money spent
on the South Homestake, including that of Morris Parker's father, had been lost in the
mine's failure to yield large amounts of gold. Still, this long period of nonproduction
may have been a blessing in disguise for White Oaks. With the lack of gold being
found in the mountains, the undesirable people eventually left town. Only the
determined citizens remained, believing that fate was bound to change and give them
the success they longed for and deserved. Before the times changed, however, White
Oaks had to endure the visits from an unwanted bunch of ruffians, mainly one
notorious William H. Bonney.
The Golden Days…
―By 1885 White Oaks had assumed the semblance of a real town. Surviving
the early difficulties of Billy the Kid and the failure of any significant strikes, the
town settled down to the face the future. Streets and cross streets had been surveyed
and laid out. Store buildings, made from stone as well as wood, were constructed
along White Oaks Avenue. The early-day boomtown atmosphere, with its wild
saloons, wide-open gambling, and guns and knives had virtually disappeared. The
residents were all law-abiding, eager to make progress and willing to face the future.
There were at least three young lawyers: John Y. Hewitt, H. B. Fergusson, and
George Barber. Doctors, bankers, businessmen of all types found their way to White
Oaks after 1885.
―A second town hall was built which served mostly as an athletic club for
boxing, wrestling, gymnastics, and for musicals. A two-story brick school building
was built on the north side of the valley. It had four rooms and served all grades from
kindergarten through accredited college-entrance courses. Upon entrance into the
school, the room on the left was for grades one through four, the room to the right for
five through eight. Up the stairs, the room to the left was for nine through twelve and
to the right the kindergarten, for it had a good heat source. The view from the school
was commanding, for one could see the entire town from the upstairs window. The
school, because of the recent increase in revenue, was just one of many new buildings
being built after 1885. All of the additions were the result of gold being mined
successfully once again from Baxter Mountain.
―Gold fever resurged in White Oaks during 1885. The success of the North
Homestake mine paid off for James A. Sigafus and Frank Lloyd, the mine manager.
The mine had three shafts measuring 600, 700, and 800 feet in depth. Steady profit
was managed from the gold veins inside the shafts. All told, the North Homestake
was the second largest yielding mine in White Oaks.
―The South Homestake, meanwhile, was once again at work. Morris Parker's
family suddenly found new revenue in their hands from the mine's two shafts
measuring 500 and 1,066 feet, respectively. Production was booming when disaster
struck in the form of fire. On July 1, 1891, a candle was left burning on an oil-soaked
shelf in the hoist room of the main shaft. Only two men were on shift, both of whom
lost their lives in the blaze. The entire mine was rendered useless until repairs could
be made, if ever. Because of the cost, this was never attempted.
―Instead of rebuilding the old shaft, focus was turned to another area in the
mine known as the North Shaft, which was producing good ore. This shaft was
making enough money to offset the disaster in the main shaft, though the owners of
the South Homestake had to be careful just how far they permitted their workers to
pursue this angle. The reason for this is the vein that the North Shaft was working in
ran from the North Homestake mine as well. The dividing line between the two mines
was becoming very close as the two mines worked towards one another.
―The work suddenly became quite slow, though the work was pressed on,
hoping that the vein would reappear. The problem was that the line between the North
and South Homestakes was very near, so near that the workers could hear one another
in the opposite mines. Morris Parker's father grew more and more apprehensive with
each day, feeling that the vein was all on the side of the North Homestake. Within
twenty-five feet from the dividing line between the two mines, the vein was relocated.
With this find, one of the richest pockets of gold ever found in the mines of White
Oaks was discovered.
―Joe Grieshaber, the Parker's foreman, blasted two 'shots' into the pocket. A
short, fat German man, he was determined to see just what the discovery could
possibly yield. It was impossible to go in the North Shaft after blasting for some time
because of the lack of any kind of artificial ventilation, which prevented the dust and
debris from settling. Still, Grieshaber was determined to see exactly what his blasts
had done to the pocket.
―Sneaking back to the mine that night with young Morris Parker at his side,
Grieshaber made the descent into the shaft and though the lighting was only from
candles, the two saw plenty. 'The sight that met our eyes was like a jewelry shop.
Clean, bright, shining gold! Big blotches, leaf and wire gold. Coarse and fine, too,
and a lot of it!' Filling their sacks with samples, the two men slept in the mine that
night, taking their findings to town the next morning. After having the gold tested and
checked out, the total in cash for one night's work was an astonishing $18,000! When
the time came for the mine to finally shut down, the South Homestake was the third
best producing mine in White Oaks.
―From that time on, the two Homestakes progressed normally and well. For
ten years the two mines continued production, and White Oaks prospered as a result.
Homes were popping up everywhere and new ranches began to cover the outlying
areas around town. White Oaks realized that the time would come when the veins
would become exhausted, but that fact didn't seem to bother the town during the fever
of the 'golden days'. By 1890, the town's population had grown to more than 2,000, a
remarkable achievement in such a short amount of time.
―The largest and richest find, was yet to come, however. Though the location
for the Old Abe mine was first located in 1879, shortly after that Homestake claim by
Winters, no significant production ever came from the area until years later. The
original three owners failed to see any future in the claim, so they opened up the area
for bidders in 1883. In January 1884, John Y. Hewitt, H. B. Fergusson, and William
Watson located two claims near the former Abraham Lincoln, called the White Oaks
and the Robert E. Lee. Lawyers, all three, had their practices in town, but spent much
of their time working the claims they had set on Baxter Mountain.
―The eventual site for the Old Abe as it came to be called, was very near to the
North Homestake, meaning that miners were riding over the shallow covering of the
richest vein in New Mexico for years. For eleven years, nothing much was done to
make good on the claims of the three attorneys. During the fall of 1890, the owners
made a deal with the owners of the South Homestake for some assessment of their
samples. The samples were taken by none other than Joe Grieshaber and Morris
Parker, and the results were more than satisfactory. Twice as much gold was found in
the samples as had been expected. That same fall, Watson and his nephew, Watt
Hoyle, worked below all previous work and sank a ten foot hole. As the values of
their efforts increased almost daily, the hole became deeper. Twenty feet, then thirty
until the pile of dirt surrounding the hole was too huge to continue with this method
of digging. The mill at the South Homestake was then borrowed for the grinding of
the ore from the Old Abe, for production at the earlier mine was at a low. The mill
produced successful gold, the likes of which had never been seen before in White
Oaks. Mr. Rolla Wells, president and principal owner of the South Homestake,
offered $300,000 for the Old Abe, but the three lawyer partners felt that they were on
to something big and promptly turned down his offer. A deal was then worked out
with the owners of the North Homestake as well, for use of their mill. Production, by
1890, had virtually ceased for the two Homestakes, and the Old Abe was the only
reason for the two not to shut down operations completely.
―White Oaks had been facing the possibility of a bleak and apprehensive
future until the discovery of the Old Abe. Life sprang up once again, for money was
now flowing into the local businesses like never before because the Old Abe, unlike
the other mines on Baxter Mountain, was owned entirely by local men. No outside
investors of any sort were involved with the mines yieldings, meaning more revenue
for White Oaks. The mine employed large numbers of men and they reaped in the
benefits as well. New faces appeared on the streets, the town took on a look of
prosperity as never before, and the population reached its peak around 2,500.
―As with previous large findings, new buildings were built, including a twostory bank. Named the Exchange Bank, it was located on White Oaks Avenue, just
like all the other buildings of importance. Watt Hoyle, as a result of greed and love,
decided to construct a 'superior' residence. The result of his efforts and spending was
a two-story brick home, complete with a viewing balcony on top. The story goes that
he was building it for his prospective bride and when she wrote him that she was not
coming to White Oaks, he walked up to the North Homestake and leaped to his death.
In actuality, Hoyle never finished the inside but did live in the home with his older
brother and his wife. The home became known as 'Hoyle's folly‘. While all of this
complacency and prosperity was going on, another disaster struck the town for the
second time. This fire, the greatest in the town‘s history, struck the Old Abe on March
9, 1895. A kerosene lamp exploded in the hoist house, sending flammable liquid all
over the wooden frames of the mine. The place was turned into a mass of fire, killing
nine of the twenty men who were working underground at the time. The men were
below the surface, almost 800 feet down.
―When the station tender noticed the disaster on hand, he quickly summoned
to his fellow miners and they began the long climb towards safety up the vertical
shaft. Climbing up a vertical ladder is not easy, even under normal circumstances.
With the pressures of depleting oxygen and sheer exhaustion, it's a wonder that
eleven men were able to make it out at all.
―It took the townspeople two days to extinguish the flames. In a heroic effort,
White Oaks, both men and women, fought against the terrible fire with all of the
strength and water they could muster. Tents were set up outside the mine for the
weary as well as coffee and meals. Most men, however, refused to stop their efforts,
for their friends were trapped inside. All of the town efforts went for nothing as the
nine bodies were carried out one by one after the flames were extinguished. It was a
heavy and sad day for White Oaks.
―The funeral was a particularly sad event. The entire town was present,
overflowing the church. ‗Nine coffins, side by side, filled the width of the church.
After the music and the service, the bodies of the young men, active and full of life a
few days before; now blackened, scorched, some of them unrecognizable, were
carried out one by one and placed in open wagons and led to the cemetery.‘
The graves had been prepared beforehand, the fresh dirt lying alongside the open
holes. There was a brief prayer at each one, then the coffins were lowered into the
earth, the 'headstone' being nothing more than pieces of wood. Each grave, though
containing a well-known and loved man, was unmarked; no name, cause of death, or
dates inscribed. As one can imagine, the next few weeks were filled with grief and
readjustment for many in White Oaks.
―After making some necessary repairs and adding extra safety precautions, the
Old Abe was hard at work once again, producing the finest form of gold known to
man-untarnished. Most of the world's gold does not come from high-grade specimens,
but rather from mines of low gold content, which may contain as little as half an
ounce of gold per ton. Gold is also often nothing more than a by-product of the
smelting of copper, lead, and silver ores. The mines at White Oaks, however,
produced magnificent specimens of pure, bright yellow gold. 100 percent pure, the
gold was heavy and coarse; produced from the tight seams of the earth. The mines of
White Oaks were undoubtedly able to produce some of the best gold ever seen by
man.
―The Old Abe mine was the richest mine in White Oaks without question. At
one time the mine employed forty workers yielding between forty-five to fifty tons of
gold per day! Though the last mine in operation, it was the biggest and best of them
all. The only working shaft was 1,350 feet deep, making it one of the deepest dry
mine shafts in the world. The mine continued to produce gold until just after the turn
of the century, when it, like the Homestakes, became 'worked-out'.
―Other mines of significant importance were the Lady Godiva and the Little
Mack, in which Robert Leslie worked. The veins in both of these mines were small,
and produced little compared with the other mines mentioned. All told, the mines of
White Oaks yielded around $20 million dollars worth of gold and other minerals. The
North Homestake was the first mine to cease operations, followed a couple of years
later by the South Homestake. Though some 'clean-up' was done producing minor
finds, the mills were shutdown for good. As the mining petered out, the town began to
fade. By the early 1900's, White Oaks was a far cry from what it had been just 10
years before. Its last hope was the railroad, which had to pass through White Oaks
and bring permanent prosperity.
Pending on the Rail….
―Long before the decline of White Oaks, the thought of running a rail spur
through the town had been in many minds. The soaring costs to transport the vast
amounts of gold from the mines by wagon was driving the owners of the mines crazy.
As early as 1882, rumors persisted of such an undertaking. As things ended up, White
Oaks was simply passed by because of the bungling of some of its leading citizens.
White Oaks might have been a bustling town today if the railroad and built a spur into
the town.
―The idea for a rail spur lay with the cost of transportation by wagon from the
mines to the nearest railroad depot, at that time in San Antonio, ninety miles away. El
Paso, Texas was a growing metropolis and it badly needed fuel such as coal, timber,
and of course the minerals coming from the White Oaks' mines, for its expanding
population. White Oaks, barely three years old at this time, needed a spur in which it
could transport the gold and other minerals cheaper and safer than by wagon. The
amount of time between shipments could be cut down tremendously as well. With the
mines of Organ, New Mexico, on the way as well, the project seemed to be only a
matter of time from turning into a reality.
―El Paso newspapers joined in on the clamor for the prospect of a new
railroad. The rail was to be named the El Paso and White Oaks Railroad Company.
The general opinion was that a literal empire lay in the building. This rail would not
only join the city of El Paso with the gold mines of White Oaks, but would have
depots at Organ and other ranches as well. All that was needed was a builder. Morris
Locke seemed to be that man, though he did not actually begin any construction until
1889. Starting from El Paso, Locke managed to lay ten miles of rail costing him
$170,000. Progress was very slow because of opposition from the Southern Pacific
and the Santa Fe Railroads, which had just moved into Roswell, New Mexico, only
eighty miles from White Oaks. Locke soon found the task too stressful and he sold
the venture to Jay Gould, who bought it for $50,000. Gould, much like Locke, found
the task and terrain too difficult and the project was abandoned. Seeing the location of
White Oaks as being to high and rough for his expenses, Gould left the rail, and
White Oaks, behind.
―It was not until Charles B. Eddy, who visited White Oaks many times before
1900 and became convinced that the coal, gold, and other minerals found there could
be warranted some kind of a line, that serious efforts were made to build a railroad to
the town. Calling it the White Oaks & Kansas City Railroad, the title made the local
headlines. Wanting to connect White Oaks to a nearby city, Eddy proposed running a
line from El Paso, which was eagerly accepted. Posting $10,000 with the El Paso City
Council on September 20, 1897, Eddy promised to begin actual construction within
ninety days.
―What Eddy was also banking on were the Salado coal fields at Capitan and
the vast timber resources on the Sacramento plateau, for these brought additional
tonnage to the railroad. Hoping that capitalists would aid him in the funding of these
resources, Eddy built the railroad from El Paso to Alamogordo, a town that arose
because of just such a venture. Then disaster struck in the form of a major setback in
the Salado coalfields, causing Eddy to panic. Seeing this 'certain' promise fail him,
Eddy lost faith in the gold mines of White Oaks, choosing to run his line away from
the low mountains and create a stopping point at White Oaks junction (Carrizozo,
New Mexico) instead. This destination was reached on August 3, 1899, but the people
of White Oaks soon realized that the dreams of having a railroad running through
their town were becoming bleak. There was one final hope for White Oaks in the
form of having a spur run from White Oaks Junction near the end of town, but the
egos of the leading citizens got in the way. The original survey called for White Oaks
as an objective. The railroad requested that ‗the town provide a right-of-way, free of
charge, along a proposed route which would at least affect buildings in existence. It
asked for a flat, vacant acreage near the west edge of town for depot site, shops, and
sidings, and a cash bonus of $50,000.‘
―Town meetings were held and the requests were approved at first, but then
opposition arose. Though the railroad countered the opposition by canceling the cash
bonus, the leading citizens refused to compromise and expressed their determination
not to spend a dollar. Their attitude was indicated in their slogan: ‗Regardless of what
we do, the road necessarily must pass through White Oaks. It is the shortest, easiest,
and cheapest route available. There is no other way.‘
―The problem was that there was another way, finding a second route north of
Lone Mountain where the summit was even lower than at White Oaks. Even after
actual construction began on the alternate route, the dissenters persisted in their
claims: ‗White Oaks, with its manifold advantages, does not need a railroad.‘ When
the Old Abe mine declined at the turn of the century, there was nothing left to support
the town. Though the mistake was realized, it was far too late. Thus the people of
White Oaks, by their own stubbornness and lack of foresight, were closely associated
with the oblivion of their town. The railroad was built all right, just not through White
Oaks. This fact, perhaps more than the exhaustion of the mines, spelled the end for
the town.
Fadeout...
―If destiny had placed itself only twelve miles to the east of Carrizozo, New
Mexico, in the mountains of White Oaks, everyone would be calling the town the best
in New Mexico. Instead, White Oaks is a ghost town.
―The fadeout of the town came after the railroad decided to run around White
Oaks, instead of through it in 1900. After this was realized, many people simply left
―In 1891 an act was passed authorizing the President of the United States to
set aside lands as forest reserves. However, these lands were to be set aside and
managed by the General Land Office in the Department of Interior and not by the
Forestry office in the Department of Agriculture. The first reserve set aside was the
Yellowstone Forest reserve, which was adjacent to the Yellowstone National Park in
Wyoming and Montana. The idea was to provide a buffer around the already
established Yellowstone National Park.
―It is interesting to note that the first forest reserve established in New Mexico
was in 1892, which included the upper drainage of the Pecos River and was called the
Pecos Forest Reserve. In 1905 the Forest Service was established in the Department
of Agriculture and the Forest Reserves were transferred, at that time, from the
Department of the Interior to the Department of Agriculture. Then in 1907 the name
of the Forest Reserves was changed to National Forests. What now constitutes the
Lincoln National Forest used to be parts of five other National Forests or Forest
Reserves. The Lincoln National Forest was originally established on July 26, 1902
with the office in Capitan. This area only included the White Mountains and Capitan
Mountains. Presidential proclamations were then signed in 1905, 1906, 1907, 1910,
and 1919 adding additional lands to the Lincoln National Forest.
―On April 19, 1907 the Guadalupe National Forest was established. This was
composed of the Guadalupe Mountains down near the Texas border, west of
Carlsbad. On July 2, 1907 the Guadalupe National Forest was combined with the
Alamo National Forest to form the Sacramento National Forest.
―On April 24, 1907 a proclamation was issued to establish the Sacramento
National Forest. This included the area south of the Mescalero Apache Reservation to
the end of the Sacramento Mountain range. As mentioned previously on July 2, 1908,
Sacramento National Forest was combined with the Guadalupe National Forest to
form the Alamo National Forest. The office for the Alamo National Forest was
located in Alamogordo during the wintertime, but it moved to Cloudcroft during the
summer.
―An interesting sequence of events then occurred in relationship to the Alamo
National Forest. On March 2, 1909 part of the Mescalero Apache Reservation was
added to the Alamo National Forest. This is the area east and north of Tularosa in
what is now the northwest corner of the Apache Reservation. Because of complaints
by the Indians and other people interested in Indian welfare, these lands were then
returned back to the reservation on the first of March, 1912.
―In 1910 and again in 1916 additional lands were added to the Alamo
National Forest, a part of it in the Sacramento Mountains and part of it in the
Guadalupe Mountains. On June 6, 1917 the Alamo National Forest was combined
with the Lincoln National Forest to form what is pretty much the current boundaries
of the Lincoln National Forest. The headquarters for the Lincoln National Forest was
then moved to Alamogordo.
―A proclamation was signed on November 5, 1906 creating the Gallinas
National Forest. This is an area that is west of Corona. Then in 1908 some additional
land was added to this area and the Gallinas National Forest was combined with the
Lincoln National Forest. The Gallinas Mountains were then part of the Lincoln
National Forest until 1958 when a law was passed and these lands were transferred
from the Lincoln National Forest to the Cibola National Forest, with headquarters in
Albuquerque.
―There were a lot of boundary adjustments made in the National Forests from
the time they were originally created up until the late 1920's. The original
proclamation setting aside the National Forests contained broad descriptions based
mostly on township boundaries (a township for your information, is six miles square
or six miles on a side of 36 square miles). These areas at times did not very well
correspond with existing mountain ranges, forested areas or non-forested areas.
Consequently over a period of years better surveys were made and better knowledge
gained of the country. A series of proclamations over the years were issued adjusting
the boundaries of the National Forests.
―Over the years a series of events occurred effecting the Lincoln Forest or the
Alamo National Forest. Several proclamations were signed during the years
eliminating parts of the National Forest because they were not suitable for National
Forest purposes. The basis for establishing most of the Lincoln National Forest was
the preservation of commercial timber stands and for watershed protection. In fact,
for the Guadalupe Mountain area, the sole basis for establishing the National Forest
was for watershed protection. In the years prior to 1907 there were several serious
floods in the Pecos River Valley around Carlsbad that originated from the Guadalupe
Mountains. The residents believed that the floods were due to overgrazing and
removal of vegetation in the mountains.
―The National Forest used to extend out closer to Alamogordo than where it is
located at present. Also there was a row of townships across the southern part of the
Sacramento Mountains that used to be part of the National Forest. This was also true
on the east side of the Sacramento Mountains in the vicinity of Elk and Pinon.
―In 1924 a proclamation was issued delineating several thousand acres of the
National Forest south and east of Mayhill. The purpose of this was to make this land
available to veterans of the First World War for homesteading purposes.
―During the winter of 1913 and 1914 there was a very strong effort of the
local people to eliminate the Alamo National Forest. This was before the Alamo was
combined with the Lincoln National Forest in 1917. A petition was circulated and
signed by approximately 640 people to have 900,000 acres of the Alamo National
Forest returned back to the public domain. About 60 of these people contributed
money to help finance the cost. A board was appointed to plan and carry out the
effort. The spokesman that was elected for this board was a gentleman by the name of
Thomas B. Longwell. Mr. Longwell was an ex-Forest Service employee. He had been
hired by the Forest Service to conduct timber surveys in the Sacramento Mountains as
well as other locations. He was selected as a spokesman for the group because he had
the most knowledge of the land and the timber resources on the Alamo National
Forest. In March 1914, Mr. Longwell went back to Washington D.C. to present his
case before the Forest Service and the Department of Agriculture employees. There
were many reasons given for the government to return the land, but behind all these
reasons was the basic idea that the public domain land belonged to the local people
and they did not think it was desirable to have their activities controlled by the
Federal Government.
―There was another interesting idea that kept occurring from about 1908 until
it finally died out about 1920. This was the idea to establish a national park out of the
Sacramento Mountains and a portion of the Mescalero Indian Reservation. Also
included was a little bit of the then existing Lincoln National Forest in the area of
Ruidoso. This proposal was mostly made by Congressmen from Texas and southern
New Mexico, who even at that time, recognized the importance of the Lincoln
National Forest area for recreation and for climatic relief for the dwellers in the dry,
desert type country. The effort never really gained too much support on a national
basis because the Lincoln National Forest, although scenically attractive, was not an
outstanding attraction as compared to places like Yellowstone Park, Grand Canyon,
and other areas that were being established as National Parks around that time.
―The early Forest Service employees were almost all political appointees,
especially the Forest Supervisors who usually came from population centers in the
eastern half of the United States. The forest rangers, as they were called then and
now, were usually local people. The general requirements for these early day rangers
were that they had to be capable of hard work, and they had to be able to ride horses,
handle firearms, and have some knowledge of farming. The early rangers were only
paid $900 dollars a year. Out of this $900 they had to provide their own horse, their
own saddle, and their own weapons. One of the requirements of the early day rangers
was to raise their own horse feed.
―There is an interesting story related about one of the early Forest Supervisors
in New Mexico who was a political appointee. This gentleman came from Illinois and
had worked as editor of a newspaper. This Supervisor when he was out riding always
carried an umbrella with him. One day it started to rain as he was going by a pasture
where some livestock were grazing. There was, just inside the fence, a mother cow
and a newborn calf. This Forest Supervisor got off his horse, crawled through the
fence, walked over and put his umbrella over the calf to try to protect it from the rain.
After a couple of minutes the mother cow became just a little alarmed, and tried to
attack the Supervisor. As he was escaping through the fence he managed to tear his
uniform. This incident is related in a book that was published in 1972 titled ‗Men to
Match the Mountains‘.
―For the Alamo National Forest in 1911, rangers were stationed at La Luz,
Cloudcroft, Elk, Weed, Pinon, Hope and Queen. The later was located in the
Guadalupe Mountains. In 1911 Lincoln National Forest Rangers were stationed at
Capitan, Glencoe, Lincoln, Richardson, Hollaway, Progresso, and White Oaks.
Hollaway and Progresso may have been locations in the Gallinas Mountains near
Corona.
―Here are a couple more items from this book on the early Forest Service
employees and some of their problems. One well-known Supervisor was a gentleman
by the name of Fred Breen, a newspaperman from Illinois, who was Supervisor of the
Coconio National Forest from 1901 until he resigned. He was known for putting out
interesting instructions to his rangers. Some of these are quoted in this book. An
example: ‗Rangers are employed for the purpose of protecting Government land and
timber, a ranger‘s whole time is to be devoted to the interest of the Government, and
to no other private businesses. Rangers are expected to go to a fire at once, wherever
one is discovered within a reasonable distance of his district. Daily reports should
show where he went and the purpose of his visit, the distance traveled, and the time
consumed each day. Or if the employees have been building fire brakes, piling brush,
building trails, or other similar work, state the amount of work done in a
comprehensive manner, that the amount may be known. Post fire warnings along all
roads, trails, and springs, and other camping places. Nail them up, securely and
plentifully. Merely riding over your district does not constitute the duties of a ranger.
They should be on the lookout for all things affecting the reserve. Find the most
exposed places and remove the debris to protect the forest from fires, be constantly on
the alert for trespass, and depredations.‘
―In 1908, Mr. Breen decided to resign, and wrote a letter of resignation to the
Chief Forester in Washington D.C. Below is a quote of that letter.
‗I thought I had a bright future before me, but that durn bright future has
certainly sidestepped me along the routes somewhere and must be loafing behind. I
was not promoted in 1905, when the transfer was made from the Land office. I didn't
think much about it at the time, one way or the other. But when I did get promoted in
1906 I was glad I wasn't promoted in 1905. I was getting $2,371 until my promotion
came along in 1906, which gave me $2,200. I knew it was a promotion for my
commission from the Secretary of the Interior; said so right square in the middle of it.
In 1907, I was raised to $2,300. So I am still shy some of the good 'old salary that I
started with way back in September 1898, with only the San Francisco Mountain
National Forest to handle. The fellas on Black Mesa and Grand Canyon Forests were
getting the same amount that I got. But when they fell by the wayside, I fell heir to
their territory, and their troubles, but none of the pesos they were getting. One can get
a heap more money out of a little old band of sheep or something of that kind, even if
his intellect doesn't average over 30%, with a whole lot of less trouble, and retain
some friends; but with this job the general public just naturally gets cross if you try to
enforce the rules, and if you don't enforce the rules then you get cross; so the
Supervisor gets double cross whatever happens, and has no pension at the end of the
game to sorta ease down in his old age when the pace is too fast. While I think a good
deal of forestry, I realize that a man can't live in this country and lay up anything
unless he gets a good salary; consequently, believe I should go out and make money
while I can. I feel mighty relieved at the prospect of some other fella being accused of
prejudice, ignorance, partiality, graft, ulterior motives, laziness, salary grabbing and
other such innocent pastimes. I am, glad there will be a bright young man here March
15, to separate me and my troubles and let me wander away to new fields where
neither the bleat of the sheep, the height of a stump, the brand of the cow nor even a
special privilege can hop up and fill me with fright or woe.‖
This article from the archives of the Sacramento Mountains Historical Museum was
slightly edited to conserve space. see, www.mountaintimes.net/History
A Couple of Articles
This article is from the Los Angeles Times, Wednesday, April 27, 1988. Although
Seven Rivers is not in present day Lincoln Co. it is in nearby Eddy Co. and I thought
this would shed some light on the conditions of the era. The Seven Rivers area was an
integral part of the Lincoln Co. War and it was also home or stopping place to some
members of our Lincoln County families. Ed.
"Bones Don't Lie"
Wild West Life: Sweet It Wasn't" By David Lamb – L.A.Times Staff Writer
"Fly, Scatter through the country, go to the great West...The West is the true
destination!"
Horace Greeley
“SEVEN RIVERS, NM. The settling of the West is our oldest and most
enduring legend. It transformed cowboys from tradesmen to folk heroes, turned villains
into national celebrities and so shaped our self-image that the frontier became the
metaphor for American values.
―Henry A, Kissinger, for instance, likened himself to a cowboy on a solitary ride
while he was negotiating with the Chinese and the Vietnamese in the 1970's.
"Americans admire the cowboy leading the caravan alone astride his horse," he said.
Gen. Maxwell Taylor, explaining the difficulties of the pacification program in Vietnam,
informed Congress: "It is very hard to plant corn outside the stockade when the Indians
are around." And President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1966, told senior officers in Cam
Ranh Bay to "come home with that coonskin on the wall," presumably referring to the
hide of the Viet Cong.
Stuff of Patriotism
―Although historians today are questioning many myths of the Old West, the
legend remains so widely held sacrosanct that some readers accused Paul Hutton, a
Mead Fellow at the Huntington Library, of being unpatriotic when he wrote recently in
Texas Monthly that Davy Crockett had not died gallantly at the Alamo but had
surrendered and was executed.
―Actor James Stewart got the same kind of nasty letters nearly 40 years ago, for
portraying a gunless, milk-drinking deputy sheriff in "Destry Rides Again".
"The idea that I came to be marshal of a town and didn't use a gun was, people said,
insulting to the Western and to everyone who believed in the West", recalled Stewart, a
Princeton University graduate who had intended to be an architect before he came to
Hollywood and starred in 18 Westerns. "The Western, after all, is really about the basic
values of our country--freedom, the settling of new frontiers, the determination to push
on".
Pioneers' Remains Studies
―Now from the southeastern prairies of New Mexico comes a less romanticized
view of the Old West that challenges our notion of tall cowboys and knightly deeds. It
comes from an overgrown cemetery in a cattle town that disappeared in the late 1890's.
If the secrets anthropologists unearthed here are any measure, frontier life was violent,
grueling, impoverished and often pitiful.
―Seven Rivers, just north of today's Carlsbad, was on the Goodnight-Loving
Trail, over which the great cattle drives followed the Pecos out of Texas on their way to
the distant rangelands of Montana and Wyoming. It was a forlorn and empty place with
several saloons and no church. In summer it baked in furnace-like temperatures, in
winter it lay under deep covers of wind-driven snow. By 1885, the population had
reached 300 and the White Oaks Golden Era newspaper reported: "Business is lively
and our little settlement thrives apace".
―Last February, with work near completion on an irrigation dam that will flood
the flatlands along County Route 32, a federal expedition headed by anthropologist
Bobbie Ferguson exhumed the 52 skeletons from the Seven Rivers cemetery.
―The scientists studied the remains with the help of forensic experts and
examined court records and newspaper clippings. By the time the cemetery was
relocated they had pieced together a remarkable clear picture of the brief life of Seven
Rivers and the Southerners who had settled it.
"I was stunned", Ferguson said. "I had always assumed all those tales about the
Wild West were exaggerated, but what I think it comes down to is that these peoples
lives were so hard, so full of physical labor, that were just wasn't much time for
tenderness or care or warmth".
High Rate of Violence
―Of the 15 men, between the ages of 18 and 45, buried in Seven Rivers, 10 died
violently.
―There was Zach Light, a trouble-making cowhand from Texas, who was shot in
the saloon owned by Sheriff Les Dow. His skull bears a bullet hole just above the left
eye. K. S. Keith was killed by Indians from one of the tribes in the region, Apaches or
Comanches, who cut off his right leg above the knee. William Johnson's head was
blown off by his father-in-law's shotgun after he mentioned at the dinner table that he
had fought for the Union in the Civil War. Another man, who died at about age 30, had
lived more than a year with a knife blade embedded in his shoulder. The cause of his
death was recorded as "buckshot in the chest area".
―There was John Northern, for whom the Golden Era had predicted "a serene
and happy life, cloudless, save with rare and roseate shadows", when he took a teen-age
bride, Julia, just before Christmas in 1885. Less than two years later he was dead, at age
27, shot in the saloon where he worked.
Diseases Took a Toll
―Many of the men were barely 5 feet tall; the tallest was 5 feet 9. No one was
buried with his boots on, boots having been too expensive to be wasted on a dead man.
Of the 14 children under 2, most had died of scarlet fever, diphtheria, measles, croup or
other disease that today would not be life threatening. John Andress, who came with a
wagon train from Pipe Creek, TX, lost his wife, mother-in-law and two children in the
same year to dysentery they got from bad drinking water.
"In the West", the English novelist Anthony Trollope wrote in 1862, "I found
men gloomy and silent--I might almost say sullen. A dozen of them will set for hours
around a stove, speechless. They chew tobacco and ruminate. They are not offended if
you speak to them, but they are not pleased. They answer with monosyllables...They
drink often and to great excess...I cannot part with the West without saying in its favor
that there is a certain manliness about its men, which gives them a dignity of their
own...It seems to me that no race of men requires less outward assistance than these
pioneers of civilization".
Challenging the Myths
―Surely this wasn't the stuff of Randolph Scott or of Louis L'Amour, but if life
on the prairies was so miserable, how did we come to convince ourselves it was a
glamorous era? How did we come to make folk heroes of "cowboys", which in the
Eastern press of the 1800's was a pejorative term for itinerants and roustabouts? Was
there really an absence of mirth, a scarcity of love?
―One of the myths being challenged is that of violence, and - Seven Rivers
notwithstanding - most believe violence in the Old West was not markedly more
common than it was in Eastern cities. Most also agree that life in the cities of the West
today is far more dangerous than in the Western town of a century ago.
―Roger D. McGrath, a UCLA professor, has studied violence in Western mining
towns and concluded that one of the wildest, Bodie, CA, had a robbery rate comparable
to Boston's in the late 1880's. From FBI statistics he also calculated that Miami's
burglary rate in 1980 was 25 times higher than Bodie's a century earlier, that the theft
rate in the United States as a whole is 17 times higher today than it was in Bodie. He did
not find a record of a single instance of rape in the towns he studied, and juvenile
offenses were seldom more serious than using obscene language.
The Violence Connection
"My argument is that the violence we know in America today is the consequence
of the modern city, not the frontier experience", McGrath said. "Yes, there was a high
homicide rate in the Old West, but the killing was usually between willing combatants.
Today's crimes are different. They are carried out in a cowardly manner and criminals
prey on the weak. I've discussed this with the Los Angeles Police and they couldn't give
me a single case in which a gang member died in what we would call a shoot-out".
―On the Canadian frontier, where acts of violence were rare, the law preceded
the settlers. On the U.S. frontier the mixture of alcohol and reckless young veterans of
the Civil War proved to be combustible, and the courts and sheriffs came after the
population.
―The era of the lawless cow town ended with the advent of barbed wire, and by
1890, the federal government had declared the frontier "closed" and the West settled.
American Identity Theory
―The thought of losing the frontier dismayed Americans then as now. If there is
no Alaskan wilderness, no Montanan expanse, aren't we all doomed to huddle in tall
buildings of glass and concrete, restricted by conventions and sameness, with no horizon
in sight?
―Frederick Jackson Turner, a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, in 1892
responded to the announced closing of the frontier by delivering in Chicago a paper that
started a reassessment of American history that is debated to this day. What made
Americans - even those who stayed in the East - distinctive as a people, he said, was the
frontier experience. It was the West, not our European heritage, that was primarily
responsible for shaping our national character, developing our institutions and honing
our democracy, he believed.
"What the Mediterranean Sea was to the Greeks, breaking the bond of custom,
offering new experiences, calling out new institutions and activities..." he wrote, "the
ever retreating frontier has been to the United States." He called the frontier "a gate of
escape from the bondage of the past" and said that as an expansionist nation "the
American energy will continually demand a wider field for its exercise".
A Colonial Relationship
―Many historians today believe Turner overemphasized the importance of the
Western experience in defining us as a people. The East, after all, bankrolled the
settlement of the West. As Harold Lamar, a historian at Yale University points out,
Eastern interests controlled the railroad monopoly, set the wheat and grain prices and
owned many of the territorial banks and much of the open range land. Prices for Texas
cotton were set, to a large degree, by brokerage houses in Boston.
"In a sense, the East held the mortgage", Lamar said. "No one ever called the
relationship colonial, but it was, and that colonial syndrome persists today."
―Yet what we celebrate with poetic license in the Old West are the very qualities
that are inherently anti-colonial: We have made heroes of outlaws who shunned the
Establishment's dictates. We have sentimentalized the lone gunman who answered to no
one and admired those with sudden wealth acquired by luck. (Wouldn't today's serious
lottery players have been gold miners a century ago?) We have reclaimed the long-dead
frontier virtues that often seem to escape us in the urbanized America of the 1980's.
"The moral tone of the cow camp indeed is rather high..." Theodore Roosevelt
wrote in 1888. "Meanness, cowardice and dishonesty are not tolerated. There is a high
regard for truthfulness and keeping one's word, intense contempt for any kind of
hypocrisy and a hearty dislike for a man who shirks his work."
―Contrary to common perceptions, the cow camps of which Roosevelt wrote and
the westward expansion itself were hardly just an Anglo-Saxon experience. The
territories were heavily populated with European immigrants, Jews, Latinos, Chinese
and Japanese. Blacks were prominent as cowboys and rodeo riders, and the two cavalry
regiments with the highest reenlistment rates, the 9th and 10th, were black units,
according to Richard Slotkin, a Wesleyan University historian. It may have been a
man's world, but the first place in the country to grant women the right to vote was
Wyoming, in 1868, and the first state to send a woman to Congress was Montana, in
1917.
Heroes That Went East
"Next thing you know they'll be outlawing liquor," a disgusted Bat Masterson
complained as the women's suffrage movement spread through the West. In 1902 he
moved to New York City, where he became famous as a sports writer. His
contemporary, Wyatt Earp, ended up selling real estate in Los Angeles. Billy the Kid's
killer, Pat Garrett, received as his reward from President Theodore Roosevelt,
appointment to the comfortable post of customs collector at El Paso.
―Well before the poker-playing marshals went middle class, the history of the
West had become myth. The creators of the legend were the authors of the dime
novel, the Eastern newspapermen who ventured West and regaled their readers with
embellished accounts that made heroes of regular people, and Buffalo Bill's Wild West
show which, way back in 1883, exploited the daring and violence of the frontier before
large audiences in Europe and on the East Coast. Fact seldom got in the way of lively
fiction as American began to popularize men of dubious achievements and celebrate the
bloodshed in its past.
Men Made in Stories
―"I am sorry to have to lie so outrageously in this yarn," William (Buffalo Bill)
Cody wrote his New York publisher. "If you think the revolver and the Bowie knife are
used too freely, you may cut out a fatal shot or stab wherever you deem it wise."
―Earp, who served only briefly as a lawman, was elevated to superstar status
after Stuart Lake's best-seller, "Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshal" was serialized in the
Saturday Evening Post. Wild Bill Hickok became a nationally known figure through a
story in Harper's Magazine about his gunfight with Dave Tutt in the city square of St.
Joseph, MO. The reason for the duel to the death: Tutt had won Hickok's wristwatch in
a poker game and had ignored Hickok's warning that he would be killed if he ever wore
the watch in public.
"There's probably no Western hero you could name today who didn't have some
kind of sordid past, from a liberal point of view," said Western historian Melissa Totten
of Los Angeles.
―Yet William (Billy the Kid) Bonney, who was born in a New York City
tenement, is still honored every summer in Lincoln, NM, with a pageant celebrating his
last jailbreak in 1881, even though he killed two deputies in the process.
Legends Live On
―Jesse James' home in Jackson County, MO, is a museum. Tombstone, AZ,
whose population has grown from 400 to 1800 since World War II, twice a month stages
for tourists a reenactment of the OK Corral gunfight - a fight that didn't become
ingrained in Western history until Water Nobel Burns' book, "Tombstone", came out in
1927. Seven movies followed the book.
―"If it wasn't for the gunfight, it's possible that there wouldn't even be a
Tombstone today," said Wallace Clayton, owner of the Crystal Palace saloon, where the
Earp brothers and Doc Holliday used to drink.
―In October (1988), the $25-million Gene Autry Western Heritage Museum is
to open in Los Angeles. To what extent that heritage was built on myth may always be
argued, but few would debate the fact that "westering," as A. B. Guthrie called it,
offered as much misery and hardship as it did Last Sunsets and High Noon heroes.‖
“The Good Old Days in Lincoln County”
By Ruth Birdsong of White Oaks, New Mexico
‗In the late 1800's and 1900's, most settlers in these southeastern New Mexico
mountains were either miners or homesteaders. Life was hard in those days and the
homes were sometimes drafty and crowded. Children went to work at an early age,
often working with their parents to help dig a living from the virgin earth, or for
someone for hire, bringing their small income back to the family to help with expenses.
―Wood for fuel was plentiful in White Oaks and the Bonito areas. It could be
bought in White Oaks for $4.00 a cord delivered, but cutting to stove lengths and
splitting cost extra, so most people cut their own. Timber and lumber delivered in
White Oaks costs ten to twelve dollars a thousand board feet. By 1892 these prices had
increased about 50%.
―In the early days kerosene (coal oil) lamps lit the homes and dwellings.
Sometimes tallow or wax candles were used for their lighting. Water from wells,
cisterns or nearby streams was essential for the household. There was a water bucket
and a dipper that was used by all for drinking.
―Mother made us cough syrup and candy from the ‗horehound‘ weed that still
grows wild in the area. The "tea bushes" or Green Ephedra and ‗tea weed‘ or canutillo
that grows on the hillsides were used for making spring tea. A spoonful of wild honey
was added to the teas if folks were lucky enough to have some.
―Most all clothing was handmade by the women from patterns that they had
created. In those days, the Sears and Montgomery Wards catalogs were the store.
Shoes had to last a long time, and then they were half-soled at home by the men in the
family.
―When financial help was needed for the school, the cemetery, the church or
whatever, it was raised by pie suppers or box socials. The ladies of the community
would bake pies or pack boxes with a complete meal and decorate the box attractively.
The men would then bid for the pie or box of their choice. These events always drew a
large crowd.
―Travel was limited as horses proved the main mode of transportation. Oxen
were used for hauling logs, and freighting. Wages in the early days were about the
same as in the other mining camps. Miners and timbermen were paid $3 a day;
muckers (shovelers) and car men, $2.50; common laborers $2; mill amalgamator and
battery men $3.50; blacksmiths $3 to $3.50; master mechanics, foremen and shift
bosses, $3 to $5. Day shifts were 12 hours, seven days a week. Sunday was the hardest
day of all, since it was reserved for clean up and repair jobs. Sunday night was the only
regular time off. Overtime was paid for at a standard rate.
―The winter days were so short that they began and ended in darkness going
and coming with lighted lantern in one hand and lunch box in the other.
―It was a big day when the men from all over the country, rounded up to brand
cattle. In the spring these men would rope, brand, cut and mark. At the roundups there
were chuck wagons, line riders, wives, children and their dogs and saddle ponies. The
wives would prepare food, keep the branding irons "red hot" and cook "mountain
oysters" as requested.
―At night around a campfire, folks would tell stories, play guitar and fiddle
music, and french harps or the accordion. There was a chance for the young cowboys
and girls to dance out in the wide-open spaces nearby.
―Some of the ranchers would haul beef and deer meat to El Paso by wagon,
where the meat would be traded for fencing materials, clothes and food. The only road
going to El Paso was through the sand dunes and mesquite. Usually the family
depended more on the mail order catalogs.
―Easter was a day for church, basket dinners, and Easter egg hunts. On the
fourth of July there was a big celebration with picnicking, foot racing, horseshoe
pitching as well as sack races and other forms of recreation. Short horse races were
also very popular, with the young and the old.
―Horse back riding was always enjoyed. Camp outs in the cool pines along the
creek banks, fishing for trout in the deep pools, and wading the shallow waters, were
delightful summer experiences. The good old days had their compensations, as raw
nature was there to enjoy a campfire cookout, singing, and star gazing. There was time
to smell the flowers, to watch the birds, butterflies and squirrels. One learned to
commune with nature at an early age.
―In the fall, cattle buyers would come to the ranches to bid on the cows and
calves. Cows brought about $10 each, and calves would bring about $8. When the
bidding was over, shipping the stock was next. On a certain day the cattle would be
driven to Capitan or Carrizozo to be shipped out by rail, sometimes as far as Kansas
City (the railroad came about the turn of the century). Prior to the coming of the
railroad, Fort Stanton bought a greater portion of the beef from local ranchers.
―Washing clothes on a washboard for the family was no small task. The old
black iron pot in the yard was used for heating water for the wash. It also served for
scalding pigs, cooking hominy, making homemade soap, or for scalding turkeys or
chickens.
―In the fall the cellars were stocked with home canned goods from the summer
gardens, fruits from the orchards and canned meats. There would be potatoes and
carrots packed in sawdust, home cured hams, sausages, salt pork or "sow belly". The
sausages were made with pork, beef and beef suet. Eggs were stored in large crocks
filled with brine or were coated with wax for longer storage in crocks filled with water.
―The children that lived out of town walked to school, or rode if they had
horses. The horses were brought in from the pasture and fed and saddled by the older
children. Dressing warmly was a must in winter. To help keep the feet warm "gunny
sacks" were wrapped around them. Sometimes children would ride double. Just
getting to school was a major event!
―Games of fun were played such as "Blind man's Bluff", "Red Rover", "Hop
Scotch", "Hide and Seek", "Mumble Peg", and marbles, sled riding and baseball with
homemade bats and balls with string wound around and around, and taffy pulls and
spelling bees. Christmas trees and programs were celebrated in the schoolhouse, at
Christmas time by the entire community. The schoolteacher was in charge of the
program. What cold nights they could be. Families had warm blankets and good-sized
rocks, which were heated perhaps for days in their fireplaces for the event. The rocks
got wrapped in paper and gunnysacks and were placed in the beds of the buggy and
would keep the feet and hands warm for hours.
‗The good old days were all right. The folks worked, managed, and saved
during those days. Some were able to just get by. There wasn't any social security,
welfare or relief. You had your family and friends and somehow you made it through.
―Those grand old days were wonderful to a point, yet I'm sure most of us are
glad our children and grandchildren are now able to attend modern schools and enjoy
our present day society, instead of trudging miles on foot or horseback to school. Of
course, they also enjoy hot school lunches instead of sitting around a pot-bellied stove
and munching biscuits, sandwiches and cold beans for lunch.‖
Last time I checked, Ruth Birdsong and her husband had a little gift shop in White
Oaks, ed.
Observations and Conclusions
I couldn‘t figure out how to conclude this story; then I realized what our mothers had
started hasn‘t come to a conclusion. My children (and maybe yours), grandchildren
and their children are a continuing story and will continue to carry what was laid
down before. Rich Eastwood
Be sure to read the WPA Narratives as they will surely give life to the story.
I hope you have enjoyed this presentation!
This is a dynamic collection, always changing,
One, I hope, that never finishes.
Any comments, corrections or criticism please contact me.
[email protected]