Hatch, New Mexico: the Story of a Village by Roger D
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
ISSN 1076-9072 SOUTHERN NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW Pasajero del Camino Real Doña Ana County Historical Society Volume VI, No.1 Las Cruces, New Mexico January 1999 PUBLISHER Doña Ana County Historical Society EDITOR Robert L. Hart ASSOCIATE EDITORS Winifred Y. Jacobs, M.A. Walton PUBLICATION COMMITTEE Doris Gemoets, Martin Gemoets, Rhonda Jackson, Judith Putney, Julia Wilke TYPOGRAPHY, DESIGN, PRINTING lnsta-Copy Printing/Office Supply Las Cruces, New Mexico COVER DRAWING BY Jose Cisneros Property of the Doña Ana County Historical Society The Southern New Mexico Historical Review (ISSN-1076-9072) is published by the Doña Ana County Historical Society for its members and others interested in the history of the region. The opinions expressed in the articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Doña Ana County Historical Society. Articles may be quoted with credit to the author and the Southern New Mexico Historical Review. The per-copy price of the Review is $5.00. If ordering by mail, please add $2.00 for postage and handling. Correspondence regarding articles for the Southern New Mexico Historical Review may be directed to the Editor at the Doña Ana County Historical Society (500 North Water Street, Las Cruces, NM 88001-1224). Inquiries for society membership also may be sent to this address. Southern New Mexico Historical Review Volume VI, No. 1 Las Cruces, New Mexico January 1999 ARTICLES El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro Gabrielle G. Palmer ....................................................................................................................................1 The Mesilla Valley’s Pioneer Settlements Gordon R. Owen .........................................................................................................................................6 The Founding of Otero County David H. Townsend ..................................................................................................................................12 A Nostalgic Trip into Territorial History: The McDowell Farmhouse Thomas A. Erhard .....................................................................................................................................16 Hatch, NM: The Story of a Village Roger D. Walker .........................................................................................................................................19 Lincoln County Women and Frontier Cross-cultural Contact Ann Buffington ..........................................................................................................................................24 Blackboards and Ditches Clara Bullard/Eloise S. Evans .................................................................................................................30 Storekeepers in the Public Sphere, 1870-1877 Scott E. Fritz .............................................................................................................................................35 What Became of Susan McSween Barber’s Diamonds? Roberta K. Haldane .................................................................................................................................39 Herman Wertheim: A Very Personal Remembrance Ellen Barncastle Ledesma ........................................................................................................................42 The Fall Committee and Double Agent Jones Michael Stone .............................................................................................................................................45 Killed in the Line of Duty Elvis E. Fleming ........................................................................................................................................50 BOOK REVIEWS George Wythe Baylor, Into the Far, Wild Country: True Tales of the Old Southwest reviewed by John Porter Bloom ..............................................................................................................54 John Taylor Hughes, Doniphan’s Expedition reviewed by Dr. Donna Eichstaedt .........................................................................................................54 Linda G. Harris, Houses in Time: A Tour Through New Mexico History reviewed by Richard Magee .....................................................................................................................55 Stephen Tatum, Inventing Billy the Kid, Visions of the Outlaw in America, 1881-1981 reviewed by Herb Marsh, Jr. ...................................................................................................................56 Linda G. Harris, One Book at a Time: The History of the Library in New Mexico reviewed by Christine B. Myers ...............................................................................................................56 Maurice Garland Fulton, History of the Lincoln County War: A Classic Account of Billy the Kid reviewed by Anne Stewart ........................................................................................................................57 John Miller Morris, El Llano Estacado: Exploration and Imagination on the High Plains of Texas and New Mexico, 1536-1860 reviewed by M.A. Walton .........................................................................................................................57 Marc Simmons, Massacre on the Lordsburg Road: “Tragedy of the Apache Wars” reviewed by Julia Wilke .............................................................................................................................58 INQUIRY Borderland Rider and Dog: An Identifying Symbol? by Madeleine Vessel .................................................................................................................................59 The Doña Ana County historical Society thanks the following for supporting this issue of the Southern New Mexico Historical Review: Alamogordo/Otero County Centennial Celebration, Inc. Ray and Kathy Black Ira G. Clark Community First National Bank Eloise S. Evans Clarence H. Fielder First Security Bank James G. and Mary Ann Flynn Tom and Mary Gale Doris and Martin Gemoets Robert L. Hart Jacobs Associates William L. Madden Matrix Capital Bank E.L. and Josephine D. Mechem Carl Miner and Margie Walton Morgan and Joyce Nelson Norwest Bank Dr. & Mrs. Gordon Owen Robert 0. and Pamela Pick Paul E. and Beverley A. Pirtle Lou and Pat Sisbarro Col. Leonard R. Sugerman, USAF (Ret.) Roger and Jo Ellyn Walker Harvey R. and Julia K. Wilke Yucca Tree Press Click for Table of Contents El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro by Gabrielle G. Palmer Editor’s Note: This article was originally prepared as a talk delivered in February 1997 to the Casa de American in Madrid, Spain. ’d like to speak to you about one of the great historic and repairs, the use of Indian labor (paid and free), regu- roads on the American continent, the Camino Real de lations concerning beasts of burden and the like. Tierra Adentro (Royal Road of the Interior). I Pre-History In a paper presented in Santa Fe (October, 1996) Before dealing with the colonial road system we have to Maria Luisa Pérez Gonzalez from the University of Sevilla ask: Were there any existing roads within the Aztec Empire? spoke of the historic development of roads of Spain and In fact we know from information provided in codices, in Mexico during the colonial period. She noted that the official reports written by Spanish conquistadores, officials, Roman Empire had conceived of the network of roads and priests, that a very extensive network of roads existed which united the various parts of its vast empire as an in prehispanic times not only within the Aztec Empire, but organic whole. Following its collapse no equivalent throughout Mesoamerica. They were used to carry mail system appeared to replace it, although in medieval dispatches, commerce and tribute. Most of these “roads” Spain Alfonso X recognized that the road system was were veredas (footpaths). They were well maintained and more than the simple sum of local roads, that certain main repaired; their amenities included mesones de descanso (houses arteries transcended provincial interests. of rest). With the consolidation of Spain in the hands of However, other roads were more highly developed. Ferdinand and Isabella, Spanish roads became part of Most notable were the calzadas, or the four great causeways, the royal patrimony, and were recognized as fundamental that connected the island capital of Tenochtitlan, built at to the country’s economic interests. In this period attempts the center of Lake Texcoco, to the surrounding land. The were made to bring order to the confusing body of most incredible roads were those constructed the by the existing legislation, as well as to draft new edicts. Old Mayans. This elaborate system of roads was an engineering roads were improved, new ones built, forming a network marvel. It covered a huge geographical area including the of roads which articulated and organized the peninsula’s Yucatan peninsula, Chiapas, Tabasco, Honduras and Belize. physical territory. Writes Mrs. Perez, “Highways and roads Called los caminos blancos, they were constructed of rocks were part of the Crown’s responsibility and were the main set with limestone mortar; completely paved and graded, catalysts for economic development of a region based they included overpasses, ramps, glorietas, platforms, and at first upon nomadic grazing patterns and much later signs at cross roads. Fray Diego Lopez de Cogolludo in his on mining . The