Bovina Cemetery

The Marker reads: Prior to the founding of the city of Bovina, the XIT Ranch located its southern headquarters in this vicinity. The Pecos and Northern Texas Railway built through the ranch in 1898, and the settlement became known as Bull Town because of cattle frequently found on the tracks. A community developed around the railhead, and in January 1899 the official post office name became Bovina. Due to a boom in cattle shipping, the town's population began to grow after the turn of the 20th century. Since then, the city has owned this cemetery, which was maintained for a time by the Bovina Cemetery Association. The XIT Ranch initially used this site for burials of cowboys. Oral tradition holds that several gravemarkers initially bore only common names of the cowboys, such as Dusty and Big Jim. It is believed there were approximately 40 such graves, but all are now unmarked. The earliest marked grave is that of J.W. McDonald (d. 1907). Bovina Cemetery is the final resting place of veterans of military conflicts dating to World War I, as well as generations of area residents.

 

Book Review: Pioneer Girl

Laura Ingalls Wilder

(historynet.com) ... But how many of Wilder’s fans are aware that before penning children’s books, Wilder had written a factual account of her late 19th-century childhood? The would-be author was 63 years old when she completed the Pioneer Girl manuscript in 1930. Publishers in the midst of the Depression were unwilling to take a chance on an autobiography by an unknown, though. So, with editorial guidance from daughter Rose Wilder Lane, a successful writer in her own right, Wilder repackaged the manuscript as juvenile fiction in serial form. Continued

Tucumcari Railroad Days This Weekend

(Tucumcari Chamber of Commerce) Traveling photo display, railroad artifacts, refinished Locomotive Control Stand, Locomotive Play Station, active Model Train Clubs, on the mainline of the UP- great place to view passing trains. Free Admission Saturday 9AM-5PM Link