In Northeast New Mexico, the beginnings of promise — and tension

Santa Fe Trail marker near Grenville, New Mexico

(Santa Fe New Mexican) McNEES CROSSING, N.M. — Charles Jordan has seen a lot of living — and enjoyed it. His eyes are searching, his smile welcoming, the lines just below his eyes a roadmap of possibility. You can almost imagine him joining a caravan of traders on the Santa Fe Trail some 200 years ago. Standing in a vast prairie of beautiful emptiness, Jordan looked at a 1920s-era monument surrounded by grazing cows that commemorates a long-forgotten historic event, one tied to the events on that trail. Continued

Old House 169

Grenville, New Mexico

Black Jack Ketchum captured

(Wikipedia) On August 16, 1899, Tom Ketchum, supposedly knowing nothing of the July 11 hold-up which ended in the death of his brother Sam, single-handedly attempted to rob the same train again at the same place and in the same way that he and Sam and others had robbed it just a few weeks earlier. The train conductor, Frank Harrington, saw Tom approaching the moving train. He recognized him, grabbed a shotgun, and shot Tom in the arm, knocking him off his horse.
The train continued, and the next day a posse came out and found Tom beside the tracks, badly wounded. He was transported to medical facilities at Trinidad, Colorado, and his right arm had to be amputated. He was nursed back to health and then sent to Clayton, New Mexico Territory, for trial. Continued

Old House 163

Grenville, New Mexico

Old House 162

Grenville, New Mexico

Abandoned Store, Grenville, New Mexico

Luna Theater, Clayton, New Mexico

Taken from the balcony of  the Eklund Hotel.

When does a historical marker become historic?

This one was erected 90 years ago by a long defunct railroad near Grenville, New Mexico. It reads:

First Wagons used on Santa-Fe Trail crossed here in 1822 

Erected by Colorado & Southern Railway 

J.D. Walker, Supt. - Robt. Rice, V.P. & G.M. 1930 

It's already been damaged by vandals, so maybe it would be better placed at the Museum in Clayton?

Tommy McDonald

(Wikipedia) Thomas Franklin McDonald (July 26, 1934 – September 24, 2018) was an American football flanker in the National Football League (NFL) for the Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys, Los Angeles Rams, Atlanta Falcons, and Cleveland Browns. He played college football for the Oklahoma Sooners. He is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and College Football Hall of Fame.
… He attended Roy High School in Roy, New Mexico, with an enrollment of around 150 students during his freshman year, where he played quarterback.
As a sophomore, he transferred to Highland High School in Albuquerque. As a senior, he averaged over 20 yards per carry in football and set the state scoring record with 157 points.
He also set the city scoring record in basketball, and won five gold medals in the state track meet (100, 220, low hurdles and 2 relays). Continued

Grenville Station

Grenville, New Mexico

Signage: The Farmers & Stockmens Bank

Clayton, New Mexico

Old House 142

Mt. Dora, New Mexico.

Cemetery: Des Moines, New Mexico

This New Mexico town is the most haunted in the state

(Sixgun Siding)

(KFDA) … With New Mexico’s wild west history, it’s no surprise that several of the state’s cities have some well-known ghost stories.

What may surprise you is that the town of Clayton has the most places considered haunted in the state. Continued

Old House (School? Church?) 141

Another vague building in Grenville, NM

Storefront: Mt. Dora



Mount Dora is about 18 miles northwest of Clayton, NM.

 

Dinosaur Footprint: Clayton Lake State Park

Country Church, or not

This may have been a church, or maybe it was a school, or maybe both. I do know it's in Grenville, New Mexico.

Windsong

Grenville, New Mexico

Country Churches: Church of Christ, Des Moines, New Mexico

Yes, there really is a Des Moines, New Mexico, it's not far from Boise (City), Oklahoma. The exterior of the church is covered in a stucco application known as Formstone, which was very popular on the east coast in the decades right before and after World War Two. The preservation of Formstone buildings is a hotly debated topic.