https://caspercollege.cvlcollections.org/files/original/0b9795280af88b17e571cfba38cb2b8b.pdf 178ec0b8fe2e434ead1bcaf0d78dbe69 PDF Text Text PAET IV NEW MEXICO �X Of the string of perhaps a dozen Inactive coal-.mining communities in the Raton area, Gardiner is one of the few open to visitationr —fiMPA has enough surviving remnants to make a tour of the grounds worthwhile. Originally the town was shaped like a capital '‘Ljjt with one leg extending west along Gardiner Canyon other pointing north, parallel to Coal Canyon. and the The western leg was the residential part of town, while the northern^ industrial portion\contained the mines, shops*and coke ovens. The coke ovens, each about feet in diameter, ran in four parallely^redibrick rows, each a quarter of a mile long. ®he more than 300 ovens processed coal from a number of mines that bored into the hill Immediately to the west. Tunnel portals dot the hillside, and*from one of the larger openings. heavy cables emerge to lie slack upon the ground. Years ago the cables stretched taunt overhead, supporting buckets that carried waste rock to the dump Over the years and coal to the loading chutes. rainwater has eroded the j/tittSs dumps, adding red streaks of iron oxide to the blues and greens of the waste rock. Slag heaps and coal piles have washed out to form low mounds on the flats below the mine. The finely powdered �coal that usually permeates the buildings and grounds of active coal towns has been cleansed by rain. the old lamp house are remarkably clean. Remains of The onoe=blackened stucco appears wow fro ba almost white. The residential portion of town Is sprinkled with foundations, windowless walls.and collapsed roofs. creek Across the a row of adobe walls standSlwlthout roofs, apparently the residue of a ravaging fire. Several of the buildings at the center of town seemed to be In livable condition. As I approached, a bearded gentleman emerged from one of the i homes and walked toward me. lA He was short — just four Inches over five feet. He was on the stocky side, carrying a smooth outside curve on the front. white. His full beard and mustache were a silvery His nose was small and rounded and his complexion ruddy He Introduced himself as Tom Hay and seemed relieved when I passed up the obvious opportunity to comment on his resemblance to Santa Claus. Thomas Hay and his 33tyear.-old son (both bachelors) are the sole, residents of town. Being just past himself, Tom makes no claim of being an least not for a few years," he was eight years old. ghost town nearby. that town.too. years ~ "at has lived In the area since His folks lived In Brilliant, another "We were the last ones to move out of Moved from Brilliant down here to Gardiner. �now we’re the only ones living here.^'lrrom pointed down the hill toward some pillars marking the site of a oncexlmposlng "That was the hospital down there. structure. It was pretty fancy compared to most of the buildings. were made of adobe." adobe walls? He pointed across the creek. That was the colored section. *See those A big part of the town was Negro. Another part was Italian. separated." Lot of them They all kept "Over there Tom Indicated the sections of town. was a bunch of shotgun houses ~ you know ~ three houses together." Tom swiveled to face his own home. old Doc’s Jiouse now. "Live In the Not so fancy as the hospital was, but It’s still pretty stout." I opened two wells chilled examples of the brewers’ art, fresh from the camper’s Ice^^x, and Tom warmed to his subject, "The town always was a company town. an old S.L.H.M. and P, town. place. Used to be Now Kaiser Steel owns the They own pretty near all the coal towns up and down the line," I asked about the abbreviations he had used. "The St. Louis, Rocky Mountaln^and Pacific Company, They made coke mostly ~ sold coal too, of course. was used for smelting copper. The coke That’s what killed the town someone Invented a new wayto smelt copper without using coke." �With the evening light gone, I arranged to meet Tom the next day, then headed the three miles back to the town of Raton and the public Jfclbrary, to learn more of the history of Gardiner. James T. Gardiner was a railroad geologist, ever on the lookout for coal deposits. He Inventoried the deposits on the east slope of the hills Just west of Raton. The best un,*" developed coal deposits were claimed by Gardiner in the name of the Sante Pe Railroad. Others, previously located by Mess|rs, Pels and Wigham, were obtained by trading land for claiming rights. __ Mine 0In 1881 the Blossburgy^( later called the <Dld Gardiner NlriM was in full operation. More mines were opened along the slope, and a number of towns grew around the best producers. Gardiner grew around the coal mine of the same name. sprouted two miles to the north. Blossburg Northwest of Blossburg, up Dillon Canyon, were the towns of Willow and Swastika. The last two towns were later renamed Brilliant I and Brilliant II. The swastika symbol, made infamous by the Nazi move?' ment in Germany, was earlier considered a good luck sign. . Swastikas were laid up in raised brick along the cornice of one of the most imposing buildings in nearby Raton. were a trademark of the Swastika Coal Company^. The symbols During the second World War, the owners of the buildings were kept busy explalnintr just why "those Nazi slgn^^were up there. �Gardiner had Its wild tlmes^ln spite of the tight company control of the town. In fact, it was company policy to meet threat with counter/^reat, especially in the event of a miners’ strike. The biggest strike occurred during the boom years of Gardiner when a thousand folk lived in town miners worked in the area. and yoo The company met the strike headxon by sending camp manager Wiggins to Birmingham, Alabama.to hire a troop of Negro workers to come in and break the strike by in place of the strikers. goAn» Competition for jobs added to racial tensions, and fights occurred with regularity in spite of rigid segregation. The Negroes, Irish, Italians, and yWfiltes worked and played separately, merging occasionally to attack or repel an opposing group or combine, Joe Dillslo Installed a wooden partition in his saloon to separate the customers. Signs indicated that one side was for "Negroes^ the other side for "Cosmopolitans^^ No one walked the streets alone after dark. came and went in groups. Customers In spite of such precautions, the number of tombstones and unmarked mounds in the cemetery Increased alarmingly. After World War II, demand for coal decreased rapidly. Coke, once in great demand by copper smelters, was now used in reduced quantities only by a few zinc refiners. According to Tom Hay, the town of Gardiner had been a near ghost for a number of years before folding completely in �19*5^. Many of the houses In Gardiner had already been moved to nearby towns. A number of deserted buildings burned down When the company packed up all its machinery. right down to the hand tools in the machine shop, the few remaining residents realized that Gardiner was done for Now, Just twenty years later, coal is on the comeback Kaiser Steel recently purchased the town. Maybe there is hope for Gardiner yet j MAP NOTE* Gardiner is shown on the Raton, New Mexico^ 15 minute ! united States Geological Surrey topographic map. �IDAWSON, NSW MEXICO/ When J. B. Dawson bought the land surrounding the Vermejo Biver at the point where it leaves the hills and meanders out upon the flats, he fully expected to receive 3^00 acres for the #3700 he Invested. In 1869 from Lucian Maxwell. He bought the land The land was » part of the old Beaubien and Miranda Grant Lands now referred to as the Maxwell Grant, Dawson’s deal with Maxwell was oral ~ that’s the way Maxwell did business. Dawson had no record of the sale, and*when called upon to prove ownership, found himself I in danger of losing his thousand acres. Luckily Dawson’s lawyer proved his client’s ownership and found records of the transaction in some of Maxwell’s papers. scribed was not 1,000 acres The land de*7^ but 20,0001 Dawson had a particular affection for his holdings. The land had plenty of water, was wells grown with trees and grass, and had an outcrop of highe-grade coal. to cut wood Dawson hated and took particular delight in heating his ranch ho|^e without laboring on the blister end of an axe handle. Neighbors were soon asking for coal, and before long Dawson’ coal sales became more important than raising livestock. Just after the turn of the century, Dawson and an adjoining neighbor made a deal with a railroad~baoked fuel company. In exchange for nearly half a million dollars. �the fuel company obtained rights to all the coal and owner/*^ ship of a section of land for a townslte'JJlater to be called Dawson, of course. Dawson’s wife was given exclusive rights to all milk sales In the town for the following years. The mining of coal on a large scale began In 1901. Dawson numbered 200 citizens by year's end the following year. By I903 the town had Its own doctor, newspaper, hotel, and fancy theaty^. passed the 2,000 mark. over and grew to 600 By I905 the population When the Phelps Dodge Company took they expanded operations^ and the population jumped to nearly 4,000. Dawson became the largest coal town In the/8^ate. In 1903 a small hint of future disaster was felt when a fire trapped three men In shaft number one. Rescue teams had almost reached the men when explosions rocked the mine. Cave-Ins burled the trapped miners. The would-be rescuers, badly burned, escaped with their lives. Dawson was a model company town, and the mining practices were said to be the most up^toidate In the nation. Since the disaster of I903, '^afety-^had been the motto. Rescue teams won top honors In area competition. In 1913. disaster struoki Three hundred men were trapped. Mine No. 2 exploded. Rescue teams went Into action. Two members died attempting to reach the trapped men. following day V The the rescue team brought ^^men out alive. Shifts of miners, wearing primitive oxycren masks, ventured 3,000 �feet down the shaft to help clear the debris leading to the trapped men. Hope soared when a mule was found alive. Efforts were redoubled, and a lone miner was found trappyftafely in a side tunnel. But the effort, however heroic, was too late. The missing two hundgod ^.63 ataty thraB men were found dead. A special section in the cemetery soon held 263 crosses. The explosion had been caused by setting off a dynamite blast before the coal dust from the last charge had settled. The coal dust ignited and in turn loosened more dust to form a traveling/j?oaring inferno that snaked through the shaft, causing cave-ins and releasing pockets of poisonous gas. The traveling detonation ended only when the fires roared out of the tunnel mouth. Ten years later some mine cars jumped track and knocked down some hightvoltage wires. The sudden flash of the electrical discharge was all it totek to set off a second travel^ ing explosion of coal dust. One hundred and twenty-two men died, and the crosses in the cemetery, row on row, now numbered a heartbreaking thgoo hundrod and Ivtw Fifty years have passed, but standing amid the crosses one can still feel a residue of the sorrow experienced on the two occasions when the whole town stood at graveside. Pat Garcia felt a different kind of sorrow. Pat and I had taken parallel but separate paths through town. Where I stopped to take photographs, he stopped and looked. �and often dropped his head in thought* I saw him again at a distance, poking about the old coke ovens. At the cemetery we found ourselves leaning on the same fence. He had a poignant story to tell. Pat Garcia was born in Dawson in 1933. with other miners’ kids. He grew up He recalled bragging that his dad worked in the ’’long shaft" ~ the one that went five miles under the mountain. His childhood was a particularly happy one, especially the years spent in hlgljsohool. left town. In 1950 Pat That same year, Phelps Dodge, owners of the town and mine, ceased operations. Much of the town was demolished to save taxes, Now Pat Garcia had returned to the hometown of his childhood. He found his parent’s house gone. his whole town was gone. Not a single old school pal stood on the corner ready to swap memories. had jumped track. Indeed, It was as though time For Pat, seventeen years of memories were out of reach, never to be revisited. MAP NOTE*Dawson is shown on the Cimarron, New Mexico^l5 minute United States Geological Survey topographic map. The 15xminute Koehler, New Mexico^ map is necessary to make out the route to Dawson, �COLFAX, NSW MEXICOP Developers of the St, Louis, Rocky Mountain and Pacific Railroad created the town by laying out ^00 lots. Each lot was 25 feet by 14o feet and priced at $140 each, with discotxnts for quantity purchases. Lots sold slowly, and the "town" called Vermejo Junction looked like a loser. In 1908 the New Mexico Sales Company took over and announced.a second railroad would pass through town. In addition, a tract of fagty t^uaond acres of Irrigated land was to be made available on the flats below town. was touted as ideal for growing sugar beets. The land At the same time, A. C. Cox announced plans to build a mult^^toried hotel. In spite of the grand plans, lots in town sold slowly. Many agents, when they did sell a few lots, kept the money and skipped town. The January 8, I909 issue of SCfie Raton Range reported that one J. W. O'Brien had sold his holdings in town to other parties and now couldn’t be found. Furthermore, it was determined that he^never owned a single one of the lots he sold. In spite of the small number of residents, Charles Glasgow built a hotel, the Clm^arron Lumber Company opened a yard, and a school was built on the hill west of town. A post office was established, and promoters claimed the town was booming. Actually, the town was in a constant struggle & to maintain its exlstf^nce. �The post office was shut down in 1921, but the school and the store continued operating. A new sidewalk was laid down In front of the brick store In 1925, In 1927, there was a bit of excitement when a "marauder" r^^^ portedly entered town and out the hose on the lone gas pump. The school shut down in 1939» and the kids were hauled to classes in Dawson^Q miles away. In spite of the closures, promoters claimed the town was growing. In 1967, when the town was known to be deserted, reporters in state newspapers still claimed 100 citizens. Historian F, Stanley claimed the same year that Colfax was going to be "reborn into actlvltyf^ Dawson by the Kaiser Company, He cited the purchase He envisioned many employees of the Kaiser Company building^ homesjln Colfax, In 197^ the place was completely deserted. However, if you look hard enough you will probably find a report in some newspaper that lots are selling like hot cakes and the population of town will soon pass the one hundred mark MAP NOTE* Colfax is shown on the 1915 Koehler, New Mexico^ 15 minute United States Geological Survey topbcrraphlo map. END NEW MEXICO AREA 1 �More than two thousand years ago, Indians found deposits of pale blue rock in the little pointed hills by Mount Ghalchlchultl. The turquoise was highly valued as a sacred stone capable of protecting its bearer from all evil. The open pit dug by the Indians in !*•-pursuit of the blue charm stone is likely the first mining effort of western man. Measuring 250 feet wide and up to 100 feet deep, the pit was the result of many years of primitive excavation. Stone hammers and wooden wedges were used to loosen projecting rock. Stubborn areas were heated by fire, then fractured with cold water. The famous Mina ^1 Tiro (Mine of the Shaft) was somewhere in the area, near the open pit, Indian slave labor Spaniards using pursued the silver deposits by means of vertical shafts aeo^oed by notched log ladders. The digging was confined to horizontal tunnels when the underground water level was reached. Some evidence indicates that skin canoes were used to transport ore at the lowest level. Wfcen the Indians rebelled against the Spatosh in 1680, the oppressors were killed and the shaft of the Mina ^1 Tiro was filled in. The exact location of the mine has since remained a mystery. — /6o Iff �Americans ’*alscovered’^ silver During in the little hills^, small boom ensued, t^^ grew to full proportion when the Santa Pe built its tracks through the area in 1879. Prospectors flooded the region. A camp called Cerrillos grew at the point where the tracks met the Galisteo Hlver. Turquoise was *^iscovered^^nd mlninc: of the semi^ ? precious stone became big business. *___ Nearly a million dollars worth was shipped to market each year during the eighties. Cerrillos, or los Cerrillos, grew rapidly during that period. At its peak the town had four hotels, separated by twenty saloons fronting three sides of the town plaza. The mine Tiffany’s Saloon became famous for its fine food. of the same name, known for its highe quality turquoise^pro^^ vlded stones for the crown jewels of Spain. By 1890 Cerrillos had begun its decline. Mining of silver and other precious me^s was diminishing, and by 19OO nearly all the mines had folded. The mining of turquoise con? tinned until the 192^^. Exceut for the frequent alteration of the outskirts of town by the flooding,Galisteo River, Cerrillos has changed little since the mining ceased. The generally dry bed of the Galisteo River comes to life each spring, sometimes overflowing as if in compensation for its brief yearly taste of life. Each year the flood is anticipated, suffered through, then cleaned up after, Thj^ center of town stands on high ground and has escaped flood damage. Fire has destroyed some of the places of business, but the remaining buildings fill two sides of the central plaza. �Some of the buildlna^s have signs over their doors that seem oddly new and out of place, the result of a brief Int^^ptlon In the town's quiet history. Disney Studios chose Gerrlllos for the filming of ^The Nine Lives of 51 fego Baca. . Slfego, a famous New Mexican lived through a barrage of more than ^00 shots gunfighter, fired over a period of 33 hours, while lying on the floor of a small shack. the movie The gunfight which formed the central theme of actually took place at Frisco, New Mexico. The Disney crew determined that Gerrlllos looked more^Uke the "real thlng^ and proceeded to "Improve" It by dressing up the false fronts and tacking up newly painted signs. The owner of the general store tn taww has since torn down the board that named the store and reinstalled one that says "Mitchell's^ while preserving the large portion that reads "General StoreJ^ A sign over one of the hotels still reads "Prlsco(^ The town comes to life each week end when visitors from the Santa Pe and Albuquerque areas stop In for a little sightseeing, a meal at Tiffany's, and perhaps an evening at the local opera house. Luckily I visited Um town In mld^ek, when Its true nature was displayed. The tourist businesses were closed. The general store was closed, but a sign stated It would open at 10 a.5, Two young boys stood In front waiting for the doors to be unlocked that morning. the only excitement ba expected In town �I peeked In the window of the corner saloon. An old man, hand shaded over his eyes, peeked back at me. It was obvious that he lived there and I had infringed on his privacy. Down the street half a block, a handsome woman stepped from the hotel, broom In hand. She smiled, shifted her chew to the other cheek, spat, and said *Aiello*^ The storekeeper opened his doors, and a crowd of ^or ^appeared. The flurry of activity soon ended. Outside the two young lads wandered over, kicking plumes of dust. I asked them about the old burnedtout rook and dobe building down the block. affee* that it had burned down. YSncy Perea answered the "The fire trucks came all the way from Santa Pe ~ too late ~ we bought our own fire truck just this year." Yancy's accent indicated he would be far more at home speaking Spanish. I asked about his pal. "Oh, him? M He's Gene — Gene Vick, He's twelve and I'm twelve," The two youngsters had comments on almost every subject, I learned the details of the last flood (one of the worst ever) and of the new smelter on the hill the Tiffany Saloon was 101 years old. and that Gene proudly read I fg �aloud the information sign erected in the plaza, Yancy Jumped in where he could. I commented on the number of long-haired people in town, "Yeah — them^Hippies, There’s almost as many of them in town as there is people I" claimed Gene, "What do they do for a living?" Yanoy looked up and squinted a bit as if he giving the question some hard thought, He thought a bit, "Some works," "And some steals," Gene bobbed his head in agreement. note* ( \ "Some don’t do nuthin’," He looked at me seriously, The Madrid, New Mexico^ 15 minute United States Geological Survey topographic map shows Cerrillos and Mount Chalchihuitl 3 miles to the north. �1MADRID, NSW MEXICO L Anthracite, the hard form of combust|^ble carbon, is found In Just three places in the United States: a small area in Pennsylvania, an equally small region in Western Colorado, and strung out along several canyons within @miles of Madrid, New Mexico. The deposits at Madrid are unique in that bituminous, the soft variety of coal, is found adjacent to anthracite. At the No. 1 mine of the Cerrillos coal^ field, bituminous was dug from the left side of the shaft, anthracite from the right. It was thse* soft coal that attracted the Santa Pe Railway to the head of Waldo Gulch, a few miles north of the tiny settlement of Madrid, In 1882 a spur was run up the canyon a few miles from a point Just west of Cerrillos. Madrid continued the mining of coal on a "one mule" 9(Bale, while huge quantities of bituminous coal were taken from Waldo Canyon, Soon the demand for the cleanersburning hard coal grew, and in 1889 Madrid. the Santa Pe extended the spur to New tunnels were dug to reveal seams of both hard and soft coal. Most of Waldo moved to Madrid. Seven years later the railroad leased its coals mining operation to the Colorado Puel and Iron Company of Pueblo, Colorado. The coal seams were difficult to work. Only two to four feet thick, they sloped downward at decrees, at the same time leaning to the side. Mining methods �of the time required removal of huge amounts of waste rock. When the main bituminous mine caught fire, the company gave The mines closed up what had become a marginal operation. without warning, and three thousand citizens were suddenly without sustenance. Within a short time George Kaserman, of the Hahn Coal Company in Albuquerque, bought the operation "town and all," Under Kaserman’s direction become a respected company town. Madrid grew to Mew mining methods were employed and coal production Increased steadily over the years. 1928 In more than 183,000 tons were shipped. Prom all indications, Madrid was a great place to live. Everything in town was owned by the company. All the houses, the stores, and even the churches were companyeowned. You bought only what the company sold in its stores, or you went out of town to make your purchase. You repaired/the car that you bought from the company stor^^n a company garag^ and^^^ it on gasoline the company sold you at prices set by the company. For the most part the prices were fair and services reasonable. According to Joe Huber, son of the company superln-^"^ tendent, employees were occasionally "encouraged to go in debt" by purchasing a car or some other expensive item. The manag^ me nt felt that the man would ’^jork harder,'*^**thus raising coal production. It is also true that it made switching Jobs �difficult. You had to pay up before you could leave. What/* ever the viewpoint, the results were the same. The company did provide a number of valued services for reasonable fees. dollars a month. Medical expenses cost a mere three The whole family was covered for all medical needs'^ except those resulting from fights or childbirth. Dues In the local club, with access to meeting rooms, prames, enter^ talnment, occasional dances, and frequent baseball games Just cents a month. And to crown it all, the ultimate in fringe benefits was given the eaployee when the company furnished the facilities for employees to brew their own Illegal booze during th© prohibition years I The increasing availability of natural gas for home heating, and the switch from coal to dlesel-flred locomotives, diminished the demand for coal. decreased with the demand. Mining activities in Madrid Madrid’s Christmas lights, the finest in the state, were lit for the last time in 1941. 1954 In coal operations, already dlastically curtailed, were shut down completely, A few years later only @families lived in a town that once held 4,000. The number of deserted buildings in town is over?^ whelmincr. Most of the buildings are of frame construction. In light of the dry climate, it is surprising that fires have not destroyed most of the town. Part of the business district is fenced off to prevent access, but the fences run only a short distance. Anyone willing to walk a mile or so can �freely visit the sites of the old Catholic Church, the large club house, and the many deserted houses that lie on both sides of the dry wash running north through town. and an outdoor museum are open for business. A tavern Both are recommended. MAP NOTEt The Madrid, New Mexico, 15 minute United States Geological Survey topographic map shows the area In reasonable detail. The site of the old town of Dolores, eight air miles to the southeast. Is listed as the *^olores Ranch**^ END AREA 2 �1NBW MEXICO ARSA 3 f J MQNGQLLQN, NSW MSXICQ f The sign stated^Mongolion was miles and that the road was dangerous for trailers over twenty feet. The first 0miles were relatively straight and of gentle slope. Ahead of me, an elderly gentleman towing a trailer exper^ ienced no difficulty. Soon the road topped a small rise and entered the left shoulder of a sizable valley. The old gentleman towing the trailer proceeded with only a slight reduction in speed. Half a mile ahead coming down the switchbacks. I could see a smaller trailer At the first opportunity I passed the trailer ahead of me, andy^shortly met the smaller trailer coming down the hill. There was little room to spare. The shoulders of the blacktop were undercut and crumbled. I wondered how the two trailers would fare. Through the rear^ylew mirror I caught a glimpse of the two rigs stopped in the middle of the road, headttoshead, like two rutting elk prepared to lock horns. Later I learned that both drivers were notably untalented at backing their rigs. Fearing the steep drop-off into the canyon below, they waited^ blocking the road for several hours happened by until a driver could back one of the rigs to a wide spot. The road is truly spectacular as it hangs on the south side of Houston Canyon, then crosses and carves its -7^7 �precarious way along the opposite wall. Soon it gentles and winds north to the slopes of Silver Greek Canyon, where de?* serted mine structures begin to appear beside the road. Bending around a high knob, the massive tailings and numerous Mine structures of the Fanney^(Fannie and also Fannytake your choice) iKi«» come into view. the road at this point The mine^^^he same height as but a mile away^ across a canyon more than 600 feet deep. The roa^^scends sharply, past the ruins of the Last Chance Mine, y^crosses a small tributary, then makes a sharp bend to the right. Immediately you are in Mongolian, looking east, up the canyon and up the narrow confines of Mongollon’s main street. Both sides of the street are lined with buildings. Under the boardwalks of the buildincrs on the right, flow the normally gentle waters of Silver Creek. Main Street displays an increasing number of gaps as you travel its quarter mile length. Soon the gaps outnumber the buildings^and the road swings left and begins to climb. Several side streets hacked out of the steep northern slope of the canyon extend parallel to the main street. The road branches at the powder house of the old Fanney Mine. The right branch leads to the cemetery, located on one of the rare deposits of dlgsrable soil found in an area composed primarily of hard rock. The left branch leads to a long/^serte^string ofj houses that ends at the power3jouse and main office of the Fanney Mine. �For a nominal fee the huge complex. worthwhilet you can take a guided tour of A number of unusual makes the tour the gigantic opening called "The Big Hole Mike" shaft, the head frame over the ^00= foots deep Panney shaft, r the long sorting room with its endless belt, and the lately 2^7 reworked machine shop used in the recent filming of the movie My Name is Nobody. The mine is almost directly above town. Standing on the brink, one must look between his feet to S^jot The prospectors S^^found the Panney the roofs of Mongolion. silver lode must have stood on this spot and enjoyed a similar view. Sergeant Cooney, leader of a mapping party out of Fort Bayard in 1870, was the first to spot the highly minera^ Ized ledges on Mineral Greek, two miles north of present Mon^ gollon. Cooney was able to suppress his natural Irish tendency to tell the world of his fortunate discovery for almost six years. He kept the secret until he was mustered out, then, with a few trusted friends, he returned to the discovery. was in the middle of hostile Indian territory. The site The men had barely laid out their claims when the Apaches chased them off their longiheld hunting grounds. Two years later the group returned, greatly reln^ forced in numbers, weapons^and supplies. Shafts were sunk, cabins built, and Indians weg» repeatedly repelled. In one fracas, Porribeo, son-in-law of Chief Victorio, was shot dead. -/Il- �The chief led a determined counterattack. pelled the onslaught. The miners re^ When fighting slacked, Cooney and a fellow miner headed out to warn the people in the nearby town of Alma. The Indians caught up with and- killuil' Cooney and killed them. and his friend/\ The citizens of Alma have since referred to the incident as a massacre. Cooney was buried at the spot, and a memorlal^later erected, Cooney’s brother. Captain Michael Cooney, Imme^j^^ dlately left New Orleans mine. and headed for the newly inherited With his help, the number of mines along Mineral Creek grew, and the small town of Cooney was bom. continued, but the miners. Indian troubles the weight of numbers wasy^on the side of The diggings on Mineral Creek failed to rlchen with depth, and when a gent named Eberle found some highrgrade on Silver Creek in 1889, Cooney Town decamped and the town of Mongollon mushroomed around Eberle’s cabin, Mongollon grew up wild. For @ years the law in town was either ineffective or choked. At one point Xgents were called in to arrest a deputy sheriff. met the officers with a gun pointed belt high. federal The deputy The Xds were fast, however, and in an instant the deputy was stretched out^ his blood pooling on the woodei^Jlo^, The/Federal/Agents left town before a threataaed reprisal could be mounted against them. k' �When outlaws held up the mine payroll and killed two men in the process, citizens quickly formed a posse and galloped in pursuit. Shortly., one outlaw was killed. The other was captured and returned to town for a short respite before his fate was settled. Law and order arrived in Mongollon (that's proj^ nounced "muggy-own") in 1914 when town fathers decided to incorporate. The town was then touted as being "the most peaceful in the United States." That's the year the big slide brought the massive tailings of the Panney down on the buildings mill of the of the Maude S. The^Maud S. trnatML was reduced to splinters and its watchman buried under tons of yellow silt. The slide continued to the canyon floor, damming the creek and threatening to flood the town. Miners turned out to dig a channel through the ^de. Heavy rain began to fall, and the water rose at an increasing rate. The miners dug faster. When the two efforts matched in level, the water poured through the notch, undercut the sides, and quickly washed a channel through the slide. In spite of the big slide, 1914 was a year of record production. The payroll reached the mllllontasyear mark, and the town reached its peak population'^“reported variously to be ^000, ^600, and "damn near five thousand." The business disji^ trlct stretched up the canyon for half a mile. Side streets on both sides of the canyon held homes, with' their second stories level with basements of houses on the tier above. 2l0 �During the first p?/years of the town’s exlstj^nce, more than million ounces of silver were mined, refined, poured In Ingots, and hauled down the mountain. In 1931 most observers thought the silver was gone and the town done In, but new discoveries made that year brought a m* flurry of activity. disappointingly shallow. The finds were rich Mongollon faded again. but All mining was suspended when World War II broke out, and Mongollon expired for «yood. MAP NOTS« Mongollon and the sites of Cooney, Graham, and Glenwood, are shown on the Mongollon, New Mexico^I910, 30 minute (i Inch to the mile) United States Geological Survey map �SHAKSSPSARB, NSW MSXICOL Unbelievable 11 Born a fake and brought to a boom by a fraud, Shakespeare was raised to a second frenzied peak by con artists who made utter fools of the original pe'r?' petrators. Throw In a number of hangings, a few bizzarre incidents, and cap it with a grand old lady standing off condemnation by the J^tate of New Mexico, and you have a story seldom equalled In fiction. Back in 186? the place was called -Mexican Springs,*^ ’•Uncle" Johnny Evensen built a crude structure by the watei|hole and called It a stage station. It was used occasionally when the stage had to pass up its regular stops due to Indian trouble When a second citizen moved in with Evensen, the two of them decided the place needed a more dignified name, like ■•^rant. Occasional prospectors passed through. Some even checked the hills for mineral deposits. One of them, W. D. Brown, filed a claim and took some "typlcal'*|samples to San Francisco for "promotional purposes." He showj^he samples to William C. Ralston, head mogul of the Bank of Ralston had the samples assayed. California, The report came back (it was reported) at 12,000 ounces of silver per tonI Quickly Ralston staked claims adjacent to the find. He then extended the streets of Grant, laid out lotSy and named the whole shebang '^R^^ton City,**^t was easy for �banker Ralston to start the rush to Ralston. He simply capli^* tallzed a company and sold stock while spreading rumors of even greater assay reports. When the shallow deposits of silver began to fade, The losers Ralston quietly left town, his fortune doubled. drifted off, and Ralston became a ghost town, population of /'A two — old Uncle Johnny Evensen and his pal. The two leading citizens of town were about to change the name back to •^rant when a couple of prospectors showed up^^all shlfty-eyed and They wanted to put some bags of valuables in secretive. Evensen’s vault. Somehow they let it "slip" that the bags were full of precious gems. With a little prodding from eW Uncle Johnny, the two prospectors opened up. They had dls^^ covered a dtai^ond 'fielTl—A-diamond field, by GodJ and they were on their way to San Francisco to get some financial backing. They had a gent named Ralston in mind, Ralston was interested but suspicious. He had the stones appraised at Tiffany’s, then hired a mining expert he could trust. Tiffany’s reported the diamonds were the real thing, and the mining expert returned from a guided tour of the area in an ecstatic condition. He had found diamonds on ant hills, in pack rat holes, and even on top of the ground I Ralston paid the mining expert a handsome fee and promptly bought the diamond field for $600,000. jMbsfcatt, out to redouble his fortune,xagain capitalized a company and �proceeded to sell shares. When false rumors got out that the diamonds were in southwestern New Mexico, prospectors and promoters deduced the location and promptly started a Within weeks of the first diamond second rush to Ralston City. stock sales, hundreds of newcomers had descended on Uncle Johnny’s stage station, -emi within a month new saloons were thrown up and another hotel hastily built. Three thousand people wintered in Ralston, drlnkincr it up on cold days, otherwise searching the hills in vain for the fabulously rich diamond field. Some folk who had been taken on Ralston's earlier schemes chose to investigate his latest stock promotion. It wasn't long before Clarence King, ygfovernment^Znspector and >?^loglst, showed up in Ralston's office. King and his assistant were given secret directions to the site. It turned out to be in Summit County, Colorado, nowhere near booming Ralston City. The Inspector found a few diamonds — all of them Digging in the area produced suspiciously on the surface. only dirt. King's assistant made one spectacular find — a diamond with some polished facets. that the field was a fake. King sent word to Ralston The huckster had been had. His stock collapsed^and he was put under investigation for fraud. Ralston eventually went broke and reportedly committed suicide The town of Ralston continued to boom for a while. Residents refused to believe it had all been a hoax. After all �Ralston's offices were a thousand miles away, and the so= called salted field was way up In Colorado. Prospectors continued to search for the diamonds In the hills near Ralston City. Eventually the promoters left town, followed later by the prospectors. The hard cases remained, rustling cattle e here and there for subsistence. Ralston City became an outlaw town. A few of the mines near town still held paying ore, but Ralston City's fraud-filled reputation precluded any chance of financing. Two Englishmen, Colonel William Boyle and his brother. General John Boyle, were well aware of the silver ore left In the Bonnie Jean and Jenny Boyle mines. They waited a few years in ardoa to let memories dim, then quietly snapped up the two mines and the town of Ralston. They renamed the town 'Shakespeare^ a proper English name, gathered a small quantity of choice ore, and headed west for financing. They were modestly successful, and Shakespeare grew slowly. In 1879 the town had a post office (Uncle Johnny was postmaster)y\a couple of saloons, a growing number of solid citizens, and the Stratford Hotel, The solid citizens occasionally became disenchanted with some of the outlaw types still hanging around, and drastic action was sometimes required. �Arkansas Black was a popular fellow. He operated the Silver Dollar Saloon, and everything would have been all right If his operations had stopped there. It was his extr^i^ activities curricular opei^leno with the married women In town that angered the men, and It was the last straw when ‘^rkansas'*^ was found In bed with the wife of one of Shakespeare's betterknown citizens. Arkansas*^ was confronted and told to leave town. He resisted but was overpowered. Shakespeare's first vigilante committee had trouble convincing Agte^Ssas that he had to leave. had always been a popular guy wasn't inclined to take the threats seriously. and The menfolk eventually resorted to a little necktstretching to get Afh^sas-' undivided attention. After each short suspension, they lowered Arkansas and asked him If he would agree to leave town. 3ach time, between gasping breaths, creaked a refusal, mixed with an assortment of selected cuss words. last time they strung him up, Arkansas went limp. was lowered, The Quickly he A bucket of water was thrown in his face, Arkansas came to, fighting madt He demanded a six shooter, asklnv the chance to fivht it out like a man. The vigilantes admired the man for his guts, and besides, not a one of them cared to volunteer to oppose in a fair fight. After a little serious discussion, the committee decided that A^kanoao wasn't such a bad guy after all. The fault lay with the wicked woman had �enticed ArkaHoaa* The woman was given notice, and the problem was solved. Very likely, Arkansas Black was a member of the vigilante party that took Russian Bill and Sandy King from the local Jail in octder to expedite justice. talk this time just straight rope^ork. There was no In minutes the two outlaws hung from the crossbeam in the main room of the Grant House. The next mnunlns, breakfast at the hotel was next morning delayedy^while the bodies were cut down and hauled out for burial, Later Johnny Svensen answered an inquiring rela-^ tlve’s inquiry by stating that Russian Bill had died of throat trouble. Johnny graciously failed to mention anything about horse stealing or midnight rope^ork. The silver panic of 1893 brought the*mining to a halt in Shakespeare. By this time a small community called Lordsburg had crown^just three miles away on the Southern Pacific tracks. Most of Shakespeare moved to the new town. A few folk moved a mile in the other direction to a community growing around new activity at the ”85" Mine, aA early mine that had been revitalized by the generous use of dynamite to expose new ore. In 191^ a spur was run from Loidsburg to the *85^^ and the tracks were put right through the town of Shakespeare ~ right down the center of deserted main street ~ an unwarranted insult to a dying town. —/cfO - �But that wasn’t quite the end of Shakespeare’s im< possible story. In 1935 Prank and Rita Hill bought the town. They reconditioned one of the better buildings as a ranch house on the acreage bought and proceeded to run along with the town. The Hills restored the old town and opened It to tourists. Rita Hill wrote up the history of the town In a & f^clnatlng booklet entitled "Then and Now, Here and There Around Shakespeare^/ Later, when daughter Janaloo grew up, she and her father rode horseback to San Diego and back, publlclj^lng the old ghost town. Rita and Janaloo continued to run the spread alone after Prank passed away. \ (^Recently the New Mexico Highway Department conA demned a:strlp of land extending through the Hlll(^ acreage. The new superhighway would effectively separate the ^11»» cattle from theix water supply. Blta and Janaloo -had boon running the 3pread"~alune glnoo Prank hod passed away.y The condemned strip would Just decided to ask the Xighway about ruin their ranch. ,»epartment to at least dig a well on the Isolated land and provide an underpass for access. The /Highway y0epartment refused. decided to do battle. for the condemned Rita and Janaloo They refused to accept the $33,221.59 acres. They picketed the XSate/iJ^glslature. They refused to sign any agreement with the JBighway 36'partment. All was to no avail. In late November of 1973, the Judge �ruled against Rita Hill, found her In contempt, and fined her #3,000. She was given notice to ’Vacate■*^the land In three months. Rita and Janaloo weren't quitting yet. They moved 3even-by-eight-foot , a tiny bj 0 stucco shack on^o the highway land and planted it smack in the middle of the spot where Ramp C was Rita lived in the shack for three to Join Interstate 10. months ~ right up to the deadline of November 23^7 Newsmen and onlookers watched as sheriff's deputies cajoled, coaxed, then threatened. Eventually the door of the shack was shoved In, and 71s year: old Rita Hill was read her rights and arrested. Rita was placed in jail and told she would remain there until she signed the release papers. December 10, Rita signed the paper and was released. refused payment for the land. On She still She did authorize lawyers' fees to be taken from the fund, but #19,000 still remains on deposit unclaimed by Rita Hill. Disenchanted with the effects of progress and frustrated by the Impersonal nature of legal condemnation, Rita and her daughter have retreated to their home in Shakespeare. Recently of Shakespeare^ Rita Hill locked the gate to the town Is no longer open to visitors. There was no other way she would register her resentment. I cannot This book shows help but agree with Rita Hlll.y| jjfily one photograph oho^ of the town of Shakespeare, show more Somehow it wouldn't seem right to �MAP NOTE* The Lordsburg, Mew Mexico, 7J minute and 15 minute maps cover the area. �VALBDO?T, NSW MgXIGQL • . The 1932 Lordsburg topographic map showed a dozen buildings at Shakespeare. About a mile to the south the map indicated nearly 200 buildings under the name of Valedon. A tramway was shown connecting the railroad to a point a mile and a half west. The 1963 map of the same area showed onlyempty structures in Shakespeare. The tramway was missing on the map, and^oddly, Valedon was shown with just two buildings. The cartographer was either in crreat error on one of the maps, or something drastic had happened to Valedon. I inquired about faliu bewu gf Valedon at a small highway cafe in Lordsburg. The waitress, the manager, and several onlookers all assured me, with some heat, that there never was a town of Valedon. sure the maps^*^ wrong When shown the maps, they were and began to suspect I was attempting some sort of hoax. The local newspaper office furnished some informa?^ tion on the town of Shakespeare. When asked about Valedon, the editor answered tha% she had heard of it but had never been there. With great expectations from Shakespeare to Valedon. I drove the short mile As I broke over a small rise I was confronted with a barren bowl surrounded by Jagged hills. I could see a few old mine structures /if- and one small �mine still operating Upon closer inspection I could make out a number of buildings blending in with the backsrround. As I drove closer, the remains of Valedon came clear, and they were considerable. There were some "no" signs about, so I headed for the operating mine to gain permission to look the old town over. Ramon Renteria was willing to interupt his work for a few minutes. In fact, he was quite tickled to have some/- one ask about Valedon, "I was born here. Right here in Valedon, in 1917. Yes, it was a pretty decent town — that was the school over there, theat^ there, and those long tifick buildings ~ they were stores." There was a slight pause, of the then the two of them began pointing out the sights town. Ramon’s boss drove up. The superintendent ’s house had been up on the hlll^ .Jf^w only foundations are left. The mine down in the bottom was the old Henry Clay. Up on the hill was the old Atwood Mine. They presently had thirty-five men working two shifts in the "85" Mine. then down ^50 feet, They were tunneled in 800 feet, Ramon’s boss gave the okay for me to look the old buildings over but gave me firm warning to look out for open shafts and rattlesnakes. 1/ "Ramon killed five rattlers down in the draw by the store just yesterday," �The e3fc^ ”85" Mine now operating was one of the first mines ever to be worked in the area. Sam Ransom, Shakespeare blacksmith, staked out the claim sometime in the 189(^^. It wasn't until 190? that someone shot off a bundle of dynamite in the tunnel and uncovered some decent ore. The new owners hired the ore. a crew and began stockpiling Soon other claims in the area were found to contain profitable ore, and the number of miners increased. Within a year, the mines around the "85" were employing nearly 100 men, three and a half Most of the miners walked the miles to and from Lordsburg each day. A few of them took up residence in nearly deserted Shakespeare. Several of Shakespeare’s saloons went back into business as halfway houses. They attracted most of the miners croing off shift, and probably some of those going on shift. Within a year a tent towy^grew around the "85^ and^before the second winter, a number of boardIng^^ houses were built. Eventually streets were laid out*and th^ Z community became the town of Valedon. When the railroad spur connected the town with the main line at Lordsburg in 191^, Valedon quickly grew to more than 3^00, Valedon was a company town as to drinking and general hell-raising. and tightly controlled Shakespeare, less than a mile down the tracks, was the perfect sin town. town was at least consist|^nt. That Somehow it always played host '/a- �to the violent, the crooked, or the fraudulent. Its wickedness kept Valedon relatively chaste. Paro wheels, blackjack, and poker games were alltnight attractions In the basements of the saloons In Shakespeare. One evening a general fight broke out. When the survivors took Inventory, they found a number of people laid out either by alcohol or violence. respond One man failed to and after close Inspection was found to be dead. No one had the slightest Idea who was responsible. Lacking a better solution, the body was laid out on the tracks running down main street. The railroad reported the death as an "unfortunate accident." Two negroes stopped by Shakespeare on their way to their mine on Lee’s Peak, two miles west of Valedon, As they paid for their supper, some of the hard cases In town took note of the wads of money the two men carried. The money was the payroll for the miners working at the shaft owned by the two blacks. The crooks caught up with the men, beat them to death, and searched the bodies for the money. None was found. Apparently the two had stashed the payroll somewhere just outside of town. Since that event, the wash heading to Lee’s Peak has been called the 'Arroyo de los Neg Things were not always completely respectable In ValiAdon. Lyman Garrett, brother of the famous Pat Garrett and y^erlff of Valedon, was found one morning lying In front /Hl �of his jail. Citizens assumed that Garrett jailing some law violators when they somehow took his gun^ /Fearful of the sound of shots, they chose to beat the sheriff to death. Two men were apprehended for the crime and subsequently convicted. The town of Valedon boomed from 1920 to 192?. population grew to more than ^00. The Permanent stores lined the streets, and a modern school was constructed. During the boom years, a threatened railroad strike was averted when leading supporters of the two factions ^abor union and mine management agreed to face off in a boxing match. balanced fight. injuries. It was ajlong, wells Both parties ended the fight with serious Apparently it cooled the strike to the point where mediation seemed preferable. The Great 1q,2. Depression of 199G brought mining to a halty^ The owners, Phelps Dodge, in accordance with standard company practice, summarily ordered the citizenry to vacate. was then dynamited to save on taxes. The town The school building was left intact as a possible future company office. The stoutly built rock and brick buildings lost their roofs, but the walls were left standing. Dynamite to finish the job would cost .. from more than the added tax savings that would result their complete eradication. It was now clear just why the 1932 map showed a fulltblown town (pardon the pun) and the 1963 map showed only two buildings —zi’S — �MAP NOTEJ The Lordsburg, New Mexico, 1932, 15 minute United States Geological Survey topographic map shows the town of Valedon Intact. The Lordsburg, New Mexico, I963. 7i minute e* map shows the town after dj^struction. END NEW MEXICO AREA 4- � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Norman Weis Manuscripts Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/</a> Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1971-1987 Description An account of the resource A collection of manuscripts by Casper College professor Norman Weis. <br /><br />This collection includes manuscripts of:<br /><em>Ghost Towns of the Northwest: Known and Unknown<br />The Starduster<br />Two-Story Outhouse<br />Helldorados<br /></em><br />Each manuscript contains written in edits by Norman Weis Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Norman Weis Language A language of the resource ENG Is Part Of A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included. Norm Weiss Manuscripts and Photographs, CCA 10.2003.01 WyCaC US. Casper College Archives and Special Collections. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Searchable PDF Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CCA 10.2003.01_Weis_Manuscripts Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Manuscript Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource <em>Helldorados</em> Part IV: New Mexico Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <div class="element-text five columns omega"> <p><a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/</a></p> </div> Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1975 Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Norman Weis Language A language of the resource ENG Is Part Of A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included. Norm Weiss Manuscripts and Photographs, CCA 10.2003.01 WyCaC US. Casper College Archives and Special Collections. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CCA 10.2003.01_Weis_Helldorados_NewMex Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Searchable PDF