ZIM CSWR OVS F 791 , C7x __ no. r0J11Ca 71 oe Nuevo Mexico ~ Published since 1976 - The Official Publication of the Historical Society ofNew Mexico C6 April 2007 Issue Nurnber 71 The Butterfield Trail in New Mexico

by George Hackler Soon after California became a state called Thorne's Well. which was not a passed by Hart's Milland the future site of when it cut a new channel down the west in 1850. the rich and influential residents well but a cistern fed and sheltered by a the ASARCO plant scrambltnq over the side of the Mesilla Valley. beqan clamorinq for a SJovernment cave. Today a man-made modern rocky pass above the river. The ~ 10 , Augustin subsidized overland mail service to cistern has been constructed inside the Butterfield Trail re-entered New Mexico ?s improve upon the slow, undependable ~rotto which collects water. The remains at a station called Cottonwoods near ~/~ and expensive over water route. of the station can be found nine hundred present day Anthony, Texas.' The station / Congress through the Post Office feet due south of Thorn's Well at the toe probably straddled today's state line. The DDna~a a S,nloO'" TDmas ... Department requested proposals for of a small limestone hill." road made its way north rollinq over the movinq mail in passenger coaches from Amerindians developed and used the :1\ ~1t~~~ ~ : . : y. : ~~~; \ :C;~~~~;, : :;;i7 . sand hills east of the Rio Grande to the Q Saint Louis to San Francisco. John water hole 10nSJ before the arrival of the next New Mexico station, Fort Fillmore . l , - )'- ~ Butterfield pulled a SJroup of investors white man and left numerous About halfway to Fort Fillmore the trail so :hroed ;.. to fortrebstc:Y it t.4esilla Valley by Uan sfield tOSJether and orqanized the Overland petroqlyphs and plctographs to watch on M ilb~ s River join$.f\ Websler road Reportedby Conklinn 1854 crossed the battleqround where Colonel bddfMagdalenaGap ~ Mail Company. The Overland Mail over the water source. Alexander Doniphan and his Missouri '-----=------::;__~" Butt.m.ldTr.lI !n Ncwlolcxico Company's proposal was accepted and Volunteers met and fought a force of the LA MESILLA Butterfield was awarded the contract in Mexican Army at what Doniphan called The town of La Mesilla was first the summer of 1857 . The Company the Battle of Brazito and the Mexicans recognized by the United States in 1851. beqan building roads and stations along called the Battle of Los Temescalitos. John Russell Bartlett with the the southern route, designated by the fORT fILLMORE International Boundary Commission Post Office Department. The first Mansfield inspected the fort in October arrived in Dona Ana on 13 January 1851. sraqecoaches would rumble through 1853 and left us this sketch. His mission was to set the boundary

New Mexico in September of 1858. :tcNft ~ between Mexico and the United States in NEW MEXICO ! accordance with the Treaty of Guadalupe !....e~.:.~.~ Hidalqo. which ended the War with Mexico . The east-west line was to run just Guardian of Thorn 5 WeII south of the villaqe of Dona Ana. About LOS OIOS DE LOS ALAMOS half of the residents did not wish to live in (Cottonwoods Springs) the United States and asked Bartlett to Cottonwoods Springs is on a SJently verify that the location of La Mesilla sloplnq flat on the western flank of would indeed be in Mexico. which he Alamo Mountain. The walls were eleven did. Those who wished to reside in feet hiSJh and in exact aliqnment with the Mexico moved their families and cardinal points of the compass. The possessions. SJivinSJ up their lives and land For the first eleven months of longer wall is aligned north-south. There The next station after Fort Fillmore in Dona Ana. La Mesilla of that time was operations, the Butterfield mail coaches were two gates on the west side in a stone was La Mesilla. only six miles away across on the west side of the Rio Grande. Land followed a wa~on road up the east bank wall corral two hundred feet by one the Rio Grande Valley. About one mile east of the river was in the United States. of the Pecos River from Horsehead hundred and eiqhry feet by five feet hi~h. out of Fort Fillmore the coaches could The river was defined by the treaty as the Crossing to a point just under the New The road came in along the west side ford the river or ~o further upstream and north-south boundary between Mexico Mexico border. The trail moved over to with two turnouts leading through the cross on a ferry. Ormsby reported: and the United States and 32 deSJ. 22 min. the Delaware Creek and followed it west ~ates into the corral. An acequia ran "Between Fort Fillmore and Mesilla [sic] 00 sec . latitude was the assumed east­ toward the Guadalupe Mountains. This through the corral to a tank inside. The we forded the Rio Grande-at this point west line. waSJon road made a short loop up to the ruins are in SJood condition compared to but an insignificant puddle... ."5 This was Sam Bean recalled the excitement and Cornudas and Los Ojos de los Alamos the other New Mexico stations. The on 30 September 1858. well after the anticipation over the arrival of the first Stations. which are in New Mexico . In details of wall locations are discernable sprinq run-off. The scant remains of the stages in La Mesilla. 1859, on 1 AUSJust, the Post Master from the ruins and the remains are over fort today lie arnonq pecan orchards For several days the community had General ordered Butterfield to chance his six feet hiSJh in places.' belonqinq to the estate of John Salopek. sent riders out to locate and report back route to the Comanche Sprlnqs-Davls Today there is nothlnq above SJround that on the progress of the stages. The stage Mountain crossing already betng used by resembles the fort depicted in Mansfield's from the west arrivedfirst. preceded by a the San Antonio-San Diego Mail map. Members of the Salopek families charging rider. The news aroused the Company (SA&SD). The SA&SD Mail have erected a monument in memory of viI/age andsoon the plaza was fiIIed with Company crossed the Pecos at John Salopek over the site and planted a a raucous crowd to greet this first steqe" Horsehead Crossing. proceeding due lawn over the south east corner of the The divisional headquarters for the west to Comanche Springs (Fort fort. They also uncovered and protected Butterfield Overland Mail Company was

Los Ojos De Los A1am~l1I; OlS it miaht have appeared Stockton) and then over the Davis from the hill ea st et me steuen a portion of one of the enlisted men's in the buildlnq that housed the EI Patio Mountains to the Rio Grande.' barracks. Restaurant and Bar. The main street '--- Butterf ie ld TtalllnNtw ... ecdcc CORNUDAS (Calle Principal) passed on the west side When Conklinq visited the site in 1930 of the transportation block with Calle de the cottonwoods. for which the site was Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe on the !U O.. odt named, were still SJrowinSJ hiSJh up on the east side. Corrals comprised the southern slope of Alamo Mountain. Today the half of the block and could be entered cottonwoods and the sprlnqs have all but from either street by north- and disappeared. A very faint image of the southbound staqes. old waSJon road departs to the southwest Three staee lines connected La Mesilla in a straiqht line toward Cerro Alta in the with the outside world in 1858: The Hueco Mountains. The road forks at Overland Mail Company (Butterfield). Cerro Alto. The north fork around Cerro the Santa Fe Mail Branch Line. and the

L....- ButterfieldTrailinNr:w~c:xico Alta was longer but not as rough as the Mansfield included a draWing of the San Antonio and San Diego Mail Line. A The first station in New Mexico was south fork. Even so. Conzltnq points out Mesilla Valley in his report. This drawtnq fourth trreqular freiqht and passenger named Cornudas because the rock that rock Iedqes had to be blasted down shows a road Ieavinq Fort Fillmore ~oin~ service, the Catlett Express. operated formations looked like horns to early to step the waSJon road over limestone southwest to cross the river before between La Mesilla and the Pinos Altos Spanish explorers. The lone Cornudas Iedqes on this north fork. The forks joininq the road from Santo Tomas north mlninq area. formation is the same SJeoloSJY as the converged at the base of Cerro Alto, two to La Mesilla on the west side of the river. Departing La Mesilla. the route went Hueco Tanks formation. The route and miles from Hueco Tanks. Mansfield's drawinSJ also shows the north on Calle de Principal to San Albino landscape of Otero Mesa have changed EL PASO (franklin) position of the river relative to Fort Church and then turned west onto Calle little over the one hundred and forty Both of the roads used by Butterfield Fillmore, La Mesilla, Dona Ana . and Las de Santlaqo. The Butterfield route turned ei~ht years since the first Butterfield sta~e converged on EI Paso. the upper road Cruces. The river meandered down the north somewhere after Calle de Picacho passed. from the east and the lower road from east side of the valley in 1853. The river's and headed for Rancho Picacho four and The water source at this station was the south. Departing EI Paso the road position changed dramatically in 1865 three-fourths miles to the north. Route. Here lived and controIled all rear. completely surpnsmq the Apache management of this line. The Vice who retreated. Ieavinq several wounded President and General Manager of this and dead behind. line with allhis officials one Giles Hawley The Butterfield crew retrieved the of the city of Rome. County of Oneida, bullet-riddled coach and saved the New Yott:' harness but the Apache had removed all Euqene described the operations of the passengers' luggaSJe. The lone the Overland Mail Company "This line surviving wheel mule ran away, had bi~ nine passenger coaches on returning to the Cooke's Spring Station. leather springs almost unbreakable." and The herder and the station keeper at the reveals heretofore unknown details of station. hearing the firin~. collected eight San Albino Church. La MesiJIa Plaza used by Butterfield. Local oral history Courtesy of NMSU Archives Butterfield operations and Indian mules within the protection of the high indicates that the orlqinal Butterfield The sto ry of the Freeman Thomas troubles. He described a trip in an walled stone corral and then led these station may have been expanded or Massacre beqins here at the Butterfield Overland Mail coach that departed mules with a buckboard to the next salvaged to build the newer stage station Station on Calle Principal in the late Tucson at 7:00 am on the morninq of 7 station at Goodsiqht. The passengers. on the same spot. The stage stop was evening of 20 July 1861. Fleeing the February 1860 for La Mesilla. It was crew. and wounded made it to Goodsiqht demolished some time after 1954. advancing Confederate Army cominq up customary to carry a ~uard of four with the bullet riddled coach. with help ROUGH AND READY the Rio Grande. the coach left Franklin in armed men. On this occasion however from the wagon train. Van Patten says The Rough and Ready Station. the afternoon of the twentieth carrying they carried six armed passengers they replaced the mules at Goodsight established in December 1858. was company records. possibly money. and includinq Lt. Col. Don Carlos Buell alone and made it from Goodstqht to La Mesilla located in the SJap between the Sleepinq other Butterfield Company property. with the driver William Terilley and Van without further incident. Lady Hills on the south and the Rough Butterfield Company headquarters had Patten himself as conductor. so it was Buell's wound was serious but he did and Ready Hills on the north. The station issued instructions to SJather all deemed unnecessary to add additional recover after recuperating for several was built of adobe on rock foundations remaining company property. rollinq guards. Euqene made it clear that Indian months in La Mesilla with Van Patten's with rock and adobe fireplaces and stoch. and livestock and move it to the attacks on the coaches were a problem friends. Van Patten's wound was not as chimneys. Indians pulled down the walls northern route. The stage pulled out just when he recalled there had been no serious but he had to remove bone and time and rain have melted the after dark. The seven people on the stage problems for several weeks because of splinters himself and his leg bothered remains beyond recognition to all but the were attacked by Apache Indians led by very bad weather. He also explains, for him the rest of his life most professional eye. Drifting sands Mangas Coloradas and Cochise the next the first time that in Indian country when Eugene Van Patten stayed in the have further covered the ruins which mornlnq in Cooke's Canyon. Eugene Van a coach approached a station the Mesilla VaHey after the Butterfield were located by professional Patten. a Butterfield employee. was at the conductor sounded a trumpet blast. The operation moved to the northern route. excavation.I I station that niqht and recaIIed the events station keeper responded with a similar A few months later. on 25 July 1861, Joe Ben Sanders. a professional years later for Keith Humphries.' blast on his trumpet. If there was no Lieutenant Colonel John R. Baylor. archeologist. excavated the site and The importance of La Mesilla did not answer from the station the coach circled C.S.A.. Ieadinq a force of Confederate located and mapped the old Butterfield end with the withdrawal of the Overland wide and did not stop. soldiers. took possession of La Mesilla. station. The old waSJon road is clearly Mail Company. The arrrcal of the Two days after the coach departed Van Patten. the New York Yankee. visible today as it splits other ruins and California Column. the campaign to Tucson it pulled up out of Starvation enlisted in the Confederate Army SJivinSJ passes on the south side of the station. subdue the Apache. and the Draw and entered Cooke's Canyon. The his outfit as Company A, First Arizona. This visibility is aided by the fact that the development of the west continued and coach was caught in an ambush set by He owned much of the site of Las Cruces road was used long after the Butterfield La Mesilla remained the transportation Apaches of the Mimbres branch and helped organize and develop the city era. center. La Mesilla's demise started with (Chihenne) led by Elias. The Indians of Las Cruces by SJivinSJ most of it away to and was assured when the railroad choose the site of the ambush in friends. Eugene married a local SJirI. bypassed the community at the request accordance with a typical and oft used Benita Madrid VarSJas. a native of of the residents and went through Mesilla ploy. They picked a narrow portion of the Tortuqas . Active in community affairs. he Park The railroad created Mesilla Park road where the coach could not turn helped the villaSJe of Tortucas orqanize and pushed Las Cruces ahead of La around and sprung the trap by shooting a their corporation and obtain the title to

Mesilla. lead mule. thus draSJSJin~ the coach to a their community location. EUSJene also R(lUqh .l.nd R A ;,;d y I I " J_ ... ,_.... La Mesilla has ~uarded its heritage and halt. The Indians positioned themselves helped raise money to build the Loretto I - ~ -"" ~---i has become a Iivinq museum of Mexican around the spot, building rock barricades Academy and St. Genevieve's Church. He J T ! """::::-1;;- . _____ colonial times. and usinq natural cover within one lived a long and productive life. -===-=--=:=- _ ~ _'_.4 _ _ t rail- _ --- - __.____ EUGENE VAN PATTEN hundred yards. the effective ranee of the contributing much to the development L..- B u rh: r1l11:~ l d I fi li i in NtwLll!'xh:o We cannot depart La Mesilla without bow and arrow. The plan was to snipe at of the Mesilla Valley. In the words of his The Trail departed Rough and Ready first meeting a true Mesilla Valley pioneer and cause the defenders on the coach to Indian friends. Albert Eugene Van Patten heading due west to Magdalena Gap on and one of the first men to enlist with exhaust their ammunition while the was "a valuable man." the way to the next station at Goodsiqht. John Butterfield. Apache remained hidden showinq just Van Patten died on the 28 February about fifteen miles away skirtinSJ the base enough to draw fire. 1926 at his daughter's home south of Las of the llvas Mountains. The Butterfield employees and Cruces. He was interred in his faded blue SLOCUM'S RANCH/MASON'S FORT passenqers used the mules and the coach and SJold military uniform of the New Slocum's Ranch building, sometimes as their barricade and kept the Indians at Mexico Militia. He rests today in the San called Mason's Fort, did not exist during bay with their superior marksmanship. Jose Cemetery north of the new St. the Butterfield days. but was established Durinq the long standoff the besieged Genevieve's Church in Las Cruces. " four to eight years later. It was built riSJht men succeeded in unhitching the RANCHO PICACHO on the road and is visible today and is a downed lead mule only to have the other Waterman Ormsby wrote: landmark for locating the Trail.At certain lead mule shot down. Without the mules A few miles from MessiIIa [sic] we times of the year water ran in the draw. to hide between. Colonel Buell had to changed our horses for another team of just to the northeast of Mason's. Indeed. expose himself to unhitch the second those interminable mules and started on this water source. as well as the road. led leader and was seriously wounded in the a dreary ride of fifty-two miles for to the establishment of Slocum's Ranch. left breast. Eugene left the protection of Cooke's Spring. ... Our road lay through Daniel Aranda reponed that John D. the coach to bring Colonel Buell in and what was caIled the Pecatch [Picacho] Slocum bouqht the buildings in 1870 and was himself wounded in the left leg. Pass. and. I walked nearly all the way leased them to Richard "Kit" Mason in the Eugene Van Patten Hopes of moving the coach vanished through it. it seemed to me rather sprinq of 1877. Katherine Stoes pointed Courtesy of Santiago Brito . Brito family photo collection when one of the wheel mules was also mountainous. It was about two miles out that Slocum obtained the Water Eugene Van Patten was born in shot. The passengers and crew collected long and had some very bad hiIIs. In Holes Ranch from the estate of VirSJil November 1841. in Rome. New York, one their firearms. ammunition. and a large comparison with other passes and Mastin. who was killed by Apaches at of twelve children of Adam and Nancy canteen of water and retreated to hiSJh canons on the route. it was not very bad, Pinos Altos in 1868. We don't know when Van Patten. In 1857. Eugene, then sixteen, ground to their rear. The Indians took though quite bad enough and all up hill. the buildinqs were built. but it was and the family lived in Oneida which is possession of the coach but could not When. however. we reached the summit. probably after 1861 or Butterfield would about twenty miles west of John dislodge the occupants who were now we were upon the border ofa broad and have used them instead of buildlnq a Butterfield's hometown of Utica. That well hidden behind roch barricades on level plain extending as far away as the station at Rough and Ready five miles to year John Butterfield launched his the hiSJh ground. eye could reach ." the east where there was no water. 12 Overland Mail Company and EUSJene Twelve miles to the west a larSJe Picacho resident Isaac Chavez told The old wagon road is visible today and three older bro thers enlisted With caravan of carts and wagons returning to Cliff Donaldson what his father had told where it cuts down the bank to drop into Butterfield to help build and operate the the Mesilla Valley. was breakinq camp on him about the old staee station location Mason Draw. It is a good example of how new wes tern stace line . Eugene tells us: the Mimbres Ri\7er. Merchants and and the route. Isaac's father remembered to identify old trails in accordance with "On December 23, 1857 I landed at EI farmers from La Mesilla, Las Cruces. the stages stopplnq at the station. and SJan~ the Oregon California Trails Association Paso, Texas with a biSJ of the first Dona Ana and elsewhere were returning described the station as a 10nSJ narrow manual. There are two cuts where the outfit of the officials and employees of from Pinos Altos and the mines at Santa adobe buildinq with an attached corral. slope was reduced to ease the passage of the Overland Mail." He described the Rita where they had sold their Aldolino Garcia lived across the street Trail as it entered New Mexico: merchandise and produce. Scouts. sent from the station and he too could recaII . .. from Anthony to a town named San ahead of the train to check Cooke's the stages stoppinq at the station. Born {Tortuqas} Juan in New Mexico to [where] Canyon. were drawn by gunfire and about 1885. Aldolino was one hundred the Rio Grande River ran then and where came upon the besieged coach. They years old when he died. The buildinq he we had a ferry boat. The Rio Grande was quickly retreated to their train which was remembered was an active staqe station not fordable [in] those days. Here we driven into a protective circle. A small for many years after the Butterfield crossed the river into a town. La Mesilla, force was left to guard it while the scouts ceased to use it. There is no direct proof Arizona. This town was the headquarters and the rest of the men hastened to that the building identified and a coach. Even though Slocum's was not of the general meneoement of the Cooke's Canyon. The rescuers circled photographed by Vir~inia Taylor's father. built at the time. the Butterfield stages Overland Mail. caIled the Butterfield behind the Indians and attacked their J. W Newberry in 1928. was the same one

2 passed within a few feet of the future site The Butterfield station was erected near The Trail continues on a northwesterly Cooke's Spring to Cow Springs. The and Slocum's/Mason's Fort was a stop for the sprinq in 1858. Fort Cumminqs was course as it is pulling out of Starvation Mormon Battalion swunq south after the wa~on and staqe traffic that followed established near the sprtnq in 1862 and Draw, where the ~oin~ becomes much the Butterfield period. built in 1863.14 easier across a level ~rassy plain. The MAGDALENA GAP more northerly course will intercept the Ma~dalena Gap is a prominent Mimbres River at a point of dependable ~eolo~ical feature on the Butterfield Trail water supply. between Rou~h and Ready and MIMBRES STATION Gocdsiqht four miles west of Mason's Fort Early writers described it as a twelve­ (Slocum's) Here the Trail hits a three foot hi~h walled enclosure three hundred hundred-foot rock wall. The only way feet square with two ninety-foot buildings throuqh this wall is a crack called in each north wall corner. A developed Ma~dalena Gap. The Butterfield Trail sprinc ran into the northwest corner." leaving here, followinq an inept ~uide (or twisted throuqh this rocky trap for two from here the trail crossed the river and spy) down the Animas Valley. Their road miles. With no stop or station here, it was The foundation of the Butterfield rose to meet the mesa on the west side. returned to the future Butterfield Trail a perfect place for an ambush and station at Cooke's Sprinq is still visible The other road from Cooke's Spring to somewhere in the vicinity of Benson. several did occur. today. Indians destroyed the oriqtnal the Hot Springs and mines comes off the Arizona.re Colonel lames B. Leach came The location of the trail inside the Gap station in the summer of 1861 after the bluff north of the Old Town through from the other direction nine is restricted by the narrow bottom and Bascom Affair. Before destroyinq the archaeoloqtcal site down a natural draw years later. when he developed the can be visualized in a number of station the Indians ambushed and to another stage station at Old Town, or military road from Yuma to the Rio locations. The point where the trail murdered a party of Butterfield and Mowry City as it was called. This other Grande in the summer of 1857. leaves the Gap on the west side is marked SA&SD employees in Cooke's Canyon. stace station is about a mile north of the Butterfield used most of this stretch of with ruts in the rocky slope. The Freeman Thomas, Emmett Mills, M. Butterfield station. This second station, Leach's road. Butterfield Trail skirted Massacre Peak, Champion, Robert Alvin, Joseph Poacher housed in a durable rock structure. was Recently discovered military records ~oin~ north around the east side and (Porcher), John Pontel, and John Wilson built some time before the Butterfield do provide a possible location for the then turning back west. The Trail entered were on their way to California with the station. This rock structure is all that station building .An element of the a second shallow pass that became SA&SD Mail and Butterfield Company remains of Mowry City. It was reported California Volunteers camped at Cow known as Massacre Gap (not to be books and papers. The Civil War had shut that the Butterfield employees stayed Springs on their way to man fort confused with Ma~dalena Gap) because down the southern route earlier and here in the rock house while they were Cummings. While there they were of several Indian battles that took place Lieutenant Colonel John R. Baylor was in buildinq the Butterfield station. involved in a minor skirmish with there. " El Paso with a Confederate army unit Indians. The report documenting the ready to invade New Mexico and encounter contains a sketch. The sketch Arizona. The party was ambushed west of includes several recoqntzable the Cooke's Sprtnq Station by Chiricahua topographical features, alon~ with the Indians from the combined forces of sprinq and the Butterfield station. The Cochise and Mangas Coloradas. The shetch can be related to the modern bodies were discovered five days after structures by means of these features and lallDg the stace left the Cooke's Sprtnq Station. J 2 Jl ~ the approximate location of the station 1D7 54 58 AJ0 38 " Accordlnq to the oral history the fi~ht buildinq visualized.19 lasted for three days. The seven white Magdalena Gap. The faint white streak men were well armed and held out until The road departed the Mimbres in lower left corner is the Trail their ammunition was exhausted Station fordinc the river and turning GOODSIGHT according to the evidence left behind. southwest alons the river for one mile Goodsicht was established, alone with The evidence included several dead before pulling out and turninq west up Rou~h and Ready. to break up the Ionq Indians. the terraced bluff to the mesa. The Trail run between Picacho and Cooke's Humphries reported that four crosses Hi~hway 180 after Jeavinq the Spring. The station was a rock and adobe staqehands at Cooke's Station had shod a Mimbres Station. A stone monument. corral forty five feet by thirty feet with third pair of mules to hitch with the two erected in 1933 by the Daughters of the two rooms with fireplaces, one on each pair already on the coach. The four-hour American Revolution. stands on end. A thirty-foot by forty -foot earthen delay for this safety precaution by Hi!Jhway 180, near mile marker 145. SOLDIER'S fAREWELL tank was located about seventy five feet Freeman and Roescher may well have where the Trail crosses. In October 1856 three companies of north of the station. The road passed cost them their lives according to draqoons moved west from Fort Thorn between the station and the tank. At first, Humphries." following the trail to Tucson. On the 4th water was hauled from Cooke's Sprinq to The exact location of the stand off by the company camped near Burro Goodsicht. the seven men on the Freeman Thomas Cienaqa at the base of a mountain. Conklinq visited the site in 1931 and stagecoach is not known as During the ni~ht a lone shot was heard reported that nothing remains of the contemporary observers did not record but not tnvesttcated. Reveille aroused the building but the rocks showinq the ruins the precise spot. Researchers since have camp at daylight when the body of of two fireplaces, the stone foundations scoured the two miles of canyon Ioohtnq younq Private Gilbert was discovered. and a dirt and adobe wall showtnq the for clues. In 1930 Anson Mills hired an El The dispassionate report of his outline of a corral. In the summer of 1860 Paso attorney to locate the site of the last commanding officer. Lieutenant David William Tallack reported that it took stand so Emmitt Mills' body mlght be 010 DE VACA (COW SPRINGS) M. Gre!J!J simply stated Gilbert had sixty-one minutes to ~o the fourteen recovered and ~iven a decent burial. The A Butterfield station was established at committed suicide because of" miles from Cooke's Sprinq to Goodsiqht El Paso investigators were unable to Cow Sprlnqs in December 1858. The intemperance". The impact on his (a speed of fourteen miles per hour) locate the site even back then when clues sprinq still flows on a modern ranch comrades as they had to bury him was were fresher and livin~ observers were headquarters located on the site of the bound to be very dtsturblnq and Ionqer still around. orlqinal station. This water source, first Iastinq. perhaps ~ivin~ the location its Fort Cummings was established used by Ameridians. then the Spanish. name "Soldier's farewell.'?' shortly thereafter just because of and later the Americans became the hub From Cow Springs the Butterfield Trail continuing Indian conflicts in the area. of east-west, north-south trails and later follows a nearly straiqht line to Soldier's The fort was built north and west of the wa~on roads. The main supply road Farewell Hill. The entire Trail could be corral and stase station. The station and between the mines at Santa Rita and the watched from atop Soldier's Farewell Hill the corral stand on a hill east of the population center of Janos in the state of or Bessie Rhoads Mountain. The sprinq and the fort , loohinq down on the Chihuahua passed through Cow Springs. approach crosses China Draw. ~oes up a Pe~~y Gerow points out the remains approach from the east and ~ivin~ a clear The Cow Sprlnqs Station was described low rise, and then follows a natural draw of a rock structure next to the trail at the view of the sprinq and the trail for a mile as a stone building with a chimney­ down into Burro Cieneca at the eastern top of the rise just before the trail drops to the west. The water source was in a shaped cupola on the roof. The cupola flank of the hill. Water shows and runs on down to the station. There are clear si~ns marsh south of the fort. Inside the corral formed a barricade hi~h enouqh to hide the surface part of the year and is not far of the trail passing beside the ruins. The /~raveyard stands a ~rave marker which a person and also made a ~ood vantage from the surface the remainder of the remains form a "U" of rock rubble, with points out the ever present dancer in point for a lookout. Accordinq to Emma year. The springs that feed the Burro the opening of the "U" facin~ south Apache land, even near a well-manned M. Muir, lonny Evensen and lack Frost Cieneqa are supplied from the South toward the trail. The rubble su~~ests a fort. By later counts there were some one came to the area in 1867 to open new Burro Mountains to the north. It is not structure twenty-four feet wide, twenty hundred to one hundred and fifty people staqe stations for the National Mail and unreasonable to Imaqme the coaches feet deep and approximately five feet buried along this three-mile stretch of Transportation Company. Frost took over pausing to let the team water in the hiqh. Couchman ~ives several clues that Butterfield Trail, makin~ it the most the station at Cow Sprinqs and Evensen cieneqa before coverinq the last three may identify the structure. A patrol of 17 danqerous place on the 2,975 mile road. established a station at Mexican Springs." miles to the station. soldiers were sent to ~uard the pass Today the spring is protected by a rock The trail climbs out of Burro Cieneqa above Goodsiqht in response to Indian circle and surrounded by ancient and threads between Soldier's Farewell attacks above the station. When the cottonwood trees. The sprtnq is in the HilI on the north and Bessie Rhoads patrol was withdrawn a month later they center of a large ranch headquarters with Mountain to the south. The Trail bears were instructed to knock down the rock bunkhouse on the north, corrals and northwest, curving around the base of fortress they had built. main barns to the south, and house to the the hill for two miles before dropping COOKE'S SPRING & fORT CUMMINGS east. The remains of the station are not down into JPB Draw. The trail crosses lPB The water source at this location was evident. Draw about a hundred feet south of named for Lt. Col. Philip St. George General Stephen Watts Kearny passed Barrow windmill and continues about a Cooke. commander of the Mormon Fort Cummings with the old this way in November 1846 on his march half mile westward to the Soldier's Battalion that passed this way in Butterfield Trail visible in foreground to California. The Mormon Battalion Farewell Station. November 1846 on its way to California. Courtesy ofthe NM History Museum followed. buildinq their wa~on road from The remains of a forty-foot by seventy-

3 foot rock wall enclosure are stilI visible "Je nny" Evensen . Rita HilI reported that John Ward. making off with several hea d trumpet. but little else has chanced. today. The walls were two feet thick at the Evensen arrived in Mexican Springs in of cattle and a small boy. The Ward place There are fewer people in the Mimbres base and ten feet hi~h . The unmortared 1865 after the CivilWar. Byhis account he was near Fort Buchanan and the Valley now than there were when the wall rocks are held in place by their was sent by the newly formed California commander there. Colonel Pitcairn stages rolled. Javalina forage up and wei~ht and the int erlocklnq pattern company. Kerens and Mitchell Company. Morriso n was notified immediately. down Doubtful Canyon by the station whereby a rock lays on at least two other to repair the "old Butterfield Stage Tracks were picked up headinq ea st ruins. The bi~SJest change since Ormsby's rocks. Large stones are used at the Station" in preparation of restoring mail toward Chiricahua Apache lands. trip is the absence of the Indians. No bottom with the size becoming smaller and passenger transportation to Colonel Morrison sent Lieutenant longer do they harvest the agave for the with increasing heiqht. Some of the California over the old Butterfield route. George Nicholas Bascom to Apache Pass sugar cane-like stalk and root. The foundation stones weiqh two to three Evensen reported that he found the with instructions to see k out Cochise and roasting pits. still there . are cold. hundred pounds. The courses are leveled station in good condition and needing take whatever measures were needed to Descendants of Cochise. Mangas by adjusting with small stones. The only minor repairs - a broken door and recover the stock and the child. Bascom Coloradas. and Victorio now live on remains of a rock dam and siSJns of roof repairs. and his troops arrived in Apache Pass on reservations at San Carlos . Arizona. and moisture in the rock bottom draw 100 There is no direct evidence to support the third of February. He sent word to Mescalero. New Mexico. meters north of the sta tion sUSJgest a a Butterfield station at Mexican Springs. Cochise. by way of the Indians workinSJ Notes water source. STEIN'S PEAK & DOUBTFUL CANYON at the Butterfield station. asking him to I . Wayne R. Austerrnan. Sharps Rjfles and Lookinq Westward from Soldier's The Stein's Peak Station is located in come in for a meeting. Cochise answered Spanish Mules: The San Antonio-EI Paso Mail. 1851-1881 (College Station: TexasA& MPress. Farewell. the Langford Mountains appear the eastern entrance to Doubtful Canyon Bascom's summons and came into the 1985) p. 88-148 low on the horizon about on e and one quarter miles from camp accompanied by his brother. 2. Waterman L. Ormsby. eds. Lyle H. WriSJht BARNEY'S the Arizona-New Mexico border in the several nephews. his wife. and two and Jospehine M. Bynum. The Butterfield The Trail west to Barn ey's passes northern Peloncillo Mountains. Doubtful children. The mission began to unravel Overland Mail (San Marino. CAThe Huntington Library. 1942). p. 76. The author through the south end of the Lansford Canyon Pass is seven miles north of wh en Bascom promptly put the whole was the fi rst through passenger on the fi rst wa~on Mountains. The old road is still Stein's Pass where 1-10 and the railroad party under arrest. Bascom tried to west-bound Butterfield s t a~e. visible for about a mile on the approach cross over the PeloncilIo Mountains. The coerce Cochise into returning the stock 3. Pe SJ~y A. Gerow. Along the Butterfield Trail to the Langford Mountains. A well­ station tak es its name from the peak and and the child abducted from the Ward II. AReconnaissance Survey of 12 Miles in the defined rut marks the crossing of a rock the peak takes its name from Major place in the Sonoita Valley. Cochise was Corn udas and Alamo Mou ntains Area. a bottom draw. The old wa gon road clings Enoch Steen of the U.S. Dragoons. In adamant. declaring that he had nothing contract survey for BLM. p. 50. 4. Phocion R.Way."Oeerland Via 'JackassMail' to the side of a small hill. avoiding a 1854 he led a troop of dragoons through to do with the theft or abduction. He in 1858. Diary of Phocion R. Way. " Arizona steep-banked draw below. The road is still Doubtful Canyon to Tucson to take escaped and became outraged when the and the West. Quarterly Journal of History well defined here as the up slop e was cut possession of southern Arizona after the army executed the male hostages. (Vol. 2. No.2) to fill the down slop e. producing a level Gadsden Purchase was signed. Map­ Cochise beqan a war of revenqe aga inst 5. Ormsby. The Butterfield Overland Mail. pp. 80-81. roadbed. The remains of a rock makers mistakenly changed the spellinq all white people which included the 6. Maude Elizabeth Mcfie. 'A. History of the revetment are still visible holding the to Stein. The name Doubtful Canyon is Overland Mail Company. its passengers. Mesilla Valley. 1903." thesis NM A&M. p. 49. down slope filI in place. Rocks can be attributed to a traveler's expressed fear employees. and property. His vengeance 7. Keith 1. Humphries. Apache Land From seen along the old roadbed where they that it was doubtful that one would reached into New Mexico where he Those Who Lived It. (Las Cruces: 1986). p.139 were pus hed aside forming a straight sur vive a passage through the canyon. destroyed every station. 8. EU SJene Van Patten. Personal Papers. line. There is a reliable water supply from a permission by Kathryn Thomas. custodian of ~e, Apache P .... Artzona '" J the papers. The oriqlnal papers are in EUSJene spring within a few hundred yards of the (("'1 j ( \ _"---~ Van Patten's handwriting, in pencil and very station. This station is the best defined of ~- ','0::::7//_ c ~~ hard to read. Kathryn Thomas and frank ~G h C U1 " ,/ ~ the New Mexico stations in terms of C " ./" rm!! Brito have transcribed the papers to the best remainlnq structure. The walls were over (~ ~_/Y" ,~ ~".~:: ::ck' of their ability. ;~ ' ~ ~ 4 9. Las CrucesCitizen. Saturday. March 6. 1926 two feet thick and ten feet hiSJh. Large flat fr'l'i:;ontre,n B erllel th,nc rfie ld ,I. 10. Ormsby. The Butterfield Overland Mail. p. stones form the foundation and the ~~ ~ 'lgJlr-:;;1J~~ . ~ '~ T@) m .... 81. lower portion of the walls and the stones -..,'"2£/ ~ , - ~ ·~ .j ~~~ ~7~§. II . Joe BenSanders. Interview at his home in get progresslvely smaller as the wall rises. . ,'A-~ ~ J . ::- ./\,;. ~ : , .J.}.~_~ ' Ap. che ~ Bent. New Mexico. 23December 1999.Shared ';/ "...,...... ~ '--jJ - ~ i " "'}"'. ' .. Spring r alon~ Door locations can still be visualized. L-- -:.-Butte rfi ~ l d T r . U in "CW''''ex' ~ archeology the Butterfield Trail. 12. Katherine D. Stees,"The History of the Butterfield lost thre e employees killed St ein '. Peak Sta tion Corralitos." The New Mexico Stockman Rues made by iron tires (James Wallace. a Mr. Welch. and King (March 1955). p.46

The U.S. Geological Survey map. Rc co nstru d ionbll$ l!:dontrmains Lyon). one wounded (Charles Culver). 13. Joe BenSanders. unpublished manuscript "LORDSBURG N. MEX." shows an . nd ,e l: ord ~ . ~~!;ffi&__ and all the station livestock. following 'When Wa ~ons Rolled and Blood flowed. approximate location of the Butterfield the Bascom Affair the War Department Apache Raid inSJ and Warfare Siteson the Old Trail with Barney's placed about two pulled all troops out of Arizon a and Butterfield TraiJ" 29June 1991 . p. 29. 14. Donald HowardCouchman. Cooke's Peak miles east of Lordsburg. The Trail moved property. supplies and livestock Pasaron pot Aqui (Las Cruces. Bureau of Land continues through what will become back into New Mexico in preparation for Management, 1990) pp. 39. 170. Lordsburg in 1880. a transfer of everythinq to the Union 15. Humphries. Apache Land From Those The location of Barney's is uncertain; States as the threat of civil war ~rew. The Who Lived It (self published 1986). p. 140. however. early settlers in Lordsburg In his later years. after his health Indians assumed this was a retreat from 16. Keith Humphries."Trail of the Pioneers." New Mexico Magazine (Vol. 17. No.4. April always identified some adobe ruins began to fail, Cochise shared memories their lands and increased their attacks on 1939). p. 10 located north of the orlqinal Coon's with people he trusted. He recalled civilians and civilian operations 17. Emma M. MUir."The Stage to Ranch as the Barney Station. This was placing warriors on the sides of Doubtful including the mail services. Shakespeare." New Mexico MagaZine. July confirmed to Janaloo Hill by Helen Canyon and shooting flaming arrows In the spring of 1861. Texas followed 1948, p. 25. S~ t Coons Lynch . daughter of Frank Coons down into passing sragecoaches." The South Carolina in secedlnq from the 18. Daniel Tyler. A Concise History of the Mormon Battalion in the Mexican War 1846­ 1900. who homesteaded here about To trail made a left turn shortly after passing union. Ieavtnq nine hundred miles of 1848 (Glorieta. NM: Rio Grande Press. 1969). reach the location. take the Gold Hill the Rooster Comb and started the John Butterfield's southern mail line in p.206. Road as it heads straicht north. makes a descent to San Simon. Arizona. Confederate territory. 19. Research contributed by Berndt Kuhn of turn to the east and then a second corne r TRAIL'S END Rather than have the Overland Mail Stockholm . Sweden. Kuhn is a serious toward the north.Near this second Apache Pass lies th irty miles into Company's property fall into Reb el student and published expert on Indian depredations in the Southwestern United corner were the ruins of Barney's Station. Arizona. An established Butterfield hands. during March 1861 the Postmaster States. Road construction and farming have station was in this pass in time to support General ordered the Overland Mail to 20. ibid obliterated all si~ns of the station ." the first stage. Apache Pass is included in discontinue service immediately and 21 . Roscoe Platt and Mar~aret Conkling. The Records and military reports tell of a our discussion of the Butterfield move all the company's coaches. Butterfield Overland Mail. Vol. II. p. 126. Vol III. Plate 57. very severe winter in 1861-1862 with cold Overland Mail in New Mexico because livestock. and equipment north to the 22. Janaloo Htll-Houqh, "The Butterfield temperatures and record amounts of events here had a profound impact on Central Overland Trail. Loqistlcally this Overland Trail ThroughHidalqo County". p. 3. snow throughout the New Mexico­ Butterfield operations in the desert meant reorgaruztng the entire 2.792 miles 23. fran cis L. fuqare and Roberta B. fu~ute . Arizona southwest. This precipitation southwest. It was the homeland and of line. not just the Texas-New Mexico ­ Roadside History of New Mexico (Mountain hastened the destruction of exposed home place of the Chtricahua Apache Arizona parts. The Overland Mail Press Publlshing Co.. 1989). p. 421. adobe and helps explain the sudden and and their leader Cochise. Cochise's Company had to abandon all the 24. Edwin R. Sweeney, Cochise: Chiricahua Apache Chief (Norman: University of complete disappearance of the adobe influ ence extended east to the Rio stations. wagon roads. wells and tanks. Oklahoma Press 1991). p. 142. -GH stations. Grande and west beyond Tucson . It was and other improvements made and paid MEXICAN SPRINGS (SHAKESPEARE) Cochise's forbearance that allowed the for on the southern route. Mexican Springs was a known water Butterfield to operate unmolested and it John R. Baylor occupied the Mesilla source long before the waqon road to was his wrath that destroyed the New Plaza on 24 July 1861, haVing bypassed California opened. It is located two miles Mexico stations in the end. Fort Fillmore. The Union forces at Fort south of the Butterfield Trail and up a Fillmore launched a feeble attack to canyon a four-mile detour off the direct dlslodce Baylor and then were recalled to east-west route. The SA&SD Mail Line did the fort where they spent all night stop here ac cording to Janaloo HiIl­ preparinq to flee to Fort Stanton. This put HouSJh.22 who owned Shakespeare. bu t another five hundred and fifty miles of A native of Las Cruces. Geor ge Hackler Butterfield chose to put his first station. the Trail under Confederate control. Lt. ~ r a d u a te d from NMSU witha double major in physics and mathematics. His professional Barney's. at the bottom of the hill. It is not Bascom. now a captain. was killed on 21 career was spent in the rocket fli~ht industry. clear as to when the Overland Mail February 1862 at the Battle of Valverde. He credits both his ~ r an d fa thers for teachi ng Company miSJht have used the station at exactly one year after the Bascom Affair. him to harness and work draft horses and Mexican Springs. Janaloo's mother. Rita The landscape of the New Mexico mules and for stimulating his interest in Hill. published a brief history of Apache Spring portion of the Butterfield Trail looks transportati on history. Yucca Press published his book about the Butterfi eld Trail in New Shakespeare in 1963 . in which sh e This peace was shattered in early 1858 today just asit did in when stages Mexico (2005). Book cover above is an collected family oral history along with February 1861 by what became known as raised clouds of dust across the flats. The historically correct painting by George C. Gray the written record. Part of the oral history "The Bascom Affair. " 24 In late January road is gone. as are the stations along of a Butterfield staqecoach enteri ng Box comes from an old timer named John E. 1861. Indians raided a ranch belonging to with the echo of the conductor's Canyon out of Picacho.

4 Six New Mexico Small Town Theatres Listed in National Register of Historic Places by Tom Drake

Most of them are individually owned many had to be tu rne d aw ay from known the ater designers in the Midwest. had come to Tuc umcari. or family run out of love for a small-town Clayton's premiere of Shirley Temple's They appear to ha ve tak en their As with all six of the historic theaters. tradition that has all but died in most "The Little Colone l." The Gibralt er ~ro u p inspiration for the Lyceum from the the Odeon beqan as a family business New Mexico communities. Some are spo nsored a co ntes t during the ope ninq Atchison, Top eka and Santa fe Railroads run by the Hurley family with partner em pty, but all remain crowning wh ere local lJirls received a month of free depots and fred Harvey's "Harvey Hous e" Gen e Hawkins. The chose the name architectural landmarks of their passes for winn ing a w r iti n~ contes t. hotels in their design. It featured an air­ "Odeon. " a popular theater name in downtowns and reminders of a time Consulting architectural historian cooling system. 600 seats and its interior france at the time. but townsfolk just wh en very little money bought a niqht of David Kammer, wh o wro te the six design lar~ely is inta ct. called it "the new theatre." The Hurleys entertainme nt and camaraderie in small ­ nominations. said the Luna provides an The Hardwicks contract ed with received conqratulatory telegrams from town America. "excell ent exam ple" of how theater Paramount Pictures to show films and movie IJreats frank Capra and Mary Six movie theaters built between 1916 op erators responded to c h a n~ i n~ tastes maintain ed a tradition from an ea rlier Astor whe n it op en ed in May of 1936. and 1948 are the most recent histori c an d expectations in theater appearances Lyc eum of using the theater for Lovington - further south. Lovln qton properties in New Mexico to be listed in and amenities. community eve nts. The local MainStre et the National R e~ister of Historic Places. Raton - EIRaton has been closed a year- program and the city took ow ne rship in the state Historic Preservation Division, 1982, rernountinq the restored marquee, Department of Cultural Affairs and began holdinq community eve nts. announced today. They represent Listing the theaters in the State and architectural styles as disparate as EI National registers will dr aw renewed Raton th eater's Gothic-Revival style attenti on to them, according to HPD. complete with atmospheric ceilinq. to The attention. wh en coupled with active the stripped-down modernism of MainStreet programs and othe r Lovin gton's Lea Theater and its stand downtown revitalization plans, could alone tile-and-qlass ticket booth that still help spur new eco nomic activity sparkles from a deeply rec essed downtown and ren ew interest in these entrance. small-town movie palaces. "These listin gs recognize on~oin g EIRat6n Theatre. Racon. New Mexico "Movie theaters were the heart and efforts to preserve the architectural and-a-half. bu t ow ner Fran E i lJenber~ prid e of small-tow n New Mexico," said character of the theaters and the roles said she is hoping publicity surroundinq John Murphey, HPD R e~ister coordinator. they have played as com munity centers the Iistin q of the 1930 Late Gothic "The ir slow demises as downtown s Lea Theatre. Lovington . New Mexi co and sources of community prid e," said Revival-style theater will renew interest emptied only accentuated the ~h os t ­ welcomed the openinq of the Lea State Historic Preser vation Officer in her eco nomically-challenged town. town feel many communities took on , Theater with a parade that ended with Katherine Slick. ''Weare so pleased, I am so happy, and Ieavlnq few reasons for area residents to live performan ces and speeches ~ iven The Keeper of the National Re~ister at I think Raton will be as pleased as I am." stroll their once-busy main stre ets at from the new theater's stace. Although the National Park Se rv ice listed the she said . nicht." the town had several small theaters theaters this year iollowlnq the decision EI Raton resembles the Moorish­ datlnq from as early in 1910. its boom in 2006 by the state Cultural Properties influenced theaters found in much larger and bust economy had staqnated until oil Review Committee to list the buildi ngs in cities with its castle towers. crenellated fields we re developed nearby in the Clayton, Clovis, Raton. Tucumcari and parapet and stace flanked by interior 1940s. Lovtnqton to the State Register of castellated towers and a series of arched, The Lea Theater op en ed in 1948 as Cultural Properties. blind arcades across the top of the "one of the finest, small-c ity movie Clayton - In winter months. Roy Dean proscenium. houses in the United States" its boosters Leighton fires up the old boiler hours Ei ~enb er~ upgraded the theater with proclaimed . In stark contrast to the Dolby diqital sound, new bathrooms and surrounding buildings that line the other amenities for what is the only courthouse square, the Lea's modern motion picture theater in town. Never touches made it a stand-out. succumbinq to corporate ownership, EI Built by the R.E. Griffith Theaters, Inc.. Raton has always been owned by the a reqional theater chain based in Dallas. Thomas Murphy family. with dauqhter business boomed at the Lea through the fran now at the helm. 1950s. The town's population nearly ''We could op en it toni ght." she said doubled after the discovery of oil nearby almost Wistfully. at the South Lovinqinton Pool. The Lea. Clovis - At on e time a vaudeville house, Iike many of New Mexico's theaters , hosted numerous civic events and even a State Theette. Clovis. New Mexico Mrs.America contest where women were Luna TfJeaere. Clayton. New Mexi co Down the stree t from the Lyceum, the judged on appearance, homemaking before opening the Luna Theater in Hardwiczs op en ed the State in 1940. It is abilities and poise. Clayton so its clan~in g doesn't drown out considered the most strikin ~ example of The theater changed hands in the the movie's sound for his audience. modernism found in any New Mexico 1960s and we nt da rk in the late 1980s . He owns the Luna with his wife Nancy. theatre. A circular ~ l ass -b l oc k tower rises Reopen ed after an extensive restoration and holds the titles projectionist. ticket from above the marquee and reaches in 1991 by the Joy family. it won the New man and janitor. He has been known to hi ~h er than the curved parapet that Mexico MainStreet "Best butlding" award open the theater on demand. but shows masks a barrel roof. Its modern air­ in 1997. The Lea County Museum, which reqular features on Thursday, frida y, conditioning system and fresh style operates from a hotel listed in the State Saturday and Sunday ni~hts. Passersby inspired the Hardwiczs to restyle the Re~ister, shows old films at the Lea . (All still stop to photograph th e Luna's Lyceum's exterior, ~ iv i n ~ it a molded photographs courtesy of New Mexico distinctive lunar-therned neon si~n. stucco facade in the Moderne style. The Historic Preservation Division) - TD ''We co uld show a movie co st­ Hardwicks Rept up to date and retained a efficiently for 10 people." he said of his competitive ed~e over theater chains FOR MORE INfORMATION CONTACT: 375-seat theater. That's half a row of that started to move into Clovis at the Tom Drac e. Public Relations seats." time. Historic Preservation Division His barrel-roofed, two -story theater Tucumcari - West of Clovis is Tucumcari Department of Cultural Affairs with its Mission Revival facade and Bataan Memorial Buildin~ parapet is considered the best example of Lyceum Theatre. Clovis. New MexiCO 407 Galisteo St.. Suite 236 a former nickelodeon in the state. It the Lyceum in Clovis was built in 1919 Santa Fe, NM 87501 boasted a wood-floor ballroom in the and 1920, and like the Luna and El Raton (505) 827-4067 basement until a 1990 flood caused by has space for commercial businesses on [email protected]. us nearby roadwork severely damaged it. either side of its theater entrance. Its wwwnmhtsrortcpresercatton.orq Oriqinally opened as th e Mission stage now extends forward from the Theater in 1916 by the Morris Herzstein proscenium, covering the former family after their mercantile store on the orch estra pit. A fly-tower holds the same spot burned to the ~ro u nd , the theater's original stage curtain. Luna became a town ~atherin~ place and Durinq its peak years of 1920-1940. the eve n showed features for free to farm Lyceum provided the best show in town . Odeoti Theaere. Tucum cari. New Mexico kids . It was purchased in 1935 by Tom Mix, Will Rogers. Gene Autry. and wh ere the Odeon opened in 1936. The Gibralter Enterprises, a ~roup of theater John Philip Sousa and his band facade's glass blo ck , decorative TheGreat SantaFeTrail Horse Race owners in the Rocky Mountain states. performed on its stage . Its owners , geometrical molding and large fluted Endurance Ride. The company updated the theater Eugen e Hardw ick and his sons Russell vertical column supporting an Art Deco­ September 1-15.2007 with new seats and Art Deco fixtures. and Charl es chose the Kansas City style ne on siqn announced Hollywood www.sfthorserace.com Openinq-nlqht crow ds were so large architec tural firm of Boller Brothers. we ll-

5 • • This Newspaper is publish ed by HI STORICAL SOCIETY OF Non-Profit Organization NEW MEXICO U.S. POSTAGE PAID Po. Box 1912 Santa Fe. New Mexico 87504 La Crol1ica Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501 EDITOR Permit No. 95 Carleen C. Lazzell oe Nuevo Mexico ASSOCIATE EDITOR Number 71 Ronald R. Hadad

OFFICERS HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF NEW MEXICO Richard Melzer - President Michael Stevenson - tst Vice President Post Office Box 1912 Kathryn Flynn - 2nd Vice President John Ramsay - Treasurer Santa Fe, New Mexico 87504 John Port er Bloom - Sec retary

DIRECTORS Jan Dodson Barnhart TO: Cecilia Jensen Bell David L. Caffey William W Dunm ire Ken Earle Jim Harris 111111111 11111111111111 111111111111111111111111111111111111111 Rene Harris Jo Anne Ja\1er Zimmerman Library Acq/Serials Carlee n Lazzell Margaret Espinosa McDonald MSC053020 Estecan Rael-Galvez Rick Hendricks - Past President 1 University of New Mexico

The opinio ns expressed in s i~ ne d art icles Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001 are no t necessarily those of the Histor ical Society of New Mexico. Mention of a product. serv ice or professional in these columns is not to be considered an endorsement of that product. service or profession by the Histor ical Society of New Mexico . Printed by Tri-State Printi n ~ . www.hsnm.org • • ,..., In Memoriam ,..., Very Large Array Arthur "Art" W Dekker. a~e 84. died on January 13. 2007. Born on October 3. 1922. Dekker ~rew up in Roswell. New Mexico . He graduated in 1948 from University of Kansas with a BA in Architectural Enctneertnq and was registered as an Architect and Professional En~ineer in New Mexico for over 50 years. During his career. Dekker designed more than one thousand buildings and other structures. primarily in New Mexico . He was known particularly for desi~nin~ churches. some of which include. among others. the First Presbyterian churches in Albuquerque and Grants. the Christian Reformed Churches in Gallup. Crownpoint and Fort Wingate. Arizona. and the First Methodist Church and Redeemer Lutheran Church in Albuquerque. Marjorie "Peggy" Mead Hooker died at her home in Corrales on Sunday. November 19.2006. Born in Sedalia. Missouri. on September 21. 1925. she ~rew up in Marla. Texas. Pe~~y was a ~raduate of the University of Texas at Austin with a deqree in architecture. She received her architectural license in 1950. at a time when few women were architects. She lived in Santa Fe from 1951 to 1965. where she was an associate in the firm of Mchugh. Hooker. Bradley P Kidder and Associates. After moving to Corrales. she established her own practice. In 1968. Peg~y worked with Max Flatow on the Albuquerque Urban Renewal Plan. Peggy was the first woman president of the Very Large Array Albuquerque Institute of Architects (AlA) and the first woman to serve on the New Photo graph by Rue Lezzell. Oc tober 2006 Mexico Board of Examiners for Architects. She was awarded the New Mexico Architects' On the Plains of San ~ustin about an playing the part of Palmer Joss . a Medal by AlA New Mexico in 2003. In 1990. she received the Governor's Award for hour's drive west of Socorro. New theologian and mystic. in a supporting Outstandinq Women. She was an active member of the Corrales Art Association and Mexico. on Highway 60. travelers role. served on the Old Town Architectural Commission for the City of Albuquerque. She continue to be amazed at the si~ht of the llsinq an observation schedule which and her husband University of New Mexico Architect Emeritus Van Dorn Hooker were Very Large Array (VLA) Radio Telescope. is set months in advance. the powerful strong supporters of the magazine New Mexico Architecture durinq the 30 years it was The installation. constructed between antennas are moved along the track and published. She is survived by her husband of 59 years. 1972 and 1980 at a cost of more than $78 re-aimed by the computerized control Robert Nordhaus, alJe 97. died on February 22.2007. at his home in Los Ranchos de million. utilized the best engineering and system. The VLA brochure states. "The Albuquerque. New Mexico. Born in Las Ve~as in 1909 in what was then the Territory of scientific knowledge available at the antennas are carried along the array New Mexico. his family was part of the founding Jewish pioneers. which came from time. Technically, the VLA is an arms by a special. self-propelled. Germany. His family ran the Charles Ilfeld Company. a prominent mercantile firm interferometer. which means it utilizes transporter moving on parallel sets of around the turn of the century. Nordhaus received his law degree from Yale University physics to combine the signals of all 27 railroad tracks. During transit. the and would later start one of the country's most prominent Indian law firms. which dishes into a sinqle si~nal that appears to transporter supplies the antenna with represented the Jicarilla Apache Nation. Laguna Pueblo and other tribes in water and be received by a dish as large as the power to keep the receiver cooled and land riqhts cases. He was best known for his efforts in promoting skiinq in the state. He ' distance between all 27 individual the electronics stable. It takes from two founded two ski areas (Santa Fe Ski Basin and Sandia Peak Ski and Tram Company). parabolic dishes. Each parabolic dish is to eights hours to relocate an antenna. In collaboration with Ben Abruzzo. the Sandia Peak Tramway. on the west face of 25 meters (82 feet) in diameter and One or two weeks are needed to Sandia Mountains. was completed in 1964. When he was 90 years old. Nordhaus took individually weighs 230 tons. The dishes reconfigure the whole array. Once his final run down Sandia Peak. In 2002. he was named a "New Mexico Living are arranged on railroad-type tracks. moved. the antennas will generally stay Treasure." which are positioned in a "Y" in that configuration for a few months. configuration. "The purpose of the National Radio Hal K. Rothman died at the alJe of 48 on February 25.2007. from amyotrophic lateral According to the VLA brochure. "The Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) is to sclerosis (ALS) aka Lou Gehertqs disease. Well known in the field of Western history. Very Laroe Array (VLA) is an provide forefront-observing facilities Rothman wrote or edited 17 books. Hiswork included environmental history. tourism astronomical observatory. With this needed for research in radio astronomy. in the American West and the National Park System. One of his most popular books instrument, astronomers can study In addition to the VLA. the NRAO is Devil's Bargain: Tourism in the Twentieth Century West(I 998) for which he received cosmic objects rangin~ from the Sun and operates other radio telescopes. the prestigious Western Writers of America Spur Award for Contemporary Nonfiction. the planets of our solar system to distant including the 100-meter Green Bank Other books include Reopening the American West(1998) and Neon Metropolis: How lJalaxies and quasars at the edge of the telescope in West VirlJinia. The NRAO Las Vegas (Nevada)Started the Twenty-First Century (2002). His television appearances observable universe." Instead of Very Lonq Baseline Array (VLBA). 10 included interviews on ABC. NBC. CBS and PBS. He was a professor at UNLV and was analyzing the light from stars and antennas at locations across the United one of the best known figures of the Nevada System of Hiqher Education. galaxies. astronomers study the radio States. has its operations center in Robert W Young, a~e 94. died on February 20.2007. Young collaborated with Navajo waves which are emitted by celestial Socorro. New Mexico. The NRAO is the Ilnqulst. William Moreau. to compile dictionaries of the native Navajo language. After objects. Primarily. the VLA is used for United States participant in the Atacama his retirement from the Bureau of Indian Affairs. he taught Navajo lan~uage classes and tracking on several radio frequencies. Large Millimeter Array (ALMA). a 64­ was co-director of the Navajo Reading Study. His internationally recognized wo rk but. on occasion. it is used for tracking antenna array being developed in Chile." helped make Navajo one of the best-documented ethnic Ianquaqes. His published satellites and studying the weather New Mexico's Very Large Array is the works include The Navajo Language: A Grammar and Colloquiel Dictionary (I 980). The large white antennas were the most powerful of its kind and draws AnalyticalLexicon ofNavajo (1990) and The Navajo Verb System: An Overview (2000). focal point of the film "Contact" (I 997) scientists from throughout the world. The University of New Mexico honored Youn~ with an honorary doctor of laws deqree based on the novel by the late who must schedule an appointment in 1969. And. in 2006. he received the Kenneth L. Hale Award from the Linguistic astronomer Carl Sagan. In the movie. several months in advance. For the Society of America for his efforts in documentinq the Navajo language. the character Ellie Arroway searched for general public interested in the VLA. the intelliqent life in deep space. which facility has self-cuided walkin~ tours. a although it is fiction. makes a good story. museum and a qift shop. To learn more. Please visit the Historical Society of New Mexico web site! Actress Jodie Foster starred in the leading visit the NRAOweb site at www.nrao.edu. www:hsnm.org role with actor Matthew McConau~hy -CeL