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

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?

Chief of the Pastores Casimiro Romero

Just northeast of the New Mexico line on U.S. 54

 "Moved to Texas, 1876, from New Mexico-- wife and two children in a coach, goods in 14 wagons. Owned 6,000 sheep. A Castilian Spaniard by birth, Romero spoke for pastores (sheep herders), who built eleven haciendas and plazas in Canadian River area. Cattle rancher Chas. Goodnight in late 1876 made a pact with Romero to respect right of the pastores to valley of Canadian River. But, railroads and cattle ranches in 1880s cut into sheep lands. Romero returned to New Mexico, selling Texas lands, 1897. He is memorialized in this area by town of Romero (3.5 miles southwest of here)." Romero spent his last years ranching sheep on a couple of quarter sections near Bard, New Mexico. He is buried in an unmarked grave in the Endee Cemetery.

Palo Duro Wildorado Cemetery

 Early settlers to this area included the J.C. Womble family, which came in January 1892. The next year, the community obtained land on which to build a schoolhouse, known as the Union School. In May 1893, George D. Whitfield, a young cowboy, was buried in what was the schoolyard. His is the first marked burial, although two earlier graves were known to exist at the time.

In 1901, residents organized the Palo Duro Missionary Baptist Church and held services in the schoolhouse. They moved across the road in 1905. In May 1910, the school moved approximately two miles north, and the property reverted back to its original owner. The land with the gravesites was deeded to the community in 1914 for use as a cemetery.

During the mid-20th century, area residents bought additional land and added a well and fence. As the burial site of numerous area residents, as well as men and women veterans of the military, the cemetery serves as a link to the area's rich history.

US lacks Latino historical sites and landmarks, scholars say

Tejano Unionist
Latinamericanstudies.org

GLORIETA PASS, N.M. — A makeshift memorial to Hispanic Civil War Union soldiers in an isolated part northern New Mexico is a typical representation of sites linked to U.S. Latino history: It’s shabby, largely unknown and at risk of disappearing.
… The memorial off Interstate 25 is 20 miles (32 kilometers) southeast of Santa Fe and was built by retired District Attorney Alfonso Sanchez. It has wooden saints and crude signs explaining a battle that has been called “the Gettysburg of the West.” Continued

They're everywhere! They're everywhere!

These little painted rocks are showing up all over the place.
This one was perched on the side of a historical marker in Puerto de Luna, New Mexico.

The J. W. Carter Family and the 7-Up Ranch

 

"The first permanent settlers in Castro County, the James W. Carter family moved to this area in 1884. A tent and dugout served as home until a house was constructed (100 yds. W). Their cattle, which they brought with them, were marked with the 7-UP brand.
Their daughter Lizzie (born 1886) was the first white child born to a permanent settler in the area. James Carter (1845-1916) was instrumental in the organization of the Castro County government in 1891 and served on the first commissioners court.
Carter and his wife Ellen (1855-1942) later opened a hotel in Dimmitt."

Buffalo Soldier tragedy of 1877

Buffalo Soldier Tragedy Memorial

(Wikipedia) Buffalo Soldier tragedy of 1877 also known as the "Staked Plains Horror" occurred when a combined force of Buffalo Soldier troops of the 10th Cavalry and local buffalo hunters wandered for days in the dry Llano Estacado region of north-west Texas and eastern New Mexico during July of a drought year.

The groups had united forces for a retaliatory attack on regional Native American groups who had been staging raids on white forces in the area, during what came to be called the Buffalo Hunters' War.

Over the course of five days in the near-waterless Llano Estacado, four soldiers and one buffalo hunter died. Continued

Lea County Cowgirls

 

Front " Dessie Sawyer was a rancher, philanthropist and political activist. Her work with community and charitable organizations advanced her into politics. She became the National Committee Woman of New Mexico's Democratic Party. Her advocacy of the western way of life was recognized by her induction into the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame in 1981."

Back: " Dessie's daughter, Fern Sawyer, became a celebrity cowgirl. She was the first woman to win the National Cutting Horse world title. She also became the first woman appointed to the State Fair Commission and the State Racing Commission. She was inducted into the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame in 1976."

Historical Marker: Rhea, Texas

 

"In 1901, brothers John and Joe Rhea purchased property from Capital Freehold Land Company, owners of the XIT Ranch. They later sold parcels of the land to farmers, establishing the Rhea Community. Many settlers, including a number of German immigrants, migrated here from the midwestern U.S.
Early institutions included a post office, Immanuel Lutheran Church, which became one of the earliest of that denomination in the Texas panhandle when it organized in 1910, and a school. The schoolhouse also functioned as a community center until 1949, when the Rhea School District was divided into the Friona and Bovina districts.
Today, Rhea remains a viable farming and ranching community."

Obar, New Mexico: Land of "Tropical Luxuriance"

Obar, New Mexico once sat along the Rock Island Railroad tracks, between Logan and Nara Visa, but nothing remains today. And I mean nothing, it's the most absent town I've found in these parts. Kenna, after being burned over a few years back, still has a few dwellings, along with a few inhabitants. Even Norton has a foundation or two to show for itself, but nothing remains of Obar proper.
This is all the more remarkable because Obar was heavily promoted by the New Mexico Land and Immigration Company, a fly-by-night developer based in Topeka, Kansas.
The NML&IC promised a land of milk and honey, and also to pave the roads and build a hotel. The land, of course, was as hardscrabble as the rest of the region, and the roads and hotel never materialized.
Obar made a go of it for a few years, attracting a couple of hundred settlers, all of whom moved on to better things, a little poorer and, one hopes, wiser for their trouble.
Sometime later, a little monument was erected by some thoughtful people to commemorate Obar, which you can see today, at the intersection of U.S. 54 and Quay Road K.


Obar

For the definitive history of Obar go to The Link Family Chronicles.

Quanah's little arrow

The Texas Panhandle is dotted with giant arrows marking the Quanah Parker Trail, but at the Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge, there is a little arrow marking Quanah's journey through history. The arrow is smaller, I imagine, so that it won't appear kitschy, as compared to more tasteful efforts such as a talking fire bear or a mountain carved with the faces of politicians.

Buffalo Soldier Tragedy Memorial

Morton, Texas

"African American troops, known as Buffalo Soldiers, were vital in defending the Texas frontier. On July 26, 1877 Buffalo Soldiers from Co. A of the 10th Cavalry began to pursue a Comanche party. During the pursuit, the Comanches led the troops away from water holes as the expedition traveled through Cochran and other counties. After Several days without water, Capt. Nicholas Nolan led his dehydrated soldiers and remaining animals back to Double Lakes in Lynn County; they arrived on July 30, having gone 86 hours without water. Several soldiers left camp in search of water and four died during the expedition: Pvt. John H. Bonds; Pvt. Isaac Derwin; Pvt. John Isaacs; and Pvt. John T. Gordon. (2008)"

"The Last of the Train Robbers"

Marker is a few miles south of Tucumcari on Route 209. It reads: "The last of the train robbers, Black Jack Ketchum, who terrorized the railroads in the 1880s, killed two men near this spot and hid out in a cave near Saddleback Mesa to the Southwest. The swarthy bandit was wounded in his last robbery and hanged in 1901."

Cemetery: Happy, TX

  

   

Sign reads: The Happy Cemetery Association, organized on March 18, 1912. Purchased five acres of land for two adjacent cemeteries (one specifically for Catholics) from local businessman James F. White. The oldest recorded grave is that of William T. King (1871-1913). The association built a small frame house which was used as a gathering place for annual decoration day activities from 1915 to 1985 when it was razed to make more room for plots. Numerous local pioneers and veterans are buried here, including both Confederate and Union Civil War veterans.

The Quanah Parker Trail

The Quanah Parker Trail is a series of sites around the Texas Panhandle and Plains marking associations with the famous Comanche chief Quanah Parker. The trail is marked with giant arrows, such as the one above. For more information see the trail's website here.

Ima

Ima, New Mexico was first settled by the Moncus family in 1902 by accident. They were headed to Arizona and stopped to winter near the Caprock, and there they stayed. They built a house overlooking a little canyon, the rim just visible in the pictures, and prospered. And lucky it was for us, as two of the family's members contributed a wealth of information to our regional history.
Herman owned the legendary "Elk Drug: The Museum of the Old West," which, besides for the usual drugstore stuff, served as a local roadside attraction and historical repository. He also wrote about the area, most notably "Prairie Schooner Pirates: The Story of the Comancheros."
Lynn Moncus wrote a column for the Quay County Sun and the book “Quay County, New Mexico, 1903 to 2003: A Pictorial History,” a must read for local history fans.
Today, Ima is more of an area than a town or village, but the cemetery is still there, along with some scattered old homesteads and countless miles of beautiful ranchland.

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.

 

Historical Marker: Spring Lake Pasture Division of the XIT Ranch

"Encompassing land in ten counties of the Texas Panhandle. The XIT Ranch was established through the exchange of public lands to finance construction of the state capitol. In 1887, it was divided into seven divisions, the largest of which, the Spring Lake pasture division, covered parts of Parmer, Castro, Bailey, and Lamb counties. Its northern boundary line, near this site, ran across what is now U.S. Highway 385. Noted for breeding Hereford cattle, the Spring Lake division also served as an election polling place for citizens in Castro, Bailey, and Lamb counties."

The Great Tolar Railroad Explosion

Tolar, New Mexico. Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad train between Clovis and Vaughn, New Mexico stopping for water. A brakeman walking the length of the train for inspection (1943, Jack Delano/Library of Congress, FSA/OWI collection)

 

 

 

"At noon on November 30, 1944, a World War II supply train hauling 165 five-hundred-pound bombs headed for the Pacific Theater derailed in Tolar. The train caught fire and the bombs exploded. The blast, which leveled nearly every building in town, could be heard 60 miles away. It vaporized 500 feet of track and sent a 1,500-pound axle crashing through a store and rolling out the back. One person, Jess Brown, was killed in the explosion after a piece of iron shrapnel struck his head. Tolar is two miles east of here."