New Mexico historical review

142 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

July 2nd

We this day made 19 miles W. over high, open, tho' fertile Prairie
possessing excellent Pasture, & encamped for the night at a hole of
Water, that possessed barely a sufficiency for the occasion. This night
one of our horses died from the Sting of a rattle snake —

July 3.«i

Made today 14 miles W. over delightful Prairie. In the afternoon we
passed an extraordinary large spring of water, and encamped at night
without either water or wood. Killed 2 deer and abandoned in the
Prairie one of our horses, that had given out when on the march.

July 4.th

Today we ran off 10 miles W. over land similar to that passed yester-
day, and encamped about 2 o'clock on a beautiful little stream of clear
water, with rich bottom land and plenty of timber — Course of the
stream S.E. — We have concluded to remain [the] rest of the day, in
order to celebrate as best we could, the Anniversary of our National
Independence. Hunters started forth in every direction, and at supper,
tho' we were entirely destitute of the luxuries of civilized life, we
feasted most sumptuously on, buffaloe, venison, and antelope with wild
turkey, —

July 5**

Having set out early this morning we made 10 miles W. between Sec-
tions 1 & 2 over extremely broken and rugged Country. During the
day we Saw large gangs of Buffaloes and some few Antelopes. We
encamped for the night on a low piece of marshy ground that barely
afforded a sufficiency of water for our purposes. —

July 6.«>

W. between Sections 1 and 2 — 17 miles — part of the distance, very
broken; the residue level rich Prairie, occasionally timber'd with Oak
and Hackberry. In the evening the Hunters brought to Camp one buf-
faloe. We this night encamped at a spring of free stone water in a
small grove of timber.

July 7«>

Made 19 miles W. over much such land as yesterday & encamped for
the night at a small pool of miserable water. Here we established the
Corner of Sections 1, 2, 3 & 4.

July 8.«»

We this morning proceeded South to ascertain the Corner of Sections
1 & 2 and on the fifth day arrived at the Supposed Corner, which we
established, and returning on the same line, made 15 miles N. between
Sections 1 and 2 over Prairie some what broken, tho' rich & fertile.
The Hunters Killed 2 Buffaloes. —

NOTES AND DOCUMENTS 143

July 14.th

This day we remained in Camp for the [purpose] of killing and curing

meat. —

July 15.

We remained in Camp until 9 or 10 o'clock this morning and after-
wards made 9 miles N. over smooth Praire [sic] without seeing water
during the day. Encamped without Wood or Water.

July 16

We made an early start in order to reach Red River ; — at the distance
of 7 miles we crossed a small stream running N.E., with some timber,
such as Cotton Wood & Willows. In 12 miles more, we reached the
bottom of Red River of Texas which is extensive and rich. Timber —
Oak, Hackberry &c — Undergrowth — Plumb. Cherry and Currant
Bushes with much Grape Vine. The River is about 50 yds in width
and at this time about 3 feet in depth. Encamped on the South bank
for the night.

July 17.

This morning early we forded the River and left the large timber at

the distance of half a mile — We then entered a thicket of Plumb, Hazle

and Oak bushes, which continued the distance of 2 miles — We then

pursued our Course N. over rich and rolling Prairie 8 miles to the

Corner of Sections 1. 2. 3. 4. Encamped at a hole of Water in the

Prairie.

July 18.

Proceeded N. between Sections 3 & 4. 16 miles over level Prairie,
passing during the day many ponds of bad water. During this days
march one of our horses took fright and bursted 2 Kegs of powder.
Encamped at night on a beautiful branch of Red River running S. E.

July 19.

Left the creek at an early hour and ran 17 miles over much such land

as yesterday, and encamped in a small grove of timber without water.

July 20.

We this morning at the distance of 4 miles, reached the South fork
of Red River — This stream at this place is about 45 yds in width and
about 3 feet deep, with a wide and rich bottom — A variety of large
and excellent timber. — We this day made 17 miles to the corner of
Sections 3. 4. 5. & 6 over very good land and encamped on a small
stream about % a mile distant E. of this corner. —

July 21

E. between Sections 4 & 5 — At the distance of Vz a mile crossed a
small stream running S.E. Made 11 miles E. over land somewhat
broken, but unusually rich & encamped at a very large spring in a
grove of timber. This day killed 4 Buffaloes. Game plenty.

reference
collection

Kansas city
public library
kansas city,
missouri

From the collection of the
Z n

o Prejinger
v IJibrary
t

San Francisco, California
2007

NEW MEXICO
HISTORICAL REVIEW

NEW MEXICO
HISTORICAL REVIEW

Editors
FRANK D. REEVE PAUL A. F. WALTER

Associates

PERCY M. BALDWIN GEORGE P. HAMMOND

FRANCE V. SCHOLES ELEANOR B. ADAMS

ARTHUR J. 0. ANDERSON

VOLUME XXIX

1954

PUBLISHED QUARTERLY BY THE

HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF NEW MEXICO

AND THE

UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO

CONTENTS

Page

IN uiviBER 1, JANUARY, 1954

Hugh Stephenson

James Magoffin Dwyer, Jr. 1

The Seboyetanos and the Navahos

C. C. Marino 8

New Mexico in the Mexican Period, as Revealed in the

Torres Documents . . . Lynn I. Perrigo 28

Bishop Tamaron's Visitation of New Mexico, 1760

(concluded) . . . Eleanor B. Adams, editor 41

Checklist of New Mexico Publications

(continued) .... Wilma Loy Shelton 48

Book Reviews 71

NUMBER 2, APRIL, 1954

The Le Grand Survey of the High Plains : Fact or Fancy

Raymond Estep 81

The Penitentes of New Mexico

Fray Angelico Chavez 97

Checklist of New Mexico Publications

(concluded) .... Wilma Loy Shelton 124

Book Reviews 154

NUMBER 3, JULY, 1954

The Mormon Colonies in Chihuahua after the 1912

Exodus Elizabeth H. Mills 165

Page

Arizona's Experience with the Initiative and

Referendum .... N. D. Houghton 183

Coolidge and Thoreau : Forgotten Frontier Towns

Irving Telling 210

Bibliography of Published Bibliographies on the His-
tory of the Eleven Western States, 1941-1947

William S. Wallace 224

Notes and Documents 234

Book Reviews 240

NUMBER 4, OCTOBER, 1954

A New Mexico Pioneer of the 1880's

Lillie Gerhardt Anderson 245

Revolt of the Navaho, 1913

Davidson B. McKibbin 259

The Mormon Colonies in Chihuahua after the 1912

Exodus (concluded) . . . Elizabeth H. Mills 290

Notes and Documents 311

Book Reviews .318

Constitution of the Historical Society 323

ILLUSTRATIONS

Hugh Stephenson 1

Stephenson Deed of Trust 4

Map of Texas Panhandle 81

Map of Mormon Mexican Colonies 165

Billy the Kid . 245

Historical j\eview

Palace of the Governors, Santa Fe

January, 1954

Editors
FRANK D. REEVE PAUL A. F. WALTER

Associates

PERCY M. BALDWIN GEORGE P. HAMMOND

FRANCE V. SCHOLES THEODOSIUS MEYER, O.F.M.

ARTHUR J. 0. ANDERSON

VOL. XXIX JANUARY, 1954 No. 1

CONTENTS

Page

Hugh Stephenson

James Magoffin Dwyer, Jr 1

The Seboyetanos and the Navahos

C. C. Marino 8

New Mexico in the Mexican Period, as Revealed in the Torres
Documents
Lynn I. Perrigo 28

Bishop Tamaron's Visitation of New Mexico, 1760 (concluded)

Eleanor B. Adams, editor 41

Checklist of New Mexico Publications (continued)

Wilma Loy Shelton 48

Book Reviews . 71

THE NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW is published jointly by the Historical Society
of New Mexico and the University of New Mexico. Subscription to the quarterly is
$3.00 a year in advance ; single numbers, except those which have become scarce, are
$1.00 each.

Business communications should be addressed to Mr. P. A. F. Walter, State
Museum, Santa Fe, N. M. ; manuscripts and editorial correspondence should be
addressed to Prof. Frank D. Reeve, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, N. M.

Entered as second-class matter at Santa Fe, New Mexico
UNIVERSITY PRESS, ALBUQUERQUE, N. M.

Hugh Stephenson

VOL. XXIX JANUARY, 1954 No. 1

HUGH STEPHENSON
By JAMES MAGOFFIN DWYER, JR.*

JUST AS dawn was breaking one August day in 1824, three
horsemen, who spearheaded a long wagon train, reined
in under an enormous cottonwood tree. They gazed up at
the purplish peaks of what is now Mt. Franklin. From the
heights on the northeastern side of the middle peak, a
smoke signal fire rose in alternate puffs into the early, blue
sky, unmistakably saying : "White men passing in the valley
below."

Two of the three riders could have easily passed for
school teachers, or even ministers ; while the younger one, a
tall 200 pound man of 26 years, whose neck-length hair
curled up from his leather and chamois-lined jerkin, ap-
peared to be a hunter or prospector. His powerful roan
horse bore the unmistakable lines of a thoroughbred. For
the horse, like his master, first saw th'e light of day in the
Bluegrass country of their native Kentucky. His owner and
rider was Hugh Stephenson.

At the time and in that manner, did Hugh Stephenson
arrive at the portals of the site now occupied by the City of
El Paso, Texas, where he, some thirty-six years later, was
the highly esteemed owner of the 900 acre estate of "Con-
cordia" (what is now the greater part of East El Paso),
and lent two friends $4,000.

At the time that Hugh Stephenson, a first cousin of for-
mer Governor Stephenson of Kentucky, left Kentucky, he
was 26 years of age. He left his comparatively sheltered life

•This article was submitted for publication by Col. M. H. Thomlinson, 4515
Cumberland Circle, El Paso, Texas.

2 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

among his aristocratic friends and relatives to become the
pioneer, trapper, miner, and, in later life, a wealthy mer-
chant of the real West.

What spell did the desert slopes of Mt. Franklin (named
many years afterwards, when the town of El Paso was, for
a time, called Franklin), cast on the young Kentuckian to
induce him to choose this region for his future home? Let
us look at the scene as he saw it. Here is what he saw :

The turbulent, muddy Rio Grande then ran approxi-
mately where San Antonio Street is now. El Paso del Norte,
meaning in Spanish "The Pass of the North," was so named
because it was through the gap through the mountains,
known now as the Franklin Range, Texas, and Mexico,
that travelers from the South went North, and vice-versa.
At the present time one can clearly see where the gap was
before modern industries appeared.

When the wagon train, with the three horsemen at its
head, stopped at the small settlement which afterwards
became El Paso, Texas, and which was then located at about
where El Paso and San Francisco Streets now intersect,
they decided to stay until the next day, when the caravan
would continue on its journey to what is now "Old Mesilla,"
which even then was a rather important settlement. After-
wards, around the 1850's, it became a trading wayside town
of some 4,000 inhabitants, the peak of its boom era.

The next day, the three companions separated and only
Hugh Stephenson continued on to what is now called Old
Mesilla. The other two decided to go to Chihuahua City,
Mexico, where they afterwards became highly important and
wealthy citizens. At Old Mesilla, Hugh Stephenson left the
wagon train and established his headquarters. As the years
went by, he acquired considerable land and property, build-
ing his home to the north of Old Mesilla, where Las Cruces
now stands. He acquired "El Brazito" Grant, where after-
wards Fort Fillmore was located ; the ruins are still there.
He personally prospected, equipped, and sent out other pros-
pectors. Through one of these prospecting parties he located
or acquired the famous "Stephenson Mine," in the Organ

STEPHENSON 3

Mountains, near Las Cruces, which has steadily produced
through the years.

When Hugh Stephenson arrived at Mesilla, he knew that
his hunting and trapping days were over ; first, because the
country was not suitable and no valuable fur-bearing ani-
mals abounded ; and, second, because he was almost 27 years
old, and thought it was time to settle down, as much as his
boundless energy and adventurous spirit permitted. There-
fore, he decided to give his time to mining and trading,
in which occupations he was well qualified.

He purchased a large tract of land, directly to the
northeast of Mesilla, and very close to it, where Las Cruces,
New Mexico, now stands. Here he built a spacious Spanish
type house, common to that part of the country.

He purchased crude silver from agents and emissaries
of the rich and well-known Cristobal and Jacinto Ascarate
family, whose extensive cattle ranches and silver properties
were located across the Mexican border to the southwest,
at Corralitos, Janos and Casas Grandes, in the State of
Chihuahua. The Ascarate family who owned the Old Span-
ish Ascarate Grant, from Spanish days, lived in the big
manor house, Casa Grande de Amo, and made welcome any
visitor or trader as a house guest. It was here that Hugh
Stephenson met and courted Juanita Ascarate, one of the
youngest daughters of the head of the family. They were
married and she went to live with him at his house in Las
Cruces, New Mexico. He continued to go to Janos and
Cases Grandes, and purchased majority interests in two of
the richest Corralitos mines. From them, he smelted and re-
fined the silver in small portable bars with their value in
dollars and his name stamped on them. These were widely
used as a medium of exchange at a time when ordinary
money was not readily available. This was the first make-
shift but practical mint of the West, from which it was
jokingly said his bars came.

Hugh Stephenson and Juanita had five children, Horace
Stephenson, who married Elena Miranda; Margarate Ste-
phenson, who married J. M. Flores from San Antonio, who

4 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

later became a well-known merchant of Ciudad Juarez,
Mexico; Hugh Stephenson; Adelaide Stephenson, who mar-
ried Colonel James Zabriskie, a well-known attorney of San
Francisco, California, and later of Tucson; and Benacia
Stephenson, who married Captain Albert French, a Cali-
fornia Cavalry Captain, who was born in Boston.

Captain French, husband of Benacia Stephenson, pur-
chased from the heirs of Hugh Stephenson :

F. Neve Survey No. 6 and E. R. Talley Surveys Nos. 7 and 8,
which comprises 900 acres of land beginning as a northern
boundary,

approximately where Montana Street runs, and the river
as the southern boundary, and Stevens Avenue as the west-
ern boundary, and Marr Street as the eastern boundary. On
the western side, just north and adjoining where the Mitchell
Brewing Company now stands, he built and rented to the
United States Government the second fort barracks near El
Paso, which were the first adequately constructed, and on
high, suitable ground for that purpose ; and even now some
of the old barrack buildings still stand. This was the site of
the old settlement of "Concordia," the Hugh Stephenson, and
later the Stephenson-French home property. Captain French
was a trusted Union officer and civil engineer, upon whom
the Government entrusted various important missions. He
was referred to as being one of the most capable and valiant
and courageous officers of the Union Army. He and Benacia
Stephenson had three children: Florence French, Julia
French and William French. I am the son of Florence French
Dwyer and James Magoffin Dwyer, Sr., whose father was
Major Joseph Dwyer, a pioneer of San Antonio, Texas, and
whose wife was Annette Magoffin, daughter of Colonel
James Wiley Magoffin of El Paso, Texas.

Returning to Hugh Stephenson and his life and interests
— because of his interests in his silver mines at Corralitos
and near Casas Grandes in the State of Chihuahua, Mexico,
he changed his headquarters from Mesilla, New Mexico, to
El Paso, Texas, and built his large manor house at Concordia
in East El Paso, on the vast tracts which he owned as here-
inbefore described.

Henry S. Gillett and
John S. Gillett

to

Horace Stephenson
Trustee for
Hugh Stephenson.

DEED OF TRUST.
Date Sept. 3, 18W).
No File Date.
Book B, p. 144.
Consideration $4,000 paid
by Horace Stephenson.

Do bargain, sell, release, convey and confirm the following de-
scribed property towit: One undivided interest consisting of k of the
entire town tract of El Paso, Texas, the same being the undivided
half of that tract of land conveyed by William T. Smith to the said
Henry & John of this instrument and others, on the :$0th day of Jan-
nary 1859, Said interest being 450 acres, more or less, also the store
house, goods & all other real estate now owned by the said Henry &
John in said county. To have and to hold the said undivided, and
unsold interest of i in said town tract etc.

General Warranty.

In trust to secure note of Henry S. Gillett & John S. Gillett for
$4,000, for money loaned by Hugh Stephenson to them which note is
as follows, viz:
*4,000. Sept. 3rd, 1860

Three months after date we promise to pay unto Hugh Stephen-
son, or order, the sum of Four thousand dollars, value received.

(Signed.) H. S. & J. S. Gillett.

With power of sale on default of payment.

(Signed.) H. S. Gillett. (Seal)

John S. Gillett. (Seal)
Witnesses:
J. M. Flores.
W. Clang Perez.

Stau- of Texas. I

County of El Paso. \

Before me, J. M. Lujan, Clerk the County Court of the aforesaid County
sonally appeared Henry S. Gillett to me well known who acknowledged that he signed
the foregoing instrument of writing for the purposes and intentions therein expressed.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set any hand and affixed my official seal at
office, this 30th day of October A. D. 1860.
(No Seal of Record) J. M. Lujan.

C. C. C. E. P. C.

Form 110— Pioneer Abstract Co.

STEPHENSON 5

In his large storerooms at Concordia, he stored all kinds
of merchandise and dry goods, which he had freighted from
St. Louis, Missouri. With this he also traded for silver in and
around Corralitos, and besides the output from his mining
properties, he re-smelted and as before stated refined into
small bars on which was his stamp and its weight and value.
He was so well liked and esteemed by the Mexican people
and they confided so much in his integrity, that these bars
were used as a medium of exchange. Also with this silver
he had a great deal of silver plate made and he furnished
many of the wealthier families in Northern Mexico and New
Mexico with silver services. And in the City of Chihuahua,
Mexico, he continually kept busy a very competent silver-
smith, who was well equipped to manufacture the silver
services. This ware he also used exclusively in his own home.
But if he devoted much time to his business enterprises, al-
ways his greatest zeal was in personally helping, counselling
and befriending the poor, sick and needy. These came to
him from far and near, surely knowing that his house was
always open to them and that they would not be disap-
pointed.

This great humanitarianism was wholeheartedly shared
by Mrs. Stephenson. She was untiring in her activities in
providing food and clothing, and nursing wounded Texas
prisoners whom Governor Armijo of New Mexico had sent
from San Miguel, New Mexico, to El Paso in 1841. x The
young Parish Priest, Father Ramon Ortiz,2 was greatly
esteemed and at times officiated and said mass at the chapel-
church at Concordia, which was built by the Stephenson
family and kept in good order by Captain French, his son-in-
law, and his wife, Benacia Stephenson French, later Leahy.
It stood in its original form until a few years ago when John
T. McElroy purchased the Union Stock Yards from the
three grandchildren of Hugh Stephenson.

It is pertinent also to point out, at this time, that Mr.

1. Geo. Wilkins Kendall, Narrative of the Texan Santa F6 Expedition, 2 :40
(London, 1844).

2. [The reader might be interested in Fidelia Miller Puckett, "Ramon Ortiz:
Priest and Patriot," NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW, 25:265-295 (October, 1950). Ed.]

6 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

Mills,3 in his roster of ante-bellum residents of El Paso, re-
fers to "Col. Hugh Stephenson, mine owner and merchant,"
without classifying him either as a "Union Man" or "Con-
federate," although it is well known that Mr. Stephenson
had large amounts of Confederate Bonds left on his hands
after the war. He never regretted what he had done for the
South. It is most commendable to note that such was the
personal friendship existing between Mr. Stephenson and
Mr. Mills that it lasted through the years. Mr. Mills re-
purchased for his friend, with money derived from the Co-
rralitos Mines, extensive holdings which had been confiscated
during the war.

Hugh Stephenson had weathered three great crises of
the times, The Texas War, The Mexican War, and the Civil
War, and he was still highly esteemed by men of both sides
and races. Notwithstanding the staggering amounts lost in
Confederate money and bonds, he was still able to rebuy his
Texas-American real estate after the Civil War. The friend-
ship between the Stephenson and Mills families was mani-
fested by the fact that when Mr. Mills first brought his bride
from Austin to El Paso, Mrs. Adelaide F. Zabriskie, young-
est daughter of Hugh Stephenson, had his house on San
Antonio Street ready for her and was her close friend and
neighbor. Captain French and Colonel James Zabriskie, his
sons-in-law, were personal friends and political backers of
Mr. Mills, who refers to Colonel James A. Zabriskie as his
colleague in the "Star" mail contracts business.4 Mr. Mills
shows the mutual friendship and esteem which he and Cap-
tain French had for each other, when Mr. Mills was a can-
didate for the legislature in 1869, and at which time Captain
French was County Judge, as follows:

Judge French wrote me : After the battle, December 4th, 1869.
Dear Mills : We won the election, but the first night, we having
one hundred and forty-three to their forty-eight votes, they
opened the box and scratched our one hundred and forty-three
votes for themselves. Fountain's name represents yours on
the scratched tickets. I have sworn two hundred and seventy-

8. W. W. Mills, Forty Years at El Paso, 1858-1898, p. 19 [1901]
4. Ibid., pp. 131 ft.

STEPHENSON 7

seven men who voted for you. You got only one hundred
and thirty-four as counted. Yours, French.5

Treasure-seeking vandals dug holes in the old Stephen-
son residence house and around the grave of his wife, pro-
tected by a large cement and stone carved slab, within the
Concordia Chapel. But these vandals did not know that all
this silver was used in purchasing Confederate money and
bonds. The remains of Juana Ascarate Stephenson, Hugh's
wife, were removed from Concordia Chapel burial place
some years ago with other deceased members of the family,
and were buried in the Stephenson-French family private
cemetery, located at the southeast corner of the intersection
of Alamogordo and Stephens Street in the City of El Paso,
Texas.

Hugh Stephenson was born on the 18th day of July,
1798, and died on the llth day of October, 1870, at Las
Cruces, New Mexico, where he is buried.6

6. Ibid., p. 139.

6. According to statement of H. F. Stephenson.

THE SEBOYETANOS AND THE NAVAHOS
By C.C.MARINO*

I SHOULD LIKE to be a Cervantes that I might dress for you
this bare, unadorning tale with grace and discretion, and
so give evidence of some bit of intelligence myself, or, so to
speak, extract a grain of ability, of charm, or of wit from
this poorly endowed writer.

But, reader, if as you peruse these lines you should come
across mistakes, may heaven provide the adornment that
they lack because I find myself incapable of doing anything
about it because of my scanty education. So please forgive
any error, as I have no pretension as a writer ; and pass such
sentence on this work as your conscience may require of you.

So, dear reader, here is what I hold in my memory of
all that I managed to learn about the time when our an-
cestors came to settle this place and give us the sacred right
to live where we now live. I think it proper that the story
of what the settlers of this land accomplished and suffered
should form a part of what I now set down, aided by my
limited ability, by records of the years 1851 to 1853, and by
conversation with some of the old-timers.

My narrative begins with the year 1851, the date of the
last great campaign of our settlers into the very heart of
Chusca, that is, the area inhabited by the savage, hostile
Indians called Navahos.

The fact is that in the year mentioned above, a band of
some fifty or more rough, untutored men with stout hearts,
brave to the point of rashness, set out without any illusions
from Seboyeta Canyon, a place previously settled by our
ancestors. This band purposed to explore a place on the other
side of the mountain to the east [sic] which they had already
discovered on other campaigns and which is called today
San Lucas Canyon, located to the north of what is today

* Mr. C. C. Marino is a native son of New Mexico. His story of the people of
Seboyeta, New Mexico, and the Navaho is a rare account from the pen of a local
historian based on the memory of the community. Written in the Spanish language,
I am indebted for the translation with notes to Professor B. M. Duncan, Chairman
of the Department of Modern and Classical Languages, University of New Mexico. Ed.

8

THE SEBOYETANOS 9

the village of San Mateo (which they settled in 1861 or
1862). San Lucas was a place which they had intended to
settle, but this valiant band mistakenly ended up in the
aforementioned plains of Chusca.

Friend reader, before we start on the Chusca foray,
which these Seboyetanos made by error, I wish to describe
for you some minor sallies of which there were many —
some of average importance, others merely encounters, or
dawn attacks of the hostile Indians who did them all the
harm they could, mostly by running off goats, sheep and
cattle which constituted the daily sustenance of the settlers.
Although they would not steal many animals, the number
of these dawn attacks reached the point where our ancestors
defended their stock at the risk of their lives, and that is
why they were so brave and bold. In order to be as much a
man as those ancestors of ours, friend reader, one must eat
plenty of pinol1 and goat cheese. And to think that today
these foods are not considered fit to eat because they were
the fare of those ignorant old-timers who gave us our lives
and bequeathed to us the land in which we live! So be it,
amen ! Forgive the interruption and let us get on.

As I was saying, those were strong men and brave — all
of them. But among them there were two whose deeds and
merits have no equal. These men, or rather, these Cides
Campeadores2 were the leaders of all. The Navaho Indians
recognized them even at night and were very afraid of them
on account of their great strength, as well as their exceeding
cleverness in fighting. One of them was so skilled with a
rifle that it was proverbial that within range of his rifle
no Indian remained standing, or indeed, remained alive.
If he shot at a Navaho — it didn't matter how far the dis-
tance was — he was never seen to miss a shot. This man
that I speak of was called Chato Aragon, and he used to
say, "such and such a Navaho will die whether God wills
or not!" That is how good he was with a rifle, not that he
wished to be more than God, for he was a very good and

1. A mush made from toasted corn meal.

2. Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, the epic hero of Castile, lived in the latter half of
the llth century and was called "Cid Campeador" (Victorious Chieftain) by the
Moors against whom he fought.

10 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

devout Christian. But he would say things like that without
meaning any harm, and God, Our Lord, protected him. A pal
of his stated that once a group of some ten men with Chato
Aragon were going along a canyon in the mountains, that is
some very high rocky mesas near the Seja del Almagre — as
I believe our ancestors called it. This group was not very
large and they thought that they were well hidden from
the Navahos, but they were mistaken, for at one of the
bends in the canyon, on a high cliff at the very edge of the
canyon, were two Navaho spies, who made exaggerated bows
and gestures in different postures, shouting in their tongue,
"you thieving nacajalleses,3 take that, take that!" One of
them was so close to the edge that Chato couldn't stand it
and he said to his companions, "If my rifle will reach as
far as that blockhead, I'm going to put a bullet in the part
he is pointing at us." It so happened that the Indian was
displaying his rump and Chato raised his gun with such
good aim that he hit the Indian and knocked him off the
cliff and he fell dead to the floor of the canyon near them.
And so good was Chato Aragon at placing bullets where he
chose, that his companions stated that they could not find a
bullet hole because Chato had shot him in an inexcusable
place! I cannot attest to this, dear reader, but that Chato
was good with a rifle, there can be no doubt, and later I'll
tell you more about him, because this is only the beginning.
A similar account is given of the famous Redondo Gal-
legos, a companion of Chato. He was feared by the Navahos
on account of his extraordinary strength, and was brave to
the last fibre of his respectable person. So much so that he
was the most glorious martyr in the ambush and massacre
by the Navahos at the famed Paraje de San Miguel. Redondo,
by himself, a San Juan de Ulua,4 as the saying goes, was
the one who as sentinel notified his companions that the
Navahos were upon them in those last hours of the hor-
rendous and macabre slaughter. But his very proper warn-

3. The Navaho name for Mexicans was Nakais. It is spelled nacajalleses through-
out this ms.

4. The writer is doubtless aware of the reputation for bitter fighting at the siege
of San Juan de Ulua — a fortress in the harbor of Vera Cruz, Mexico — but confuses the
name of the fortress with that of a man

THE SEBOYETANOS 11

ing was rejected by his tired and sleeping companions, as
I shall relate further on. Now I shall relate some of his deeds.

It is told of this Redondo Gallegos, that on one foray
from the town of Sibelleta, or Seboyeta, as it is called today,
to the other side of the mountains, there were barely twenty
men; they were joined by a group from the river valley,
and the leader of this group was a certain Jose Largo, very
boastful as well as long, and considered himself a valorous
Cortes. The Seboyetanos had no leader, and each was his
own master, and got along as best he could. The fact was
that they were going along in good spirits, ready for any
eventuality that might befall them, such as running into
the Navaho Indians, which I believe is what they were after,
or finding a place to settle, or taking some man or woman
captive, which was one of the greatest rewards of a cam-
paign, depending upon whether they were lucky with the
captive whom they had risked their lives in taking. If the
captives were of average age, or young and could be domes-
ticated and taught, then their capture bore rich fruit; but
if they were already of a mature age, alas dear reader, they
would run away, saddle up, as I think an Indian said, and
they lost the race and got nothing for their pains but a tale
of what had happened to them on that cursed and ill-fated
campaign.

All went along thinking about what fate held in store
for them, and when least expected and from an unexpected
direction, there came a hundred Navahos well armed with
clubs and arrows. The fright was so great that they all
scattered, especially the river men, who heard no more of
their brave leader — as usually happens where there is nei-
ther bravery, experience, nor skill.

But the same was not true of the Seboyetanos, for this
was not the first time they had been attacked in that manner
by the Navahos. They were not easily scared and, moving
with the agility of a panther, they tried to throw off the
huskiest and fiercest of the Navahos. In short, the Seboye-
tanos resisted by counterattacking, led by the famous Chato
Aragon and Redondo Gallegos, the ones most greatly feared
by the Navahos, and not because all were brave, since the

12 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

men from the river got lost in the woods. In the encounter,
the Navahos did not resist the Seboyetanos very much be-
cause they saw immediately with whom they had to deal and
were aware of how dangerous the famous Chato and Re-
dondo were, and they did as the river men had done, that
is, they took to their heels ; but those in the lead did not fail
to make some contact and you will see, dear reader, that
there were blows of fist and club and hand-to-hand combat,
for there was no time for bows or for rifles.

There were no casualties among the Seboyetanos ; about
three were clubbed but not seriously. Among the Navahos
one was taken prisoner, and two killed, one of them at the
hands of Chato and the other, to tell the truth, I don't know
who killed him. The prisoner was taken by the fearsome
Redondo Gallegos and not without a terrific struggle, for the
prisoner was the very chief of the Navahos and a very proud
and strong man. But his strength was no match for the
bravery and skill of Redondo, who tied him up with the
speed of an acrobat and so well that the savage could not
undo the knot. The other Navahos did not stop even when
they found themselves without their chief, for they saw the
danger that threatened and slipped away in the woods and
went towards their lair to report the loss of their leader.

The Seboyetanos did not give chase, but surrounded the
prisoner and the dead Indians and began to joke about the
fright that the Navahos had thrown them into. Thus en-
gaged, they awaited the return of the river men who had
scattered in all directions and began to come out after they
heard the Navahos withdraw. Among them the only casual-
ties were the result of being scratched by the trees and
bushes, in their headlong flight. At the proper time, up came
Jose Largo, the brave and braggart captain of the river men
and very boldly said to Redondo Gallegos, "What's the
matter with that savage Indian that you don't send him
promptly to the other world? Have you no valor?"

"You come a little late, and your person teaches little
valor, for there is the captive you were going to take ; so you
see, there's many a slip twixt the cup and the lip," concluded
Redondo. "But if you want to prove your bravery, there is

THE SEBOYETANOS 13

that savage Navaho and if you want him to die, let him die
by your hand, but on condition he be turned loose with bow,
arrows, and a medium sized tomahawk. Thus you two proud
chieftains can battle to the death, each one with his own
weapons, and Mr. Largo will prove that he didn't come to see
if he could, but that because he could, he came. And so I end
my sermon."

"But that's too much," protested Largo, "just to test me
you endanger not only my life, but that of one or two others,
for I can see that he is strong and husky, and proud and
brave, and tied up like that, all one has to do is to finish him
off."

"Then I suppose I was in no danger when I faced up to
him and reduced him to the condition in which you now find
him," replied Redondo, "and in order to prove to you that
the Seboyetanos don't need to have a prisoner tied up to
overcome him, I demand that this savage Indian be freed and
given his bow and arrows so I can show Mr. Largo how one
fights without risking the lives of anybody else, armed only
with a club and tightly-woven poncho."

The arrangements were all made by means of a captive
Navaho whom the Seboyetanos had raised and taught — I
think his name was Kico — who explained to the Navaho
prisoner that they were going to free him and he would
have to fight with Redondo Gallegos, his enemy. In short,
that they were risking their lives and giving him the chance
of fighting with his bow and arrows. The Indian understood
very well and grabbing his bow and quiver of arrows, as
soon as they released him, and at a distance of five yards,
filled with wrath and violence — for he was an expert with
the bow — he drew not one arrow from his quiver, but two,
and placed them with nimble accuracy both together in the
bow, making a double shot at the breast of Redondo who
had hurled himself at the defiant Navaho, and with his
poncho wrapped around his left arm, warded off the dis-
charge of the arrows of the angry Indian which went straight
toward Redondo's chest but were caught in the rolled poncho.
At this point, Redondo fell upon his fierce enemy and with
one skillful motion let fly with his club and hit the Indian

14 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

in the head so that he rolled on the ground like a chicken
with its head off and had no chance to use his tomahawk.

After having a meal of what they called pinol, they
followed the trail of the Navahos and saw that they gave
no signs of returning, but were going to their lair. So they
decided to leave the chase for a better day because they did
not have enough food to go on.

And now, finding nothing else to praise, I shall go on
upsetting my badly organized narrative which, though inade-
quate, I believe deserves attention.

At any rate, dear reader, I shall do all I can to set down
here all that comes to my mind, or that I have collected and
learned from my forbears in all their engagements with the
savage Navahos.

And now I seem to recall that when our Seboyetanos
were just about back to their village, before coming down
out of the mountains, they came upon another group from
Seboyeta. Both groups were surprised and those just com-
ing from the village reported that another band of Navahos
had been up to their old tricks and had driven off to their
lair the entire herd of goats that the families of Seboyeta
kept for their domestic use.

It was in the morning of that same day when this group
of Navahos had laid in wait for the attack among the rocks
at the rim of the mountains. They were waiting for the
unsuspecting goatherd with the definite intention of carry-
ing off the goats and possibly killing the goatherd. I want
the curious reader to know that the man who looked after
this bunch of goats was the common goatherd of the village
and consequently took care of all the goats that every indi-
vidual kept for milking. (Stealing their goats deprived them
of their daily sustenance, so that those poor people would
be very badly off indeed.)

The goatherd seemed to suspect no danger of the savage
Navaho, but began to climb the mountain with his flock
because up on its slope the pasturage was better, but he
never expected that the Indians awaited him hidden along
the rim watching him as he reached the top, as indeed hap-
pened. When all the goats arrived at the top, there followed

THE SEBOYETANOS 15

the goatherd who was some 55 or 60 years old, and two
sons of his, one 14 and the other 12. I have not been able
to find out the name of the older, but chanced upon that
of the fact that the younger one was called Juan Ortiz —
from which we may infer that the father's surname was
Ortiz. In any case, the name of the boy was learned from
the fact that he was captured by the Navahos and escapee,
from them when he was 21 years of age. As I shall tell
further on of his captivity, perhaps I may be permitted to
relate what happened to the father of Juan Ortiz and to
his older brother who by a miracle escaped and notified the
village of Seboyeta, although it was too late to be of any
help, as I shall shortly explain in detail. (Patience, reader,
patience, for it is hard for me to know how to paint this
unhappy episode for you.)

We will begin with the 14 year old boy, who just before
climbing to the rim had to make water (or that which cannot
be put off) and so remained below on the slope while his
father and brother went on to wait for him up above. But
as soon as they reached the top, they saw themselves sur-
rounded by hostile Indians who were hidden among the
boulders on the rim ready to grab their prey. When old man
Ortiz saw this, he yelled to his older son not to come up, but
to hide and flee to the village and spread the news that the
Navahos were carrying off all the goats. The boy heard the
desperate cry of his father and tried to hide the best he
could with a view to running down the slope and giving
the urgent alarm of what was happening to his father and
younger brother. The Navahos tried to silence the old goat-
herd by beating him with a club and the increased cries of
pain were heard by the boy down below who realized what
was happening to his father. The Indians with their blows
silenced him so well that he never again cried out in this
world. And so, in the silence of the forest the boy slipped
along down the canyon toward Seboyeta and reported the
macabre assault of the savage Indians without knowing
what had actually happened to his father and brother,
although he did have a strong suspicion.

When they finished with the old man, the Indian who

16 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

held the young one seemed to treat him with affection and
spoke to him by means of signs, telling him not to be afraid,
that they were not going to kill him, but that he was taking
him as a son. This is the story of the same Juan Ortiz who
was a captive of the Navahos for 9 years until he had a
chance, having grown to manhood, to escape, as I shall relate
later on.

The Navahos bore the body of Ortiz some three hundred
yards to where there was a hole made by badgers and,
enlarging it a little, for it was small, they threw the body
in head first as if it were that of a dog, leaving the legs
sticking out. The Indians, making much sport of all this,
set off after the goats which they were going to carry off.

So it happened that the group — some 20 men in all —
met the group on campaign with Redondo and Chato — some
twenty more, as I have said — and informed them of what
had taken place. So the two groups decided to follow the
Navahos and fight for their stock, if they overtook them,
and find out what they had done with the goatherd and his
younger son. With the few provisions they had, they turned
back to get on the trail at the place where they had killed
the father and taken the son prisoner.

They soon found the site of the gruesome affair and, by
the trail of blood, the badger hole where the corpse had been
thrown. They decided that two men should carry the body
back and bury it in the village, and take care of the entire
village while awaiting news from the campaigners who were
going to recover the goats from the Indians — and also the
captive if they found him alive.

Leaving there, the group, under the command of Redondo
Gallegos and Chato Aragon, followed as far as they could
the tracks of Navahos who were driving the goats ; all the
men there were men of valor and, with all that had happened
to them, they thought only of avenging the attack by the
savage Indians. Arriving at the rim of the mountains beside
San Miguel Canyon, they saw the cloud of dust raised by
the Indians and the bunch of goats far down the canyon —
for it was high noon. With this they speeded up and when
they reached the floor of the canyon, they divided into two

THE SEBOYETANOS 17

wings, one going down one side of the canyon and the other
down the other, in order to catch them in between. But
as they were about to rush upon them, the Navahos heard
them and those with the swiftest horses escaped — which is
to say most of them. If they killed two or three, that was
all, for Chato got two within range of his carbine and
Redondo got one who was on a tired horse; and, having
overtaken him, Redondo grabbed him by the hair and gave
him such a tug that he jerked his head off, hair and all, and
threw him to the ground with such force that the Indian
went straight to the land where not long before he had dis-
patched the unfortunate goatherd.

Rounding up the bunch of goats, they found that some
had been killed and others harmed, but the loss was not
great, and they were pleased at having recovered them.
And so, without any hope of overtaking the Navahos, they
went to Seboyeta bearing the bad news of the capture of
Juan Ortiz.

In the village, all were grieved over the loss of the goat-
herd and the missing goats and all the families were upset
over the losses caused by the dire attack of the savage
Navahos. So they very devoutly promised a candle to each
saint for the safe return of the ones who had gone to rescue
the captive and bring back the goats. At this point the cam-
paigners returned and sorrow and tears all ceased; for as
the Quixote says, sorrows are more easily borne on a full
stomach, that is to say, the sustenance they needed so much
had arrived, namely, their goats which gave milk, and also
a few cheeses when the milk was not all drunk.

With the passage of the period of sorrow for all that the
savage Indians had done, the brave Seboyetanos began to
lay plans for a campaign of exploration for fertile lands
with a good water supply where they might settle little by
little as they pushed on into places where they might cap-
ture a few Navahos. Some people have insisted that our
ancestors profited most from the traffic in captives. Others
have said that captives were taken as a means of showing
off — a sort of spirit of competition. However that may be,
they showed that they were not afraid of the dangers of the

18 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

life to which they were exposed on every sally of those
hazardous campaigns.

According to what I have been able to find out, the date
of that last campaign was the year 1851, and as we have
said above, when the brave Seboyetanos had made their
plans and organized their preparation, they set a date for
going forth with their best horses, food — the chief consid-
eration— carbines with plenty of ammunition, daggers, or
whatever they had, for some used tomahawks (axes made
with rocks or flints) and their chimales (small shields) of
leather to protect them from the arrows. Thus all being in
order and ready for the great day, they all set out. And now
the departure.

This group of settlers started off to explore a place on
the other side of the mountain in a canyon, which they had
already discovered on former campaigns, to the northwest
of Seboyeta Canyon. This place is called today San Lucas
Canyon and stands north of what is today San Mateo, and
was considered the next place to be occupied by our settlers
because the place of the village of San Mateo had not then
been discovered.

They had the unabashed audacity to head straight for
the dwellings of the Navahos where the hostile Indians
could be counted by hundreds and where our companions
were besieged mercilessly to satisfy the ambitious whim of
taking as spoils of war a captive man or woman. To such an
extreme of mistaken heroism did these pioneers go that from
sheer ambition they lost track of the place they meant to
settle in.

Apparently in the first skirmishes and encounters with
savage Navahos as they marched into the midst of Chusca,
where they lived, they found that the Indians were very
much afraid of them and most of them tried not to come
into contact with those accursed Nacajalleses, who, although
few in numbers, were strong in valor and steadfastness.
Furthermore, their firearms were superior to the bows and
arrows, so much so that they made two hits with one shot,
as happened in the siege laid against them by the Navahos
in the middle of Chusca where they lived in their hogans.

THE SEBOYETANOS 19

There our forefathers were clever enough to kill two or even
three Navahos with one shot of their carbines. The fact is
that they kept getting deeper into Navaho country as they
followed every Navaho patrol which seemed to flee in a
cowardly fashion, bent on the taking of captives as they
were. But they were much mistaken, since they did not sus-
pect that the flight of the Navahos was a ruse to lead them
into the midst of their lair and there lay such a siege to
them that none would come out alive, as we have noted
before.

One of the most recent settlers told the tale as he heard
it from the lips of some of the old men who took part in
the campaign. According to him, the place where they were
besieged was at a lake in the center of the plateau or moun-
tain called Chusca, and there took place one of the fiercest
battles in all the register of campaigns made by our ancestors
against the Navahos. There was no chance to separate and
they had to face the wrath of the infuriated savages shel-
tered in their own hogans, as their huts are called. In that
inferno our heroes battled for two nights and three days,
using all their resources of skill in taking cover, praying
to the Creator of heaven and earth to work some miracle
that they might escape from there. None doubted the danger
in which he found himself, but it is certain that for every
death of our heroes, there died thirty or more Navahos.
There is no reason to be surprised at this because it was a
result of the advantage our heroes had in weapons and in
valor, as well as in the care that each one took that each
bullet from the carbine should hit its mark and bring down
two, or if possible, three Navahos. So the Navahos feared
to rush upon them because none would take the lead, and
they knew of the strength, skill and bravery with which
the Sebeyeta heroes were endowed. Furthermore, the latter
carried something to ward off the arrows of the Indians,
namely, an affair made of thick leather and called a chimal.
But the Indians could not dodge the bullets of the carbines
except by taking refuge behind trees or rocks. This was the
reason for the slaughter which our ancestors accomplished.

Oh, Glorious Providence and Divine Wisdom who didst

20 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

grant some grace to our ancestors because of the merits of
their little knowledge and great faith ! And they were nearer
unto Thee and Thy Will than the present generation with its
bewitched and ill-used education and civilization!

It is said that on the last day of the siege, there came
out an Indian girl on a white horse and it is said she was
the daughter of the great chief of all the Navahos, and that
she appeared among the groups of Navaho warriors at sun-
set, a time when the Navahos tried to launch a strong attack
against the Nacajalleses — that is to say, our settlers. It was
stated that the young girl was mounted on the most beauti-
ful horse ever beheld by human eye. Keeping her brilliant
horse at a steady gallop, she shouted a sort of announcement
to the angry Navahos that they should cease battling those
devils of Nacajalleses.

Chato Aragon, seeing that the Indian girl was within
range said in a loud voice so that he was heard by all his
companions, "That Indian girl on the white horse will die
whether Providence wills it or not." The shot would have
been difficult for anyone but Chato, but he raised his carbine
and the girl was seen to fall among the hundreds of Navahos
in spite of the speed of her horse, and so ended her harangue.
Then the miracle happened, for a wave of Indians rushed
over to the fallen young girl, thus producing a lull and clear-
ing a space through which our ancestors were able to leave
that place where none had any hope of leaving. They left
as best they could, not without abandoning the bodies of
some of their companions.

They had to camp in a certain ravine where there was
a meadow with good grass and nearby a spring just before
arriving at the Seja del Almagre on Corazon Hill, where
they killed a skinny mare which was on the point of dying
of hunger and fatigue. But their hunger was more important
and so without noting the dark color of the flesh they
devoured it and allayed the cruel pangs of hunger, which
was about to kill them, as they were accustomed to say after-
wards, and I think that there is where the proverb originated
which runs,

THE SEBOYETANOS 21

To the Sierra Mojada, let us go eat,

The skinny old mare who is dead on her feet.

Others say that it came from the broadside which was com-
posed about Marcelina the captive, a ten-year-old girl whom
the Apaches, and not the Navahos, captured south of the
Rio Grande in a place called Cruzadas where roads crossed
going in different directions and is called today, Las Cruces.
They say that this girl was taken to Sierra Mojada to eat
mare meat. However that may be, it all comes from the
torments and tribulations that our ancestors suffered at the
hands of the savage Indians of those days.

But we were speaking of the wretched condition of our
Seboyetanos after escaping the siege of Chusca when they
arrived at the place mentioned above. They held a brief
conference in order to see how they might seek immediate
relief for those who were in a sad state. After each one gave
his opinion, their captain ordered formed a voluntary courier
squad of twelve men who would leave promptly to cross the
mountain by the famous Paraje de San Miguel, a name
which has endured since those times, to carry news to
Seboyeta of the condition of the rest of the men. The prob-
lem was risky and dangerous, but there were men in those
days, and twelve stepped up who were the flower of valor
of all those among whom were that Cid Campeador, Chato
Aragon, and Redondo Gallegos.

The aforementioned courier group, thinking they were
unobserved by the Navahos, gained time by going through
a place they called Las Tina j as and reaching on the after-
noon of that same day the ill-fated Paraje de San Miguel,
which was situated in a canyon in the mountain which they
were going to cross if possible on the following day. They
went along in good spirits for they thought that the savage
Navahos would not bother them or dare to follow, especially
since Chato and Redondo were among them, and all of them
were men of great valor and excellent fighters. But alas,
dear reader, how mistaken were our brave warrior-settlers.
The Indians, savage and angry, had been spying on them
all the time and had seen them — the ones most feared by

22 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

the Navahos — depart. Consequently, they attempted to put
an end to that fear by playing them one final trick. The story
of this episode was revealed to our heroes by a Navaho cap-
tive who was one of the twelve and was always very useful.
In the silence of the night he would slip away a certain dis-
tance from the camp — he was as agile as a cat and had as
soft a tread as a coyote who can smell things a great distance
away. His hearing was so keen that he could hear a mouse
walking at a considerable distance. He was also an expert
at distinguishing the hooting of an owl, for among the
Navahos there were some who were good at imitating the
owls, and it was they who were spying on our ancestors.
The captive, when he withdrew on his nocturnal patrol,
heard the hooting and knew that it was the Navahos and
told the brave Seboyetanos who on that occasion did not
believe him because it seemed to them that the Navahos
would not be following them. But the captive was ill at ease
because he knew they were being followed very closely and
in considerable numbers, without being seen nor heard; so
his warnings were received as evidence of cowardice.

In this state of affairs did they reach the Paraje de San
Miguel on the late afternoon of that unhappy day. My
esteemed scholar, I believe it requires no very subtle pen to
describe the sad episode of the end of our intrepid ancestors,
but now may they rest in peace and their memory be praised.
For that reason I beg permission to relate this story even
though it be but dry and unadorned.

It is said that after having chosen the place they thought
most secluded for spending the night — in the midst of a
forest — they unsaddled their horses and some began to build
a fire while others challenged their fellows to target shoot-
ing, in spite of the scarcity of bullets. Thus can be seen how
their mistaken confidence in their valor placed them in the
hands of their savage enemies. Afterwards, they gathered
around the fire and ate what little they had to eat — it did
not take them long. They always set a guard over the horses
who could, at the same time, watch for savage Indians.
One stood guard until midnight and another the rest of
the night.

THE SEBOYETANOS 23

After their little or no supper, and forgetting their immi-
nent danger, they stirred up the fire so it would burn
brighter and played several games among which were the
game pitarria and another called liebre (jack rabbit), and
I think also even Monte, for some of them had their cards
along. Late in the night the event began in earnest after
the first guard had been relieved. The new sentinel was none
other than Redondo Gallegos. He began to notice that the
horses, although near the fire were uneasy and now and
then snorted as if frightened by a sound. But the one who
heard the most was the poor captive who then heard the
cry of two owls and understood that it was the Indians,
indicating in that way that they were ready, lying in wait.
It was the hour when the devil gives advice and the evil
take it. The hour of the horrendous and macabre massacre
was at hand.

The fearful and forewarned captive approaches the
unfortunate card players, almost stepping on them he is
so afraid and says, "Did you hear those owls?"

"Yes, we heard 'em," grumbled some of the card-playing
martyrs, bursting out laughing, "What about 'em?"

Rebuffed in this matter, the captive who was trying to
make them see reason became still, awaiting the fatal hour.
At that very moment the famous, brave Redondo Gallegos
gave the alarm, telling them not to be so careless because the
horses indicated that something was wrong. But the card
game was very hotly contested and the players paid no
attention to the sentinel. God, Our Lord, had hardened their
hearts and caused them not to understand, after having
worn them out with fatigue, hunger, and lack of sleep. The
Creator had written their fate without warning them that
their bold campaigns would come to an end as night gave
way to morning.

Here, dear reader, is the macabre slaughter. They did
not have to wait long. As soon as the savage Indians lying
in wait saw that our companions were asleep, they rushed
upon them and, of course, the first one they made sure of
was the sentinel whom they riddled with arrows and knocked
to the ground with clubs. In the same way, those who were

24 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

sleeping peacefully were dispatched with arrows and clubs,
so that they awoke in the Eternity which Divine Providence
had reserved for them as a reward for the last of their cam-
paigns of conquest. Thus died all of those famous men, the
flower of our brave ancestors, and among them those famous
Cides Campeadores, Chato Aragon and Redondo Gallegos.

We have already spoken of that captive who was present
at the bloody ambush of our Seboyetanos. Since he was
aware of what the Navahos were going to do, he didn't go
to sleep but lay waiting in fear for the Indians' attack. As
soon as he heard their attack he slipped into the darkness
of the forest and mingled with the Indians, since he knew
their language, and so escaped. When the poor captive
reached Seboyeta, he could not give them any news right
away, for he didn't know whether he had reached the village
or not. He fell into a deep faint until the following day.
So the women and the sentinel with grief and foreboding
put the captive in a house and rubbed him with something
very good for frostbite, for his hands and feet were frost-
bitten, and they heated shawls and wrapped him up very
carefully to see if he would come to life again and give them
the news they were anxious to have of those who were
already corpses.

The families of our settlers were desolated and it was
three or four days before the other men started coming in.
With all this there were new lamentations as the men from
the campaign of the Sierra Chusca arrived, having made
their way over the mountains with great trials and hardships
by way of Cubero. They were filled with foreboding about
the twelve messengers who had been sent to carry the news
by the Paraje de San Miguel. However, they promptly set
about planning another expedition in spite of the sad situ-
ation in which they found themselves and arranged to take
the hero-captive along.

I believe the curious reader will not have forgotten that
the sentinel standing watch over our deceased companions
at San Miguel was the brave and honest Redondo Gallegos.
Well, it is precisely of this person that we are going to con-
cern ourselves in sad detail for a moment. In melancholy

THE SEBOYETANOS 25

accents an old settler drew upon his memory of past events,
as follows :

Our hero — whether you can believe it or not — did not
die at once. His martyrdom was prolonged to the ninth day
— things which Divine Providence does that some human
beings may achieve greater grandeur in this world, as well
as in the next.

His valor held out and he dragged himself as best he
could into a cave near there and watched over the bodies
of his companions hoping in vain for help, but certain that
his death approached — though not so fast as he desired, but
little by little to give him a greater martyrdom in order
that he might win the glory of Heaven. Thus died the brave
and forgotten sentinel and martyr on the ninth day as is
indicated by the lines he drew — eight lines and a beginning
of another to indicate that on the dawn on the ninth day
he yielded his soul to his Maker in the tomb or cave which
he himself had chosen for his agony and martyrdom, like
the cave in the "Lamentations of the Prophet Jeremiah"
which the Holy Book tells us about.

If you will forgive me, friend reader, I shall make still
another observation about this same question of the martyr-
dom of our sentinel from what an old Navaho told me not
many years ago. While talking to his grandsons about his
long memory, he told them, "When I was a young man, about
19 or 20 years old, we were attacked in the very place where
we now live in our hogans (that is what they call their
houses) by a bunch of Nacajalleses.

"The strange and remarkable thing is that they got away
from us. I don't know how at their departure they killed
the daughter of Chief White Horse (that is what they called
their captain) . Although they escaped, they were worn out
from hunger, fatigue, and lack of sleep, but they were
always united and well organized to protect themselves
from us.

"I was one of those who took part in that bloody ambus-
cade in which, after killing them, we took their horses and
their firearms, which were the first we had ever seen, but
they were of no use to us.

26 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

"What horrified us, me and my companions, was not
those deeds, but what happened two days later. About ten
of us returned to the place where we left the dead in order
to see if some of the Nakais came to look for them, but as
we arrived, we saw something that I have never forgotten.

"It was one of the dead ones who was guarding the other
dead. As we got closer, we could see that he moved, leaning
down and looking in all directions and seemed to be trying
to get up — which was impossible for him to do because an
arrow stuck out of his back. He sobbed and complained bit-
terly, murmuring words which we did not understand. His
torture was so great that we got into a discussion about him.
Some of us said he was alive and it was necessary to kill
him off to end his pain. Others said it was his spirit calling
to the spirits of the other dead men, and the chief ordered
that none should touch him, for if he was alive, he would
have to die in a short time, since nobody would come to his
aid, and if he was dead, dead he would remain until the
Day of Judgment. So we decided to withdraw without visit-
ing the one who was either alive or dead, but not without
having fixed in our minds the horrible state of that soul in
torment."

And so, dear reader, the signs of the lines scratched on
the rock by our Seboyeta ancestor to count the days of his
existence have remained there to this day in that unhappy
Paraje de San Miguel in the cave where our settler died.

After our ancestors had taken the bodies of those great
heroes from the famous Paraje de San Miguel to the village
of Seboyeta and had paid them the honors appropriate to
the occasion, they buried them in the place where they
remain to this day. The others of our ancestors continued
their task of settling small areas around Seboyeta, with
great trials and sacrifices, for at each step they were at-
tacked by the savage Navahos. But they never again made
a campaign like the one to the Sierra de Chusca. Their
smaller excursions were only for the purpose of exploring
or of conquering places they wanted to settle. To be sure,
on these small excursions they had encounters with the
Navahos, but most of the encounters had to do with sudden

THE SEBOYETANOS 27

attacks for stealing. One of the places they settled in 1862
was the village of San Mateo which was settled by mistake
as is indicated in a story that I wrote entitled Account of a
Village. When they began to settle that place, called Alzogo,
or Cienega, by the Navahos, our ancestors and their families
were in continual danger. There were times when the Nava-
hos stole from the yards of their very huts a burro, or horse
or one or two cows, often waging a fierce battle for them.
One can see that our settlers had to be alert or on guard day
and night. Nor was this all. Some of them, say five or six,
according to what was decided, would have to leave at night
to bring in food for their families even if it was very difficult
because some of them had to bring it by the sword. To such
an extreme of sacrifice and torture did they come.

They carried out the campaigns related above up to the
year 1862 in which they determined to solve the problem of
settling the place they had seen before the campaign to the
Sierra Chusca — the place which today goes by the name of
San Lucas Canyon. They began to explore the place they
were to settle in '61, and came to settle it in '62. But it did
not turn out to be San Lucas Canyon, but the beautiful
valley called today San Mateo. From the first place they
settled, called the Canyon of Seboyeta, they crossed the
mountains to this place.

The so-called Canyon of San Lucas which our settlers
tried to populate was located to the southwest of what is
today Seboyeta. It is just to the north of the famous Paraje
de San Miguel, the place where our brave Seboyetanos died,
being separated by a small mountain connecting with the
corners of San Miguel, where is located the curious hill,
called "the Awl" [La Alesna], because its sharp peak rises
some three or four hundred feet above the level of the moun-
tain. All of this is to the north of the Canyon of San Lucas ;
its southern side is adorned by the beautiful village of San
Mateo. At the extreme western point of the village is the
richest and largest ranch which belongs to Fernandez and
Company.

NEW MEXICO IN THE MEXICAN PERIOD, AS
REVEALED IN THE TORRES DOCUMENTS

By LYNN I. PERRico1

AT Santa Fe on January 6, 1822, the Spanish citizens cele-
brated the independence of Mexico by participating in
an impressive parade and joyous fiesta, which was climaxed
by a grand ball that night in the old Palace of the Gover-
nors.2 Thenceforth New Mexico was under Mexican adminis-
tration until August 15, 1846, when General Stephen Watts
Kearny, in command of the conquering Army of the West,
proclaimed to the assembled townsmen at Las Vegas, on the
route to Santa Fe, that "We come amongst you as friends,
not as enemies ; as protectors, not as conquerors."3

The history of those twenty-four years was sketched
by Hubert Howe Bancroft in his Arizona, and New Mex-
ico published in 1889.4 This was followed in 1912 by Ralph
Emerson Twitchell's monumental history of New Mexico,
which gave considerable attention to the events of the
Mexican era.5 Soon afterward, in 1913 to 1915, the Old
Santa Fe magazine carried a series of articles devoted ex-
clusively to this period. They were written by the Rev. Lan-
sing Bartlett Bloom, who, by painstaking study of all ma-
terials then available, described in detail the institutions,
the changes in personnel, and the achievements and disap-
pointments under the Mexican regime.6 Subsequently other
authors, notably Erna Fergusson7 and Cleve Hallenbeck,8
have added skillful reinterpretations of that era.

From these writings emerges a generally accepted view
of the economic activities, social customs and institutions,

1. Professor of History and Head of the Department of History and Social Sci-
ences at New Mexico Highlands University.

2. Lansing Bartlett Bloom, "New Mexico under Mexican Administration, 1821-
1846," Old Santa Fe. Vol. I, No. 2 (October, 1913), pp. 142-5.

3. Ralph Emerson Twitchell, The Leading Facts of New Mexican History (Cedar
Rapids: Torch Press, 1912), VoL II. pp. 205-7.

4 Chap. XIV (San Francisco: The History Company).

Chap. I through VI in Vol. II, op. cit. note 3 above.

Vol. I and II (July, 1913, through April, 1915).

New Mexico (New York: Knopf, 1951), Chap. XIV through XVII.

Land of the Conquistadorea (Caldwell, Idaho: Caxton Printers, 1950), Chap. V.

28

TORRES DOCUMENTS 29

political organization, and external relations of this territory
in those years. The sources commonly employed to provide
the materials for this are the several histories of Mexico, the
archival collections at Santa Fe, at the University of New
Mexico, at Mexico City, and at Washington, B.C., B. H.
Read's Historic, Ilustrada published in 1911, the letters and
other information appearing in Niles' Register, the report of
Antonio Barreiro prepared in 1832, and the diaries of sev-
eral observers who came through the Southwest between
1820 and 1855.9 Now to these sources may be added the
fragmentary personal papers which were preserved by one
Don Juan Geronimo Torres who died at Sabinal, New Mex-
ico, in 1849. These papers were kept by his family, and in
1950 his great grandson, Edward Torres of Socorro, pre-
sented photostatic copies of them to the Rodgers Library at
New Mexico Highlands University. My translation of many
of them — those which seemed to be of greater significance —
has been published serially in the NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL

REVIEW.10

Who was this Don Geronimo Torres? From his own
papers we learn that he was a moderately well-to-do citi-
zen whose father had lived at Santa Fe, the capital, which
was one hundred miles north of Sabinal, and whose mother
had resided at Tome, located about fifteen miles north of
Sabinal on the road to Albuquerque and Santa Fe.11 Don
Juan, who had been lieutenant of the local militia and a dep-
uty alcalde, or justice of the peace, owned his residence and

9. The journals which have been helpful are those of Lt. J. H. Abert, Philip St.
George Cooke, W. W. H. Davis, Lt. W. H. Emory, P. G. Ferguson, George R. Gibson,
Dr. Josiah Gregg, A. R. Johnston, G. W. Kendall, Susan Magoffin, James O. Pattie,
Capt. John Pope, Jacob S. Robinson, George F. Ruxton, Gen'l J. H. Simpson, James
Josiah Webb, and Dr. Adolphus Wislezenus. See especially the bibliographies of Ban-
croft, Bloom, Fergusson, Hallenbeck, and Twitchell, op. cit., notes 2, 3, 6, 7, and 8,
above.

10. VoL XXVI, numbers 2, 3, 4, and Vol. XXVII, No. 1 (April, 1951, through
January, 1952). Dr. Luis E. Aviles lent assistance with some difficult parts. In subse-
quent footnotes the translated edition will be cited NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW,
followed by the date of issue and the page number, while the untranslated copies will
be referred to simply as the Torres Documents.

11. "Last Will and Testament," NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW (October, 1951),
page 337 et passim,. Writers' Program, New Mexico, a Guide to the Colorful State
(New York: Hastings House, 1940), page 250; Hallenbeck, op. cit., map opposite
page 356.

30 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

farming land at Sabinal besides another strip of land at
Belen to the north and "grant rights" in the towns of So-
corro and La Joya (Sevilleta) south of Sabinal. His family
was comprised of his wife, three daughters, and two sons.12
The town where they resided was located on New Mexico's
most traveled highway, El Camino Real, which extended
northward from Chihuahua through El Paso and Albuquer-
que to Santa Fe.13 In 1850, a year after the death of Don
Juan, the village of Sabinal could boast a population of about
600 (one hundred years later it had less than a hundred
inhabitants) ,14

It is the purpose here to glean from the Torres Docu-
ments whatever they may contribute, by direct evidence and
by inference, to a better understanding of the conditions of
life in New Mexico in the Mexican period, when our bene-
factor, Juan Geronimo Torres, was an active participant in
the affairs of his community.

I

To attain the economic status which will assure a good
living for one's family is necessarily one of the objectives of
life, and in this Don Juan seems to have succeeded reason-
ably well. Besides his two undescribed grant rights in neigh-
boring towns, he had at Sabinal a strip of "arable grain
land" which contained close to forty acres, and at Belen, ten
miles north, he had another strip of farming land of about
the same size, making close to eighty acres together.15 On
these, and probably on the open range too,16 at the time of
his death he was grazing ninety-one head of cattle, eighteen
goats, eleven yoke of oxen, and eleven horses. To assist with
the care of the cattle and fields he could call upon eight male

12. "Last Will," loc. eit. n. 11, pp. 338 and 340.

13. Hallenbeck, op. eit. n. 18, Chap. XIV.

14. U.S. Census Office, Statistical View of the United States (Washington: Gov-
ernment, 1854), page 380. The time table of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe
Railroad estimates the present population at 50.

15. 572 by 314 varas, and 500 by 314 varas. "Last Will," loc. eit. n. 11, p. 389.
The size of the average farm was about five acres, but some wealthy Dons owned
several thousand acres each. Hallenbeck, oj>. eit. n. 8, p. 296.

16. Grazing practices are described by Josiah Gregg in his Commerce of the
Prairies, in R. G. Thwaites, ed., Early Western Travels (Cleveland: Clark, 1905), VoL
XIX, pp. 322-3.

TORRES DOCUMENTS 31

"servants," whose good Spanish names no doubt belied their
part Indian ancestry.17 These laborers lived in seven small
houses which appraisers valued at only twenty-one pesos
altogether, and their status of debt servitude is revealed by
an inventory which shows that in 1849 each owed Don Juan
an average of about thirty pesos.18

In addition to the grazing of the above-mentioned cattle,
there were the fields to cultivate, and this involved super-
vision of irrigation. The cross ditches were fed by the
"mother-ditch," which was maintained by all landowners as
a community responsibility.19 Consequently they employed
a supervisor of the mother ditch, who was charged specifi-
cally to "comply exactly with the obligations of his responsi-
bility" or be subject to a fine of three pesos.20 Incidentally,
this was a rather heavy fine, in view of the fact that a goat
then was valued at one peso and a horse at about eight
pesos.21 The management of the vital water supply created
problems for the supervisor and laborers, as revealed by the
strict regulations about the rationing of water in times of
drought, the cutting off of a neighbor's water, the misap-
propriation, for one's use, of water turned into the ditch for
someone else, and the careless failure to shut off in time the
flow of water into the cross ditches, thereby causing floods
in the fields and roads.22

Besides the care of the mother ditch, two other economic
resources were common responsibilities. One was the spring
or well from which the householders obtained their water for
cooking; therefore the citizens were warned to guard these
springs against misuse by anyone who bathed in them or
used them "for other filthy practices which are harmful to

17. "Last Will," loc. cit. n. 11, p. 341. The composition of the population is
described in Bloom, loc. cit. n. 2 (July, 1913), pp. 30-31.

18. On the practice of debt servitude also see ibid., p. 34. In the "Last Will,"
loc. cit. n. 11, page 339, the amount which the servants owed was given as 279 pesos,
but in the subsequent inventory, p. 340, the total was fixed at 217 pesos.

19. "Revised Statutes of 1826," NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW (January, 1951),
p. 70.

20. "Provincial Statutes of 1824 to 1826," NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW (Janu-
ary, 1951), p. 67.

21. "Last Will," loc. cit. n. 11, p. 341.

22. "Provincial Statutes" and "Revised Statutes," loc. cit. notes 19 and 20, pp. 66
and 70.

32 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

the health." Any such transgressor would be fined four
reals.23 Another common responsibility was the care of the
roads. Supervision of this was assigned to the man who was
ditch foreman, and the men of the community were called
upon in turn to do their share of the repair work. If one
failed to respond, he was to be fined four reals, "two for his
disobedience and two for the work which he should have
lent."24

In the care of the fields and livestock there were other
problems which elicited legal protection, with fines duly
exacted. The owner of cattle was thus protected against the
theft of his livestock by his overseer or one of his herders,
and the owner of a cultivated field was likewise protected
against the theft of some of his crops.25 Moreover, if a neigh-
bor's animals damaged the crops, the owner was liable. That
this latter offense was a common complaint is attested by the
wording of the provincial statute, which said that this was
developing into a bad practice because

there are many who intentionally turn their animals loose at night
with a riata on the neck and a stake in the knot, so as to disown [re-
sponsibility] by saying that it had got loose from the tether ....

For this the owner was required to pay a fine of two reals
for each animal and to recompense the owner of the field
for the damage to the crops.26

Concerning the products of these farms, other than cat-
tle and sheep, there is mention of grain, pigs, goats, chick-
ens, and turkeys.27 In addition, near his house Don Juan had
a vineyard and an orchard of peach, apple, and quince trees.
He also had farming equipment which included three carts,
five plows, three kettles, and eleven pieces of nondescript
"apparatus."28

The poverty of most of the residents was recognized by
the provincial lawmakers, who tried to give assurance that

23. Ibid., pp. 67 and 71. A real was one-eighth of a peso.

24. Ibid.

25. Ibid., pp. 66 and 71.

26. Ibid., p. 70.

27. "Instructions ... to the Collector of Tithes," NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL RE-
VIEW (July, 1951), pp. 246-7.

28. "Last Will," loe. eft. n. 11, p. 339.

TORRES DOCUMENTS 33

they were being as lenient as possible in the levying of taxes.
In 1826 a special commission which had been designated to
revise the provincial laws and schedule of fines reported that
they had done so with allowance for "the lamentable state
of affairs to which these people are found reduced," and
that in consequence they had "observed great moderation
with respect to the poverty of the people."29 On the other
hand, Don Juan Geronimo Torres apparently was fairly well-
to-do, because at the time of his death five of his acquaint-
ances owed him the sum of nearly fourteen hundred pesos,
and these notes along with the debts of his servants, and his
house, livestock, and equipment, but excluding his land, were
appraised altogether at a little over three thousand pesos.30
Since horses and cattle then worth about eight pesos a head
probably now would average close to $100 each, the three
thousand pesos of that day would be the equivalent of about
$35,000 in present currency.31

II

Under Mexican administration the northern provinces,
including New Mexico, had territorial status from 1824 to
1837, and the territorial administrative officer was known
as the "political chief." After 1837, under the centralized
system, New Mexico was a "department" headed by a gover-
nor. There was also a small and rather ineffective legislative
council, known in territorial days as the "Deputation," but
renamed the "Junta" under the departmental system. There
were also legislative councils in a few of the larger cities,
but only an alcalde, or justice of the peace, in the smaller
towns.32

At Sabinal in 1819, shortly before Mexican independence,
Don Juan Geronimo Torres had been appointed deputy to
the alcalde mayor of Belen.33 In 1827 he was relieved by the
appointment of one Ramon Torres, but again in the 1830's

29. "Revised Statutes," loc. cit. n. 19, p. 69 and 71.

30. "Inventory of Possessions," NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW (October, 1951),
pp. 340-1.

31. Ibid.

32. Twitchell, op. cit. n. 3, Vol. II, pages 7-15.

83. "Appointment . . . ," NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW (April, 1951), pp.
160-1.

34 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

there are some documents signed by Don Juan as "Al-
calde."34 The official appointment of 1819 was conferred
upon him by one Miguel Aragon, who was alcalde at Belen,
and who directed that Don Juan

deal with the cases and matters which may arise, civil and criminal,
prosecuting them until passing judgment, and next that he may give
me an account in order for me to determine what may be wise by
a similar order for all of the existing and resident citizens of the
district; . . .

The alcalde also ordered that the town crier announce the
appointment "with good public notice through all parts of
the neighborhood," so that all "may obey and keep his oral
and written orders," and finally he requested the retiring
deputy alcalde to "cooperate with his influence and good ex-
ample ... in order that the titled Deputy . . . may have
no great prejudice arise against him."35

The advisability of that final precaution becomes appar-
ent in light of later developments. After Don Juan was re-
lieved of his official position in 1827, the new alcalde seems
to have mistrusted his predecessor and in the presence of
other citizens he allegedly called Don Juan a revolucionario,
which in modern terminology could well be translated as a
"subversive person," or, more bluntly, a "red." This so in-
censed Don Juan that he sent the political chief a heated
protest in which he complained that it was "excessively in-
furiating" to him that the new alcalde, "whose quarrelsome
tendency has always characterized his activities," should
"avail himself of his office in order to express to a citizen
insults which scandalize the hearing of citizens of honor and
judgment." Therefore Don Juan begged that the political
chief order the alcalde to prove "before a public sitting of an
impartial and competent tribunal, how, when and where he
has seen me commit such a serious crime."36 Unfortunately
there is no further record to relieve our curiosity as to
whether Don Juan had an opportunity to clear himself of

34. "Protest against Slanderous Charges," NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW (Oc-
tober, 1951 ) , pp. 335-6 ; "The Case of the Stolen Cows," and "The Case of the Wedding
Gifts," NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW (January, 1952), pp. 73-6.

85. "Appointment," loc. cit. n. 33, p. 161.

36. "Protest," loc. cit. n. 34, pp. 335-6.

TORRES DOCUMENTS 35

the charges, or whether his accuser claimed some sort of
official immunity.

The various legal papers which Don Juan preserved re-
veal that he and the other local alcaldes received copies of
the provincial laws, attested to the legal sale of land, heard
the disputes which came before them, called in witnesses,
rendered decisions, kept clear and formal records of the pro-
ceedings, and sent copies of these records to the political
chief. In the case of disputes over property, the outcome
was usually a compromise settlement, while in cases involv-
ing violation of the law, the penalty was a fine of so many
reals or pesos, or sometimes an order to labor at public
work.37 In all of this the respect due an alcalde was main-
tained by laws which fixed penalties for any who came before
the "authorities" and indulged "in insulting remarks."38

The laws which the alcaldes were charged to enforce
were drafted by the Deputation at Santa Fe, approved by
the political chief, and then copied by the secretary and sent
out to the alcaldes. In at least one instance, in 1826, a special
commission of two citizens was appointed to draft a revision
of the statutes, which they in turn reported to the Deputa-
tion. Then after each section is a notation, probably by the
political chief, as to whether that section was approved.39
An interesting feature of the statutes, devised to assure en-
forcement, was that if a local official was negligent in his
duty, any citizen who called attention to the violation of a
law would receive one-eighth of the fine which was levied,
and the official would be assessed a fine of five pesos for his
delinquency.40

A part of local political responsibility was assistance
with the defense of the territory. Although there was a com-
pany of regular troops at the capital, the citizens could also
be called upon if needed for "pursuit of enemies," and the
statutes provided that if an individual who was called should

37. Statutes and cases, NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW (April, 1951), pp. 162-3,
(July, 1951), pp. 244-7, (January, 1952), pp. 66-76.

38. "Revised Statutes," loc. tit. n. 19, p. 70.

39. "Provincial Statutes," and "Revised Statutes," loc. cit. notes 19 and 20, pp.
66-72.

40. Ibid., pp. 67 and 71.

36 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

fail to go without good reason he would be fined three pesos.41
Moreover, at Belen in the 1820's there was an organized
company of militia in which Don Juan held a commission as
lieutenant.42 Once in formal review this company mustered
forty-two soldiers, two "carbineers," and six officers. Most
of the men presented their arms for inspection — one gun and
fifteen cartridges — but seven of them had only a lance, a
bow, and twenty-five arrows.43

Finally, upon the death of Don Juan in 1849, some of the
legal proceedings which such an event produced are evident
in these documents. First, while on his death bed he called
in four witnesses and in their presence he drafted his "Last
Will and Testament." In it he attested that he was sound of
mind and supremely devout and that he had certain legal
heirs and specified property interests ; then he made provi-
sion for his funeral and burial, followed by the naming of
executors to administer his estate; and finally he revoked
any previous will and signed this as his "last and deliberate
wish." After his death the executors made an inventory of
his property, and, in order that it might be transferred
legally to his heirs, the executors then submitted their re-
port to the Prefect of Valencia County. That fulfilled their
legal responsibility.44

Ill

In the spiritual and social realm, the Catholic Church
was the dominant institution. The Christian faith had been
established in New Mexico by the tireless work of the Fran-
ciscan missionaries, with government support. However,
under Mexican administration the missions were secularized
and subsequently only scattered and poorly supported parish
priests, under the Bishop of Durango, served the spiritual
needs of these frontier settlers. The institution in which
these priests served was then a state church ; i.e., the govern-

41. Ibid. Also see Bloom, loc. cit. n. 2, VoL I, No. 3, p. 285.

42. "Commission," NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW (April, 1951), p. 163.

43. "Review of Militia," in ibid., pp. 159-60.

44. "Last Will" and "Inventory," loc. cit. notes 11 and 80, passim. Under the
departmental system New Mexico was divided into three districts headed by prefects,
who were administrative assistants to the governor. Bloom, loc. cit. n. 2, Vol. II, No. 3,
pp. 227-8.

TORRES DOCUMENTS 37

ment helped maintain it as the one and only church. To this
end the government officials enforced the collection of the
tithes, which were deposited in the public treasury, and from
these funds the parish priests were paid small stipends and
a few parochial schools were maintained.45

The extent to which civil authority was employed for the
security of the Catholic faith is indicated in the certificate of
appointment of Don Juan Geronimo Torres as deputy al-
calde. He was authorized

to exercise great zeal that those of his district may be instructed in the
rudiments of Our Holy Catholic Faith, guarding carefully likewise the
greatest glory of God and punishing severely the public and scandalous
sinners, . . ,48

The civil authority also regulated minutely the collection of
the tithes. According to the instructions issuing from the
capital, a local collector was required to keep a list of the
number of animals in the flocks and herds in his district, to
watch all flocks closely and make collections at wool-cutting
time, to send his list of a given flock or herd to another col-
lector if the owner moved to a different jurisdiction, and to
observe the fields planted in grain and vegetables in order
not to miss anything, not even the produce "which they
consume without awaiting harvest time." From all produc-
tion and income he was to exact a tithe by these rules :

All men who are not exempt by special privilege from paying tithes
should pay them in the ensuing manner, from each ten measures, one,
and from whatever does not admit measurement from each ten whole
parts, one, and if it does not amount to a whole part, from ten parts
of it they should pay one, and in order that the payment may be of
great purity, those who pay the tithe 'may not, first, deduct the cost
of the seed, rent, or any other expense, nor pay any debt, . . ."

The collector was required to render a sworn account of his
collections to the treasury officials and if any citizen refused
to make proper payment, the collector was directed to take

45. For this and additional background information, see Bloom, loc. eit. n. 2,
Vol. I, No. 1, p. 133 ; VoL I, No. 2, p. 153 ; Vol. I, No. 4, pp. 356-8 ; Vol. II, No. 3.
p. 229 ; et passim ; also, Twitchell, op. cit. n. 3, VoL I, pp. 337-42 ; VoL II, pp. 151-3,
164-71.

46. "Appointment," lac. cit. n. 83, p. 161.

47. This quotation and the related regulations are found in "Instructions . . .
to the Collector of Tithes," loc. cit. n. 27, pp. 244-7.

38 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

the case before the local alcalde. Obviously the income tax
law in those days allowed no deductions and required some
involved computations!

There are, of course, some further references to religious
faith in the Last Will of Don Juan. Apparently he had
once been admitted to the Tertiary Order of St. Francis,
which had been established for laymen and formerly had
maintained a chapel at Santa Fe. In his Will Don Juan
requested that his corpse be "enshrouded with the habit of
our Seraphic Father Saint Francis" and he specified that
the parish priest should minister at his interment because
no Franciscan was available.48 In his Will he also devoted
a long introductory paragraph to his profession of Christian
belief :

as I faithfully bow and confess, the Mystery of the Trinity, Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit, three persons, which although actually distinct
have the same attributes and are only one true God and one essence
and being, and all other of the mysteries and Sacraments which our
Holy Mother the Apostolic Roman Catholic Church believes and con-
fesses, whose true faith I have lived, do live, and swear to live and die,
as a faithful Christian Catholic.49

Finally, he made a provision of sixty pesos in order that
masses might be appropriately performed on the day of
his interment.50

As for other social influences, one which was almost as
prevalent as the Church was the Spanish language. One
observer, Josiah Gregg, remarked in the 1840's at the cor-
rectness with which all, even the uneducated, spoke their
mother tongue, and he noticed that the pronunciation was
Andalusian rather than Castilian.51 A later student of the
language in New Mexico, Aurelio M. Espinosa, concluded
that it was conservative and richly archaic.52 In addition,
these documents reveal many interesting tendencies to com-

48. "Last Will," loc. cit. n. 11, p. 337. On the Tertiary Order in New Mexico,
see Twitchell, op. cit. n. 3, Vol. II, p. 165 ; Bloom, toe. cit. n. 2, Vol. I, No. 3, p. 247,
and E. L. Hewett and R. G. Fisher, Mission Monuments of New Mexico (Albuquerque:
University of New Mexico, 1943), Chap. II.

49. "Last Will," loc. cit. n. 11, p. 336-7.

50. Ibid.

51. Op. cit. n. 16, page 331.

52. "The Spanish Language in New Mexico and Southern California," Historical
Society of New Mexico Publication No. 16 (Santa Fe, May, 1911), p. 9.

TORRES DOCUMENTS 39

bine words, to employ abbreviations, to use a double "r"
for an initial "r," to write interchangeably a "b" or "v,"
an initial "i" or "y," and "s" or "c" before an "e" and an
"n" or "m" before a consonant. Nevertheless the several
scribes sought to observe carefully the rules of formality
and to write with a clear firm script.53

Pertaining to home life and social activities, there is
meagre information in the documents. When the parts are
brought together they provide this sketchy summary :

Don Juan, his wife and five children lived in a nine-
room house which was built around a patio or interior court.
Back of it was the yard, woodlot, vineyard, and orchard,
surrounded by an adobe wall.54 Among the interior furnish-
ings were six valuable silver dishes, or bowls, with covers,55
and the items and materials once available for clothing
included woollen and cotton cloth, lace edging, ribbons, veils,
mufflers, handkerchiefs, muslin gowns, and combs, along
with essential scissors and needles.56 One interesting side-
light on a household problem is the law which provided a
fine "for failure of cleanliness in that for which such person
is responsible."57

For amusement at Sabinal or in other towns the docu-
ments mention playing cards, gambling, puppet shows, and
public entertainments.58 The paternal diligence of the adult
population is betrayed in one revealing statute which read
as follows :

It is evident that the author of nature has not imposed the silence
of the night with any other object than sleep and rest for living
things, and even if some transgressions invert this custom in order
thereby to engage in diversions and authorized social companionship,
since here we lack such things, it may be clearly inferred that anyone
who goes forth through the plazas and fields after nine at night
henceforth must be held in detention until the following day and
assessed one peso fine.58

63. Torres Documents, passim.

54. His house was valued at 300 pesos. "Last Will," loc. cit. n. 11, p. 339.

55. Ibid.

56. "Sale of Merchandise," NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW (April, 1951),
pp. 161-2.

57. The fine was two reals. "Provincial Statutes," loc. cit. n. 20, p. 67.

58. Ibid., and "Sale of Merchandise," lor. cit. n. 56, p. 161.
69. "Revised Statutes," loc. cit. n. 19, p. 71.

40 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

IV

Those who are familiar with the other sources on the
Mexican period in New Mexico will recognize that the evi-
dence in the Torres Documents on the whole confirms the
commonly accepted description of the economic, political,
and social pattern in those days. It presents a picture of
an agricultural society based upon a kind of serfdom, gov-
erned largely by authoritarian principles, and permeated
by a state-supported Catholic faith — a society which had
not changed much in its main features since the Spanish
conquest.

In some respects, however, the material in these docu-
ments goes beyond the previously accepted data by correct-
ing and adding some details. For example, whereas the Rev.
Lansing Bloom accepted Antonio Barreiro's statement, after
his visit in 1832, that there was no organized militia in
New Mexico,60 these documents reveal that there was a
company of militia at Sabinal in the 1820's; and contrary
to Ralph Emerson Twitchell's statement, derived from Jo-
siah Gregg and Antonio Barreiro, that the alcaldes were not
familiar with the law and kept no written record of the
proceedings,61 here is evidence that at least in this one com-
munity the opposite was true.

Even more valuable is the enrichment of detail lent by
this material. It vivifies the previous picture by the addition
of a close-up glimpse of personal participation. Here was
one of the Dons, with the list of his possessions and his
admittedly piecemeal but yet direct, first-person record of
his problems and his aspirations. With a little imagination
this kind of a picture can be made to breathe more life than
one which describes the organization of the institutions as
seen in official records and the color of the landscape as
seen by estranjeros. One can only hope that in time more
of this sort of material will come to light in order further
to enrich our understanding of life in the eventful Mexican
period.

60. Loe. cit. n. 12, Vol. I, No. 8, p. 285

61. Op. cit. n. 8. VoL II. p. 18.

BISHOP TAMAR6N'S VISITATION OF
NEW MEXICO, 1760

Edited by ELEANOR B. ADAMS
(Concluded)

Comments on Military Affairs11*

. . . During this war the Seris were held down and could
do no harm, but the Apaches, on the north where they live,
took advantage of the occasion to commit robberies and
murders, and as soon as our force withdrew, the Seris
repeated and are repeating their destructive acts with new
fury and ferocity, with the impetus of a dammed river
when it gets loose.

This last campaign shows what experience has shown
before (this is the reason why I have stopped to give some
report of it), that these campaigns are not sufficient to
reduce the enemy tribes who surround Sonora unless the
proposal I have made to the King our lord and to his
Viceroy of this New Spain since I returned from my general
visitation is heeded. In this I stated that the method which
remained to be tried in order to restrain so many pagans
and apostates was to introduce a regular troop of infantry.
Three thousand men, distributed as follows, would be suf-
ficient to attack them on the neediest frontiers of this
diocese. Half of them should be stationed in Chihuahua,
and detachments sent from there to San Buenaventura
and to clean up those sierras and their environs. And from
there they should keep going in toward the Gila River,
fifty leagues from the Presidio of Janos, and keep on pene-
trating as far as Zuni, the last pueblo of New Mexico.
From this point they would decide which of the following
undertakings would be most useful: whether to go on to
th,e Moquis, who are in the interior sixty leagues to the
north, or turn west to the Navahos, in order to approach
the Rio Grande de Navaho, which is said to be the head-

116. Tamaron (1937), pp. 268-273. This passage occurs in a general commentary
on the state of affairs in Sonora and the terrible ravages by the hostile Indian tribes.
The campaign against the Seris to which he refers was that of Don Gabriel Vildosola,
whose expedition left San Miguel de Horcasitas on November 7, 1761, by order of the
interim governor. Lieutenant Colonel Jose Tienda de Cuerbo.

41

42 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

water of the Colorado River, which enters California, and
there wait for the other body of the troop, who would
have begun their expedition in Sonora. Half of these 1500
infantry should pursue the Seris and would finish them
off quickly if they pursued them inflexibly, taking advantage
of the suitable seasons. And the rest of the force should
wheel to the north in search of the Apaches and others
allied with them. And the five presidios, with their cavalry,
should support the operations of these detachments. In
this way these 1500 foot soldiers would penetrate the two
Pimerias, and, after pacifying them, go up to the head-
waters of the Colorado River where the three thousand
men would be reunited. And once they were there, time
and circumstances would show them the direction to take.
And many settlers would come from this troop, which is
the second necessary means of preservation [of the frontier
provinces], after the completion of two or three campaigns
in as many years, lasting from March to the end of October ;
that is, in the cold lands, for in the hot country the whole
year would be utilized in this final experiment which I
have proposed as the most useful and efficacious one.

I stated that as a result of the last campaign I described,
which Governor don Jose Tienda de Cuerbo undertook, it
became obvious that campaigns of this kind were inadequate
for the subjection of the enemy Indians. And this is true,
because the aforesaid most recent campaign was conducted
in an extraordinary manner, that is, with a rather large
army of 426 men and with the intention of continuing it
for four months. This was the longest campaign since I
have resided in this diocese, and although it did not last
the full four months, it did go on for more than three,
and this is still the longest one of these times. Ordinary
campaigns last a month at most, with a small force.

Another example, although a rather old one, might also
be used: the campaign usually called Father Menchero's.
This took place in the year 1747. Nearly seven hundred
mounted men assembled, and, setting out from El Paso,
they went up the Rio del Norte. From the Jornada del
Muerto they turned west in search of the Gila River. They

TAMAR6N'S VISITATION 43

reached it and made some forays in those vast lands. They
discovered several Indian encampments and made some
captives. They returned toward the north and reached the
direct way to and the latitude of New Mexico. By that time
they did not know where they were. They found a trail;
they sent people to explore it, and they came out at the
pueblo of Acoma. The missionary of Acoma told me this
story, and he informed me that when Father Menchero
came there, he was with the soldiers and a captain, Don
Santiago Ruiz, who also told me about it. From there they
went to Zuni, and, because it was late in the season, they
did not go on to the Moquis. They did, indeed, leave orders
for the founding of pueblos. The Navahos were supplied
with all they needed at the expense of the royal treasury,
and these Indians lost it. The same ones came to me at
the pueblo of Laguna with the same petition for pueblos,
saying that they desired to become Christians. The Fran-
ciscan fathers informed me about the inconstancy of the
Navahos and that they always said the same thing, but
that there was no way of subjecting them to catechism.
I observed that they did not come as they should. I treated
them kindly, I exhorted them, I left orders with the mis-
sionaries to keep on trying to draw them in as best they
could. No other special fruit of that celebrated campaign
was known.

I asked for Spanish infantry, for the military who are
known here in these presidios are all cavalry. According
to the ordinance each one must have at least six horses.
Others have more, and the reserve captains maintain large
herds of horses. It is a continual nagging embarassment
to care for so many horses, which are greatly coveted by
the enemy Indians. As a result, during campaigns half
the force is diverted from the business at hand and kept
busy guarding the herd of remounts which is always taken.
The horses cannot climb the crags where the Indians assem-
ble. Infantry can. The mounted man uses a short-barreled
shotgun and a lance for arms. The former is more fre-
quently used. Its range is short, and, impeded by the shield,
reins, and the movements of the horse, most of the shots

44 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

fail to find their mark. The foot soldier would carry a
musket. It has a much greater range than arrows; with
the bayonet, it serves as a lance. Instead of the uniform
jacket, they would wear the leather jackets used here, which
arrows do not penetrate. And in this way, taking their
time, marching in two or three campaigns of nine or ten
months each, their progress will be obvious. It is understood
that each division of infantry would need some cavalry
from the presidios to reconnoitre the stopping and watering
places. In the report I cited, I gave as an example the
infantry consisting of more than a thousand men who
were sent to the province of Caracas in the year 1749 and
who traveled throughout the province, which is very exten-
sive, and entered the province of Cumana. They also reached
the Kingdom of Santa Fe, over harsher and more wooded
regions and mountains than those in this part of the world,
for here only the Sierra Madre is more difficult. As a
result that land was pacified and subdued by the said infan-
try, who were the means whereby the end for which it
was sent was accomplished.

The King maintains three foot soldiers for the amount
one mounted soldier costs him. Pasturage and watering
places for a large herd of horses are usually rare. In an
operation taking more than two months, the six horses
apiece required by ordinance would not be sufficient for
each soldier of the cavalry of this land, because of the effect
galloping has on them. Just lassoing and bridling every
day is a task that only he who has traveled a long distance
will believe. What races this first daily task costs ; for since
there is no manger, straw, or barley, they have to turn
the horses loose to look for grass, or zacate, as it is called
here, to eat. Most mornings they find that some are missing.
They make mad dashes to look for them. Some of the
other less tame horses take off suddenly. Three or four men
ride as fast as they can to intercept them. I used to have
these spectacles before my eyes for many days when we
spent the night in unpopulated areas. Infantry is free from
this tiring diversion.

According to the description they have given me, the
confusion which a dawn attack, when they want to take

TAMARON'S VISITATION 45

their enemy by surprise, in these wars creates among these
mounted soldiers is inexpressible. They make the assault
at break of day, which is why they call it a dawn attack.
They are horseless and unprepared. Their fright and fear,
because they do not know what to do, have no equal. The
foot soldier arms himself with greater facility. On several
occasions people have emphasized to me how easily these
mounted soldiers are put out of action, whether they are
killed or fall, or if the engagement begins before they are
mounted. They use spurs with disks as large as the palm
of the hand, with long points, and this impediment is
enough to entangle them.

As one example among many, in the month of November,
1759, it happened that the captain of the El Paso presidio,
Don Manuel de San Juan, was returning to his presidio
from Chihuahua. Halfway there, when they had already
made camp rather early at a place which was a little far
from water, he thought it best to go a league farther to
a better site. This was possible because there was more
than enough time to do so by daylight. Since they had
already unloaded, they saddled and the captain set out with
most of the escort. He left behind three muleteers to attend
to the loading and four soldiers to guard them. The captain
departed with his force; they reached the appointed place,
and, seeing how late in the afternoon it was now and that
there had been more than enough time for the loads to
arrive, he sent some soldiers to find out whether they were
coming. They went ; there was no sign of them ; they went
on to where they had left them. They saw all of them
stretched out, the locks of the chests and trunks removed,
and part of the clothing strewed about. Terrified, they
hastened to advise the captain, who came immediately and
found six men, four already dead and two living, but so
badly wounded that one died on the road and the other
when they reached El Paso. They had all been pierced
through by many arrows. They collected the clothing which
they had left behind [and found that the enemy] had
carried off the best, as well as the mules and horses and
one of the muleteers to help transport the booty. Later
they decided to leave him behind and gave him a heavy

46 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

thrust with a lance. He managed to bind or tie up his
wound well and stop the blood. He recovered and he was
the one who told me about everything that happened and
that the Indian attackers numbered five, and that this
number had wreaked such havoc against seven men. Seven
months later I passed by the place where so lamentable
an event had occurred. It is quite open, with no wood or
thicket, completely flat. They say that the enemy came from
some hills to the west and must not have been seen at once,
and the soldiers had not even taken their shotguns out
of their cases. This has given rise to discussion, with varying
opinions about the reason for their failure to act.

Although the case which I am about to relate, like the
one I have just told, belongs to the New Mexico branch,
because those wars resemble the ones in Sonora they are
recorded here to illustrate my point. I left New Mexico in
July of the year 1760. In December of the same year the
cordon, for they so designate the annual departure to Viz-
caya for purposes of trade which the settlers make at that
season, left. Usually five or six hundred men go. That year
there were about two hundred and no more because of fear
that the Comanches might invade the kingdom. In the
region halfway between El Paso and Chihuahua the Indian
enemies attacked them at midnight. Their numbers were
not equal to those of the cordon, but the latter took it for
granted that they were at the mercy of the Indians, and
their tribulation, fright, and confusion was as great as
possible. It was their good fortune that the Indians only
shot to frighten them, in order to make sure of their booty
from the herd of horses, which was what they were after.
They carried off most of it. When the members of the cordon
recovered from their terror, they undertook to saddle the
remaining horses in order to pursue the thieves. They
found them after dawn. When the Indians saw that they
were being overtaken, they took refuge in some crags
where the horses could not go. The Spaniards did, indeed,
succeed in recovering most of the booty, but from on high
on the rocks the Indians cried to those who followed them
and threatened to see them when they returned. If there
were infantry, they would not think themselves so safe

TAMARON'S VISITATION 47

on their rocks. These reasons seem to lead to the conclusion
that said infantry should be tried, for its success will give
complete proof. This is true of every war, for one does not
sing- victory until it is over.

My reasoning on this point has been castigated in
Mexico with the specious pretext of the conservation of
the royal exchequer, although one of my chief reasons is
its increase by safeguarding the wealth of Sonora alone.
To gain, it is necessary to spend. This is my aim, and my
chief one is the exaltation of the Holy Faith, which is the
same motive that impels our very religious Catholic mon-
archs to such enterprises, as their most just laws and royal
cedulas testify and state with extraordinary piety and holy
zeal.

The other difficulties which are contemplated will be
conquered as time goes on in the same way as in other
reductions. One of them is: What should be done with so
many Indians as there are in the places to be traversed
by the soldiers? Of these, those who are subdued should
be established in a pueblo with missionaries to teach them,
and in order to make these permanent, settlers are necessary
to help to hold them in check. It would be advisable to
remove the rebels from their native soil and take them
elsewhere by sea, in order to avoid what happened with
the Seris and many other captives who were sent to Mexico
in collars and who have returned more haughty and violent
than they went. The other difficulty is that because the
regions are so vast, there would always be many Indians
in the mountains who would escape. This is very true,
for who ever succeeded in putting doors on the field? In
time they would diminish. Wolves and other wild beasts
ravage the herds, but they do not cease to establish these
haciendas for this reason. The owners employ hunters to
pursue them, but in spite of such precautions they attack
the lambs, the cattle, and the horses. I am ready to answer
the many other recriminations of the opposition whenever
the occasion may offer, and I would try to satisfy them,
with the sole desire of facilitating this matter, the extreme
importance of which I have learned. This is the reason
why I have deliberated it at such length.

CHECKLIST OF NEW MEXICO PUBLICATIONS

By WILMA LOY SHELTON

(Continued)

ASSOCIATIONS AND INSTITUTIONS

Associated plumbing, heating and piping contractors of New
Mexico, Inc.

Established in 1917 (?) for the purpose of promoting the
education of apprentices, the encouragement of sanitary
laws, the establishment of harmonious relationships and
the betterment of the industry. Organized under the name
of Associated plumbing contractors, which was changed
to the present name on March 25, 1952.

A.P.H.P.C. News 1951-52
Issued regularly

Merchandising and domestic engineering news v. 1 — March 1953 —
monthly

Better business bureau of New Mexico.

Incorporated on Oct. 4, 1941, as a non-profit membership
corporation by a group of Albuquerque business men.
Policies are determined by a Board of directors. Bureau
services are available to the public without charge. Its
purpose is to promote accuracy in advertising, to aid
in the elimination of unfair competitive practices, to pro-
vide for an unbiased board of arbitration and to expose
fraudulent schemes.

Annual report

1949 (4) p. (JackChaney)

1950 (J. W. Grear)

Bulletin v. 1 no. 1-Oct. 25, 1941-Albuquerque, 1941 — numbering dis-
continued in August, 1944.

News letter. Sept., 1945-April, 1948. Albuquerque, 1945-48.

Facts you should know about food-freezer plans. Albuquerque (1953)
(4) p.

Facts compiled by Better business bureau. (Albuquerque, 1952) (8) p.

48

CHECKLIST 49

Carrie Tingley crippled children's hospital, Truth or Conse-
quences.

Established in 1937 and maintained by the state as an
orthopedic hospital for children.

Report

Sept. 1, 1937-June 30, 1939 28p. v. 1 (J. K. Morrison)

Sept. 1, 1939-June 30, 1941 30p. v. 2 (J. K. Morrison)

July 1, 1941-June 30, 1943 26, (3) p. v. 3 (I. V. Boldt)

New Mexico academy of science.

Established in 1916 as New Mexico association for
science, later called the New Mexico association for the
advancement of science and in 1944 became the New
Mexico academy of science.

Annual meeting . . . Abstracts of papers. 8th-9th, 14th ; 1923-24, 1929.
Albuquerque, The State University, 1924-30. 3v. (Bulletin of the
State University of New Mexico. Whole no. 116, 131, 180. Educa-
tional series, v. 3, no. 1, 3; v. 4, no. 2)

1923 has title; A scientific symposium, abstracts of papers and
addresses . . . Annual meeting; other slight variations in title.
Meetings for 1923-24 published under the association's earlier
name: New Mexico association for science.
No more published.

New Mexico association of osteopathic physicians and
surgeons.

Organized in Sept. 1928 for the purpose of promoting
the science and art of osteopathic medicine, the better-
ment of public health in New Mexico, the welfare of its
members and to further an increased fraternal relation-
ship among all osteopathic surgeons.

Bulletin Oct. 1942 — v. p. 1942 — monthly.

Dec. 1942 contains a History of osteopathy in New Mexico by
C. A. Wheelon.

The basic conscience act of New Mexico: the osteopathic practice act
of New Mexico. The constitution and by-laws of the association.
Santa Fe, 1945. (28) p.

Constitution and by-laws . . . April 26, 1952. lip. mimeo.

Rules and regulations for the New Mexico Board of osteopathic
examination and registration . . . July 26, 1951. (14) p. mimeo.

50

NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

New Mexico association on Indian affairs.

Organized in Dec. 1922 and affiliated with the Eastern
association on Indian affairs which was organized the
same year for the purpose of defeating the Bursum bill,
which would have confirmed non-Indian titles to lands
rightly belonging to the Indians. The association pro-
motes the welfare of Indians, particularly in New Mexico
and Arizona, through encouragement of arts and crafts,
education, publicity, club activities and legislation.

Annual report
Dec. 1922-1923

1924-25

1926

1927

1928

1929

1930

1931

1931

1932

1933

1934

1935

1936

1937

1938

1939

1940

19.41

1942

1943

1944

1945

1946

1947

1948

13p. (M. McKittrich, chrmn.)
28p. (M. McKittrich, chrmn.)
16p. (M. McKittrich, chrmn.)

9p. (M. B. Reebel, field nurse) typew.
5p. (M. McKittrich) typew.

8p. (M. B. Reebel, field nurse) typew.

9p. (M. S. Dietrich, chrmn.) typew.

6p. (M. S. Dietrich, chrmn.) typew.

5p. (M. S. Dietrich, chrmn.) typew.

4p. (M. S. Dietrich, chrmn.) typew.

7p. (M. S. Dietrich, chrmn.) typew.

9p. (M. S. Dietrich, chrmn.) typew.

14p. (M. S. Dietrich, chrmn.) typew.

8p. (M. S. Dietrich, chrmn.) typew.

6p. (M. S. Dietrich, chrmn.) typew.

9p. (M. S. Dietrich, chrmn.) typew.

6p. (M. S. Dietrich, chrmn.) typew.

4p. (C. Farrelly, vice-chrmn.) typew.

Bulletin

No. 1 The Pueblo land problem. Santa Fe, 1923
Digest of Report on Navajo schools Mar. 1946. 6p.

12p.

Indian Art series, no. 1-13. Santa Fe, pub. with the approval of the
Laboratory of Anthropology, 1936.
No. 1 Pueblo Indian painting. 4p.

CHECKLIST 51

No. 2 Basket making among the Indians of the Southwest, 1936.

4p.

No. 3 Indian embroidery. 1936. 4p.

No. 4 Indian dress. 1936. 4p.

No. 5 Indian pottery by the roadside. 4p.

No. 6 Navaho blanket weaving. 1936. 4p.

No. 7 Navaho silversmithing. 4p.

No. 8 Old art in new forms. 1936. 4p.

No. 9 Navaho and pueblo Indian dancing. 1936. 4p.

No. 10 Children of tradition. 4p.

No. 11 Newcomb. Symbols in sand. 4p.

No. 12 Architecture of the ancients. 4p.

No. 13 Chapman. Decorative design. 4p.

In re HR 323: A bill to authorize exploration of proposed dam sites
located on Indian lands in the State of New Mexico, July, 1943. 6p.

More about Navajo education. Nov. 1946. 5p.

The Navajo in No-man's land, by Margretta S. Dietrich. Albuquerque,

1951. p. 439-50.
Reprinted from New Mexico quarterly v. 20 no. 4.

Navajo rehabilitation program. Aug. 1948. 2p.

The Navajo today. May 1947. Ip.

The Navajo today. Aug., Nov. 1947.

The Navajos — past, present and future. Aug. 1949. 4p.

New Mexico Indians, a pocket handbook. Santa Fe, c!941. 36p.

New threat to pueblos. Oct. 1941. 4p.

News letter. Aug. 1948, Mr., Nov. 1949, Mr., Sept. 1950, Je. 1951, Feb.,
Nov. 1952, Mr., 1953.

News letters for Indians in Armed forces. Mimeo.
No. 1

2 Dec. 1, 1942. 2p.

3 Feb. 10, 1943. 4p.

4 Mr. 31, 1943. 3p.

5 Je. 29, 1943. 4p.

6 Aug. 10, 1943. 4p.

7 Sept. 30, 1943. 5p.

8 Nov. 15, 1943. 5p.

9 Jan. 1, 1944. 5p.

10 Feb. 15, 1944. 5p.

11 Apr. 1, 1944. 5p.

12 May 27, 1944. 5p.

13 Jl. 15, 1944. 6p.

14 Sept. 1, 1944. 7p.

52 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

15 Oct. 20, 1944. 8p.

16 Dec. 10, 1944. 7p.

17 Feb. 5, 1946. 6p.

18 Mr. 18, 1945. 6p.

19 May 1, 1945. 6p.

20 June 15, 1945. 8p.

21 Aug. 1, 1945. 6p.

Name was changed to Smoke signals with no. 22

Smoke signals

22 Sept. 20, 1945. 6p.

23 Nov. 20, 1945. 7p.

24 Mr. 1, 1946. 4p.
V. 2 No. 1 Feb. 1951. 3p.

2 Apr. 1951. 4p.

3 June, 1951. 8p.

4 Jl. 1951. 8p.

5 Sept. 1951. 6p.

6 Nov. 1951. 6p.

7 Christmas 1951. lip.

8 Feb. 1952. 8p.

9 Mr.-Apr. 1952. 6p.

10 May 1952. 8p.

11 Jl. 1952. 6p.

12 Sept. 1952. 7p.

13 Nov. 1952. 6p.

14 Dec. 1952. 6p.

15 Feb. 1953. 6p.

16 May 1953. 6p.

17 Jl. 1953. 4p.

18 Sept. 1953. 6p.
Discontinued

NRP, a Navajo rehabilitation program. Aug. 1948. 2p.
An open letter to Hon. John Collier. Mar. 1943. 4p.
Outline of suggestions for Indian office procedures, n.d. 3p.

Pocket handbook, New Mexico Indians, Bertha P. Dutton, editor. Santa
Fe, 1948. 96p.
An earlier edition was published in 1941.

Pocket handbook, New Mexico Indians, Bertha P. Dutton, editor. Santa
Fe, 1951. lOlp.

The protest of artists and writers against the Bursum Indian bill.
1922. Ip.

Recommendations, Nov. 1944. 4p. mimeo.
Shall we save the Navajo? April, 1947. 6p.

CHECKLIST 53

Statement of purpose and policy of New Mexico association on Indian
affairs. 4p. mimeo.

"Unless we are educated," deplorable condition of Navajo schooling.
Oct. 1945. 6p.

Urgent Navajo problems; observations and recommendations based on
a recent study by the New Mexico association on Indian affairs.
Santa Fe, 1940. 42p.
By Maria Chabot, with foreword by M. S. Dietrich.

What should be done about this. Jan. 1948. 4p.

Asylum for the deaf and dumb, Santa Fe.

Established in 1887 ; in 1923 for administrative purposes
in all matters except suits, state lands, funds and appro-
priations, the name was abbreviated to New Mexico
School for the deaf.

Report

Dec. 1894-Dec. 1896 lip. (L. M. Larson)

Jan. 1897-Dec. 1898 7p. (L. M. Larson)

Also in Message of Gov. M. A. Otero to the 33d Legislative
Assembly of New Mexico. Jan. 16, 1899. "Exhibit BB" p. 48-52.
Also in House Journal 33d. Session, Jan. 16, 1899. p. 48-52.

Jan. 1899-Dec. 1900 (L. M. Larson)

Also in Message of Gov. M. A. Otero to the 34th Legislative
Assembly of New Mexico. Jan. 21, 1901. Exhibit "2." p. 385-
396.

Dec. 1, 1900-Nov. 30, 1902 lOp.

V Also in Message of Gov. M. A. Otero to the 35th Legislative

Assembly of New Mexico. Jan. 19, 1923. Exhibit "Z." 9p.

Dec. 1, 1902-Nov. 30, 1904 6p. (Francisco Delgado)

Also in Message of Gov. M. A. Otero to the 36th Legislative
Assembly of New Mexico. Jan. 16, 1905. Exhibit "Z." 6p.

Dec. 1, 1904-Nov. 30, 1906 (S. G. Cartwright)

Also in Message of Gov. H. J. Hagerman to the 37th Legisla-
tive Assembly of New Mexico. Jan. 21, 1907. Exhibit 33. lOp.

Dec. 1, 1906-Nov. 30, 1908 22p. (W. O. Connor)

Dec. 1, 1908-Feb. 1, 1912 34p. (W. 0. Connor)

Conference of executives; report of committee on nomenclature . . .
Santa Fe, 1950. (4) p.

Information concerning the asylum. (Santa Fe, 1910) 28p.

Informe del comite a cargo de la escuela para sordos y ciegos de Nuevo
Mejico por los anos 1897 y 1898. Santa Fe, Compania Impresora
del Nuevo Mexicano, 1899. 7p.

54 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

The New Mexico asylum for the deaf and dumb, Santa Fe, W. 0. Con-
nor, Jr., superintendent, n.p.n.d. 28p.

The New Mexico school for the deaf. Santa Fe. Printed by the pupils of
the New Mexico School for the deaf. Santa Fe, 1930. (56) p.

The New Mexico progress, published by the deaf and for their inter-
ests; v. 1—; March 4, 1909—. Santa Fe, 1909—
published monthly during the school year.

v. 1-19 1909-27 each issue 4 pages with total of 32 pages to vol.
v. 20 1928-29 each issue 8 pages with total of 64 pages to vol.
v. 21 1929-date each issue 16 pages with total of 144 pages to
vol.

Yahraes, Herbert and Dixie. Does swimming cause deafness. Santa Fe,
The New Mexico school for the deaf, c!950. 4p. (Reprinted with
permission of The Woman's home companion and the authors)

Lewis, Arthur H. The world's safest drivers. Santa Fe, New Mexico
progress press, n.d. 4p. (Ford times March, 1948; Reprinted with
permission of Ford Motor company)

Stearns, Myron. Will your child be deaf? Santa Fe, The New Mexico
school for the deaf, 1949. lip.

Thompson, Helen. The importance of reading in the education of the
deaf. Santa Fe, New Mexico school for the deaf, 1950. 7p. (Re-
printed from the Colorado school for the deaf and the blind)

Wolf, Edna L. Suggestions for parents of the preschool deaf child.
Santa Fe, New Mexico school for the deaf, 1945. 6p. (E & S)

New Mexico automobile dealers association.

Established in 1929 to encourage sound business policies
and practices, to facilitate the exchange of ideas among
its members, to foster constructive and progressive legis-
lation and to cooperate with all those directly or indi-
rectly engaged in the motor vehicle industry.

Automotive data book.

1951. 16p.

1952. 40p.

1953. 51p.

Briefs. Jan. 1950 — Albuquerque, 1950 — mimeo.
Issued the 1st and 16th of each month.

Advisory bulletin, no. 1 — 1951 — Albuquerque, 1951 —
Irregular.

CHECKLIST

New Mexico bankers association.

55

Organized Feb. 15-16, 1906, in order to promote the gen-
eral welfare and usefulness of banks and to secure uni-
formity of action, together with practical benefits derived
from discussion of subjects affecting banks.

Constitution and By-laws as amended at Roswell, May 7, 1948. 8p.

Proceedings

of the

annual convention

Sept.

25-26,

1906

Albuquerque

51p.

V.

1

(C.

N.

Blackwell)

1907-08

No convention

Sept.

15-16,

1909

Santa Fe

41p.

V.

2

(R.

J.

Palen)

1910-12

No convention

Nov.

12-13,

1913

Albuquerque

60p.

V.

3

(E.

A.

Gaboon)

Nov.

9-10,

1914

Albuquerque

82p.

V.

4

(D.

T.

Hoskins)

Oct.

4- 5,

1915

Roswell

84p.

V.

5

(J.

B.

Herndon)

Nov.

14-15,

1916

Albuquerque

167p.

V.

6

(J.

Corbett)

Sept.

11-12,

1917

Las Vegas

V.

7

(H.

B.

Jones)

Sept.

9-10,

1918

Santa Fe

V.

8

(W.

A. Murray)

Sept.

8-9,

1919

Albuquerque

V.

9

(J.

J.

Jaffa)

Sept.

10-11,

1920

Albuquerque

146p.

V.

10

(G.

L.

Ulrich)

Sept.

9-10,

1921

Santa Fe

104p.

V.

11

(F.

R.

Coon)

Sept.

22-23,

1922

Las Vegas

lOlp.

V.

12

(C.

W.

Harrison)

Sept.

7-8,

1923

Cloudcroft

80p.

V.

13

(C.

S.

White)

Sept.

12-13,

1924

Albuquerque

120p.

V.

14

(T.

H.

Rixey)

Sept.

21-22,

1925

Las Cruces

88p.

V.

15

(W.

A

. Losey)

Oct.

22-23,

1926

Roswell

79p.

V.

16

(L.

C.

Becker)

Oct.

20-22,

1927

Deming

lOlp.

V.

17

(E.

M. Brickley)

May

25-26,

1928

Tucumcari

106p.

V.

18

(A. H. Gerdeman)

April

26-27,

1929

Las Vegas

112p.

V.

19

(W.

A. Foyil)

May

16-17,

1930

Raton

95p.

V.

20

(H.

L.

Boyd)

April

24-25,

1931

Carlsbad

112p.

V.

21

(G.

K

. Richard-

son)

May

13-14,

1932

Taos

88p.

V.

22

(P.

B.

McSain)

Sept.

25,

1933

Albuquerque

31p.

V.

23

(A.

F.

Jones)

April

20-21,

1934

Albuquerque

61p.

V.

24

(J.

B.

Reed)

May

17-18,

1935

Roswell

40p.

V.

25

(Floyd

Childers)

May

15-16,

1936

Raton

48p.

V.

26

(S.

A.

Jones)

April

23-24,

1937

Santa Fe

62p.

V.

27

(H.

H.

Aull)

June

3-5,

1938

Gallup

47p.

V.

28

(P.

A.

F. Walter)

April

28-29,

1939

Clovis

46p.

V.

29

(A.

E.

Huntsing-

er)

May

17-18,

1940

Albuquerque

52p.

V.

30

(W.

J.

White)

April

17-19,

1941

Lordsburg

72p.

V.

31

(G.

L.

Emmons)

May

21-23,

1942

Taos

81p.

V.

32

(J.

H.

A skins)

May

8,

1943

Albuquerque

32p.

V.

33

(J. E. Robertson)

56 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

April 28-29, 1944 Albuquerque 51p. v. 34 (Gale Carson)
1945 No convention

May

17-18,

1946

Santa Fe

67p.

V.

35

(R.

T.

Spence)

March

27-29,

1947

Grand Canyon

47p.

V.

36

(C.

K.

Brasher)

May

6- 8,

1948

Roswell

70p.

V.

37

(0.

M.

Love)

April

7- 9,

1949

Albuquerque

74p.

V.

38

(G.

L.

Rogers)

May

26-27,

1950

Albuquerque

98p.

V.

39

(G.

H.

Walden)

May

11-12,

1951

Santa Fe

lOlp.

V.

40

(H.

W.

Moore)

April

18-19,

1952

Carlsbad

71p.

T.

41

(F.

H.

Chilcote)

Titles varies:

1933-34 Condensed Report of the annual convention;

1935-40 Reports and Business Session of annual convention.
1941 contains Constitution and By-laws as amended April 19, 1941.

New Mexico cattle growers association.

The association was first known as the Cattle theft asso-
ciation organized in 1865. On Jan. 15, 1881 the South-
western Stockman's association was formed at Silver
City for the purpose of mutual benefit and protection.
In April, 1884 the Central New Mexico Cattle growers
association was founded at Albuquerque to combat cattle
thieves; in March 1886 the Central association was
disbanded. In May 1886 the Sierra county cattle and
horse protection association was organized at Hillsboro.
Prior to 1914 many small organizations existed. In 1914
the Grant county and Southwestern cattle and horse
protective association were reorganized under the title
of New Mexico cattle and horse protective association.
In 1915 the name was changed to N. M. Cattle and horse
growers association; on March 16, 1929 the name was
changed to New Mexico cattle growers association. Its
objects are to promote the welfare and business interests
of the cattlemen of the state.

Minutes of meetings of the board. Nov. 17, 1914 — quarterly typw.

Quarterly bulletin on the conditions of range, water and cattle through-
out New Mexico, v. 1-58, May 1923-Aug. 1937.
Superseded by New Mexico Stockman.

Proceedings of the . . . annual meeting, v. 1 — 1915 —

Silver City, Apr. 2-3, 1915, 3p. v. 1 (C. Glenn), typw.
Deming, Feb. 22-23, 1916, 6p. v. 2 (C. Glenn), typw.

CHECKLIST 57

Albuquerque, Mr. 20-22, 1917, v. 3 (W. R. Morley), typw.

Las Vegas, Mr. 12-14, 1918, 148p. v. 4 (W. R. Morley) , typw.
1919, v. 5 (V. Culberson) , typw.

Roswell, Mr. 29-31, 1920, 126p. v. 6 (V. Culberson) , typw.

Albuquerque, Mr. 29-31, 1921, 57p. v. 7 (T. E. Mitchell), typw.

Las Vegas, Mr. 20-21, 1922, 140p. v. 8 (T. E. Mitchell), typw.

Las Vegas, Mr. 16-18, 1923, 88p. v. 9 (H. L. Hodge), typw.

Albuquerque, Mr. 25, 1924, 92p. v. 10 (H. L. Hodge), typw.

Santa Fe, Mr. 23-24, 1925, 53p. v. 11 (C. M. O'Donel), in Quarterly
Bulletin, May 25, #9

Albuquerque, Mr. 15-16, 1926, unp. v. 12 (C. M. O'Donel), in Quar.
Bull. #12

Albuquerque, Feb. 7-8, 1927, unp. v. 13 (T. P. Talle), in Quar.
Bull. Feb. '27, #16

Las Vegas, Feb. 27-28, 1928, v. 14 (T. P. Talle), in Quar. Bull.
May '28, #21

Roswell, Mr. 15-16, 1929, v. 15 (T. A. Spencer), in Quar. Bull.
May '29, #25

Albuquerque, Mr. 25-26, 1930, v. 16 (T. A. Spencer), in Quar.
Bull. May '30, #29

Las Vegas, Mr. 3-4, 1931, v. 17 (R. Royal), in Quar. Bull. May '31,
#33

Carlsbad, Mr. 4-5, 1932, v. 18 (R. Royal), in Quar. Bull. May '32,
#37

Lovington, Dec. 3, 1933, v. 19 (A. K. Mitchell), in Quar. Bull.

Albuquerque, Sept. 24, 1934, v. 20 in Quar. Bull.

Roswell, Mr. 25, 1935, v. 21 (L. S. Evans), in Quar. Bull. May '35,
#49

Silver City, Mr. 6-7, 1936, v. 22 (L. S. Evans), in Quar. Bull. May
'36, #53

Raton, Mr. 26-27, 1937, v. 23 (A. D. Brownfield), in Quar. Bull.
May '37, #57

Santa Fe, Mr. 23-24, 1938, v. 24 (A. D. Brownfield), N. M. Stock-
man, v. 3 no. 4, Apr. '38, p. 5, 10-11

Clovis, Mr. 27-28, 1939, v. 25 (0. M. Lee), N. M. Stockman, v. 4
no. 4, Apr. '39, p. 2-11

Gallup, Mr. 18-19, 1940, v. 26 (C. W. Jackson), N. M. Stockman,
v. 5 no. 3, Mr. '40, p. 1-2, 12-17

Albuquerque, Mr. 24-25, 1941, v. 27 (C. W. Jackson), N. M. Stock-
man, v. 6 no. 4, Mr. '41, p. 1-9, 28-29

Albuquerque, Mr. 7, 1942, v. 28 (Tom Clayton), N. M. Stockman,
v. 7 no. 3, Mr. '42, p. 1-9

Albuquerque, Mr. 12-13, 1943, v. 29 (Tom Clayton), N. M. Stock-
man, v. 8 no. 3, Mr. '43, p. 1-8, 20

Albuquerque, Mr. 21-22, 1944, v. 30 (E. G. Hayward), N. M.
Stockman, v. 9 no. 4, Apr. '44, p. 1-3, 8-11

58 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

Albuquerque, Mr. 8-9, 1945, v. 31 (E. G. Hayward), N. M. Stock-
man, v. 10 no. 3, Mr. '45, p. 4, 6, 43-44 (Executive board meet-
ing; held no convention)

Albuquerque, Mr. 19-20, 1946, v. 32 (E. G. Hayward), N. M. Stock-
man, v. 11 no. 4, Apr. '46, p. 4-24

Albuquerque, Mr. 9-11, 1947, v. 33 (G. A. Godfrey) , N. M. Stock-
man, v. 12 no. 3, Mr. '47, p. 34-49

Albuquerque, Mr. 7-9, 1948, v. 34 (G. A. Godfrey), N. M. Stock-
man, v. 13 no. 3, Mr. '48, p. 6-14

Albuquerque, Mr. 27-29, 1949, v. 35 (G. W. Evans), N. M. Stock-
man, v. 14 no. 4, Apr. '49, p. 8-25

Albuquerque, Mr. 26-28, 1950, v. 36 (G. W. Evans), N. M. Stock-
man, v. 15 no. 4, Apr. '50, p. 8-19

Albuquerque, March 25-27, 1951, v. 37 (Roy Forehand), N. M.
Stockman, v. 16 no. 4, Apr. 1951, p. 6-14, 65-66

Albuquerque, March 23-25, 1952, v. 38 (Roy Forehand), N. M.
Stockman, v. 17 no. 4, April, 1952, p. 6-10

Albuquerque, March 29-31, 1953, v. 39 (Ed. Heringa), N. M. Stock-
man, v. 39 no. 4, April, 1953, p. 9-13, 83

Title varies; 1921, summary of proceedings; 1928, v. 14-date sum-
marized in N. M. Stockman

Annual report of the secretary and treasurer . . .
Feb. 29, 1916-Mr. 17, 1917, 20p.
Mr. 17, 1917-Mr. 1, 1918, 6p.

Monthly news letter of the N. M. cattle and horse grower's associa-
tion . . .

v. 1-2, July, 1916-1917

From v. 2 #1, Apr. 24, 1917, news letter "was to be published as
occasion may arise."
v. 2 #1 contains Resolutions of 1917 convention

New Mexico stockman, v. 1- 1937- Albuquerque, 1937-

formerly El Borroguero-(The sheep grower) published monthly
by N. M. wool growers, v. 1-5, 1933-37.

Resolution passed ... at annual convention.
Las Vegas, Mr. 20-21, 1922 8p. v. 8
Las Vegas, Mr. 16-18, 1923 8p. v. 9
Albuquerque, Mr. 25, 1924 8p. v. 10
Santa Fe, Mr. 23-24, 1925 7p. v. 11
Albuquerque, Mr. 15-16, 1926 8p. v. 12
Albuquerque, Feb. 7- 8, 1927 12p. v. 13
Las Vegas, Feb. 27-28, 1928 lip. v. 14
Roswell, Mr. 15-16, 1929 lOp. v. 15

CHECKLIST 59

New Mexico conference of social welfare.

Established in 1951 for the purpose of stimulating inter-
est in social problems and conditions, to recommend and
further social legislation and to work for unified coordi-
nation and planning.

Proceedings

June 7-9, 1951, Albuquerque. 63p. mimeo.
June 4-6, 1952, Albuquerque. 70p. mimeo.
June 4-6, 1953, Albuquerque. 32p. mimeo.

Program

Annual meeting
1953 (8) p.

Constitution. (Albuquerque, 1953) 3p. mimeo.

Conference on educational problems in the Southwest.

Committee reports of the Conference on educational problems in the
Southwest, with special reference to the educational problems in
Spanish speaking communities, held at Santa Fe, New Mexico,
Aug. 19-24, 1943, under the auspices of the University of New
Mexico, New Mexico Highlands University, the Coordinator of
Inter- American affairs. (Santa Fe, 1943) (1), 26p. mimeo.

New Mexico congress of parents and teachers.

Organized on May 7, 1915 to promote child welfare in the
home, the school and the community.

New Mexico parent teacher, v. 1-4, Nov. 1931-Nov. 1935. v. p. 1931-35.

Bulletin, v. p. 1936- irregular mimeo.

1938, 1942 called N. M. Parent Teacher convention bulletin

History of the New Mexico Congress of Parents and Teachers ; history
v. 1, 1915-1948 compiled by Mrs. P. G. Donaldson, historian, n.p.n.d.
74p.

New Mexico credit service co.

New Mexico today v. 1
monthly; irregular
Ceased publication with v. 2 no. 1 (June, 1941?)

60 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

New Mexico educational association.

Organized in 1886 to elevate the profession of teaching,
secure effective cooperation of all agencies for improving
schools, and to promote educational interests of the
state.

Journal of proceedings

Santa Fe, Dec. 28-30, 1886 v. 1 (W. H. Ashley)

Las Vegas, Dec. 1887 v. 2 (R. W. D. Bryan)

Albuquerque, Dec. 1888 v. 3 (C. E. Hodgin)

Las Cruces, (no meeting) 1889 v. 4 (J. P. Owen)

Albuquerque, Dec. 1890 v. 5 (Hiram Hadley)

Santa Fe, Dec. 1891 v. 6 (Elmore Chase)

Las Vegas, Dec. 1892 v. 7 (C. E. Hodgin)

Albuquerque, Dec. 1893 v. 8 (G. S. Ramsay)

Albuquerque, Dec. 1894 v. 9 (Geo. Selby)

Albuquerque, Dec. 1895 v. 10 (R. H. Theilmann)

Socorro, Dec. 1896 v. 11 (J. A. Wood)

Albuquerque, Dec. 1897 v. 12 (D. M. Richards)

Las Vegas, Dec. 1898 v. 13 (C. M. Light)

Santa Fe, Dec. 1899 v. 14 (C. T. Jordan)

Santa Fe, Dec. 1900 v. 15 (C. L. Herrick)

Albuquerque, Dec. 26-28, 1901 v. 16 (Hiram Hadley)

Las Vegas, Dec. 22-24, 1902 v. 17 (M. E. Hickey)

Santa Fe, Dec. 1903 v. 18 (Luther Foster)

Silver City, Dec. 1904 v. 19 (A. B. Stroup)

Albuquerque, Dec. 26-28, 1905 v. 20 (W. G. Tight)

Minutes and papers read for 1905 in N. M. Journal of educ. v. 2

p. 2-18, Jan. '30, 1906.

Las Vegas Dec. 26-28, 1906 v. 21 (W. H. Decker)
"Echoes from the association meeting" and resolutions, 1906, in

N. M. journal of educ. v. 3 p. 10-15, Feb. 15, 1907.
* Santa Fe, Dec. 26-27, 1907, 96p. v. 22 (R. R. Larkin)
Albuquerque, Dec. 28-30, 1908, v. 23 (C. O. Fisher)
Proceedings, 1908 in N. M. journal of educ. v. 5 p. 10-65, Feb. 15,

1909

Roswell, Dec. 28-30, 1909, v. 24 (W. E. Garrison)
Minutes, 1909 in N. M. journal of educ. v. 6 p. 6-16, Feb. 15, 1910
Las Vegas, Dec. 27-29, 1910, v. 25 (J. E. Clark)
Santa Fe, Nov. 16-18, 1911, v. 26 (J. S. Hofer)
Proceedings, 1911 in N. M. journal of educ. v. 8 p. 3-71, Jan. 1912
Albuquerque, Nov. 6-9, 1912, 166p. v. 27 (W. A. Poore)

* First published proceedings.

CHECKLIST 61

Albuquerque, Nov. 24-26, 1913, 32p. v. 28, (W. B. McFarland)
Albuquerque, Nov. 21-25, 1914, 44p. v. 29 (C. C. Hill)
Albuquerque, Nov. 20-24, 1915, 45p. v. 30 (J. H. Vaughan)
Santa Fe, Nov. 27-29, 1916, 45p. v. 31 (John Milne)

(Bulletin v. 3 #4)
Santa Fe, Nov. 24-28, 1917, 23p. v. 32 (F. H. H. Roberts)

(Bulletin v. 3 #5)

Albuquerque, Dec. 26-28, 1918, v. 33 (I. L. Eckles) (no meeting)
Albuquerque, Nov. 22-26, 1919, v. 34 (I. L. Eckles)
Albuquerque, Nov. 20-24, 1920, v. 35 (J. H. Wagner)
Albuquerque, Nov. 19-23, 1921, v. 36 (J. M. Bickley)
Albuquerque, Nov. 27-29, 1922, v. 37 (Josephine Lockard)
East Las Vegas, Nov. 26-28, 1923, v. 38 (R. L. White)
Albuquerque, Nov. 6-8, 1924, v. 39 (H. L. Kent)
Albuquerque, Nov. 5-7, 1925, v. 40 (D. N. Pope)
Santa Fe, Nov. 4-6, 1926, v. 41 (Frank Carroon)
Albuquerque, Nov. 3-5, 1927, v. 42 (E. A. White)
Albuquerque, Oct. 31-Nov. 3, 1928, v. 43 (A. 0. Bowden)
Albuquerque, Oct. 31-Nov. 2, 1929, 80p. v. 44 (J. F. Zimmerman)
Albuquerque, Nov. 5-8, 1930, v. 45 (C. B. Redick)
Santa Fe, Nov. 4-7, 1931, v. 46 (Raymond Huff)
Roswell, Nov. 2-5, 1932, v. 47 (S. P. Nanninga)
Albuquerque, Nov. 1-4, 1933, 317p. v. 48 (G. L. Fenlon) typw.
Santa Fe, Oct. 31-Nov. 3, 1934, v. 49 (C. L. Rose)
Albuquerque, Oct. 30-Nov. 2, 1935, v. 50 (G. I. Sanchez)
Albuquerque, Oct. 28-31, 1936, v. 51 (J. R. McCollum)
Albuquerque, Nov. 3-6, 1937, v. 52 (J. W. Wilferth)
Roswell, Oct. 26-29, 1938, v. 53 (M. J. Kennedy)
Albuquerque, Oct. 25-28, 1939, v. 54 (E. D. Martin)
Santa Fe, Oct. 23-26, 1940, v. 55 (W. G. Donley)
Albuquerque, Oct. 22-25, 1941, v. 56 (J. P. Steiner)
Albuquerque, Oct. 22-24, 1942, v. 57 (Tom Wiley)

(Limited to Council meeting)

Albuquerque, Oct. 21-23, 1943, v. 58 (Tom Wiley)
Albuquerque, Oct. 25-28, 1944, v. 59 (Tom Mayfield)
*No state convention held 1945 (W. E. Kerr)

District meetings held

Albuquerque, Nov. 25-27, 1946, v. 59 (W. E. Kerr)
Albuquerque, Oct. 22-25, 1947, v. 60 (J. C. Miller)
Albuquerque, Oct. 28-30, 1948, v. 61 (Mary Watson)
Albuquerque, Oct. 27-29, 1949, v. 62 (J. C. Pannell)
Albuquerque, Oct. 25-28, 1950, v. 63 (Charles Wood)
Albuquerque, Oct. 23-26, 1951, v. 64 (M. G. Hunt)
Albuquerque, Oct. 22-25, 1952, v. 65 (Mary Foraker)
Albuquerque, Oct. 28-31, 1953, v. 65 (Travis Stovall)

62 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

Program of the annual meeting

1886 2p. v. 1 1920 32p. v. 35

1887 v. 2 1921 22p. v. 36

1888 v. 3 1922 v. 37

1889 v. 4 1923 32p. v. 38

1890 v. 5 1924 18p. v. 39

1891 v. 6 1925 32p. v. 40

1892 v. 7 1926 (22) p. v. 41

1893 v. 8 1927 (24) p. v. 42

1894 v. 9 1928 27p. v. 43

1895 v. 10 1929 32p. v. 44

1896 v. 11 1930 32p. v. 45

1897 v. 12 1931 32p. v. 46

1898 v. 13 1932 40p. v. 47

1899 v. 14 1933 40p. v. 48

1900 v. 15 1934 40p. v. 49

1901 (4) p. v. 16 1935 40p. v. 50

1902 v. 17 1936 40p. v. 51

1903 v. 18 1937 43p. v. 52

1904 v. 19 1938 32p. v. 53

1905 (24) p. v. 20 1939 35p. v. 54

1906 v. 21 1940 32p. v. 55

1907 (14) p. v. 22 1941 v. 56

1908 24p. v. 23 1942 v. 57

1909 (12)p. v. 24 1943 v. 58

1910 (15) p. v. 25 1944 20p. v. 59

1911 (19) p. v. 26 1945-no state convention

1912 24p. v. 27 1946 16p. v. 59

1913 28p. v. 28 1947 24p. v. 60

1914 16p. v. 29 1948 28p. v. 61

1915 23p. v. 30 1949 32p. v. 62

1916 v. 31 1950 32p. v. 63

1917 24p. v. 32 1951 32p. v. 64

1918 v. 33 1952 35p. v. 65

1919 20p. v. 34 1953 40p. v. 66

Title varies:

Program of annual meeting
Official program
Handbook and program
Annual convention

Constitution. . . Santa Fe, n.d. lOp.

Constitution, Jan. 1, 1952 (in N. M. School review mid-monthly bulle-
tin v. 1 no. 5, Jan. 15, 1952. 8p.)

Costs and methods of financing public education in New Mexico by
J. E. Seyfried. Santa Fe, 1932. 87p.

CHECKLIST 63

Education for all New Mexico's children; amplification of the plat-
form of the N.M.E.A. Santa Fe, 1948. 17p.

Handbook for local associations of the New Mexico education; a book-
let of information and guidance; Jan. 1946. Santa Fe, 1946. 20p.

Handbook for local associations; a guide to action; March, 1948.
Santa Fe, 1948. 30p.

New Mexico journal of education, v.p. Jan. 1905-Nov. 1920. v. 1-17
no 2

New Mexico school review; official organ of the New Mexico education
association, v. p. The association, July 1921- v. 1-

New Mexice school review mid monthly bulletin v. 1-Sept. 15, 1951-
Santa Fe, The association, 1951-

NMEA reporter v. 1 nos. 1-9, Sept. 1952-May, 1953. Santa Fe, 1952-53.
Discontinued

A proposal for the re-organization of the State department of educa-
tion, to secure a sound business administration of the New Mexico
public school system. (Santa Fe, 1948) 16p.

A sound business administration for the New Mexico public school
system Santa Fe, 1950. 20p.

Teacher education in New Mexico; the El Rito conference, a report
and discussion outline. Santa Fe, 1950. 16p.

Working together at the local level; 1951 handbook. Santa Fe, 1951.
(8)p.

New Mexico folklore society.

Established in 1931; reorganized in 1946. Its purpose
is to collect and preserve the folklore of the state.

New Mexico folklore record; annual publication of the New Mexico
folklore society, v. 1- 1946/47-
Albuquerque, c!947-

New Mexico funeral directors and embalmers association.

Organized in 1908 to secure harmony in business, to
disseminate correct principles of business management
and methods for maintaining high professional ideals of
public service.

Yearbook

Las Vegas, June 10-11, 1947. 65p. v. 40 (J. H. Hanlon)
Roswell, June 4-5, 1948. 74p. v. 41 (Ernest Wheeler)
v. 1-39, 42-46, 1908-1946, 1949-1953 not published

64 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

New Mexico funeral directors and embalmers association. Las Vegas,
Feb. 24, 1943. 2p.

Program

Albuquerque, June 13-16, 1944. (8) p. v. 37 (D. M. Talmage)
Santa Fe, June 12-13, 1950. (8) p. v. 43 (L. E. Handlin, Jr.)
Albuquerque, June 13-14, 1952. (8) p. v. 45 (L. M. Westrum)
Carlsbad, June 19-20, 1953. v. 46 (S. H. Curtis)

New Mexico geological society.

Established April 12, 1947 to further the geology of the
state.

Guidebook on the San Juan Basin, N. M. and Colorado. First field
conference, Nov. 3, 4, 5, 1950. (Albuquerque, 1950) 153p. Com-
piled and edited by Vincent C. Kelley.

Guidebook of the south and west sides of the San Juan Basin, N. M.
and Arizona. Second Field conference. Oct. 12-13-14, 1951. (Albu-
querque, 1951) 167p.

Guidebook of the Rio Grande country; Central New Mexico. Third
field conference, Oct. 3-4-5, 1952. (Albuquerque, 1952) 126p.

New Mexico good roads association.

Proceedings, v. 1-5. 1910-1913

Proceedings of the fourth annual meeting of the N. M. good roads
assoc. and the First convention of the State association of highway
officials; constitution & by-laws. Albuquerque, May 8th and 9th,
1913. 128p.

Fifth Annual meeting of the N. M. good roads assoc., N. M. divi-
sion of National highways assoc. including the second annual
meeting of the N. M. association of highway officials, Santa Fe,
July 30, 31, Aug. 1, 1914.

New Mexico high school activities association.

Established in 1922 to supervise all extra curricular
activities of the high schools of the state. Called New
Mexico high school athletic association from 1922 to
March 1953.

N. M. High school activities association bulletin. Sept. 1950-
Albuquerque, 1950-
monthly

Revised constitution and by-laws, 1935; effective Dec. 1, 1934 to Dec. 1,
1935. 29p.

CHECKLIST 65

Highway Traffic advisory committee.

State capitol transportation survey. Santa Fe, 1942. 5p. (mimeo)

Highway users conference.

Review of highway taxing, borrowing, spending trends in New Mexico ;
war economy program urged in light of facts disclosed by survey.
Albuquerque, n.d. 24p.

New Mexico Historical society.

For official list of publications see

List of publications Jan. 1949 : School of American research, Historical
society of New Mexico, Laboratory of anthropolgy. Santa Fe
(1949) 19p.

New Mexico horticulture society.
Incorporated in 1886.

Annual fairs; premium list and regulations. Santa Fe, New Mexican
printing co., 1897-99.
Sept. 7-9, 1897, 16p. v. 1 (L. B. Prince)
Sept. 7-9, 1898, 20p. v. 2 (L. B. Prince)
Oct. 4-6, 1899, 23p. v. 3 (L. B. Prince)

First annual report of New Mexico horticulture society for the year
1897; certificate of incorporation and by-laws. Santa Fe, New
Mexican printing co., 1898. 24p.

Industrial school.

Established 1903 at El Rito ; moved to Springer 1909.

Report

June 17, 1903-Dec. 16, 1904.

In Appendix to Message of M. A. Otero, governor of N. M.,
to the legislative assembly Jan. 16, 1905. Exhibit A7 5p.

Report of the Board of trustees and superintendent to the governor.
"July 2, 1913-Nov. 30, 1914, v. 1-2 21p. 1-2 fiscal yr. (J. D. McPike)
Dec. 1, 1914-Nov. 30, 1915, v. 3 3rd fiscal yr. (J. D. McPike)
Dec. 1, 1915-Nov. 30, 1916, v. 4 25p. 4th fiscal yr. (J. D. Mc-
Pike)
July 1, 1929-June 30, 1930, v. 18 (12) p. 18th fiscal yr. (Jaffa

Miller)

July 1, 1930-June 30, 1934, v. 19-22 (22) p. 19-20 fiscal yr. (Jaffa
Miller)

66 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

July 1, 1934-June 30, 1935

July 1, 1935-June 30, 1936, v. 24.13p. 24th fiscal yr. (J. C. Peck)
July 1, 1936-June 30, 1938, v. 25-26 19p. 25-26 fiscal yr. (J. C.
Peck)

1903-1929 known as Reform school
*1913-1914 includes History of the establishment of the N. M.

Reform school p. (3)
Boys' journal; vol. no. 1, June, 1915. Springer, 1915. (4) p.

Insane Asylum, Las Vegas.
Completed March 1, 1892.

Report of the directors, medical superintendent, steward and matron.
May 1, 1893-Nov. 1, 1894, 78p. v. 1
Nov. 1, 1894-Nov. 1, 1896, 68p. v. 2
Nov. 1, 1896-Nov. 1, 1898, 62p. v 3

Also in Message of Gov. M. A. Otero to the 33d Legislative

Assembly Jan. 16, 1899. "Exhibit GG" p. 120-168.
Dec. 15, 1898-Nov. 1, 1900, 23p. v. 4

Also in Message of Gov. M. A. Otero to the 34th Legislative

Assembly Jan. 21, 1901. Exhibit "8" p. 5-5-529.
Nov. 30, 1900-Dec. 1, 1901

29p. v. 5 (in one volume)
Nov. 30, 1901-Dec. 1, 1902

Also in Message of Gov. M. A. Otero to the 35th Legislative

Assembly Jan. 19, 1903. Exhibit "&" 47p.
Nov. 30, 1902-Dec. 1, 1904, 39p. v. 6

Also in Message of Gov. M. A. Otero to the 36th Legislative

Assembly Jan. 16, 1905. Exhibit "ZZ" 7p.
Dec. 1, 1904-Nov. 30, 1905, 48p. (H. M. Smith)

Also in Message of Gov. H. J. Hagerman to the 37th Legislative

Assembly, Jan. 21, 1907. Exhibit 32. 48p.
Nov. 30, 1904-Dec. 1, 1906 34p. v. 7 (H. M. Smith)
Nov. 30, 1906-Dec. 1, 1908, 45p. (H. M. Smith)
Nov. 30, 1908-Dec. 1, 1911, 59p. (H. M. Smith)
Nov. 30, 1911-Dec. 1, 1914, 78p. (W. P. Mills)
Dec. 1, 1912-Nov. 30, 1914, 78p. 1-2 fis. yrs. (W. P. Mills)
Dec. 1, 1914-Nov. 30, 1916, 61p. 3-4 fis. yrs. (W. P. Mills)
Dec. 1, 1916-Nov. 30, 1918, 47p. 5-6 fis. yrs. (W. R. Tipton)
Dec. 1, 1918-Nov. 30, 1920; 7-8 fis. yrs.

Dec. 1. 1922-Nov. 30, 1924, 50p. 11-12 fis. yrs. (F. H. Crail)
July 1, 1926-June 30, 1928, 58p. 15-16 fis. yrs. (H. M. Smith)
July 1, 1928-June 30, 1930, 47p. 17-18 fis. yrs. (H. M. Smith)
July 1, 1930-June 30, 1932, 47p. 19-20 fis. yrs. (A. B. Stewart)
July 1, 1932-June 30, 1934, 43p. 21-22 fis. yrs. (A. B. Stewart)
July 1, 1934-June 30, 1936, 44p. 23-24 fis. yrs. (A. B. Stewart)

CHECKLIST 67

July 1, 1936-June 30, 1938, 47p. 25-26 fis. yrs. (A. B. Stewart)
July 1, 1938-June 30, 1940, 51p. 27-28 fis. yrs. (W. C. Curphey)

Informe del asilo de dementes de Nuevo Mejico, finalizando Nov. 1,
1898, Santa Fe, Compania Impresora del Nuevo Mexicano, 1899.
54p.

New Mexico Institute of mining and technology, Socorro.
State bureau of mines and mineral resources.

Established in 1927 as a department of the school of
mines ; assists in all ways the development of New Mexico
mineral resources by publishing bulletins, circulars and
reports on geology, mineral deposits and oil and gas,
by answering inquiries relating to mineral production,
by identifying rock and mineral specimens, by maintain-
ing a library and a collection of mineral specimens and
by exchanging information with federal and state agen-
cies toward advancing the development of the state's
mineral industry. Name was changed from State bureau
of mines and mineral resources to Institute of mining
and technology in March 1951.

Bulletin. No. 1- Socorro, 1915-

No. 1 The mineral resources of New Mexico, by F. A. Jones.

1915. 77p.

No. 2 Manganese in New Mexico, by E. H. Wells. 1918. 85p.
No. 3 Oil and gas possibilities of the Puertecito district, Socorro

and Valencia counties, New Mexico, by E. H. Wells.

1919. 47p.
No. 4 Fluorspar in New Mexico, by W. D. Johnston, Jr. 1928.

128p.
No. 5 Geologic literature of New Mexico, by T. P. Wootton.

1930. 127p.

No. 6 Mining and mineral laws of New Mexico, by C. H. Fow-
ler. 1930. 86p.
No. 7 Geologic literature of New Mexico, by T. P. Wootton.

1930. 178p.
No. 8 The ore deposits of Socorro county, New Mexico, by

S. G. Lasky. 1932. 139p.
No. 9 The Oil and gas resources of New Mexico, by D. E.

Winchester, 1933. 223p.
No. 10 The geology and ore deposits of Sierra county, New

Mexico, by G. T. Harley. 1934. 220p.

68 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

No. 11 The geology of the Organ mountains, by K. C. Dunham.

1935. 272p.
No. 12 The non-metallic mineral resources of New Mexico and

their economic features, by S. B. Talmage and T. P.

Wootton. 1937. 159p.
No. 13 Geology and economic features of the Pegmatites of

Taos and Rio Arriba counties, New Mexico, by Evan Just.

1937. 73p.
No. 14 Some New Mexico fusulinidae, by C. E. Needham. 1937.

88p.
No. 15 The geology and ore deposits of northeastern New

Mexico, by G. T. Harley. 1914. 104p.
No. 16 Mining, oil, and mineral laws of New Mexico, by C. H.

Fowler and S. B. Talmage. 1941. 244p.
No. 17 Pennsylvania system in New Mexico, by M. L. Thompson.

1942. 92p.
No. 18 The oil and gas resources of New Mexico; 2d ed. Comp.

by R. L. Bates. 1942. 320p.
No. 19 Manganiferous iron-ore deposits near Silver City, New

Mexico, by L. P. Entwistle. 1944. 72p.
No. 20 Stratigraphy of the Colorado group, upper Cretaceous, in

northern New Mexico, by C. H. Rankin. 1944.
No. 21 Fluorspar resources of New Mexico, by H. E. Rothrock,

C. H. Johnson, and A. D. Hahn. 1946. (supersedes Bull.

4)
No. 22 Geologic literature of New Mexico through 1944, by

R. L. Bates and M. B. Burks. 1945. (supersedes Bull. 5)
No. 23 Stratigraphy and oil-producing zones of the pre-San

Andres formations of southeastern New Mexico — a pre-
liminary report, by R. E. King. 1945.
No. 24 Building blocks from natural lightweight materials of

New Mexico, by D. M. Clippinger. 1946.
No. 25 Mica deposits of the Petaca district Rio Arriba county,

New Mexico, by R. H. Jahns. 1946. 294p.
No. 26 Geology of the Gran Quivira Quadrangle, New Mexico,

by R. L. Bates, R. H. Wilpolt, A. H. MacAlpin, and

George Vorbe. 1947. 57p.
No. 27 Contributions of New Mexico's mineral industry to World

War II, comp. by T. D. Banjovsky. 1947. 81p.
No. 28 Pumice aggregate in New Mexico — its use and potential-
ities by Donn M. Clippinger and Walter E. Gay. 1947.
No. 29 Pre-San Andres stratigraphy and oil-producing zones

in southeastern New Mexico, by E. R. Lloyd. 1949. 87p.
No. 30 Pre Cambrian geology of the Picuris range north-central,

N. M. by Arthur Montgomery. Socorro, 1953. 89p.
No. 31

CHECKLIST 69

No. 32 Compilation of state tax law relating to oil, gas and
mining properties in New Mexico by E. P. Ripley.
Socorro, 1952. 79p.

Circular No. 1- Socorro, 1930-

No. 1 An outline of the mineral resources of New Mexico, by

E. H. Wells. 1930. 15p. mimeo.

No. 2 Geology and ore deposits of the Ground Hog mine, cen-
tral district, Grant county, New Mexico, by S. G. Lasky.

1930. 2, 14, 2p. mimeo.
No. 3 First, second, and third annual reports of the director,

and preliminary report for the fourth year, by E. H.

Wells. 1931. 12p. mimeo.
No. 4 The Hobbs field and other oil and gas area, Lea county,

New Mexico, by D. E. Winchester. 1931. 21p. mimeo.
No. 5 Gold mining and gold deposits in New Mexico, by E. H.

Wells and T. P. Wootton, 1932, rev. by T. P. Wootton.

1940. 24p. mimeo.
No. 5 Gold mining and gold deposits in New Mexico, by E. H.

Wells and T. P. Wootton, April 1932, rev. by T. P.

Wootton, April 1940. Re-issued, Oct. 1944; May 1946.

23p. mimeo.
No. 6 Carbon dioxide in New Mexico, by E. H. Wells and A.

Andreas, (superseded by circular 9) 1938.
No. 7 Outlook for further ore discoveries in the Little Hatchet

mountains, New Mexico, by S. G. Lasky. 1940.
No. 8 Selected bibliography on coal in New Mexico, by R. L.

Bates. 1943. 3p. mimeo.
No. 9 Carbon dioxide in New Mexico, by S. B. Talmage and

A. Andreas. (Reprinted from Bull. 18) 1942.
No. 10 Natural light-weight building-block materials for New

Mexico, by T. D. Benjovsky and D. M. Clippinger. 1945.

3p. mimeo.
No. 11 Reconnaissance survey of the Headstone mining district,

Rio Arriba county, New Mexico, by T. D. Benjovsky.

1945. lOp. mimeo.

No. 12 Future oil possibilities of New Mexico, by R. L. Bates.

1946. (6) p.

No. 13 Compilation of state tax laws relating to mineral prop-
erties in New Mexico, by E. P. Ripley. 1946. 25p. mimeo.

No. 14 Oil and gas production data, Eddy county, New Mexico,
1943-45; comp. by N. R. Lamb and W. B. Macey. 1947.
146p.

No. 15 Tables of fluorescent and radioactive minerals, comp.
by R. L. Hershey. 1947. 14p.

No. 16 New Mexico oil and gas production data for 1946, comp.
by N. R. Lamb and W. B. Macey. 1947. 171p.

70 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

No. 17 Caprock pool statistical report, Chaves and Lea county,
New Mexico, comp. by N. R. Lamb and W. B. Macey.
1947 (34) p. mimeo.

No. 18 Geology and ore deposits of Red River and twining dis-
tricts, Taos county, New Mexico, a preliminary report,
by C. F. Park, Jr., and P. F. McKinley. 1948. 35p. mimeo.

No. 19-A New Mexico oil and gas statistical data for 1947,
comp. by N. R. Lamb and Lea county operators commit-
tee. 1948. 313p.

No. 19-B New Mexico oil and gas engineering data for 1947,
comp. by N. R. Lamb and Lea county operators commit-
tee. 1948. 279p.

No. 20 New Mexico oil and gas summary data for 1948, comp.
by the Lea county operators committee. 1949. (16) p.

No. 21 Barite of New Mexico, comp. by D. M. Clippinger. 1949.
28p.

No. 22 Index to samples from oil and gas well tests in Library
at Socorro, N. M., comp. by Robert A. Bieberman and
Betty Diddle. Socorro, 1950. 42p.

No. 22 Index to samples from oil and gas well tests in library
at Socorro, N. M., comp. by Robert A. Bieberman and
Florence B. Crespin. Socorro. Jan. 1953. 15p. (Supp. no.
II) mimeo.

No. 23 Geology and ore deposits of a part of the Hansonburg
mining district, Socorro county, N. M., by Frank E.
Kottlowski. 1953. 9p.

No. 24 Subsurface completion date of wells drilled for oil and
gas during 1952; comp. by Robert A. Bieberman and
Florence B. Crespin. Socorro, April, 1953. 84p. mimeo.

(To be continued)

Book Reviews

The Hopis: Portrait of a Desert People. By Walter Col-
lins O'Kane. Norman, Oklahoma: Oklahoma University
Press, 1953. Pp. xii, 267, 24 color plates. $5.00.

The Hopis: Portrait of a Desert People is a popularized
account of the culture of the Hopi written by an amateur.
It adds little or nothing that is new to our knowledge of this
voluminously documented group and one wonders why it was
ever published.

The work follows standard monographic form and in-
cludes material on family, social organization, economics,
craftsmanship, religious practices, acculturation, language,
etc. The author has managed to convey, through the use of
anecdotes and episodes, a fairly convincing picture of every-
day life and some feeling for the yearly round. The accounts
of the secular sides of medical practice, eagle and turtle
hunting are interesting as far as they go. The handling of
religion, acculturation and linguistics is less than superficial.
Throughout, an attempt is made to create an ideal picture
of the life of a native people, ignoring the tensions which
characterize these and other Pueblo groups. In this connec-
tion, much good description is often marred by philosophic
digression which can only be presumed to be projections of
the author's thinking, since they do not appear inherent in
the data.

W. W. HILL
University of New Mexico.

The Road to Santa Fe: The Journal and Diaries of George
Champlin Sibley and Others Pertaining to the Surveying
and Marking of a Road From the Missouri Frontier to
the Settlements of New Mexico, 1825-1827. By Kate L.
Gregg. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press,
1952. Pp. viii, 280. $4.50.

The Santa Fe Trail became of especial importance to
United States frontiersmen after Mexico's separation from
Spain in 1820/21 when trading restrictions with Mexico

71

72 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

were removed. Word of the new arrangements got around
quickly. Merchants from Missouri and Kentucky moved into
the Southwest, among them William Becknell, sometimes
called "Father of the Santa Fe Trail." This Franklin, Mis-
souri trader made profitable expeditions to Santa Fe in 1821
and 1822. The volume of traffic to Santa Fe increased so
rapidly in the next years that one may consider the Trail as
well established by 1824.

At about this time in our national history occurred a
juncture of "men and motives" which laid the basis for a
survey of a road to Santa Fe, a trail now being considered
inadequate. Among the motives may be listed United States
interest in the Southwest, dating back to the genesis of
"Manifest Destiny" prior to the War of 1812, and the great
increase in the volume of trade with Santa Fe in the early
1820's with the need for safeguarding this trade from ma-
rauding Plains Indians. Among the men who should be men-
tioned are Thomas Jefferson, who as early as 1807 had
projected a road through Creek and Spanish territory from
Georgia to New Orleans ; the indefatigable Senator Thomas
Hart Benton who urged that a road to Santa Fe be surveyed
on the basis not only of the argument available in the Jeffer-
son precedent but also in a wide variety of appeals ranging
from moral uplift to commerce; and finally, George Cham-
plin Sibley, who turned out to be the man of the hour for
making the actual survey, though a humble man, withal.

In March 1825 President Monroe signed the bill which
provided ten thousand dollars for the survey and for mark-
ing the road, and another twenty thousand for negotiating
a right of way with the Indians. Dr. Gregg now tells the
story of this survey through the journal and diaries of
Sibley, Joseph Davis, and Benjamin Reeves as well as in
five introductory chapters, a Report of the Commissioners,
an Appendix, and extensive footnotes. A bibliography, a
reproduction of a portrait of Sibley, end maps, and a sketch
of Ft. Osage (p. 197) improve the meaning of the volume.
Curiously there is little in the introductory section on Reeves
or Davis, though their diaries are used, nor does a careful
study of the entire volume reveal much additional on these
other "authors" (see note 50, p. 240 on Davis) . It is probable

BOOK REVIEWS 73

that Dr. Gregg considered that the Davis and Reeves jour-
nals speak for themselves, and that she would have to center
upon Sibley who "from the start took the initiative in the
work of the Commission, wrote the history of the project,
made the government report — in truth saw the surveying
and marking through to a finish when his colleagues long
since had grown tired of dust, heat, prairie flies, and buffalo
meat and refused longer to bother themselves with Benton's
road to Santa Fe . . ." (p. 10) .

At any rate, the book is an important and useful addition
to literature on the trans-Mississippi West. Sibley's almost
complete lack of "literary style" may seem to some dull, but
the patient reader will suddenly realize that he is learning
about a persevering man, devoted to his task, who performed
a very arduous service without fanfare, and who deserves
to be much better known than he is. When the survey was
finished the commissioners could state in their report "That
they have Surveyed, located and Marked out, a Road from
the Western frontier of Missouri, to the confines of New
Mexico, and from thence to the frontier Settlements of New
Mexico. That they have located the Road upon the best prac-
ticable Route that exists ; and that the whole is Sufficiently
marked out by natural and artificial conspicuous objects, and
by the tracks of the numerous caravans that have passed
on it, to prevent in future, any the least difficulty in the
commercial intercourse between the western parts of the
United States and New Mexico, Sonora, and Chihauhua
(sic); in so far as a direct and most excellent Road from
Missouri and the Mexican Settlements is considered useful in
promoting that object." (pp. 203-204).

THEODORE E. TREUTLEIN
San Francisco State College.

California. By John Walton Caughey. Second edition. New
York: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1953. Pp. xiv, 672. $9.00.

Occasionally there appears an almost perfectly balanced
account of an American State or region, so comprehensively,
clearly and thoughtfully written that the critic finds it diffi-
cult to discover any flaws in it, literary or otherwise. That is

74 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

nearly the case with John W. Caughey's history of Cali-
fornia, which for more than a decade has been generally
accepted as the standard one-volume work on the subject.

In the second edition of this fine work, the author has
tried to bring his story down to date with chapters on the
period during and since the Second World War. There is also
some alteration and enlargement of earlier chapters and an
appraisal of new contributions to the steadily growing list
of Californiana. In effect, the five closing chapters of the
1940 edition have been worked over and enlarged into nine
new chapters, covering the growth of California over a
period of thirteen years.

Most writers on California, past and present, have a
tendency to gild and glamorize its story. Caughey, however,
is well aware also of the problems of California — such as
population, labor, water-supply, transportation and pressure
politics — which have become more acute since the early
forties of this century. It is refreshing to find such impartial,
judicious and loyal treatment of both the strength and poten-
tial weaknesses of the Golden State.

There seem to be no important errors in text or inter-
pretation. But a somewhat defective map used in the first
edition is reproduced (p. 75) , showing a number of mistakes
in the location of places and areas in Mexico. The illustra-
tions and maps are fewer, less pertinent and less interesting
than those of the first edition. That fact does not detract,
however, from the consistently high quality of this excellent
volume.

RUFUS KAY WYLLYS
Arizona State College.

The Time of the Gringo. By Elliot Arnold. New York: Al-
fred A. Knopf, Inc. 1953. Pp. 612. $4.95.

Of necessity a good historical novel is hard to write. The
author must operate within a framework of actual events,
some of his characters must be real people, and he is there-
fore limited in what he can do. In The Time of the Gringo,
Elliot Arnold has conformed to all the requirements and
has done a fine job.

BOOK REVIEWS 75

The book is placed in that period just prior to, and during
the first part of, the American occupation of New Mexico,
and Mr. Arnold's history is accurate. One wonders if the
small details of background are as authentic as the principal
events. It seems, at times, as if the uniforms were a little
too magnificent, the dwellings a little too well built, the whole
a trifle too clean. But this doubt appears only upon a critical
second reading ; when first read the story sweeps along, car-
rying all before it. The principal character, Manuel Armijo,
Governor of New Mexico, is magnificently drawn. Against
him the others, real and fictional, cannot but lose stature.
Villain, conniver, lecher, hero, Manuel Armijo, as Mr. Ar-
nold draws him, is a colossus.

It is not often that an historical novel is as well written
as The Time of the Gringo. Costain can do it, so can Shella-
barger, but neither better than Arnold. Recommended
reading.

BENNETT FOSTER
Albuquerque.

Indian Legends of the Pacific Northwest. By Ella E. Clark.
Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California
Press, 1953. Pp. xii, 225. Maps, illus., source notes, bibli-
ography, glossary. $4.50.

If this review could be devoted exclusively to a discussion
of the form of this book, it would be a pleasant task indeed
to write it. The University of California Press has again
produced a beautiful volume, the principal merit of which
lies in its being graced by the illustrations of an exception-
ally talented artist-anthropologist, Robert Bruce Inverarity.
Now Director of the Museum of International Folk Art at
Santa Fe, Inverarity has specialized in the art of the North-
west Coast Indians. His illustrations which accompany the
present collection of tales are gracefully executed designs,
each a gem, decorating, as appropriately as possible under
the circumstances, texts which would have far better re-
mained unadorned. It is a pity that so much editorial and
artistic talent were lavished on so worthless a book, and it

76 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

would be regrettable if this disproportion of form and con-
tent were tp mislead the general reader for whose benefit it
was evidently put together.

What the author, who teaches English at the State Col-
lege of Washington, has done is to take some hundred tales
of various Northwest Coast tribes, mostly "from govern-
ment documents, old periodicals, old histories . . . from
manuscripts of Oregon and Washington pioneers," as well as
from such respectable anthropological reports as those of
Boas, Dixon, Sapir, and the like, and rewritten them for
what the blurb on the jacket — and what a handsome jacket
it is — calls "their entertainment value." Not only did she
condense and excerpt, but she also "developed" and "re-
stored," and, therefore, it seems questionable whether, as it
is claimed, "the tales reveal much about the mind of the
native American," or whether, as seems more likely, they
reveal something of a tourist mentality. One of the most
singular assumptions the author makes is that a tale will
especially appeal to "the general reader" because it was re-
corded by his amateur colleague, "the general listener" ; the
implications of this assumption are hair-raising in their logi-
cal conclusion.

The tales are organized under five principal headings. In
addition to the miscellaneous concluding section, they are,
"Myths of the Mountains," "Legends of the Lakes," "Tales
of the Rivers, Rocks, and Waterfalls," and "Myths of Crea-
tion, the Sky, and Storms." Less than a quarter of the collec-
tion is original, and all sources are scrupulously acknowl-
edged. A bibliography of printed works and primary sources,
and a glossary, in the Webster transcription, are appended.
The tribal map and the map of the geographical features
mentioned in the tales are clear and competent.

THOMAS A. SEBEOK
Indiana University.

Changing Military Patterns of the Great Plains. By Frank
Raymond Secoy. Locust Valley, New York : Monographs
of the American Ethnological Society, XXI, 1953. Pp. vii,
112. Maps, bibliography.

BOOK REVIEWS 77

Mr. Secoy's study presents no field work to which the
student of history or of anthropology would turn for new
data. Facts available elsewhere in more detail and in over-all
context are here presented in the form of brief meaty sum-
maries, which may give one — in skipping from one subject
to another — a sense of disjointedness. But these summaries
are the data marshalled to illustrate two new, important,
and very interesting theoretical points which he sketches in
the first section and carefully, if succinctly, discusses in the
conclusion. The first of these points should be of equal inter-
est to historians and anthropologists : it covers the diffusion
of horse and gun, separately, from two different points of
contact between Indians and Whites and the eventual merg-
ing of the horse-pattern with the gun-pattern in producing
the typical Plains Indian culture of the late 19th century.

The horse was primarily a contribution of the Spaniards,
although at times it actually traveled ahead of them through
the eager acceptance of this new mode of transportation by
peoples of the southwestern high plains. Spanish interest in
the Southwest was colonization and in the typical close con-
trol exerted by the Crown the safety of settlers was empha-
sized. Guns were withheld from Indians as far as possible.
Horses, as well as sheep and cattle, also were withheld at
first but soon became objects of barter as well as of theft.
The animals throve and reproduced well on the open ranges,
and permitted the tribesmen mobility and increase of hunt-
ing range never before enjoyed. Their use gave rise to new
military patterns which utilized old native weapons and new
items of armor copied in leather from Spanish metal and
hide prototypes. Security was so increased as to temporarily
encourage the possibilities of horticulture, although as soon
as enemy tribes likewise acquired horses, the sedentary
periods required by farming became unsafe and hence
undesirable.

The people of the northeastern plains, in contrast, saw
little of the horse, which did not flourish in that area and
whose usefulness was greatly inhibited by the type of ter-
rain. The French and the English with whom Indians of that
area came in contact were interested mainly in fur trade,

78 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

not in settlements. Guns were important not only as trade
objects but also in permitting Indians to obtain the coveted
furs. Greed for pelts largely overshadowed reflections that
the guns might function equally in warfare. Actually, except
when opposing nations stirred the Indians against each
other, warfare with Whites appears to have been at a mini-
mum until the period of large western migrations. Tribes of
the northeastern plains modified their aboriginal pattern
of warfare to permit the more individualistic use of firearms.

As time passed, the Post-gun — Pre-horse complex moved
toward the south and west at the same time that the Post-
horse — Pre-gun complex was moving out to meet it. The
merging of the two resulted in the pattern of firing from
the backs of horses running in a line past the enemy, re-
corded by Whites on the Santa Fe Trail and elsewhere. A
series of maps illustrating the progress of horse and gun
frontiers at successive intervals between 1630 (date of the
earliest adequate documentary data on the area) and 1790
are of great aid in the reader's visualization of culture
changes from the dynamic viewpoint set forth in this study.

The second point made by Mr. Secoy, one perhaps of more
specific concern to anthropologists than to historians, con-
cerns "certain inadequacies in the culture pattern concept,
both as it has been applied in general and in the Plains area
in particular." This concept, introduced by Ruth Benedict
in 1922, Secoy neatly defines as concentrated upon a limited
aspect of culture, "the part of any given culture that tends
to form a system which is not only self-contained within this
culture but which is also self -determining with respect to its
next phase of development." When new elements chance to
be introduced from the outside, the existent pattern presum-
ably determines either their complete rejection or the type
and degree of acceptance. But the three warfare patterns,
Post-horse — Pre-gun, Post-gun — Pre-horse, and Horse and
Gun, explains the author, each were widespread and ba-
sically alike wherever found. Hence the military pattern of
any one tribe would appear to be part of a larger system
involving the military patterns of all those tribes which en-
gage in battle with each other. In the struggle for survival

BOOK REVIEWS 79

any new developments in efficiency by one must be copied by
the others if they are not to risk quick destruction or en-
forced retreat into new areas. This suggests that the culture
of the tribe is of less effect in determining its military pat-
tern than outside influences, and Secoy concludes that for
investigations of such portions of a culture the culture pat-
tern concept is "an ineffective tool."

On this point we must take issue in part. Granting that in
such matters as warfare, and perhaps to a lesser extent in
trade, the outside contacts involved must determine to a
large extent the gross manifestations of the complex as seen
in each tribe, other aspects of the total pattern will be found
to vary appreciably if those tribes actually represent differ-
ent cultures. Such features of difference, not covered in this
monograph, would involve the relative importance of war-
riors in each tribe; the specific uses of war trophies — such
as use of scalps in bringing rain, warning the owners of
enemy approach, or as a medicine when chewed and the
spittle mixed with clay to be taken in water; the types of
war trophies taken and any entailed ritual; the types of
functions considered appropriate as duties for warriors
when not involved in battle ; the type of purification for war-
riors who have killed; the participation of women in scalp
dances or in care of scalps ; the taboos concerning wives or
families of warriors before, during, and after battles; etc.
One basic point of similarity or of difference in the warfare
pattern would be the attitude of the tribe toward warfare
as such: for defense, for conquest of lands, slaves, or food,
or as the paramount diversion of life.

Unless all of the traits within the military or any other
culture pattern were identical in characteristics and in
native evaluation between two or more tribes, the patterns
should not be considered to duplicate each other. All anthro-
pologists agree that as two or more tribes, nations, or cul-
tures continue to interinfluence each other, whatever their
type of contact, they become increasingly like each other
through shared traits, and the rapidity with which various
types of traits are accepted varies greatly. Basic techniques
of warfare are shown by Secoy's study to be accepted as

80 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

quickly or even more quickly than the traits of material cul-
ture usually placed first in acculturation expectancy. But the
identity of warfare or military pattern between tribes car-
rying cultures of appreciable difference remains open to
question, unless one uses a much more limited definition
of pattern than Benedict and most other anthropologists
employ.

As a historical study covering not only tribal changes,
conflicts and movements, but also the effect of horse and gun
on the balance of power and on the fur trade, this paper is
both interesting and stimulating reading. Even the footnotes
quoting passages from early sources are worthy a glance
from either professional or layman. And — to readers whose
hobbies touch on early firearms and their use — the appendix
entitled "The Use of the Flintlock Muzzle-Loader on Horse-
back" provides a delightful final dividend.

FLORENCE HAWLEY ELLIS
University of New Mexico.

1S[ew ^Mexico

Historical ^vi

Palace of the Governors, Santa Fe

M/3 •

. ',

April, 1954

Editors
FRANK D. REEVE PAUL A. F. WALTER

Associates

PERCY M. BALDWIN GEORGE P. HAMMOND

FRANCE V. SCHOLES ELEANOR B. ADAMS

ARTHUR J. O. ANDERSON

VOL. XXIX APRIL, 1954 No. 2

CONTENTS

Page

The Le Grand Survey of the High Plains: Fact or Fancy

Raymond Estep 81

The Penitentes of New Mexico . . . Fray Angelico Chavez 97

Checklist of New Mexico Publications (concluded)

Wilma Loy Shelton .124

Notes and Documents 141

Book Reviews 154

THE NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW is published jointly by the Historical Society
of New Mexico and the University of New Mexico. Subscription to the quarterly is
$3.00 a year in advance ; single numbers, except those which have become scarce, are
$1.00 each.

Business communications should be addressed to Mr. P. A. F. Walter, State
Museum, Santa Fe, N. M. ; manuscripts and editorial correspondence should be
addressed to Prof. Frank D. Reeve, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, N. M.

Entered as second-class matter at Santa Fe, New Mexico
UNIVERSITY PRESS, ALBUQUERQUE, N. M.

NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL
REVIEW

VOL. XXIX APRIL, 1954 No. 2

THE LE GRAND SURVEY OF THE HIGH PLAINS-
FACT OR FANCY

By RAYMOND ESTEP *

THE STORY of Alexander Le Grand's adventures on the
western frontier will prove among the most interesting
and entertaining when the many threads of the fabric of his
career are gathered together. After leaving his traces on
the frontier in 1824, Le Grand figured briefly in the military
and diplomatic activities of the Republic of Texas and be-
came embroiled in a bitter quarrel with Sam Houston during
the latter's first months as president of the new nation.1
His name has been preserved to posterity, however, largely
through the efforts of the British writer William Kennedy.
In his Texas: The Rise, Progress, and Prospects of the
Republic of Texas, first published in London in 1841, Ken-
nedy used information from many sources, including that
gained personally on a boat trip to Texas. To complete his
description of the topography of the region, Kennedy, prob-
ably with the consent of Charles Edwards, Secretary of
the Rio Grande and Texas Land Company, inserted a docu-
ment titled : "Copy of Field Notes and Journal of Survey,"
and signed, A. Le Grand.2 This "Journal," bearing entries

* Dr. Raymond Estep is Professor of History, the Air University, Maxwell Air
Force Base, Montgomery, Alabama. He is the author of Lorenzo de Zavala: Prof eta del
Liberalismo Mexicano. Mexico City : Libreria de Manuel Porrua, 1952 ; article on Le
Grand (1949) and Zavala (1953) in The Southwestern Historical Quarterly.

1. For this phase of Le Grand's career see Raymond Estep, "The Military and
Diplomatic Services of Alexander Le Grand for the Republic of Texas, 1836-1837,"
The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, LIV (October, 1950), 169-189.

2. Kennedy, Texas (reprint, Fort Worth, 1925), 176-191, 391. An original copy of
this document bearing Le Grand's signature is in Archive General de Relacionea
Exteriores, Mexico. Expediente H/252 (73:72) /148, Legajo 5-16-8712.

See Notes and Documents for the Le Grand survey journal.

81

82 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

from June 27 through October 30 of an undesignated year,
was sufficient to inscribe Le Grand's name indelibly in
southwestern history as the first and presumably most care-
ful surveyor of that region known today as the high plains.
Thereby hangs the tale.

Concerning this expedition by Le Grand considerable
misinformation incorporated in earlier histories has been
accepted by more recent historians. Among the most glaring
errors have been: (1) the date of the survey, (2) the place
from which the expedition set out, (3) the persons for
whom the survey was made, and (4), greatest error of all,
the acceptance of Le Grand's statements of the area sur-
veyed without examination of their veracity. It is this
latter point which has prompted the present study. Most
of the errors can be disposed of quickly. Those pertaining
to date, contractors, and place of departure probably arose
from Kennedy's wording of his narrative. In publishing
Le Grand's "Journal," he stated that the document was
drawn up for the use of the New Arkansas and Texas Land
Company, corporate holder of a grant made in 1832 to Doc-
tor John Charles Beales and Jose Manuel Royuela by the
State of Coahuila and Texas.3 Undoubtedly basing some of
their statements on Kennedy's assertion, Brown, writing a
half century later,4 and others have recorded that Le Grand
was dispatched from Santa Fe by Beales in June, 1833, to
survey the land granted Beales and Royuela. The facts are
quite the contrary. The survey was made in 1827, not 1833 ;
the expedition proceeded from New Orleans via present
Texarkana, not by way of Santa Fe ; the Le Grand contract
for the survey was negotiated by Stephen Julian Wilson and
promoted by Richard Exter — Beales did not enter the scene
until three years after the completion of the purported
survey.

The story of this Le Grand episode had its beginnings
on May 27, 1826, when the State of Coahuila and Texas
entered into a 200-family empresario contract with Stephen

8. Kennedy, Texas, 176.

4. John Henry Brown, History of Texas (St. Louis. 1892-98), I, 254.

THE LE GRAND SURVEY 83

Julian Wilson, a native of the United States.5 The vast
domain included in the contract (sometimes estimated to
contain forty-eight million acres)6 in its official description
was circumscribed as follows: Beginning at the point of
intersection of the 32nd degree of north latitude and the
102nd meridian, thence west on the 32nd parallel to the
eastern boundary of New Mexico (not otherwise defined),
thence north along that boundary to a point 20 leagues south
of the Arkansas River, thence east along a line parallel to
and 20 leagues south of the Arkansas to the 102nd meridian,
thence south to the point of commencement.7

Within the next six months Wilson took two important
steps looking to the development of the grant. Prior to
November 21, 1826, for a sum estimated at $10,000,8 he con-
tracted with "Alexander Le Grand, a native of the United
States of the north ... to survey, examine, and measure
the lands mentioned in the foregoing grant, personally, or
by the persons necessary to assist and protect him while
so employed."9 Wilson's second significant action was the
disposal of one-half of his interest in the empresario con-
tract to Richard Exter, an English merchant residing in

5. Wilson, in his petition of May 15, 1826, stated that he was "a. native of the
United States of North America, and an inhabitant of the city of Mexico." See Docu-
ments Relating to Grants of Lands Made to Don Estevan Julian Willson [sic] and
Richard Exter in Texas (New York, 1831). Brown, History of Texas, I, 254, errone-
ously declared that Wilson was an Englishman, naturalized in Mexico.

6. The estimate of 48,000,000 acres certainly originated with Le Grand. See
Richard Exter to Dennis A. Smith, Mexico City, [October 6], 1827, in National Intel-
ligencer (Washington), July 8, 1829.

7. This delineation is given in many sources. It is repeated a number of times
in Documents Relating to Grants of Lands. See also Jos6 Maria Tornel, Breve Resena
Historica (Mexico, 1852), 156; Archive de Museo Nacional de Mexico, "Papeles de
Texas," Legajo 59, Expediente 9, No. 70-4, p. 145a ; Mary Virginia Henderson, "Minor
Empresario Contracts for the Colonization of Texas, 1825-1834," The Southwestern
Historical Quarterly, XXXII (July, 1928), 22-23.

8. A writer in The Albion, a New York paper, gives the figure, but he makes
Exter, not Wilson, the bearer of the expense, and in error gives the year as 1829.
Referring to the grant, he wrote: "An exploring and surveying party was sent thither
in 1829 [sic] by Mr. Exter, at the expense of $10,000." This extract from The Albion
is from The Bee (New Orleans), November 6, 1834, p. 2. A contemporary later reported
that Le Grand left Mexico City "well supplied with money. . . ." See William Waldo,
"Recollections of a Septuagenarian," Glimpses of the Past (Missouri Historical Society),
V, 89.

9. The date and the place of the signing of this contract have not been ascertained,
but Wilson's deposition confirming the contract's existence was notarized in Mexico
City on November 21, 1826. See Documents Relating to Grants of Lands, 1.

84 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

Mexico City. On November 27, six days after notarizing
the Le Grand contract, Wilson made his partnership agree-
ment with Exter a matter of record.10 Although no addi-
tional contract between Le Grand and the Wilson-Exter
partnership has been discovered, later events were to prove
that Le Grand had also been commissioned to act as an
agent in the settling of the land grant.

The time and the manner of Le Grand's arrival in Mexico
City have not been ascertained. His first recorded appear-
ance on the western frontier occurred in April, 1824, at
Franklin, Missouri, when he took the lead in organizing a
trading expedition to Santa Fe. Subsequently elected cap-
tain by the expedition's members, Le Grand at the head of
83 traders, teamsters, and others, with 2 road wagons, 20
dearborns, 2 carts, 200 horses and mules, and goods to the
value of $30,000, departed the Missouri settlements on
May 24. Proceeding by the Cimarron cutoff and San Miguel,
Le Grand led the expedition into Santa Fe on July 31, sixty-
eight days out from Missouri, without the loss of a man
and without unusual incident. All suffered from a shortage
of water in the arid sand dunes and plains between the
Arkansas and the Cimarron, but Le Grand's successful expe-
dition gave the first large-scale proof that the Santa Fe
Trail could be negotiated by wheeled vehicles.11

With his arrival in Santa Fe at the end of July, 1824,
Le Grand drops from sight for more than two years. It may
be that he proceeded south with some of the traders to
Chihuahua and Sonora12 and eventually reached Mexico
City by an overland route. Regardless of the time and the

10. The date of the Wilson-Exter agreement is not revealed in the available rec-
ords ; the document establishing the partnership was notarized on November 27, 1826.
See Documents Relating to Grants of Lands, 7-9.

11. "The Santa Fe Trail: M. M. Marmaduke Journal," in The Missouri Historical
Review, VoL 6 (October, 1911), 1-10; Missouri Intelligencer, April 3 and June 5, 1824;
Hiram M. Chittenden, The American Fur Trade of the Far West (New York, 1902),
II, 605 ; R. E. Twitchell, The Leading Facts of New Mexican History ( Cedar Rapids,
1912), II, 106-107.

12. Le Grand's assertion in November, 1827, that he had "certain knowledge" of
the price of buffalo robes in Sonora seems to imply that he had personally visited the
region. See Le Grand to Exter, Santa Fe, November 15, 1827, in John Enrico and
W. H. Egerton, Emigration to Texas: Proposals for Colonizing Certain Extensive
Tracts of Land in the Republic of Mexico (Bath, 1832), 16.

THE LE GRAND SURVEY 85

way, it is clearly evident that Le Grand arrived in the Mex-
ican capital prior to the middle of November, 1826, and
entered into the contract with Wilson. Soon thereafter he
said good-by to his new employer, an event anticipated on
November 15, when Joel R. Poinsett, the United States
Minister to Mexico, issued Passport No. 112 to "Alexander
Le Grand, Merchant."13 In the succeeding weeks the Santa
Fe trader made the miserable journey from the Valley of
Mexico to the miasmatic lowlands of the Mexican gulf
coast. Departing from Vera Cruz on board the sloop Boston
Packet on December 13, 14 he arrived in New Orleans on
December 26, 1826.15 From the Crescent City, Le Grand pro-
ceeded up the Mississippi to the frontier settlements on the
Missouri. There, as he hastened to inform Exter, he received
"applications from more persons than would colonize the
grant, agreeable to the cession, and ready to enter upon
their labours."16 No further information relative to Le
Grand's attempts to colonize the grant has been found and
it is presumed that he devoted little time to the matter.
A larger task, the primary one in his relations with Wilson,
was at hand and to this he devoted his efforts.

In the first four months of 1827 Le Grand recruited and
organized a large expedition for the making of his con-
tracted survey. Whether his force was assembled in Missouri
or wholly in New Orleans is not revealed, but the point of
departure and time — New Orleans, April, 1827 — are clearly
established.17 From the metropolis of the Lower Mississippi,

13. Diplomatic Despatches, Mexico, Vol. 3, May 7. 1827-April 23, 1828 (MSS.).
Department of State Records Section, National Archives, Washington.

14. The Boston Packet cleared on December 12th and sailed on the 13th. See
Consular Letters, Vera Cruz, 1822-1831 (MSS.), Department of State Records Section,
National Archives, Washington.

16. Philip Nolan was with Le Grand on the vessel. See The Courier (New Or-
leans), December 26, 1826, p. 8; and "Passenger Lists Taken from Manifests of the
Customs Service, Port of New Orleans" (Survey of Federal Archives in Louisiana,
Works Project Administration of Louisiana), Book 1, 1813-1837, p. 108. The latter
source gives December 27 as the date of clearing the customs in New Orleans.

16. Exter to Dennis A. Smith, Mexico City, October 6, 1827, in Enrico and
Egerton, Emigration to Texas, 15. The version of this letter printed in the National
Intelligencer, July 8, 1829, does not contain this quotation.

17. Exter later wrote : "Mr. Le Grand was dispatched from New Orleans, in
April last, and I have already read intelligence of his having passed the frontiers with
his surveying party ... to enter upon his labors. The like intelligence has also been

86 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

Le Grand may have transported his expedition by steamer
up the Mississippi and Red Rivers to a point near present
Nachitoches.18 Beyond, he most probably proceeded on horse-
back. Irrespective of the manner and the means of move-
ment, the Maryland adventurer arrived in Miller County,
the southwestern county in Arkansas Territory, about the
middle of June, 1827.

The size and the purpose of the expedition were the
cause of much speculation and gave rise to many conflicting
and romantic reports. Exter learned that the party con-
sisted of "about thirty, and a parcel of Indians. . . ,"19 A
resident on the line of march reported :

An armed body of men, fifty-six in number, from New
Orleans, left our settlement yesterday, on their way towards
Santa Fee [sic], for the purpose, they say, of surveying a
large grant of land in that quarter, belonging to a company
in London; but that such is their object is entirely doubtful.
I am induced to think they are on a mining expedition, or some
wilder scheme. The party is commanded by Capt. Legrand
[sic], who, it is said, has a passport from our Government.20

A contemporary, writing long afterwards, asserted that
Le Grand "hired and fitted out eighty or a hundred men"
in New Orleans who believed that Le Grand "proposed, by
means of the numerous Indian tribes then covering the
plains and mountains, east, north and south of Santa Fe,
to wrest this vast territory from the feeble revolutionary
government of Mexico, and build up an independent republic
of which Le Grand was to be President."21

transmitted to his Excellency, Mr. POINSETT, from the Consular Departments in that
quarter." Exter to Smith, Mexico City, [October 6], 1827, National Intelligencer, July 8.
1829, p. 3. This portion of the letter was omitted in the copy printed in Enrico and
Egerton, Emigration to Texas, 15.

18. The steamboat Planter and other vessels were in regular service between New
Orleans and Natchitoches. See advertisements by Pavie & Constantzi in the Natchi-
toches Courier, May 29, June 12, and July 3, 1827.

19. Exter to Smith, Mexico City, [October 6], 1827, National Intelligencer, July 8.
1829. Enrico and Egerton. Emigration to Texas, 14, reported that the expedition
included "about 80 persons from the United States and a few Indians. . . ."

20. The Arkansas Gazette (Little Rock), July 24, 1827, p. 3. The passport referred
to probably was that issued to Le Grand by Poinsett in Mexico City on November
15, 1826.

21. Waldo, "Recollections of a Septuagenarian," Glimpses of the Pott, V, 89-90.

THE LE GRAND SURVEY 87

How long Le Grand tarried in Miller County has not been
determined, but on June 20 he bade farewell to the Arkansas
settlements,22 and began his westward trek along Red River.
From that date until his arrival in Santa Fe on November
15, 1827, Le Grand's movements are shrouded in mystery.
According to his own accounts, Le Grand was employed
from June 27 through October 30 in carefully plotting a
survey of the Wilson-Exter grant on the high plains. These
declarations apparently will not bear the test of analysis.
If Le Grand was not at the places he alleged and therefore
was not making the survey he recorded, what then was he
doing and where? Half a century later a contemporary, in
recalling the event as he had heard it, repeated this account
of Le Grand's expedition:

He reached Red River, I forget in what manner, and trav-
eled up that river for several hundred miles, thus far all went
well. But he soon left the stream where water could be ob-
tained as needed, and set out over an unknown and unexplored
wilderness. Here their difficulties began. Often, for several
days together no water could be found: again no game, their
only dependence for food, could be killed : thus they wandered
on for months.23

Le Grand, however, asserted that he reached the initial
point of the survey, the intersection of the 102nd meridian
and the 32nd parallel of north latitude, on June 27. The
particular point of departure in Miller County is not known,
but for purposes of examination if it be assumed that the
place was in the vicinity of present Texarkana, then in order
for the group to have reached the designated point near
present Midland, Texas, on June 27, it would have had to
travel some 600 statute miles in less than eight days. With
the large number of men in the party it would have been
almost impossible to have accomplished the long overland

22. The Arkansas Gazette, July 24, 1827, p. 3. In publishing the information rela-
tive to the Le Grand expedition, the editor prefaced it as follows: "A letter to the
Editor, from a respectable gentleman in Miller county, under date of 21st ult., contains
the following interesting news." From this it seems certain that "21st ultimo" could
mean only June 21 ; if July had been intended then "21st instant" would have been
proper. That June was the correct month is partially established by the fact that in
the same column appears another letter from Miller County, dated June 21, 1827.

23. Waldo, "Recollections of a Septuagenarian," Glimpses of the Past, V, 90.

88 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

journey in the time indicated. Assuming that the group
traveled on horseback, it would have been more likely that
a day's journey did not exceed 30 statute miles. If this
deduction is anywhere near correct then the expedition, at
the end of eight days, had attained a point some 240 statute
miles to the west of Miller County. Thus the surveyors would
have approached the vicinity of the 98th meridian, or even
have reached the area of present Throckmorton County,
Texas, as averred by some.24

Le Grand's plan, as revealed in his "Journal," was to
divide the tract into 12 sections, each approximately 50
miles north and south by 100 miles east and west, to run a
survey along these sectional boundaries, and to fix the sec-
tional corners. (See map.) It is evident from the entries
in his "Journal" that he was instructed to keep detailed
notes on soil, terrain, vegetation, rainfall, and game. Accord-
ing to Le Grand's notes, his party traveled 1957 miles
(probably nautical), in the 126 days between June 27 and
October 30, in surveying 1305 miles of sectional boundaries.
In the process the surveyors allegedly measured four sides
of Sections 4, 5, 8, and 12, and three sides of Sections 1
and 9, all in the eastern tier. In addition they reportedly
surveyed considerable portions of the east-west boundaries
of Sections 6, 7, 10, and 11 in the western tier.

From many points of view Le Grand's "Journal" will
not bear close inspection. In the first place, as previously
shown, it was well nigh impossible for a large expedition
to have made the long overland trip in the time indicated.
This, together with the data and descriptions recorded, suf-
fices to raise serious doubts as to the accuracy of the "Jour-
nal." If Le Grand began the survey at the designated point
near present Midland, then the region visited overlapped
the existing Texas-New Mexico boundary from the 32nd

24. The latter deduction is that of a pioneer West Texas surveyor. Judge O. W.
Williams of Fort Stockton, who concluded from a study of the terrain that Le Grand
began his reported survey in Throckmorton County rather than at a point in present
Midland County as Le Grand avers. See Lucy Lee Dickson, "Speculation of John
Charles Beales in Texas Lands" (M.A. Thesis, The University of Texas, 1941), 10-11,
citing letter from Judge O. W. Williams, Fort Stockton, Texas, to Miss Dickson,
July 1, 1941.

THE LE GRAND SURVEY 89

parallel of north latitude to the Arkansas River, an area
including eastern New Mexico, southeastern Colorado, and
the Panhandles of Texas and Oklahoma. Through much of
that region, especially in the south, the surveyors would
have traversed in the heat of summer the broad, arid expanse
of the high plains. But scant are Le Grand's references to
that vast, untimbered, endless plain known to the Spaniard
as the llano estacado. His party, although encountering bad
water on occasion and infrequently making night camp
without wood or water, for the most part found plenty of
wood and abundant water in the midst of summer! The
prairies were alive with game and the hunters rarely failed
in their chore; river courses abounded with grapes, plums,
currants, and cherries. Yet, fifteen years later the Texan-
Santa Fe Expedition suffered all of the agonies attendant
upon starvation and thirst in its ill-fated crossing of the
area.

It is of interest to examine the accuracy of Le Grand's
assertions with regard to the survey. He records that after
measuring six sections, each 50 miles north and south (or
300 total miles), he was at a point 55 miles south of the
Arkansas River. At first glance it seems amazing that his
purported measurement from Midland north along the
102nd meridian to the Arkansas River was so nearly ac-
curate— it is almost exactly 355 nautical miles from the
intersection of the 102nd meridian and the 32nd parallel to
the point where the 102nd meridian crosses the Arkansas
River! This distance of 355 miles, however, might have
been easily determined. Since the geographical coordinates
of the Upper Arkansas had been established and published
a number of years before, and the Santa Fe Trail had been
plotted by a United States government survey begun in
1825,25 the distance from a fixed point on the Arkansas to

25. The Long Expedition in 1820 took three readings on the Arkansas River
between 103° and 106° west longitude, each showing a north latitude between
88° and 39°. See Reuben G. Thwaites (ed.), Early Western Travels, 1748-1846 (Cleve-
land, 1905), XVII, 262. (The original account of this expedition was published in
London and Philadelphia in 1823.) It should be noted that the Arkansas in its present
course between the 101st and the 104th meridians is never more than ten miles north
or south of the 38th parallel. From a point on the Arkansas 5 miles south of the 38th

90 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

the 32nd meridian could have been readily calculated by
formula. This, Le Grand may have done.

This deduction seems supported by the fact that it is
impossible to correlate Le Grand's location of the major
streams of the region with their present position. For the
most part he located those in the southern part of the grant
a hundred or more miles too far to the south. Thus, 16
miles north of the 32nd parallel he crossed the "Red River
of Texas," with a bottom nearly a mile in width and tim-
bered with cottonwood, black locust, and boxwood. North-
ward, through occasional groves of oak timber, after 23
miles, he reached the "South Fork of Red River," 45 yards
wide in a cottonwood bottom. Another 35 miles to the north,
through rough and timbered country, brought him to the
main branch of Red River, here 50 to 60 yards wide "with
a large and extensive bottom, timber'd with Oak, Hack-
berry &c," and having a dense undergrowth of plum bushes
and grapevines. Some 40 miles to the north of this stream
Le Grand came to the False Washita, "a deep and bold
stream, with a good bottom, timber'd with Oak, &c." An-
other 60 miles brought him to the Canadian. The 23-mile
area to the south of this river was partly forested with
hackberry and oak. The stream itself was "large and bold
... 50 or 60 yds wide, with a rich and extensive bottom,
well timber'd with Hackberry Oak &c." Eighty-four miles
to the north of the main Canadian, Le Grand reached the
North Fork of that stream which he described in language
almost identical with that used in his report on the main
Canadian. North another 93 miles he pushed to the banks
of the Arkansas, here half a mile wide "with a very large
bottom and well timbered with Oak, Hackberry, and Elm."26

Even a casual reading of Le Grand's description of the
route along this eastern boundary suffices to indicate that

parallel it is 355 nautical miles to the 32nd parallel. For the survey of the Santa Fe
Trail, see Joseph C. Brown, "Field Notes of the Santa Fe Trail Survey," Eighteenth
Biennial Report of the Board of Directors of the Kansas State Historical Society
(Topeka, 1913), 117-125.

26. Quoted material above is from Le Grand's manuscript "Journal" cited in
note 2.

THE LE GRAND SURVEY 91

if he actually encountered rough terrain broken by hills
and free-flowing streams he must needs have been to the
east of the "Cap Rock." It is only here that the rivers have
the width, the volume of water, and the timbered bottoms
he mentioned so frequently. By this reasoning it becomes
easier to accept the possibility that Le Grand actually began
his survey much farther east and north than he alleged.
Thus, it is necessary to examine the probability that he may
have actually initiated the survey in Throckmorton County,
Texas, as has been indicated by some, or in the vicinity of
the 98th meridian as suggested above. In neither location
do the water courses occupy positions that correspond with
those indicated by Le Grand, and, too, in either instance
the running of a line 355 miles to the north would have
carried the survey beyond the Arkansas. Further refutation
of the possibility of the survey having been begun near the
98th meridian is the complete lack of reference to either
the Arbuckle or Wichita Mountains, one or the other of
which would have been traversed or described. The major
ground on which to refute the suggestion of either the
Throckmorton or 98th meridian areas as the initial point
of the survey is that from either place it is impossible to
correlate Le Grand's statement of the distances traversed
with the actual distances to the northwestern and western
borders of the grant.

Every attempt to reconcile Le Grand's descriptions with
the actual terrain can be refuted with such plausibility that
it seems apparent his "Journal" is grossly in error. How
or why these errors were recorded is difficult to determine
and with the available evidence can only be the subject of
speculation. That he was in the general area is unquestioned ;
that he made the purported survey is doubtful. In his favor
it must be admitted that the natural vegetation differs in
many respects today from that of a century and a quarter
ago. In the interval there may have been considerable piracy
of streams; certain it is that timber is no longer found as
it was in the early 1800's. On the other hand, it is difficult
to avoid the conclusion that Le Grand prepared a map

92 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

(the original of which is as yet unlocated)27 on which he
outlined the terrain features and then prepared a "Journal,"
the entries of which he made to correspond to the map.
If this was done, he could have relied on information from
Indians, trappers, traders, on existing maps, and on personal
knowledge acquired during that summer of 1827. Le Grand,
as seen earlier, was already familiar with the region tra-
versed by the Santa Fe Trail and it is in his description
of this, the northern, portion of the supposed survey that
his "Journal" places the rivers in their best approximate
present location. It is only here that it is possible to locate
the South Canadian, the North Canadian, and the Arkansas
Rivers in their approximate juxtaposition. In this region,
too, his accounts of terrain and distances on the eastern
slope of the Rocky Mountains are reasonably accurate. But
even here a discrepancy appears to exist. The "Sierra Ob-
scura" of that period was the eastern range of the Rockies
immediately to the east of Santa Fe. Le Grand, however,
locates these mountains, as nearly as can be determined from
his "Journal," much farther to the east. His party, which
for four months had allegedly negotiated distances approxi-
mating 20 miles per day, required the two weeks from
October 30 to November 15 to cover the distance from
"Sierra Obscura" to Santa Fe. If a 20-mile-per-day rate was
maintained during this interval then the "Sierra Obscura"
mentioned by Le Grand was some 300 miles from Santa Fe,
not a range of mountains immediately to the east.28

Regardless of the accuracy of Le Grand's reports, it
should not be forgotten that he was employed by empresarios
more interested in realizing a quick return from their hold-

27. Information taken from that map or from Le Grand's "Journal" was incor-
porated in 'an Arrowsmith map of Texas, published in London, April 17, 1841, and
reproduced as the frontispiece to the 1925 reprint of Kennedy's Texas. See map.
Le Grand mentioned his "plat or survey" in a letter to Richard Exter from Santa Fe
on November 15, 1827. See National Intelligencer, July 8, 1829. The map and the
"Journal" enjoyed a wide circulation. See The Bee, November 6, 1834, p. 2, quoting
from The Albion.

28. The date of October 80 is recorded in Le Grand's "Journal ;" the November 15
date is contained in his letter to Exter announcing his arrival in Santa Fe on that date.
See National Intelligencer, July 8, 1829.

THE LE GRAND SURVEY 93

ings than in actually following Stephen F. Austin's plan
of encouraging settlement. By the very nature of his mission
it seems apparent that Le Grand was expected, if not obli-
gated, to present the facts about the terrain in the land
grant in the best possible light. Exter and Wilson were
interested in disposing of the grant; obviously they could
not sell a desert. This may account for Le Grand's crossing
of larger and more numerous streams, with more timber
and water than have been observed in recent years !

Not content with his description of the "promised land"
recorded in his "Journal," Le Grand enlarged upon the
assets inherent in the grant. Immediately upon arrival in
Santa Fe, he hastened to inform his employers :

As far as regards the character of the country that we
have surveyed, I can say of it generally, and without exag-
geration, that it is at least as good as any I have ever seen.
The grant affords every advantage for trade with the Indians.
I think from five to eight thousand Beaver Skins, and any
number of Buffaloe Robes, may be purchased annually, and
at a price to admit of a profit of at least 1,000 per cent. The
Indians here are as needy of every article of their trade as
they can possibly be. [I make the foregoing estimate on the
certain knowledge I have of the price of beaver in the city of
Mexico, and that of Buffalo robes in the state of Sonora.]

On the subject of precious metals I can say but little. My
time permitted me to give but a superficial examination of
the mountainous tracts. However, they have every appearance
I have heretofore observed in localities productive of minerals.
We found in another part of the principal mountain, and
within the grant, mineral which appears to be composed
principally of gold, with some silver. I have not yet had it
analyzed, but by the next mail I will be able to give you more
satisfaction on the subject. The Governor of this territory
informs me that in the archives of his office are many evi-
dences of mines embraced within the grant. These discoveries
were made in former times by persons who were not per-
mitted to work them. [Before the departure of the next mail
I will give them an examination, and advise you of the result.]

On the grant were pastured annually not less than 300,000
sheep and a large number of cattle, horses, &c. They belong
to [a] few proprietors, who are consequently wealthy.

94 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

I will here remark that the prospect of the settlement of
a Foreign Colony so near this Territory appears to give uni-
versal satisfaction to the inhabitants.29

The survey report Le Grand authored figured promi-
nently in grandiose land schemes designed to attract the
attention of speculators in Baltimore, Washington, New
York, and England. The extent to which potential settlers
were mulcted is not known, but there was no dearth of
attempts to use the land grant as the springboard to for-
tune. Le Grand's reports furnished the descriptions for the
painting of a rosy picture of the region for the prospective
English investor and settler. In truth, the llano estacado
was portrayed as the land flowing with milk and honey;
here wild fruits grew in profusion, corn, wheat, and other
grains would yield abundantly, large areas were adapted to
the growth of cotton, the mountains were reported rich in
ores, and suitable for the growing of sheep.30

Fictional his "Journal" may have been, but it is undis-
puted that Le Grand did enter the general region of the
Wilson and Exter grant from Arkansas Territory near the
end of June, 1827, and did not reach Santa Fe until the
middle of the following November. Accompanying him was
an expedition variously estimated to number from 30 to
100 men, both American and Indian. The number reaching
Santa Fe is not revealed but one writer asserted that "half
his command . . . perished on the deserts by thirst, and
starvation."31 Le Grand himself declared that the early
advent of wintry weather caused the surveyors to present
an ultimatum demanding their pay and refusing to continue
the survey pending remuneration. "I knew it was fruitless
to oppose any objection whatever to their determinations,"

29. Le Grand to Exter, Santa Fe, November 15, 1827. This letter is basically that
published in the National Intelligencer, July 8, 1829. The material enclosed in brackets
appeared in the version published in Enrico and Egerton, Emigration to Texas, 16.

80. Enrico and Egerton, Emigration to Texas, 1-18. The authors also used informa-
tion from David G. Burnet and from published documents of the Galveston Bay and
Texas Land Company. The Albion carried a glowing description of the area borrowed
from Le Grand's reports. See The Bee, November 6, 1834, p. 2. It should be noted
that in the present century parts of the region have fulfilled the earlier glowing pre-
dictions.

81. Waldo. "Recollections of a Septuagenarian," Glimpses of the Past, V, 90.

THE LE GRAND SURVEY 95

Le Grand concluded his "Journal," "and consequently deter-
mined on going- to Santa Fe to report progress."32 Of the
men who accompanied him the names of only eleven have
been preserved. On the night of September 10, so Le Grand
recorded, Kemble, Bois, Casebolt, Boring, and Ryan stole
all of the horses except four and deserted the expedition.
He also reported that Crummin, Weathers, and Jouy were
killed and Thompson was slightly wounded by Snake Indians
in a midnight assault on the night of September 27.33 In
addition to these, two other members have been identified.
A youthful lawyer named Mitchell, talented but dissipated,
died during the summer. John Black, later United States
Consul in Mexico City, was also a member of the expedition.34
For almost nine years after his arrival in Santa Fe —
in the middle of November, 1827 — Le Grand escaped the
attention of frontier chroniclers. A contemporary later
declared that Le Grand spent his time in Santa Fe and the
surrounding country until the outbreak of the Texas Revo-
lution.35 It is more probable that he traveled widely during
the intervening period. He may have been the "A. Legrand"
who arrived in New Orleans from Vera Cruz aboard the
brig Ohio on February 27, 1833.36 Prior to April, 1836, he
spent enough time among the different tribes of plains Indi-
ans to become an authority on their total numbers, military
strength, customs, and tribal alliances. A tribute to this
knowledge was paid by Major P. L. Chouteau, the United
States Indian Agent to the Osages, when he copied Le
Grand's reports in their entirety in his official correspond-
ence.37

32. Le Grand's original "Journal" cited in note 2.

33. The spelling of the names is from Le Grand's manuscript "Journal," cited
in note 2. Kennedy, Texas, 185 and 187, gives Kimble, Caseboth, Ryou, McCrummins,
and Jones. He agrees on the other spellings.

34. Waldo, "Recollections of a Septuagenarian," Glimpses of the Past, V, 90.

35. Ibid.

36. The Courier, February 27, 1833, p. 3. The ship's arrival date is given as
March 1, 1833, in "Passenger Lists Taken from Manifests of the Customs Service,
Port of New Orleans," Book 1, 1813-1837, p. 235.

37. See Chouteau to Governor M[ontfort] Stokes and Brigadier General M[atthew]
Arbuckle, Fort Gibson, April 25, 1836 (MS.), in Bureau of Indian Affairs Records,
Western Superintendency, National Archives, Washington.

96 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

Although posterity may challenge the accuracy of the
report Le Grand preserved, it cannot deny him the distinc-
tion of being among the earliest of United States citizens
to traverse the high plains. His adventures in the region in
1827 were of minor importance in the settlement of the
West, but to the literature of the era they contribute an
interesting chapter.

THE PENITENTES* OF NEW MEXICO
By FRAY ANGELICO CHAVEZ

Introduction

THE origin and nature of the Penitentes of New Mexico
have been the subject of much wonderment and con-
jecture ever since the first United States Americans arrived
here in the early Nineteenth Century, a period, by the way,
in which this penitential society was at its height. The mem-
bers themselves, taking their rules and practices as im-
memorial traditions that were inherited from their fore-
fathers, assumed that their society came to New Mexico
with the original Spanish colonists. It was a reasonable
assumption, and an irrefutable one in view of a total lack of
evidence to support their belief or else prove the contrary.
This lack of concrete evidence, however, gave ample room to
the growth of a mass of confusing misinformation which
has held sway for more than a century.

This confusion on the subject was brought about through
two distinct, yet in this case complementary, American
sources, the clergy and the writers. The first source em-
braces the efforts of the Catholic hierarchy in New Mexico
to suppress, or at least temper, the society's activities, and
the society's resistance, as well as the interference by some
early Protestant clergymen in this regard. The second con-
sists of the writings in books, journals, and periodicals, by
a varied assortment of writers from American Occupation
days down to our own times. Historically speaking, the early
American Catholic clergy beclouded the issue by incorrectly
assuming that the Penitentes had degenerated from the
Third Order of St. Francis.1 The squabbles following their

* This term is resented by the Hermanos themselves because it became one of
ridicule since American times. Because it is an honored word in its older connotations,
and has been consistently used in all writings on the subject, it is employed here with
all due respect.

1. St. Francis of Assisi founded three ascetic "Orders." The First Order consisted
of priests and lay-brothers (friars), and the Second Order comprised the cloistered
nuns which he founded with St. Clare (The Poor Clares). The Third Order, founded
in 1221, was for men and women outside the cloister who still wished to be real
disciples of St. Francis without leaving their homes and worldly occupations. Their

97

98 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

attempt to reform the society, in some instances abetted by
early Protestant proselytizers, also helped to emphasize and
magnify its strange practices before the observing eyes of
strangers. And it was these, the American newcomers with
a penchant for writing, who, out of the strangeness of the
subject, and their own lack of background concerning Chris-
tian penance as an idea and, more particularly, as a peni-
tential tradition peculiar to Spanish lands, distorted the
Penitentes' rites and motives beyond their natural bounds.
The result was a welter of theories that further obscured
their origin and nature. The bulk of later writings has been
but a rehash, often sensational, of what had been written
before.

Those authors with some knowledge of certain medieval
sects of Europe, like the Flagellanti, found a ready connec-
tion between them and this New Mexico society, simply be-
cause the latter also practiced flagellation. Conversant also
with the account of New Mexico's first colonization as told
in Villagra, they noted that Onate had scourged himself to
blood in Holy Week of 1598,2 and therefore concluded that
the Penitentes of New Mexico had come with the first colony.
From Father Benavides' indirect reference to penitential
processions through the streets of Santa Fe prior to 1630,3
the existence of the brotherhood was further traced to the

Rule forbade the carrying of weapons, to promote peace, and prescribed certain days
of fast and abstinence as well as a number of daily prayers. Worldly spectacles and
dances were also to be avoided, as well as extravagance in food and clothing. The
Tertiaries originally wore a modified form of the Franciscan garb over or underneath
their regular clothing, but later it was worn only at meetings and in church proces-
sions. When not worn, a token scapular and cord had to take its place, and this is
still of strict obligation for members of the Third Order. (The full habit is now used
as a burial shroud).

From the start the Third Order was also called "The Order of Penance," in
Spanish "Orden de Penitencia." This led the uninitiated, like Lummis and others, to
confuse this term in old documents with the "Penitentes." In Spain and Spanish-
America Tertiaries did practice flagellation over their habits. This was, however, not
a distinct Third Order feature, but the general Spanish practice among all societies
in those times.

2. Caspar de Villagra, History of New Me-xico, tr. by Gilberto Espinosa (Los
Angeles: 1933), Canto XI.

3. F. W. Hodge, Fray Alonso de Benavides' Revised Memorial of 16S4 (Albuquer-
que: 1945), p. 66. A note on p. 244 states that the Penitentes are an outgrowth of
the Third Order of St. Francis. The sources given range from Lummis down to
Henderson, which will be treated further on.

THE PENITENTES 99

pioneer Franciscan clergy of New Mexico and their Third
Order.

The American Clergy and the Penitentes

In 1850 a Catholic diocese was established in Santa Fe
for the extensive Southwest Territory recently acquired by
the United States. John B. Lamy, a French-born priest labor-
ing in Ohio was sent to Santa Fe as first bishop, and was
soon joined by a body of clergy which he had recruited in
France. Among the many and extremely difficult problems
that confronted the new clergy, none was more strange to
them, and in a way more difficult to cope with, than that of
the Hermandades or Brotherhoods found in almost every vil-
lage, societies of men who practiced bloody flagellations and
similar tortures during Holy Week and on other occasions.
It was a phenomenon from another age, something buried
in ancient books. Bishop Lamy knew right away that these
penitents did not fit in with church discipline in modern
times and, noting the greater shock and scandal created
among the ever-increasing number of people "from the
States," both Catholic and otherwise, he felt a still greater
urgency to remedy the situation as soon as possible.

Judging from the decrees of his successor, we may
assume that Lamy tried at first to abolish the Penitentes,
and failed. The problem was complicated by the fact that
most of these people were good men, sincerely and deeply
Catholic in their own simple faith, who believed that they
were carrying on an old Spanish Catholic heritage. Further-
more, he could not tell them that their penances, performed
by saints in the past, were wrong in themselves. There
simply was no common meeting ground of minds whereby
he could make them understand that he was not trying to
destroy their Spanish heritage, and that their peculiar prac-
tices were not only contrary to present ecclesiastical order,
but most harmful to their religion under present circum-
stances. As he was deeply appreciative of New Mexico's
thoroughly Franciscan past, Lamy felt that these brother-
hoods had degenerated, since the disappearance of the

100 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

Franciscans, from the Third Order of St. Francis; and in
this thought he found a possible solution. By returning
them to the Third Order he would gradually and peacefully
wean them away from their tenaciously held ideas. He then
composed a set of rules for them under the name of the
Third Order. These regulations toned down their penances
for the present, eliminated the severer ones for good, and
consigned their entire practice to strict privacy; they laid
stress on good Catholic living and the reception of the
Sacraments.4

Evidently, most of the brotherhoods accepted the reform,
while some did not. Or else, if all accepted it at first, there
were several that went back to their old ways of public
flagellation and other accompanying rites — to the headache
of their pastors and the embarrassment of other New Mexi-
can Catholics for generations to come, and to the delight of
writers and others ever on the lookout for the odd and the
strange. What Lamy accomplished was to leave the idea of
their Third Order origin implanted in the public mind, in-
cluding the Penitentes themselves.

Lamy's successor, Archbishop Salpointe, called on the
societies "to return" to the Third Order of St. Francis.6 In
the first Synod of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, celebrated
in June, 1888, he firmly condemned the Penitentes as "not
to be fostered in the least." Believing that they had degen-
erated long ago from a perhaps legitimate church society,
he urged the individual pastors to guide the groups in their
parishes into embracing the Rule of the Third Order. He
further commanded them to refuse to celebrate Mass in the
chapels of groups continuing their abuses, and to deny the
Sacraments to those who insisted on observing their old
wakes for the dead, and those who had opposed his legisla-

4. Copies shown me by the Hermanos. The bylaws are essentially those of the
Cochiti-Conejos brotherhoods quoted by Darley. See Notes 11-13. While bearing: the
title of the Third Order and the fact of their Lamy derivation, the copies I have
seen in no way resemble the Rule of the Third Order. Nor have I found evidence
that the good archbishop ever had authority, or knew how, to establish the Third
Order, or that the Penitentes ever wore the strictly required scapular and cord of
St. Francis.

5. Revista Catolica, Vol. XII, No. 12, pp. 138-139.

THE PENITENTES 101

tions and ignored his threats of the year 1886.6 This Arch-
bishop's term was punctuated by heated controversies
between the Catholic pastors of some northern villages and
his local Penitentes, and the fire was fanned by some
Protestant preachers.

Originally, the Penitentes' general opposition to complete
suppression, and the later open defiance from certain
northern groups to the church authorities, came not so much
from a spirit of disobedience as from a distorted notion of
patriotism or racial sensitivity. It was the same spirit that
incited the 1847 rebellion at Taos and the murder of Gov-
ernor Bent, though not by the Penitentes as such. As the
Americans were invaders, to them, in the political and
economic field, so had appeared to be these strange new
clergy in the ecclesiastical, outsiders who were imposing
French and American customs to the abolition of the
Spanish. For, to repeat, the Penitentes erroneously consid-
ered their brotherhoods an essential part of Spanish Catholi-
cism and a heritage from earliest times to be kept intact.
No minor cause of this dissident spirit was the rebellious
priest of Taos, Don Antonio Jose Martinez.7

Fomenting much of the trouble in Salpointe's time were
some early Protestant ministers, bent on winning the Peni-
tentes to their side, or at least into being a thorn in the side
of their Catholic pastors. On November 1, 1876, there was
a meeting in the Presbyterian church at Las Vegas with two
hermanos mayores of Mora County who were organizing a
Protestant church there, while at Conejos in Colorado
another such church was founded in the home of another
hermano mayor, or head brother.8 Apparently, it was the
non-flogging leaders who resented the Archbishop's intru-
sion into their heretofore unquestioned preserve, while the
poor brothers of blood wanted to continue as faithful, if
stubborn, Catholics. To further confuse the issue, some

6. Synodus Sanctae Fidei Prima, (Las Vegas: 1893), Cap. IX, Par. 1, No. 2,
pp. 31-32.

7. Huntington Library, Ritch Collection, Memo Book No. 4, p. 325. Martinez
wrote a pamphlet in their defense entitled : "Order of the Holy Brotherhood."

8. Revista CaioUca, Vol. II, No. 46, pp. 546-546 ; Vol. Ill, No. 45, pp. 529-530.

102 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

preachers, while praising the Penitentes for any opposition
to Catholic authority, had also cause to complain that they
were often in peril of being whipped by them.9 And the
Jesuit Fathers, who were publishing the weekly Revista
Catolica in Las Vegas at the time, while entreating the Peni-
tentes to obey their Catholic pastors in one breath, in another
editorialized against them as "fanatics."10

The foremost Protestant protagonist was the Rev. Alex.
M. Darley, self-styled "Apostle to the Colorado Mexicans,"
who wrote a book on the Penitentes11 that proved quite
controversial in its day, and has inspired some sordid writ-
ing in ours. Ostensibly about the Penitentes, it was a direct
attack on the Catholic Church. As the author admits having
read Lummis, much of the historical background of the
Penitentes can be traced to him, though Darley did make
up a history of penance in the "Romanist Church" by string-
ing scattered dates and data from medieval history. He
started out by saying that the Penitentes were a "Mexican
'Third Order of St. Francis,' " that their bylaws and prac-
tices showed that "this body was founded and maintained
by the priests of Romanism, in spite of their protests to
Eastern-raised 'Catholics' that they are 'ignorant fools'
whom they cannot control," and that the doctrine underlying
the society bound it "indissolubly to the ancient penitential
practices of the Papacy."12 He set out to prove its Third
Order nature by quoting in toto a copy of the constitutions
used by the Conejos brotherhood, and derived from one kept
at Cochiti. He also referred to a priest in Saguache County
who in a sermon had declared that the society was indeed
the Third Order of St. Francis.13 His summary at this point
was that the Catholic Church, while condemning Masonry
for being a secret society, was hypocritically fostering a
more sinister secret society. Next he tackled the female

9. Ibid., VoL III. No. 80, pp. 353-354.

10. Ibid., Vol. Ill, No. 14, p. 160 ; No. 15, p. 173.

11. The Passionists of the Southwest (Pueblo: 1893).

12. Op. eft., pp. 1-8.

18. Ibid., pp. 9-18. He also included similar bylaws of the Rincones brotherhood,
pp. 20-22.

THE PENITENTES 103

Penitentes; but, there being none in Colorado and New
Mexico,14 to his chagrin, he reached far down to Old Mexico
and brought up tales about women flogging themselves
naked before the priests; and since celibacy, wrote he, was
an impossibility in his own confirmed opinion, this and the
confessional were the means by which the tyrant clergy held
the women in their power. As for the immediate origin of
the Penitentes, coming back to the Third Order as a connec-
tion, he said that the local ones were reported begun in
1792,15 but he personally believed them much older, from
the days of the early Franciscans who had substituted their
own barbarities of penance for the hardly worse barbarities
of Indian dance worship.16

Mr. Darley was quite correct in saying that the practices
of the Penitentes were none other than those "ancient peni-
tential teachings of the Papacy," but his own Nordic lack
of appreciation for penance as a primitive Christian idea, as
explained further on, and also his anger at a Church he
madly hated, made him view this connection all out of joint,
historically as well as spiritually. His belief that the society
was the Franciscan Third Order (also the opinion of the
Saguache priest whom he quoted as proof) was undoubtedly
derived from Lummis as well as from the erroneous declara-
tions to this effect by the first two Archbishops of Santa Fe.
However, the Penitente constitutions reproduced by Darley
as internal proof have nothing about the Third Order in
them, being merely a set of pious bylaws of their own and,
in my belief, their old rules watered down by Lamy.17 Dar-
ley's farfetched diatribe against female penitents speaks
for itself. All in all, the angry clergyman was fulminating
against the Catholic Church and using the barbarous Peni-
tentes as a weapon. This comes out so plainly when he

14. Lummis "heard" that there had been women Penitentes at San Mateo up to
the year 1886. Land of Poco Tiempo (New York: 1893), p. 106.

15. Darley, op. eft., pp. 20-24. This date is evidently Barley's hazy recollection of
a Third Order document which Lummis (op. tit., p. 82) misquoted as a genuine
Penitente source of the year 1793. But actually the date was Sept. 17, 1794, a report
on the Third Order at Santa Fe and Santa Cruz by Fray Cayetano Bernal. Cf. El
Palacio, Vol. VIII, No. 1, p. 4.

16. Darley, ibid.

17. See Note 4.

104 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

tells how a Colorado priest was selling tickets to view
the Penitentes at one dollar a head, and, after Salpointe
forbade the practice, this priest raised the price to two
dollars — so that he and the archbishop could divide the
profits!18 The angry man's one consolation, said he, was
that practically all the Penitentes of Conejos had been "con-
verted to Presbyterianism," the hermano mayor of Taos
had become a Protestant also, the one at Conejos had "died
in the true Christian faith," and one thousand Bibles had
broken the back of the society (and the Church?) in the
San Luis Valley.19

The Penitentes of the southern part of the territory were
described in 1885 by another minister, the Rev. Jacob Miles
Ashley, as being a New Mexican "Catholic Society called
Penitentes," whose barbarous exercises he correctly gives
in a general way, though not as an eyewitness apparently.
Also correct is the members' own name for themselves as
"the slaves of Jesus" whom they have to imitate. Mr. Ashley
states that at Cubero, where his church had a mission school,
two youths died under the torment, one on the cross and the
other from being trampled upon. And one of them was a
prize student of the school.20

The Rev. Thomas Harwood, another pioneer preacher,
was admitted into a morada, in 1871, at a canyon opening into
the La Junta (Watrous) valley. Seven years later he de-
scribed the rites correctly and minutely to Mr. W. G. Ritch
at Santa Fe, but without any bias or disgust. Indeed, he
himself seemed deeply touched by the reverent earnestness
of both penitents and spectators.21

At the end of the century, Archbishop Salpointe, after
having retired to Banning, California, wrote his last com-
ments on the Penitentes, who had given him so much trouble,
in his much-quoted history of the Catholic Church in New
Mexico, Colorado, and Arizona. This brief reference merely

18. Darley, ibid., p. 30. See Salpointe's decrees of First Synod of Santa Fe
above Note 6.

19. Darley, ibid., pp. 18, 86, 44.

20. NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW, Vol. 24, No. 1, p. 74.

21. Huntington Library, loc. cit., pp. 325-326.

THE PENITENTES 105

repeats his formerly expressed beliefs as to their Third
Order derivation. His quoting of an old Santa Fe Tertiary in
this regard throws no light on the problem. And he erro-
neously makes "Brothers of Darkness" (instead of "Blood")
to be the opposite of "Brothers of Light."22

That these troubles, caused by attempts at reformation
on the one side, and at proselytism on the other, served to
confirm the Penitentes' Third Order origin in the public
mind, there is not the least doubt. But even had there been
no such pandemonium, which is hard to imagine under the
circumstances, the very nature and practices of the brother-
hoods would not have escaped the writers and their theories.
The Flagellanti-Onate-Franciscan theory of origin was too
tempting to be ignored by the well-read observer.

Principal American Accounts

The main published source for the early American and
still current theory on the Penitentes' origin is Charles F.
Lummis.23 Well before his time, Josiah Gregg,24 forerunner
of early American writers on New Mexican life and customs,
briefly described a Holy Week ceremonial that combined an
old-time Passion Play with some authentic Penitente rites.
What with all his disdain for all things Spanish, Mexican,
and Catholic, Gregg was naturally shocked. That he did not
dwell long on the matter makes this account all the more
credible, since he has been proven merrily mendacious with
regard to other matters that he treated in greater detail.26
One of his observations on the Penitentes, repeated ever
since, is their alleged belief that a Holy Week's round of

22. Soldiers of the Cross (Banning: 1898), pp. 161-163.

23. Land of Poco Tiempo, pp. 79-83, and Mesa, Canyon, and Pueblo (New York:
1938), reprint, pp. 125-127. — So well did Lummis and those who repeated him establish
the Franciscan theory of origin that even an eminent Franciscan historian concurred
with others in re-confirming this derivation of the Penitentes. Cf. Mitchell A. Wilder,
Santos (Colorado Springs: 1943), pp. 15, 37-39. — Von Wuthenau, in treating about
the Reconquest chapel of the Santa Fe garrison, arbitrarily thought it to be the
birthplace of the Third Order in New Mexico, and therefore of the Penitente move-
ment I Cf. NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW, Vol. X, No. 3, p. 180.

24. Commerce of the Prairies (Philadelphia: 1849), pp. 258-259.

25. E.g., the native origin and character of Gertrudis Barcel6, El Palacio,
Vol. 57, No. 8, pp. 227-234. See also the tale of the old church clock of Santa Fe in
the monograph, The Santa Fe Cathedral (Santa Fe: 1947), p. 16.

106 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

penances wiped out all their sins and gave them leave to
start out on another year of crime.26 As Gregg himself ad-
mits, this was told him by others, very likely native New
Mexicans who were not Penitentes, the same way Lummis
got this idea.27 W. W. H. Davis, quoted as a Penitente
source,28 described a Good Friday procession at Pefia Blanca
in which the faithful carried images representing the Pas-
sion of Christ. He pitied the people's ignorant veneration of
their ugly santos, but mentioned no Penitente rites.

It was Lummis, the enthusiastic pioneer promoter of our
Spanish and Indian Southwest, who became the chief source
of all subsequent Penitente writing, good and otherwise. Un-
like Gregg and Davis, he had no anti-Catholic bias, or Anglo-
Saxon sense of superiority, to discolor or distort his observa-
tions. Yet, his lively sense of wonder and his exaggerated
style of writing gave to his eyewitness accounts, howsoever
true, a lurid quality that has tended to mislead not so well-
equipped readers and writers. Moreover, his farfetched
theories on their origin, likewise emphasized beyond their
value by his bombast, were consequently picked up and re-
peated as history. In brief, his descriptions of what he him-
self saw at San Mateo in 1888, including good photographs
of a procession and a crucifixion, are invaluable historical
material on the subject; also, if in a lesser degree, his re-
marks that by 1888 only three towns in New Mexico had
public Penitente processions, and only one (San Mateo) had
a crucifixion.29

But his linking of the New Mexico Penitentes with
medieval sects, with Ofiate's personal act of scourging, "un-
questionably" with the pioneer Franciscans and their Third

26. Gregg, op. cit.

27. Land of Poco Tiempo, loc. cit. — This was a popular native New Mexican
canard poking fun at the Penitentes, more in jest than out of malice. It certainly
was not the belief of the honest and sincere brethren as a body, even if the lives of
many did lend substance to the idea. A little sarcastic verse about a stolen cow,
sung by us children when I was a boy, was already being recited to Lummis in 1888.

28. El Gringo (New York: 1857), pp. 345-346.

29. Land of Poco Tiempo, pp. 84, 106, and Mesa, etc., facing pp. 125, 127. — In
Santa Fe, it was reported, there had been only one public procession since 1846, in
1859 or 1860 ; but two native octogenarians of the city insisted in 1878 that there had
been none since the arrival of the American Army (Huntington Libr., loc. cit., p. 325).

THE PENITENTES 107

Order — all this has no complete basis in fact, as will be seen.
This also led to his honest but mistaken reading of the
Penitentes into an old New Mexico document of the late
Eighteenth Century that dealt with the Third Order "of
Penance," and not "of Penitentes" as he and others would
have it.30 His further efforts to connect their practices with
age-old penitential rites among the Pueblo Indians was also
illogical and farfetched.31 But, in all fairness, let it be said
that it was not good old hearty Lummis who sinned, but his
vigor and honest enthusiasm that carried him away. Still,
it muddied the waters for generations after among the writ-
ing brethren of books as well as the Sunday supplements of
newspapers.

The Nineteenth Century ended with a novel about the
Penitentes of San Luis Valley32 which embodied the ideas
found in Lummis and Darley. Rehashing the same ideas,
some of them inextricably tangling up the Penitente rites
with the old mystery plays (two distinct entities), other
authors kept pace with every decade of the Twentieth.33
Among these, Alice Corbin Henderson's book stands out
as the best by far because of her warm human understand-
ing; but her historical background is no improvement on
what had been written before. An article printed in 1920,
purportedly a University of New Mexico thesis written in
1910,34 is a forerunner of Mrs. Henderson's book in its sym-
pathetic approach, but again, historically, it merely digests
anew the old theories and misconceptions. There was much

80. Land of Poco Tiempo, p. 82. See Note 15.

31. Ibid., pp. 82-83.

82. Louis How, The Penitentes of San Rafael (Indianapolis: 1900). Forty-two
years later it was followed by a much more sensational and false novel by Joseph
O'Kane Foster. In the Night Did I Sing (New York: 1942).

33. Charles F. Saunders in his The Indiana of the Terraced Houses ( New York :
1912), pp. 112-124; L. Bradford Prince in his Spanish Mission Churches of New Mexico

(Cedar Rapid: 1915), pp. 363-373; Ralph E. Twitchell in his several works; George
Wharton James in his New Mexico, The Land of the Delight Makers (Boston: 1920),
pp. viii, 269 et seq., 227 et seg.; Mary Austin in her The Land of Journeys' Ending

(New York: 1924), pp. 349-372; Earl E. Forrest in his Missions and Pueblos of the
Old Southwest (Cleveland: 1929), pp. 195-206; Alice Corbin Henderson, Brothers of
Light (New York: 1937); and other lesser articles in the same general vein and
chain-reaction derivation.

34. "Los Hermanos Penitentes," El Palacio. Vol. VIII, No. 1, pp. 3-20. Alice
Corbin Henderson, op. cit., cites it as a thesis by Laurence F. Lee.

108 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

merit, however, in an article written around this time by
Dr. Aurelio M. Espinosa.35 While considering the Lummis
and Salpointe ideas of origin, he prudently did not accept
them as final. One statement, that the Penitentes had pre-
vailed in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico since
the beginning of the Nineteenth Century, carried consider-
able weight, from the fact that the author was a native of
those areas. However, this signally different article went to
naught twenty years later, when its author joined the crowd
by categorically linking the Penitentes of Onate's Conquista-
dores and the Third Order of St. Francis.36

Origin of the Penitentes

Internal historical evidence about the founding and
founders of the Penitentes in New Mexico, that is, specific
names and dates, is nonexistent to my present knowledge.
What has been furnished me by "old-timers" among the
penitential brethren has no intrinsic value, for all the in-
formation received can readily be traced to Lummis and Sal-
pointe. Contemporary external evidence is likewise negative,
insofar as I know. Confronted by such an impasse, one looks
for other historical evidence by which a terminus a quo and
a terminus ad quern can be reached. In other words, one must
find a period, the latest, in which they did not exist, and then
another period, the earliest, in which they are mentioned as
already in existence. Then one places their beginnings within
these two points.

I believe that I have found both terminal points in two
excellent documentary sources: the report of Fray Fran-
cisco Atanasio Dominguez of 1777, from material he gath-
ered the previous year,37 and a decree of Bishop Zubiria of
Durango written at Santa Cruz in 1833.38

Father Dominguez was a learned Franciscan priest of the

35. "Penitentes, Los Hermanos," The Catholic Encyclopedia (New York: 1910).

86. "Traditional Spanish Ballads in New Mexico," Hispania, VoL XV, No. 2,
p. 95.

37. Biblioteca, Nacional de Mexico, Legajo 10, No. 43. This important document
with related papers is in its final steps of preparation for the press.

88. Archives of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, Hook of Visitations, LXXXIX,
pp. 71-72.

THE PENITENTES 109

City of Mexico who was commissioned to make a minute
description of all the New Mexico missions, their buildings,
lands, missionaries, religious program, income and expendi-
tures, number and classes of people, geography and climate,
and, not the least item, religious societies. The Padre carried
out his mandate to the letter, and left no stone unturned
in examining, describing, approving or condemning every
minute phase of mission activity. With regard to religious
societies, he named every single one with their respective
mayordomos and their funds and properties, he examined
their documents of ecclesiastical foundation, severely censur-
ing those that had none to show, and he made a full report
on their annual feasts, periodic meetings, their annual in-
come and expenditures.

But nowhere are the Penitentes mentioned, either in
name or in practice. The religious societies found were lim-
ited to the three Spanish parishes of Santa Fe, Santa Cruz
de la Canada, and Albuquerque. There were none in the
Indian Pueblo Missions. Those in Santa Fe were the Third
Order of St. Francis (in a very sad state) , the Confraterni-
ties of Our Lady of the Rosary and of the Blessed Sacrament,
both now under the same administration, the Confraternity
of the Poor Souls, and also the Confraternity of Our Lady
of Light at the military chapel of the same name. Those at
Santa Cruz were the Third Order of St. Francis and the
Confraternities of the Blessed Sacrament and of Our Lady
of Mount Carmel. At Albuquerque there were only two socie-
ties, the Third Order (in a very poor condition) and the
Confraternity of the Poor Souls. From the way Father Do-
minguez condemned, reproved, and even ridiculed certain
abuses down to the smallest detail, it is obvious that the
Penitentes, had he found them in existence, would have pro-
vided plenty of rich grist for his mill.

The closest thing to the idea of the Penitentes was what
he observed being done at Abiquiu, but recently re-founded
as a Pueblo for genizaros. He found it worth commenting on
because it was not done in any other Mission. Every Friday
of Lent, the resident missionary observed the devotion of

110 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

the Way of the Cross in church, and this was followed by
scourging after the lights were blown out, in which his
example was followed by some of the faithful, both Spanish
neighbors and the Indians of the place. Father Dominguez
was quick to point out that all this was voluntarily done at
the zealous missionary's "suggestion and good example."
There was no society of any kind. This Padre was Fray
Sebastian Fernandez, thirty-four years old, and a native of
Asturias in northern Spain.

Another interesting reference was with regard to special
Holy Week observances at Tome, a visita of Albuquerque at
the time. The author merely refers to its "funtion de Semana
Santa," apparently not observed every year, but also evi-
dently an exclusive feature of Tome at the time. However,
it had no Penitente features, and is to all appearances the
Holy Week pageantry for which the town became famous in
later years, the origin and nature of which has also been
linked with the Penitentes,39 but is an entirely different thing
even if taken over by the penitential brotherhoods in later
times.

We may safely assume, then, from the Dominguez Re-
port, that there were no Penitente brotherhoods in all New
Mexico in 1776, and that they did not exist prior to that date.

The other terminal point is the Zubiria decree of 1833.
In this year this bishop of Durango made his first visitation
of his flock in New Mexico ; in fact, it was the first episcopal
visitation in seventy-three years, since Bishop Tamaron's
memorable journey in 1760.40 At Santa Cruz, Bishop Zubiria
found something he did not like at all, and promptly issued a
vehement condemnation, dated July 21, 1833,41 of "a Broth-
erhood of Penitentes, already existing for a goodly number
of years, but without any authorization or even the knowl-
edge of the bishops, who definitely would not have given

89. An excellent sympathetic article is Florence Hawley Ellis' "Passion Play in
New Mexico" in New Mexico Quarterly, Summer, 1952, pp. 200-212. She, however,
identifies the old mystery plays with the Penitentes, just as Penitente writers identified
their subject with the mystery plays.

40. The Tamaron Journal and related material are currently appearing in the
NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW, VoL 28, Nos. 2, 3, 4, and Vol. 29, No. 1.

41. See Note 38.

THE PENITENTES 111

their consent for such a Brotherhood . . . since the excesses
of very indiscreet corporal penances which they are accus-
tomed to practice on some days of the year, and even pub-
licly, are so contrary to the spirit of Religion and the regula-
tions of Holy Church . . . We strictly command, laying it
on the conscience of our present and future pastors of this
villa, that they must never in the future permit such reunions
of Penitentes under any pretext whatsoever." He further
ordered each and every Penitente never again to consider
himself a member of such a "Brotherhood of Penitence
which we annul and which must remain forever abolished."

Furthermore, the bishop charged every future pastor of
Santa Cruz, should he discover the existence of Penitentes in
any other place, to intimate the contents of this decree to
the pastor of that parish. Twelve years later, in 1845, Don
Juan de Jesus Trujillo, then pastor of Santa Cruz, used this
very decree to advise the priest of Albuquerque, Don Jose
Manuel Gallegos, to bear down on the Penitentes in his
parish.42

Unfortunately, Zubiria gave no more precise informa-
tion, save that the abuse found at Santa Cruz had existed
"ya de bastantes anos atrds" — for a goodly number of years
since. He did not say "bastante tiempo," thus restricting an
indefinite period of time to a shorter period of "years." It is
also possible that there were such brotherhoods in other
places at this time, but the tenor of the decree seems to
confine their existence to the environs of Santa Cruz. Yet
the bishop, suspecting their present or future existence else-
where, made provisions for this contingency. Now, since we
are quite certain that they did not exist at all in 1776, the
bishop's "goodly number of years" could extend back some
fifty-six years to that date ; but since the movement seems to
have been restricted to Santa Cruz when he wrote, it may
well be that the Penitentes of New Mexico had their begin-
ning at the turn of the century, perhaps a decade beyond
or after, between 1790 and 1810.

This makes the Penitentes a late New Mexico phenom-

42. AASF, Santa Cruz Book, XIX, p. 43.

112 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

enon of the half -century prior to the American Occupation
of 1846, and definitely not a society and movement inherited
from the first two centuries of New Mexico as a Spanish
Kingdom.

However, if such is the case, how can we explain the later
existence of this penitential society, and why it took root so
readily on New Mexican soil ? Moreover, how can we account
for Ofiate's own act of scourging far back in 1598, Father
Benavides' reference to public flagellation in Santa Fe be-
fore 1630, and Father Fernandez' practice at Abiquiu in
1776? The answer for all these questions can be found in
one single source — the spirit of primitive Christian penance
inherent in the Spanish soul for centuries after it had disap-
peared from Christendom in general.

The Spanish Penitential Tradition

The early Christian Church, ever bloodstained from con-
tinuous persecutions and the bloody deaths of her martyrs,
had likewise kept the Passion and Death of her Founder
uppermost in her consciousness. Personal acts of severe
penance were a requisite for the forgiveness of grave sin,
that is, a balancing of the scales of divine justice even when
the sin itself was forgiven sacramentally. And even though
Christ had redeemed mankind through His own Death on
the Cross, each individual felt that he must show his devo-
tion to his Master by imitation, an idea reflected by St. Peter
in saying that Christ suffered for us, leaving an example for
us to follow in his steps.43 A further motive for penance was
self-discipline and the curbing of carnal passions, as when
St. Paul remarked that he chastised his own body and
brought it into subjection to keep himself from becoming a
castaway.44 All kinds of corporal mortification were wide-
spread even after the Roman persecutions came to an end.
The Fathers in the desert are the classic example of those
times.

The Dark Ages, brought on by the sacking of civilized
Europe by the northern barbarians, while causing defections

43. I Peter, II. 21 (Douay Version).

44. I Corinthians. IX. 27 (Ibid.).

THE PENITENTES 113

and laxity in Christendom, also crystallized and further em-
phasized bodily penance among the faithful. When the
Middle Ages followed with their quaint beauty in art and
song in the embellishment of forms of worship, penitential
practices accompanied them hand in hand. St. Francis of
Assisi is the prime example at the end of this era, preaching
to the birds and singing his Canticle to Brother Sun, while
at the same time he fasted vigorously, rolled himself in
nettles, and lashed "Brother Ass" into subjection. As a
striving toward sanctity, all sorts of penitential practices
came into vogue, under restraint and direction as practiced
by genuinely saintly persons, with insane abandon by fa-
natics who spurned all guidance.

It was in these medieval times that the various fanatical
sects of flagellants, the Flagellanti, had their rise in Italy
and northern Europe. They were not societies within the
Church, but truly heretical sects: heretical because they
went their own way, rejecting most of the Church's teach-
ings and blowing up the practice of flagellation out of all
due proportion as their chief tenet of salvation; they were
sects, because they cut themselves off from existing eccle-
siastical authority. ("A slice completely on its own" is a
literal as well as a perfectly semantic rendering of "heretical
sect.") These flagellants were but one type of many such
groups in those times, differing from each other in the one
feature of the Church which they chose to emphasize as the
only means to salvation, to the rejection of all the rest. The
Fraticelli, for example, emphasized "poverty," the Albi-
genses "celibacy," and the Waldenses "the Bible."45

The Renaissance, with its return to classic Greek and
Roman paganism in literature and the arts, affected the
Church in many ways, and very much so in the matter of
bodily penance. People became softer in their mental outlook,
more hedonistic with regard to the care of their bodies.
Ancient disciplines were gradually relaxed or dispensed
with. Lenten fasts and days of abstinence from meat became
fewer, and these have come down in continually mitigated

45. Cf. these sects in Encyclopedias : Americana, Britannica, and Catholic.

114 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

forms to our day. The monasteries retained some of the old
forms of penance in varying degrees, according to the se-
verity of each particular Order. This is not to say that the
ancient Church had abandoned her primitive doctrines of
penance, but the modes and degrees of severity had accom-
modated themselves to the times.

Then came the "Reformation," or birth of modern
Protestantism, which, rejecting most Catholic doctrines and
customs, emphasized salvation by faith alone, by an emo-
tional inner feeling of being already saved, or by predestina-
tion. Obviously, corporal penance did not fit into this new
scheme, and its very concept eventually vanished in the coun-
tries of northern Europe, except among the Catholic minori-
ties, and then in its Renaissance watered-down forms.

But Spain, medieval Spain, was not greatly affected by
the Renaissance, nor was she touched by the Protestant
Reformation, for political as well as geographical reasons.
The Spanish-Catholic mind and heart still thought and felt
about religious matters, and penance in particular, as did the
Catholics of the Middle Ages and beyond. The inherent traits
of the Spanish character helped, perhaps, and the harsh
central plateaus and landscapes of their land contributed to
some extent. Later products and ideas from the Renaissance
and the Reformation that did trickle into Spain had their
several effects, but not in altering the severity of the Span-
ish character in this regard.

And this is the Spanish soul that colonized the New
World from Patagonia to New Mexico. No Spaniard mar-
veled at Oiiate privately scourging himself during Holy
Week, for it was a common practice all over Spain and
Spanish America. Processions like the one described by
Benavides were the ordinary thing on certain occasions,
when the members of religious Orders, lay members of
parish societies, and particular individuals, scourged them-
selves or carried heavy crosses in religious processions. The
singular practice of the Padre at Abiquiu was a part of this
tradition. Generally, these public flagellations were done
over fully clothed bodies; they were token disciplines for

THE PENITENTES 115

those of blood which an individual might do in private, as
when Onate left the camp of his colony to perform this
penance out of the sight of his people.46

While most of Spain and Spanish America, at least the
larger centers, became more "modern" as the centuries went
by, though much less so than northern European nations and
their own American colonies, New Mexico was still decidedly
medieval in character when the Nineteenth Century arrived.
The chief cause was the lack of cultural contact with Spain
for two centuries, and very little with New Spain and other
Spanish American colonies. There was none with New Eng-
land or New France. Also to be considered was the poverty
and suffering of the New Mexicans as a result of continual
depredations by savage nomadic Indian tribes, a siege en-
dured for generations on end which kept the people on most
intimate terms with the basic realities of life and death. The
landscape was no less harsh and ascetic, if starkly enchant-
ing, very similar to the bare Spanish countryside which the
New Mexican life-force had left long ago in Leon, Estrema-
dura, La Mancha, and parts of Aragon and Andalucia.

In connection with these struggles with savage tribes,
there was the rise at this period of the genizaros, a segment
of the population composed of hispanicized and christianized
non-Pueblo Indian captives, and the descendants of such cap-
tives since the Reconquest of 1694. Church and civil records
amply show that they were a mixture of such varied peoples
as Apaches, Cumanches, Utes, Navajos, and even such far-
away tribes as the Pawnees and Kiowas, whose common lan-
guage now was Spanish. From their former masters they

46. Fray Agustin de Vetancurt casually mentions "Procesiones de Sangre" in 1616
and 1641, between Mexico City and Vera Cruz, which were acts of rogation in times
of pestilence and drought (Chronica de la Provincia del Santo Evangelio, Mexico, 1697,
p. 131). Yet, such practices were strictly forbidden both by church and royal decrees;
witness an Ordinance promulgated in Mexico City under date of April 16, 1612,
prohibiting all scourgings and processions during Holy Week under pain of a fifty-peso
fine and ten days in jail (Archivo General de la Nacion, Mexico, Ordenanzas, Tomo I,
f. 150).

Such repeated regulations were continually being ignored by the masses, sometimes
led by imprudent clerics, even as late as the 1800's. Henderson quotes vivid descriptions
of such goings-on in Mexico as late as 1843 (op. eit., pp. 117-122). This late re-
surgence in Mexico is evidently the source of the movement in New Mexico brought up
by some migrant at the turn of the century.

116 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

had also received Spanish names, and in many instances
Spanish blood. They were generally shiftless and lazy, as
reported by Father Dominguez in 1776.47 A great number
of them were not recently-made Catholics, but the children
and grandchildren of Catholics, and they took their religion
seriously; and so it is significant that certain villages in
which the Penitente movement was strongest were also
greatly populated by genizaros.48

By 1800, too, the Franciscans had dwindled away, leav-
ing the people, especially those in outlying districts, to their
own devices in matters of worship. In 1797 the bishop of
Durango had effectively "secularized" the Hispanic parishes
by sending priests from Durango to administer them. These
euros did not stay long, and the aging frailes had to replace
them again. Other priests came from Durango later on,
some native New Mexicans were ordained, but these were
never near enough to cover a vast primitive territory which
the Franciscans had left vacant, and whose population had
increased and spread out in many new villages and hamlets
away from the Rio Grande Valley.

It was in this "Secular Period" (1790-1850) that the
now-famed New Mexico retablos and santos came into being,
primitive altarpieces and statues by untutored craftsmen
that replaced old Spanish art pieces which time had de-
stroyed. In many ways, the Penitentes are a living counter-
part of these bizarre santos. These animate and inanimate
contemporaries undoubtedly influenced each other to some
degree. As the one replaced the old images and paintings,
so the other replaced the church societies that had died, in-
cluding the Third Order, and also took over the ceremonies

47. BNM, toe. tit.

48. Geniza.ro has a double derivation. The older one, from the Greek "born of a
stranger," was applied in Spain to a European of mixed blood, but especially to a
Spaniard with French, Italian, or other such admixture. This first meaning became
obsolete in Spain, but was continued by New Mexicans as applied to Indians of mixed
nomadic tribes living among them in more or less Spanish fashion. — The second
derivation of genizaro, more correctly spelled jenizaro, comes from the Turkish "new
militia," and was originally applied to the Sultan's special guard. It still is the
Spanish word for special troops, English "janizary" or "janissary." (Early American
writers thought the New Mexico genizaros were so called because the Spaniards used
them as auxiliary troops!)

THE PENITENTES 117

of worship (except the Mass and the Sacraments) in the
place of clergymen whom time had also taken away and
never adequately replaced.

What is of utmost significance is the fact that the Peni-
tentes appear full-blown, with a recognizable and still more
significant terminology for the society itself, for its classes
of members, and for its main rites. The society is an Her-
mandad (Brotherhood, Fraternity) or a Co f radio, (Con-
fraternity), with the pious title of "Nuestro Padre Jesus
Nazareno." It is divided into Hermanos de Luz (Brothers
of Light) and Hermanos de Sangre (Brothers of Blood),
those who scourge themselves to blood, carry heavy crosses,
and perform other drastic acts of penance.

This terminology and its accompanying practices are
exactly the ones pertaining to the penitential societies of
Seville that date from the early part of the Sixteenth Cen-
tury. The first fraternities are believed to have been started
by a knight, Don Fadrique Henriquez de Ribera, following
his return from a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in 1533. These
societies made the Via Crucis, or devotion of the Way of
the Cross, through the city streets and the countryside. A
large wooden cross headed the march of each Cofradia,
followed by a munidor (beadle) announcing the procession's
approach, and also signalling its stops and starts, with the
sound of small bells on a frame. Trumpets were used instead
on more solemn occasions. Then came the Penitentes: first,
the Hermanos de Sangre, naked from the waist up, with
loose hoods completely covering their heads, and scourging
themselves with leather whips studded with metal; next
came the Hermanos de Luz, bearing thick giant candles;
then came a third group, the Nazarenos, carrying heavy
crosses on their backs, and dressed in long red or purple
gowns tied at the waist with a thick cord, with long scraggly
wigs on their heads that reached to their shoulders. This was
the picture in earlier times. Eventually the Church authori-
ties suppressed these extravagant acts of penance, but to
this day these very same confraternities, still using the same
names, march through the streets of Seville in Holy Week

118 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

with their standards and statues, and dressed in long gowns
of various colors with tall conical hoods with masks.49

Cervantes had his Don Quijote encounter such a peni-
tential procession of flagellants in the manner that the mad
knight had assaulted the windmill. The author treats them as
nothing unusual, a religious procession praying for rain,
with clergy attending, and the disciplinants "laying open
their flesh."50 But more detailed is another old description
of these Spanish Penitentes and their customs, a fact also
taken for granted by the author, which may be found in
the droll Spanish classic, Fray Gerundio, first published in
1758. The same terminology and ritual of the brotherhood
are here brought out by the picaresque author, who also
playfully observes that the Penitentes of Light, like the
Leaders of the Brotherhood, content themselves with "light-
ing up" the Penitentes of Blood with their candles, while the
latter "burn themselves up" with their scourging.51 A news
account of the Seville processions, in 1908, pictures these
barefoot "penitentes, Nazarenos descalzos," and how their
"Hermandad de Nuestro Padre Jesus" now numbers no less
than three hundred Hermanos.52

As previously stated, the New Mexico Penitentes sud-
denly appear in the Secular Period with all the trappings of
the Penitentes of Seville in their earlier phase. There is the
distinctive name and title of Cofradia de Nuestro PADRE
Jesus Nazareno," a peculiar title indeed, for nowhere else in
Christendom is the word "Father" applied to Jesus Christ,
the Son of God in the Holy Trinity.53 Then there is the im-
portant division of the brethren into those of Light and
those of Blood. (The Nazarenos with their long gowns and
wigs54 are missing in New Mexico, and their heavy burden

49. Jose Ortiz Echagiie, Espana Mistica (Bilbao: 1950), p. 26.

50. Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quijote de la. Mancha, Libro I, Cap. I.I I.

51. Jose Francisco de Isla, S.J., Fray Gerundio de Campazas, Libro III, Cap. V
(Danzig Edition: 1885), pp. 225-235.

52. La Hormiga de Oro, Barcelona, April 11, 1908, p. 236. One of the photo
plates is of their large statue of Nuestro Padre Jesus.

53. New Mexico Penitentes were also much devoted to "El Cristo del Gran
Poder." A realistic statue of Christ bearing His Cross, and having this very title, is
one of the famous religious images of Seville.

64. Jesus Nazareno and the nazarenos are not derived, as commonly supposed,
from Jesus as a native of Nazareth, but from "Nazarite," a Hebrew term applied

THE PENITENTES 119

of cross-bearing is taken up by the brothers of blood.) The
beadle with bells or trumpet is replaced here by the pitero
with his fife, but his office is exactly the same ; and his weird
flute is none other, at least in sound, than the ones heard
when drum and fife teams play on the street corners of
Seville. Also identical with the original brothers of blood in
Spain are the bare torsos and loose hood-masks of the New
Mexican flagellants. Their hymns and alabados are also
Sevillan, both in metric form and in their minor-key ca-
dences, as well as in their uninhibited yelled manner of de-
livery. It is the cante jondo, a deep singing brought up from
the very depths of being, a cry wrenched from the soul as in
a fit of paroxysm, and trailing oft0 in unexpected tones and
half-tones.55

A Late Transplant

To call all this a coincidence is unreasonable, to say the
least. The only inference possible is that the Penitentes of
New Mexico as a society are a late transplant. In other
words, a society or groups of similar societies which came
from southern Spain to the New World after the discovery
of America did not come up to New Mexico during her first
two centuries of existence as a Spanish colony. Was it be-
cause she was not settled by Andalucians as a body? Per-
haps. But toward the end of those two centuries the society
does appear, and similar in all its essentials to the ancient
societies of Seville.

Sometime in the Secular Period, some individual, or
more than one, came to New Mexico from New Spain (soon

in the Old Testament to one who was "consecrated to God" in a very special manner.
One exterior feature of the Nazarites was that they never trimmed their hair. Samson
and Samuel, for example, were Nazarites.

In Spanish devotional writing these men prefigured Christ in His unkempt appear-
ance as described by the Prophet Isaias. And so, when representing Christ bearing
His Cross with scraggly, blood-matted hair, they called Him "Nazareno" because of this
Nazarite connotation, not because of the town of Nazareth. Consequently, the Peni-
tentes who wore long gowns and wigs and carried heavy crosses in imitation of Christ
were also called "nazarenos."

55. This theory on Penitente singing is my own, but is also expressed by Hender-
son who witnessed the Holy Week processions of Seville (Op. cit., p. 73). Expert
research and comparison, both textual and musical, of the old New Mexican hymns
and alabados and the old Andalucian soleds, seguiriyas, saetas, and peteneras, would,
I believe, confirm this opinion.

120 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

to become Mexico) , or from some other Spanish colony to the
south, where such penitential societies had long existed.56
Such individuals had belonged to such a society, to be able
to impart its organization and ritual to their new neighbors
here in New Mexico. And if we consider the New Mexicans'
own medieval-Spanish religious background at the time, a
feeling made more acute by living for generations so close
to the essentials of life and death in a stark land, the soil
was most fertile and ready for such a transplant. Within a
few years the movement had spread, despite Bishop Zu-
biria's prohibition, from the Santa Cruz and Chimayo area
to almost every village in New Mexico.

An alternate supposition is that some book, which de-
scribed the old Spanish penitential societies and their rites,
had found its way to New Mexico at this time, in the quarter-
century after 1776, to inspire the first Hermandad. The quick
results, however, suggest a living person as the prime mover.

It is true that certain practices common to all the New
Mexican brotherhoods are different from the original Span-
ish ones. The absence of the nazarenos is one, perhaps be-
cause their long gowns and wigs were unavailable. The use
of obsidian knives and spiny cactus, of yucca scourges, for
drawing blood and causing pain, the penance of kneeling
on arroz (rice) composed of tiny sharp stones from our
Southwest anthills, all these were features and modifications
suggested and provided by the local landscape.

The Tinieblas rites of Holy Week with their multiple
candlestick and noisemaking chains and matracas were
nothing else than their imitation of the liturgical Tenebrae
services as they remembered them from the now-vanished
Franciscans. So also was the procession of the Way of the
Cross, though this, too, had been associated with the original
Penitentes of Spain.

The rare practice of "crucifying" by tying a volunteer
to a cross on Good Friday — never by nailing57 — came from

56. See Note 46. Different Mexican priests have told me of similar Penitentes
that have existed from time immemorial in remote sections of Mexico.

57. Lurid articles in the past have accused the Penitentes of nailing; a victim
to the cross, more for sensational effect and out of ignorance, we trust, than out of

THE PENITENTES 121

a different source, the old folk Passion Play, the crucifixion
scene of which was made a realistic part of the Penitente
rites by the brethren who eventually were the only ones to
preserve some elements of such dramas of the people.58 Also
from the miracle plays was the macabre feature of a wooden
figure of Death riding a heavy cart with ready bow and
arrow. This Carro, or Carreta de la Muerte, one of the most
common features of the medieval mystery plays, like the
Crucified of the Passion dramas, was made part and parcel
of the Penitente rites.59 A nun writing her doctoral thesis
on old New Mexico folk plays, while repeating the oft-told
errors about the Penitentes' origin, showed rare insight in
one brief paragraph : "Passion plays were undoubtedly used
by the missionaries in the Colonial days, then were taken
over by the Folk, and later made part of the expiatory prac-
tice of the Penitente Brothers."60 Yes, there was a clear
distinction between the original rites peculiar to the Peni-
tentes and the old mystery plays of the people, and it is most
important to keep them separate, even if the New Mexico
Penitentes assimilated them into their own rites.

These and other peculiarities, however, do not alter the
fact that, as an organization, the New Mexico Penitentes
had an outside origin that was recent. They were not much
more than fifty years old, perhaps even less, when the United
States took over in 1846.61

malice. — A volunteer was bound hand and foot, and also at the waist sometimes, and
taken down from the cross at his request or if he fainted. Lummis' photographs at
San Mateo in 1888 may be found in the sources already cited.

58. Lummis wrote that in 1888 only one town (San Mateo) carried out a
crucifixion (Joe. tit. ), adding that others had been held there in 1889, 1890, and 1891. —
Samuel Ellison saw a boy lashed to a cross and wearing a cactus crown at Pena Blanca
in 1867 or 1868 ; he witnessed a similar scene at Mora in 1859 or 1860 (Huntington
Libr., loc cit., p. 325). — Alice Corbin Henderson warmly describes one at Abiquiu that
she herself witnessed in this present century! (Op. cit., pp. 46-47.)

59. Father Dominguez described the present church of Trampas minutely, but
did not find its famous Death Figure and Cart here, nor elsewhere.

60. Sister Joseph Marie, I.H.M., The Role of the Church and the Folk in the
Development of the Early Drama in New Mexico, University of Pennsylvania (Phila-
delphia: 1948), p. 89.

61. At least in strength and size, for the initial Hermandad could have started
obscurely any time between 1777 and 1800. — Someone wrote in the Albuquerque
Record, April 6, 1878, that the Penitentes had started there in 1820, but Ritch thought
they were older. (Huntington Libr., loc. cit.)

122 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

The functions of the New Mexico brotherhoods were
public in those early days, during Lent and particularly dur-
ing Holy Week, at funerals and other special occasions, as
when rogations were made for rain. The villagers partici-
pated (for not all were members by any means) as a most
sympathetic audience, or congregation rather, since the so-
ciety was supplying these priestless villages with religious
ceremonies for which they greatly hungered. There were no
women Penitentes at all, although some served as auxiliaries
in providing meals and cleaning the moradas (combination
chapel and meeting rooms).62 The poor, whether white or
genizaro, were generally the more devout souls who became
"brothers of blood." The ricos and more sophisticated men,
if they joined at all, tended to be only "brothers of light"
who, as in the quip by the author of Fray Gerundio, were
content to light the way for their more simple and sincere
brethren and their scourging, and, after the American Oc-
cupation, to peddle them as vote-blocks at the polls. Some
were also ready to become Protestants when the Archbishop
invaded their sphere of influence.

The uncompromising attempt of Bishop Zubiria to abol-
ish the society in 1833 has already been told. But in New
Mexico there was no closely-knit church administration at
that time, the few pastors in the larger centers being respon-
sible to the bishop in Durango far away through a Vicar in
Santa Fe who did not seem to exercise much authority. As
previously pointed out, there had been no episcopal visitation
between 1760 and 1833, and Bishop Zubiria did not make
another until 1850. In the meantime, the Penitentes spread
into every hamlet and town. Due to the paucity of priests, or
carelessness among the few, his decree of suppression had
no effect at all. A year after this bishop's second and last
visit to New Mexico, Lamy came as first resident bishop,
to meet the problem in the way he saw best. Evidently he
was not made aware of his Mexican predecessor's strict con-
demnation ; probably this decree had never been seen or read

62. A morada is a dwelling place or lodge, from the verb morar, and not from the
feminine of the adjective "purple," as some writers have guessed.

THE PENITENTES 123

again since 1845 until recently. Had Lamy and Salpointe
known about it, they would have taken a different view from
that of a Third Order derivation, and consequently would
have proceeded against the brotherhoods with much greater
severity and finality.

Regardless of whatever course they would have taken,
or whether or not the Rev. Mr. Darley and his helpers had
interfered, the Penitente brotherhoods would still have been
there with all their strange practices to shock the first Anglo-
Americans, and provide exotic material for the books and
journals that continue to be the source of so much Penitente-
writing down to our times.

Finally, let it be said that New Mexicans need not apolo-
gize for the Penitentes. Whatever their failings, they are
not a real blot on the history of this region and its native
people. While graphically representing a distinct phase in
our local history, like the strange santos, they also were
instrumental in preserving for us, during a most critical
period, many old Christian and old Spanish nuggets of vir-
tue, courtesy, and folklore, which we have since squandered
away. Culturally and religiously, the Penitentes themselves
are and ought to be a thing of the past. If they still persist,
though in steadily diminishing numbers, it is because of the
universal need that human males have of belonging to a
"club" of their equals, one which reflects their individuality
and gives it opportunity for action ; and their individualities'
only reflection is in the past, with their forefathers of recent
memory. They are the few whose outlook has not changed
enough for them to feel at home with the Knights of Colum-
bus or the Holy Name Society or, secularly, with the Elks
and Kiwanis.

CHECKLIST OF NEW MEXICO PUBLICATIONS
By WILMA LOY SHELTON

(Concluded)

Ground water report.

No. 1 Geology and ground water resources of the eastern
part of Coif ax county, N. M., by Roy L. Griggs. (Socorro)
1948. 187p.

No. 2 Geology and ground water resources of San Miguel
county, N. M., by R. L. Griggs and G. E. Hendrickson.
Prepared in cooperation with the U. S. Bureau of recla-
mation, N. M. Bureau of mines and mineral resources
and the N. M. State engineer. Socorro, 1951. 121p.

No. 3 Geology and ground water resources of Eddy county,
N. M., by G. E. Hendrickson and R. S. Jones. Prepared
cooperatively by the U. S. Geological survey, N. M.
Bureau of mines and mineral resources, and the State
engineer of N. M. 1952. 169p.

Oil and gas map of New Mexico, by Dean E. Winchester . . . 1931.
(Socorro, 1931) 1 sheet 25% x 23% in.

Oil and gas map of New Mexico, by Dean E. Winchester (1931)
Rev. by A. Andreas to July 15, 1936. Scale; 125 mi. = 1 in.
(Socorro, 1936) 1 sheet. 27% x 25%.

New Mexico oil and gas engineering data. 1947- Socorro, 1947- vol.
for 1947 issued as its Circular 19B; 1948 issued as its Oil and
gas report 4-B.

New Mexico oil and gas statistical data 1947- Socorro, 1947- vol.
for 1947 issued as its Circular 19A; 1948 issued as its Oil and
gas report 4A.

Report

1927-1930. v. 1-3 (E. H. Wells) Circular no. 3 mimeo.
July 1, 1945-June 30, 1946. 42p. (E. C. Anderson)
July 1, 1946-June 30, 1947. 49p. (E. C. Anderson)
July 1, 1947-June 30, 1948. 56p. (E. C. Anderson)
July 1, 1949-June 30, 1950. 26p. (E. J. Workman)
July 1, 1951-June 30, 1952. 42p. (E. J. Workman)

New Mexico Interscholastic oratorical and declamatory

association.
Annual report of the executive committee . . . v.p. 1911-1915. 5v.

124

CHECKLIST 125

New Mexico magazine.

Home plan book (rev. and enl. ed.) ed. by George Fitzpatrick.

Art editor, Wilfred Stedman. Santa Fe, 1946. 55p.
Pictorial New Mexico, ed. by George Fitzpatrick. Art ed. Wilfred

Stedman. Santa Fe, Rydal press, c!949. 191p.
Poems of New Mexico, ed. by George Fitzpatrick. Albuquerque,

Valliant printing co., c!936. 4p., 11-71 (8) p.

New Mexico medical society.

Organized for the purpose of federating and bringing
together the entire medical profession of the state, to
unite with similar societies and advance medical science
... to secure enactment and enforcement of medical
laws . . . and to guard and foster interests of members.
. . . Founded in 1882 as the Las Vegas medical society.
The name was changed in 1896 to N.M.medical society.

Constitution and by-laws, 1882.

Constitution and by-laws . . . May 28, 1940. (Albuquerque, 1940)

20p.

Constitution and by-laws . . . Aug. 1, 1952. (Albuquerque, 1952) 23p.
News letter, v. 1- July, 1949- Albuquerque, 1949- monthly

New Mexico military institute, Roswell.

Incorporated in 1891 as Goss military academy; name
was changed in 1893 in accordance with bill passed in
territorial legislature, which established the New Mexico
military institute.

A history of New Mexico military academy, 1891-1941, by J. R. Kelly.

(Albuquerque, University of New Mexico press, 1953) 404p.
The library no. 1-7; Nov. 15, 1926- May 15, 1927.

ed. by Paul Horgan

no more published

New Mexico mining association.

Organized in January 1939 at Silver City as New Mex-
ico Miner and prospector's association. The office was
moved to Albuquerque in Sept. 1945 and to Carlsbad in
March 1953. The name was changed to N. M. Mining

126 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

Association in Dec. 1951. The purpose of the organization
is to promote the welfare of the mining industry in New
Mexico.

Annual meeting

Jan. 19-20, 1940, Albuquerque (T. D. Benjovsky)
Jan. 24-25, 1941, Albuquerque (A. S. Walter)
Jan. 16-17, 1942, Albuquerque (Frank McDonough)
1943 no convention

called special meeting March 20 at Silver City for election

of officers
April 21-22, 1944, Albuquerque (F. O. Davis)

1945 no convention

April 19-20, 1946, Albuquerque (Horace Moses)
Feb. 21-22, 1947, Albuquerque (E. C. Iden)
Jan. 9-10, 1948, Carlsbad (H. E. McCray)
Feb. 10-12, 1949, Santa Fe (G. T. Harley)
Jan. 19-21, 1950, Silver City (G. A. Warner)
Feb. 15-17, 1951, Albuquerque (Wm. H. Goodrich)
Jan. 17-19, 1952, Carlsbad (T. M. Cramer)

Proceedings of meetings are summarized in the official

publication of the Association

New Mexico Miner, v. 1-Aug. 1939- v. p. 1939-

Title varies: Aug. 1939-Nov. 1951, New Mexico Miner and
Prospector

Beginning with v. 14 no. 11-12 for Nov.-Dec. 1952 the publi-
cation is a mimeographed new type bulletin

New Mexico Mining company.

Preliminary report for the use of the stockholders. New York, Baker,

1864. 21p.
Statement and compilation of facts and evidences concerning the

franchises of the N. M. mining co. New York, 1871, 16p.

New Mexico motor carriers' association, inc.

Incorporated Aug. 5, 1939 for the purpose of advancing
the interests of transporters of property and passengers
by motor vehicles.

Articles of incorporation . . . (Albuquerque, 1939) (2) p. mimeo.
Annual convention. 1939-

Santa Fe, Dec. 8-9, 1944 (2) p. v. 6, typew.

Albuquerque, Dec. 14-15, 1945, v. 7 (Art Nay, pres.) in New Mex-
ico Transporter, v. 1 no. 4, Dec. '45, p. 1

CHECKLIST 127

Albuquerque, Sept. 12-14, 1946, v. 8 (R. F. Brown, pres.) in N. M.
Transporter, v. 2 no. 2, Oct. '46, p. 1, 10

Albuquerque, Oct. 16-18, 1947, v. 9 (R. F. Brown, pres.) in N. M.
Transporter, v. 3 no. 3, Nov. '47, p. 1, 6

Albuquerque, Sept. 2-4, 1948, v. 10 (C. R. Bryant) lOp. mimeo.
also in N. M. Transporter, v. 4 no. 2, Oct. '48, p. 1, 8, 10

No convention 1949

Carlsbad, Jan. 20-21, 1950, v. 11 (C. R. Bryant) in N. M. Trans-
porter, v. 5 no. 6, Feb. 1950

Albuquerque, Jan. 19-20, 1951, v. 12 (R. B. Smith) in N. M. Trans-
porter, v. 6 no. 6, Feb. '51, p. 3, 21

Hobbs, Jan. 17-19, 1952, v. 13 (R. B. Smith) in N. M. Trans-
porter, v. 7 no. 6, Feb. '52, p. 3, 12

Albuquerque, Jan. 8-10, 1953, v. 14 (C. L. McClaskey) in N. M.
Transporter, v. 8 no. 6, Feb. '53, p. 10, 12

Legislative bulletin. Albuquerque, 1953
nos. 1-4 mimeo.

The New Mexico Transporter, v. 1- Sept. 1945- Albuquerque, 1945-
monthly

History of the N. M. Motor carriers association in v. 5 no. 5, Jan.
1950, p. 3

Safety awards, state safety program. (Albuquerque, 1953) (4) p.

Neiv Mexico petroleum industries commission.

Established in 1933 to check tax and legislative program.

Bulletin, Jan. 1936-October, 1943, monthly, mimeo. continued as N. M.
P.I.C.

N.M.P.I.C., Nov. 1943- monthly

New Mexico pharmaceutical association.

Established May 1929 to improve and better pharmacy
in New Mexico.

El Boticario, New Mexico druggist news. Feb. 1948-Nov. 1950, Albu-
querque, 1948-50

El Boticario, the news of New Mexico pharmacy, v. 1- Feb. 1953,
Albuquerque, 1953- mimeo., monthly

Minutes of annual convention.

May 20-21, 1929, Albuquerque (26) p. v. 1 (E. C. Welch, pres.)

typew.
May 19-20, 1930, Carlsbad (15) p. v. 2 (W. W. McAdoo, pres.)

typew.

128 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

May 20-21, 1931, Albuquerque, 40, 4p. v. 3 (W. W. McAdoo, pres.)

typew.

March 21-23, 1932, El Paso, v.p. v. 4 (R. M. Tihner, pres.) typew.
May 24-25, 1933, Carlsbad, v.p. v. 5 (D. L. C. Hoyer) typew.
March 11, 1934, Vaughn, 4p. Special sess. (R. E. Campbell)

typew.

May 23-24, 1934, Santa Fe, 29p. v. 6 (R. E. Campbell) typew.
May 22-23, 1935, Clovis, lOp. v. 7 (H. I. Braden) typew.
May 20-21, 1936, Albuquerque, 32p. v. 8 (E. C. Welch) typew.
Dec. 10, 1936, Albuquerque, 3p. Special session (H. I. Braden)

typew.
June 14-17, 1937, El Paso, 12p. v. 9 (H. I. Braden) typew.

(Tri state — Texas, Arizona, New Mexico)

May 18-19, 1938, Albuquerque, 20p. v. 10 (H. I. Braden) typew.
May 17-18, 1939, Carlsbad, 64p. v. 11 (G. B. Riddle) typew.
May 15-16, 1940, Albuquerque, 9p. v. 12 (A. L. Evans) typew.
May 19-20, 1941, Silver City, 5p. v. 13 (F. B. Seals) typew.
May 25, 1942, Albuquerque, 15p. v. 14 (M. D. Smithson) typew.

1943 no convention (Paul Austin)

July 17, 1944, Albuquerque, 58p. v. 16 (Bert Rose, vice pres.)

typew.

1945 no convention

July 15-16, Albuquerque, 171p. v. 17 (F. C. Reilly) typew.
June 2-3, 1947, Albuquerque, 232p. v. 18 (M. G. Howe) typew.
June 1-2, 1948, Albuquerque, 260p. v. 19 (Stanley Pawol)

typew.

June 8-10, 1949, Albuquerque, 218p. v. 20 (Bill Burt) typew.
June 6-8, 1950, Santa Fe, 45p. v. 21 (J. M. Henry) typew.
June 5-7, 1951, Albuquerque, 26p. v. 22 (Ray Platt) mimeo.
June 3-5, 1952, Albuquerque, 39p. v. 23 (George Arnold) mimeo.
June 1-3, 1953, Albuquerque, v. 24 (R. D. Sasser) mimeo.
Annual convention program . . .
1936 18p. v. 8

1946 unp. v. 17

1947 56p. v. 18

1948 56p. v. 19

1949 55p. v. 20

1950 64p. v. 21

1951 48p. v. 22

1952 48p. v. 23

New Mexico society for crippled children.

Established in 1940 to assist crippled children and adults.

New Mexico sunshine; a quarterly bulletin dedicated to friends of
crippled children. Albuquerque, 1944-1945.

CHECKLIST 129

v. 1 #1-5, March 1944-Oct. 1945.
Discontinued

Symposium on crippled children's services, New Mexico; ed. by W. L.
Minear; rev. 1951. n.p. (1951) 89p.

New Mexico society of professional engineers.

Established in March, 1947, for the purpose of promoting
and protecting the profession of engineering as a social
and economic influence vital to the affairs of men and
their community.

New Mexico professional engineer v. 1-5; Jan. 1949-May 1953. Albu-
querque, 1949-1953

Title varied: From Jl. 1949-Apr. 1951, v. 1 #7-v. 3 #4 called
New Mexico professional engineer and contractor

New Mexico Speech association.
Established in July 1934.

Proceedings, v. 1-3. 1934-July, 1936

First, Third reports issued with the N. M. Theatre conference

New Mexico state bar association.

Formed in 1886 to cultivate the science of jurisprudence,
to promote reform in law, to facilitate the administration
of justice and to elevate the standard of integrity in the
legal profession.

Minutes at regular annual session . . . together with constitution and
by-laws as amended and in force . . . Santa Fe, 1886-1911
Santa Fe, Jan. 19, 30, 1886, 18p. v. 1

(Organization, Constitution & By-laws)

Santa Fe, Jan. 4, 12, 17, 20, 24, 1887, 38p. v. 2 (W. A. Vincent)
Santa Fe, Jan. 3, 20, 21, 1888, 65p. v. 3 (N. B. Field)
Santa Fe (Jan. 1, 1889), 61p. v. 4 (S. P. Newcomb)
Santa Fe, Jan. 7, 1890, 78p. v. 5 (Frank Springer)
Santa Fe, Jan. 6, 12, 19, 26, 31, 1891, 91p. v. 6 (F. W. Clancy)
Santa Fe, July, 1892, 55p. v. 7 (W. E. Hazledine)

July session, 1892, special session Nov. and Dec. 1892.
Santa Fe, Aug. 1, 3, 9, 18, 1893, 47p. v. 8 (A. B. Elliott)

Special session in January

Santa Fe, July 31 and Aug. 29, 1894, 55p. v. 9 (A. A. Jones)
Santa Fe, Oct. 3, 28, 1895, 163p. v. 10 (J. D. Fitch)

Adjourned session of 1894

130 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

Santa Fe, July 27, Aug. 10, Sept. 24, Dec. 14-15, 1896, and Jan. 4,
1897

Adjourned sessions, 36p. v. 11 (T. B. Catron)
Santa Fe, July 26-28 and Aug. 16, 1897; July 25 and Aug. 18,
1898

Adjourned sessions, 53p. v. 12 & 13 (A. B. Fall, R. E.

Twitchell)

Santa Fe, Jan. 3, 10, 11, 18, 1900, 63(1) p. v. 14 (R. E. Twitchell)
Santa Fe, Jan. 9, 22, 24 & Feb. 25, 1901, 70p. v. 15 (A. A. Free-
man)

Together with proceedings on "Marshall Day"
Santa Fe, Jan. 8-9, 20, 23, 1902, 32p. v. 16 (E. A. Fiske)
Santa Fe, Jan. 7, 12, 19, 26 & Feb. 26, 1903, 39p. v. 17 (W. B.

Childers)

Santa Fe, Jan. 6, 1904, 75(1) p. v. 18 (A. H. Harllee)
Santa Fe, Aug. 29-30, 1904, 87(1) p. (W. C. Wrigley)

Regular annual session

Santa Fe, Sept. 20-22, 1905, 43(1) p. v. 19 (G. A. Richardson)
Santa Fe, Aug. 22-23, 1906, 91(1) p. v. 20 (W. A. Hawkins)
Roswell, Aug. 22-24, 1907, 115p. v. 21

(1908-14 sessions incorrectly numbered; correct number-
ing resumed 1915)
Santa Fe, Aug. 31-Sept. 1, 1908, 104p. (v. 22) (A. B. McMillen)

(No meeting held in 1909)
Albuquerque, Aug. 28-30, 1911, 87p. (v. 26)

(Includes minutes of 24th and 25th sessions, Feb. 28,

1910, and Oct. 18, 1910)

Report with proposed legislation as to elections. Santa Fe, New Mexi-
can printing co., 1914, 42p. (F. W. Clancy)

Report of proceedings of the annual meeting.

Santa Fe, Aug. 19, 1925, 23p. v. 1 (J. M. Hervey)
Santa Fe, Aug. 10-11, 1926, 66p. v. 2 (J. M. Hervey)
Santa Fe, Aug. 9-10, 1927, 78p. v. 3 (A. H. Hudspeth)

v. 4 (E. C. Crampton)

v. 5

Roswell, Aug. 12-13, 1930, 131p. v. 6 (L. 0. Fullen)
Albuquerque, Aug. 17-18, 1931, 66p. v. 7 (T. E. Mears)
Santa Fe, Aug. 16-17, 1932, 51p. v. 8 (M. C. Mechem)
Albuquerque, Aug. 22, 1933, 63p. v. 9 (H. M. Dow)
Albuquerque, Aug. 14-15, 1934, 86p. v. 10 (E. L. Holt)
Santa Fe, Aug. 9-10, 1935, 93p. v. 11 (J. A. Hall)
Raton, Aug. 14-15, 1936, 79p. v. 12 (C. M. Botts)
* Santa Fe, Oct. 8-9, 1937, 148p. v. 13 (A. N. White)
Albuquerque, Oct. 14-15, 1938, 107p. v. 14 (C. H. Fowler)
Santa Fe, Aug. 18-19, 1939, 149p. v. 15 (H. A. Kiker)

CHECKLIST 131

Albuquerque, Sept. 27-28, 1940, 153p. v. 16 (Edwin Mechem)
Roswell, Oct. 10-11, 1941, 135p. v. 17 (G. L. Reese, Sr.)
Santa Fe, Oct. 16-17, 1942, 76p. v. 18 (E. M. Grantham)
Santa Fe, Oct. 22-23, 1943, 112p. v. 19 (A. K. Montgomery)
Albuquerque, Oct. 13-14, 1944, 120p. v. 20 (A. W. Marshall)
Annual meeting not held; board meeting held at
Santa Fe, Nov. 6, 1945, 44p. (Waldo Spiess)
Annual meeting not held; board meeting held at
Santa Fe, Jan. 27, 1947, 41p. (E. C. Crampton)
*Includes dedication ceremonies Supreme Court Building (title

varies slightly) 1886-1925 as New Mexico bar association; 1926-

33, New Mexico state bar association
Las Cruces, Oct. 17-18, 1947, 97p. v. 21 (E. C. Iden)
Roswell, Oct. 8-9, 1948, 52p. v. 22 (C. C. McCulloh)
Tucumcari, Oct. 7-8, 1949, 52p. v. 23 (E. F. Sanders)
Carlsbad, Oct. 20-21, 1950, 52p. v. 24 (Otto Smith)
Silver City, Oct. 26-27, 1951, 56p. v. 25 (F. W. Beuther)
Raton, Oct. 24-25, 1952, 71p. v. 26 (G. L. Reese)

Secretary's letter v. 1- 1942-

New Mexico State dental society.

Established in 1907 to promote public welfare by ad-
vancement of the dental profession in education, science
and mutual fellowship and by advocacy of proper legal
legislation.

New Mexico state dental journal v. 1- 1949- Santa Fe, 1949-

New Mexico state federation of labor.

Established Dec. 2, 1912, for the purpose of establishing
better communications between trade unions of the state,
work for their rights and the advancement of their voca-
tion.

Constitution and by-laws of New Mexico state federation of labor as
amended and adopted at ninth convention at Santa Fe, July 7-8,
1926. n.p. (1926) lip.

Constitution and by-laws (approved Sept. 16, 1931) Santa Fe (1931)
20p.

Constitution and by-laws, 1940-41. n.p.n.d. 19p.

Constitution and by-laws as amended by Santa Fe convention, Oct.
1st, 2nd, 3rd, 1948. Santa Fe (1948) 19p.

132 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

Constitution and by-laws as amended by Roswell convention, Oct. 3, 4,
5, 1952. (Santa Fe, 1952) 20p.
Official labor day and convention book
1935 58p. v. 12 (Alex Craig, pres.) in v. 1 no. 17 of Union

organizer
1937 80p. v. 14 (Alex. Craig, pres.) in v. 3 no. 6 of Union

organizer

1941 64p. v. 18

1942 48p. v. 19 (Pete Olivas)

1946 90p. v. 23 (Bill McHugh)

1947 72p. v. 24 (Peter Cooney)

1948 96p. v. 25 (W. A. Walker)

1949 80p. v. 26 (Charles A. Cooper)

1950 92p. v. 27 (Joe Rivera)

1951 96p. v. 28 (James A. Price)

1952 88p. v. 29 (James A. Price)

Official program of the annual convention ...
1952 (2) p.

New Mexico labor leader, v. 1- 1948-
weekly

Proceedings of convention

Oct. 15-16, 1920, Gallup (9) p. v. 1 (C. J. Williams)

(Contains Annual report for Oct. 1, 1919-Sept. 30, 1920)
Oct. 14-15, 1921, Albuquerque (26) p. v. 2 (M. J. Lynch)

(Contains Annual report for Oct. 1, 1920-Sept. 30, 1921)
July 7-8, 1926, Santa Fe, 14p. v. 3 (J. H. Hanks) mimeo.
Oct. 13-14, 1927, Clovis, 7p. v. 4 (E. T. Schwab)
Oct. 10-12, 1929, Albuquerque, 28p. v. 6 (J. C. Hughes)
Sept. 12-15, 1930, Albuquerque, 19p. v. 7 (L. M. Thompson)
Sept. 14-18, 1931, Albuquerque, 48p. v. 8 (Alex Craig)
Sept. 25-27, 1937, Albuquerque, 38p. v. 14 (Alex Craig)
Sept. 30, Oct. 1-2, 1938, Santa Fe, 47p. v. 15 (C. A. Cooper)
Sept. 15-17, 1939, Carlsbad, 61p. v. 16 (R. N. Pearce)
Sept. 27-29, 1940, Clovis, 73p. v. 17 (R. N. Pearce)

1941 64p. v. 18

Sept. 13-14, 1946, Albuquerque, 90p. v. 23 (Bill McHugh)
Oct. 10-12, 1947, Carlsbad, HOp. v. 24 (Peter Cooney)
Oct. 1-3, 1948, Santa Fe, 104p. v. 25 (W. A. Walker)
Oct. 14-16, 1949, Albuquerque, 86p. v. 26 (Charles A. Cooper)
Oct. 6-8, 1950, Carlsbad, 89p. v. 27 (Joe Rivera)
Oct. 5-7, 1951, Clovis, 93p. v. 28 (James A. Price)
Oct. 3-5, 1952, Roswell, 91p. v. 29 (James A. Price)

CHECKLIST 133

New Mexico state firemen's association.
Established in 1923.

Minutes of the annual meeting

Las Vegas 1923 v.l

Santa Fe, Oct. 28-29 1924 v.2 (4)p. (L. W. Ilfeld, pres.) typew.

Las Vegas, Oct. 12-13 1925 v.3 5p. (L. W. Ilfeld, pres.) typew.

Las Vegas, July 3 1927 v.5 3p. (L. W. Ilfeld, pres.) typew.

Socorro, July 27-28 1928 v.6 5p. (P. D. Miller, 1st v. p.)

typew.
Proceedings of the annual convention.

Gallup, Aug. 25-27 1929 v.7 6p. (P. D. Miller, pres.) typew.

Proceedings of the eighth annual convention and the First annual Fire
college . . . Deming, June 4, 5, and 6, 1930. 19p.

Proceedings of the ninth annual convention and second annual Fire
college . . . held at Clovis. Albuquerque, 1931. 46p. (Univ. of
New Mexico. Bulletin Whole no. 196. Engineering series v.l no.l
July 15, 1931)

Proceedings of the tenth annual convention and third annual Fire col-
lege of New Mexico . . . Raton, N. M. June 13, 14, 15, 1932.
n.p.n.d. 60p.

Proceedings of the eleventh annual Fire school and eighteenth annual
convention . . . Hobbs, N. M. May 13-14-15, 1940; compiled and
published by The New Mexico State Department of vocational
trade and industrial education, Santa Fe, N. M. 23, 5p.

No meeting held in 1943.

Addresses delivered at fourteenth annual Fire school . . . Raton,
June 12, 13, 14, 1944. Santa Fe, New Mexico Dept. of Trade and
Industrial education (1944) 54p. mimeo.

No meeting held in 1945.

Minutes of the fifteenth annual Fire school and twenty-second annual
convention . . . Raton, June 17, 18, 19, 1946. 22p. typew.

Minutes and proceedings of the 25th annual convention and 18th Fire
college . . . Silver City, June 12-15, 1949. 4, 8p.
Issued in News letter July, 1949.

Minutes and proceedings of the 26th annual convention and nineteenth
Fire college . . . Tucumcari, 1950. 33p. typew.

Minutes and proceedings of the 27th annual convention and 20th Fire
college . . . Hobbs, May 14, 15, and 16, 1951. (31)p.

Minutes . . . Clayton, June 25, 1952. (29) p.
Includes Constitution and By-laws

134 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

Minutes and proceedings of the annual convention and Fire college . . .
Raton, June 8, 9, 10, 1953. Raton, 1953. 24p.

News letter

Nov. 12, 1950 (3)p. mimeo.

Mar. 12, 1951 (2) p.

May, 28, 1952 (l)p.

1953 (2) p.

Program . . . annual convention

Sixth annual convention of The New Mexico State Fire chief's associa-
tion and associate members. Socorro, July 27, 28, 1928. (4) p.

Seventh annual convention of The New Mexico State Firemen's associ-
ation. Gallup, Aug. 26th, 27th and 28th, 1929. (6) p.

3th Annual convention, 1st Annual Fire college . . . Deming, June
4th, 5th and 6th, 1930. (6) p.

Ninth annual convention, second Fire college. Clovis, June 3rd, 4th,
5th, 1931. (7) p.

Tenth annual convention and Third Fire college. Raton, June 13, 14,

15, 1932. (21) p.
Eleventh annual convention and Fourth Fire college . . . Las Cruces,

June 5, 6, and 7, 1933. lip.

Twelfth annual convention and Fifth Fire college . . . Roswell, May
28,29, 80, 1934. (12)p.

Thirteenth annual convention and Sixth Fire college . . . Santa Fe,
June 20, 21 and 22, 1935. (11) p. folder.

Fourteenth annual convention and Seventh Fire college . . . May 11,
12 and 13, 1936. (10) p. folder.

Fifteenth annual convention and Eighth Fire college . . . Clayton,
May 24, 25 and 26, 1937. (10) p. folder.

Sixteenth annual convention and Ninth Fire college . . . Carlsbad,
May 16, 17 and 18, 1938. (11) p. folder.

Seventeenth annual convention and Tenth Fire college . . . June 19,
20, 21, 1939, Las Vegas. (16) p.

Eleventh annual Fire college and eighteenth annual convention . . .
May 13, 14, 15, 1940, Hobbs . . . (14) p.

Twelfth annual Fire college and nineteenth annual convention . . .
Hot Springs, May 26, 27, 28, 1941 ... (14) p.

Thirteenth annual Fire college and twentieth annual convention . . .
Las Vegas, June 8, 9, 10, 1942 . . . (6) p. folder.

Fourteenth annual Fire college and twenty-first annual convention
. . . Raton, June 12, 13, 14, 1944 . . . (10) p.

CHECKLIST 135

Fifteenth annual Fire school and twenty-second annual convention
. . . Raton, June 17, 18, 19, 1946 . . . (9) p.

"Investigation by fires," an address by H. C. Watson, National Board
of Fire Underwriters, Arson dept., Denver, Colorado. Presented at
the annual convention of the New Mexico state Firemen's associa-
tion, Carlsbad, May 16, 1938. 5p. mimeo.

Laws pertaining to Fire departments. Santa Fe, New Mexico Depart-
ment of vocational trade & industrial education. Division of Public
service training, n.d. 7p. (Fire service training bulletin #1)
mimeo.

Safety in the fire service (by) Sydney Ingham. Address delivered at
the Fifteenth annual Fire school . . . Raton, June 17, 1946. 8p.
mimeo.

The underwriter's greatest service to a fire department, by Julius
Pearse, n.d. 3p.

New Mexico state poultry association.

Organized Dec. 2, 1927 for the welfare and protection of
the producers, buyers, and consumers of poultry and its
products, and to outline and foster a definite system of poul-
try improvement; dissolved Nov. 26, 1949.
Directory.

1933 8p. (W. M. Ginn)

1936 4p. (W. M. Ginn)

1937 4p. (W. M. Ginn)

1938 4p. (E. E. Anderson)

1939 2p. (E. E. Anderson)

1940 2p. (E. E. Anderson)

1941 2p. (E. E. Anderson)

1942 2p. (E. E. Anderson)

New Mexico Town company, Santa Fe.
Real estate in New Mexico. Santa Fe, 1883.

New Mexico tuberculosis association.

Organized May 2, 1917 as New Mexico public health
association; reorganized Oct. 6, 1921 as New Mexico tuber-
culosis association. Its purpose is the dissemination of
knowledge, securing proper legislation, cooperation with
public authorities, state and local boards of health organiza-

136

NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

tions, medical societies, and the encouragement of adequate
provision for consumptives.

33 years — May 2, 1917-April 15, 1950 (by Myrtle Greenfield) (Albu-
querque, 1950) 16p.

Annual report

April 1, 1942-Mr. 31, 1943. (18) p. (Dr. C. H. Gellenthien)

New Mexico University.

Established in 1889.

For official list of publications see Its

List of publications of the University; 6th ed. Albuquerque, 1949. 14p.
A selected list of publications. Albuquerque, April 15, 1953. lOp.

New Mexico wool growers association.

Constitution and by-laws . . . Albuquerque (1906) 24p. in English

and Spanish.

Proceedings of the annual convention, v.l —

Albuquerque Oct. 7-8, 1907 50p.

Mr. 18-19,

Mr. 8-9,

Feb. 9-10,

v.p. 1905-
2 (Solomon Luna)

Albuquerque

Albuquerque

Albuquerque

East Las

Vegas Feb. 29-Mr. 1,

(Silver Jubilee)

Feb.

Feb.

Feb.

Feb.

1918 112p. v.16
1920 95p. v.17
1927 (103)p. v.23

(E. M. Otero)
(Prager Miller)
(David Farr)

1928 28p. v.25 (F. W. Lee)

Roswell
Albuquerque
Albuquerque
Albuquerque

gram.
Roswell

5-6,

1929

19p.

v.26

(F.

W.

Lee)

5-6,

1930

23p.

v.27

(F.

W.

Lee)

5-6,

1931

44p.

v.28

(F.

W.

Lee)

4-5,

1932

4p.

v.29

(F.

W.

Lee)

1935

Mr. 25-27,
gram

Santa Fe Feb. 10-11, 1938 v.35

N. M. Stockman v. 3 no. 3 Mr. '38 p. 12-13
Santa Fe Feb. 9-10, 1939 v.36

N. M. Stockman v. 4 no. 3 Mr. '39 p. 12-13
Albuquerque Feb. 8-9, 1940 v.37

N. M. Stockman v. 5 no. 2 Feb. '40 p. 8, 20-21
Albuquerque Feb. 6-7, 1941
N. M. Stockman v. 6 no. 2 Feb. '41 p.
Albuquerque Feb. 5-6, 1942
N. M. Stockman v. 7 no. 2 Feb. '42 p

pro-

6p. v.32 (F. W. Lee) pro-

v.38
28-36

v.39
14-16

(F. W. Lee)
(F. W. Lee)
(F. W. Lee)
(F. W. Lee)

(F. W. Lee)

CHECKLIST 137

Albuquerque Feb. 4-5, 1943 7p. v.40 (F. W. Lee)
also in N. M. Stockman v. 8 no. 2 Feb. '43 p. 14-18
Albuquerque Feb. 3-4, 1944 v.41 (F. W. Lee)

N. M. Stockman v. 9 no. 2 Feb. '44 p. 1-10
Albuquerque Feb. 15-16, 1945 19p. v.42 (F. W. Lee)
Summary in N. M. Stockman v. 10 no. 2 Feb. '45 p. 4-7
Albuquerque Feb. 5-6, 1946 20p. v.43 (F. W. Lee)
Summary in N. M. Stockman v. 11 no. 2 Feb. '46 p. 29-33
Albuquerque Feb. 4-5, 1947 24p. v.44 (F. W. Lee)
Summary in N. M. Stockman v. 12 no. 2 Feb. '47 p. 42-56
Albuquerque Feb. 3-4, 1948 23p. v.45 (F. W. Lee)
Summary in N. M. Stockman v. 13 no. 2 Feb. '48 p. 17-32
Albuquerque Feb. 8-9, 1949 23p. v.46 (F. W. Lee)
Summary in N. M. Stockman v. 14 no. 2 Feb. '49 p. 24B-31
Albuquerque Feb. 7-8, 1950 23p. v.47 (F. W. Lee)
Summary in N. M. Stockman v. 15 no. 2 Feb. '50 p. 18-23, 96-98
Albuquerque Feb. 6-8, 1951 22p. v.48 (F. W. Lee)
Summary in N. M. Stockman v. 16 no. 2 Feb. '51 p. 18-23, 96-98
Albuquerque Feb. 3-5, 1952 24p. v.49 (F. W. Lee)
Summary in N. M. Stockman v. 17 no. 2 Feb. '52 p. 10-16, 81-82
Albuquerque Feb. 8-10, 1953 30p. v.50 (F. W. Lee)
Summary in N. M. Stockman v. 18 no. 2 Feb. '53 p. 18-22, 78

1932-1944 not published; 1945-49 not published separately; only a sum-
mary of association events and resolutions were included in N. M.
Stockman.

El Gorroguero (The sheep grower) v.1-5, 1933-37. Albuquerque, 1933-
37 monthly.

Resolutions adopted by the N. M. wool growers assoc. in 39th

annual convention. Albuquerque Thurs. & Fri. Feb. 5-6, 1942. 22p.

Summary of resolutions and declaration of public policy

adopted by 40th annual convention of N. M. wool growers assoc.
Albuquerque Thurs. & Fri. Feb. 4-5, 1943. 7p.

Resolutions adopted by the Executive bd. of the N. M. wool

growers assoc. in session at Albuquerque Feb. 15-16, 1945 with
list of awards at the annual wool show and list of officers and
members of the Executive bd. Albuquerque, 1945. 19p.

This meeting of Executive bd. was called in lieu of the 42nd
annual convention of the association which was prohibited by
order of the Federal war convention bd. due to wartime
conditions.

138 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

Public service company of New Mexico.

Organized May, 1917 as Albuquerque Gas and Electric
company ; name changed September, 1946 ; on Sept. 30, 1949,
the company's natural gas distribution system was sold to
Southern Union gas company.

Annual report to the stockholders. Albuquerque, 1947-

1947 8p. (Arthur Prager, pres.)

1948 8p. (Arthur Prager, pres.)

1949 20p. (Arthur Prager, pres.)

1950 20p. (Arthur Prager, pres.)

1951 20p. (Arthur Prager, pres.)

1952 20p. (Arthur Prager, pres.)

School for the visually handicapped, Alamogordo.

Established in 1903 as Institute for the blind; in 1925
for administrative purposes in all matters except suits, state
lands, funds and appropriations, the Institute was author-
ized to use the name N. M. School for the blind. Name was
changed by the 1953 legislature.

Report

Feb. 1903-Nov. 30, 1904

in Message of M. A. Otero to the 36th Legislative Assembly
Jan. 16, 1905. Exhibit "A5." 4p.

Dec. 1, 1904-Nov. 30, 1906

in Message of H. J. Hagerman to the 37th Legislative As-
sembly Jan. 21, 1907. Exhibit 34. lOp.

1906- 1907 lip. v.l (S. H. Gill)

1907- 1908 16p. v.2 (S. H. Gill) (E&S)
1909-June 30, 1910 25,52p. v.4 (R.R.Pratt) (E&S)

July 1, 1910-June 7,1912 96p. (v.5) (E&S)

July 1, 1912-June 10, 1914 105p. (v.6) (R.R.Pratt) (E&S)

Dec. 1, 1920-Nov. 30, 1922 79p. (v.7)

Nothing was published showing the activities of the school
since 1914, and in order to bring the reports to date, there is
included in this biennial a brief summary of the biennials
ending 1916, 1918, 1920.

Dec. 1, 1922-Nov. 30, 1924 80p.' (v.8) (R.R.Pratt) (E&S)

CHECKLIST 139

Taxpayers' association of New Mexico.

Founded in 1915. Devoted to the interests of New Mex-
ico, its citizens and taxpayers. It is an unofficial agency for
securing and publishing unbiased and accurate information
concerning the administration and cost of government —
national, state, and local.

(Audit survey of the counties of New Mexico, 1939-1941?)
Title varies

Contents. — A citizen looks at Chaves county, by Philip E. Larson
and Carl M. Bird. — A taxpayer examines Harding county, by
Philip E. Larson. — The finances of local government in Mora
county for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1940 by C. M. Botts, jr.
and Sebe Barnes. — Audit Survey of Sandoval county for the year
ending June 30, 1939, by Philip E. Larson and C. M. Botts, jr. —
Audit Survey of Socorro county for the year ending June 30, 1939,
by Philip E. Larson, and C. M. Botts, jr. — Torrance county. — A
taxpayer examines Union county by Philip E. Larson. — The fi-
nances of local government in Valencia county for the fiscal year
ending June 30, 1940, by C. M. Botts, jr. and Sebe Barnes.

Controlling public assistance costs; a presentation to the legislature
of New Mexico, Jan. 1953. (Santa Fe, 1953) 9p.

New Mexico tax bulletin, v. 1- Jan. 1922- Santa Fe, N. M.
Taxpayers' association of New Mexico, 1922-
Supersedes the New Mexico tax review.

The New Mexico tax review by the Taxpayers' association of New
Mexico, v. 1-6 no. 1; Feb. 1916-May 1921. (Albuquerque, N. M.)
1916-1921.
6 v. in 1.

V. 1 consists of 6 nos. (Feb.-July 1916) ; v. 2, 6 nos. (Sept.-Oct.
1916, Jan., Apr., June, Aug. 1917) ; v. 3, 1 no. (June 1918) ; v. 4,
5 nos. (Dec. 1918, Jan., Mar., May, July 1919) ; v. 5, 1 no. (Dec.
1919) ; v. 6, 1 no. (May, 1921).
Published in Santa Fe, Apr. 1917-May, 1921.
Superseded by New Mexico tax bulletin.

New Mexico state highways, James A. French and the state engineer,
an audit. Albuquerque, n.d. 39p.

The public assistance program in New Mexico. A "know your govern-
ment" report, n.p., 1947. 14p.

Special report on the fiscal policies of the state of New Mexico by A. E.
James . . . Santa Fe, February 5, 1929. 15p.

State Control of bond issues to supplement state control of tax levies;
a paper read at the second annual meeting of the Taxpayers'

140 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

association of New Mexico, by George G. Tunell. Albuquerque,

September, 1916. 8p.
This is how public roads are financed in New Mexico. A "know your

government" report . . . (Santa Fe, 1949) 22 leaves.
This is how public schools are financed in New Mexico. A "know your

government" report . . . (Santa Fe, 1947) 21, 3 leaves.
This is how public schools are financed in New Mexico. A "know your
•government" report. (Rev. July, 1949) (Santa Fe, 1949) 25, 8

leaves.

This is how public schools are financed in New Mexico. (Santa Fe,
1953) v.p.

The war and the business outlook for 1942; an address delivered by
G. S. Carter, director School tax division at a meeting of the
Taxpayers' association. Albuquerque, Jan. 15, 1942. (17) p.

Santa Fe. Laboratory of anthropology.

For official list of publications see Its

List of publications Jan. 1949; School of American research, Historical
society of New Mexico, Laboratory of anthropology. Santa Fe,
(1949) 19p.

Santa Fe. School of American research.

For official list of publications see

List of publications Jan. 1949 ; School of American research, Historical
society of New Mexico, Laboratory of anthropology. Santa Fe,
(1949) 19p.

(Concluded)

Notes and Documents

Le Grande Survey Notes and Journal

June 27«>

Having, by a variety of observations, ascertained the intersection of
the 32nd degree of North Latitude with the 102nd of West Longitude
from London, we this day established our commencement Corner at
the point of intersection, by erecting a considerable pile of loose rock,
in the centre of which we placed a stake of hackberry 10 feet long
marked J5 c E|, meaning South East Corner. We made our corner in
a clean open Prairie, near a fine spring of Free Stone Water and due
South about 20 miles from the Red River of Texas. The land here is
fertile and clothed with the finest pasture: a species of Grass called
by the Mexicans "Grama" — Buffaloes and Antelopes in great abun-
dance.

June

Today we made 16 miles N. over fertile Prairie land and encamped
at night on the North bank of the Red River of Texas finding our com-
mencement corner to be 4 miles less distant from this River than we
yesterday supposed it to be. The bottom of Red River at this place,
is nearly a mile in width & formed of the richest loam. Timber —
Cotton wood, black locust, and some Boxwood — Undergrowth — Buck
eye & Spice wood. Killed 1 Buffaloe & 2 Antelopes.

June 29th

This day we made 17 miles N. over good Prairie land, interspersed with
occasional groves of Oak timber. We today passed two dry creeks or
rather sandy drains, at present totally dry. Saw large gangs of Buf-
faloes and wild Horses — Killed of the first, two & encamped at a pond
of miserably bad Water.

June 30th

Made 6 miles N. over bad Prairie [land to the] South Fork of Red
River. The bottom lands [of this] River are not very good. The water
course at this place is not more than 45 yds. in breadth and extremely
red, approaching almost to the consistency of mud, — We here
found no other timber than Cotton wood. Passed the River and con-
tinued our course further 7 miles N. & encamped for the night on an
inconsiderable stream of tolerable water. Killed 3 Buffaloes.

July l«t

Made 4 miles N. over broken and rugged barrens and established the
N.E. corner of Section 1 & S.E. corner of Section 4; after which made
10 miles W. over land of the same character as that passed in earlier
part of the day. Today we saw immense herds of Buffaloes off to the
N. — Killed 1 — Encamped again on the South Fork of Red River.

141

142 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

July 2nd

We this day made 19 miles W. over high, open, tho' fertile Prairie
possessing excellent Pasture, & encamped for the night at a hole of
Water, that possessed barely a sufficiency for the occasion. This night
one of our horses died from the Sting of a rattle snake —

July 3.«J

Made today 14 miles W. over delightful Prairie. In the afternoon we
passed an extraordinary large spring of water, and encamped at night
without either water or wood. Killed 2 deer and abandoned in the
Prairie one of our horses, that had given out when on the march.

July 4.tb

Today we ran off 10 miles W. over land similar to that passed yester-
day, and encamped about 2 o'clock on a beautiful little stream of clear
water, with rich bottom land and plenty of timber — Course of the
stream S.E. — We have concluded to remain [the] rest of the day, in
order to celebrate as best we could, the Anniversary of our National
Independence. Hunters started forth in every direction, and at supper,
tho' we were entirely destitute of the luxuries of civilized life, we
feasted most sumptuously on, buffaloe, venison, and antelope with wild
turkey, —

July 5«>

Having set out early this morning we made 10 miles W. between Sec-
tions 1 & 2 over extremely broken and rugged Country. During the
day we Saw large gangs of Buffaloes and some few Antelopes. We
encamped for the night on a low piece of marshy ground that barely
afforded a sufficiency of water for our purposes. —

July 6.«>

W. between Sections 1 and 2 — 17 miles — part of the distance, very
broken; the residue level rich Prairie, occasionally timber'd with Oak
and Hackberry. In the evening the Hunters brought to Camp one buf-
faloe. We this night encamped at a spring of free stone water in a
small grove of timber.

July 7«>

Made 19 miles W. over much such land as yesterday & encamped for
the night at a small pool of miserable water. Here we established the
Corner of Sections 1, 2, 3 & 4.

July 8.«>

We this morning proceeded South to ascertain the Corner of Sections
1 & 2 and on the fifth day arrived at the Supposed Corner, which we
established, and returning on the same line, made 15 miles N. between
Sections 1 and 2 over Prairie some what broken, tho' rich & fertile.
The Hunters Killed 2 Buffaloes. —

NOTES AND DOCUMENTS 143

July 14.«»

This day we remained in Camp for the [purpose] of killing and curing

meat. —

July 15.

We remained in Camp until 9 or 10 o'clock this morning and after-
wards made 9 miles N. over smooth Praire [sic] without seeing water
during the day. Encamped without Wood or Water.

July 16

We made an early start in order to reach Red River; — at the distance
of 7 miles we crossed a small stream running N.E., with some timber,
such as Cotton Wood & Willows. In 12 miles more, we reached the
bottom of Red River of Texas which is extensive and rich. Timber —
Oak, Hackberry &c — Undergrowth — Plumb. Cherry and Currant
Bushes with much Grape Vine. The River is about 50 yds in width
and at this time about 3 feet in depth. Encamped on the South bank
for the night.

July 17.

This morning early we forded the River and left the large timber at

the distance of half a mile — We then entered a thicket of Plumb, Hazle

and Oak bushes, which continued the distance of 2 miles — We then

pursued our Course N. over rich and rolling Prairie 8 miles to the

Corner of Sections 1. 2. 3. 4. Encamped at a hole of Water in the

Prairie.

July 18.

Proceeded N. between Sections 3 & 4. 16 miles over level Prairie,
passing during the day many ponds of bad water. During this days
march one of our horses took fright and bursted 2 Kegs of powder.
Encamped at night on a beautiful branch of Red River running S. E.

July 19.

Left the creek at an early hour and ran 17 miles over much such land

as yesterday, and encamped in a small grove of timber without water.

July 20.

We this morning at the distance of 4 miles, reached the South fork
of Red River — This stream at this place is about 45 yds in width and
about 3 feet deep, with a wide and rich bottom — A variety of large
and excellent timber. — We this day made 17 miles to the corner of
Sections 3. 4. 5. & 6 over very good land and encamped on a small
stream about % a mile distant E. of this corner. —

July 21

E. between Sections 4 & 5 — At the distance of % a mile crossed a
small stream running S.E. Made 11 miles E. over land somewhat
broken, but unusually rich & encamped at a very large spring in a
grove of timber. This day killed 4 Buffaloes. Game plenty.

144 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

July 22.

Made 19 miles E. over same quality of land as that surveyed yesterday
& encamped on a branch of the So. Fork. Bottom, wide and rich with
plenty of Timber — Viz. to Cotton Wood.

July 23.

Started early and made 17 miles thro' a country generally, tho' lightly,
timber'd, without undergrowth, & encamped on a creek about the size
of that passed yesterday. Killed 2 Buffaloes.

July 24

Reached about lO.O'clock this day a small quantity of Cotton Wood
on a dry creek. Made 18 miles E. over tolerable land and encamped on
main Red River. Here we found the River near 100 yds wide. Stream
bold & muddy, with very wide bottoms, [grass], plentifully timbered
with Cotton Wood, Hackberry, black locust — Here we encamped —
Killed 1 Buffaloe.

July 25

Made 20 miles E. over a most delightful country, both Prairie and
timber land. At the distance of 12 miles crossed a stream running So. —
about 4 yds wide — At a further distance of 4 miles crossed another
stream about the same size and encamped on another larger at the
distance of 4 miles more.

July 26.

Made 15 miles E. — Character of the country similar to that passed
yesterday. Killed 2 Buffaloes & 1 Deer. Here we established the E.
corner of Sections 4 & 5.

July 27

We started S. to ascertain the corner of Sections 1 & 4 at which point
we arrived on 5.th day after having rested, during this time, 1 day and
a half to cure meat. In consequence of some of our horses escaping
from the guard, we were detained until a late hour, and made but
9 miles.

Aug.* 1

North, over a rich and fertile land, generally timber'd, and encamped

on a small stream running East.

Aug.' 2

We today made 15 miles N. to the main branch of Red River — Here
we found the River from 50 to 60 yds wide, with a large and extensive
bottom, timber'd with Oak, Hackberry &c — undergrowth, Plumb bushes
& grape vines. One of the Hunters Killed a white bear of a large size.

Augt3

Today we made 17 miles N. over a gently rolling Prairie of a good

quality, with fine Pasturage Large [gangs] of Buffaloes seen to the

NOTES AND DOCUMENTS 145

W. during the day. At the distance of 8 miles we crossed a Stream of
fine water from 8 to 10 yds wide, running S.E. — We encamp'd at a
Pool of Water in the Prairie.

Aug.1 4

Today we made 9 miles North to the corner of Sections 4 and 5 and
passed over land of an unusually good quality. — We saw immense
herds of Buff aloe during the day.

Aug.* 5

North, along the E. side of section 5. Today we made 17 miles N. over
land of a good quality, generally lightly timber'd. We encamped on a
branch of the false Washita at the distance of 2 miles from the corner
of Sections 4 & 5. We passed the false Washita, a deep and bold
stream, with a good bottom, timber'd with Oak &c.

Aug'6

North, along the E. side of Section 5 — Today we made 18 miles over
level & rich Prairie, — We encamped without water — No sign of Timber,
during the day we pass'd some pools of miserable Water, much used
by Buffaloes.

Aug*7

North, along the E. side of Section 5. We today made 15 miles to the
corner of Sections 5 & 8, & encamped on a stream of fine water run-
ning E. — The land that we passed today, was generally Prairie of a
good quality. Killed 2 Buffaloes this day —

Aug.* 8

West between Sections 5 & 8. Today we made 15 miles — Land of good
quality, generally creek bottom. We encamped on a creek of fine Water
running E. Here we found Game in great abun- abundance [sic]. One
of the hunters killed a White Bear of a large size & 2 Buffaloes.

Augt 9.

West, between Sections 5 & 8. We made today 20 miles over land of a
good quality but broken — Well timber'd with Oak, Hackberry &c.
Encamped on a small Branch running So. Game very plentiful —

AuglO

West, between Sections 5 & 8 — We today made 18 miles over a broken
Country, land generally good — Passed during the day some small
streams running So. Encamped on a small stream about 5 or 6 [yds]
wide, running So — Today 5 Buffaloes were killed.

Augt 11.

West, 21 miles between Sections 5 & 8 — At the distance of 5 miles we
entered a beautiful Prairie gently rolling and of a very superior quality
of Soil. Here Buffaloes exist in almost incredible numbers. We en-

146 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

camped at a large lake or pond of Water — during the night one of our
horses died.

Augt 12.

West 17 miles over much such land as that passed yesterday. Encamped
on a creek 8 or 10 yds across, a rich bottom with some brushwood on
it; its course was S.E.

14.

West 9 miles to the corner of Sections 5. 6. 7. &, 8. The land we passed
today was generally Prairie. Game plentiful here. Encamped at a small
creek near the corner. This day we fell in with a party of Kiowa
Indians, who informed us they were on their way to Santa Fe for the
purpose of treating with the Government — We sent a copy of our
journal up to this date.

Augt 15

South, between Sections 5 & 6 to the Corner of Sect8. 3, 4, 5, 6, — We

reached it on the 3.rd day without difficulty.

Aug.t 19

North between Sect8. 5 and 6. At the distance of 3 miles we crossed a
small creek running S.E. & again at the distance of 15 miles we
crossed another of a larger size running S.E. — Made 25 miles this day
and encamped on a Prairie without Wood or Water.

Augt 20

This day, as we were about to leave Camp, we met with a Comanche
Indian, who informed us they were encamped on a small Creek a little
to the north. We proceeded N. about the distance of 2 miles, when we
met with a large party, who appeared to be quite friendly. We immedi-
ately commenced trading with them and purchased 191 excellent Bea-
ver's Skins — We could have made more purchases, but thought it
advisable to retain some of our goods for other Indians with whom we
might fall in. The Chief of this party was called Cordero — We also pur-
chased 5 Horses that we much needed.

Augt 21

North, between Sections 5 and 6. Made 17 miles over broken land,
thinly timberd with Cedar and Pine. Encamped on a small ravine mak-
ing from the mountains. Killed 2 mountain Deer this day.

Augt 22

North along Sections 5 and 6. Made today 18 miles to the Corner of
Sections 5, 6, 7, 8 where we encamped for the night — No game killed
this day. The ground we passed over broken and poor.

NOTES AND DOCUMENTS 147

Aug23

North between Sections 7 and 8 — At the distance of ^ a mile we
crossed a small creek running N.E. & at 6 miles we crossed another,
but of larger size and running S E. The land we passed today was
broken and thin soil. Made 16 miles and encamped by the side of a deep
ravine with a small quantity of bad water in it.

Aug24

North between Sections 7 & 8. Today made 15 miles over much such
land as yesterday, and encamped on the S. Fork of the Canadian River
— It is a deep and bold stream, with a wide bottom of good land.
Timber — Hackberry, Cotton W. &c. Undergrowth — Plumb Bushes &
grape Vines. Here we gather'd some Plumbs of a large size and deli-
cious flavor.

Aug25

North between Sections 7 and 8. Made 19 miles this day over uneven
ground & thin soil to the Corner of Sections 7 & 9. Encamped at corner
of said sections, on a Small Creek running E. No Game killed today.

Augt 26

East, between Sections 8 & 9 to the Corner of same; On the 5th day
arrived at supposed corner — On the 28.th one of the men was bitten by
a rattle snake, but fortunately relief was found instantly.

Augt 30

South, along the E. side of Section 8 to the Corner of Sections 5 and 8.
On the l.st Sept.r we killed 2 Buffaloes and in the Evening abandoned
one of our horses owing to fatigue.

Sep.r 1

North, along the E. side of Section 8. Today we made 23 miles over a
rich tract of Country, partly timber'd with Hackberry Oak &c. Here
we found game in great abundance, and encamped on the Canadian for
the night. It is a large and bold stream 50 or 60 yds wide, with a rich
and extensive bottom, well timber'd with Hackberry Oak &c. Under-
growth.

Sep.' 2

North, along the East side of Section 8. Made 27 miles to the corner
of Sections 8 & 9. The ground we pass'd today is very generally Prairie
of a good quality. Encamped near a piece of low Marshy land, which
afforded a sufficient quantity of water for the night. One Buffaloe
killed today.

Sep.r 3

West between Sections 8 and 9. Made this day 17 miles over level rich
Prairie and encamped without water on a prairie. Our horses are very
much fatigued. The Hunters killed 2 Buffaloes.

148 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

Sepr4

West between Sections 8 & 9. At the distance of 6 miles we crossed a
branch of the Canadian running S.E. (with a bottom of good land,)
from 50 to 100 yds wide. The land we pass'd over today was generally
prairie of a good quality. Made 23 miles and encamped on a small
stream running S.E.

Sepr5

West, between Sections 8 and 9 over a prairie Country of good quality.
Encamped at night on the dry Fork. This is a stream with but little
water and deep and rugged banks.

Sep'6

West. Today we made 26 miles over a very [rich] level prairie —
Encamped at [night] near a large spring in the prairie. Game in great
abundance — 5 Buffaloes killed this day.

Sepr7

West, between Sections 8 and 9. Made 16 miles to the Corner of Sec-
tions 7, 8, 9, and 10, where we encamped for the night. Land such as
yesterday.

Sep'8

North, between Sections 9 and 10. — Made 16 miles through an uneven

prairie of thin Soil. Encamped without water — Game scarce —

Sep.r 9

North, between Sections 9 and 10. Made 12 miles over a prairie ; at the
distance of 5 miles crossed the dry Fork and encamped at a small hole
of water in the prairie.

Sep.' 10

North between Sections 9 & 10. This day made 20 miles over a level
plain of tolerable land. On this night 5 of our party deserted. Viz,
Kemble, Bois, Casebolt, Boring, & Ryan, taking with them all our
horses excepting 4. This measure was adopted, no doubt to prevent
pursuit. We have suffered much from the want of food. Encamped this
night in an extensive prairie without water.

Sep' 11.

We this morning for the want of water and horses were unable to
lift our packs, or remain to cash them; therefore we scatter'd all our
purchases, as well as the residue of our goods over the prairie, pro-
ceeding North to the corner of Sections 7, 8, 9, 10. We establish'd the
corner to the said Sections on the Bank of a ravine. Thence East
between Sections 9 & 12 over a level plain 22 miles and encamped at a
large Spring in the prairie.

NOTES AND DOCUMENTS 149

Sep.' 12

East, between Sections 9 & 12. Made 23 miles over level prairie of a
good quality, and encamped on a small Branch of fine water running
N.E. Here one of the hunters killed 2 Buffaloes.

Sepr 13.

East, between Sections 9 & 12. Today made 21 miles and encamped in
the prairie at a small pond of water, which had been much used by
Buffaloes. The prairie is level and of a good quality.

Sepr 14

East, between Sections 9 and 12 — Made 14 miles over such land as
yesterday — During the day saw large groves of Timber to the North.
Encamped for the night on a stream of clear water with little or no
timber. 2 Buffaloes killed today. Large gangs of wild horses & Buffaloes
passed us during the day.

Sep.' 15

East between Sections 9 & 12. This day made 20 miles to the corner of
Sections 9 & 12, where we encamped on a small trace running N.E.
During the day we saw immense herds of Buffaloes and some deer —
Land — Prairie and of good quality —

Sepr 16

North, along the East boundary of Section 12 at three miles we crossed
a small Branch, running N.E. and 4 miles further crossed the N. Fork
of the Canadian — Here it is a large and bold stream from 50 to 60 yds
wide, with a large and extensive bottom, well timber'd with Oak, Hack-
berry &c. Undergrowth — Plumb Bushes & Grape Vines. The country
we pass'd over today was of a good quality, generally timber'd — Game
plentiful. We made 20 miles. —

Sepr 17

North, along the East side of Section 12. This day made 25 miles to
the supposed corner of Section [12] and the NorthEastern boundary
of the grant. Encamped on a small Creek, running S.E.

Sep.' 18

We proceeded N. to ascertain the true distance to the Arkansas River.
— Here we found it to be 55 miles N. of the supposed Corner. The
River here is upwards of Vz a mile wide, with a very large bottom and
well timbered with Oak, Hackberry, and Elm. Undergrowth, Grape
Vines &c. On 19th some of the Hunters killed a Buffaloe —

Sepr 22.

We returned to the N.E. corner of the Grant and established it perma-
nently about Vz a mile north of the temporary corner formerly estab-
lished. On the 21.st we saw a large party of Indians to the W. The
country between this corner and the Arkansas River is generally good.

150 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

On the 24,th our horses strayed, or were driven by Indians, and were
gone 2 days.

Sep27

West, along the N. Boundary of Section 12. This line we ran on a
supposed parallel line with the Arkansas River, Say West 10 degrees
North. We this day made 20 miles over land of a superior quality —
part of the way well timber'd. Encamped on a small creek running S.E.
About midnight we were attacked by a party of Snake Indians — All
prepared for battle and made a most manful resistance. The action
lasted but a few minutes, when the enemy fled, leaving on the ground
nine of their party dead. We have to regret the loss of 3 men killed and
one slightly wounded. The men killed are, Crummin, Weathers & Jouy
— Thompson slightly wounded.

Sep.* 28

We were occupied this day in burying our deceased friends, which we
did with as much decency as our situation would admit of. Encamped
on the field of action at night.

Sepr 29

West 10 degrees North, along the North side of Section 12. This day
made 24 miles, over good land and well situated, mostly prairie.
Encamped on a small stream of fine water, running S.E. Today some
of the hunters killed 4 Buffaloes and 1 Deer.

Sep' 30

West 10 degrees North, along the North side of Section 12. Made 26
miles over a level and rich prairie. During the day passed some pools
of stagnant water, but encamped at night without it, after running
until a late hour. 2 Buffaloes killed this day.

Octrl

West 10 degrees North along the North side of Section 12. Today
made 21 miles — At 4 miles distance we crossed a creek 10 or 15 yds
across, running S.E. with a good bottom of land, timber'd with Oak,
Hackberry, & Cotton Wood — At the distance of 4 miles more we crossed
the same Creek running N.E. The land that we passed over today was
generally good. Encamped on a branch running N.E.

Ocf2

West 10 degrees North, along the N. boundary of Section 12. Today

made 9 miles and established the Corner to Sections 11 & 12. Land very

generally good, a large majority of it timbered with Elm, Oak &

Hackberry.

Oct. 3

W. 10 degrees N. along the North boundary of Section 11. At the dis-
tance of 12 miles crossed a branch running N.E. This day made 20

NOTES AND DOCUMENTS 151

miles over good and well timber'd land. Encamped on a small branch
running N.E. Killed 2 Buffaloes, 3 Deer.

Oct. 4

West 10 degrees North along the N. boundary of Section 11. Made 22
miles and encamped on a small branch running N.E. The land today
was similar to that passed yesterday — Killed 1 Antelope & 1 Deer.

Oct.r 5

W. 10 degrees N. along the N. boundary of Section 11. Made 21 miles
and encamped on a creek running N.E. The land now, as we approach
the mountain, extremely broken.

Octr6

W. 10 degrees N. on N. boundary of Section 11. Made 16 miles over
very broken & rugged land, thickly timber'd with Pine and Cedar to
the base of the mountain & extreme head of a small creek running N.E.
This night there fell a Snow 8 inches deep.

Octr7

This day we devoted to a partial examination of the mountain. Found
difficulty in continuing our Survey farther W. — ; such as to induce
us to abandon the attempt. The men here found some Ore, which from
its appearance we thought worthy of saving for examination hereafter.
In consequence of the lateness of the Season & our total inability to
finish the whole of our Survey before Winter, I thought it best to pur-
sue the most Speedy plan for arriving in front of Sierra Obscura, in
order to give it that examination required in my letter of instructions.

Oct'8

Commenced retracing our Steps to the N. corner of Sections 11 & 12

at which point we arrived on the 4th day in the Evens.

Octr 13

S. between Sections 11 and 12. Made 26 miles over very level and rich
prairie, to the Moro River — This river is very abundant and deep tho'
not wide, and certainly runs thro' the best Country contained in the
Grant. The timber is in plentiful abundance & the bottom of the River,
tho' nearly 3 miles in width, uniformly very rich. Killed 4 Buffaloes
and encamped on the River for the night.

Octr 14

S. between Sections 11 & 12 — Made 20 miles over delightful prairie
occasionally studded with groves of timber, to the bank of a small
river, where we remained for the night.

Octr 15

S. between Sections 11 & 12 — 7 miles to the corner of Sections 9, 10,
11, & 12; thence West 6 miles to the same creek we encamped on last
night — The whole of this day's march was over good land and broken.

152 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

Octr 16

W. between Sections 10 & 11. — 25 miles over very broken Country,
and encamped on the extreme head of the Dry Fork. Killed 2 Buffaloes
& 1 Elk.

Ocf 17

W. between Sections 10 & 11 — 21 miles to the base of the mountain,
where we arrived extremely late in consequence of the uneveness [sic]
of the land.

Ocf 18

Retraced our steps along our last course to the corner of Sections 9.

10. 11 & 12 where we arrived the third day, early in the Afternoon.

Oct21

S. between Sections 9 & 10 to the corner of Sections 7, 8, 9, 10, where
we arrived the 2d day and encamped on a small creek immediately in
a corner — running E.

Oct.r 23

W. between Sections 7. 10 — Made 11 miles over very broken sterile
land to the base of Sierra Obscura. Here we remained until the 25th
of the month, to give such examination of this mountain, as the Snow
would permit. The character of this mountain appears to be extremely
Sterile, being composed, where it was observable, of Black Rock and
Sand. It affords but little timber, and that of a stunted growth —
Within about 4 miles of where we struck this mountain, we found the
remains of 5 old Furnaces. This mountain is entirely separated from
the principal one and only connected to the Sierra del Sacramento by
a low Chain — It is much higher than any of its neighbours.

Ocf 25

Believing that any further examination of Sierra Obscura, at this Sea-
son and under present circumstances, would be fruitless, we returned
this day to the Corner of Sections 7, 8, 9, 10, and encamped on the
same spot where we encamped on the 22nd

Octr 26

S. between 7, 8 to the corner of 5. 6. 7. 8 where we arrived on the

third day.

Oct29

W. between 6, 7. — 15 miles over broken land to the Base of Sierra
Obscura — Here we arrived sufficiently early to have time to observe,
that the mountain here was of pretty much the same character, as
where we last touched it, with the exception, that it was materially
lower. Killed 3 Deer 1 Elk.

NOTES AND DOCUMENTS 153

Oct30

This morning, the men having become extremely impatient, in conse-
quence of the lateness and rigour of the Season, made a formal demand
of me of their pay & refused positively to serve any longer unless
their demands were discharg'd. I knew it was fruitless to oppose any
objection whatever to their determination and consequently determined
on going to Santa Fe to report progress.

Signed

Alex. Le Grand

(Rubric)

Book Reviews

Florentine Codex. General History of the Things of New
Spain. By Fray Bernardino de Sahagiin. Books 3 and 7.
Translated from the Aztec into English, with notes and
illustrations by Arthur J. 0. Anderson and Charles E.
Dibble. Santa Fe, New Mexico: The School of American
Research and The University of Utah, 1952 and 1953
(Monographs of The School of American Research,
No. 14, pts. 4 and 8.

It is easy to imagine many occasions when some serious
scholar or writer, not a specialist in the field and not equipped
to read Spanish, might want reliable information on ancient
Mexico. Until recently such a person would have been re-
stricted to second-hand information in English, and while
much of that is of sound quality, the appearance in English
of a truly trustworthy translation of our greatest first-hand
source is an event.

We already have Bishop Landa's1 work in Tozzer's won-
derfully annotated version, and Bernal Diaz2 is available,
although abridged, in the Maudslay version. But Sahagiin
remains the most important of all, the source of much which
has been long mistakenly considered as source materials.
Fray Sahagiin wrote parallel columns of. Spanish and
Nahuatl, but his columns were only physically parallel, often
summarizing or amplifying each other rather than simply
duplicating in translation. Therefore, even a knowledge of
Spanish has only enabled the researcher to read half of Saha-
gun in the original, leaving him with someone's Spanish ver-
sion of Sahagun's Nahuatl for the rest.

There is much reason to believe that the Anderson and
Dibble translation to English of Sahagun's Nahuatl is the
most scrupulous yet made into any language, and therefore

1. Tozzer, Alfred M. Landa's Relacion de las Cosas de Yucatan. Cambridge, Masa. :
Papers of the Peabody Museum, VoL XVIII. 1941.

2. Bernal Diaz del Castillo, The Discovery and Conquest of Mexico, translated
and abridged by A. P. Maudslay. Mexico, D. F. : The Mexico Press, 1928.

154

BOOK REVIEWS 155

our Spanish-speaking friends will now have good reason to
refer to an English source of Mexican history.

Four of the planned thirteen volumes are now available,
and a fifth is in press ; we are dealing here with the two most
recent releases. Sahagun divided the History of the Things
of New Spain into twelve books, and the plan is to publish
them one by one in separate volumes, to be followed at the
end by Volume One, containing introductory material, index
and so on. Sahagun's order is not being followed, however,
and we therefore have, in the order of appearance, his Book
One, The Gods; Book Two, The Ceremonies; Book Three,
The Origin of the Gods ; and Book Seven, The Sun, Moon
and Stars, and The Binding of the Years. The volume in
press is Book Eight, dealing with kings and nobles, social
structure and machinery, and the life of the upper classes.

There really is little for a reviewer to say of such a work
of loving and unhurried scholarship as this one. Here we
have parallel columns of English and Nahuatl, giving (pre-
sumably in their own words) a world of information about
Aztec custom and tradition garnered from Aztec informants
and in part from Fray Bernardino's own observations. Occa-
sional questions do come to mind in the reading, though, and
it may be worthwhile to give some examples.

In Volume Four (Book Three of Sahagun), on page 5
there is a note questioning Seler's rendering of chicalotl as
the common Mexican prickly poppy, a white-flowered plant
resembling a thistle in many ways. Since the plant is com-
monly called chicalote in much of Mexico to this day, and
we know the derivation of many similar words (tomatl,
tomate, tomato; petlatl, petate, rush mat; tilmatl, tilma,
blanket; tecolotl, tecolote, owl; tsapotl, zapote, sapote; etc),
Seler seems to have been on safe ground.

On page 33, the Nahuatl coahapan is rendered in English
as Coaapan. In old Spanish spellings of Nahuatl, the letter
h is used in this way to indicate a glottal stop, and the trans-
lators are probably correct in assuming that many or most
English speakers will pronounce the aa as a' a; but their in-
tention is not entirely clear.

156 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

Again, on page 47, tzivactli (tsiwaktli in modern orthog-
raphy) is rendered as maguey, with another note referring
to Seler's different choice of cactus to go with the name. But
no mention is made of the Nahuatl mayawel, from which the
Spanish-Mexican name maguey for the familiar plant source
of pulque is clearly derived.

These are quibbles, and as such are an accurate indica-
tion of the quality of the work done by Anderson and Dibble ;
if the reviewer can find no more than this to complain of, he
probably should not complain at all.

Volume Eight (Sahagun's Book Seven) illustrates on
page 12 the commendable care of the translators' work:
where Sahagun used "doors and windows" as his Spanish
rendering of a certain Nahuatl phrase, Anderson and Dibble
have resorted to the perhaps awkward but more precise
"outlets and openings of houses." Sahagun was making the
error of equating Aztec architecture with European, but the
present translators, realizing that Aztec "doors" and "win-
dows" were not necessarily equivalent as ideas to European
ones, have made an effort to avoid bringing a false picture
to the reader's mind.

In his Book Seven, Sahagun included detailed directions
as to how his work should be presented. Here the translators
have presented not two but four parallel columns in an ap-
pendix, giving Sahagun's Spanish text; an English version
of it; Sahagun's Nahuatl version; and, in Spanish, his de-
tailed notes explaining, word by word, the Nahuatl text.

After going to an enormous amount of trouble to spare
the English-speaking scholar the necessity of learning Span-
ish in order to read Sahagun, it would have been a trifling
further step to have put the many quotations included as
footnotes from German and French sources also into Eng-
lish. There is a tendency for the younger Americanists to be
more interested in American native languages than in Euro-
pean ones other than Spanish and English, and to turn to the
Orient more than to Europe for further study.

Nahuatl is, unlike many American Indian languages,
delightfully simple phonetically, and logical and regular in

BOOK REVIEWS 157

general. Therefore, while the desire of Anderson and Dibble
to preserve Sahagun's Nahuatl text accurately down to the
last pen-stroke is entirely understandable, it really pains one
to see a basically simple language presented in his barbarous
16th-century Spanish orthography, which was utterly inade-
quate to deal with the sounds uttered by his Aztec inform-
ants. English orthography does it effortlessly, and one may
be permitted to hope that when the introductory volume is
published, it will include a full explanation of Nahuatl pho-
netics and an unravelling of the old Spanish spellings. Span-
ish orthography certainly renders Spanish speech better
than English orthography does English speech, but the at-
tempt to spell Nahuatl with Spanish orthography is disas-
trous— difficult reading even for a person who has some
familiarity with modern spoken Nahuatl.

Mexico, D. F., Mexico JOHN PADDOCK

Calle Tinala 223

Most Reverend Anthony J. Schuler, S.J., D.D. First Bishop
of El Paso. And Some Catholic Activities in the Diocese
Between 1915-1942. By Sister M. Lilliana Owen, S.L.,
Ph.D. El Paso, Texas: Revista Catolica Press, 1953. Pp.
xxiii, 584 (Jesuit Studies — Southwest, No. 3)

Almost a quarter of a century ago, it was the present
reviewer's experience to meet Bishop Schuler, Jesuit Bishop
of El Paso, at Sacred Heart Novitiate, Los Gatos, California.
Those of us then new in the Society of Jesus took an espe-
cially long look, for we already knew that few were — and
are — the Bishops in the Jesuit Order. I can still recall his
nice geniality and sturdy sense of humor and we were
pleased with the visit to us of the Shepherd of El Paso.
Now there comes to my desk the life of Anthony Joseph
Schuler, S.J., D.D. (1868-1944) who served as Bishop of El
Paso from 1915-1942. The author is Sister Mary Lilliana
Owens who has collaborated within the last few years with
other Southwest Catholic scholars to produce a series of
three volumes called "Jesuit Studies — Southwest." Already

158 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

published are "Jesuit Beginnings in New Mexico, 1867-1882"
and "Reverend Carlos M. Pinto, S. J., Apostle of El Paso."

No one will ever say that Sister Mary Lilliana has for-
gotten the apparatus of the foreword, etc. in this book! In
fact, she gives the reader much more than most — for, in
addition to the foreword, there is an author's preface, an-
other preface, an introduction and an acknowledgment!
Thus prepared, the reader reads on — and on, for the book
is a detailed and fairly lengthy one. Yet it is well that the
author protests that the "present study does not pretend to
cover completely the period under study, much less to evalu-
ate with any historical finality the person of Bishop A. J.
Schuler, S.J. ... it is rather an appreciation of the good
accomplished by Bishop Schuler during his incumbency."
It is, therefore, intended as a contribution to the general
Catholic Church history of the Southwest. It should be
judged, therefore, as a source book in a field which needs
exploitation and, judged as such, Sister Mary Lilliana Owens
has wrought a good work. All who wish to delve into the
Catholic history of the period and places she covers will, and
this necessarily, meet this author and this work.

It is my impression that Sister Mary Lilliana is a better
researcher than a writer and, since this is avowedly a source
book, the author should not be unduly alarmed at the per-
fectly honest observation. There are certain irritating fea-
tures in the style adopted, chief among which I found the
constant repetition of "Bishop A. J. Schuler, S.J.," which,
conservatively, must appear several hundred times in her
pages. Would it not have been much smoother to have varied
the bishop's mention by use of the customary synonyms
— i.e. "the prelate"— -the "Ordinary of El Paso," etc.? But
no doubt is left in the reader's mind as to whom is being
discussed in the pages! An idiosyncrasy — but it would be
neither kind or just to conclude from this one facet of the
book that the author has not done her work well. A labor
of love does not result in notably critical or definitive his-
tory— but such was not Sister Mary Lilliana's intent. What
she has done she has done well and her work is what she

BOOK REVIEWS 159

hoped it would be — a contribution of worth to the story she
has chosen to tell.

JOHN BERNARD MCGLOIN, S.J.
University of San Francisco

Antoine Robidoux, 1794-1860: A Biography of a Western
Venturer. By William Swilling Wallace. Los , Angeles :
Glen Dawson, 1953. Pp. xii, 59. $5.00 (Early California
Travel Series, vol. XIV) .

Antoine Robidoux is an example of one of the important
smaller figures that played so significant a part in the de-
velopment of the Far American West. He is also an example
of the persistence of the French influence in the same region.
Perhaps if much more were known about Antoine and his
work, and other adventurers of his kind, the history of the
Far West would lay less stress on the sensational achieve-
ments of numerous, romantic, "over advertised" contempo-
raries of mixed fact and fancy.

Antoine, if not a major figure, nevertheless played a
highly constructive part in the development of the Inter-
montane Corridor, and deserves great credit for his achieve-
ments. He was one of the first penetrators of the entire
Corridor. Also, he was the first adventurer "to remain long
enough in a large section of the Corridor to establish him-
self . . . This distinction came about through his establish-
ment of a small fort on the banks of the Gunnison River,
a short distance below the mouth of the Uncompahgre River,
in what is now Western Colorado." This introduction of
Indo-European civilization was "extended to a second fort
which he constructed near the forks of the Uinta River and
White Rocks Creek, in northeastern Utah."

These initial activities of about 1830 settled into a suc-
cessful Indian trading business which continued until 1844,
when Antoine discontinued all his intermontane activities,
following the destruction of Fort Uintah by the powerful
Utes. Influenced, no doubt, by the hazardous and transitory
nature of his operations in the Corridor, Antoine returned

160 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

to St. Joseph, Missouri, a town recently founded by a
brother, Joseph Robidoux III.

The Mexican War called Antoine in 1846, despite his
fifty-two years of age, in the capacity of an interpreter for
Colonel Stephen W. Kearny. This experience reached a cli-
max at the battle of San Pasqual, where Antoine was griev-
ously wounded. His severance from the interpreter's post
in 1847 was followed by a swift onslaught of old age,
although his perseverance in the quest of a military pension
was perhaps a strong indication of the firmness of purpose
which must have been an outstanding trait of his character.
He was almost sixty-six years of age when he died an invalid
on August 29, 1860.

In this excellent little book Mr. Wallace produces ample
evidence to show that the Robidoux family was a positive
and dynamic force throughout the history of the early Far
West, and that Antoine's claim to distinction lies in his
contribution as a primary factor in the opening and develop-
ment of the Intermontane Corridor. The book maintains a
high level of interest and is well written. Moreover, the
student will be gratified by the ten pages of copious and
illuminating notes that follow the narrative. The format is
delightful.

R. H. OGLE
Phoenix High Schools and Phoenix College

Franco-Spanish Rivalry in North America. By Henry Fol-
mer. Glendale, Calif.: The Arthur H. Clark Company.
Pp. 346. $10.00.

A number of studies have been made during the past
three decades on the rivalry of Spain and France in North
America, but Henry Folmer, in this work, has compassed
the noteworthy pioneering achievement of being the first to
provide a continuous summary-synthesis of this rivalry.

Covering the period, principally, from 1524 to 1763, Dr.
Folmer proceeds from the premise that both Spain and
France pursued consistent policies which originated during
the earliest stages of their overseas competition. Basically,
then, the source of these policies would be found in Spain's

BOOK REVIEWS 161

adamant assertions of exclusive title to all territories lying
west of the Papal line of demarcation, occupied or unoccu-
pied, and France's equally insistent denial of the validity of
that Papal assignment, to which the House of Bourbon had
not been a party. France demanded to see Adam's will divid-
ing the world, and avowed her right to those lands which she
discovered or occupied, which had not been previously effec-
tively occupied by Spain ; and to freedom of the seas for her
vessels.

Although Franco-Spanish diplomacy and statesmanship
failed to resolve their conflicting claims, and thus left North
America in a perpetual state of conflict, the differences and
difficulties "beyond the line" became largely separated from
official relations in Europe between the French and Spanish
monarchs. During the period, however, the vast wealth of
the Spanish Empire in the New World, and particularly the
rich mines of Mexico, attracted the fancies of French expan-
sionists, especially Louis XIV, and plans were actually
formulated to conquer the mines of New Spain. La Salle's
discovery, plus other information, made the French conquest
of parts of Spanish North America feasible, and there is
reason to believe that French occupation of Gulf spots might
also be partially explained in the light of their acquisition
of bases from which an attack on Mexico might be launched.

Albeit these French plans, combined with Spain's peren-
nial suspicions of her Gallic neighbor, kept Spanish fears on
edge, it appears to the reviewer that the most important
facets of the Franco-Spanish rivalry are to be found in the
activities of the French in North America in the 18th cen-
tury : their expansion into unoccupied areas, and the subse-
quent narrowing of the northern frontiers of New Spain;
their expanding trade with the Indians, which eventually led
them to the Plains Indians; their explorations of the Mis-
souri and its tributaries, and the frontier conflicts in Texas
and Florida — and the Spanish reactions to such French
advances. It is in this field that Dr. Folmer has made his
earlier contributions and scholarly studies, and yet,
strangely, only a very small portion of Franco-Spanish Ri-
valry in North America has been devoted to this important

162 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

struggle. It is true enough that the number of scholarly
studies in this field are limited, but this reviewer is frankly
disappointed in Dr. Folmer's not doing a more thorough job
in this field, with which he is so familiar (especially the
last chapter) .

The reviewer also feels that far too much importance,
and space, has been devoted to the earlier positions of France
and Spain (for instance, La Salle is not discussed until page
134). While in joining the threads of Paris-Madrid diplo-
macy on the one hand, and the story of the actual coloniza-
tion activities on the other, Dr. Folmer has woven a complete
tapestry of the period for the first time (which is this work's
important contribution), this reviewer feels that a much
more balanced picture would have been formed had Folmer
devoted a great deal less space to the period before La Salle
(in which he has added little that is new), and had given a
great deal more space to the colonial activities and rivalries
from La Salle's time on. In reality, the 18th century is not
extensively discussed until Folmer's dealing with the "Race
for Pensacola," this on p. 189. Real colonial rivalry begins
with Iberville and the French occupation of the Mississippi
Valley, but this is past p. 200, in a volume of some 310 pages
of text.

Franco-Spanish Rivalry in North America is a well
printed book and rightly is included in the A. H. Clark
Company's "Spain in the West" series. Folmer writes clearly
and has co-ordinated events into a whole story rather well.
He shows his familiarity with the printed literature on his
field. His archival references and bibliography is in the main
limited to transcripts in the Library of Congress, the Uni-
versity of Texas, and a few other repositories in the United
States. A number of archival references noted in the foot-
notes have been printed and/or quoted in printed works
listed in his bibliography. The reviewer noted the omission
in the bibliography of Hackett's notable contribution to
Spanish Policy regarding French encroachments which ap-
peared in New Spain and the West. Several dissertations at
the University of Texas would have bolstered his story of

BOOK REVIEWS 163

rivalry in the Texas area. The greatest fault which the re-
viewer has found, however, is faulty accenting of Spanish
names and terms.

Folmer's volume would have been much enhanced in its
use and value to readers and students had he included some
maps. The only map and illustration included in the volume
is Delisle's well-known and many times published map of
1718, but it is too small to be of much value to the reader.
This is partly compensated by the inclusion of a good index.

Despite many minor things with which this reviewer
might quibble with Folmer, the learned doctor has pioneered
a new field in a well done piece of work.

A. P. NASATIR
San Diego State College

Lost Mines of Death Valley. By Harold 0. Weight. Twenty-
nine Palms, California : The Calico Press, 1953. Pp. 72.
$1.50. (Southwest Panorama, No. 2)

Death Valley is a legendary place in the annals of the
Southwest. Hunting lost mines is an old western practice.
Both legends and huntings are brought together in this
paper-bound Lost Mines of Death Valley.

Some of the stories have been told before, others are less
well-known. In either case, the author has worked diligently
to make them as complete and authentic as possible. Reading
interest is heightened by an excellent map drawn by Norton
Allen. Several photographs present pioneers of Death Val-
ley, ghost mining towns and the rugged grandeur of the
country.

A closing chapter includes excellent advice to those who
would seek lost mines, advice on what not to do ! It is good
even for those travelers who just want to tour the Valley.
If you feel the urge to adventure, just remember that "year
after year men die needlessly on the deserts. Lost mine
hunting can be an exciting and entertaining pastime. But
it can turn with shocking suddenness into absolute and
irredeemable tragedy." If this closing statement sounds too
alarming, enjoy a vicarious thrill by reading the book.

F. D. R.

The Historical Society of New Mexico
Organized December 26, 1859

PAST PRESIDENTS
1859 — COL. JOHN B. GRAYSON, U. S. A.
1861 — MAJ. JAMES L. DONALDSON, U. S. A.
1863 — HON. KIRBY BENEDICT

adjourned sine die, Sept. tS, 1883

re-established Dee. 17, 1880

1881 — HON. WILLIAM G. RITCH
1883 — HON. L. BRADFORD PRINCE
1923 — HON. FRANK W. CLANCY

1925 — COL. RALPH E. TWTTCHELL

1926 — PAUL A. F. WALTER

OFFICERS FOR 1953-54
PAUL A. F. WALTER, President

PEARCE C. RODEY, Vice-President

WAYNE L. MAUZY, Corresponding Secretary
ALBERT G. ELY, Treasurer

Miss HESTER JONES, Recording Secretary

FELLOWS

PERCY M. BALDWIN FREDERICK W. HODGE

RALPH P. BIEBER J. LLOYD MECHAM

HERBERT 0. BRAYER THEODOSIUS MEYER, O.F.M.

FRAY ANGELICO CHAVEZ FRANK D. REEVE

REV. STANLEY CROCCHIOLA FRANCE V. SCHOLES

CHARLES E. DIBBLE ALFRED B. THOMAS

AURELIO M. ESPINOSA THEODORE TREUTHLEIN

GEORGE P. HAMMOND PAUL A. F. WALTER

ti

^Mexico

in
V,MK

PUBLIC LIBRARY

JUL261954

Historical l^eview

Palace of the Governors, Santa Fe

July, 1954

Editors
FRANK D. REEVE PAUL A. F. WALTER

Associates

PERCY M. BALDWIN GEORGE P. HAMMOND

FRANCE V. SCHOLES ELEANOR B. ADAMS

ARTHUR J. 0. ANDERSON

VOL. XXIX JULY, 1954 No. 3

CONTENTS

Page

The Mormon Colonies in Chihuahua after the 1912 Exodus

Elizabeth H. Mills 165

Arizona's Experience with the Initiative and Referendum

N. D. Houghton 183

Coolidge and Thoreau : Forgotten Frontier Towns

Irving Telling 210

Bibliography of Published Bibliographies on the History
of the Eleven Western States, 1941-1947
William S. Wallace 224

Notes and Documents 234

Book Reviews . 240

THE NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW is published jointly by the Historical Society
of New Mexico and the University of New Mexico. Subscription to the quarterly is
$3.00 a year in advance ; single numbers, except those which have become scarce, are
$1.00 each.

Business communications should be addressed to Mr. P. A. F. Walter, State
Museum, Santa Fe, N. M. ; manuscripts and editorial correspondence should be
addressed to Prof. Frank D. Reeve, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, N. M.

Entered as second-class matter at Santa Fe, New Mexico
UNIVERSITY PRESS, ALBUQUERQUE, N. M.

THE MORMON COLONIES

VOL. XXIX JULY, 1954 No. 3

THE MORMON COLONIES IN CHIHUAHUA
AFTER THE 1912 EXODUS *

By ELIZABETH H. MILLS

Introduction

IN the spring of 1846 the Mormons trekked across the
plains from Nauvoo, Illinois, to the Great Salt Lake
Basin, then a part of Mexico, for persecution of the Mor-
mons in Illinois had led to the decision of their leader,
Brigham Young, to seek a land where they would be free
to practice their religion in peace. Here the Mormons pros-
pered and gradually extended their colonies to the neighbor-
ing territories. Their original numbers were augmented by
the immigration of converts from Europe and from Great
Britain. By 1887 it was estimated that more than 85,000
immigrants had entered the Great Basin as a result of for-
eign missionary work, one of the strong features of the
Mormon religion.1

The early Mormon colonies in Utah, largely agricultural,
were distinguished by the efficient organization of the
church and by a spirit of cooperation among the colonists.
The first irrigation projects were on a communal basis,
water being alloted in proportion to the amount of work
done on the irrigation canals, and the land was also dis-

* Chapters one through five of Miss Mills' thesis submitted in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, Department of History, Univer-
sity of Arizona, 1950. Ed.

1. G. O. Larson, "The Story of the Perpetual Emigration Fund," Mississippi
VaMev Historical Review, Vol. XVIII (September, 1931) 184-194.

165

166 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

tributed on an equitable basis. The system of tithes to sup-
port the church and to provide educational and recreational
facilities likewise tended to equalize the economic status of
the colonists. The church was the dominating influence and
maintained a closely knit organization which formed a prac-
tical theocracy.2

The missionary work of the Mormons extended to Mex-
ico, where missionaries had been sent as early as 1874 to
work among the natives, and by 1880 a Mexican mission had
been established in Mexico City. Later missions, such as
those to Sonora and Chihuahua in 1881 and 1882, were ex-
ploratory as well as religious in character, for they were
sent out not only to convert the natives but also to find a
place suitable for Mormon settlement.3 Rising resentment
in Utah against the Mormon practice of plural marriage, a
tenet of their faith at that time, and the misunderstandings
which followed the passage in 1882 of the Edmunds-Tucker
Act which prohibited polygamy, led Mormon leaders to turn
again to Mexico for a home for their followers.4 In 1884 the
Yaqui River country was visited by a party of Mormons
seeking land for settlement.5 The following January, at the
request of church authorities, a party from Saint David,
Arizona, explored the Casas Grandes River Valley and the
neighboring Sierra Madres in northern Chihuahua and re-
ported favorably on the possibilities of the country for colo-
nization. In February and March of 1885, small groups of
Mormons migrated from Arizona and were laying out home
sites along the Casas Grandes Valley from Ascenci6n to
Casas Grandes. By April the arrival of more than three hun-
dred and fifty colonists had alarmed the local Mexicans who
thought that the Mormons had come for conquest. Their ex-
pulsion was prevented by the prompt action of the church
leaders in Mexico City, who obtained from President Por-

2. H. Gardner, "Cooperation Among: the Mormons," The Quarterly Journal of
Economies, VoL XXXI (May, 1917) pp. 461-99.

3. T. C. Romney, The Mormon Colonies in Mexico, pp. 38-48 (Salt Lake City:
Deseret Book Co., 1938).

4. Ibid., pp. 61-52.

5. Ibid., pp. 54-55.

MORMONS IN CHIHUAHUA 167

firio Diaz and from General Carlos Pacheco, the governor
of Chihuahua, approval of Mormon colonization except in
the Zona Prohiblda, (Prohibited Zone) .6

After official sanction of colonization by the Mexican
government had been received, Mormon settlement and ex-
ploration continued. Land was purchased both by individual
colonists and by groups of colonists. In the latter case the
land was held in common by a company, the Mexican Coloni-
zation and Land Company, which was organized by the
church as a nonprofit enterprise to purchase land which was
then leased to the colonists. As the company was under the
management of the church authorities, settlement was con-
trolled and colonists were carefully selected.7

In Chihuahua the colonies were seven in number, three
were located in the valleys and four in the mountains. Co-
Ionia Diaz near Ascencion, the first colony to be formed, and
Colonia Dublan, about forty miles to the south, were located
in the Casas Grandes Valley. Colonia Juarez, which became
the cultural center of the colonies, was established in the
Piedras Verdes Valley about fifteen miles west of Colonia
Dublan. The mountain colonies of Cave Valley, Pacheco,
Garcia and Chuichupa lay to the south and west of Colonia
Juarez, in a region of the Sierra Madres which at one time
had been a famous Apache retreat.8 The Sonoran settlements
of Colonia Oaxaca and Colonia Morelos were established in
the 1890's on the Bavispe River about fifty miles southeast
of Douglas, Arizona.9 In each community one-fourth of the
land was usually unoccupied, for Mexican law required that
twenty-five per cent of the property in each community be
reserved for purchase by Mexicans.10 The valley communi-
ties were predominantly agricultural while in the mountain

6. Ibid., pp. 55-59.

7. Ibid., pp. 62-68.

8. In an interview in Colonia Juarez in April, 1950, Mr. S. Farnsworth stated
that the Apaches had driven the Mexicans from the mountain regions in which the
Mormons established settlements.

9. Romney, op. cit., pp. 115-127.

10. Moises T. de la Pefia, "Extranjeros y Tarahumares en Chihuahua" — in Obras
Completas, Miguel Othon de Mendizabal, Vol. I, pp. 225-6 (Mexico, D. F. : Los Talleres
Graficos de la Nacion, Tolso y Enrico Martines, 1947).

168 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

colonies the chief activities were stock raising, lumbering
and some farming.

The perseverance, industry and thrift of the colonists
surmounted the hardships and poverty of the first years
and brought prosperity to the colonies. Dams and canals
were constructed to irrigate their lands, fruit trees were
planted, strains of improved cattle and horses imported, and
industries such as saw mills, a tannery, harness shops, mer-
cantile establishments and flour mills supplied many of their
needs. Well-built red brick houses were surrounded by vege-
table and flower gardens. But the first permanent building
to be erected in each community was usually the school-
house, which also served as the church and the community
recreation center. From the Juarez Stake Academy, founded
in 1897 in Colonia Juarez, students graduated, many of
whom continued their studies in universities in the United
States.11

Politically the colonies were subject to the Mexican mu-
nicipalities in which they were located, but were practically
self-governing with a president, town council and other offi-
cials whom they elected.12 That the Mormons caused the
Mexicans little trouble can be seen by the following state-
ment quoted by Romney from the Ciudad Juarez Revista
International:

The oldest colony is the Colony Diaz which contains
nearly a thousand souls, with clean streets, lined with shade
trees on either side. Diaz has several industrial establish-
ments, a church, school and drug store, but they have neither
a saloon, billiard hall, nor any place whatever where mescal
is sold. Consequently they have little need of a jail, nor have
they one in any of the colonies. There are seldom any com-
plaints or quarrels and scandals are entirely unknown in any
of the colonies.13

Socially, the colonists, who numbered about four thou-
sand by 1912, had little intercourse with their Mexican

11. Romney, op. cit., pp. 141-142.

12. Ibid., p. 148.

13. Ibid., pp. 71-72.

MORMONS IN CHIHUAHUA 169

neighbors. Romney who lived in Colonia Juarez until 1912
explains the Mormon attitude as follows :

Socially the colonists were exclusive and seclusive, hav-
ing few if any contacts with their neighbors. Occasionally,
as a matter of diplomacy or as an expression of good will,
government officials would be invited to participate in a na-
tional festivity or perchance some other form of entertain-
ment, otherwise these social functions were entirely restricted.
. . . This policy inaugurated by the church was not born of a
"race superiority" complex, but resulted from a feeling that
groups of people having different social standards, resulting
from radically different environments, will have more endur-
ing friendships for one another if they do not become too
intimate.14

As factors contributing to the ill-feeling expressed toward
the colonists during the Mexican Revolution, Romney cites
the difference between the Latin temperament of the Mexi-
cans and the practical, less emotional temperament of the
colonists, who were largely of North European extraction;
and the contrast of the hopeless peonage of the Mexicans
with the comparatively abundant life and economic inde-
pendence of the Mormons.15

Although it was at the old town of Casas Grandes, be-
tween Dublan and Juarez, that Francisco Madero was de-
feated in 1910 in the first battle of his rebellion against Diaz,
the revolutionists did not make undue demands upon the
Mormon colonists. When requisitions were made by the revo-
lutionary leaders, receipts were usually issued for the ma-
terial taken.16 However, the Orozco revolt against Madero
in 1912 seriously threatened the safety of the colonists, for
the rebels camped in the vicinity looted the stores, stole from
the gardens, appropriated the horses and butchered the cat-
tle of the colonists. In July the rebel commander of Casas
Grandes, General Jose Inez Salazar, ordered the colonists to
surrender their guns and at the same time withdrew his

14. Ibid., P. 147.

15. Ibid., p. 146.

16. Ibid., pp. 150-151. Most of these receipts proved to be of no value, though a
few were used in payment of taxes.

170 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

guarantee of protection. After consultation the colonists de-
cided to surrender their arms but to send the women and
children from the country. Although the Mormons brought in
a strange array of old guns to the amusement of the Mexican
commander receiving them, they retained their better guns
which they thought might be needed later.17 On the follow-
ing days, July 28 and 29, 1912, the women and children from
Dublan, Juarez and the mountain colonies were put on trains
for El Paso with only a few personal possessions, for they
expected to return in a short time. The greater number of
the men remained behind to protect their homes and prop-
erty.18 In Colonia Diaz on July 28, three hours after the
decision to leave had been made, the colonists had loaded
their goods into wagons and were traveling by wagon and
on horseback toward Hachita, New Mexico. A few young
men remained behind, only to see the colony ransacked and
burned a few hours later by the rebels.19

As the depredations, the hostility and the numbers of the
rebels increased, the men who had stayed behind to protect
their property collected the remaining cattle and horses in
the Sierra Madres to the west and drove them north to
Hachita, New Mexico. By the end of August, 1912, the only
Mormons in the Mexican colonies were a few young men who
were taking care of cattle hidden in the mountain canyons
and who were hoping to harvest the crops which had not
been destroyed.20

In the meantime in El Paso, Texas, the women and chil-
dren, encamped in old lumber sheds, were dependent on the
charity of the Mormon Church, of the citizens of El Paso and
of the United States government. On July 29, 1912, the Sec-
retary of War of the United States was authorized to supply
tents and rations to the four thousand American citizens

17. Statement by Mr. Eli Abegg, personal interview, January, 1950 (at Tucson,
Arizona).

18. Romney, op. tit., pp. 182-194.

19. S. C. Richardson, Jr., "Remembering Colonia Diaz," The Improvement Era,
Vol. XL (May, 1937) pp. 298-300, 322, 331.

20. Committee on Foreign Relations of the United States Senate, Investigation
of Mexican Affairs, Vol. I, p. 1481 (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1920.
2 vols.).

MORMONS IN CHIHUAHUA 171

compelled to leave Mexico by Salazar and the Red Flaggers21
in revolt against Madero. The government further aided the
refugees by appropriating on August 2, 1912, the sum of one
hundred thousand dollars to provide transportation "to such
place as each shall select," of this amount twenty thousand
dollars was to be used for refugees in Arizona from Sonora.22
Conditions in Chihuahua resulting from the hostility of
the Mexican rebels toward Americans, from the policy of the
United States government, and from the desire of the Mor-
mons to remain neutral made the exodus from the Chihuahua
colonies in 1912 inevitable. To aid the Madero government
which it had recognized in 1912, the United States put an
embargo on the shipment of arms to revolutionists in Mex-
ico. It was this embargo which contributed to the ill-feeling
of the rebels against all Americans in Chihuahua and which
embittered the Orozco rebels and led to their demand for
arms from the colonists, only a few of whom were Mexican
citizens at the time.23 As the demands and the hostility of
the Orozco rebels were such that the Mormons could no
longer remain in Chihuahua without resorting to arms to
defend themselves, and as the policy of the church and of
the colonists was to remain neutral and to avoid a conflict,
a withdrawal from Mexico was the only course open to the
colonists.

Resettlement Amidst Revolution

During the remainder of the summer of 1912, the Mor-
mon refugees in El Paso anxiously awaited news that condi-
tions in Casas Grandes were such that they might return to
their homes. Consular reports were not optimistic. On July
31, 1912, the American consul in Chihuahua City informed
Secretary Knox : x

21. Mr. J. H. Martineau of Colonia Juarez stated in a personal interview that
the Red Flaggers were originally rebels in Orozco's army, but later became unorganized
bands who pillaged the countryside (April, 1950, at Colonia Juarez).

22. Investigation of Mexican Affairs, VoL II, pp. 3346-47.

23. Statement by Mr. J. H. Martineau, personal interview, April, 1950 (at Colonia
Juarez).

1. Foreign Relations of the United States, 1912, p. 824 (Department of State,
Washington : Government Printing Office, 1948 ) .

172 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

I believe Federals will not occupy Casas Grandes district
for two or three weeks. Campaign perfectly incompetent and
no relief for Americans in northwestern part of the state for
a considerable time. Occasional squads of rebels reported but
impossible to communicate specific warning of them to Ameri-
cans. Madera cut off two weeks.

It was not until August 12th that the American consul in
Ciudad Juarez reported that the federals had occupied the
city, that railroad traffic would be resumed and that refugees
would soon return to their homes in the belief that the revo-
lution was over in Chihuahua.

In the Mormon colonies, however, there was still no cer-
tainty of safety from rebel attack, for although the federal
forces of General Augustin Sanjinez had occupied Casas
Grandes,2 General Salazar and his rebels had retired to the
mountains southwest of Casas Grandes and were in posses-
sion of the Mormon mountain colonies. At Garcia the irriga-
tion dam had been destroyed, and at Chuichupa the rebels
had looted the town, taken all the horses and killed many
of the cattle that had not been driven into the mountain
canyons.3 Bands of Red Flaggers seeking horses and ammu-
nition were reported in the neighborhood of Palomas, while
quantities of ammunition were shipped to an unknown per-
son in the vicinity of Columbus, New Mexico.4 In Colonia
Pacheco the Stevens family, trusting for safety in the isola-
tion of their farm in the Sierra Madres, had not left Mexico
in the general exodus in July, 1912. The rebels retreating
toward Garcia and Chuichupa in mid- August had taken three
of the four guns owned by the family, but had demanded
no money ; their horses and cattle were hidden in a mountain
canyon where the boys of the family tended them. Several
weeks later Mr. Stevens was killed in a struggle with two
Mexicans who had approached his daughters as they were
picking berries. The mother and four children then sought
refuge in El Paso, but two of the boys remained to take care

2. Ibid., p. 825.

3. Investigation of Mexican Affairs, Vol. I, pp. 1480-82.

4. The Deming Graphic, Vol. X, August 9, 1912.

MORMONS IN CHIHUAHUA 173

of the horses and cattle concealed in the mountains and to
harvest the crops. It was never known whether or not the
Mexicans responsible for Mr. Steven's death were rebels,
for they wore no identifying uniforms.5

From El Paso the men began to return to the colonies
early in August to look after their property, for in a few
cases Mexican generals had given local Mexicans permission
to take possession of Mormon farms and homes.6 In the lat-
ter part of August, Junius Romney, the president of the
Mexican colonies, and a committee appointed by the refugees
in El Paso returned to the colonies to investigate conditions
and to estimate the property damage. After conferring with
General Sanjinez, the federal commander, and the civil au-
thorities in Casas Grandes, Romney reported :

My best judgment after visiting the colonies and talking
with those who visited the mountain colonies, and after con-
sulting with Sanjinez and Blanco and perceiving their mani-
fest indisposition to pursue the rebels and their apparent
indifference to the conditions in the colonies, was that it was
not safe for the colonists to return with their families at this
time.'

By the middle of September, 1912, however, it was consid-
ered safe for the men to return to the colonies to harvest
their crops, to care for their cattle and to look after their
property.

The conditions that make the present time seem opportune
for this work are that there are apparently few Rebels in that
part of the country at present; and but little Rebel activity
manifest; while Federal garrisons already occupy the towns of
Pearson, Unero, Casas Grandes, La Ascension, Sabinal, and
Guzman, while a detachment of 135 Federals are now on their
way from Guzman to Palomas. There are many cattle belong-
ing to the colonists in the district and good offers have been
made to buy most of these cattle. There is much lucerne, hay,
corn and oats that might be harvested and perhaps sold.8

5. Investigation of Mexican Affairs, Vol. II, p. 2602.

6. Ibid., Vol. I, p. 1482.

7. Romney, op. cit., p. 206.

8. Romney, op. cit., p. 208.

174 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

As a result of this report several men returned to look after
their interests, and before the end of the year a few fami-
lies had followed them. Conditions, however, were still un-
settled, for the camp of some Mormons rounding up cattle in
the mountains was looted, the men themselves disarmed, and
one of their number was held for ransom.9 It is interesting
to note that Joel H. Martineau, a Mormon colonist who had
become a Mexican citizen in 1897, remained in the colonies
during the revolution, except for a period of two weeks, yet
never carried a gun nor had occasion to use one.10

As the winter of 1912 approached and it was still con-
sidered unsafe for families to return to the colonies, many
of the refugees in El Paso, despairing of peaceful conditions
in Mexico, scattered to other parts of the United States and
even to Canada to start life anew. Others took up homesteads
in southern Arizona and New Mexico or settled in El Paso,
Texas, Douglas, Arizona, and other towns near the Mexican
border. The more optimistic found work on ranches or in the
border towns to tide them over the winter until they could
return to Mexico in the spring to plant their crops.11 There
was no employment to be had near their homes in Mexico, for
the lumbering companies near Pearson and Madera, with
which the Mormons had previously found employment, had
ceased operations because of the rebel activities in the
neighborhood.12

The location of the Mormon colonies in northwestern
Chihuahua accounts for many of the depredations to which
they were subjected, for they were surrounded by the
Terrazas range lands stocked with fine cattle and horses
which fed and provided mounts for many a rebel band.13
From the northern part of the Casas Grandes Valley, in

9. Ibid., P. 208-9.

10. Statement by Mr. Joel H. Martineau, personal interview, April, 1950.

11. Romney, op. eit., p. 211-12.

12. The Mexican Yearbook, 1914, p. 50. (Issued under the Auspices of the Depart-
ment of Finance, Mexico City, New York, London : published by McCorquodale and Co.,
Ltd., London).

13. Edgcumb Pinchon, Viva Villa, p. 226 (New York: Harcourt Brace and Co.,
1933).

MORMONS IN CHIHUAHUA 175

which Colonia Dublan is situated, Pulpito Pass leading to
northern Sonora was an easier route for mounted or march-
ing armies than that over the Sierra Madres; while the
mountains themselves formed a safe refuge for defeated
rebel bands, or Red Flaggers. From Ciudad Juarez, opposite
El Paso, Texas, the Mexican Northwestern Railroad ran west
to Corralitos in the Casas Grandes Valley and thence south
through Colonia Dublan, Nuevo Casas Grandes, and the lum-
ber shipping points of Pearson and Madera to Chihuahua
City. Though strategically not as important as the Mexican
Central Railroad, it was used in military maneuvers by Mexi-
can commanders in northwest Chihuahua, and the denial of
its use to General John J. Pershing by Carranza in 1916
hampered the movements of the expedition to capture Fran-
cisco Villa.14

The murder of President Madero in February, 1913, and
the refusal of the United States to recognize Victoriano
Huerta as president of Mexico affected the political scene
in northwest Chihuahua. The former rebel General Salazar
then became the federal commander in the Casas Grandes
district and Francisco Villa began to assemble his army on
the pretext of avenging Madero's death. Early in the cam-
paign Villa defeated Salazar at Casas Grandes15 and soon
controlled all of northwest Chihuahua. The cattle and horses
of Don Luis Terrazas, who owned thousands of acres of
range land in the region, fed, provided mounts for and
equipped Villa's army, for not only were many of Terrazas'
cattle sold to American buyers on the border, but a brisk
business was also done in hides, many of which were sold to
Mormon traders.16

At this time only two of the Mormon colonies, Juarez
and Dublan, were being resettled, as the mountain colonies
were still unsafe because of roving bands of Red Flaggers,

14. Foreign Relations, 1916, p. 512.

15. N. Campobello, Apuntea sobre la vida militar de Francisco Villa, p. 43 (Mex-
ico: Edicion y Distribution Ibero-Americano de Publicaciones, S. A., 1940).

16. Statement by Mr. Eli Abegg, personal interview, June, 1950.

176 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

and Colonia Diaz had been destroyed by fire.17 In Chuichupa
federal troops rounded up horses and cattle which were to be
distributed to widows and orphans.18 Occasional groups of
armed horsemen would ride into Juarez or Dublan demand-
ing arms, food, clothing and money. The colonists acquiesced
in their demands when necessary, but generally tried to
maintain an attitude of impartial neutrality.19 Anti- Ameri-
can feeling was not as strong in rebel or Constitutionalist
Chihuahua as it was farther south where the Lind Mission
had aroused the antagonism of Huerta and his followers in
Mexico City. In the north Venustiano Carranza, the leader of
the Constitutionalists, had promised payment on all claims
for damages caused by the Madero and Constitutionalist
revolutions and had ordered that looting and seizure of for-
eign property should therefore cease.20 In July, 1913, the
American consul in Ciudad Juarez reported :

Americans in Chihuahua are less than one-third original
number, and there are very few families. American enterprise
is correspondingly reduced, and the interest in Mexican af-
fairs is greatly diminished during the past few months.21

Because of Huerta's intransigeance, President Wilson in a
speech to Congress in August urged all Americans who were
able to do so to leave Mexico, for only the Mexican authori-
ties would be responsible for the safety of Americans unable
to leave the country ; he also recommended that an embargo
be placed on arms to all factions in Mexico.22 Despite this
warning, the approximately three hundred Mormon colonists
who had returned to Chihuahua decided not to abandon their
homes.

The year 1914 brought no improvement in the relations
between President Huerta and the United States govern-
ment. On February third President Wilson lifted the em-
bargo on arms to Mexico in order to aid the Constitution-

17. Romney, op. eit., p. 234.

18. Investigation of Mexican Affairs, VoL I, p. 1483.

19. Statement by Mr. J. H. Martineau, personal interview, April, 1950.

20. Foreign Relations, 1913, p. 955.

21. Ibid., p. 816.

22. Ibid., p. 823.

MORMONS IN CHIHUAHUA 177

alists in the north;23 and in March Carranza was reported
to have rebuked strongly the Mexican residents of Colonia
Morelos in Sonora, who had petitioned him to apportion
among them the farms, houses and other property of the
Mormons who had fled from the country because of raids
the previous year.24 The Tampico incident and the occupation
of Vera Cruz by United States troops in April, however,
brought a change in Carranza's attitude toward the "colossus
of the north" and resulted in a strong anti-American senti-
ment throughout Mexico.25 Again the Mormon colonists left
their homes in Dublan and Juarez, the only colonies which
had been resettled, and sought safety in the United States.
This time the colonists were away for only a short time. "It
was more like a visit," as one resident of Colonia Juarez
described the withdrawal.26

Huerta's resignation in July, 1914, did not bring peace
to Mexico, for Villa and Zapata refused to recognize Carranza
as the leader of the Constitutionalist forces, yet were not
strong enough to overcome his forces. Although Chihuahua
was controlled by Villa, conditions were unsettled in the
Casas Grandes district where it was reported in October that
the federal General Herrera was attacking the Villa garri-
son;27 and in December, Salazar, the former federal com-
mander of the Casas Grandes garrison, who had recently
escaped from prison in the United States, was said to be near
Ascencion recruiting an army for the purpose of restoring
land to the people.28

The defeat of Villa at Celaya in April, 1915, forced him
to retreat into Durango and Chihuahua where he rested his
men and prepared to gather and equip new recruits for his
campaign into Sonora. It was at this time that demands on
the colonists for horses for Villa's army led the Mormons

23. Ibid., 1914, pp. 447-48.

24. New York Times, March 22, 1914.

25. S. F. Bemis, The Latin American Policy of the United States, p. 178 (New
York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., 1943).

26. Statement by Mrs. Enos Wood, of Colonia Juarez, personal interview, June,
1950 (at Tucson, Arizona).

27. New York Times, October 17, 1941.

28. Ibid., December 7, 1914.

178 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

to drive most of their horses, which had not already been
taken, to Blue Mesa in the Sierra Madres where for the next
two years men from the colonies were detailed to guard
them.29 For three weeks before starting into Sonora, Villa
and his army of about six thousand men were encamped in
the neighborhood of Dublan. Although the Mormons were
completely at the mercy of Villa's troops, there was com-
paratively little damage to property, and only occasional
thefts and threats of violence were committed by individual
soldiers, for Villa was still hoping for recognition from the
United States. Demands were made upon the Mormons for
horses and for equipment which could not be obtained from
the Mexicans themselves or taken from the neighboring
ranches.30

When Villa left Casas Grandes on October 14, 1915, to
cross into Sonora, three Mormons, James Whipple, Lynn
Hatch and Charles Turley, accompanied his army to look
after their horses and wagons which had been requisitioned
by Villa. Four days later the United States officially recog-
nized Carranza as the Chief Executive of the de facto gov-
ernment and placed an embargo on arms and ammunition
to all factions in Mexico except the de facto government.31
On October 31, 1915, when his army was drawn up ready
for the attack on Agua Prieta, Villa learned that the United
States had recognized the Carranza faction, yet his resent-
ment against Americans did not include the three Mormons
who were with his troops. During the battle at Agua Prieta
the Mormons with their teams hauled ammunition to Villa's
men, but fled over the border to safety in Arizona after the
rout of Villa's army.32

Meanwhile the warnings of the United States Depart-
ment of State that all Americans should leave Mexico were

29. Statement by Mr. S. Farns worth, personal interview, April, 1960 (at Colonia
Juarez).

30. Raymond J. Reed, The Mormons in Chihuahua: Their Relations with Villa
and the Pershing Punitive Expedition, 1910-1917, p. 13 (Master of Arts thesis, Depart-
ment of History, University of New Mexico).

81. Bemis, op. cit., p. 178.

82. R. J. Reed, op. cit., pp. 14-15.

MORMONS IN CHIHUAHUA 179

unheeded by the Mormons who had learned to live among
Mexican revolutionists and decided to remain in their homes
regardless of the anti-American sentiment prevalent in the
country.33 Resentment, however, was strong among the rem-
nants of Villa's army who after Agua Prieta straggled back
across the Sierra Madres to join the garrison which had re-
mained at Casas Grandes, for they felt that American aid
to the de facto forces had caused their defeat. There was
looting in the colonies despite the fact that from their de-
pleted stores the Mormons provided blankets for the
wounded and half -frozen men and helped to feed and care
for them.34

Villa was not with them at this time, he having gone into
Guerrero, and a number of his officers whom he had left in
command declared their intention of going over to the cause
of Carranza. Confusion reigned and the soldiers assumed a
threatening attitude toward the helpless colonists. Toward
midnight the army broke up into small squads and passing
from house to house threatened, robbed, looted and burned.
Truly it was a night of terror for the defenseless people, but
when morning came the rabble had disappeared. Many of the
Saints had narrowly escaped with their lives, shots had been
fired into houses where people were, and fires started in sev-
eral of the homes. The house of Bishop Samuel J. Robinson
had been looted and burned and his life was sought by the
looters. . . . The home of P. S. Williams was broken into and
robbed and a band of marauders visited the ranch of James
Skousen situated a short distance from the old town of Casas
Grandes. Mr. Skousen being away from home the women folks
fled to a neighbor's leaving the bandits to plunder the
homesteads.35

The year 1916 was a critical one for Mexico and for the
Mormon colonists at Dublan and Juarez. Disorganized bands
of Villa's former army were plundering the Chihuahua
countryside. In January occurred the Santa Ysabel massacre
which aroused concern for the safety of other Americans in
Chihuahua, particularly those in the Casas Grandes dis-

33. Foreign Relations, 1915, p. 775.

34. Statement by Mr. J. H. Martineau, personal interview, April, 1950.

35. Romney, op. cit., p. 242.

180 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

trict.36 All Americans were warned to seek safety in the
United States, but the five hundred Mormons of Dublan and
Juarez refused to leave their homes in Mexico and decided
to trust to the protection of the Carranza garrisons in Casas
Grandes and Pearson.37 On January 17, 1916, the American
consul at Ciudad Juarez made the following report on con-
ditions in northwest Chihuahua :

First passenger train in ten days arrived from Casas
Grandes, Pearson and the Mormon Colony district at 10:00
last night bringing about 25 Americans among whom were
dozen women and children. They report have been fully in-
formed in due time of the massacre at Santa Ysabel. A num-
ber who arrived came on business and expect to return. They
report conditions to them unalarming as they consider the
garrisons at towns mentioned sufficient to protect their people.
This consul will, however, insist on their sending their women
and children to place of safety. The garrison at Casas Grandes
number 400 and Pearson 300. These figures are given by
Americans of Madera. Little is known that is reliable but
nothing of an unalarming nature reported.38

The first week in March news that Villa was in the moun-
tains west of Casas Grandes, that he had murdered an Amer-
ican rancher named Wright and had taken his wife prisoner,
caused alarm among the Mormon colonists.39 Their anxiety
was increased when word reached them of Villa's raid on
Columbus, New Mexico, and of his retreat south toward
the Mormon colonies. While preparations were being made
by the church authorities in El Paso to send a rescue train
to Dublan and requests were being sent to the Mexican gov-
ernment for a military escort,40 reports appeared in Ameri-
can newspapers to the effect that the Carranza garrisons
were inadequate to protect the Mormons, and that Villa had
agreed to drive the Mormons and other Americans from the
country, to confiscate their property and to distribute it

36. Foreign Relations, 1916, p. 655.

37. New York Times, Jan. 16, 1916.

38. Foreign Relations, 1916, pp. 660-61.

39. Ibid., 1916, p. 478.

40. Ibid., 1916, p. 684.

MORMONS IN CHIHUAHUA 181

among the Mexicans.41 On the second day following the
Columbus attack, Villa's men shot the Mexican caretakers
of an American owned ranch at Corralitos about twenty
miles north of Dublan. Here they were encamped along the
railroad by which the Mormon women and children were to
have been sent to El Paso. From his camp at Corralitos Villa
sent a messenger to Casas Grandes to urge the Carranza gar-
rison to join his forces, and the following day moved his
army south to within a few miles of Dublan. Bishop Anson
B. Call summoned a meeting of the Mormon leaders to de-
termine the course they should follow. Some felt they should
not leave as Villa had not harmed them before, some advised
going to Colonia Juarez or into the mountains, others thought
they should seek the protection of the garrison at Casas
Grandes, but the advice of those who advocated going home
to pray and to bed prevailed. That night Villa broke camp
and passed to the east of Dublan.42

Various versions were given for Villa's turning aside and
sparing the Mormon colonies. One was that he thought the
Casas Grandes garrison had been strengthened;43 another,
that he remembered past kindnesses of the colonists and
therefore did not attack them, was borne out by the account
that he instructed one of his men to ride south from Palomas
to learn from the "gringo" ranchers at Casa Grandes what
they knew, and then to meet him in five or six days at Nami-
quipa.44 The colonists themselves attributed their deliver-
ance to their earnest prayers.45 Still another version is given
in a letter written by Theodore Martineau, a resident of the
colonies, in which he stated :

It was Villa's intention to slaughter the people of Dublan
as he had slaughtered people at Columbus a few days before.
While camped east of Dublan he called his officers together
to decide upon the best method of attack. Some of the officers

41. New York Times, March 11, 1916.

42. Reed, op. eft., pp. 20-23.

43. Romney, op. cit., p. 239.

44. R. F. Munoz, Vamonoa con Pancho Villa, pp. 198-99 (Madrid: Taller cs
Espasa-Calpe, 1931).

45. Statement by Mr. E. Abegg, personal interview, January, 1950.

182 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

wanted a repetition of the Columbus affair while others re-
membering the kind treatment of the colonists when they had
some time before come into the colony hungry, wanted to pass
them by. Villa was determined to make the attack, thereby
hoping to bring on intervention. "He went for a walk at
night," said Martineau, "and returned with a changed heart."
His secretary later informed one of the colonists why he
changed his mind. "He told me," said the secretary, "that
while he had been away alone trying to decide as to the de-
struction of the colonies, some unseen power had impressed
him with the conviction that any such act upon his part would
bring upon himself the vengeance of a just God."46

On March 18, 1916, after his arrival at Dublan, General
John J. Pershing wired his commander, General Frederick
Funston, at Fort Sam Houston that the natives in Casas
Grandes seemed friendly and that the Mormons considered
the American troops as rescuers.47

46. Romney, op. cit., p. 240.

47. Foreign Relations, 1916, p. 498.

(To be continued)

ARIZONA'S EXPERIENCE WITH
THE INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM

By N. D. HOUGHTON *

ARIZONA'S constitution was drafted in 1910, preparatory
to admission of the territory into the union as a state,
in 1912. It was perhaps inevitable, therefore, in that era of
advocacy of increased popular control in government, that
the initiative, the referendum, the recall, the direct primary,
and woman suffrage should have got some attention in Ari-
zona. And there were in territorial Arizona specific local
conditions which operated to give these processes strong
appeal for alert public welfare-minded persons.

It was generally understood that during the two decades
prior to statehood the territorial government was rather
effectively controlled by, or in the interest of, railroad and
mining corporations. The legislative performance record
indicated that these corporate interests had a high batting
average in securing enactment of territorial laws and in
preventing enactment of labor-sponsored measures and
others not desired by mining and railroad management.1
The historian McClintock records the bold assertion that a
veto by the territorial governor could be assured for $2000.2
Naturally, alert men from the ranks of workers, farmers,
and small business were dissatisfied and desirous of break-
ing this alleged corporation dominance. The then currently-
new direct popular control processes seemed to be promising
devices for counteracting corporate influence, if they could
be adopted in Arizona.

It appears that the initiative and referendum were first
brought to public attention in Arizona by an unsuccessful
Populist candidate for territorial delegate to Congress in

* Professor of Political Science, University of Arizona.

1. See V. D. Brannon, Employers' Liability and Workmen's Compensation in Ari-
zona, Social Science Bulletin No. 7, University of Arizona, 1934, pp. 11, 12. See also
Judson King, "The Arizona Story in a Nutshell," Equity Series, Vol. XIV, p. 7, 1912.

2. See J. H. McClintock, Arizona, Vol. II, pp. 345, 356, cited by Brannon, op. cit.

183

184 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

1894.3 The platform of the territorial Republican Party in
1898 advocated the principles of the initiative and refer-
endum applicable to measures creating public debt, appar-
ently having in mind particularly the referendum.4 This
declaration did not connote any real Arizona Republican
liberalism, however, and in the legislative experiences of the
period Republicans generally were reported as voting ac-
ceptably to the corporations ; such support as labor was able
to get came mostly from Democrats.

In the legislative session of 1899, controlled by Demo-
crats, a bill establishing a system of initiative and referen-
dum was passed,5 but was pocket-vetoed by the Republican
territorial governor,6 and no further legislative considera-
tion was given to the matter till 1909. In that year, a labor-
sponsored bill to adopt the initiative and the referendum
was able to get through only one house of a heavily Demo-
cratic legislature.7

In the decade prior to 1910, unionization of workers in
Arizona Territory made considerable progress. In the local
aspects of the statehood controversy, mine and railroad man-
agement were understood to be unenthusiastic about state-
hood. They felt satisfied with the existing governmental sit-
uation, feared higher taxes, and the mines particularly
feared what are now called severance taxes. Labor spokes-
men favored statehood, hoping to be in a stronger position
with a new locally-based state governmental organization.8

3. Mr. W. O. O'Neill, former editor of Hoof and Horn, a weekly organ of the
Territorial Livestock Association. See Prescott Weekly Courier, October 12, 1894. See
Charles F. Todd, The Initiative and Referendum in Arizona, unpublished thesis in the
University of Arizona Library, 1931. This is an excellent study of developments down
to 1930.

4. Arizona Sentinel, September 24, 1898.

5. Journals of Twentieth Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Arizona,
pp. 363, 367, 877.

6. Governor N. O. Murphy, reputed to have been very friendly with mines and
railroads. Todd, op. cit., p. 9.

7. Journals of Twenty-fifth Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Arizona,
pp. 247-48 ; Arizona Gazette, March 19, 1909.

8. See Brannon, op. cit., p. 15, and Katheryne Elizabeth Baugh, Arizona's Struggle
for Statehood, unpublished thesis in the University of Missouri Library, 1934. See also
Howard A. Hubbard, "The Arizona Enabling Act and President Taft's Veto," Pacifit
Historical Review, VoL III, p. 307 (September 1934).

INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM 185

Statehood was also favored by farmers and small business
generally.

When Congress finally passed the Arizona Enabling Act
in 1910, local labor leaders recognized that the time was ripe
for labor, with such other support as might be found, to lay
a foundation for a more effective voice in government. As a
local union resolution put the matter, "The working class, if
it only utilizes it, has the power to make this constitution
to its own liking, and if it is properly drafted, our economic
struggles of the future will be greatly simplified and our op-
portunities of bettering our conditions rendered much
easier."9 The common people of Arizona seemed really to
need the initiative and the referendum forty years ago.

In the struggle to get control of the convention, which
was to draft a constitution for the proposed new state, labor
and liberal forces teamed up with Democratic Party leaders,
the Republicans being alleged to be more friendly to the cor-
porations. In that campaign for the election of delegates, the
principal contest was on the issue of whether the proposed
constitution should embody the initiative, the referendum,
and the recall. Alert labor men wanted particularly to get a
plan for direct legislation written into the constitution be-
cause of their unhappy legislative experiences in the pre-
state era. They had no illusions about being able to control
the new state legislature; but, because of their voting
strength, they hoped to be able, by the initiative process, to
enact laws directly which they would not be able to get by
the regular legislative process. They also hoped to be able,
by use of the referendum, to prevent enactment of laws
which they might not be able to defeat in the legislature.10
The corporations feared that working people might possibly
make good on this threat to use these direct legislative de-
vices, and opposed their adoption with great vigor.

Labor had active support in its fight for direct legislation

9. Resolution passed by Bisbee Miners' Union, calling for a state-wide !abor con-
ference to make plans for electing pro-labor delegates to the convention which was to
draft a constitution. Arizona Daily Star, July 8, 1910.

10. See Tru McGinnis, The Influence of Organized Labor on the Making of the
Arizona Constitution, unpublished thesis in the University of Arizona Library, 1930.

186 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

from two other sources. Advocates of suffrage for women,
being unable to get the right to vote by legislative action,
threw their support to the effort to get direct legislative
processes into the constitution. Similarly, the prohibition-
ists supported the effort.11

Election returns showed that of the 52 convention dele-
gates elected, 41 were Democrats, of whom most were
avowedly friendly to labor and committed to adoption of
the initiative, referendum, and recall.12 The convention
chose as chairman G. W. P. Hunt, prominent labor man,
member of the territorial legislature, and first and long-
time governor of the new state. Those committees having
charge of matters of particular interest to labor were loaded
with men considered friendly to labor and its program.

In the convention, opponents of direct legislation con-
tinued to fight, seeking to set the required numbers of sig-
natures to petitions high enough, they said, to discourage
too frequent use; so high, charged labor delegates, as to
render impractical the operation of its processes. As finally
adopted, signatures required for use of the state-wide initia-
tive were set at 10 per cent for statutory measures and 15
per cent for constitutional amendments. For the refer-
endum, the requirement is 5 per cent. These fixed percent-
ages are of the total vote cast for all candidates for governor
in the last preceding general election.13 Any legislative
enactments carrying an emergency clause, and passed by a
two-thirds vote of all members of both houses, are exempt

11. Todd, op. eit., pp. 17, 18. These elements appear also to have worked together
to put over direct legislation plans elsewhere in that period. For example, see N. D.
Houghton, "The Initiative and Referendum in Missouri," Missouri Historical Review,
VoL XIX, pp. 268-800 (January 1925).

12. One of the most prominent of the Democrats, Mr. E. E. Ellinwood, was an
attorney for one of the copper companies and was considered to be openly a spokesman
for that point of view.

13. Art. IV, Part 1, and Art. XXI. All petitions for state use must be filed with
the Secretary of State. Initiative petitions must be filed at least four months prior to
the election at which the measures are to be submitted to popular vote. Referendum
petitions must be filed within ninety days after the close of the legislative session at
which the measures are enacted, during which period operation of all enactments to
which the referendum is applicable, is automatically suspended. For local city, town,
and county purposes, signature requirements are 15 per cent for the initiative and 10
per cent for the referendum.

INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM 187

from operation of the referendum.14 In actual practice,
essentially every law enacted by the Arizona legislature
carries an emergency clause, if its sponsors can muster the
necessary votes, by deliberate design, to avoid any possi-
bility of its being subjected to the referendum process.

Measures initiated or referred by petition to a vote of
the people are submitted at regular general elections only.15
The Secretary of State is required by law to prepare and
make available to the voters for their information on such
measures a Publicity Pamphlet containing their full texts,
titles, and forms in which they are to appear on the ballot,
and carrying also such limited-length arguments for and
against any measures as sponsors or opponents may care
to submit and pay for.16 In order to become effective, any
measure submitted to popular vote must receive an affirma-
tive majority of all votes cast upon it.17

Simple tabulation reveals that, in the forty-year period
from 1912 to -1952, a total of 133 measures18 were submitted
to the people of Arizona by these processes :

14. Measures necessary "to preserve the public peace, health, or safety, or to
provide appropriations for the support and maintenance of the Departments of State
and of State Institutions" may be declared "emergency measures" by the legislature.

15. The legislature may, at its own discretion, refer any enactment to a popular
vote, making its adoption contingent upon popular approval, and must so refer all
legislative proposals of constitutional amendments. The former may be referred at
general elections only, but the latter may be referred at either general, primary, or
special elections, as designated by the legislature. For decisions holding invalid referen-
dum measures approved at special elections, see Estcs v. State, 48 Ariz. 21 ; 58 Pac. 2d
753 (1936) ; Hudson v. Cummard, 44 Ariz. 7; 33 Pac. 2d 591 (1934) ; Tucson Manor,
Inc. v. Federal National Mortgage Assn., 73 Ariz. 387 ; 241 Pac. 2d 1126 (1952).

16. 60-107, Ch. 60, Art 1, Arizona Code Annotated, 1939.

17. All statutory enactments by the legislature are subject to the governor's veto
at time of enactment. In order to override a veto of an act carrying an emergency
clause, and passed by a two-thirds vote of both houses, the legislature must repass it
by a three-fourths vote in both houses. These majorities are of members, not merely
of those present.

18. In addition, the legislature submitted 48 proposals to amend the constitution,
making a grand total of 181 measures upon which the people of Arizona were called
upon to vote in 22 elections over a period of 40 years. (At a special election, held in
conjunction with the primary election in 1950, only legislative proposals of constitu-
tional amendments were submitted.) Of the 48 legislative proposals for amending the
constitution, 21 were adopted and 27 were disapproved. Out of a grand total of 181
propositions of all kinds submitted to the voters in that 40 year period, 73 were ap-
proved and 108 were rejected.

188 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

38 initiated proposals to amend the Constitution

13 adopted
25 lost

58 initiated statutory measures

18 adopted
40 lost

26 measures by referendum petition

14 approved
12 rejected

11 measures referred by legislature

1 approved
4 rejected

Professorial search for startling or even significant
"trends" in these over-all statistical data may be disappoint-
ing. As might have been expected, the proverbial "new
broom" was used rather freely in its early years. In the first
four consecutive elections, 15 constitutional amendments
were proposed by initiative petitions; that was approxi-
mately one-third of all such proposals for the forty year
period, which saw 24 such elections. In the first five con-
secutive elections, 24 statutory measures were proposed by
initiative petition, that being approximately 40 per cent of
all that type of proposals for the forty year period. Those
same first five consecutive elections saw the referendum by
petition applied to 15 legislative enactments ; that was about
55 per cent of all use of this device for the forty year period.
The first half of this period saw all the devices of direct
legislation used 81 times, while the second twenty year
period saw them used only 52 times, the referendum being
applied only 11 times, as compared with 26 applications of
it in the previous twenty year period.

All this is not meant to imply, however, that these devices
are dying for lack of use or popular interest, as may be seen

INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM 189

TABULATION SHOWING NUMBERS OF ALL KINDS OF

MEASURES SUBMITTED TO ARIZONA VOTERS

FROM 1912 TO 1952, INCLUSIVE

By the Initiative
Year Amendments Statutes

Amendments
Referendum Proposed
By By Legis- by the
Petition lature Legislature

1912

1

0

8

0

4

1914

5

10

4

0

0

1916

5

5

0

0

2

1918

4

3

2

1

0

1920

0

6

1

1

2

1922

2

1

0

1

8

1924

1

3

1

0

1

1925

0

0

0

0

1

1926

1

2

1

1

0

1927

0

0

0

0

2

1928

1

3

4

1

1

1930

2

0

0

0

4

1932

5

3

1

0

0

1933

0

0

2

0

6

1934

0

2

0

0

0

1936

0

0

0

1

0

1938

2

1

0

0

0

1940

4

3

1

0

2

1942

0

1

0

0

0

1944

1

0

0

1

0

1946

1

1

0

0

4

1948

0

4

1

0

3

1950

3

9

0

0

7

1952

0

1

0

4

1

Totals

38

58

26

11

48

from simple graphical representation. In fact, in only one
previous year had more petitioned measures been on the
Arizona ballot than in 1950 ;19 and recent years have shown

19. In 1914, there were 19 propositions on the ballot by petition. In 1950, the
corresponding number was 12 ; but there were also referred to the people in 1950 by
the legislature seven additional proposals to amend the state constitution.

190 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

a sustained high voting performance on these propositions,
both numerically and proportionally.

Whether or not the processes of direct legislation may be
said to have been "successful" in Arizona depends partly
upon definition, partly upon the extent to which groups
who have made use of the devices have been able to attain
their objectives, and partly upon the subjective attitudes
of interested persons at particular times. The initiative
was designed as a positive device for the enactment of law.
The referendum by petition was designed as a negative
device, frankly for the prevention of lawmaking. Groups
which have made use of the initiative in Arizona have
secured enactment of their measures in approximately one-
third of their attempts; while groups which have resorted
to referendum by petition in efforts to defeat the enactment
of statutes have managed to defeat 46 per cent of the meas-
ures attacked. Measured by achievements through regular
legislative processes, these results may seem impressive,
particularly when it is realized that presumably these
groups have been unable to secure (or defeat) the enactment
of any of these laws in the legislature. In fact, the apparent
"successes" of these devices seem largely to account for a
recurrent spotty demand for their abandonment or drastic
restriction. On the other hand, expensive unsuccessful
efforts to gain their objectives by these devices have natu-
rally been disappointing to some groups on occasion.

Voters' responses to the challenges presented by these
legislative measures on the ballot may be shown by a simple
chart, statistically speaking. But any such presentation
must necessarily be highly superficial. Any inclination to
draw significant conclusions from them would probably be
unwarranted. The number of petitioned measures appear-
ing on the ballot has ranged from one to nineteen,20 per
election. The proportion of voters voting at the elections,

20. The official election returns on all measures from 1912 to 1948 may be found
in two compilations made by the Arizona Secretary of State in 1930 and 1949. Yearly
records are available at the same office.

INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM 191

who have voted on the measures, has ranged from 28 per
cent in 1936 to 83.2 per cent in 1946.21

Brief special mention should be made of the experience
record of the three readily identifiable groups who joined
in sponsoring the fight for adoption of the initiative and
referendum in Arizona in the 1910-1912 era, labor, suffra-
gists, and prohibitionists. All three groups met immediate
successes with these new devices in the early years of their
operation. Woman suffrage was adopted by the initiative
process at the new state's very first election in 1912. A
prohibition amendment was adopted by the initiative in
1914, and strengthened by another in 1916; but they were
both repealed by initiative in 1932.

The first experience organized labor had with the actual
operation of direct legislation in Arizona found labor on
the defensive side of the referendum. Labor came out of its
active participation in the framing of the constitution with
new vigor, prestige, confidence, and accepted leadership. In
1912, at the peak of its new and brief position of power and
assertiveness, labor was able to secure passage by the
legislature of a series of laws, in the face of traditional
opposition from mining and railroad sources. Seven of
these laws were held up by referendum petitions. Labor
managed to get them all approved by the voters, but it got
an early demonstration of the fact that wealthy elements,
with ample means to pay the costs, could use the new
devices at least as advantageously as labor.

In 1914, six initiated measures, sponsored or supported
by the Arizona Federation of Labor, were adopted at the

21. Stated percentages are composite averages for all measures on the ballot at
each election :

1912—81.5 1928 — 47.3 1942—52

1914—68.7 1930—53.3 1944—72.3

1916—66.6 1932—73.4 1946—83.2

1918—53.6 1933 — (Special Election) 1948 — 71

1920—58.7 1934—48.6 1950 — 80

1922—58.1 *1936— 28 1952—67.4

1924—67.4 1938—54

1926—62.4 1940—65.1
* In 1936, only one measure was on the ballot.

192 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

polls, though by very narrow margins in some cases. Retro-
spectively, it can be seen that the going was getting harder
for labor. And in 1916, not only did it fail to secure adop-
tion of the two measures which it sponsored by the initia-
tive,22 but it also had to fight desperately to defeat two
amendments, initiated with alleged corporation support, and
apparently designed virtually to emasculate both the newly-
won workmen's compensation system23 and the direct legis-
lation system itself.24 That ended labor's honeymoon with
direct legislative processes in Arizona. Only rarely there-
after has labor resorted to them by deliberate design.

On two later occasions, in 1918 and in 1932, labor had
to defend its workmen's compensation system against deter-
mined attempts to weaken it at the polls. In 1946, in the
wake of postwar reaction, an anti-union, so-called "Right
to Work" Amendment was adopted, in spite of labor's best
efforts to prevent it. In 1948 labor was also unable to defeat
an initiated statutory measure effectuating this amendment.
In 1950, all six measures initiated with labor backing were
defeated.25 And in 1952, labor was unable to prevent the
overwhelming adoption by the initiative process of a so-
called "Fair Labor Practices Act," prohibiting "secondary

22. One was an amendment designed to establish a unicameral legislature. See
N. D. Houghton, "Arizona's Adventure with Unicameralism — an Anti-Climax," 11
University of Kansas City Law Review 38 (December, 1940).

23. See Brannon, op. cit., pp. 47-48.

24. Opponents of direct legislation were able to get legislative submission to the
voters in 1916 of a proposed amendment to the constitution providing that, in order
to become effective, initiated or referred measures must receive an affirmative vote
equal to "a majority of the total vote of the electors voting at said election," as dis-
tinguished from the existing requirement of merely a majority of the votes cast on
the particular measures. Publicity Parr>,phlet, 1916, pp. 3-4. That would have made
the initiative process virtually unworkable. Only five initiated measures out of 31
which have been adopted, have ever received a majority of all votes cast at the elections
at which they have been approved, not one since 1916, when a prohibition amendment
was so adopted.

On the other hand, adoption in 1916 of the requirement of a majority of all votes
cast at an election could well have meant that no referendum measure would ever
have been saved from defeat. No referred measure has ever received a majority of all
votes cast at the election since 1912, when 3 measures were so approved.

This proposal was defeated by the very narrow margin of 18,961 to 18,356.

25. Two merit system laws, two measures extending and liberalizing the state's
unemployment compensation plan, one liberalizing old age assistance, and one liberaliz-
ing workmen's compensation as to occupational diseases.

INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM 193

boycotts," restricting picketing, and authorizing injunctions
for enforcement.26

It has been widely asserted that the potency of corporate
and conservative influences in Arizona's public affairs has
remained very well intact. The terms "special interests,"
"big interests," and "large taxpayers," have been used there
to include mining, railroad, banking, utility, and sometimes
large cattle and ranching interests, and it has been com-
monly said that perhaps they have never been more effec-
tively integrated. Generally understood to operate in close
harmony with the leadership in what has been known as
the "majority" bloc in the legislature, and with the so-called
Arizona Tax Research Association, this somewhat varying
alignment of interests has allegedly been able to exert a
powerful influence upon Arizona's traditional governmental
processes for many years.27 Reputedly, it has also managed,
on occasion, to operate by means of, even in defiance of,
those special people's devices, the initiative and the
referendum.

By using the initiative process, the public employees of
Arizona secured adoption of a state retirement system for

26. Publicity Pamphlet, 1952, pp. 24-26.

27. Speaking on personal privilege in a move to get his remarks recorded in the
Journal of the Senate, near the end of the first regular session of the 21st Legislature,
on March 26, 1953, Senator James Smith, the unsuccessful "minority" candidate for
President of the Senate, was quoted as saying in part that in the course of the session,
"I have been a member of the Independent and Minority group and have had very
little to do with any major legislation which has passed this body — a thing for which
I am proud ! I am also proud of my colleagues in this Independent group who have
had the courage to stand up on their hind legs and fight a system that has so com-
pletely throttled . . . the body politic of this state that fair and equitable legislation
has become a lost art. . . .

"The governor could have had anything he wanted in legislation from this Senate,
so long as it did not cost the big interests of this state additional taxes. . . .

"Mr. President, ... I am only attacking a system ... a system that is bigger
than men, distorts legislatures, influences governors, and stymies equality in legislation.
It has no God except the almighty dollar, and all legislation is based on how many
dollars it will save the system.

"This system ... is a lobby of big interests. It operates to the disadvantage of
95 per cent of the citizens of this state.

"Fine men are elected to both branches of this legislature, but before they can
have even the slightest consideration in getting a bill out of the packed committees,
they must align themselves with the powers in control of that system. . . ." Text
published in the Arizona Statesman, April 2, 1953. See also Arizona Republic, March
28, 1953, p. 8.

194 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

public employees, a relatively excellent plan, in 1948.28 The
law was approved by a decisive vote of 86,989 to 38,111. Yet
the "majority" leadership in the state legislature persist-
ently throughout three regular sessions and one competent
special session refused to permit voting of appropriations to
effectuate the plan. This refusal was in disregard of the law's
provision purportedly requiring the legislature to appro-
priate funds to operate the system, and in the face of the
fact that, by terms of the law, compulsory deductions from
state employees' earnings had started building a retirement
fund on July 1, 1949. This legislative defiance of a people's
enactment seems to have been a new development in the
country's experience with direct legislation. That and its
consequent developments seem, therefore, to call for careful
analysis in the interest of realistic understanding.28*

Finally, in 1952, the "majority" in the legislature passed
a measure repealing the Public Employees Retirement Act
of 1948 and referring it to a vote of the people at the general
election in November 1952. Then followed an observably
unequal campaign contest, conducted simultaneously with
the presidential and general state campaigns. It fell to the
state's eloquent and very popular Republican governor,29
campaigning for election to a second term, to play a leading
part in the appeal to the voters to repeal their own previous
enactment, in a Republican landslide election.30 The public
employees had almost no funds to use in making out a case
in favor of retention of the Retirement Act, as contrasted

28. Sections 12-801 to 12-823, Arizona Code Annotated, 1939. Cum. Supp.

28a. In the course of this long and unsuccessful struggle by the public employees
to get the Retirement Act of 1948 activated, they finally resorted to an effort to use
the initiative process in 1952 (1) to levy a severance tax on ores and minerals in
order to provide funds to operate the system, and (2) to appropriate money to pay
the costs of getting the plan into operation. One of the two costly suits which enjoined
the Secretary of State from putting these measures on the ballot was brought in the
names of the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate. Mattice and
Langham v. Bolin, Case No. 73, 296, Maricopa County Superior Court, September 19,
1952.

29. The third Republican governor since statehood in a traditionally Democratic
state. See N. D. Houghton, "The 1950 Elections in Arizona," Western Political Quar-
terly, VoL IV, p. 91 (March 1951).

80. See Paul Kelso, "The 1952 Elections in Arizona," Western Political Quarterly,
Vol. VI, p. 100 (March 1958).

INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM 195

with what appeared to be ample expenditures on behalf of
the repeal effort.31 The result was repeal by a vote of 128,094
to 48,409 — and a vivid illustration of the fact that the "popu-
lar will," as recorded by use of one of these people's devices,
may be successfully defied by a sufficiently determined and
powerful opposition, even with engineered approval of the
"popular will."32

In the years following the adoption of the Arizona Con-
stitution there came, in the natural course of events, legisla-
tive enactments to effectuate the provisions for direct
legislation33 and judicial interpretation of them.34 The bulk
of these statutory enactments and court decisions, though
important, do not imperatively call for attention here; but
one recent decision of the Arizona Supreme Court has so
vitally affected the operation of the initiative and referen-
dum in the state as to make mandatory some analysis of the
situation. It involves a series of developments with respect

81. The files of the newspapers of the state will reveal part of the contrast,
although comparable radio evidence is not so readily re-examined, having largely
vanished with the sounds of the voices.

32. In the campaign, pledges were given that popular repeal of the unactivated
Retirement Act would be followed by action of the state: (1) to bring Arizona's public
employees under federal old age and survivors insurance coverage, and (2) to provide
an "adequate supplementary retirement plan." Pursuant to this assurance, the necear
sary steps were taken to effectuate (1), and in 1953 the legislature passed a law in
the direction of (2). Spokesmen for the public employees were disappointed with the
law, however, considering it defective in several important respects, and particularly
inadequate in its almost complete failure to make provision for the "prior service"
component so essential to launching a plan for adequate retirement compensation.

33. Most of the effectuating legislation was enacted in 1912. See Arizona Session
Laws, 1912, Chapters 70 and 71. Current citations are 60-101 to 60-115, Ch. 60, Art. I,
Arizona Code Annotated, 1939. S^e also Arizona Session Laws, 1953, Chapters 57
and 82.

34. Leading cases: Allen v. State, 14 Ariz. 458; 130 Pac. 1114 (1913) ; Buttard v.
Osborn, 16 Ariz. 247; 143 Pac. 117 (1914) ; Clements v. Hall, 23 Ariz. 2; 201 Pac.
87 (1921) ; Willard v. Hubbs, 30 Ariz. 417; 428 Pac. 32 (1926) ; McBride v. Kirby,
32 Ariz. 515; 260 Pac. 435 (1927); State v. Pelosi, 68 Ariz. 51; 199 Pac. 2d. 765
(1948) ; Ward v. Industrial Commission, 70 Ariz. 271; 219 Pac. 2d 765 (1950) ; Warner
v. White, 39 Ariz. 203; 4 Pac. 2d 1000 (1931) ; Kirby v. Griffin, 48 Ariz. 434; 62 Pac.
2d 1131 (1936) ; Whitman v. Moore, 59 Ariz. 211; 125 Pac. 2d 445 (1942) ; Arizona v.
Superior Court, 60 Ariz. 69; 131 Pac. 2d 983 (1942) ; Hernandez v. FrohmiUer, 68
Ariz. 242; 204 Pac. 2d 854 (1949) ; Dennis v. Jordan, 71 Ariz. 430; 229 Pac. 2d 692
(1951) ; Side v. FrohmiUer, 70 Ariz. 128; 216 Pac. 2d 726 (1950) ; Adams v. Bolin,
74 Ariz. 269* 247 Pac. 2d 617 (1952) ; Estes v. State, 48 Ariz. 21; 58 Pac. 2d 753
( 1936 ) ; Tucson Manor, Inc. v. Federal National Mortgage Assn., 73 Ariz. 387 ; 241
Pac. 2d 1126 (1952).

196 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

to whether and under what conditions measures once
adopted by the voters shall be subject to subsequent altera-
tion or repeal by the legislature.

Examination of the provisions for direct legislation in
the various states having those devices discloses some va-
riety of policy in this regard. In some states, measures
adopted by direct legislative processes are entirely immune
from any subsequent legislative disturbance.35 In other
states, such enactments are immune from legislative repeal
or amendment for some specified period of time — two years
in Washington. It is the peculiar wording of the Arizona
Constitution which has permitted recent confusion there.

It has also been common practice to exempt measures
adopted by vote of the people from veto by the governor, in
terms making the exemption applicable to "measures re-
ferred to the people" or to "initiative or referendum mea-
sures." And again, it is the peculiar wording of the Arizona
Constitution which has led to confusion there.

Let it be recalled at this point that the outstanding issue
in the election of delegates to the Arizona Constitutional
Convention in 1910 and also in the deliberations of the con-
vention was on the initiative, referendum, and recall.
Research on the work of the convention does not reveal
whether the confusing provision, to which reference has
been made immediately above, was simply inadvertently so
worded, or whether possibly it could have been done by de-
liberate design of opponents of the whole idea of direct
legislation. Records show that the Oregon .provision for
direct legislation was the major pattern by which the
Arizona Convention was guided; yet for some reason the
wording in this unfortunate instance did not follow the com-
parable Oregon provision.

The Arizona Constitution provides that

any measure or amendment to the constitution proposed under
the Initiative, and any measure to which the Referendum is
applied, shall be referred to the qualified electors, and shall

35. See, for example, the Constitution of California, Art. IV, sec. 1.

INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM 197

become law when approved by a majority of the votes cast
thereon. . . .36

Then, as originally adopted, the Constitution provided
that

The veto power of the Governor shall not extend to Initiative
or Referendum measures approved by a majority of the quali-
fied electors.37

Thus, as originally adopted, the legislature was left entirely
free to repeal or amend statutory measures approved by a
vote of the people and, although there is indication that the
convention originally deliberately refrained from denying
this power to the legislature, search fails to reveal any con-
vention awareness or intent that measures approved at the
polls by a "majority of the votes cast thereon," as provided
by paragraph 5, were in any way distinguishable from meas-
ures approved by a "majority of the qualified electors," as the
wording was put in paragraph 6. The original intent appears
simply to have been : (1) that measures should become effec-
tive when approved by a majority of the votes cast thereon,
and; (2) that all measures so approved should be exempt
from executive veto, but subject to legislative repeal or
alteration.

Then, for reasons shortly to be stated, the enthusiastic
proponents of direct legislation sponsored and secured adop-
tion in 1914 of an amendment to paragraph 6 designed to
immunize all measures adopted by these devices from subse-
quent legislative repeal or alteration. Thereafter, paragraph
6 read :

The veto power of the Governor, or the power of the legisla-
ture to repeal or amend,38 shall not extend to initiative or
referendum measures approved by a majority vote of the
qualified electors.

There is an obvious discrepancy between the wording
of paragraph 5, a "majority of the votes cast thereon," and

36. Art. IV, Part I, sec. 1, paragraph 5. Italics supplied.

37. Art. IV, Part I, sec. 1, paragraph 6. Italics supplied.

38. Italics supplied to show the words added by the 1914 amendment.

198 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

paragraph 6, a "majority of the qualified electors," which
was pointed out by the first comprehensive study made of
the initiative and referendum in Arizona, back in 193 1.39
Again, however, careful search fails to reveal any evidence
prior to 1952, that there ever was any official or legal asser-
tion or assumption of doubt that the two were intended to
mean precisely the same thing, namely, approved by the
voters. But in the spring of 1952, alert and ingenious coun-
sel, working not only to prevent legislative effectuation of
the Public Employees Retirement Act of 1948, but also to
nullify that law, argued effectively before the State Su-
preme Court that the two expressions should be interpreted
absolutely literally. The result was that the court, by a
division of 4 to 1, held that a "majority of the qualified
electors" means a majority of all registered voters of the
state; and the effect was to make all statutory measures
approved by a "majority of the votes cast thereon" subject
to subsequent alteration or repeal by the legislature,40 unless
approved by a "majority vote of the qualified electors (reg-
istered voters) " of the state.41

The potential significance of this decision becomes ap-
parent in light of the fact that no single measure has ever
been approved by a majority of the registered voters of the
state; and there appears to be no real prospect that any
measure ever will receive that number of votes, so as to be
immune from legislative repeal. The significance is equally
impressive, on the one hand with ardent proponents of direct
legislation, as devices for getting results by popular action,
in spite of the legislature, and on the other hand, with those
who feel more comfortable with a restoration of essentially

39. See Todd, op. cit., p. 37. In this study, made in 1931, long after paragraph
6 had been amended to bar also legislative alteration or repeal of such measures, Mr.
Todd pointed out that "under a strict construction of this phrase, the governor,
apparently, could veto, or the legislature could act upon a measure approved by a
majority of those voting upon that particular question, should that number be less
than a majority of the 'qualified electors.' Although it is not established that this
loophole was deliberately placed in the Constitution, and no court construction has
been made thereupon, the situation seems to leave a possibility of the above-mentioned
action on the part of the governor or the legislature."

40. And also subject to veto by the governor.

41. Adams v. Bolin, 74 Ariz. 269; 247 Pac. 2d 617 (1952).

INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM 199

the old territorial situation, in which groups able to control
the legislature need have perhaps not too much fear of effec-
tive popular defiance of their will.

We have had occasion earlier to refer to the fact that at
the first session of the Arizona legislature after statehood,
organized labor was able to secure enactment by the legisla-
ture of a number of laws, in spite of the traditional opposi-
tion of railroad and mining interests. The opposition im-
mediately had recourse to the referendum in an unsuccessful
effort to nullify several of these enactments. In the course
of the campaign, however, and in the next session of the
legislature there was some apparently serious threat that
the legislature might undertake to repeal some of these
laws.42

This early experience led to the proposal in 1914 of the
constitutional amendment by the initiative process, spon-
sored by the Arizona Federation of Labor, designed to pre-
vent the legislature from altering or repealing any measure
once adopted by popular vote. The form of the proposal was
to add a minimum of essential words to paragraph 6, so as
to bar both veto by the governor and alteration by the legis-
lature of all "initiative or referendum measures approved
by a majority vote of the qualified electors."*3 Thus, due to
an economy in the use of words, not commonly attributed
to lawyers in the popular mind, the f ramers of this amend-
ment allowed the language to stand so as to invite argument
for literal interpretation of it by some attorney of a later
generation, who 'vas not there, Charlie,' when the general
understanding of intent and purpose originated among law-
yers of the state contemporary to the wording of the
language.

As an indication of the intent and purpose of the spon-
sors of the 1914 amendment, their argument published in
the Publicity Pamphlet of 1914 declared :

42. Particularly, a law fixing maximum railroad passenger rates and another
requiring private employers to pay workers twice a month. See Publicity Pamphlet,
1914, pp. 41-42.

48. Publicity Pamphlet, 1914, pp. 39-42.

200 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

We wish to impress upon the voters of the State the impor-
tance of the amendment to the State Constitution whereby
the Legislature will not be allowed to repeal or amend any
initiative or referendum measure passed by the people.**

As an indication that the active opponents of the 1914
amendment also understood its intent and purpose precisely
as its sponsors did, their opposing argument published in the
Publicity Pamphlet stated specifically that :

The Constitution already prohibits the governor from vetoing
any law adopted by the people, so the amendment merely per-
tains to [alterations or repeal of such measures by] the
legislature.45

The main argument of the opposition was simply that the
amendment should be defeated because the legislature ought
to have power to "correct mistakes" in popularly enacted
laws; and they certainly accepted the sponsors' interpreta-
tion that, if adopted, this amendment would effectively
deprive the legislature of its power to alter or repeal any
law "passed by the people."46 As previously stated, the
amendment was adopted ; and, so far as can be ascertained,
no judge, legislator, governor, or attorney ever questioned
the accepted proposition that its intended effect had been
accomplished, until the summer of 1952.47

In explanation of the wording of the 1914 amendment, a
prominent member of the Convention of 1910, continuous
and forceful advocate of direct legislation, and one of the
state's most highly respected attorneys, states that :

44. Statement signed by Bert Davis, President of the Arizona Federation of
Labor. Italics supplied.

45. Italics supplied.

46. Publicity Pamphlet, 1914, pp. 41, 42.

47. The most serious previous frontal attack made upon the workability of the ini-
tiative and referendum had come in 1916, immediately following: the amendment of 1914,
while the original sponsors and opponents of direct legislation were still rather clearly
and identifiably squared off against each other. Since the 1914 amendment was uni-
versally accepted as having removed laws enacted by popular vote from subsequent
legislative alteration or repeal, those elements in the state who were unhappy about
the situation were able to secure legislative proposal of an amendment to the constitu-
tion designed to make it decidedly more difficult to enact measures by popular vote.
See footnote 24.

INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM 201

The form of the [original] paragraph was left, as is the usual
practice in preparing legal amendments, to follow the original
form except as to the addition of such words as might be
necessary to effect the desired purpose, and the only change
desired in this instance was to supplement the denial of power
to the Governor to veto with the denial of the power to the
legislature to repeal or amend an initiative or referendum
measure approved by the people. It did not occur to the pro-
posers of the amendment in 1914, as in thirty-six years follow-
ing, it did not occur to any Governor, any legislator, or any
citizen, that the form of the paragraph limited its effective-
ness to measures approved by a majority of all eligible voters,
whether voting or not.

This appears to be a fair statement of the matter. In
fact, the Arizona Supreme Court in several cases, over the
period from 1926 to 1950, took occasion to affirm the general
understanding that, after 1914, all measures adopted by
popular vote were immune from subsequent repeal or alter-
ation by the legislature.

In 1926, the court said that, "no measure approved
by a referendum could be repealed or amended by the
legislature."48

In 1927, the court declared that, "paragraph (6) ex-
pressly deprives the legislature of the right to enact meas-
ures affecting . . . initiated or referred measures approved
by the voters."49

In 1942, the court had occasion to say that, "there is one
difference between an initiated and legislative law. While a
legislative act may be repealed by a subsequent legislature,
an initiated measure, once adopted, can only be repealed in
the same manner in which it was adopted." 50

In 1948, the court, referring to certain sections of the
statutes, said they, "were enacted by the Legislature and re-
ferred to and approved by the people, and having been
approved by the people, the Legislature is without power
to repeal or amend these measures."51

48. WiUard v. Hubbs, 30 Ariz. 417; 248 Pac. 32 (1926).

49. McBride v. Kerby, 32 Ariz. 515; 260 Pac. 435 (1927).

50. Arizona v. Superior Court, 60 Ariz. 69; 131 Pac. 2d 983 (1942).

51. State v. Pelosi, 68 Ariz. 51; 199 Pac. 2d 125 (1948).

202 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

And as late as 1950 the court recognized the "constitu-
tional immunity [of initiative and referendum measures]
from amendment by the Legislature."52

When the legislative majority in 1952, refusing again
to effectuate the Public Employees Retirement Act of 1948,
passed a bill purporting to repeal that law, but referring
it to a vote of the people, the public employees with support
from Mr. William R. Mathews, Editor and Publisher of the
Arizona Daily Star, sought an injunction to prevent the
Secretary of State from putting the measure on the ballot
on the ground that "the Legislature was without power to
refer the measure" to a vote of the people.53 The Superior
Court having refused to grant the injunction, the case was
appealed to the State Supreme Court, which not only af-
firmed the propriety of the Legislature's action to refer the
law to the people for a "second look," as it was semiofficially
designated,54 but it also held that the Legislature has power
to amend or repeal, on its own authority, any statutory
measure which has been enacted by the people unless it has
been approved by a "majority vote of the qualified [regis-
tered] electors" of the state.55

To counsel's reliance upon the apparently universal offi-
cial and legal acceptance of the proposition that the intent
and purpose of the amendment of 1914 had been to place
all measures adopted by vote of the people beyond the power
of the legislature to repeal or amend, buttressed as it had
been by repeated acceptance of it by the State Supreme
Court, the Court in 1952 simply replied: (1) that "where

52. Ward v. Industrial Commission, 70 Ariz. 271; 219 Pac. 2d 765 (1950).

53. Adams v. Bolin, 74 Ariz. 269; 247 Pac. 2d 617 (1952).

54. On three previous occasions the legislature had referred to the voters measures
to repeal the same identical law (a game control law) which had originally been
enacted by the initiative process in 1916. The people rejected the repeal in 1921 (See
Arizona Session Laws, 1923, p. 444) and again in 1926 (See Arizona Session Laws,
1925, Chap. 6). On the third try, the people approved the repeal in 1928 (See Chap. 3,
Acts of the Special Session of the Eighth Legislature, Session Laws, 1928). It appears,
however, that the courts had had no previous occasion to adjudicate the propriety of
this legislative action, but the experience seems to show that the legislature had never
considered that it had power to repeal outright any measure previously enacted or
approved by the people by a "majority of the votes cast thereon."

55. WiUard v. Hubbs, 30 Ariz. 417; 248 Pac. 32 (1926).

INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM 203

there is involved no ambiguity or absurdity, a statutory
or constitutional provision requires no interpretation";
(2) that in no previous case had the meaning of the perti-
nent language of the Arizona Constitution ever been ques-
tioned by litigants; (3) that in one of the cases cited it had
not been necessary for the court to make the statement
recognizing immunity of all popularly enacted laws from
legislative power to repeal; and (4) that in any event all
such previous holdings of the court were now specifically
overruled, in so far as they may have applied to measures
approved by less than a "majority vote of the qualified (reg-
istered) electors" of the state.56
Said the Court:

None of these [previous] cases presented the direct question
as to whether there is a vital distinction between an initiated
or referred measure enacted or approved by a majority of the
qualified (registered) electors and measures enacted or ap-
proved merely by a majority of the votes cast thereon.^ The
instant case for the first time asserts that there is such dis-
tinction and makes an issue of it.

The Court readily saw the distinction, and being unim-
pressed by a showing of original and long accepted under-
standing that the two expressions were identical in intent
and purpose, the Court, admitting that "we are on our own
in attempting to construe the words 'approved by a majority
vote of the qualified electors,' " for lack of any reference to
any case in which the expression had ever been judicially
construed, nevertheless reached the

conclusion that the words mean simply what they say. . . .
To enforce it according to its terms [said the opinion], will
mean that only those initiated and referred measures which
receive the majority vote of the qualified [registered] electors
will be immune from legislative amendment or repeal.

Counsel for plaintiffs argued vainly, but apparently
unanswerably, that the court was being asked to adopt an
interpretation which would be both administratively and ju-

56. Adams v. Bolin, 74 Ariz. 269; 247 Pac. 2d 617 (1952).

57. Italics supplied.

204 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

dicially unworkable. They pointed out that, as a matter of
practical application, it is simply not administratively
feasible to know or to determine for any election how many
"qualified electors" there are in the state. Registration,
which the court accepted and designated as the test for voter
qualification, is as a matter of fact not an adequate test.
Even, assuming the legality of registration, as of the date of
enrollment for each registered voter, registration lists be-
come notoriously and progressively inaccurate, due to deaths,
and removals from precincts and counties, and even from
the state. A sizeable proportion of registered persons are,
therefore, not "qualified electors," and the only way really
to know how many "qualified electors" there are in the state
at any given election time would be actually to check every
registration, in order to verify its validity, a process which
is simply not practicable. -If any case should ever develop
inviting or calling for court determination of whether any
measure has been adopted by a "majority of the qualified
electors," only a litigant with ample funds to pay for the
very expensive checking services could possibly offer the
courts even allegedly accurate data on which a sound deci-
sion might be based; and only a group with equally ample
funds could offer any effective rebuttal.

The majority opinion is one which perhaps many lawyers
might call "well reasoned," or what perhaps Professor Rodell
of Yale Law School might call "well rationalized."58 It pur-
ports to put the court in a position of really having no choice
but to rule as it did. In fact, if one may take a bit of liberty
with a bit of Hamlet, it may appear to some that the judge
who wrote the opinion in Adams v. Bolin, "doth protest too
much," with approval of three of his brethren, to the
moralistic effect that the state's legislative future must
necessarily be in safer hands because of this decision.

Saith the Court:

We are of the opinion that to permit the legislature to make
needed amendments to ill-considered initiated laws or referred
measures that, through the passage of time, have become obso-

68. Fred Rodell, Woe Unto You, Lawyers, Ch. 8, esp. p. 198.

INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM 205

lete, will be a step forward and relieve the people of shackling
legislation.

Continuing, the opinion stated that measures enacted
by popular vote

do not have the advantage of open debate and analysis, and
oftentimes incorporate provisions that are out of harmony
with and contradict the general scheme of legislation.

Aside from the fact that no examples were cited of such
"oftentimes"-enacted poorly conceived laws by popular vote
in the state, the court seemed to overlook the fact that all
measures referred by referendum petition will have had all
the alleged "advantage of open debate and analysis" when
enacted by the legislature.

As further indication that some of the judges may pos-
sibly have had their own individual intolerances for the
processes of direct legislation, on principle,59 the opinion
referred to the fact that some Arizona laws approved by
popular vote in the early years of statehood, when the popu-
lation was far less than in the 1950's, had received relatively
small numbers of votes.

In order, [said the court] to propose [by the initiative] an
amendment or repeal of an initiated or referred law at the
present time [prior to Adams v. Boliri], for the most part,
requires one and one-half times as many signatures as the
measure received when it was enacted or approved, a most

59. One of the judges who concurred in Adams v. Bolin had taken occasion frankly
to express his lack of confidence in the initiative process in a recent previous case, in
which he dissented. Said he: "I recognize that the Constitution reserves to the people
of the state the right to initiate and pass legislation . . . and it may be that, upon
the ground of public policy, it is entitled to be shielded by the same protective armor
of legal presumptions that surround an act of the legislature. Public policy, however,
is the only theory in my opinion upon which such presumption could possibly rest. I
say this for the reason that it is common knowledge that voters, for the most part,
have no knowledge whatever of the contents of initiative measures, therefore the lan-
guage used therein cannot be said to express their legislative intent. Under such
circumstances it is very doubtful in my mind if public policy should be allowed to
prevail in establishing a legislative intent in initiative measures when the facts all
contradict that presumption." Dennis v. Jordan, 71 Ariz. 430 ; 229 Pac. 2d 692, 707
(1951) in which the Court, 4 to 1, upheld the constitutionality of the Public Employees
Retirement Act of 1948 against a battery of attacks.

206 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

expensive and laborious undertaking; so much so, in fact, that
many of them die a-boming.60

Then, putting a sort of cap sheaf upon this moral line
of justification for its presumably judicially unavoidable
ruling, the opinion went on to say that,

To give the legislature the outright power to amend or repeal,
both subject to the referendum, can only result in good; not
'good' that we, as members of the court view it, but the oppor-
tunity for 'good' as envisioned and authorized by the Consti-
tution. And if the people think that any legislative repeal or
amendment of initiated law is not desirable, five per centum
of the qualified electors can force a referendum against it
and the people will again have an opportunity to express their
opinion thereon.

The court may have spoken more truly than it realized
when it referred to the "expensive and laborious undertak-
ing" involved in making use of the processes of direct law-
making. In fact, that use is so "laborious and expensive"
as to make it impractical for the same group of the common
"people" to utilize them over and over, in order to accom-
plish and maintain results, as against allegedly entrenched
power in the legislature, and in the face of demonstrated
financial disadvantage of "the people" in the conduct of
popular campaigns. Experience in this respect particularly
has shown that the sponsors of direct legislation forty years
ago had some reason to seek to put popularly enacted meas-
ures beyond the power of the legislature freely to annul
them.

It is submitted here that the matter ought not to be
allowed to rest as it was left by Adams v. Bolin. It should
be possible to work out a proper repair job by way of a
constitutional amendment. There has always been recognized
merit in the proposition that it is unwise, on principle, to
give ordinary statutory law a status of constitutional law,
whether by writing it into a constitution or by placing popu-
larly enacted measures beyond all reach of necessary legisla-
tive alteration. Yet legislative alteration of such measures

60. Italics supplied.

INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM 207

should not be so easy as to invite legislative sabotage of
hard-won ("laborious and expensive") popularly-approved
reforms. There may be no way to give effective voice in state
policymaking to minority groups with modest financial as-
sets comparable to the influence of other closely integrated
minority groups. But in a democracy the underlying as-
sumption is that an effort must be made to do just that.

It is suggested, substantially in accord with a proposal
introduced in the first regular session of the 21st legislature
in 1953,61 that the Arizona Constitution might well be
amended so as to permit legislative alteration of popularly
enacted statutory measures under presumably adequate re-
strictions. Perhaps all such enactments could well be given a
trial run of some minimum period of say six years, during
which they would be completely immune from all legislative
action directed toward their repeal or alteration. Then, after
expiration of this period, they might with some reason be-
come subject to legislative alteration by a vote of two-thirds
or three-fourths of the members of each house,62 subject,
however, to use of the referendum ; and in the event of popu-
lar rejection of such legislative alteration, then it might
seem reasonable to make the measure immune from further
legislative molestation for an extended period of years.

At the regular session in 1953, immediately following
the long controversy about the activation of the Public Em-
ployees Retirement Act of 1948 and Adams v. Bolin, the
legislature passed an act, "introduced by the Committee on
Suffrage and Elections," purporting to revamp the law
prescribing the operating details for direct legislation. In
an introductory section entitled "Declaration of purpose,"
it is set forth in part that

In recent years small pressure groups, taking advantage of
the substantial increase in the size of the electorate and the

61. House Concurrent Resolution, No. 4.

62. There is already some basis in the Constitution for suggesting either of these
extraordinary majority votes. Legislative enactments may be made immune from the
referendum by a two-thirds vote of the elected members of both houses. And such
"emergency" measures, if vetoed by the governor, may be passed over the veto only
by a vote of three-fourths of the members of each house. Art. IV, Part I, par. 3.

208 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

resultant great numbers of uninformed signers of initiative
and referendum petitions, have attempted, through fraudulent
and corrupt practices in connection with the circulation of
petitions, to appropriate this fundamental right of the people
to their own selfish purposes. These abuses have tended to
bring the initiative and referendum processes into disrepute.
It is the sense of this legislature that in order to prevent
the recurrence of such abuses . . . legislation should be en-
acted further implementing the provisions of the constitution
governing the exercise of this right.

Careful examination of the new law fails to reveal any-
thing which would appear to offer any additional safeguard
against alleged "fraudulent and corrupt practices" or
"abuses," though perhaps it may make the process of secur-
ing valid signatures somewhat more difficult. The new and
really significant feature introduced here is a provision for
a system by which well-financed groups, opposed to submis-
sion of any particular measures to a vote of the people, may
undertake to induce wholesale withdrawals of signatures
within 60 days, after petitions have been filed.

This plan provides for withdrawals by means of indi-
vidual affidavits to be executed by signers of previously filed
petitions. The process, being necessarily expensive and in-
convenient, could hardly conceivably be used, spontaneously
and individually, by any appreciable number of persons.
But, under the pressure of an organized, publicized, and
possibly prepaid movement, enough withdrawals may very
well be induced either (1) to invalidate the petitions or
(2) to provide a basis for expensive litigation in court. In
any event, only well financed interests could either (1) uti-
lize the device effectively to prevent submission of measures
whose submission they oppose, or (2) survive its use against
measures which they may wish to sponsor.63

63. Arizona Session Laws, 1953, Chapter 82 (House Bill No. 167). In the interest
of realistic evaluation and clarity of understanding, it should be made clear that this
legislative allegation of "fraudulent and corrupt practices" and "abuses" in the circu-
lation of direct legislation petitions appears to be a misleading one. That is not to say
that in the course of forty years there have never been any irregularities or impro-
prieties in these processes ; but any implication that they have been more prevalent in
this field than in other aspects of the state's political and governmental processes
seems unwarranted.

INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM 209

It appears that irreconcilable opponents of the processes
of direct legislation in the state may not be satisfied even
with the new situation which permits the legislature to alter
or repeal measures so enacted.64 There are persistent reports
that it is proposed again to sponsor an amendment to the
constitution providing that measures of direct legislation
shall become effective only if approved by a majority of the
voters voting at the election at which they are submitted.
That could make it virtually impossible ever to secure the
enactment of any such measure.65

64. Unsuccessful efforts were made at the regular session of the legislature in
1953 to get consideration of a proposal to bar legislative alteration or repeal of popu-
larly enacted measures. House Concurrent Resolution, Nos. 3 and 5.

65. See footnote 24 for a similar effort in 1916.

COOLIDGE AND THOREAU: FORGOTTEN
FRONTIER TOWNS.1

By IRVING TELLING*

MOST historical studies concern successful men or com-
munities, yet similar attention to failures can contrib-
ute to an understanding of some historical processes. The
Atlantic & Pacific Railroad, building across western New
Mexico and Arizona between 1880 and 1883, opened that
territory for settlement. Men and women who followed the
call of opportunity to this new area planted villages beside the
tracks: Grants, Mitchell (Thoreau), Coolidge, Gallup, Hoi-
brook, Winslow, and others. The sites known today as Cool-
idge and Thoreau in New Mexico receive attention here for
the insight they furnish into such problems as how towns ap-
peared in this wilderness, what factors might bring life or
death to these places, and how the settlers reacted to this
struggle for community survival.

The railroad region was young in the years after 1881.
Until later developments created an economic pattern of
settlement, no one could tell upon whom the gods might smile
or which village they would ignore. A sense of civic inse-
curity accordingly haunted those who dwelt in these new
centers since events beyond their control might prove vital
to their welfare. Construction of additional buildings or
stockpens and the presence of locomotive shops were symbols
and tangible evidence of the permanence of one's community
and business investments.

Boosterism may have helped to promote local interests,
it certainly served to reassure apprehensive citizens by
quieting their doubts. Newspapers entered into this game

1. The author is grateful for assistance in this study to Mr. F. B. Baldwin, of
Chicago ; Mr. Eugene Lambson, of Ramah ; Mr. Palmer Ketner, Mr. T. W. Cabeen, and
Mr. L. C. Bennett, of Albuquerque ; Mrs. Inez Montoya, Mr. Martin Lopez, and Mr.
Ernest Garcia, County Clerks of Bernalillo and McKinley Counties ; and the directors
of the Comparative Study of Values, Harvard Laboratory of Social Relations, who gave
financial aid from their Rockefeller Foundation grant.

* Upon graduation from the Harvard Graduate School, Mr. Telling joined the staff
of Harcourt Brace & Company.

210

FRONTIER TOWNS 211

with a will, using such terms as "wide awake," "thriving,"
and "lively" to describe each settlement. A news item of
1882, when Coolidge was a "mere village," exemplifies both
this uncertainty and advertising:

This town is very quiet . . . and its citizens have settled down
as if they meant to stay. No place on the Atlantic and Pacific
railroad affords a more pleasant resort these hot days . . .
than Coolidge. . . . Now is a good time for Albuquerqueans
to come and spend a few days with us.2

Rivalry between towns also derived from the uneasi-
ness of the early days. Extension of trade in one place might
mean a potential lost opportunity for another. The growth
of this center could well cause that one's eclipse. Indeed,
as matters turned out, Gallup became the metropolis of a
region which included Thoreau, thus limiting the latter's
possible development. Citizens of one hamlet wished their
"enterprising" neighbors "all the luck possible" but refused
to admit anything but their own superiority. When Holbrook
boasted of her school and court house in 1883, Gallup quickly
retorted :

Holbrook will have to show up something better than a
"teacher with a life diploma" or a third class court house
before she can compete with Gallup.3

When they began, Coolidge and Mitchell appeared to have
as good chances as Gallup or Holbrook to flourish, yet they
have left little but faint memories. Their unpredictable de-
cline and death brought home to others the fate that might
befall their rivals and revealed how thin was the line be-
tween prosperity and extinction.

When the Atlantic & Pacific construction crews reached
the location chosen for the first division point 136 miles west
of Albuquerque, they found themselves at Bacon Springs,
near the ranch of William Crane (better known as Uncle
Billy). The latter, a scout for Kit Carson on the Navaho

2. Albuquerque Morning Journal, August 19, 1882.

3. Ibid., December 25, 1883.

212 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

campaign of 1863, had remained behind as a rancher, sup-
plying Fort Wingate with hay and beef, cutting lumber for
the Zuni Indian agent, and operating a station on the Santa
Fe-Prescott stage line.4 Uncle Billy proved so helpful to the
railroaders that they presented him in 1886 with a lifetime
pass and the rest of section 7 in which he had earlier secured
a homestead.8

Although G. B. Anderson describes Bacon Springs as "a
live and progressive town even before the advent of the rail-
road," this is probably retrospective exaggeration.6 The post
trader at Fort Wingate long served as storekeeper for stock-
men, and Crane's stage station doubtless filled most other
needs. The railroad really made the place important. Track-
laying crews arrived in the middle of March 1881, pausing to
build temporary quarters and pile up materials for the next
stretch. A telegraph office and section house had already ap-
peared in April, when Lieutenant John G. Bourke rode out
from Albuquerque in a caboose "jammed with passengers
most of them smoking villainous pipes." At Cranes Station,

all tumbled out to get a cup of coffee and a sandwich in a
"saloon," doing business in a tent alongside the track. The
coffee was quite good and the sandwiches fresh; the shaggy
haired men behind the bar were courteous and polite . . . and
reasonable in the charges. . . .7

4. Albuquerque Daily Citizen, April 6, 1900 ; George B. Anderson, ed., History of
New Mexico Its Resources and People (2 vols., Los Angeles, 1907), II, 836; National
Archives, Records of United States Army Commands, Ft. Wingate, Letters Received,
William Crane to Gen. George P. Buell, June 24, 1880 ; Pueblo Agency MSS (Albuquer-
que), Benjamin Thomas to William Crane, October 23, 1880.

5. McKinley County Republican, December 15, 1904 ; Santa Fe Pacific Tract Book
(Albuquerque), West Ranges X to XV, 481; Department of the Interior, Land and
Survey Office (Santa Fe), Tract Book of Range 14 West.

6. Anderson, op. cit., II, 836, 839. The springs were on Crane's ranch, although a
settlement of that name was recorded one mile northwest in 1881. Apparently the
name designated some kind of settlement before the railroad's advent since details from
Fort Wingate sought AWOL's there in 1880. Department of the Interior, Bureau of
Land Management, Division of Engineering (Albuquerque), Field Notes of the Survey
of the Subdivisional Lines of Township 14 North, Range 15 West (June 4, 1881) and
of Township 14 North, Range 14 West (June 10, 1881) ; National Archives, Records of
United States Army Commands, Ft. Wingate, General and Special Orders, Orders
No. 122, December 26, 1880; Orders No. 127, December 81, 1880.

7. Annual Report of the Board of Directors of the Atlantic & Pacific Railroad
Company . . . for the Year Ending December SI, 1880 (Boston, 1881), 13-15; Lansing
B. Bloom, "Bourke on the Southwest," NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW, XI (1936),
78-79.

FRONTIER TOWNS 213

The station name became Coolidge in March 1882, honoring
T. Jefferson Coolidge, a director of the Atlantic & Pacific.8
The community was on its way.

Construction continued at the division point. By 1885 the
company owned a depot, water tank, roundhouse and turn-
table, coal chute, eating house (replacing the tent saloon),
some eight other buildings, and five cottages for personnel.
This property had a value of $35,831, nearly three quarters
of that of the buildings at Winslow, the next division point,
and over five times those at Gallup.9 The railroad gave the
little settlement a real sense of permanence, and as early as
December 1882 Coolidge began to "present the appearance of
a town, instead of a mere village."10

Attracted by these customers, businessmen soon moved
into town. J. D. Ellis, with his partner, Harmon, established
a livery stable and butcher shop in mid-1882 near Zeiger and
Marshall, proprietors of the "best fitted bar in Western New
Mexico."11 A Canadian, John B. Hall, joined Charles M.
Paxton, of Pennsylvania, to start a general store which so
prospered that they erected a larger adobe building in Au-
gust 1883. Charles L. Flynn soon opened a rival emporium.12
Charles Lummis found Coolidge in 1884 "the only town of
one hundred people . . . between Albuquerque and Wins-
low," and three years later the Albuquerque Morning Demo-
crat reported, "Coolidge is sharing the general prosperity of
the southwest, as evidenced by a row of buildings just com-
pleted and occupied by various business enterprises."13 One
of these may have housed "our tonsorial artist" who was pre-
pared to trim mustaches in March 1888.14 Two months later
Mrs. J. Leahey opened a dressmaking shop, while Mrs. Irene

8. Letter from F. B. Baldwin, Valuation Engineer System, The Atchison, Topeka
& Santa Fe Railway Company, to author, July 6, 1951.

9. Ibid. The Santa Fe Railway curio business is said to have begun when Herman
Schweitzer sold items like petrified wood at the Coolidge Harvey House in 1882. Inter-
view with T. W. Cabeen.

10. Albuquerque Morning Journal, December 2, 1882.

11. Ibid., December 15, 1882 ; October 22, 1882.

12. Anderson, op. cit., II, 839 ; Albuquerque Morning Journal, August 10, 1883.

13. Charles F. Lummis, A Tramp Across the Continent (New York, 1892), 205;
Albuquerque Morning Democrat, August 2, 1887.

14. Albuquerque Daily Citizen, March 14, 1888.

214 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

Lewis ran a rooming-house for some time before 1890.15
John J. Keegan's lunch stand did a "rushing business" at
least a year before 1890, when the settlement contained three
saloons, two stores, and several residences.16

While the merchants regarded railroaders as their steady
customers and found trade "a little dull" between pay days,
ranchers, lumbermen, and soldiers helped to liven business.17
Cattlemen used Coolidge as a shipping point, supply depot,
and place for relaxation. One stockman in 1886 even drove
his herd from distant St. Johns, Arizona, to ship it from
Coolidge.18 The citizens had a lively interest in range condi-
tions and eagerly repeated rumors that some ranchers might
build storage pens in the town.19 Roundups brought the
"jolly 'punchers' " to Coolidge in large numbers at least once
a year, and the " 'wild and desperate cowboys' with their
six shooters strapped about their waists" who loitered at the
station thrilled eastern dudes traveling through.20

Lumbering on the Zuiii Mountains south of Coolidge be-
gan with the tie contractors in 1881. Then James and Greg-
ory Page came from Ontario, Canada, to establish a mill and
lumber yard at Coolidge. Having skimmed the cream off this
market by the mid-80's, Gregory Page moved west to
Winslow, where he opened "one of the largest and best bil-
liard rooms, club rooms and saloons to be found along the
railroad."21 Henry Hart, recently of Liverpool, England,
with his partner, W. S. Bliss, in 1889 installed "extensive
machinery at their mills south of Coolidge." Bliss joined

16. Ibid., May 8, 1888 ; April 21, 1890.

16. Gallup Gleaner, May 22, 1889 ; Gallup Elk, March 1, 1890.

17. Albuquerque Morning Journal, August 19, 1882.

18. Ft. Wingate, Letters Received, Smith Carson Co. to Comdg. Off., May 8, 1886.
Holbrook was the customary shipping point for the St. Johns region ; see : "From Ash
Fork to Albuquerque," The Southwest Illustrated Magazine, II (Feb., 1896), 24;
Albuquerque Daily Citizen, October 11, 1897 ; John Dougherty, Atlantic & Pacific Rail-
road, Report, June 30th 1894 (typescript in Baker Library, Harvard Business
School), 16.

19. Albuquerque Morning Journal, December 8, 1882 ; August 10, 1883.

20. Gallup Elk, May 17, 1890; Albuquerque Morning Democrat, June 18, 1887.

21. Anderson, op. cit., II, 839, 842 ; Albuquerque Daily Citizen, January 30, 1890 ;
McKinley County Republican, August 1, 1908 ; Gallup Herald, July 24, 1920 ; Land
Office, Tract Book of Range 15 West, shows James Page filed five miles southwest of
Coolidge in 1883 but relinquished his claim June 20, 1885.

FRONTIER TOWNS 215

J. M. Dennis soon after in another lumbering enterprise on
the mountain.22 Until their disappearance in the mid-90's,
these two firms added to Coolidge's prosperity.

Soldiers from Fort Wingate spent their money in the
little town, but as usual the citizens had to pay a price for
this trade. In 1882 a corporal, having indulged too freely in
Coolidge wet goods, created "a disturbance, during which he
shot in the leg, a citizen named Wilson." For this a court
martial reduced him to private.23 Seven years later an irate
citizen complained that a drunken soldier had annoyed his
wife, to which Colonel E. A. Carr replied:

I would be glad if the authorities of Coolidge would cinch any
of my men who misconduct themselves ; but it is my experience
that the saloonkeepers are too glad to get the soldiers money,
to allow them to get into trouble when drunk on their liquor.24

The military not only caused trouble but furnished help
when others misbehaved. The community's first few years
were a time of violence as men drifted into the area, "some
of whom were really bad and others . . . thought they were
or ... wanted to be."25 In February 1882 the law-abiding
element engaged in a gun-fight with these desperadoes — the
result: three outlaws and one deputy sheriff killed, two
wounded citizens lying in the Wingate post hospital.26 Three
months later John B. Hall, justice of the peace at Coolidge,
sent a frantic telegram to the fort :

The civil law is unable to cope with the gamblers here — they
make night hidious [sic] last night and stole a wagon load of
beer from Railroad company — For [sic] troops at Holbrook —
there are about fifteen in all — can you help us?27

22. Gallup News-Register, June 14, 1889 ; Gallup Gleaner, December 24, 1889.

23. Ft. Wingate, General and Special Orders, Orders No. 145, September 11, 1882.

24. National Archives, Records of United States Army Commands, Ft. Wingate,
Letters Sent, CoL E. A. Carr to A. J. Brown, December 29, 1889.

25. "In the Early Days at Coolidge," Santa Fe Employes' Magazine, II (1908),
399.

26. National Archives, Records of the Adjutant General's Office, Ft. Wingate,
Record of Medical History of the Post, February 1876 to June 1889, 158.

27. Ft. Wingate, Letters Received, John B. Hall to Gen. L. P. Bradley, May 9,
1882.

216 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

On this or an earlier occasion, the Atlantic & Pacific threat-
ened to recall "the whole of the construction gang of several
hundred men" to level the town unless stolen barrels of beer
were returned.28

Despite such alarums and excursions, Coolidge enjoyed
many attributes of a more civilized life. One of these was
easier communication. As early as May 1881 the settlers had
their own post office, the job of postmaster passing around
among such merchants as John B. Hall, Charles Paxton, and
Charles Flynn.29 The trains also gave quick access to the
outside world, as did their accompanying telegraph line.
But the hazards of this improved transportation became
apparent as early as December 1881, when a smallpox epi-
demic, spreading quickly along the railroad, struck little
Coolidge and ravaged it for eight months.30 But Dr. E. M.
Burke was on hand to tend the sick — though he proved to
be the only physician to settle there.31

From the early days the citizens were interested in all
manner of diversions. In December 1882 "the renowned
John Kelly and estimable wife" presented "the first real
musical treat" in the town to a full house. Dancing proved
popular, and the "young people" rarely missed an oppor-
tunity to "heel and toe it, spin and whirl" at "social hops."
The Kelly's concert, indeed, was spoiled for some when Mrs.
Reilly "refused to perform on the organ for those who
wished to dance after the show was over."32 The disreputable
element present in those days caused some concern. Guests
at a dance given by "the people in high life in Coolidge" had
to show "proper credentials as to their moral standing"
(whatever these might be) . This procedure appeared "as it
should be, as such an example will doubtless cause a good
reform in Coolidge circles."33 While parties were of "fre-

28. "In the Early Days at Coolidge," loc eft., II, 400.

29. National Archives, Records of Post Office Department, Records of Appoint-
ment of Postmasters, XLVIII, 692 ; LVIII, 264, 320.

30. Ft. Wingate, Medical History. 154 ; Albuquerque Morning Journal, August 19,
1882.

31. Anderson, op. tit., II, 839 ; Albuquerque Morning Journal, November 8, 1882.
82. Albuquerque Morning Journal, December 15, 1882.

33. Albuquerque Daily Journal, December 24, 1882.

FRONTIER TOWNS 217

quent occurrence," many men indulged in more virile pleas-
ures. John Keegan assumed the responsibilities of president
of the Coolidge Gun Club in 1889, and the railroad crews
organized an "aggregation of sluggers ... to play ball"
that same year.34

The settlement was never large enough to justify legal
organization as a town, but almost from the start it formed
a part of Precinct No. 23 in Valencia County, regularly elect-
ing a justice of the peace and constable. Apparently the
voters did not always choose wisely, for Constable John D.
Ellis skipped town with the public funds less than two
months after the polling in November 1882.35 Officials on the
Rio Grande evidently cared little about the geography of this
distant region which actually lay in Bernalillo County. In
1886 the postal authorities changed their records. Two years
later Coolidge requested recognition as a Bernalillo County
precinct, *but nothing came of this although county bound-
aries remained unchanged until 1900.36

Coolidge showed every promise of a prosperous future
now that it was a well developed community, but its fate was
sealed in 1889, when a Santa Fe engine made a run four
times the usual hundred-odd miles.37 Gallup had long looked
with envious eyes at its neighbor's prosperity and hoped "for
the removal of division headquarters . . . from Coolidge
to this place" to diversify the coal town's economy.38 In Feb-
ruary 1890 the change occurred, and Coolidge fell victim to
technological progress.

"What was Coolidge's loss is Gallup's gain, and here we
are, only the old stone roundhouse and a few of the best of
us left . . .," lamented one who remained behind that May.
The town died in a blaze of glory one week later when all the

34. Gallup Gleaner, May 22, 1889 ; September 28, 1889.

35. Proceedings of Valencia County Commissioners, A-2, passim. Absence from the
county court house of the first volume, covering the years to 1889, makes it impossible
to know when the precinct was set up — probably in 1881.

36. Records of Postmasters, LVIII, 320 ; Albuquerque Daily Citizen, April 10,
1888 ; Charles F. Coan, "The County Boundaries of New Mexico," The Southwestern
Political Science Quarterly, III (1922-23), 260-69.

37. Gallup Gleaner, May 1, 1889.

88. Albuquerque Daily Citizen, January 10, 1888.

218 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

buildings but the depot and Harvey House burned down.39
The latter did not follow the freight division offices to Gallup
until October 1895, but most of the trainmen shifted in
1890.40 With them came the merchants, and Gallup now took
over as supply center for the ranchers.41 Discontinuance of
its night telegraph office in 1892 merely emphasized
Coolidge's diminishing importance.42 In April 1890 Uncle
Billy Crane had assumed the duties of postmaster, and by
1896 even the name of Coolidge disappeared when the Post
Office Department reverted to Cranes.43 By that time the
Atlantic & Pacific valued its buildings there at little more
than $11,000, but one fourth of Gallup's collection and one
tenth of Winslow's.44

The rest of the story is soon told. Uncle Billy Crane con-
tinued to live at his ranch, served as justice of the peace in
1903, and died in December 1904 at the age of eighty.45 The
railroad remembered the hero of Manila Bay in 1898 by re-
naming their station Dewey but changed to Guam two years
later. Two Indian traders opened a store there in 1899, re-
establishing the post office which passed through many hands
until it was discontinued in 1919.46 The trading store, under
changing ownership, not only dealt with the Navahos in the
vicinity but with the small ranchers and farmers on the
neighboring mountains. Finally it moved away in 1913, and
Guam presented "a rather deserted appearance . . . but a
memory of the once busy city which existed here during the
early eighties."47 In 1926 Berton I. Staples settled nearby to
build up a business in Navaho crafts and, good Republican
that he was, named the new post office Coolidge "in honor of

89. Gallup Elk, May 17, 1890 ; Albuquerque Daily Citizen, May 24, 1890.

40. Gallup Gleaner, October 26, 1895 ; Gallup Elk, March 1, 1890.

41. Interview with Palmer Ketner.

42. Gallup Gleaner, April 16, 1892.

43. Records of Postmasters, LVIII, 264 ; XC, 289.

44. F. B. Baldwin to author.

45. McKinley County Republican, January 17, 1903 ; December 15, 1904.

46. F. B. Baldwin to author ; Records of Postmasters, XC, 289, 291, 407 ; McKinley
County Republican, November 23, 1901.

47. McKinley County Republican, January 22, 1903 ; September 1912 Special Sup-
plement, 23-24 ; June 6, 1913.

FRONTIER TOWNS 219

the president." Gallup's editor, aware that the name was not
new in the area, confessed, "We do not know for whom the
first Coolidge was named."48 Sic transit gloria mundi.

Settlement at Thoreau resulted from the timber on the
Zuni Mountains — acres and acres of tall yellow pine. Several
small operators had long worked this resource to supply rail-
road ties, but the most spectacular of the lumbermen were
Austin W. and William W. Mitchell, brothers from Cadillac,
Michigan. They bought a small kingdom of 314,668 acres
from the Atlantic & Pacific in June 1890 at two dollars an
acre.49 When the brothers inspected their enterprise in June
1891, they found two dozen engineers running lines for rails
into the forest while others were laying out a townsite and
reservoir.50 The plant was to be "on a much more extensive
scale than any other in this part of the country, and with a
sufficient capacity to make lumber enough to supply the
whole southwest." That November contractors came from
Colorado to build the reservoir south of the new town of
Mitchell, which was already "a flag station a few miles west
of Chaves."51

The next year (1892) saw the company hit its stride. The
Mitchells concluded an agreement with the Santa Fe Rail-
road to ship twelve million feet of lumber annually in return
for "favorable rates over the entire . . . system" and the
purchase of "all their ties and lumber supply from the
Mitchell Bros, for their entire southwestern system of
road."52 By April melting snows were filling the reservoir
when a carload of machinery arrived.53 A cog-geared, nar-
row-gauge mountain engine appeared in May, and "as the
mill machinery is nearly all in place, business will begin

48. Gallup Herald, November 19, 1926 ; Records of Postmasters, XC, 357.

49. McKinley County Records, Book E, 219.

50. Gallup Elk, June 10, 1891 ; June 24, 1891.

51. Albuquerque Daily Citizen, October 5, 1891 ; November 5, 1891.

52. Gallup Gleaner, January 2, 1892.

53. Albuquerque Daily Citizen, April 13, 1892 ; April 26, 1892.

220 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

here in real earnest soon."54 By mid-summer the sawmill was
running with a capacity of thirty million feet a year, and
the planing mill was "in course of construction."55

This new community scarcely made a good start before it
died. The flag-station of November 1891 was a booming set-
tlement six months later. The camp then contained about 150
people whose needs brought optimistic merchants to the
scene. F. W. Heyn, "well know ex-Albuquerque furniture
man," opened a general merchandise business, "building a
commodious store room, on what is to be one of the most
prominent street corners in the new town." The first whole-
sale liquor dealer from Albuquerque "could only pass his best
sample bottle," in the absence of saloons, but a " 'dead line'
dive" was ready for customers just east of the camp, and
another was soon to compete on the west.56 By June a res-
taurant, the Mitchell House, and a "chop house on the short
order plan" were feeding the hungry, while "Mr. Heyn, the
merchant," prepared to erect his two-story structure. Even
"a young physician" had arrived in May. Two more busi-
ness places were going up in August as well as several
residences.57

The Atlantic & Pacific entered into the spirit, moving
their station in the spring of 1892 from Chaves, four miles
to the east. They were prepared to rob Coolidge of its "din-
ing station" also, "had the lumber business been a success." 58
Chaves, an early and none too savory whistlestop serving
cattlemen, had acquired a post office in 1886 which was ex-
pected to follow the depot "as soon as government permis-
sion shall have been obtained," but the lumber kings quit too
soon. Mitchell did not enjoy its own mail service until 1898.59
County authorities proved equally wary. Enthusiasm led "67
of the inhabitants of the new town of Mitchell" to petition
for a new precinct in July 1892, but the county commission-

54. Gallup Gleaner, May 28, 1892.

55. L. B. Prince, Report of the Governor of New Mexico to the Secretary of the
Interior. 1892 (Washington, 1892), 24.

56. Albuquerque Daily Citizen, April 26, 1892 ; May 12, 1892.

57. Ibid., May 24, 1892 ; June 21, 1892 ; August 10, 1892.

68. Ibid., May 12, 1892 ; Dougherty, op. eft., 13.

69. Ibid., May 12, 1892 : Records of Postmaster, LVIII, 320 ; XC, 291.

FRONTIER TOWNS 221

ers felt the move premature. Not until March 1899 could
fifty "residents of Mitchell and vicinity" thus organize
themselves.60

In mid-September 1892 the Mitchells abruptly closed the
works and returned to Michigan, leaving word that "they
expect to resume work . . . probably some time next
spring."61 Although two springs came and went, the saw-
mill remained silent. As an Atlantic & Pacific inspector re-
ported, "The Company did not operate beyond three months,
when they got disgusted and shut down."62 The land reverted
to the railroad in February 1893, and six years later the
once-promising region was "an ocean of 'departed great-
ness.' " The Daily Citizen explained that, having made a

total investment of several hundred thousand dollars, which
they soon found the home market would not support, and rail-
roads would not give rates to make shipments possible, they
retreated in good order and now all that is left is a shack or
two, and their lands, the timber of which there is yet no
demand for. . . ,63

The Southwest apparently could not absorb lumber on such
a scale, and the railroad's parlous financial condition (ap-
proaching bankruptcy) did not permit granting special
rates.

After the Mitchells, this area passed several years in
comparative quiet. The Hyde Exploring Expedition, organ-
ized by the wealthy, Harvard-trained Hyde brothers in 1896
to uncover the Pueblo Bonito ruins, contributed a new name,
replacing the memory of the lumbermen with that of a
Massachusetts philosopher — Thoreau. Until 1902 the Hydes'
large business in Indian products required three warehouses
and a store in Thoreau.64 In 1903 the American Lumber Com-

60. Bernalillo County Commissioners, Journal "B," 258 ; "C," 253.

61. Albuquerque Daily Citizen, September 23, 1892.

62. Dougherty, op. tit., 18.

63. Albuquerque Daily Citizen, December 23, 1899.

64. Records of Postmasters, XC, 291 ; Albuquerque Daily Citizen, December 23,
1899. On the Hyde Expedition see: Clark Wissler, "Pueblo Bonito as Made Known by
the Hyde Expedition," Natural History, XXII (1922), 343-54; Frances Gillmor and
Louisa W. Wetherill, Traders to the Navajos (Boston, 1934), 49; Joseph Schmedding,

222 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

pany, of Albuquerque, acquired the Mitchell holdings. This
new market persuaded A. B. McGaffey to move from Albu-
querque to take over the Hydes' old store. He, too, went into
lumbering, so Thoreau experienced a rebirth.65 Based on
trade with ranchers, lumberjacks, and Navahos, the little
community grew slowly during the first three decades of the
twentieth century.66 A hotel, movie theater, and soda foun-
tain, when added to the two garages, two filling stations, and
two general stores, gave the place a prosperous air.67 But
Gallup had been the recognized hub of the eastern Navaho
country since the end of the nineteenth century, thanks to
its position as a coal town, railroad headquarters (tempo-
rarily), wholesale center for the Indian trade, and county
seat (after 1901). Gallup proved able to survive the great
depression of the 'thirties, while Thoreau could not with
its essentially small shopkeeper economy.

West central New Mexico was a frontier land of oppor-
tunity opened up by the railroad — f or those who could best
guess the coming course of events. Professor Schlesinger
has pointed out that on earlier American frontiers "every
cluster of log huts dreamed of ... eminence."68 So, too,
along the Atlantic & Pacific tracks, settlers gambled on the
future greatness of their communities. Alas, not all these
high hopes were realized. The new villages seemed at first
to have equal chances for importance. Winslow was, like
Coolidge, a division point. Holbrook served as distribution
and shipping center for a more extensive region than did
Coolidge but lacked the latter's railroad facilities. Gallup

Cowboy and Indian Trader (Caldwell, Idaho, 1951). 111-12. 180-81; McKinley County
Republican, August 17, 1901.

The Sage of Waldon Pond, in his scorn for this world's glory, might have been
amused to learn that New Mexicans found his name an "unpronounceable foreign
appendage" and today call it "Therew." Albuquerque Daily Citizen, December 23, 1899.

65. McKinley County Republican, April 16, 1903 ; July 20, 1903 ; October 8, 1903.

66. Ibid., April 7, 1906 ; September 1912 Special Supplement ; Gallup Independent,
November 6, 1925.

67. See Note 3 and Gallup Independent, April 15, 1927; April 29, 1927; Gallup
Herald, June 27, 1929 ; interview with Eugene Lambson. McGaffey sold his store in
Thoreau about 1926.

68. Arthur M. Schlesinger, Paths to the Present (New York, 1949), 217.

FRONTIER TOWNS 223

provided commercial and entertainment services for the
nearby coal miners, just as Mitchell's merchants hoped to do
for the lumbermen. Each town catered to the needs of men
engaged in a particular activity upon which the citizens
therefore depended for their prosperity (later, Thoreau
performed a similar function but for too small a market to
assure an important growth) . But decisions by distant rail-
road executives or the state of lumber and coal markets
might spell prosperity or doom for these places — as the fates
of Coolidge and Mitchell showed all too clearly. This ominous
possibility beyond local control tinged all plans with inse-
curity and lay behind the vigorous boosterism and rivalries.
Only when a place like Gallup developed a more diversified
economic life and served a wider region of more varied
activities did the uncertainty begin to disappear.

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF PUBLISHED BIBLIOGRAPHIES

ON THE HISTORY OF THE ELEVEN WESTERN

STATES, 1941—1947:

A Partial Supplement to the
Writings on American History

Compiled by
WILLIAM S. WALLACE *

The American Historical Association's series of Writings
on American History do not cover the years 1941 through
1947. Therefore, it is hoped the present compilation will
serve to help fill in the hiatus insofar as bibliographies deal-
ing with the eleven western states are concerned. The com-
piler has, within technical limitations, followed the entry
form and abbreviations as used in the 1948 Writings [g. v.]
and included published bibliographies of value to researchers
in the history of Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Mon-
tana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and
Wyoming.

1 Abstracts of papers presented at meeting at Stanford University
[by members of] Cordilleran Section of the Geological Society [of
America] . Bulletin of the Geological Society of America, 58 : 1245-
1263 (Dec., 1947).

2 ADAMS, ELEANOR B. & SCHOLES, FRANCE V. Books in New Mexico,

1598-1680. NEW MEX. HIST. REV., 17: 226-270 (July, 1942). Notes.

3 ALLEN, CHARLES. Southwestern chronicle: bibliographies. Ariz,
quar., 2: 88-92 (Autumn, 1946). Discussion with short list.

4 ALLEN, EDWARD WEBER. Jean Franssois Galaup de Laperouse — a
check list. Calif. Hist. Soc. quar., 20: 47-64 (March, 1941).

5 ARESTAD, SVERRB. Bibliography on the Scandinavians of the Pacific
coast. Pac. Northw. quar., 36: 269-278 (July, 1945).

6 . Scandinavian-language newspapers. Pac. Northw. quar.,

34: 305-308 (July, 1943).

7 BAGINSKY, PAUL BEN. German works relating to America, 1493-
1800; a list compiled from the collections of the New York public

* Assistant Librarian and Archivist, New Mexico Highlands University.

224

BIBLIOGRAPHIES 225

library. New York: The Library, 1942, 217 p. Includes some items
not in N. Y. Public Library.

8 BARNES, HELEN v. List of bulletins of the agricultural experiment
stations for the calendar years 1941 and 1942. Wash. : U. S. Dept.
of Agr., (Sept.) 1944. (Bibliographical bulletin 7) Bibliographies
by States.

9 BEERS, HENRY PUTNEY. Bibliographies in American history: guide
to materials for research. Rev. ed. N. Y. : H. W. Wilson, 1942.
xv, 503p. 7806 fully indexed entries.

10 BESTERMAN, T. A world bibliography of bibliographies and of bib-
liographical catalogues, abstracts, digests, indexes, and the like.
2d ed rev. and greatly enlarged throughout. London: Author,
1947-49 3v. Some western U. S. citations.

11 Bibliography for nomads of the Southwest. Am. antiq., 8: 99-104
(July, 1942).

12 Bibliography of northwest materials. Northw. Ind., v2, no. 4 — v3,
no. 3: (Jan. — Dec., 1943).

13 BLOOM, LANSING B., ed. Comprehensive index to NEW MEXICO HIS-
TORICAL REVIEW, v. 1-15, 1926-1940. Albuquerque: Historical Soc.
of N. Mex. and Univ. of N. Mex. Press, 1941. xxvi, 98 p. See no. 28
below.

14 BRAYER, HERBERT o. Preliminary guide to indexed newspapers in
the United States, 1850-1900. Miss. Valley hist, rev., 33: 237-258
(Sept., 1946). Arranged by states and depositories.

15 BURNS, ROBERT IGNATIUS. Descriptive calendar of the [Pere] Joset
papers. Pac. Northw. quar., 38: 307-314 (Oct., 1947).

16 CALIFORNIA STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION. A partial list of organi-
zations in California interested in California history. 2d ed., with
reports of activities, 1935-1940. Los Angeles: Calif. State Hist.
Assn., 1942. 127p.

17 CAMPBELL, CHARLES D. Abstracts of papers delivered before the
geology-geography section, December 27-28, 1945. Northw. sci.,
20: 99-101 (Nov., 1946).

18 CAMPBELL, EMMA MELLON. Literature of the Southwest. Educa-
tional Forum, 11: 423-427 (May, 1947).

19 CAUGHEY, J. w. Mosaic of Western history; survey of articles in
western magazines. Miss. Valley hist, rev., 33: 595-606 (March,
1947).

20 CHILDS, JAMES B. Government document bibliography in the United
States and elsewhere. [Library of Congress div. of docs.] 3d ed.

226 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

Wash.: U. S. Govt. Ptg. Off., 1942. xviii, 78p. A bibliography of
bibliographies of federal, state, and foreign documents.

21 CLIFF, NELLIE. Literature of the Rocky Mountain region since 1935 ;
a bibliography. (In W&st, Roy B. Writing in the Rocky Mountains;
with a bibliography by Nellie Cliff. Lincoln, Nebr. : Univ. of Nebr.
Press, 1947. Pp. 77-96) Annotated.

22 DAWSON, GLEN. Calif orniana ; a priced catalogue of one thousand
books and pamphlets relating to the history of California. Los An-
geles: Dawson's book shop, 1943. Hip.

23 DEGOYLER, E. L. Compleat collector: New Mexicana. Sat. Rev. of
Lit., 25: 29-30 (May 16, 1942).

24 DOBIE, J. FRANK. Guide to life and literature of the Southwest,
with a few observations. Austin, Tex.: Univ. of Tex. Press, 1943.
Hip. Extensive comments and annotations.

25 DRURY, CLIFFORD M. Walker collection. Ore. hist, quar., 42 : 269-271
(Sept., 1941). Materials in library of Wash. State College on Rev.
and Mrs. Elkanah Walker.

26 EBERSTADT, EDWARD & SONS, booksellers, New York. The Northwest
coast; a century of personal narratives of discovery, conquest &
exploration from Bering's landfall to Wilkes' surveys, 1741-1841;
books, maps & manuscripts offered for sale. N. Y. : Edw. Eberstadt
& Sons, [1941] 127p. front., illus., plates, facsims. (Cat. no. 119)

27 EDWARDS, EVERETT E. & RASMUSSEN, WAYNE D. A bibliography on the
agriculture of the American Indian. Wash. : U. S. Govt. Print. Off.,
1942. 112p. (U. S. Dept. of Agr., Misc. pub. No. 447)

28 Epilogue: Lansing Bartlett Bloom. NEW MEX. HIST. REV., 21: 110-
117 (April, 1946). Bibliography of Bloom on pp. 114-117. See no.
13 above.

29 EVANS, CHARLES. American bibliography: a chronological diction-
ary of all books, pamphlets, and periodical publications printed in
the United States from the genesis of printing in 1639 down to
and including the year 1820. Reprint ed. N. Y.: Peter Smith, 1942.
12v.

30 EWING, RUSSELL c. Modern histories and historians of the Spanish
Southwest. Ariz, quar., 3: 329-334 (Spring, 1947).

31 FREWER, LOUIS B. Bibliography of historical writings published in
Great Britain and the empire, 1940-1945. Oxford : Basil Blackwell,
1947. xx, 34Gp. Carries entries on western U. S.

32 GARRISON, CURTIS WISWELL, ed. The United States, 1865-1900; a
survey of current literature, with abstracts of unpublished disser-

BIBLIOGRAPHIES 227

tations. vl-3, Sept., 1941 — Dec., 1944. Fremont, Ohio: Rutherford
B. Hayes — Lucy Webb Hayes foundation, 1943-45. 3v.

33 GOLDMAN, ERIC F. Bibliography of J. Allen Smith, Pac. Northw.
quar., 35: 213-14 (July, 1944).

34 Graduate theses in Canadian history, and related subjects. Canad.
hist, rev., 22, 24, 27: 295-301, 280-4, 289-93, 295-8 (Sept., 1941,
1943, 1944, 1946).

35 GRIFFIN, GRACE GARDNER, ed. Guide to manuscripts relating to
American history in British depositories reproduced for the divi-
sion of manuscripts of the Library of Congress. Wash.: U. S.
Govt. Print. Off., 1946. 313p.

36 GRISMER, RAYMOND L. A new bibliography of the literatures of
Spain and Spanish America, including many studies on anthro-
pology, archaeology, art, economics, education, geography, history,
law, music, philosophy and other subjects. Dubuque, Iowa : Wm. C.
Brown, 1941-46. v.1-7 (In progress). Covers "A"-"Cez."

37 HARGRETT, LESTER. A bibliography of the constitutions and laws of
the American Indian. Introduction by John R. Swanton. Cam-
bridge, Mass. : Harvard Univ. Press, 1947. xxi, 124p. plates.

38 HASKELL, DANIEL C. The United States exploring expedition, 1838-
1842 and its publications, 1844-1874; a bibliography by Daniel C.
Haskell, with an introductory note by Harry Miller Lydenberg.
N. Y. : N. Y. Public Library, 1942. 188p. Also appeared serially in
the N. Y. Pub. Lib. Bull., v44-46.

39 HERRING, JOHN p. & BLACKBURN, ALICE K. Bibliography on coopera-
tives of the Pacific Northwest. Pac. Northw. Ind., 5: 114-116
(April, 1946) .

40 HUSSEY, ROLAND DENNIS. Pacific history in recent Spanish-Ameri-
can historical reviews. Pac. hist, rev., 13: 50-65 (March, 1944).

41 Index of northwest materials. Prepared by the Pacific Northwest
Research and Traffic Bureau, Univ. of Wash., Seattle, 1940-

v2, nos. 1-9 (Jan.-Sept., 1941) as separates; with no. 10 (Oct.,
1941) as part of Northw. Ind. Since Sept., 1944 title: Pacific North-
west Industry.

42 INLAND EMPIRE COUNCIL OF TEACHERS OF ENGLISH. Northwest

books: report of the committee on books of the Inland Empire
Council of Teachers of English, 1942 Portland, Ore.: Bin-
fords & Mort, 1942. 356p. Includes fiction and nonfiction by authors
of Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington.

228 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

43 JACOBS, MELVILLE. Partial bibliography of published contributions
in Pacific Northwest anthropology, 1930-1940. Pac. Northw. quar.,
32: 98-106 (Jan., 1941).

44 JONES, RUTH & ADIX, MARJORIE c. A current regional bibliography.
Utah Humanities rev., 1: 401-403 (Oct., 1947). See no. 47, below.

45 KAHN, HERMAN. Records in the National Archives relating to the
range cattle industry, 1865-1895. Agric. hist., 20: 187-190 (July,
1946).

46 KERR, w. Source materials on Pacific coast marine history. Special
Libraries, 36: 365-366 (Oct., 1945).

47 KIRKPATRICK, L. H. & JONES, RUTH. A Current regional bibliogra-
phy. Utah Humanities rev., 1: 97-103, 178-84, 295-7 (Jan., Apr.,
July, 1947) . See no. 44, above.

48 KNIGHT, MARY E. & GATES, CHARLES M. Teaching materials in Wash-
ington history, government and resources. Pac. Northw. quar., 34 :
87-97 (Jan., 1943).

49 [Koontz, Louis Knott & Staff] Guide to articles and documents in
the Pacific Historical Review, 1932-1943. Pac. hist, rev., 13: 174-
191 (June, 1944).

50 LEE, GUY E. The general records of the United States Department
of Agriculture in the National Archives. Agric. hist., 19: 242-249
(Oct., 1945).

51 LELAND, WALDO GIFFORD. Guide to materials for American history
in the libraries and archives of Paris. v2, Archives of the ministry
of foreign affairs. Wash.: Carnegie Inst., 1943. 1078p. (Carnegie
Inst. of Wash., pub. 392)

52 List of doctoral dissertations in history now in progress at uni-
versities in the United States and the Dominion of Canada. With
an appendix of other research projects in history now in progress
in the United States and Canada. December, 1940. 54p. Amer. hist,
rev., 46 (supp. to no 3) : (April, 1941).

53 LOGASA, HANNAH. Regional United States: a subject list. Boston:
Faxon, 1942. 86p. (Useful ref. ser., no 69) Includes folklore,
municipal histories, geography, etc.,

54 MCMURTRIE, DOUGLAS C. A record of Washington imprints, 1853-
1876. Pac. Northw. quar., 34: 27-38 (Jan., 1943).

55 . Locating the printed source materials for United States

history, with a bibliography of lists of regional imprints. Miss.
Valley hist, rev., 31: 369-406 (Dec., 1944).

BIBLIOGRAPHIES 229

56 MASTERSON, JAMES R. The records of the Washington Superintend-
ency of Indian Affairs, 1853-1874. Pac. Northw. quar., 37: 31-57
(Jan., 1946).

57 MATHEWS, WILLIAM & PEARCE, ROY H. American diaries: an anno-
tated bibliography of American diaries written prior to the year
1861. Berkeley, Calif.: Univ. of Calif. Press, 1945. xiv, 383p. (Pub-
lications in English, v!6).

58 MOOD, FULMER. The concept of the frontier, 1871-1898: comments
on a select list of source documents. Agric. hist., 19 : 24-30 (Jan.,
1945).

59 . Some maps showing the distribution of population on

the Pacific coast in 1850 and 1860. Pac. hist, rev., 15: 216-217
(June, 1946).

60 MURDOCK, GEORGE PETER. Ethnographic bibliography of North
America. New Haven, Conn.: Yale Univ. Press, 1941. xvi, 168p.

61 MURPHEY, LESLIE v. Bibliography of Edgar L. Hewett, 1893-1944.
Santa Fe: 1944. 9p.

62 NASATIR, ABRAHAM PHiNEAs. French activities in California; an
archival calendar guide. Stanford Univ., Calif.: Stanford Univ.
Press, 1945. 559p. facsims.

63 NEVINS, ALLAN. A select bibliography of the history of the United
States. Exeter, Eng.: Historical Assn., Robough Library, Univ.
College, 1942. 47p. (Historical assn. pamphlet no 121).

64 NIERMAN, FLORENCE. Federal government documents as source ma-
terials for northwest history. Pac. Northw. quar., 34: 197-203
(April, 1943).

65 O'CONNOR, THOMAS F. Catholic archives in the United States. Cath.
hist, rev., 31: 414-430 (Jan., 1946).

66 ODGERS, CHARLOTTE H. Federal government maps relating to Pacific
Northwest history. Pac. Northw. quar., 38: 261-272 (July, 1947).

67 Oregon historical quarterly index: volumes I to XL, 1900-1939.
Portland, Ore.: Oregon Historical Soc., 1941. [ii] 834p.

68 ORR, HARRIET K. Bibliography for the history of Wyoming. Lara-
mie, Wyo. : Univ. of Wyo., 1946. (Univ. of Wyo. publications in
science, v!2, no 1) .

69 PACIFIC NORTHWEST INDUSTRY. Most issues carry a bibliography of
publications in business, economics, and related fields pertaining
to the Pacific Northwest. See also No. 41, above.

230 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

70 PETERSON, CLARENCE STEWART. Bibliography of county histories of
the 3111 counties in the 48 states. Baltimore, Md.: Author, 1946.
A second revision of the 1935 ed. (1st rev. 1944).

71 PINKETT, HAROLD T. Records of research units of the United States
Forest Service in the National Archives. Jour, of Forestry, 45:
272-275 (April, 1947).

72 POLLARD, LANCASTER. A checklist of Washington authors : additions
and corrections. Pac. Northw. quar., 35: 233-266 (July, 1944).

73 . A Pacific Northwest bibliography, 1943 [-1947] Pac.

Northw. quar., 34-39: 183-96, 157-64, 133-42, 143-54, 157-69, 152-66
(April, 1943-1945; Jan., 1947; April, 1948).

74 POWELL, LAWRENCE CLARK. Resources of western libraries for re-
search in history. Pac. hist, rev., 11: 263-280 (Sept., 1942).

75 POWERS, ALFRED. Chronicle of western books published in 1941. Ore.
hist, quar., 43: 62-81 (March, 1942).

76 RADER, JESSE L. South of forty ; from the Mississippi to the Rio
Grande; a bibliography. Norman, Okla.: Univ. of Okla. Press,
1947. 336p.

77 ROCKWOOD, ELEANOR RUTH. Oregon document checklist. Ore. hist,
quar., 45-47: 147-67, 253-79, 356-75, 44-69, 156-69, 255-73, 353-82,
34-60, 217-38, 358-86, 465-517 (June-Dec., 1944; March-Dec., 1945;
March-Dec., 1946).

78 SAUNDERS, LYLE. A guide to materials bearing on cultural relations
in New Mexico. Albuquerque: Univ. of N. Mex. Press, 1944, 528p.
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79 . A guide to the literature of the Southwest [l]-23. N.

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373-82, 505-14, 115-22, 244-51, 373-81, 510-20, 99-108, 251-9, 397-404,
535-42, 240-6, 399-408, 523-7, 118-25, 273-79, 388-95, 525-32 (Aug.-
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stallments 5-6 were jointly compiled with Crevenna, Theo.

80 . Spanish-speaking Americans and Mexican-Americans in

the United States. N. Y. : Bureau of Intercultural Educ., 1944. 12p.

81 SMITH, L. w. Writings on archives and manuscripts, July 19467
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82 S[MITH], M[ARIAN] w. WITH SPENCER, DANIEL. Bibliography of the
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83 STECK, FRANCIS BORGIA. A tentative guide to historical materials on
the Spanish borderlands. Phila.: Catholic hist, soc., 1943. 106p.
(Part VI: New Mex. and Ariz., 1581-1866)

84 TODD, RONALD. Theses related to the Pacific Northwest, University
of Washington checklist. Pac. Northw. quar., 35: 55-64 (Jan.,
1944) .

85 TREVER, K. L. & CHRISTOPHER, M. j. Writings on archives and manu-
scripts, July 1942/ June 1943 [-July 1945/June 1946]. Am. ar-
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1944; Oct. 1945; Oct., 1946).

86 , & LETHBRIDGE, MARY c. Writings on archives and manu-
scripts, July 1946 — June 1947. Am. archivist, 10: 349-368 (Oct.,
1947).

87 ULRICH, CAROLYN F. & PATTERSON, EUGENIA. Little magazines. N. Y.
Pub. Lib., Bui., 51: 3-25 (Jan., 1947).

88 UNITED STATES. Bureau of Agricultural Economics. Library. Delta
county, Colorado; a selected list of references. Comp. by Howard
B. Turner, Wash.: April, 1941. lip. mim. (Econ. hist, list no 21)

89 . . . Imperial county, California; a se-
lected list of references. Comp. by Howard B. Turner. Wash.:
June, 1941. 77p. mim. (Econ. library list no 27)

90 . Department of Agriculture. Library. Bibliography of

agriculture. v4-10: (Jan., 1941 — Dec., 1947). A monthly.

91 . Department of the Interior. A bibliography of national

parks and monuments west of the Mississippi river. v2. Comp. by
the Western museum laboratories of the National Park Service in
cooperation with the W.P.A. and C.C.C. 1941. Processed.

92 . Library of Congress. Centennial of the settlement of

Utah exhibition, June 7, 1947 — August 31, 1947; an address by
Arthur V. Watkins, Senator from Utah on the occasion of the
ceremonies opening the exhibition commemorating the settlement
of Utah at the Library of Congress, together with a catalog of the
exhibition. Wash.: U. S. Govt. Print. Off., 1947. pp.13-58. Anno-
tated.

93 . . Division of Documents. Monthly checklist of

state publications, 32-38: (Jan., 1941 — Dec., 1947). Listed by
states.

94 . Works Projects Administration. Bibliography of re-
search projects reports; check list of historical records survey pub-
lications, prepared by Sargent B. Child and Dorothy P. Holmes.

232 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

. . . Wash.: W. P. A. Div. of service projects, 1943. HOp. (W.
P. A. Tech. ser. Research and records bibliography no 7, rev.
April 1943) An indispensable guide to the many federal, state,
county, municipal, church and other archival depositories.

95 . . . . . . Wash.: Federal Works

Agency, W. P. A., Div. of professional and service projects,
1941-43. No 3-5. (W. P. A. Tech. ser. Research and records bibli-
ography no 5, 6, 8)

96 . Supt. of Documents. Pacific states: California, Oregon,

Washington; list of publications relating to above subjects for
sale by superintendent of documents. Wash.: U. S. Govt. Print.
Off., 1943-1945. 3v. (Price list no. 69, 26th-28th eds.)

97 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. Berkeley. Library. A union list of se-
lected directories in the San Francisco bay region. Berkeley and
Los Angeles: Univ. of Calif. Press, 1942. iv, 26p. (Univ. of Calif.
lib. bul. no 19)

98 UTAH HUMANITIES RESEARCH FOUNDATION. Bibliography of the
archives of the foundation, 1944-1947. Salt Lake City: The Foun-
dation, 1947. 41p. (Utah univ. bul. v38, no. 9)

99 VAN MALE, JOHN. Resources of Pacific Northwest libraries, a sur-
vey of facilities for study and research. Seattle: Pacif. Northw.
Library Assn., 1943. xv, 404p.

100 VIRGIN, ROBERT G. Audio-visual aids for Pacific Northwest history.
Pac. Northw. quar., 37: 59-67 (Jan., 1946). Films.

101 WASHINGTON (state). Library. Washingtoniana, a selected list of
books about the state of Washington. [Olympia, Wash.: 1941] 6p.
mim.

102 WASHINGTON (state). University. Bureau of governmental re-
search. Publications of the State of Washington, [rev. ed.]
Seattle: The Bureau, 1941. 31p.

103 WEGELIN, OSCAR. Six early western imprints. N. Y. Hist. Soc. quar.
bul., 25: 73-76 (April, 1941).

104 WHEAT, CARL IRVING. The maps of the California gold region, 1848-
1857; a bibliocartography of an important decade. San Francisco:
Grabhorn, 1942. 152p.

105 WHEELWRIGHT, LORIN F. ed. Art division source book. Salt Lake
City: Utah Centennial Comm., 1947. 224p. mim. Materials on
music, drama, art, etc., for Utah centennial, 1847-1947.

BIBLIOGRAPHIES 233

106 WILCOX, JEROME REAR. Official war publications, a guide to state,
federal and Canadian publications. Berkeley, Calif.: Bur. of Pub.
Admin., Univ. of Calif., 1941-1945. 9v.

107 WINCHELL, CONSTANCE M. Reference books of 1941-1943. Chicago:
Am. Lib. Assn., 1944. 115p. A third supp. to I. G. Mudge, Guide to
reference books. 6th ed.

108 . Reference books of 1944-1946. Chicago : Am. Lib. Assn.,

1947. 94p. A fourth supp. to I. G. Mudge, Guide to reference books.
6th ed.

109 WINTHER, OSCAR OSBURN. The trans-Mississippi West; a guide to
its periodical literature (1811-1938). Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana
Univ. Press, 1942. xv, 278p. (Publications, Social sci. ser. no 3)
Professional and semiprofessional periodicals; 3,501 entries;
indexed.

110 WINTON, HARRY N. M. A Pacific Northwest bibliography, 1940
[-1941] Pac. Northw. quar., 32-33; 203-14, 187-203 (April, 1941;
April, 1942).

111 WRIGHT, JOHN KIRTLAND & PLATT, ELIZABETH T. Aids to geographi-
cal research: bibliographies, periodicals, atlases, gazeteers, and
other reference books. 2d ed. N. Y.: Columbia Univ. Press, 1947.
xii, 331p. (Am. Geog. Soc., research ser. no 22) Some entries
involving western states and regions.

112 WROTH, LAWRENCE c. Maps of the Pacific battleground. New York
Herald Tribune Book Rev., April 18, May 2, 1943. Maps of Pacific
ocean, 1477-1798. Lists and discussion.

113 YOUNG, VERNON A. Paso por aqui : recent interpretations of the
Southwest. Ariz, quar., 3: 164-177 (Summer, 1947). Designates
"interpretative books of the southwest as belonging in a distinct
category."

114 . Southwestern chronicle. II. Paso por aqui : recent inter-
pretations of the Southwest. Ariz, quar., 3: 269-275 (Autumn,
1947). Continuation of no. 113, above.

115 ZAMORANO CLUB, LOS ANGELES. Zamorano 80; a selection of dis-
tinguished California books made by members of the club. Los
Angeles : 1945. 66p. Ltd. ed.

Las Vegas Daily Gazette — Dec. Wed. 29, 1880

— The Historical Society of New Mexico, was reorganized in
Santa Fe, Monday afternoon, Gen. H. M. Atkinson, president.

The constitution of the old society, organized just twenty-one years
ago was read by the Secretary and submitted to the meeting for
adoption as the constitution of the society in the future. After a few
slight alterations it was adopted and signed by H. M. Atkinson,
Louis Felsenthal, David J. Miller, Samuel Ellison, W. G. Ritch, Sol
Spiegelberg, L. Bradford Prince, H. O. Ladd and C. Woodruff.

The society re-organized under very good circumstances and its
work may prove of great service to the Territory.

[Item submitted for publication by William S. Wallace, Librarian,
Highlands University, Las Vegas, N. M.]

THE CHARLES BENT PAPERS

Charles Bent was a native of Virginia, a graduate of the
United States Military Academy at West Point, and a pio-
neer merchant of New Mexico. He resigned from the army
and entered business in St. Louis. In 1832, he and his brother
William established the famous Fort Bent in the Arkansas
valley of present-day Colorado. Charles formed a partner-
ship with Colonel Ceran St. Vrain, operating in Santa Fe
and Taos. After the American occupation of New Mexico,
Charles was appointed civil governor of the territory. In
a native uprising at Taos on January 19, 1847, he lost his life.

The correspondence below is part of the Benjamin M.
Read collection, housed in the library of the Historical So-
ciety of New Mexico, Santa Fe. A microfilm copy is in the
library of the University of New Mexico. The papers have
been used often by scholars, and are printed here primarily
for the general reader. Since there are many obscure allu-
sions to persons and events, explanatory notes have been
added to heighten the reader's interest, although I could
not identify all of them. Those who use the papers critically
are responsible for their own annotations. The letters have

234

NOTES AND DOCUMENTS 235

been transcribed literally. At times they are hard to read
and some errors may have crept into the printing.

In the annotations, the title Old Santa Fe refers to a book
by R. E. Twitchell and also to a magazine. I think that the
distinction will be clear to the reader. — F. D. R.

Taos, Dcember 10th 1837
Mr Alvaras
Sir

It is the request of the Foreigners residing heare, that you will
present the accompaning pettition to the Govenor1 and impress upon
him the nessaty of having William Langford tried for the murder [of]
Lemon Nash imeadiately, his crime is one of the most auteragious
actes, and one that could not have bean comitted by any other than a
hardened villian destitute of all f calling of humanity; he thus far has
not the least remorse of concience for the violent auterage he has
comitted. We believe he is a man caipable (if permited to escape) of
again comitting murder mearly to satisfy his inordinant thirst for
blood; he has long since thretened the lives of several persons heare,
and has[,] since bean in confinement [,] reapeted theas threates: he [is]
a man destitute of all principal and morial honesty and capible of
comitting the most flagrant actes of violence and auterage without
provication.

You will confer a favor on uss by attending to oure pettition and
requesting the Govenor to give uss a promt and dessisive answer.

Youres
C Bent

over

P. S. If consistent with the functions of the Govenor we would
soliset the appointement of an spesia[l] court for the trial of William
Langford. CB

Taos November llth 1839
Mr M Alvaras

Sir

I wish you to make enquire of the Govenor wether mules & Horses
stollen from uss by Indians, and afterwardes purchased by citizens of
this country, (or others), wether we can claim and take such animels
whare we find them by the lawes of this country. My object is to
assertaine positively, as some animels that ware stollen last sumer
from aur forte, have bean brought in heare, and I am told that the

1. Manuel Armijo became governor of New Mexico after suppressing the uprising
of 1837 that resulted in the death of Governor Perez.

236 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

perfecto2 says they canot be reclamed, he did not tell me so I have
not scan him. It will be better for you to adress a fue lines to the
Govenor on this subject so as to have his desision in wrighting, which
if you get you will pleas send up to me by first appertunity

Youre Obt. Servant
Chas Bent

Recibido por Desiderio Garcia (Soldado con la alta) el 4 de Dici-
embre 1839.3.

[This letter in Spanish is written on the inside page of the letter
of November 11, 1839]

Santa fe 4 de Decembre de 1839
Senor,

Por encargo que he recibido hoy del propritario del fuerte de
comercio al otro lado sobre el rio Arkansas, Dn Carlos Bent, vengo a
suplicar a U. S. le sirva informar al Exmo Sr. Governador que Ex-
presado Bent desea que S. E. se lo jusgare consistente, tenga la bondad
de indicarle la ley, y sino la hubiere de determinar si Midas y Caballos
robados por indios Nomades y despues comprados de ellos por C. de
este pais a otros se puedan reclamar donde hay an oportunidad. El
obgeto que asigna el Sr. Bent para hacer esta investigacion es que en
el verano ultimo pasado le fueron robados animales de su fuerte de
los cuales algunos han sido introducidos a este departamento, por cuyo
motive desea tener conocimiento positive de su derecho para su govierno
en este particular.

Suplico a U. S. tenga la bondad de participarme cuanto antes lo
que S. E. determine para que yo puede hacerlo en primara occasion al
Sr. Bent.

Soy respetivsamento Su Obediente
Servidor

Al Sr. D. Guadalupe Miranda Secret0, de Govierno del Departamento
del N. Mejico.

2. Perfect: should be spelled Prefect. As of 1840 Juan Andres Archuleta was Pre-
fect of the First District, succeeding Ramon Abreu who had been murdered in the
uprising of 1837. The office of sub-Prefect, held by Ignacio Martin of Taos, was abol-
ished December 21, 1840, due to lack of funds. Bent probably refers to Martin. See
L. B. Bloom in Old Santa Fe, 2:136 note, and passim. Herbert O. Brayer, William
Blackmore, Entrepreuneur, 1:208. (Denver: Bradford-Robinson Printing Co. 1949).

3. For a translation of the endorsement in Spanish, I am indebted to Professor
Robert M. Duncan, Department of Modern and Classical Languages, University of New
Mexico. It reads as follows: Received by Desiderio Garcia (Enlisted soldier) the 4th of
December, 1839.

NOTES AND DOCUMENTS 237

Taos November 15 1840
Mr M Alvarass

Sir

Youres of the forth came duly to hand I should have answered it
sooner, but I expected to have bean able to visit Santafe myself bussi-
ness requires my attention heare for the presant.

In answer to youre request respecting the animels taken by the
Shawnies, from some theives, all I can say is this. Last spring I had
an order from Don Juan Andress Archulet to take Juan Nicolas
Messtes, Jose Deloris Sandobal (alias el Rano)4 and an other person,
who had stollen some animels from the neighborhood of Albique,5
the order was to take them, but if they made resestance to kill them,
this order I received by Bonaventure Lovato6 of a fue days before I
left this place, for the United States. I had written at the request of
the Perfecto to the fort some time previous to have these thieves taken,
but had given no orders to have them killed, as I had received none
such at the time. When this order of mine reached aure fort on the
Platt, the most of our people had left thare with aure peltries for the
Arkansas, in consiquence of which we ware verry short of men at that
time, the person in charge of the fort at the time the order was re-
ceived thare felt himself authorised from my order, to tell the Shawnies
and other free men that ware in the vesinity of the fort, to follow and
take the theives, they done so, Juan Nicolas Messtes so soone as he
was discovered, and no other alternitive left him of escape he dis-
mounted from his animal and presented his Gun whareupon one of
the Shawnies shot him; the other two, Jose Deloris and the other
surendered and ware brought back to the fort from wense they made
thare escape a fue dayes after. The animels ware demanded of the
captors by our agent, but they objected to give them up they contended
that they should have them for thare Trouble and risque. One or
two of the animels ware payed to uss for debts due by the Shawnies,
which ware delivered to the oner a fue dayes after we had received
them, this oner, Martean followed on a fue dayes after I left this place
and overtook me at the fort on the Arkansas. I gave him a letter to
our agent on the platt [river] which he reached a fue dayes after
the returne of the Shawnies and had he at the time offered to pay the
Shawnies a trifle they would no doubt have delivered him all the
anamels in thare possesion, but no sir he wished uss to act for him as

4. I have no information on Juan Nicolas Mestas or Jose Dalores Sandoval. The
word Rano may be Kano for cano, meaning grey beard.

5. Abiquiii : A mid-18th century settlement in the Chama valley about twenty-five
miles northwest of Espanola along present-day Highway 285.

6. Buenaventura Lobato participated in killing of Governor Bent in 1847.
Twitchell, Old Santa Fe, p. 288. Captain Ventura Lobato was defeated in a skirmish
with the Texan force under command of Colonel Snively on June 19, 1843. Twitchell,
Leading Facts of New Mexican History, 2:85; L. B. Bloom in Old Santa Fe, 2:155.

238 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

an alcadi would have done heare proove his brand take his animels,
this we could not doe we alwayes have large quantities of animels at
our fortes, which the Shawnies would have stollen had we of used
force to compell them to delliver the animels, we done all we could
to have the animels delivered to the oner, and had he of had a little
Liberality about him, he could have got them. I told him heare in the
presence of Juan Andres Archulet that he should take a barrel or two
of whisky and follow the thieves to the Aripihoe village, and by making
the prinsipal men a present of it he mite get back his animals or a part
of them, but no this was too much expense whare upon I offered to give
him one barrel and the Perfect an other and at the same time advised
him to get two more, he said he had no mules to pack it aut on, the
amount of it was this he was too damd stingy to incur any expence
to get back his animals, he wanted the Government to doe it, the
Perfect answered him shortely and verry apropriately I think on this
subject, at the time.

With respect to the beaver you have for sale I should like to pur-
chase it. I have requested Mr. Bobean7 to se it and let me know the
quality, If you want the money imeadiately I have it not at presant
but I may posibly have it shortely. I should like to let you have goodes
for the whole or a part of the amount, or I will give a Draft on the
United States provided it will sute. I know of no person going to
Missouri this winter altho thare may posibly be some person going.
We shall I think start an express in verry early in the Spring of
which I will give you notice, If it will sute you,

Youres Respectfully
Chas Bent

Taos December 1st 1840
Mr M Alvaras

Sir

I had intended to have written you some dayes passed respecting,
the murdr of an american citizen some time passed neare the de Mara,8
from the best infermation I have bean able to get, thare is no doubt
in my minde but that he was murdered, we are all equally interested
in having theas murderers punished this is the fourth merder that

7. Charles Beaubien : a resident of Taos and a well known person in the history
of New Mexico. For a first-hand picture see Albert Deane Richardson, Beyond the
Mississippi, 1856-1867, p. 270. (Hartford: American Publishing Co., 1867). Also, L. H.
Garrard, Wah-To-Yah and the Taos Trail, p. 176 passim. (Oklahoma City: Harlow
Publishing Co., 1927. Reprint), edited by Walter S. Campbell (Stanley Vestal). A
sketch and bibliography in James Josiah Webb, Adventures in the Santa Fe Trade,
1844-1847, edited by Ralph P. Bieber, p. 67 note (VoL I, Southwest Historical Series.
Glendale, Calif.: The Arthur H. Clark Co., 1981).

8. Probably a reference to Mora creek in the Mora valley to the northward of
present-day Las Vegas, New Mexico. See note 105.

NOTES AND DOCUMENTS 239

has bean comitted on American citizens within the last fue yeares,
and as yet neather of the murderers have bean punished. Theas
people think that it is too much to put to death two or more men for
the murder of one heritic, I say if thare be twenty conserned in the
murder of one of uss let uss insist upon the whole being punished,
and with nothing short of death. It is the duty of the authorities to
have the murderers punished with death, and all expences should be
defrayed by this government. And should the diseased have any prop-
erty it is your bussiness to take possesion of the same and convert
into Cash, and should you be able to finde any relitives of his to pay
the same over to them, nothing of his should be taken to defray the
expences of bringing the murderers to punishment. Altho I doubt
much wether you will be able to preserve any thing of his property,
theas people have such an infernal dispositian to appropriate an others
property to thare one [own] use. But it is youre duty to make a full
statement of the whole case and proceadings to our minister9 in mex-
ico, and if you doe not suceade in geting Justice done he will be able
posibly through the the heades of the governments, to compell the au-
thorities heare to doe justice, and if he fales in this I presume he will
represent the case to our government, our minister in mexico is a
man that will not be trifled with, he is not easily put of [f] the track
by promises he is verry promt and dessesive when he takes a stand
and I have no doubt but that he will sustaine you in anything you
doe in behalf of American citezens in this province, he is not a fellow
that can be scared from doing his duty as aure late minister Butler10
was he is well acquainted with the caracter of the mexicans. One of
the murderers (Armeho)11 I think I know, if it is the same he is a
grate scoundrel we had to have him whiped at the fort about a yeare
since, push every point to have theas murderers punished and any
assistence I can give, you may frealy comand

Youres Respectfully
Chas Bent

9. The United States minister to Mexico in 1840 was Powhatan Ellis.

10. Anthony Butler, minister to Mexico, 1829-1836.

11. The correct spelling is Armijo. Several members of this family were prominent
in New Mexican affairs, but I have no idea who this person could have been.

Book Reviews

Tlaxcala in the Sixteenth Century. By Charles Gibson. New
Haven : Yale University Press, 1952. Pp. xvi, 300. $6.00.

At long last the Tlaxcalans have their critical historian.
Thadeo de Niza, Torquemada, and Munoz Camargo will not
be forgotten, but it is Professor Gibson who writes the six-
teenth-century history of these great people in accordance
with the best canons of historical scholarship.

In reality the book is a case study in acculturation, with
an undertone of Toynbee's "challenge and response." In
six closely written and well-documented chapters, Professor
Gibson presents his story under the headings of "The Pre-
conquest Province and the Conquest," "Religious History,"
"Spanish Government," "Indian Government," "Tlaxcalan
Society," and "Privileges, Tributes, and Colonies."

Gibson begins his history with a succinct narrative of the
four Tlaxcalan cabeceras. He demonstrates that Tlaxcala
was confined to a much smaller area than has been commonly
believed, and sheds some additional light upon the famous
Spanish-Tlaxcalan military alliances. For example, the Span-
iards permitted the Indians to continue their idolatry until
the late 1520's in return for military assistance. This may be
a partial explanation of Tlaxcalan indifference to Christian-
ity. Although the zealous twelve Franciscan "Apostles," who
began their work among these people in 1524, were quite suc-
cessful, their successors were less fortunate.

Regarding Spanish governmental practices in the area,
the first ten years were marked mainly by irregular and cor-
rupt methods of taxation, and it was not until 1531 that
something like a system was given to the administrative
plans for Tlaxcala. In that year the jurisdiction of the
corregidor of Puebla was extended to Tlaxcala, an arrange-
ment which was continued until 1545, when Tlaxcala was set
aside as an independent corregimiento. The corregidores who
thereafter appeared in the region were, on the whole, well-

240

BOOK REVIEWS 241

intentioned individuals, but such was not the case with the
Spanish farmers and stock raisers who invaded the land. Nor
were the corregidores able to protect their charges from the
cupidity of these invaders, which leads Gibson to write that
"Probably no other single sequence of events contributed
so directly to the loss of Indian prosperity and prestige in
the late sixteenth century as did the steady infiltration of
white colonists." (p. 79) Moreover the natives themselves,
anxious for ready cash, contributed their share to the en-
couragement of white intrusion by selling their lands to
Spaniards at ridiculously low prices.

Professor Gibson now turns to a detailed discussion of
Indian government by unraveling a tangled story of native
dynasties, governors, cabildos, and the administration of
justice. Dynastic successions in the four cabeceras are care-
fully worked out, a difficult task in view of the fact that
baptismal names seldom resembled native names. And for
the student of political acculturation, Gibson's account of
the Indian cabildo is profitable reading. "At no time," he
writes, "did political Hispanization penetrate to the lowest
levels," (p. 122) which supports the thesis that the hard
core of culture complexes lies in the habits and thinking
processes of the masses of mankind.

Nor are the broader aspects of Tlaxcalan society neg-
lected. A short description of the physical appearance of the
city of Tlaxcala as it probably was in the mid-sixteenth cen-
tury is presented. And the main currents of economic and
social developments within provincial boundaries and cabe-
cera divisions are dealt with in considerable detail. Professor
Gibson thus reconstructs a picture of Tlaxcalan life, where
native aristocrats were no more considerate of the common
Indian than were the Spaniards.

Gibson finishes his history with an account of privileges,
tributes, and colonies. He shows rather clearly that Cortes
did not make the lavish promises to the Tlaxcalans for mili-
tary aid as some have said. Yet the Indians, after the middle
of the sixteenth century, maintained that Cortes had prom-
ised the Indians exemption from tribute as well as giving

242 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

them towns in return for such aid. Although Spanish au-
thorities generally accepted the Indian position on this
matter, Gibson says they were in error. "The view commonly
held that Tlaxcalan military service during the conquest
resulted in total exemption is of course far from the truth."
(p. 170) For tribute in kind, in money, and in personal
service was practiced as widely in the land of the Tlaxcalans
as in the less favored Indian communities. But were the
tributes excessive? The natives were convinced that they
were; Spanish authorities maintained that they were not.
For lack of evidence, Gibson admits that this is still in the
realm of conjectures. But perhaps there is a clue to the
answer in the fact that during the closing years of the six-
teenth century it became steadily more difficult for the In-
dians to pay their tribute, a development which Gibson is
careful to make clear to the reader. Though the Indians may
have been unhappy with the requirement of paying tribute,
they had little to complain about when the crown or viceroy
extended them special considerations in other areas of life.
Fueros, usually granted to the Tlaxcalans as the result of
personal petitions, were many and generous.

Tlaxcalans were noted colonists, but, according to Gib-
son, they usually chose to stay in their native land except
during periods of economic depression. When they did con-
sent to remove themselves and their families to distant
points, they demanded, and received, special privileges, such
as freedom from tribute and personal service, and were
usually granted food supplies for a period of two years.

Professor Gibson's book is a "must" for the serious stu-
dent of sixteenth-century New Spain. His consummate abil-
ity to separate fact from fiction out of a maze of documentary
material, together with a superb skill of organization, will
give his book a permanent place in the handful of real con-
tributions to the historiography of Spanish-Indian relations
of the sixteenth century.

RUSSELL C. EWINGS
University of Arizona

BOOK REVIEWS 243

La Conquistador a, the Autobiography of an Ancient Statue.
By Fray Angelico Chavez. Paterson, New Jersey: St.
Anthony Guild Press, 1954. Pp. 144. Illus. $2.00.

Fra Angelico Chavez has a unique gift for presenting
New Mexico history through the lives of simple people facing
a hard life in a hard land, and the faith that sustained
them. He has never been more successful than in this book
which treats of the little image of the Virgin which is carried
each June from the Lady Chapel in Santa Fe's Cathedral
to the Chapel of El Rosario. The chapel stands on the spot
where De Vargas camped when he recaptured Santa Fe from
the Indians in 1693, so it has been popularly believed that
De Vargas first brought the statue to New Mexico. But Fra
Angelico has proved from contemporary records that Father
Alonso Benavides originally brought it in 1625 ; De Vargas
only restored it to Santa Fe after bitter years in El Paso
following the Indian uprising of 1680.

The book is thus the work of a sound historian, but it is
enlivened by Fra Angelico's gifts as poet, painter, and story-
teller and by the priest's humorous but tender awareness of
human frailties. Its most individual charm stems from the
fact that the statue's long history has repeatedly touched
the lives of the author's own ancestors. He dedicates it to
"the memory of these and scores of other 'Conquistadora'
progenitors and their consorts." "These" are Fray Angelico's
own ancestors beginning with Captain Francisco Gomez and
Ana Robledo who accompanied Father Benavides to New
Mexico in 1625. The twelfth in line of descent, through
several name changes, is Fray Angelico Chavez, son of
Fabian Chavez and Nicolasa Roybal.

The tale is told by the statue, speaking "as the unworthy
proxy of heaven's own Queen," but also as a woman loving
beautiful vestments and fine jewels and repudiating scorn-
fully any likeness to a villager's "santo." This statue was
carved in Spain of flawless willow wood and represented
"a beautiful woman on a graceful pedestal." The costume
was "not the classic gown and mantle usually seen on pic-

244 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

tures and statues of the Virgin, but rather the costume of
Moorish princesses who once brightened the halls and courts
of the Alhambra — truly, the dress also of a Lady of
Palestine."

During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the
statue was cherished and cared for by a devout confratern-
ity, but not always with taste. Once the original garments
of rich gold and arabesque painted on the wood were cov-
ered over by garments of Spain's sixteenth century queens —
a style still used. The statue itself was all but destroyed. Its
arms were hacked off and replaced by jointed elbows like
a puppet's; one knee and the cherubs on the pedestal were
cut away to make a box fit ; even the face was scrubbed and
repainted almost beyond recognition. Some of these changes
may be followed in the book's excellent illustrations, includ-
ing Laura Gilpin's lovely full color photograph of La Con-
quistadora with her amanuensis.

As amanuensis Fray Angelico has done well with ma-
terials and styles. As historian he has shown how the statue's
history, through captains and governors who were its guard-
ians, has often touched New Mexico history. So he has
sketched in bits of the wars against the predatory tribes,
the distant echoes of Mexico's revolution, the United States
occupation, and finally ended with "the atomic city against
the blue mountain flank, a thin white blur that turns into a
necklace of lights as darkness falls." Here is New Mexico's
history told from a fresh point of view and washed in as
clear and soft a light as one of Fra Angelico's own murals.
It is delightful reading.

ERNA FERGUSSON
Berkeley, California

l\[ew ^Mexico
Historical Review

Palace of the Governors, Santa Fe

^w«rir**Y

tf I NSAS '--•<
PVJ

NOV3 1C

V

October, 1954

Editors
FRANK D. REEVE PAUL A. F. WALTER

Associates

PERCY M. BALDWIN GEORGE P. HAMMOND

FRANCE V. SCHOLES ELEANOR B. ADAMS

ARTHUR J. 0. ANDERSON

VOL. XXIX OCTOBER, 1954 No. 4

CONTENTS

Page

A New Mexico Pioneer of the 1880's

Lillie Gerhardt Anderson 245

Revolt of the Navaho, 1913

Davidson B. McKibbin .... 259

The Mormon Colonies in Chihuahua after the 1912
Exodus (concluded)
Elizabeth H. Mills 290

Notes and Documents 311

Book Reviews 318

Constitution of the Historical Society 323

THE NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW is published jointly by the Historical Society
of New Mexico and the University of New Mexico. Subscription to the quarterly is
$3.00 a year in advance ; single numbers, except those which have become scarce, are
$1.00 each.

Business communications should be addressed to Mr. P. A. F. Walter, State
Museum, Santa Fe, N. M. ; manuscripts and editorial correspondence should be
addressed to Prof. Frank D. Reeve, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, N. M.

Entered as second-class matter at Santa Fe, New Mexico
UNIVERSITY PRESS, ALBUQUERQUE, N. M.

NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL
REVIEW

VOL. XXIX OCTOBER, 1954 No. 4

A NEW MEXICO PIONEER OF THE 1880's
By LILLIE GERHARDT ANDERSON *

MY FATHER, Frederick Gerhardt, became a New Mexico
pioneer in April of 1882. And, as other New Mexico
pioneers, who in their strivings for a livelihood, contributed
to the building of our glorious State, so my father also con-
tributed his bit.

He was born in Friesenheim, Baden, Germany on Novem-
ber 11, 1835, the youngest of twenty children — ten half
brothers, seven real brothers, and two sisters.

It was inevitable that in such a large family some of the
members would scarcely know one another, but the amazing
fact was, that of his seventeen brothers, his oldest half-
brother, George Gerhardt, was the brother whom he knew
best.

George also made his home in Friesenheim, where he
held an important office in the Dukedom of Baden ; and the
youngest of his three sons, Alfried, was my father's pal and
University classmate.

Becoming dissatisfied with the many government restric-
tions of his native land, Frederick decided to embark for the
"Land of the Free" and landed in New York City in 1852.

Educated at the University of Karlsruhe, Germany,
where he had studied the supplementary languages French
and Latin, he was now in the United States unable to speak
his new country's language. His knowledge of Latin, how-

* Mrs. Anderson resides at 413 South First Street, Tucumcari, New Mexico.

245

246 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

ever, proved of great value to him in this dire dilemma. He
had brought with him a Latin Bible, so he now procured
an English copy and, by comparing the two, made his initial
venture into the intricacies of the English tongue.

After gaining sufficient mastery of the new language to
enable him to obtain employment, he got work in a silk fac-
tory ; later he went to Massachusetts, and then to New Jer-
sey, continuing all the while to work in textile factories.

When wanderlust again seized him, it carried him to
Texas. This was about the year 1860. And it was while
clerking in a store in San Antonio, that he first met his
future wife, Sophie Louisa Duelm, also a native of Germany,
and the youngest of eight children, who had come with her
family from Hagen, Waldeck, Germany when she was but
nine years old. The family had landed in Galveston, Texas
in 1855, and had settled in San Antonio.

Soon Civil War clouds began to loom ominously in the
sky. Frederick's sympathies were with the Union, but he
was rejected as a soldier on account of an eye injury to
his right eye, sustained when he was but three years old
while he and another small boy, having found some live caps,
were innocently exploding them by striking them with
stones.

Rejected for the army, Frederick decided to remain in
the South. In making this decision, he did not foresee that
he would eventually be conscripted by the Confederacy and
forced to drive supply teams, bringing supplies from Mexico.

Later, he traveled with General Robert E. Lee's army,
cooking for the General and his staff officers.

This close association with General Lee developed into a
warm friendship, so that when four decades later he was
requested to suggest a name for a new grandson, he replied
without hesitation, "Lee." Thus it came about that the grand-
son of a loyal hearted Northerner bears the name of a
famous Southern general.

Immediately following the close of the Civil War, Fred-
erick Gerhardt was united in marriage with Sophie Louisa
Duelm in San Antonio, Texas, on March 4, 1865. Destiny

NEW MEXICO PIONEER 247

had performed her miracle of bringing these two across
oceans from their native country, to meet and unite in their
adopted land.

For many years after his marriage, father held various
city and county offices. He taught school in a German settle-
ment for two years, and for a time owned and operated a
farm.

In the spring of 1882, he came with his family to New
Mexico, after learning from his mother, Mary, in Germany
that his brother John was living out here. (His mother's
lovely German letters came but once a year, as the postage
on a single letter was 50 cents).

At that time the nearest railroad from Texas came
around through Kansas City, and terminated at Las Vegas,
from which city the family traveled by wagon to the Pecos
River, about twenty miles northwest of Fort Sumner.

Here adjoining his brother's ranch, father filed his home-
stead of 160 acres — all the government land allowed at that
time. His claim had a natural spring, providing water for
house use, and river front with public domain for raising
stock.

To make an immediate beginning in the sheep industry,
he took a flock on shares from his brother, John, thereby
earning at the end of a year a certain percentage of the
sheep in payment for their care.

John had come to America with Frederick in 1852, but
they had separated in New York City, and had not in the
thirty years elapsed seen or heard of each other.

Two other brothers had come to America during the in-
tervening years, but both had remained in the East : Jacob
in New York, and Joseph in Massachusetts.

Another brother bore the name Ludwig ; but there were
three brothers whose names I do not know. The sisters were
Carolina and Anna Mari. (As all brothers do, father spoke
oftener of his sisters than of his brothers).

It was Anna Mari who, when their mother became too
feeble to write, wrote the yearly German letter to father.
Father had saved all the letters from his mother and sister,

248 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

but years later, while his desk was in storage, vandals broke
in and scattered his papers and letters. When the depreda-
tion was discovered, only three letters were legible. These
were from his sister, and had not been written in consecutive
years.

About the middle 1880's, some of father's friends living
in Las Vegas re-visited Germany, and went to see father's
half-brother, George, who was then in his 90th year. After
he was well past 91 years, a letter came for father, informing
him of George's passing.

John had enlisted in the United States Army in New
York, and had been sent to New Mexico in 1860, during the
Indian conflict. Subsequently, he served as a male nurse,
with the Army Medical Corps, for the duration of the Civil
War, in New Mexico.

John's home stood about a mile distant from father's new
home. His land had many good springs, and he grew a nice
fruit orchard, and always raised a good vegetable garden,
of which he was proud. He enjoyed his home, which he had
named Cedar Springs, for the natural springs, and the dwarf
cedar trees that dotted his land. At this time he had a
family of six children. He was engaged in the sheep industry,
and also had a small herd of cattle.

(The ranch has now long been owned and operated by
strangers. Of the large family, only two are living in New
Mexico) .

A short distance up the Pecos River, Pablo (Paul) Beau-
bien, son of the famous Carlos Beaubien of frontier days,
and land grant fame, was operating John's irrigated farm,
and raising sheep. He later moved to Fort Sumner.

About four miles to the southeast, on the Alamogordo
(stout Cottonwood) Creek, Captain J. C. Clancy, a retired
English sea captain, was engaged in sheep raising. He had
come to New Mexico about 1870. His first sheep had been the
long haired Old Mexico breed, which he had not liked, and
which he finally drove to California and traded there for
sheep with good wool ; these he again drove back, consuming
two years in the long journey to and from California.

NEW MEXICO PIONEER 249

His home, patterned after an old English castle, and
which visitors to the Territory marveled about, and some
mistook for an Indian fortress on account of its towers, was
not built until 1886. (My father knew when the captain had
it built. Before this time he had, as many other pioneers,
lived in a dugout) . Until the 1880's it had been almost im-
possible to obtain building materials.

Captain Clancy was a most delightful conversationalist.
While captain of his ship, he had touched at almost every im-
portant world seaport. This enabled him to bring informa-
tion of the wide world to the early settlers.

A few miles north of the Clancy ranch, lived the Jasper
De Graftenried family, with their three sons and two daugh-
ters. They raised both cattle and sheep. Their strange cattle
brand x, was named for its counterpart, Camp Stool.

Yes, there was a little schoolhouse — not red, but of gray
sandstone — in which a certain Mrs. Mitchell held despotic
sway.

In father's family, an older sister held daily school for
the younger children. She taught German, reading and
writing, along with the English lessons.

After living for seven years on the Pecos River, father
moved with his family in 1889 to the Las Truchas Creek,
about twenty miles northeast of Fort Sumner. Here he filed
what at that time was known as pre-emption.

In that day of free grazing land, the large cattle com-
panies dug wells and erected windmills at strategic watering
places for their stock. The Fort Sumner Cattle Company
had such a well, mill, and a one-roomed adobe building to
house a maintenance man where my father filed his claim.

The Cattle Company had not owned the land, and had
relinquished the improvements, which were very convenient
for use by the two Gerhardt sons, Herman and Carl, in
building the new home. Until it was ready for occupancy,
the other members of the family stayed in the home of the
only close neighbor, Joe De Oliveira, who lived three miles
north in the same valley.

With Spanish helpers, who understood the making of

250 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

adobes, a Spanish-Indian styled house soon took form. Her-
man did all necessary carpenter work.

This home stood near the center of an ample valley, tra-
versed from northeast to southwest by the Las Truchas
(trout) Creek, and rimmed on the north and east by the
breaks of the Plains.

The family learned, soon after moving to the creek,
that "Truchas" was a misnomer. After several weeks of
observation, the supposed trout were discovered growing
legs, feet and tails. Their bodies were slender ; they were not
tadpoles, but were salamanders in their aquatic larval state.
Soon after they began to disappear from the water, black,
yellow-spotted adult salamanders were found in the damp
soil of shady places. Evidently the creek had been named
by explorers who had not remained long enough to observe
the development of their trout.

Neighbors were fewer here, and lived at greater dis-
tances, than they had on the Pecos. There was no school
house, either red or gray. Sister Paulina continued her daily
classes in our home. I was still too small for studies, but
enjoyed slipping into the schoolroom to observe the others
at their lessons. If a lesson in geography happened to be
in progress, for my benefit I'd soon hear, "Name the capital
of Arkansas." My hand would "go up" and I'd answer de-
lightedly, "Little Rock." Then, having exhausted the extent
of my knowledge, I'd slip out again to play.

On the new ranch, with the help of his two sons, father
continued in the sheep raising industry. The vast Llano
Estacado (Staked Plains) afforded lush summer grazing
for the sheep, while their foothills and canyons provided
good winter shelter. Grass grew two feet high. In the valley,
it was harvested in the fall for winter hay for the horses and
the milk cows, but on the plains it sometimes produced devas-
tating prairie fires, from a carelessly tossed burning match.
These fires could be seen from a distance of a hundred miles.
The terrible grass fire of December, 1894, which started on
the New Mexico plains, and raced with the wind into the

NEW MEXICO PIONEER 251

Texas Panhandle, where it burned the southern half of the
vast XIT Ranch, was an awesome and frightening spectacle.

In dealing with Spanish sheep herders, father had found
it necessary to add Spanish to his list of acquired languages.
Both sons, also, learned to speak Spanish, and the older girls
acquired enough of the tongue to understand what supplies
were needed when the camp cook came in to replenish his
larder, or to receive the freight brought by Spanish freight-
ers when father and the boys happened to be away from
home.

The wool and pelts from the sheep were sent by freight
wagons to Las Vegas, where they were sold to the large
wholesale stores, Gross, Blackwell, and Ilfeld, and supplies
loaded for the ranch, for the return trip of 120 miles, which
often required two weeks, as most of the Spanish freighters
drove burro teams, or poorly fed horses.

The sheep for market were sold on the premises to sheep
buyers who, after acquiring a large herd, drove them to
Dodge City, or Wichita, Kansas, from which points they
were shipped to Kansas City.

Through the years, father had continued his subscription
to his Texas newspaper. Each issue carried, in addition to
the news, several chapters of a serial German love story,
which father read aloud to mother in the evenings while she
was occupied in hand sewing for the family. It was for the
heroine of one of these novels that I was named. To this
incident, I have always attributed my romantic nature.

Father and mother always spoke German at home when
there were no English speaking visitors present.

We had few German visitors. Some of the early store-
keepers at Fort Sumner were Germans, and sometimes
visited in our home. And I always delighted in hearing Mr.
Albert Strauss speaking German with mother. He was the
founder of the © (called Circle S) Ranch, about thirty miles
southwest of the present town of Tucumcari, and was the
brother of the elder Mrs. Kohn, early New Mexico pioneer.
He was an interesting talker, and as he traveled a great deal

252 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

over the state, could give us news of some of our other
friends.

Ours was a reading family. In those early days, the
Ladies' Home Journal was a masterpiece of information and
inspiration. Before I was four years old, sister Paulina read
aloud to us from its inspirational columns. I recall vividly,
thinking to myself, "Oh ! If I could only write like that !"

There was usually one of Ella Wheeler Wilcox's beautiful
poems in each copy, which our sister also read to us. In
addition, the boys read The Youth's Companion.

When I was about seven years old, this precious sister
read aloud to us in the evenings from Charles Dicken's
works. I enjoyed his stories immensely, and wept for dear
little Oliver Twist.

This custom of reading aloud was continued during our
summer vacations at home, even after we began going away
to school. At least three of us would change about reading
several chapters from a good book during the afternoon
rest hour. In this way we read Cervantes' Don Quixote. It
was triple fun with three to laugh about his idiotical
adventures.

In the winter of 1895, father and mother re-visited their
old home in Texas, where mother's relatives, and many
former friends of both, welcomed them. Before this time,
the Fort Worth and Denver railroad had built through
Amarillo, Texas, enabling them to board the train there, and
giving them a much more direct route than when they came
to New Mexico, thirteen years earlier.

Politically, father was a staunch Republican, as were
most of the early day ranchers, who realized the necessity of
a firm tariff on wool, pelts, and hides, if they were to survive
in business. The chief political issues of that day were a high
tariff, or free trade.

The sheepmen suffered real hardships during Grover
Cleveland's free trade administration in the early 90's, when
the country became flooded with cheap Australian wool, and
the home product dropped to 3 cts. a Ib. This caused a great
drop in the price of sheep, also.

NEW MEXICO PIONEER 253

Father had been a member of the Lutheran Church in
Germany where, with his trained tenor voice, he sang in the
church choir. In Texas, he again affiliated with the Lutheran
Church, where mother was also a member.

After coming to New Mexico, on the few occasions when
he was in Las Vegas over a Sunday, his clear voice, to the
delight of his friends, would be heard coming from a back
pew of the First Presbyterian Church, singing Martin
Luther's Ein Feste Burg (Fortress) and other hymns in
German.

By the middle 90's, the elder son Herman had married
Emma Whitmore, daughter of the very early (1849) New
Mexico pioneer, James Whitmore, and had started his own
sheep ranch in the lower part of the valley.

In 1898, father purchased a herd of good grade cattle,
and his son, Carl, assisted him in managing the ranch,
gradually selling the sheep and buying more cattle; thus
finally changing the valley into a cattle ranch.

Father's first cattle brand was TK (called TK bar) . Later
he had this brand cancelled and used XTK.

Many people have been deeply impressed by the marvel
of our country's "Four Corners" where four of our states
join at their corners; but we experienced no less a marvel
in our Las Truchas, New Mexico, home, where we lived in
four counties without moving; first in San Miguel County,
then Guadalupe, then Leonard Wood, and lastly in Quay.

Leonard Wood County was short-lived. It had been
created to get the court house and county seat for Santa Rosa
from Puerto de Luna, where they had been before Santa
Rosa came into existence. This accomplished, the name was
again changed to Guadalupe.

With the completion of the Santa Fe Railroad's "Belen
Cut-off" in 1907, and the consequent flocking in of dry land
farmers, who filed every available 160 acres of land, a "death
blow" was dealt to free grazing and stock raising as it had
existed up to that time.

When my father told the first comers that they couldn't
possibly make a living on one fourth section of land, and that

254 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

many of them wouldn't be able to get wells of drinking water
on their dry claims, they still felt that they could do both.
They said to him, "Since the country has just been opened
for settlement, we want a piece of free land too."

They couldn't believe my father when he told them that
the country had been open for settlement for fifty years.
They were so firmly convinced in their belief that they began
re-naming hills and valleys that had been named for decades.
Our Lone Mesa became Mt. Alice, for Alice Roosevelt, Teddy
Roosevelt's daughter, and the Las Truchas Valley became
Gerhardt Valley. The mesa reverted to its earlier name, after
drought forced most of the new settlers to abandon their
claims, but the valley retained the new name, because the
Gerhardt family had lived there for so many years. It is now
recognized over most of the State as Gerhardt Valley.

Father's prophecy of a dearth of water proved true.
When the new settlers came to live on their homesteads, they
soon began coming in wagons loaded with empty barrels to
haul drinking water from our well.

We had a good well, but the added drain was too great.
Soon there was not enough water for our cattle and garden.
Scarcity of water and the limited grazing room soon forced
Carl to lease pasture near Santa Rosa for the cattle.

The family continued to live on the ranch, where father
now spent most of his time raising a good garden.

Carl finally sold the cattle and bought irrigated land at
Fort Sumner, which he developed into alfalfa farms and a
nice fruit orchard.

Herman had read the "Handwriting on the Wall," so
when the first locaters began to bring people from the rail-
road, at Taiban and Fort Sumner, to locate claims for them,
he sold his sheep and moved to Tucumcari, where he went
into the abstract business, in the fall of 1908.

For a time he served as County Road Superintendent.
Eventually, he was elected County Treasurer for Quay
County for four years. He also served for a number of years
as City Treasurer of Tucumcari.

By the time the Federal Government in Washington,

NEW MEXICO PIONEER 255

D. C., came to a realization of the plight of the dry farmers
trying to eke out a living on their pocket-handkerchief sized
parcels of land, and passed the 320 acre homestead law, most
of the farmers were gone.

The few who remained were those who had been able to
get water wells. The families stayed on the land, with a milk
cow, chickens, and a small garden plot, while the husbands,
or sons went away to earn wages. These now filed abandoned
claims, adjoining their original filing, or bought relinquish-
ments. In time they acquired sufficient land to become stock-
men-farmers, and now own modern homes and cars.

Carl had not used his filing right, nor had sister Clara,
who had been teaching school, so both now filed 320 acres of
abandoned and relinquished land adjoining the home ranch.
Eventually, Carl fenced all the family owned land, and leased
it for pasture.

By 1909, we were receiving our mail addressed to Harris,
New Mexico. A combination Post Office and country store
had been established about two miles northeast of our home.
The mail service came overland from Tucumcari, servicing
several country Post Offices on the Plains.

A pavilion, with a cedar brush covering, had been erected
midway between Harris and our home, where Sunday School
and Church services were held. The pavilion was also used
for group singing.

By the middle of June 1914, the family began getting
mail at Taft, four miles west of our home, where in addition
to a Post Office and store a school house had been erected.
The Harris Post Office was discontinued.

After a few terms of school, buses began taking the chil-
dren to school in Fort Sumner, and the new school building
was left vacant. The Post Office too was discontinued after
a few years. The sparse settlers, now owning cars, drove to
Fort Sumner for their mail.

The many members of father's large family, although
they occasionally visited other states, made their permanent
homes in New Mexico. The eldest daughter moved to Cali-
fornia, when the youngest of her family begged her to make

256 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

a home for her in Los Angeles while she attended the Uni-
versity. She remained in California for a few years after her
daughter's graduation, but eventually returned to New Mex-
ico, and again made her home in Tucumcari ; so that her stay
in California became merely an interlude.

Some of the grandchildren are scattered far from the
home state, while many still reside in the Land of Enchant-
ment.

The grandchildren of the Gerhardt name — Herman's
children — are represented by Alvin W., a mining engineer
in Arizona, Earl A., part owner and manager of a silk hose
factory in Virginia, Herbert J., architect, and Herman F.,
automobile salesman, both of California, and Emma Ger-
hardt Rorick, a former high school commercial teacher, a
Lieut. Wave in World War II, and now a Government worker
at China Lake, California.

Carl was married in 1917 to Nettie Catherine Brown,
of Fort Sumner, daughter of a Methodist minister. They
had one child, Nettie Bernice Gerhardt, a former Tucumcari
junior high school teacher, now Mrs. Neal C. Koll, who owns
and operates the home ranch in Gerhardt Valley.

The other grandchildren, all successful in their respective
work, live in Tucumcari, Clovis, ranch near Taiban, Albu-
querque, Santa Rosa, Topeka, Kansas, and in Amarillo and
El Paso, Texas.

One grandson (our son, T/Sgt. Felix Lorin) was sent to
Hahn, Germany, with a Bomber Group last August. That is
not far from my father's old home. He works in a supply
department now, and is overseas for a three year term. His
wife and little son went to Germany by ship from New York
City to join him in November.

This is our son's second stay in Germany. In World War
II, he was an aerial gunner on a B-24 Liberator Bomber,
which was shot down near Bordeaux, France. Seconds before
the bomber crashed in flames, the ten crew members para-
chuted, but seven of them had been wounded. Except for a
tiny splinter of shrapnel that penetrated his eyelid and
blinded his eye for a week, Felix was unhurt, but his para-

NEW MEXICO PIONEER 257

chute landed him in a tree from which he could not extricate
himself. Frenchmen, alert for our flyers, watched him para-
chute, and came to his rescue. They also gave him clothes.
His electrified flying suit was in shreds.

In trying to get back to his Base in England, Felix was
captured by the Nazis and held for sixteen months in six
different prison camps. He spent the first winter in Stalag
Luft VI., built on the narrow neck of East Prussia, on the
Baltic Sea. When he was liberated by Patton's 3d Army, on
April 29, 1945, he was in a prisoner of war camp near
Munich. He got home on July 12, 1945. In spite of months
of hospitalization, and more months in prisoner of war camps
(with the unceasing prayers of their families at home) , all
of Felix's fellow crewmen, except one, returned after the
war.

Felix was stationed for eight months on Okinawa in 1947,
and in 1950 he spent eight months on an Air Base in England.
He saw most of the United States while in training, before
being sent overseas on a bomber in the fall of 1943.

With the newer, faster transportation facilities, the
grandchildren have traveled widely in the United States, and
some have seen parts of Canada, Mexico, and Cuba. Thus
they have shown their heritage of father's adventurous
spirit.

Father was a kindly man who brought friendliness and
melody to the silent prairies. He sang as he drove about
the ranch, usually in the company of some of the children.
Mother was sometimes along too.

At Christmas time, father lead the family in singing
beautiful German hymns, as they gathered about the Christ-
mas tree — always a huge cedar that almost touched the ceil-
ing. He also lead in appropriate hymns at Easter, and at
Thanksgiving time.

He had a deep appreciation of Nature, and was especially
awed by the magnificent star constellations. He would pour
forth his admiration in song on lovely starlit nights.

He delighted in Halley's Comet, when it made its reap-
pearance in 1910, and watched it every night as long as it

258 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

was visible. It had been seen while he was a baby, and he'd
been told about it.

He sang his farewell to Earth in the beautiful German
hymn Die Heimat Der Seele (The Home of the Soul) two
days before his death, which occurred on October 21, 1914,
at the age of 79 years, at his ranch home, where he lies at
rest in the family cemetery.

REVOLT OF THE NAVAHO, 1913
By DAVIDSON B. McKiBBiN *

AUTUMN in New Mexico of 1913 began in its usual inaus-
picious manner. The summer rains had stopped ; there
were not the deluges of rain from the heavy clouds, with
quick run-offs, immediate sunshine, followed by almost in-
stant evaporation. The citizens of San Juan County, located
in the northwestern part of the state, had started to get ready
for winter. Aside from the hard manual labor involved in
harvesting their limited crops, they scanned the newspapers
with interest to find out what might be happening to their
neighbor in the south. The continuing Mexican Revolution
and the ousting of General Victoriano Huerta from the
Presidency of Mexico was at that moment of primary impor-
tance, if not interest, to all readers in the United States. The
Carranza-Villa forces were attacking and beating the
federales of Huerta; Ciudad Juarez was seized by Villa's
irregulars with a ringside view of the battle visible to specta-
tors from the American side of the frontier ; and the United
States Army had thousands of soldiers guarding the Mexican
border.

Other sections noted the bloodletting in Mexico but also
read about the general strike in Indianapolis that tied up all
transportation. In Berlin it was reported that the Kaiser had
given his ex cathedra opinion on the tango and the turkey
trot, barring it from Germany as being unsuitable to the
dignified Teutonic race, and at the same time keeping one
eye on the European chancelleries. In the American press
editorials were being written for and against the possibility
that the same tango and turkey trot might be danced at the
White House. Some sensational murders were reported, espe-
cially well covered by the Hearst press, and a complete
though seasonal fanfare was devoted to football wins and
losses. Russia made its contribution to the news with a spec-
tacular trial of a Jew accused of murdering a Russian Chris-
tian. The accused was later acquitted. New York policemen

* Dr. McKibbin is Special Collections Librarian, University of New Mexico Library.

259

260 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

were in the headlines for accepting graft, and resignations
by the wholesale were being accepted. The main emphasis,
the front page news in the American press, was, however,
devoted to the Mexican situation.

However, the abstract discussion of current affairs on
worldly problems changed almost overnight in northwest
New Mexico. In early November the state newspapers began
their coverage of an event that was to unfold and embrace
and touch numerous governmental agencies, ranchers,
church missions, soldiers, and the Navaho Indians. The ini-
tial report began with an account of a threatened revolt of
the Navahos at Shiprock, New Mexico, with the blame being
placed on plural wives, liquor, and medicine men.1

It might be noted, however, that this early report by the
press had its background years before in the subjugation of
the Navahos in 1905. A chain of events involving a localized
Navaho incident that had been settled was magnified to such
proportions that troops were employed to overawe seven
Indians who were subsequently sent to the federal peniten-
tiary at Alcatraz. Two years later another Superintendent,
W. T. Shelton, enlisted the aid of federal troops to capture
for arrest one Byalille, who had effectively resisted the ad-
vances of the white men to change the Indian customs.
Resistance by the Indian ultimately resulted in the shooting
and death of two Navahos. The name of Superintendent Shel-
ton, as a protector of the Indians, did not improve.2

In 1913 Shelton was involved in still another episode

1. Santa Fe New Mexican, L (November 7, 1913), p. 1.

2. Robert L. Wilken, O.F.M., "Father Anselm Weber, O.F.M., Missionary to the
Navajo, 1898-1921," Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of History, University of New
Mexico, 1953, pp. 256-257. The Byalille affair, as portrayed by Wilken, presents a one-
sided story of Weber's participation in, and opinion of, the matter. A subsequent in-
vestigation which, according to Wilken, was a mere whitewash for government officials
does not indicate that Wilken was entirely correct. For example, one of the main
antagonists to Shelton and the army was the Reverend Howard R. Antes, missionary
at Aneth, Utah (incorrectly named Andrew [sic} Antes by Wilken), who later accord-
ing to official records retracted his accusations and apologized. For the official govern-
ment investigation of the Byalille incident, see: U. S. Congress, Senate, Report on
Employment of United States soldiers in arresting By-a-lil-le and other Navajo Indiana,
Senate Report 5269, Doc. #517, 60th Cong., 1st Sess., May 22, 1908. (Washington:
Government Printing Office, 1908), pp. 1-41; U. S. Congress, Senate, Testimony
Regarding Trouble on Navajo Reservation, Senate Report 5409, Doc. #757, 60th Cong.,
2d Sess., February 19, 1909. (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1909), pp. 1-56.

NAVAHO REVOLT 261

which reacted unfavorably against the Indians at the time,
but eventually placed the Superintendent in a very uncom-
fortable position.

According to Shelton, who had been appointed Superin-
tendent of the Shiprock Agency in 1903, an Indian reported
on August 26, 1913, that his wife had been killed by a medi-
cine man. This accusation, Shelton declared, was false, and
was based on superstition. There was no proof that the medi-
cine man had injured the Indian woman, but during the
investigation it was discovered that another Navaho had
brought whiskey onto the reservation and that he was living
with three wives. These charges were common to the times,
but Shelton felt that he should have a talk with the man and
his wives. Ordering an agency policeman, a Navaho, to bring
in the four for questioning, he found himself with three
wives but no husband. The policeman couldn't locate the hus-
band, but the man's father came into Shiprock and told Shel-
ton that he would bring in his son for questioning.3

The morning of September 17th, while Shelton was in
Durango, Colorado, on a horse-stealing case involving In-
dians of his reservation, eleven Indians, including the hus-
band of the three wives, rode into the agency armed with
revolvers and rifles. They threatened the Indian policemen,
located the wives, thrust aside school employees who tried to
talk to them and drew their weapons in a threatening man-
ner, frightening women and children. One Indian policeman
was hit on the head with a quirt. They then galloped to a
nearby trading post, where the white traders talked them out
of further violence. After hanging around the post through-
out the night they departed and headed for the mountains.4

In his letter to Burkhart Shelton insists that the other
peaceful Indians of the reservation wanted an example made

3. Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Record Group 75, Classified Files, Doc.
nos. 120395-13-121, 146247-13-123, San Juan. Letter, W. T. Shelton to Somers Burkhart
[U. S. District Attorney], September 20, 1913, pp. 1-2. (Unless otherwise identified all
letters, telegrams, memoranda, and reports hereinafter cited will be understood to have
come from Record Group 75, Doc. nos. 120395-13-121, 146247-13-123, National Archives,
Washington, D. C.)

4. Ibid., p. 3. Shelton's original statement to Burkhart is naturally prejudiced in
his favor. He has pictured the Indians as desperados, violent men, and totally incapable
of reason.

262 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

of the unruly ones. Shelton himself wanted immediate arrest
and punishment. He meticulously listed those Navahos in-
volved in the action and included the names of four who
would serve as witnesses against them. He requested that
warrants be sworn out for their arrest and asked Burkhart
to send the summons for the witnesses to him as he could
then contact them and accompany them to Santa Fe. He men-
tioned that it would be impossible to appear in the capital
city before the seventh of the month as the Indian fair would
occupy his time between the first and fourth (of October) .5

Such was the first official correspondence on the affair of
the purported Navaho Indian revolt. Two weeks later he
wrote to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, in which he
enclosed a copy of his original letter to Burkhart. To Com-
missioner Cato Sells he mentioned that the Indians were
armed and would not submit to arrest. He re-emphasized his
earlier opinion that other reservation Indians were not in
accord with the steps taken by the rebellious Navahos, and
passed on the rumor that the Indians had reported to him that
the eleven had stolen horses from them. Shelton had received
subpoenas from the United States clerk at Santa Fe for him-
self and five witnesses to appear before the grand jury on the
eighth of October. The Superintendent reported that he
would keep the Commissioner posted as to the action taken
by the grand jury.6

The Commissioner of Indian Affairs was sufficiently con-
cerned to wire the agent regarding action taken and Shel-
ton's recommendations for the future. The Shiprock agent
wired back the same day with the information requested. He
reported that the U. S. Attorney had prepared warrants for
twelve men : eleven for riot, two for horse stealing, two for
deadly assault, one for stealing a government revolver, and
one for flourishing fire arms in the settlement. Two had al-
ready surrendered, but the other nine threatened to fight and
he (Shelton) requested that a U. S. Marshal be sent to arrest

Ibid., pp. 5-6.

Letter, Shelton to Cato Sells [Commissioner of Indian Affairs], October 4, 1918.

NAVAHO REVOLT 263

the Indians. Shelton doubted that they would surrender with-
out force being used to take them.7

Through channels the red-tape began to unravel itself.
Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs, Lewis C. Laylin, wrote
a letter to the Attorney General requesting that the Justice
Department, under its jurisdiction and control, have a U. S.
Marshal serve warrants on the Indians. Correspondence be-
tween Shelton and Burkhart was enclosed.8

On October 16, Commissioner Sells wired Shelton of his
request for the Department of Justice to send a U. S. Marshal
to make the necessary arrests. He warned his representative
to "proceed with care and good judgment. . . , to use suffi-
cient force but to avoid unnecessary violence."9 From the
telegram it was obvious that the Commissioner did not wish
the matter to get out of hand.

From Gallup, New Mexico, near to the scene of the dis-
order, Supervisor of Indian Affairs, William R. Rosenkrans,
wired Sells that he expected the accused Indians to be at
St. Michaels on Saturday and at Ft. Defiance on Sunday for
a conference. Rosenkrans hoped that the Indians would give
themselves up to the U. S. Marshal.10

On the 29th of October Rosenkrans wrote a two page let-
ter to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs expressing his
opinion in a frank manner. He stated that the Indians had not
appeared because they had heard that both Shelton and Hud-
speth (U. S. Marshal) would be there. The Indians wanted
to discuss the matter with Father Weber. Rosenkrans felt
that both Paquette, who was Superintendent at Ft. Defiance,
and Shelton, did not appreciate the efforts being made by a
field man (Rosenkrans), but in spite of their dislike for his
presence felt that Shelton was doing his best to draw the
matter to a successful conclusion "with credit to the service."
Having disposed of the immediate evasion of the Indians he

7. Telegram, Sells to Shelton; telegram, Shelton to Sells, October 14, 1913.

8. Letter, Laylin to Attorney General [James C. McReynolds], October 15, 1913.

9. Telegram, Sells to Shelton, October 16, 1913.

10. Telegram, William R. Rosenkrans [Supervisor, U. S. Indian Service] to
Indian Office, October 24, 1913.

264 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

dealt with the cause of Indian unrest. "In the matter of
cause . . . ," he wrote, "I must make it a matter of record
that, ... I question the propriety of the arrest of the three
women." Notwithstanding the initial failure to cope with the
situation Rosenkrans felt that the Indians should not have
used force to secure their women.11

Meanwhile Shelton continued his dispatches to Commis-
sioner Sells. From Farmington he sent a telegram dated
November 3rd advising Sells that although the U. S. Marshal
had been there a week and had worked through prominent
Indians and traders, and through Superintendent Paquette,
the Indians had failed to appear or surrender. However,
Shelton hoped that the Indians would surrender on the 12th
and Hudspeth (U. S. Marshal) or his deputy would be back
on that date. The agent was optimistic and believed that all
of the remaining Indians would be brought to trial without
force.12

Four days later the Farmington Enterprise published the
first account of the trouble and the headline was quickly
picked up by the various news services throughout the coun-
try. The Santa Fe New Mexican placed its account of the
matter on page one with a banner headline "Indians at Ship-
rock Threaten Revolt." The press denied that the National
Guard would be necessary but indicated that the regular
army might be necessary as there were 30,000 Indians on the
reservation.13 Shelton himself, although trying to be calm
and accurate in his reporting, aided in the confusion. He de-
scribed a message he had received from Superintendent
Paquette of Fort Defiance who had passed on a rumor that
the leader of the Navahos, one Be-sho-she, was on his way to
Shiprock to ask for a complete pardon from the Commis-
sioner. If no pardon was to be granted, Shelton wired, the
Indians would injure the Superintendent. Shelton then asked
that he be permitted to employ sufficient force to hold the
situation.14

11. Letter, Rosenkrans to Commissioner of Indian Affairs, October 29, 1913.

12. Telegram, Shelton to Commissioner of Indian Affairs, November 3, 1913.
18. L (November 7, 1913), p. 1.

14. Telegram, Shelton to Commissioner of Indian Affairs, November 7, 1913.

NAVAHO REVOLT 265

The Albuquerque Morning Journal picked up that report
and featured it as "Navajos Threaten Raid on Shiprock In-
dian Agency." The daily embellished the original headline
with the statement that the eleven outlaws threatened to kill
all the agency force unless the offenders were pardoned.15
The same day found the Santa Fe New Mexican preparing
the people of northwestern New Mexico for the worst. The
New Mexican announced that "San Juan farmers sound the
call to arms against hostile Indians." According to their re-
port there had been no word from Agent Shelton for some
time although he had been given instructions to use force for
self protection only if his life depended upon it. Also noted
was the announcement that a Major McLaughlin, veteran
inspector for the Indian Service, would be sent to Shiprock
to use his personal services to ease the tension.16 In a Wash-
ington, D. C., newspaper of the same day, with its dispatch
dated Albuquerque, November 7th, the paper wrote of
threatened massacre of the entire agency and stated that
there had already been raids against settlers, some homes
had been burned, pillaging had taken place with stock being
driven off, and white women and children abused.17 In a
telegram sent from Farmington, Shelton kept his superior
informed of the current situation. There was no improve-
ment, but three had surrendered. The others were expected
to fight to the finish.18

The myriad communications to and from the government
agencies on November 8th left no doubt as to the intent to
nullify any Indian attempt at open rebellion. Secretary of the
Interior Franklin Knight Lane ordered McLaughlin to Ship-
rock.19 Cato Sells wired Superintendent Paquette of the Ft.
Defiance Agency to keep in touch with Shelton and to aid
him. Paquette was also advised to inform the home office of

15. CXXXX (November 8, 1913), p. 1.

16. L (November 8, 1913), p. 1.

17. Washington Herald, (November 8, 1913), n. p.

18. Telegram, Shelton to Commissioner of Indian Affairs, November 9, 1913.

19. Telegram, Lane [Secretary of the Interior] to Giegoldt, November 8, 1913.
John F. Giegoldt was Superintendent of the Leech Lake Indian Reservation at Walker,
Minnesota, where Major McLaughlin had been stationed. James McLaughlin had been
prominent in Indian affairs since 1871, mostly with the Sioux, and was generally sta-
tioned in the Dakotas and in Missouri.

266 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

the location of the Indians.20 Shelton was authorized via tele-
gram from Sells to employ force for protection until a U. S.
Marshal arrived. The Commissioner also told Shelton to ex-
pect McLaughlin as the department's personal representa-
tive and warned him again to be extremely careful in the
use of force.21 Preparing for any eventuality, an unsigned
memo from the Office of Indian Affairs the same day de-
scribed the routes to reach the Indians from El Paso with
the decision to travel via Gallup rather than Farmington.22
The War Department informed the Commissioner of Indian
Affairs that it had three troops of cavalry and a battery of
field artillery in El Paso for use against the Indians if neces-
sary.23 McLaughlin wired the Secretary of the Interior that
he had received his orders and was on his way to Shiprock.24

The one calming counter-proposal to the chain reaction of
hysteria came from Father Anselm Weber of St. Michaels.
Father Weber had lived in the Navaho region for fifteen
years and was sympathetic toward the Indians and their
problems. The Franciscan padre wired the Reverend William
Ketcham from Gallup telling him that it was untrue that the
Indians were threatening to raid the agency. He asked
Ketcham to contact the Indian Department and then have
them wire Shelton and the Justice Department to hold off the
U. S. Marshal for the present. Weber said that he was to see
both Shelton and the Indians on the following day.25 How-
ever, the sobering effect of the on-the-spot missionary,
Father Weber, was continually offset by the action taken by
the government and the newspapers. With a dateline of

20. Telegram, Sells to Peter Paquette [Superintendent of Ft. Defiance Agency]
November 8, 1913.

21. Telegram, Sells to Shelton, November 8, 1918.

22. Memorandum, Office of Indian Affairs, November 8, 1913.

23. Memorandum, Acting Secretary of War [Henry Breckenridge] to Commis-
sioner of Indian Affairs, November 8, 1913.

24. Telegram, McLaughlin to Secretary of the Interior, November 8, 1913.

25. Telegram, Weber to Ketcham, November 8, 1913. The Rev. William Ketcham
was the Director of the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions, and also served as a mem-
ber of the Board of Indian Commissioners for the Department of the Interior. Cf.
Memorandum, Sells to the Auditor for the Interior Department, August 29, 1914,
pp. 1-2. Sells noted that he had requested Ketcham to ask Weber to serve because
"... from experience and ability he would be best able to handle the situation."
Sells also wrote that Father Weber was "... well known and respected by them
[Navahos]."

NAVAHO REVOLT 267

Santa Fe, the Albuquerque Morning Journal left its readers
more confused than previously. The emphasis of the daily
ran along the same lines : Hudspeth and his deputy Galusha
anticipate trouble as the Indians are in an ugly mood, stern
measures should be taken to repress the Indians, posses in
Aztec and Farmington awaiting call from Shelton, and Chief
Black Horse Be-sho-she and his band of renegades insisted
that they would not submit to arrest, but that they would
fight.26 The facts as related by Father Weber do not appear
to bear out the inaccurate reporting of the newspapers, nor
for that matter, the multitude of dispatches sent by Shelton
to his superiors. The agelong fear of the Indians played upon
the imaginations of the old time settlers. They envisioned
raids, scalpings, the running off of livestock, homes burned
— all the old fears of past times were relived in the present.
But to explain the events exactly as they happened, without
glossing over or placing improper emphasis on trivial details,
was a task for which Father Weber was ably qualified. He
had resided in the Navaho area for years and, most impor-
tant, the Indians trusted him. His version of the events as
they unfolded is therefore of major importance.

According to Weber, the Indians admitted going to Ship-
rock and taking back the wives that had been "stolen" from
them. They even admitted roughing up one of the Indian
policemen who tried to stop them. Disliking Shelton intensely
they did not feel that they should go to Santa Fe to stand
trial, as it would cost them money in fines. Besides, they had
done nothing wrong. They had merely taken back the wives
that belonged to them. They were willing to talk the matter
over with Weber and other trusted whites, but not with Shel-
ton or any U. S. Marshal. And they would never surrender to
Shelton.27

From Farmington Shelton continued his deluge of tele-
grams to Cato Sells. He informed the Commissioner that the
situation had eased off a bit, but that the Indians still refused
to surrender. There was, he noted at that time, no danger of

26. CXXXX (November 9. 1913), p. 2.

27. Wilken, op. cit., p. 261.

268 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

personal violence. In a later telegram dated the same day
(November 10th) he informed Sells that three Indians had
been arrested and that Father Weber and two traders were
still trying to get the others to surrender.28 Shelton's second
telegram for the day implied that action had been taken to
arrest the three Navahos who, in fact, had come in and given
themselves up.

However, the newspapers did not allow the people to for-
get that less than a dozen Navahos were still holding out. The
possibility of bloodshed was always in the background. Such
words and phrases as "bloodshed," "local citizens ready,"
"Indians buying ammunition," "number of guilty increases,"
— all these journalistic cliches kept the reading public so
alarmed and upset to permit them to view the circumstances
dispassionately.29

By the middle of November the authorities appeared to
have enough Indian "experts" on hand to advise them from
the scene of trouble. Major McLaughlin wired on the fif-
teenth that Hudspeth had left with three Navahos for Santa
Fe, but that the others were encamped thirty-five miles south
of Shiprock. The inspector agreed with Shelton that blood-
shed was to be avoided at all costs, but recommended "suffi-
cient force to overawe" the Indians.30 The same day Shelton
notified Commissioner Sells that Weber had arrived at Farm-
ington and that the Franciscan and McLaughlin had talked
to the Indians with, as the Superintendent opined, "no
results."31

Secretary of the Interior Lane, finally certain of his
source of information because his trusted inspector Major
James McLaughlin was near the Navahos, sent him a tele-
gram asking specific questions. Lane wanted to know
whether the Indians might be surrounded and starved out ;

28. Telegram, Shelton to Commissioner of Indian Affairs, November 10, 1913.

29. Albuquerque Morning Journal, CXXXX (November 11, 1913), p. 1; Santa Fe
New Mexican, L (November 11, 1913), pp. 1-2.

80. Telegram, McLaughlin to Secretary of the Interior, November 15, 1913. Inter-
esting to note is the omission in McLaughlin's book of any reference to his participa-
tion in the trouble at Shiprock in 1913. See, James McLaughlin, My Friend the
Indian (Cambridge: Hough ton Mifflin Co., 1926). This book was published after
McLaughlin's death in 1923.

81. Telegram, Shelton to Commissioner of Indian Affairs, November 15, 1918.

NAVAHO REVOLT 269

he wanted no fighting- and regretted that he might be forced
to employ troops to dislodge them, but suggested that no citi-
zens posses, or enthusiastic deputies be used. He felt strongly
that this type of aroused citizenry would not react favorably
to discipline and due to chance carelessness the situation
might quickly get out of hand. He asked for McLaughlin's
comments to his questions.32

McLaughlin's reply answered all of his questions ex-
plicitly. He wired that the Indians had been out of hand since
September 17th, and that repeated talks with them by influ-
ential Indians, traders, and Father Weber, were to no avail.
The Navahos were camped in their usual winter quarters.
They had plenty of food, livestock, and water. It would take
at least five hundred men to surround them, and the Indians
had plenty of modern firearms and ammunition. McLaughlin
suggested that one battalion of troops might be sufficient,
and the government might possibly employ citizens or deputy
marshals, but in no case should friendly Indians be used.33

This stalemate between the stubborn Navahos and the
government was taken up by the newspapers, which, with a
curious and perverted sense of civic responsibility, played a
part in inflaming the populace and distorting the news. Not
that the numerous newspapers throughout the country had
any other choice. They received their information from
sources close to the government. One of their key leads came
from either Farmington or Shiprock, usually indirectly
through Superintendent Shelton. Their other point of infor-
mation was Gallup, but again, the side of the Indians was
not given. Father Weber did not seem to be available to the
correspondents ; he was often off in the interior talking with
the Navahos. On the 18th of the month one newspaper re-
ported in its headline that fifteen hundred Navahos were
defying the government. The following story gave the usual
one-sided picture of the events to that date, but did break the
news that it was expected that troops from the Mexican bor-
der would soon be on the way.34 The New Mexican gave what

32. Telegram, Lane to McLaughlin, November 16, 1913.

33. Telegram, McLaughlin to Lane, November 17, 1913.

34. Albuquerque Morning Journal, CXXXX (November 18, 1913), p. 1.

270 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

it considered more authentic and up-to-date coverage of the
troop movement. It stated that the troops, total number not
mentioned, would be sent out by Brigadier-General Tasker
H. Bliss, Commander of the Border Patrol, with Headquar-
ters in San Antonio, Texas. They failed to give the source of
their latest information.35 The New York Times picked up
the item from its Washington bureau and stated that Major
General Carter of the Border Patrol had been asked for
troops to quell the rioting. Previously, as early as November
9th, the Times had run a brief account of rumored Indian
troubles in New Mexico, but the report of the 18th was their
first recognition that the government was unable to cope
with the situation without the use of troops.36 In the midwest,
the Indianapolis News, with a dateline Santa Fe, reported
that the medicine men were working fifteen hundred Indians
into a frenzy.37

The contagion spread slowly through at least two govern-
mental offices in Washington, resulting in a letter being sent
from Lane to the Secretary of War requesting that "suffi-
ciently large forces" be sent to New Mexico to avoid blood-
shed. He advised the War Department that Major McLaugh-
lin would remain in the vicinity to aid the troops. Lane also
notified McLaughlin of his request for troops and told him
to stay and advise and aid the military authorities.38 Upon
receipt of Lane's wire the Major replied that the troops
should be sent via Gallup, and that he would await them
either at Noel's Store or at another trading post run by
Wilson.39

Agent Shelton then contributed his share to the already
confused Indian situation. He wired Cato Sells that the nego-
tiations had taken a turn for the worse, that the Indians
wouldn't surrender, and that one Navaho had gone back to
the "outlaws." The matter had become so serious, Shelton
noted, that some of the Indians were arming themselves for

35. L (November 18, 1913), p. 1.

36. LXIII (November 18, 1913), p. 10. Cf. Ibid., (November 9, 1913), p. 5.

37. XLIV (November 18, 1913), p. 1.

88. Letter, Lane to Secretary of War [Lindley M. Garrison], November 18,
1913 ; telegram. Lane to McLaughlin, November 18, 1913.

89. Telegram, McLaughlin to Lane, November 18, 1913.

NAVAHO REVOLT 271

protection of their families and livestock.40 Later the same
day he again wired the Commissioner and informed Sells
that he (Shelton) had ordered nearby sawmill employees to
come into Farmington for protection, and for trader Wilson
to close up his post and gather together residing whites and
get them off the reservation. He said he hadn't taken any
action to close down Noel's Store as he felt it might arouse
suspicion among the outlaw Navahos. Shelton then asked
permission to employ extra night guards to protect life and
property. Sells promptly cabled back his authorization for
the employment of extra guards.41

On November 19th it was announced from Washington
that the War Department had ordered Brigadier-General
Hugh L. Scott to proceed from Ft. Bliss to Gallup to aid in
the discussions with the Navahos. General Scott was the
Commanding Officer of the 2nd Cavalry Brigade, and had
been at El Paso since April 30, 1913.42 At the same time
official word was released to the effect that no troops would
be released from the Mexican border, but instead the 12th
Cavalry, in compliance with Special Order No. 113, Fort
Robinson, November 19, 1913, would march to Nelson's
Store, New Mexico.43 The New Mexican reported that the
Bliss orders had been "countermanded," when in reality there
had never been any official word that troops would be sent

40. Telegram, Shelton to Commissioner of Indian Affairs, November 18, 1913.

41. Telegram, Shelton to Commissioner of Indian Affairs, November 18, 1913. In
Sells' immediate answer to Shelton 's request, the Commissioner granted the permission
by wire, then ordered the Superintendent to "Submit request on regular form imme-
diately." Telegram, Sells to Shelton, November 19, 1913 ; memorandum. Sells to Finance
[Interior Department], November 20, 1913.

42. New York Times, LXIII (November 19, 1913), p. 1; Albuquerque Morning
Journal, CXXXX (November 19, 1913), p. 1; Santa Fe New Mexican, L (November
19, 1913), p. 1; "Report of the Southern Department," War Department Annual Re-
ports (1913), III, (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1914), p. 37; Hugh
Lennox Scott, Some Memories of a Soldier (New York: The Century Company, 1928),
p. 487. General Scott related that he was actually at Ft. Huachuca, Arizona, when he
received his orders to go to Gallup and there meet the 12th Cavalry.

43. Richard G. Wood [Chief, Army Section, General Services Administration,
National Archives and Records Service, Washington, D. C.] to D. B. McKibbin,
October 12, 1953. Wood wrote: "A search of the records of the War Department in
the National Archives show that Troops A, B, C, and D left Fort Robinson, Nebraska
on November 19, 1913 in compliance with Special Order No. 113, Fort Robinson,
November 19, 1913 and marched to Nelson's Store, N. M."

272 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

from the Mexican frontier.44 The cavalry unit, composed of
four troops, totaling well over three hundred enlisted men
and officers,45 departed from Ft. Robinson on the 19th, via
the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad to Denver, where
they were to change to the Santa Fe Railway as far as Gal-
lup. It was estimated that the trip would take about seventy-
two hours. Also noted, even though incorrect, was an item
dealing with General Scott's proficiency with the Navaho
language. All the news services picked up the idea that Scott
was a linguist and that in his parleys with the Navahos he
would be able to resort to direct negotiation and not be re-
quired to employ an interpreter.46

Between the 19th of November when Scott and the 12th
Cavalry were ordered to Gallup, and the 27th, which was
Thanksgiving Day and the first time that Scott actually
talked with the recalcitrant Navahos, both the Indians and
the government forces slowly drew toward a showdown.
Scott was expected to be in Gallup the 20th, but was still in
Albuquerque the 21st. The troops encountered no difficulties,
but did delay in Denver for one day to rest their mounts. In
Albuquerque one car of the train broke down on the 23rd,
and on the 24th the soldiers were still in town, although they
left in time to detrain in Gallup the same day. Scott so in-

44. L (November 19, 1913), p. 1.

45. Estimates as to the true number of cavalrymen involved in the pacification
of the Navahos vary greatly depending upon the source. Wilken, op. cit., fails to
mention the unit composition of the troops ; three New Mexican newspapers give two
different totals (324 officers and men in two cases, and 380 in another) ; and a copy
of the Interior Department's Annual Report (1913) from R. G. 75, Doc. #Ed.-Law &
Order, 120395-13, FRA, dated July 11, 1914, states that one squadron of the 12th
Cavalry was called. According to the U. S. Statutes at Large, the composition and
breakdown of a cavalry regiment, squadron, and troop, was as follows. One squadron
composed of four troops, was, according to the T. O. [Table of Organization], made
up of two hundred and seventy-two officers and men. The other additions were pos-
sibly made up of auxiliaries from Quartermaster, Ordnance, and Veterinarians.
Santa Fe New Mexican, L (November 19, 1913), p. 1 ; El Eco del Norte (Mora), VI
(December 1, 1913), p. 3; Albuquerque Morning Journal, CXXXX (November 24,
1913), p. 8; and U. S. Statutes at Large, XXX (1899), ch. 352, sec. 2, p. 977. See
also Santa Fe New Mexican, L (November 22, 1913), p. 1; Albuquerque Morning
Journal, CXXXX (November 29, 1913), p. 6 for further details on officers of the 12th
Cavalry Regiment, and Albuquerque Morning Journal, CXXXX (November 28, 1913),
p. 1 for reference to an additional Troop "F."

46. Santa Fe New Mexican, L ( November 19, 1913 ) , p. 1 ; Wilken, oj». cit.,
p. 265. Scott, op. cit., pp. 492-494, makes no mention of his talking Navaho. He wrote
that he used Chee Dodge during the conference.

NAVAHO REVOLT 273

formed the War Department that the troops had arrived and
were unloading in Gallup in the mud. He explained that the
situation was still serious and promised to use "patience to
utmost" to get them to surrender without bloodshed.47

On Scott's arrival in Gallup, well ahead of the troops, he
immediately set up headquarters in a local hotel, where he
was soon contacted by numerous parties interested in local-
izing the incident. The superintendent of Ft. Wingate, Peter
Paquette ; Chee Dodge, prominent Indian mediator ; and the
two Franciscan friars from St. Michaels, Fathers Weber and
Gottbrath, all spoke to the general of the importance of using
tact and patience. They warned him of a possible outbreak of
hostilities if the cavalry were used improperly, but General
Scott on his part informed them that the troops would be
employed merely to point out to the Navahos the intent of
the government. Scott intended no trouble, but wanted the
Indians who had refused to surrender to note that the gov-
ernment meant business. Scott was certain that once the In-
dians saw the seriousness of the problem that they would
back down and surrender to the proper authorities.48

Scott also asked that Chee Dodge, who was much re-
spected by the Navahos, and Father Weber contact the In-
dians hiding out and ask them to meet with the general at
Noel's Post. The two men agreed to do what they could to
arrange a meeting.49

The newspapers, usually a day behind the actual happen-
ings, kept the public well informed of the government's part
in the campaign. Father Weber, through his contacts with
the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions, and a member of
the Board of Indian Commissioners, William Ketcham, prob-

47. Telegram, Scott to War Department (copy to Secretary of the Interior to
Staffwar), November 24, 1913.

48. Wilken, op. eft., pp. 263-264 ; Scott, relying on his memory, has noted that
he spoke in Gallup to Weber and Chee Dodge, but fails to mention the others. Scott,
op. cit., pp. 488-489.

49. Scott, op. cit., perhaps depending upon his memory, is extremely hazy about
the details of getting the Navahos in for a conference. He failed to mention asking
Weber and Chee Dodge to contact the Indians, but noted in an off-hand fashion that
"A courier was sent out to the hostiles the next day for them to come in to the store
for a conference." p. 491. Wilken, on the other hand, depending almost wholly on
Weber's notes on the episode, gives, with some notable omissions, the best picture of
the situation at the time.

274 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

ably presented the only picture of the Indian side of the mat-
ter. Ketcham, in turn, relayed his information to the Com-
missioner of Indian Affairs, Cato Sells.50

However, the die had been cast as far as the government
was concerned. The initial letter to U. S. Attorney Somers
Burkhart from Shelton had released a chain of events that
could not be stopped, even by a representative of the Roman
Catholic Church. The machinery of the governmental agen-
cies ground out the telegrams, orders, memorandums, and
minutiae in such large quantities that the individuals caught
in the vortex were powerless to resist. An error in judgment
became technically a minor military campaign. The stage had
been set for the seizure of the stubborn Indians either
through persuasion, threat of force, or direct military action.

Newspaper coverage of the unfolding events may per-
haps be portrayed by noting some of the lurid headlines. One
New Mexican daily reported that . . . "Navajos to Fight;
Renegade Chief Issues Defy to Envoys, ... Be Sho She . . .
Rejects Proposals . . . Agent W. T. Shelton makes final and
unsuccessful effort to pacify infuriated Red men."51 Further
down in the column, beneath the eye-catching upper case
letters, was a small item describing in brief the action taken
by Judge William Pope in the U. S. District Court in Santa
Fe. The three Navahos who had surrendered to Shelton and
Hudspeth had been taken to Santa Fe for trial. In an infor-
mal hearing the judge freed all three. The Indians claimed
that they only had one wife apiece, and that they had been
drawn into the disorder against their will, and in the case of
two of the accused, they were not within two hundred yards
of the incident when it took place. The three were sent back
to the reservation with high praise for Judge Pope.52 This
in complete contrast to the fury and intensity of the news-
paper's banner headlines.

50. Wilken, op. eit., p. 258 and p. 262. Father Weber, due to his close connection
with the Navahos for over fifteen years, was the logical white man to be used as inter-
mediary. Weber understood the Indians and they in turn viewed him with affection.
Ketcham served a dual purpose: he was a member of the Board of Indian Commis-
sioners, and was the Director of the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions.

51. Albuquerque Morning Journal, CXXXX (November 20, 1913), p. 1.

52. Ibid,

NAVAHO REVOLT 275

The newspapers continued their happenstance policy of
delusion, misinformation, and actual incorrect reporting. To
be sure, they made it all sound interesting and exciting, but
at no time did they indicate that the Indians themselves
might have a reason for resisting the attentions of Superin-
tendent Shelton. By the newspapers own words, the Navahos
who had resisted proper authority were prejudged guilty as
charged. One northern New Mexico weekly, El Eco del Norte,
a little over a week behind the actual events, informed its
subscribers . . . "Los Navajoes en su ultima danza en
N. Mex." It then quoted Be-Sho-She, the chief who had re-
sisted the government as saying "No nos rendiremos. Pele-
aremos." The announcement of Be-Sho-She's intention to
fight, the newspaper said, was conveyed to the agency under
a flag of truce.53 These, and other similar accounts by the
newspapers kept the people completely baffled as to what ac-
tually was taking place. In the majority of the cases there
was no sense of civic responsibility, even though, albeit, the
coverage was sensational and heart warming.

In one case the press even played up the "human inter-
est" angle. The cavalry soldiers, as protectors of the frontier
against the savage red men, were given the typical attention
soldiers always receive in times of stress. One Albuquerque
paper wrote that, "Soldiers equipped by experience in pic-
tures, men relied on to Dislodge Navajos from Beautiful Mt.
have seen active service with the Movies." Troops of the 12th
Cavalry, it announced,

. . . had spent the past month at Pine Ridge, South Dakota,
reproducing for the motion pictures some of the famous Indian
battles of the early days under the supervision of Col. William
F. Cody (Buffalo Bill). In the course of taking these pictures
the soldiers were instructed by the chief of the Sioux as to the
best way to 'get' an Indian in battle, and it is expected that
this experience will be valuable to them in the campaign which
they have before them."

53. El Eco del Norte (Mora), VI (December 1, 1913), p. 3. Cf. Ibid., November
24, 1913, p. 1. Translated freely, the Spanish reads: "The Navahos [are] in their last
dance." "We will not surrender ourselves. We will fight."

64. Albuquerque Morning Journal, CXXXX (November 29, 1913) p. 6. Unknown
to the press at the time, and a point that would have drawn extreme adverse pub-

276 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

But back at Gallup, with the unseasonal fifteen day
deluge of rain, the maneuvering continued toward its con-
clusion. On the 25th of November Weber, Chee Dodge, Besh-
lagai, Charlie Mitchel, and Father Norbert Gottbrath were
to leave for the Indian camp to arrange a meeting with Gen-
eral Scott for Wednesday night (the 26th) at Noel's Store.55

According to Wilken, the entire party did not try to reach
the Indians, but most of them remained at Ft. Defiance, with
only Weber, Father Norbert Gottbrath, and Chee Dodge
making the horseback trip across the Chuska range and back
to Noel's Store, arriving there late Wednesday.56 While the
general and his party were on the way to Noel's Store to
await the Indians, Shelton with his entire police force inter-
cepted this group, and requested that an immediate attack
be made on the Indian camp.

Again, depending upon Wilken's use of Father Weber's
notes, it was reported that General Scott refused, "and even
forbad Shelton or his police to accompany him to the store."57
Once at Noel's Store, Indians of the same clan as the leader
of the hiding Navahos were sent out requesting the Navahos
to meet with General Scott at the trading post. They had al-
ready spoken with Major James McLaughlin and Father

licity from citizens in the southwest, was the official record on the 12th Cavalry from
the AGO. According to the War Department Annual Report (1913), the 12th Cavalry
Regiment had the second highest percentage of all desertions in regiments of the
United States Army, and the highest for a cavalry unit. This was perhaps caused by
boredom, interior guard duty under adverse conditions, poor morale because of inac-
tion when other units were on the Mexican border, or general inefficiency of officer
personnel. "Report of the Adjutant General," War Department Annual Report (1913),
I, (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1914), p. 161.

55. Telegram, Weber to Charles H. Lusk, November 25, 1913. Charles H. Lusk
was secretary to William H. Ketcham, Director of the Bureau of Catholic Indian
Missions.

56. Wilken, op. tit., p. 264.

57. Ibid. Wilken refers to Weber's Beautiful Mountain Journal for January,
1914, as well as conversations held between Frank Walker and Weber on details not
witnessed by the Franciscan friar. Walker was General Scott's official interpreter. In
Shelton's "Report on Indian Trouble," to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, he
noted that he met Scott with seven Indian policemen and five older school boys to be
used as interpreters. The Superintendent makes no mention of Scott's refusal to
permit him to accompany him further. W. T. Shelton, "Report on Indian Trouble,"
dated San Juan School, Shiprock, New Mexico, December 15, 1913, p. 13 ; Scott,
op. tit., pp. 490-491, makes no mention of forbidding Shelton and Major McLaughlin
from going with him to meet the Indians. Scott did write that he would not go after
the Indians with soldiers, but wanted to talk first.

NAVAHO REVOLT 277

Weber, but it was hoped that Scott might be more persuasive
in inducing them to give themselves up. Moreover, the troops
were plodding steadily through the mud toward the Indian
hideout.58 The Navahos had everything to win, and even if
they lost they hoped that some sort of a compromise might
save them a long-term imprisonment. They had had ample
precedent to note how Shelton would react. In the Byalille
troubles of October, 1907, Shelton had demanded ten years
for the arrested Indians. If he had his way, or were permitted
in the conference, then the Navaho chances for justice were
nullified. However, Scott had promised that he alone would
deal with the Indians. Obviously believing the words of Chee
Dodge and Father Weber, the Navahos decided to come in
and see what the army officer had to offer.

On Thanksgiving morning there were between seventy-
five and a hundred armed Navahos milling around the trad-
ing post. They had come, not to fight, as their armed appear-
ance might have indicated, but to offer themselves as substi-
tutes in case the accused Indians did not show up for the
meeting. The assembled Navahos had no desire to have the
armed soldiers wage a battle against any Indians.

In the afternoon, indicating that they felt that a meeting
could be very worthwhile to them, all but two of the accused
Navahos came to Noel's Store. Be-Sho-She had brought his
wife and two daughters, as well as four other Indians, but
told the waiting general, through the interpreter, Frank
Walker, that the other two had been hunting in the moun-
tains and they had been unable to notify them in time. Gen-
eral Scott, the host for the conference, served the chief and
his followers mutton. The entire group ate their fill in typical
Thanksgiving over-abundance, then inside of the store began
to talk. During the actual conference, Chee Dodge acted as
Scott's interpreter.59

68. Albuquerque Morning Journal, CXXXX (November 28, 1913), p. 1.

59. Wilken, op. cit., pp. 265-266. This account gives the best description of the
issues discussed, far over-shadowing the meager summation in the newspapers or, for
that matter, the concise results as reported in the official communications. Scott,
op. cit., pp. 492-494, does indicate that he felt that the seventy-five armed Navahos
in and outside Noel's Store were actually on the hostiles' side of the argument. On
this point he differs from Wilken.

278 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

The talks began late Thursday afternoon with Chee
Dodge, with his unusual oratorical abilities, explaining the
general's points to the Navahos. He told them that in no case
were they to take the law into their own hands, and even
though Superintendent Shelton might be in the wrong, they
still had to abide by the laws of the United States. They
had ignored Shelton and his choice that they should go to
court, and the general explained firmly that he had been
sent with the soldiers to make certain that they would go to
the court in Santa Fe. He regretted that he might have to
use the troops, as they would never be able to distinguish
one Indian from another, and would not be able to discrimi-
nate between men and women from a distance. The general
was very much concerned that further resistance would re-
sult in bloodshed, which he hoped to avoid. Chief Be-Sho-She
was convinced, and that evening talked to Chee Dodge, but
insisted that his son was extremely stubborn. Chee Dodge
then spoke to the son and convinced him that further resist-
ance would result in hostilities and, after much talk, the son
agreed. With the two most fervent opponents convinced, the
other men agreed to surrender and arrangements were made
that Thanksgiving night for a final council on Friday
afternoon.

On the next afternoon, with all convinced of the folly
to resist further, the Navahos involved in the matter shook
the general's hand, which indicated to the assembled Navahos
outside the store that the conference had resulted in a peace-
ful solution to the problem at hand. To the waiting Indians
outside it seemed a victory and they were overjoyed and con-
gratulated Scott, Weber, Chee Dodge, and the surrendering
Navahos.60

The terms of the surrender of the Navahos were as mag-
nanimous as Scott could permit. He allowed them to return
to the mountains to get their affairs in order and to find
and bring in the two others who had been hunting. Late

60. Ibid.; Scott, op. cit., seems to have taken the surrender as a matter of
course. He does say (p. 494) that he rode the entire ninety miles from Noel's Store
back to Gallup holding: a blanket around the shoulders of Be-Sho-She, who he was
afraid would catch pneumonia.

NAVAHO REVOLT 279

in the afternoon Scott notified the War Department that the
fracas had ended and peace had been restored.61 Scott and
his party then waited at Noel's Store for the Indians.

On Sunday the Navahos returned and officially sur-
rendered to General Scott. They exacted promises from Chee
Dodge and Father Weber to accompany them to Santa Fe,
and according to Scott and Shelton apologized to the Superin-
tendent of the Shiprock Agency. Wilken, in his excellent sum-
mary of the conference, has by omission failed to record the
apology. Scott, in a letter to Cato Sells said that the Indians
never would have given up without the troops being present.
In this letter he mentions that all the accused apologized to
McLaughlin and Shelton for their conduct. He ended his
letter by stating that the threat to the San Juan Valley had
disappeared.62

The announcement in Washington of the surrender of the
Indians concluded the news blackout that had existed during
the conference at Noel's Store. New Mexican newspapers
went back to their inaccurate reporting of the event, even
going so far in one case as having the Navahos surrender
to Shelton at Toadlena trading post.63 Thursday and Friday
while the meeting was taking place the press had contented
themselves with small statements to the effect that Scott was
treating with the Navahos. Two newspapers told inaccu-
rately of Scott's trip on horseback to the top of Beautiful
Mountain where he conferred with the outlaws.64 The Santa
Fe New Mexican reported that all but two had surrendered
and that the soldiers were searching the mountains for the
remaining two.65 One other inconsistency was the failure to
report the actual number of Navahos who initially came to

61. Memorandum, Scott to Adjutant General's Office, War Department, Novem-
ber 28, 1913. This was sent in the form of a telegram and was delivered at 09:20 a.m.,
Saturday morning in Washington. The official announcement was given out to the
press soon after. Cf. Telegram, Breckenridge [Acting Secretary of War] to Secretary
of Interior Lane, November 29, 1913.

62. Letter, Scott to Sells, December 2, 1913, pp. 1-2 ; Shelton, "Report on Indian
Trouble," December 15, 1913, p. 14 ; Scott, in his Some Memories of a Soldier, men-
tions nothing about the apology.

63. Albuquerque Morning Journal, CXXXX (November 29, 1913), p. 1.

64. New York Times, LXIII (November 28, 1913), p. 1; Albuquerque Morning
Journal, CXXXX (November 29, 1913), p. 1.

65. L (November 29, 1913), p. 1.

280 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

Noel's Store to talk with the general. Some newspapers gave
varying numbers, listing six one time and seven in a later
edition. All press releases did agree that two were out hunt-
ing, but the accuracy of their statements throughout the
coverage of the episode left much room for improvement.

Monday morning, the 1st of December, Scott and his
prisoners began the trek back toward Gallup, where the
prisoners would be placed on a train bound for Santa Fe.
After embracing General Scott the Navahos were placed in
an army ambulance, a horse-drawn wagon, and driven to the
station in Gallup. The troops packed up their field equipment
and gradually, in easy stages, were transported to El Paso
for assignment with the Border Patrol.66

Enroute by Train #19 the captives were viewed in Albu-
querque and reported as "sullen and quiet,"67 but once in
Santa Fe they did not suffer a long confinement prior to
appearing in court. On Wednesday, December 3rd, Federal
Judge William H. Pope opened hearings in the U. S. District
Court. General Scott had sent a report addressed to the
judge, and Chee Dodge and Father Weber were employed
as witnesses for the Navahos. Francis C. Wilson had been
appointed by the court as Special Indian Attorney to protect
and advise the Indians as to their rights in court. Scott's
report recommended clemency, and Chee Dodge and Father
Weber pleaded to Judge Pope that the Navahos did not
understand the laws as applied to them, nor did they appre-
ciate the penalties under the law if they disobeyed. Special
Indian Attorney Wilson stated that Shelton's Indian police-
men had misrepresented the seriousness of the case and
urged that the judge take into consideration the total mis-
understanding between the Navahos and the laws of the
United States.68 He also brought out the point that the

66. Albuquerque Morning Journal, CXXXX (December 3, 1913), p. 3; Ibid.,
(December 4, 1913), p. 8; Shelton, "Report on Indian Trouble," op. cit., p. 14; Wilken,
op. cit., pp. 266-267.

67. Albuquerque Morning Journal, CXXXX (December 4, 1918), p. 8.

68. Wilken, op. cit., p. 267; Albuquerque Morning Journal, CXXXX (December
5, 1913), p. 6. Scott, op. cit., p. 494, noted: "I sent a letter to the judge by Father
Weber, saying he would probably find the four Navahos had been as much sinned
against as sinning, if not more so ;" and to sentence them, if Judge Pope had to, to
the jail in Gallup. In 1916, Scott asked Be-Sho-She to serve him as his mediator and

NAVAHO REVOLT 281

inflammatory publicity accorded the incident had been mag-
nified quite beyond its actual purported danger.

The next morning when court was called into session,
with the room filled to overflowing with interested partici-
pants, Pope scolded the Navahos in a fatherly manner and
passed judgment on the eight subdued prisoners.

By their very leniency the sentences imposed on the
"infuriated Redmen" were anti-climactic. Be-Sho-She and one
other received thirty days, five stood up and heard the schol-
arly jurist give them ten days, and one Indian was freed
outright. The eight Navahos, the Judge intoned, were to
serve their terms in the Gallup jail, near to their homes and
relatives.69 After sentencing, the joyful Navahos personally
thanked the judge and promised to obey the laws. They were
remanded to Deputy Marshal Baca, and together with Chee
Dodge and Father Weber, embarked on Santa Fe Train #7
for Gallup. There they were confined for the period of their
sentences, causing no trouble whatsoever. The "revolt" had
been quashed and the "guilty" sentenced, but the snowball
that had gradually gathered force throughout the previous
weeks would not stop rolling.

Although the newspapers had prejudged the Navahos
long before they were willing to surrender, and had labeled
them "savages," "rebels," "renegades," and other highly un-
complimentary terms, certain persons were not through with
the episode. Citizens of Gallup wanted Ft. Wingate re-garri-
soned. They admitted their delight that the troops had been
called from Ft. Robinson, Nebraska, but insisted that the

go-between in the disturbance of the Paiutes in Utah. Be-Sho-She, despite his age
and the distance involved, trusted Scott sufficiently to do his bidding. Scott, op. cit.,
p. 534.

69. This is but another example of the confused reporting on the case. Wilken,
quoting from the Albuquerque Morning Journal, CXXXX (December 5, 1913), p. 6,
and using the newspaper's figures for the term of sentence for the Navahos in the
Gallup jail, has stated that ". . . Jail sentences ranged from ten to thirty days deten-
tion," when the press actually reported the figure as fifteen days for five Indians,
thirty for two, and one freed. Wilken, op. cit., p. 267. In a telegram, located in R. G. 75,
National Archives, Weber to W. H. Ketcham, sent from Santa Fe on December 4,
1913, Weber reported the results of the trial: one freed, two received thirty days Gal-
lup jail, and five sentenced to ten days. Shelton results, about which he was also very
much concerned, corresponded with the numbers of Weber ; Tom Dale released, two
sentenced to thirty days, and five to ten days. Wilken has erred in the figure of hia
source, but has actually given the correct number.

282 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

dispatch of soldiers from one area of the country to another
was too slow a process. In case of a future disorder the
Indians could raid and run and be gone before any military
forces could take the field against them. Armed with the
righteousness of a just cause they circulated petitions
throughout Gallup requesting the re-establishment of Ft.
Wingate by the War Department.70 The petition was turned
down by the Washington authorities.

In the nation's capital there was unfinished business in
the Office of Indian Affairs. Cato Sells, or his secretary, had
had numerous offers from well-intended personages who
were willing to function as mediators in the Navaho dis-
orders. They all professed great knowledge of the American
Indian, having served in North Dakota, the Hudson Bay
region of Canada, or in the Pacific Northwest. The Commis-
sioner wrote them polite regrets that their services would
not be required, and thanked them formally for their patri-
otic interest in the matter.71

There was also the responsibility of the Department of
the Interior to properly thank those officials involved in sub-
duing the Navahos. There were inter-office and inter-depart-
mental memoranda that when scanned in bulk seemed like a
mutual admiration society. Each official thanked every other
official, regardless of rank or the part played in the closing
of the campaign.72

With congratulations being offered it would have been
quite expected to find one addressed to Father Weber and
Chee Dodge, who did quite as much in getting the Navahos

70. Albuquerque Morning Journal, CXXXX (December 1, 1913) p. 4. After
March 19, 1913, Fort Wingate had not been occupied by military personnel. One care-
taker was employed to turn away vandals and to keep the buildings in good repair.
"Report of the Southern Department," War Department Annual Report (1913), III,
(Washington: Government Printing Office, 1914), p. 68.

71. Letter, Sidney B. Wood to Commissioner of Indian Affairs, November 19,
1913; letter, Sells to Wood, New York City, November 24, 1913; letter F. H. M. V.
Allierleppleby to Commissioner of Indian Affairs, November 20, 1913 ; letter. Sells to
Allierleppleby, Tacoma, Washington, December 5, 1913.

72. Telegram, Sells to Scott, December 2, 1913 ; telegram, Sells to McLaughlin,
December 6, 1913 ; Shelton, "Report on Indian Trouble," December 15, 1913, p. 19 ;
Albuquerque Morning Journal, CXXXX (December 4, 1913), p. 8; letter, Woodrow
Wilson to Scott, December 16, 1913, Scott, op. cit., p. 633.

NAVAHO REVOLT 283

to the council with General Scott as any other two men.
There appears to be, however, no official recognition for
their services, and, according to Wilken, who concentrated
on the activities of Father Weber, none was offered. It is
known that the Indians themselves offered their thanks to
the Franciscan and to Chee Dodge. It is certain that General
Scott and Major McLaughlin felt extreme gratitude for
Weber's services, but strangely enough, there are no tele-
grams or letters from the Department of Interior, Bureau of
Indian Affairs, attesting to his participation in the conclu-
sion of the fiasco. In the Interior Department's Annual Re-
port, in the section devoted to San Juan, there is but brief
mention of the incident. The story was condensed to the use
of forces under Brigadier-General Scott, who persuaded the
Navahos to surrender, conveyed them for trial to Santa Fe,
and concluded the orders successfully by the avoidance of
bloodshed.73 According to Wilken, William Ketcham was very
upset when no official credit was given Father Weber for the
active part played by the Franciscan in the trouble. He was
further miffed when a nominal claim was submitted to the
government for expenses incurred while traveling for the
Indian Service,74 and the funds were not made available until
ten months after the episode had been concluded.

Both Fathers Ketcham and Weber should have been close
enough in dealing with governmental officials to understand
the extreme caution and exceptional slowness in the process-
ing of a financial claim against the government, even though
authorized. Channelizing claim #255892 through the various
agencies, with all the proper endorsements, called for pa-
tience and an understanding of the bureaucratic procedures
so dear to all members of a huge government agency. In the
case of Weber's claim, the original forms were not properly
executed. There is a memorandum from the Treasury De-
partment, dated August 6, 1914, that Weber's claim wasn't
certified by an Indian agent. The Department of the Treas-

73. Annual Report (1913), from R. G. 75, Doc. #Ed.-Law & Order, 120395-13,
FRA, dated July 11. 1914, pp. 1-2.

74. Wilken, op. cit., p. 268.

284 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

ury therefore needed further details (from the Department
of the Interior) before going ahead with the matter.75

This Treasury Department memorandum was duly pro-
cessed through the proper channels until it finally came to
the attention of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Cato
Sells. In a memorandum to the Auditor for the Interior De-
partment he reviewed Weber's claim #255892 and expressed
the official opinion that the claim should be paid by the gov-
ernment. In neither the Treasury Department's memo to
Sells nor Sells' official approval of the claim is there any
mention of the sum. The actual figure is supplied by Father
Wilken as totaling $46.20, "which covered only the expenses
for the first trip to Beautiful Mountain."76 A point to be
noted, which obviously was not considered by the unworldly
Father Weber, and should have been attended to by the mem-
ber of the Board of Indian Commissioners, and Director of
the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions, Father William
Ketcham, a claim should have been submitted for the entire
amount. Father Ketcham should have been sufficiently wise
due to his one connection with a governmental agency to
understand such procedures. Yet Wilken petulantly criticizes
the niggardly response of the United States Government to
the great services contributed by Father Anselm Weber.77

The position of Superintendent Shelton as a key figure
in the Indian disorder was extremely controversial. The
Farmington Enterprise was against the agent, as were cer-
tain other individuals. There is one testimonial in the form
of a letter from Howard and Eva Antes, written to Miss
Floretta C. Manaul, from the Navaho Faith Mission at
Aneth, Utah. Howard Antes berates Shelton for causing him
to be driven away from his home on the reservation. An accu-
sation, backed up he said by Acting Commissioner of Indian
Affairs, F. H. Abbott, was for "trespassing," and in Mr.
Abbott's judgment "a detriment to the peace and welfare
of the Indians." Antes, he admitted himself, did not have a

75. Memorandum, Treasury Department to Commissioner of Indian Affairs,
August 6, 1914.

76. Memorandum, Sells to the Auditor for the Interior Department, August 29.
1914, p. 12 ; Wilken, op. cit., p. 268.

77. Wilken, op. cit., p. 268.

NAVAHO REVOLT 285

permit to buy sheep, and was hailed into Federal Court in
Salt Lake City to answer the charges. Shelton didn't appear
as a witness, so the trial was postponed. Antes also charged
Shelton with brutal treatment of the Indians, and said he
had heard that he beat the Indian boys and girls. He was
also very much concerned about a small Indian boy that he
had taken into his home, without, he concurred, proper adop-
tion papers. Shelton caused him to leave the boy on the reser-
vation, causing Antes and his wife great mental anguish.
Antes did mention, but only in passing, that Shelton's police-
men had carried off three polygamous wives and that the
Indians had rescued them.78

Flora Warren Seymour, in describing Major McLaugh-
lin's brief tour of duty in New Mexico, notes rather briefly
that "... a Navajo agent, overly zealous in the suppression
of polygamy, got into some trouble with his charges."79 This
statement does not presuppose that the author knew or un-
derstood the exact details of the case in question, but does
give the general impression, found in other secondary works,
that Shelton failed to use good judgment.

On the other hand, there is other "proof" that Shelton's
over-all actions as Superintendent of the Shiprock Agency
were not viewed with alarm. The Indian Rights Association
stated that "Mr. Shelton's success at Shiprock is a matter
of pride to all the superintendents in that section of the
country, . . . for he has the gifts of comradeship as well as
dauntless courage and great ability."80 This praise was given
to Shelton following the conclusion of the troubles at Ship-
rock, and in spite of the fact that in 1907 the Indian Rights
Association had opposed Shelton's participation in the Bya-
lille affair.

78. Letter, Howard R. and Eva S. Antes to Miss Floretta S. Manaul, Navaho
Faith Mission, Aneth, Utah, October 14, 1913, pp. 1-6. Antes, as previously noted, had
accused Shelton in 1907, but retracted his charges. Cf. Report on Employment of
United States soldiers in arresting By-a-lil-le and other Navajo Indians, op. eft., p. 4.
The previous trouble between Antes and Shelton may account for the obvious dislike
felt for Shelton and expressed in the letter to Miss ManauL

79. Flora Warren Seymour, Indian Agents of the Old Frontier (New York:
D. Appleton-Century Co., 1941), p. 316. Cf. Clyde Kluckhohn and Dorothea Leighton,
The Navajo (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1947), p. 101.

80. The Thirty-first Annual Report of the Executive Committee of the Indian
Rights Association, for the Year Ending Dec. 10, ISIS. (Philadelphia: Office of the
Indian Rights Association, 1914), p. 15.

286 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

The Dictionary of American Biography gives Secretary
of the Interior Lane a clean bill of health, which might per-
mit one to draw the conclusion that the Office of Indian
Affairs was operating in a sane and humane manner. The
writer stated that "the objective of his (Lane's) Indian Pol-
icy was the release of every Indian from the guardianship
of the government as soon as he gave evidence of his ability
to care for his own affairs." There was also the comment that
Lane had firsthand information on Indian affairs as he him-
self visited many of the reservations.81

Eleven days after Judge Pope sentenced the seven Nava-
hos in Santa Fe to the Gallup jail, Superintendent Shelton
submitted his own report to the Commissioner of Indian
Affairs. It was dated San Juan School, Shiprock, New Mex-
ico, December 15, 1913. It ran a full nineteen typewritten
pages and from his point of view gave ample justification for
the attitude and actions taken by him in reducing the Indians
to proper authority. In contrast to snap judgments, or indi-
cations that he was overly concerned about polygamy among
his charges, Shelton wrote that instead of forcing the In-
dians to give up all wives but one, he had permitted those
that had more than one wife to keep them, but no Navahos
were to take additional ones.82

The agent went into the history of the agency, and ex-
plained to a commissioner who should have been aware of
the conditions, that in 1903 he found many Indians living
with two, three and even four wives. They often married
widows, then took over the widow's daughters. In case of
outright assaults or rape the Indian family to whom the
guilty was related then took up a collection of livestock or
gifts, and paid off the injured girl's family.83

On page three Shelton wrote that he found the agency

81. Oliver McKee, Jr., "Franklin Knight Lane," Dictionary of American Biogra-
phy (21 vols. New York: Charles Scribners' Sons, 1928-1944), X (1933), p. 573.

82. Shelton, "Report on Indian Trouble," op. cit., p. 2.

88. Ibid. It was interference on the part of Superintendent Reuben Perry of the
Ft. Defiance Agency that ultimately resulted in the sentencing: of seven Navahos to
serve from one to two years at hard labor in the federal prison at Alcatraz. Later
removed to Ft. Huachuca, Arizona, because of ill health, they were pardoned. The
"trial" of the Indians was conducted by Perry and the sentence was approved by the
Secretary of the Interior, James Rudolph Garfield.

NAVAHO REVOLT 287

rife with bootlegging, whiskey and gambling in every trad-
ing post and in the hogans. He claimed that he had taken over
two bushels of cards away from the Navahos in two years
time. The report went on in the theme of righteous indigna-
tion. He related the punishments for drunkenness, and
gradually worked into the difficulties he had had with cer-
tain Navahos. One of them, Be-sho-she, was opposed to
dipping his sheep and ran counter to Shelton in sending
his children to the agency school, to which, Shelton claimed,
he did not object. Pages seven and eight of the report deal
with the actual incident at the agency when the eleven
Navahos came and retrieved the three Indian wives. Pages
nine to fourteen describe the action taken by Shelton and
others to induce the accused Navahos to surrender to proper
authority.

It is, however, the last five pages of the report that indi-
cate the actual distaste Shelton felt for the whole affair.
He was frankly disgusted with the way the trial had turned
out, and equally outspoken in regard to the earlier three who
had first surrendered. All of them, he claimed, were or should
have been under indictment for horse stealing or other
crimes. Shelton described, almost in anguish, how several of
the Navahos were let off in Santa Fe without any witnesses
being called on other charges. He mentioned two Indians,
who had been among the original three discharged in Santa
Fe, as being involved in horse stealing and rape. These two,
and none of the others, were never brought to court for their
crimes, although he insisted there were sufficient witnesses to
prosecute. Shelton thought that the publicized trial in Santa
Fe was no trial at all, and nothing but a farce. He felt
strongly that the agent's authority would suffer, and that
conditions would be worse, not better.84

The Superintendent again made a request that the num-
ber of Navaho policemen be reduced from twelve to eight,
but that he be permitted to choose the very best eight for
employment. The initial request had been filed August 17,
1911, but at that time the request had been denied. He also

84. Shelton, "Report on Indian Trouble," op. cit., pp. 14-19.

288 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

asked that the eight, if the permission was granted, be
permitted higher salaries.85

Shelton concluded his report by praising Major James
McLaughlin and suggesting that the commissioner discuss
the report with McLaughlin. He stated that he had always
done the best he could for the Indians, but that he needed
the support of the Office.86 What he intended to write, but
was unable to do so, was to say that he needed more support
and backing.

Interesting, but perhaps not conclusive, are several
trends that make themselves known through the letters, tele-
grams, newspapers, memoranda and other materials relative
to the abortive Navaho revolt. Once the incident of the free-
ing of the wives had taken place, and Shelton had called for
aid through representatives of the United States Department
of Justice in Santa Fe, the events that followed were beyond
recall. Shelton, to all effects, may in all certainty be charged
as lacking in good judgment, but when one considers the
righteous nature of the agent it is not (when viewed in
retrospect) unforeseen that he should have acted as he did.
This may account for his hasty action in the case of the
Navahos abusing the authority of Shelton's Indian police.
It may also have been the tiny straw that broke the camel's
back, in the latter case, Shelton's. Although the pressures
may have caused him to call for total submission of the ac-
cused Navahos, they do not excuse the means employed.

Also noted is the devious presentation of the govern-
ment's case against the accused. Except for Father Anselm
Weber, who indirectly through the Bureau of Catholic In-
dian Missions in Washington tried to give a different picture
of the crisis, there was no publisher who sought out the
Indian side. Wire service to the newspapers came from locali-
ties that received their information, limited as it may have
been, from representatives of the government.

The original information, whether distorted at the
source, was, when printed in the newspapers, almost totally
inaccurate. It is doubtful that one could go through each

85. Ibid., p. 18.

86. Ibid., p. 19.

NAVAHO REVOLT 289

individual case where the newspapers falsified the facts and
accuse them of actual intent, but the results of the printing
of lurid, inciting, and one-sided reporting served the same
purpose. Confusion worst confounded was the order of the
day, and this inaccuracy of detail regarding the 1913 "rebel-
lion" has persisted to the present day. In a short article
published in 1935, one magazine gave its version of the
episode. Entitled "Indian Rebellion," with italics by the
present author to indicate the major errors of fact, the
article reads as follows :

The last organized Indian rebellion occurred in November,
1913, in the Beautiful Mountain country of the Navajo reser-
vation. Conditions got so bad that the government ordered the
late General Hugh L. Scott to Beautiful Mountain with a
regiment from Fort Bliss. All efforts to arrest the ring leaders
had been unsuccessful, and 1,000 tribesmen defied the officers
to come and get them.

General Scott prosecuted his campaign with subtle
strategy. He asked for a pow-wow, and arranged to have it
located within sight of the great military field camp. The gen-
eral was exceedingly friendly and left the purpose of his visit
for later discussion.

Finally succumbing to the general's hospitality the chiefs
became interested in the equipment, especially the field cannon.
That was all the general needed. He offered to give them a
demonstration and even allowed the head men to pick out the
targets, — and the crack marksmen did the rest.

The demonstration was so convincing that when the gen-
eral finally got around to the subject of their giving up the
fugitives who were wanted by the government they agreed and
signed a new treaty of peace.

Among the leaders of the rebellion who were arrested was
a 100-year old leader who had been through many wars,
Be-Sho-She.87

87. "Indian Rebellion," New Mexico, XIII (February 1935), p. 51.

THE MORMON COLONIES IN CHIHUAHUA
AFTER THE 1912 EXODUS

By ELIZABETH H. MILLS

(Concluded)

The Colonies and the Punitive Expedition

From 1912 until the arrival of the United States troops
in Colonia Dublan in March, 1916, the Mormon colonists had
been subjected to the demands and requisitions of revolu-
tionary bands and Red Flaggers who frequented the region,
for the settlements of the thrifty Mormons were a conven-
ient source of supply. There was no established government
in the region to which the colonists could appeal for justice
or protection. The country was controlled by changing revo-
lutionary leaders to whom taxes were paid and upon whom
the Mormons had to rely for a doubtful protection. Thus
the presence of the United States troops promised a peace
and security unknown in the colonies since the days of Diaz.

On March 15, 1916, when Pershing and his troops crossed
the border into Mexico south of Columbus, New Mexico, in
pursuit of Villa, several Mormons who had lived in the Mexi-
can colonies were acting as guides.1 At Pershing's request
Mr. P. H. Hurst, the Mormon Bishop in El Paso, had recom-
mended as scouts seven Mormons who knew northern Mexico
and were familiar with the Mexican people and the Spanish
language. Two of these men, Lemuel Spillsbury and Dave
Brown, were later cited for their ability and bravery in their
service with the American Punitive Expedition.

On his arrival at Dublan on March 18, Pershing was
greeted by Bishop Call, who presented him with eggs, cheese
and ham from the Mormon farms to supplement the army
rations; and together they called on the commander of the
Carranza garrison at Nuevo Casas Grandes. Joseph C. Bent-
ley, president of the Mormon colonies, expressed to Pershing
the gratitude of the Mormon colonists as well as that of

1. New York Times, March 16, 1916.

290

MORMONS IN CHIHUAHUA 291

Joseph F. Smith, president of the Mormon Church in Salt
Lake City. However, when Pershing asked for more Mormon
scouts to guide his columns, Bishop Call at first hesitated,
fearing that the Mexicans might resent such action, but the
pressing need of scouts who knew the country and who spoke
Spanish overcame his objections.2

The camp of the United States Punitive Expedition, sit-
uated on both sides of the Casas Grandes River just north
of Colonia Dublan, became the permanent base for the ten
thousand troops3 sent into Mexico to capture Villa. The tents
of the soldiers, which were easily blown down by the wind
storms of the region, were soon replaced by brush houses
or by cooler and more substantial huts made of adobe brick
which the Mormons made and sold to the troops. Food and
merchandise were sold to the soldiers and Mormons secured
licenses to set up stores within the camp. There was a period
of prosperity in the colonies, for the Mormons were well
paid for their produce. Although liquor was sold to the sol-
diers, there were no Mormons connected with the traffic. In
fact the Mormons were shocked at the behavior of the Amer-
ican troops over whose morals little control was exercised in
the first weeks. Conditions improved, however, when a sec-
tion was set aside for camp followers and medical inspec-
tions were required.4 Bishop Call expressed the anxiety of
the Mormons over the behavior of the American troops when
he said:

We who expect to remain in Mexico after the troops are
out are watching this movement and its results. If the Ameri-
can troops leave a good impression on the minds of the
Mexicans, we can remain with safety after the soldiers go.
We are watching for what we hope they will not do with
almost as much interest as things they are accomplishing.

We hope for example that they will not laugh at the
Mexicans whom they may see. If they laugh at the Mexicans,
especially the Mexican soldiers, we Americans who remain in
Mexico will sooner or later in some manner pay for this injury
to national pride.

2. R. J. Reed, The Mormons in Chihuahua, rP- 25-30.

3. War Department Annual Report, 1916, Vol. I, p. 31.

4. Reed, op. cit., pp. 31-33.

292 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

Some of the Mexican soldiers are small boys. I know of
one from here who was only 11 years old. Sometimes these
boys do not cut a very good military figure on account of their
youth and bare feet. But they do not like to be laughed at by
American soldiers, and their commanders object to having fun
poked at their men. If the American troops going through
Mexico treat the Mexicans with consideration in the small
things the first big step will have been made toward establish-
ing cordial relations between the Mexicans and Americans.
Without this care for little things our expedition runs the
risk of not accomplishing much.

The army officers are trying to get the soldiers to show
the Mexicans the consideration which will go so far toward
establishing friendly relations in this country. The Americans
must also pay their way as they go, which they are doing.
An army which pays as it goes will make a deep impression
for good on this country. The Mexicans have been accustomed
to receiving payment in depreciated money, sometimes no pay-
ment at all. When they are paid in American dollars and when
they discover the value of such money, they are bound to wish
for American money to come back into their country after the
army leaves, and that will furnish the American commercial
opportunity.

Business men can come into this country after the troops
are out if they have left a good impression, as they are trying
to do, and will be welcome. The Mexicans will try to seek that
market which pays them in the same dollar they received
from the American army.5

The Mormons of Dublan and Juarez, besides selling
their limited produce, found employment with the United
States Army, for there was much construction work to be
done in establishing the camp while the soldiers were occu-
pied with their training. In addition to the Mormons who
were living in the colonies, many who had left in 1912 and
were living near the border in New Mexico, Arizona and
Texas returned to the colonies to work for the army. Others
who returned to the colonies at this time were engaged in
repair work on the houses and buildings in the Mormon
settlements, for rumors that the United States might take
over northern Mexico brought renewed interest in the f u-

5. The New York Times, March 26, 1916.

MORMONS IN CHIHUAHUA 293

ture of the Mormon colonies.6 As the Carranza government
refused to allow the United States army to use the Mexican
Northwestern Railroad to ship supplies,7 all food and equip-
ment for the expeditionary forces had to be trucked into
Dublan from Columbus, New Mexico, over more than one
hundred miles of rough, sandy road which required con-
stant repair to keep it in condition. In places the road was
six feet below the level of the surrounding country, where it
had been cut deeper as chuck holes developed, but north of
Dublan several miles of the road was improved with a caliche
surfacing. Over the washes were constructed wooden bridges
which the Mexicans tore out for firewood after the United
States troops left.8 Although the United States army was
not officially allowed to use the Mexican Northwestern Rail-
road, Carranza suggested that supplies be shipped to civilian
consignees for the army.9 Acting as consignees for the
United States troops was a profitable business for the Mor-
mon merchants who took advantage of the opportunity.10
Warehouses were erected to store supplies for the army,
corrals were constructed for the horses of the cavalry, and
even a bull ring was built for the recreation of the American
soldiers, who, however, were not enthusiastic about the
sport. In all these construction, trucking and road building
activities the Mormon men were employed while their fami-
lies attended to the farming.11

As the United States troops penetrated farther south in
pursuit of Villa, the hostility of the Mexicans of both the
Villa and the Carranza factions became more pronounced.
There were clashes between the United States troops and
the Mexicans, in which casualties on both sides were re-

6. Statement by Mr. E. Abegg, personal interview, June, 1950 (at Tucson) and
Tucson Citizen, Dec. 24, 1915, Jan. 26, 1916.

7. Foreign Relations, 1916, p. 512. Some use of the railroad was made when the
United States troops first moved from Colonia Dublan, Major E. L. N. Glass, ed.,
1866 — History of the 10th Cavalry — 1916, p. 70 (Tucson, Arizona: Acme Printing Co.,
1931).

8. Statement by Mr. Eli Abegg, personal interview, June, 1950.

9. Foreign Relations, 1916, pp. 503-4.

10. Statement by Mr. Eli Abegg, personal interview, June, 1950.

11. Reed, op. cit., pp. 31-32.

294 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

ported, while the Carranza government requested the with-
drawal of American troops.12 In April United States troops
were fired upon at Parral, and a few days later the column
led by Major Howze, for whom Dave Brown, a Mormon,
acted as scout and interpreter, was warned not to enter the
town as anti-American feeling was strong.13 In June a Negro
soldier of the United States forces at Dublan was captured
and held prisoner for several hours by the Carranza garrison
at Casas Grandes until Pershing threatened to attack the
town if the prisoner were not released.14 While Carranza
representatives at the conference at New London, Connecti-
cut, were demanding the withdrawal of United States troops
from Mexico, the unfriendly attitude of the Casas Grandes
garrison of Carranza troops alarmed the Mormon colonists.15
Anti-American sentiment was increased by the battle at
Carrizal in which the Mormon scout, Lemuel Spillsbury,
played a leading part. Although Pershing had been warned
by the Mexicans to move his troops only to the north, a
column of colored troops was sent east toward Villa Ahu-
mada under the command of Lieutenant Charles T. Boyd
with the Mormon, Lemuel Spillsbury, as guide and inter-
preter. At Carrizal on June 21, the Carranza officer in
charge of the garrison informed Boyd that he had orders
not to allow American troops to go through the town. Boyd
insisted on marching through the town although Spillsbury
advised him that the Mexicans would fight and that it would
be just as easy to go around the town. When the Americans
were drawn up in battle formation, the Mexican troops
opened fire. Two of the three American officers, including
Boyd and his second in command and seven enlisted men
were killed; the third officer with the expedition was seri-
ously wounded. Spillsbury, who then took command, contin-
ued toward the town until his men were outflanked, when he
order a retreat to the horses; but, as the horses had been

12. Foreign Relations. 1916, pp. 603-4.

13. Ibid., pp. 513-14.

14. New York Times. June 21, 1916.

15. Reed, op. eft., p. 86.

MORMONS IN CHIHUAHUA 295

stampeded and the troopers guarding them had fled, Spills-
bury surrendered with his remaining forces. He was able to
convince the Mexican commander that he and his men should
not be shot, but taken as prisoners. On June 29, 1916, they
were released from prison in Chihuahua City where they
had been held and sent out to El Paso.16 From Mexico City
came the report of a statement in which Spillsbury criticized
the American position, for he was reported to have said that
the trouble at Carrizal was due to Boyd's failure to retire
as he had been requested to do. Spillsbury was also quoted as
having said that he had accepted employment with Pershing
to help catch Villa, but when he saw that the Americans
were likely to cause trouble with the Mexicans, among whom
he had many friends, he tried to leave, but Pershing refused
to release him.17

During the months that the American soldiers remained
at Dublan, relations were cordial between the troops and the
Mormon colonists. On Christmas Day, 1916, despite a blind-
ing wind and sand storm, several Mormons from Dublan
attended the holiday festivities at the American Headquar-
ters.18 When the American troops left Dublan the last of
January, 1917, Pershing remained until the last refugees
had departed, for Villa was reported to be in the neighbor-
hood ready to advance on Casas Grandes and Dublan, and
it was thought that the troops sent by General Obregon to
augment the garrison at Casas Grandes would not be able
to hold out against attacks from Villa.19 Fear that the Mexi-
can Northwestern Railroad might be set upon between
Dublan and Ciudad Juarez by Villista bands prevented many
Mormon refugees from fleeing by train ; instead they joined
the column following the United States Army north to Co-
lumbus, New Mexico.20 Besides the Mormon settlers and
other Americans, Mexicans and Chinese, on foot, on horse-

16. Ibid., pp. 66-70 and War Department Annual Report, 1916, Vol. I, p. 279.

17. New York Times, June 29, 1916.

18. Reed, op. cit., pp. 33-34.

19. Deming Headlight, Vol. 35, Feb. 21, 1917 ; tnd The Arizona Daily Star, Jan.
27, 1917.

20. The Tucson Citizen, Jan. 31, 1917.

296 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

back or muleback, in cars, in trucks, and in covered wagons
formed the line of refugees accompanying the army.21 By
February 5, 1917, the last troops of the Punitive Expedition
had left Mexico, but regardless of rumors of the proximity
of bands of Villistas, a few of the Mormons who had lived
in the colonies during the preceding revolutionary period
decided to remain ; eight stayed in Colonia Juarez and three
in Colonia Dublan.22 Family difficulties and separations com-
plicated by earlier Mormon plural marriages occurred at
this time; some branches of families remained in Mexico
while others migrated to the United States, for though
polygamy as an institution had been abolished by the Mor-
mons in Mexico in 1904,23 the family relationships which
resulted had of necessity continued.24

The Colonies After 1917

For almost a year the Mormon colonists had enjoyed a
period of peace and prosperity under the protection of the
United States troops stationed at Colonia Dublan, but the
failure of the Punitive Expedition to capture Villa, in part
due to the hostile attitude of the Carranza government, and
the prospect of United States participation in the European
war led to the recall of the Expedition from Mexico. Again
the Mormon colonists were to rely on their own ability to
remain at peace with the bands of Villistas who were active
in the region.

After the United States troops had withdrawn from
Colonia Dublan and northern Mexican, Villista bands were
reported to have occupied both Colonia Juarez and Colonia
Dublan, but no damage was done in the colonies.1 A week
later near Hachita, New Mexico, three Mormon cowboys,
who had left the Mexican colonies in 1912 and were working

21. The Arizona Daily Star, Jan. 30, 1917.

22. Statement by Mr. C. Bowman, letter August 8, I960 (of Colonia Dublan).

23. Moises T. de la Pena, "Extranjeros y Tarahumares en Chihuahua," in Migruel
Othon de Mendizabal, Obras Completas, Vol. I, p. 228 (Mexico, D. F. : Los Talleres
Graflcos de la Naci6n, Tolso y Enrico Martinez, 1947).

24. Reed, op. cit., p. 37.

1. The Arizona Daily Star, Feb. 0, 1917 and statement of Mr. C. Bowman, letter,
August 8, 1950 (of Colonia Dublan).

MORMONS IN CHIHUAHUA 297

near the border, were taken from their ranch into Mexico
where they were shot by the Mexican raiders.2 On February
24, federal troops under General Jose Carlos Murguia were
sent to reinforce the Casas Grandes garrison when Villistas
raided and looted the town of Pearson a few miles south of
Colonia Juarez.3 However, by September of 1917, the Mor-
mons in Dublan felt that rebel and bandit activities had
subsided enough to permit the men to go to Garcia, one of
the mountain colonies, to put in the fall crops. But in 1918,
Villa was again on the move and making requisitions on the
colonists.

Most people feel the pincers of the tax collector once a
year but the Mormon colonists in Chihuahua, Mexico, not only
pay the federal government the regular tax, but hand over
any available surplus to Villa and his band of expert and law-
less collectors now and then. When Villa needs more money
he swoops down on the defenseless colonists and takes it.
If the money is not forthcoming he kidnaps some wealthy and
influential citizen and holds him for ransom. If the amount is
not secured in time, he kills the citizen by way of warning for
the future.4

Though no Mormons were killed by Villa bands, in October
1918 two Mormon colonists were taken prisoners near Villa
Ahumada and held one week for ransom.5 In 1919 the United
States Department of State requested the Mexican govern-
ment to rescue two Mormons who had been captured by
Villistas.*

As dissatisfaction with Carranza's policies throughout
Mexico increased, rebels and Villistas became more active in
Chihuahua. In June of 1919 the federal commander at Casas
Grandes advised the withdrawal of the six hundred and
thirty Mormons in the district until federal troops could
be sent to protect them, but the Mormons did not consider
the danger great enough to force them to leave their homes.7

2. New York Times, Feb. 16, 1917.

8. Tucson Citizen, Feb. 24, 1917.

4. T. C. Romney, Mormon Colonies in Mexico, p. 246.

B. Foreign Relations, 1919, Vol. II, p. 566.

6. New York Times, March 19, 1919.

7. New York Times, June 22, 1919.

298 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

At the request of the United States Department of State
additional federal troops were sent to Casas Grandes to in-
sure the protection of the Mormon colonists.8 However, with
the election of Obregon to the presidency in 1920 and Villa's
retirement from banditry to become an hacendado, peace
and prosperity returned to Chihuahua and the Mormon colo-
nies, although Colonia Diaz had been permanently aban-
doned. In 1921, the five colonies of Chuichupa, Garcia,
Pacheco, Juarez, and Dublan with a total population of eight
hundred and sixteen Mormons were again prospering, crops
were good and the colonists were hopeful for the future. In
1924 the first cheese factory was established in Colonia
Dublan, and the apple crop was becoming increasingly
important.9

In 1929 the Escobar revolution, allied with the Cristero
movement,10 had little effect on the Mormon colonies, al-
though General Jose Escobar's army, defeated at Jimenez,
retreated northward through Casas Grandes and Pulpito
Pass to Sonora, pursued by General Jesus M. Almazan and
his federal troops.11 Near the Dublan a minor engagement
took place at Mai Pais, but no damage was done in the colo-
nies.12 However, an award of twenty thousand dollars was
made to Jesse J. Simpson, a ranch owner near Casas Grandes
and Dublan, by the American Claims Commission for horses
and livestock destroyed or carried away by federal forces.13

The depression of the early 1930's did not adversely af-
fect the Mormon colonists, who were largely self-sufficient,
for, as one colonist remarked, times had always been hard in
the Mormon colonies.14 In 1938 the colonies were enjoying
a period of prosperity as Romney indicates.

8. Foreign Relations, 1919, Vol. II, p. 571.

9. Romney, op. cit., pp. 250-55.

10. The Escobar revolution was an unsuccessful attempt by discontented generals
to contest the election of Pascual Ortiz Rubio as president. Cristero support was gained
by promising repeal of Calles' religious laws. Nathaniel and Sylvia Weyl, The Recon-
quest of Mexico, pp. 87-94 (London, New York, Toronto: Oxford University Press,
1939).

11. Foreign Relations, 1929, VoL III, p. 423.

12. Statement by Mr. C. Bowman, letter, August, 1950.
18. American Mexican Claims Commission, pp. 553-5.

14. Statement by Mr. M. I. Turley, personal interview, April, 1950 (of Pacheco,
at Chihuahua).

MORMONS IN CHIHUAHUA 299

At the present time the colonies are at peace and the
people abiding there are enjoying a period of prosperity per-
haps not excelled since the evacuation in 1912. Five of the
original colonies in Chihuahua have been re-occupied. . . .
The total population of all the settlements amounts to slightly
few over twelve hundred. The principal sources for a livelihood
are to be found in the soil and the livestock, though some
manufacturing is carried on, such as lumber and shingles,
cannery and leather goods and cheese. Several splendid mer-
cantile establishments are owned and operated by efficient
business men of the several colonies.15

With the coining of World War II, the younger Mormons
who were American citizens returned to the United States to
register for the draft. Seventy young men served in the
United States forces,16 while others with families worked in
essential industries. After the war some families returned to
the colonies, but more remained in the United States, largely
due to economic conditions, with the result that the number
of colonists declined from the one thousand reported in 1945
to an estimated six hundred and fifty in 1950.17 The popula-
tion of the colonies fluctuates as colonists come to the United
States to work for a year or two on highway or construction
projects, and return to the colonies when the project is fin-
ished. Others who have land planted in orchards which are
not yet bearing, find employment in the United States until
such time as their land will support them.18 In practically
every family more of the second generation are living in the
United States than in the colonies, so that there is a pre-
ponderance of older people who own most of the property
and control the affairs of the colonies. The Mormon colonies
today resemble small American communities of retired farm-
ers, in which a few of the younger generation have remained
to carry on the farm work or the small trade of the
community.19

Since 1920, the history of the Mormon colonies in Mexico

15. Romney, op. cit., p. 257.

16. Henry A. Smith, "Visiting About with the Church Editor," The Church News,
VoL 3, No. 24 (June 16, 1945) p. 8.

17. T. C. Romney, "Latter-day Saint Colonization in Mexico," The Instructor,
Vol. 83, No. 12 (Dec. 1948) pp. 571-3, 594.

18. Statement by Mr. J. Farnsworth, personal interview, August, 1950.

19. Ibid.

300 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

has been largely one of adaptation to the changes in Mexico
resulting from the provisions of the Queretaro Constitution
of 1917 and from the laws passed to implement it. Changes
have been necessary in both the church and the school or-
ganization of the Mormon colonies.

The campaign against Church interference in the political
affairs of Mexico waged by the Calles regime was obviously
a blow aimed at the dominance of the Catholic Church in Mex-
ico. Legislative enactment, however, as applied to clergymen,
Church schools, etc., must react upon all churches alike. . . .

The law of August 21, 1926, requiring all religious teach-
ers to be native born, was meticulously complied with by the
Latter-day Saints in Mexico, as set forth in the report of
President Joseph C. Bentley to the Presiding Bishopric of
the Church. To meet the requirements of the law it became
necessary to supplant the older existing bishops in the various
colonies with young men born in Mexico, in the conduct of all
religious meetings. . . .

The schools of the Latter-day Saints in the State of
Chihuahua were closed for one day under the order of govern-
ment officials, but following an explanation submitted by
President Anthony W. Ivins, President Calles ordered their
re-opening. The explanation made by President Ivins was in
effect that anyone may send his children to the Latter-day
Saint's schools in Mexico by paying a tuition fee. The Mormon
schools are not religious schools in the meaning of the Mexi-
can constitution and therefore do not come under the category
of the schools which the Mexican officials are attempting to
close. From that time to the present there has been perfect
accord between the Mormons in Mexico and the officials of
that Government with respect to these religious matters.20

Economically the colonists have also had to adapt them-
selves to the changed conditions brought about by the Con-
stitution of 1917, to the agrarian laws regulating ownership
of land, to government regulation of irrigation systems and
of industry, and to new conservation policies. However, as
the Mormons are known for the development, not the ex-
ploitation of land and natural resources, and as cooperative
undertakings are a part of their way of life, compliance with

20. Romney, op. cit., p. 256.

MORMONS IN CHIHUAHUA 301

the principles of the Mexican Constitution has not proved
difficult.

Claims and Property

The settlement of claims for damages sustained by the
Mormon colonists in Mexico during the Revolutionary
period was prolonged until 1938 by negotiations between the
United States government and the Mexican government. To
the Special Claims Commission, created by the Special
Claims Convention between the United States Government
and the Mexican Government in September, 1923, were re-
ferred the Mormon claims which were classified as those

which arose during the revolution and the disturbed condi-
tions which existed in Mexico covering the period from No-
vember 20, 1910, to May 31, 1920, inclusive, and were due to
any act by the following forces:

(1) By forces of a Government de jure or de facto.

(2) By revolutionary forces as a result of the triumph of
whose cause governments de facto or de jure have been
established, or by revolutionary forces opposed to them.

(3) By forces arising from the disjunction of the forces men-
tioned in the next preceding paragraph up to the time
when the government de jure established itself as a re-
sult of a particular revolution.

(4) By federal forces that were disbanded, and

(5) By mutinies or mobs, or insurrectionary forces other than
those referred to under subdivisions (2), (3) and (4)
above, or by bandits, provided in any case it be estab-
lished that the appropriate authorities omitted to take
reasonable measures to suppress insurrectionists, mobs,
or bandits, or treated them with lenity or were in fault
in other particulars.

Within two years from the date of the first meeting, all
claims were to be filed with the Commission composed of
three members : one American, one Mexican and one neutral.
The commission was allowed five years in which to decide
all claims.1 However, in the period between 1923 and 1931
only eighteen cases were decided, none of which was al-

1. Special Mexican Claims Commission, pp. 693-696. Report to the Secretary of
State (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1940).

302 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

lowed.2 Nothing further was accomplished until 1934 when,
largely due to the efforts of J. Reuben Clark, Jr.,3 a promi-
nent Mormon and the United States Ambassador to Mexico
from 1930 to 1933, a convention was signed between the
United States and Mexico providing for the en bloc settle-
ment of the claims which had been presented by the Govern-
ment of the United States to the Special Claims Commission.
According to the Convention signed in 1934, the United
States government was to be paid proportionally the same
amount as the total sum for similar claims agreed upon dur-
ing the years 1924-1930 between Mexico and the govern-
ments of Belgium, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy
and Spain. The sum agreed upon, $5,448,020.14, represent-
ing 2.6 per cent of the total amount claimed by the United
States, was to be paid in dollars of the United States at the
rate of $500,000.00 per year beginning on January 1, 1935.4
An Act of Congress on April 10, 1935, established the
Special Mexican Claims Commission of three members
which in a period of three years was to review and decide
upon all the Special Claims filed against the Mexican Gov-
ernment and to distribute among the claimants the funds
agreed upon in the Convention of 1934.5 In August of 1937
a Joint Resolution of Congress extended the life of the Com-
mission for one year and amended the Act of 1935 to make
available to the claimants the full sum of $5,448,020.14,
regardless of additional claims which might later be classi-
fied as Special Claims.6

In accordance with the regulation established by the
Special Mexican Claims Commission the Mormon claims
were reviewed as a group as stated in the report of the Com-
mission, dated May 31, 1938.

In connection with the above-mentioned rapid survey of
claims it was found that one large group of 390 claims pre-

2. American Mexican Claims Commission, p. 72. Report to the Secretary of State
(Washington: Government Printing Office, 1948).
8. Foreign Relations, 1932, Vol. V, p. 756.

4. Special Mexican Claims Commission, pp. 697-99.

5. Ibid., pp. 688-692.

6. Ibid., pp. 685-87.

MORMONS IN CHIHUAHUA 303

sented questions which were considered to be particularly ap-
propriate for independent investigation. . . . The claims in
this group originated in 10 neighboring colonies in the States
of Chihuahua and Sonora. It was clear from the historical
data in the possession of the Commission, as well as from the
evidence submitted by the claimants, that members of these
colonies had suffered considerable loss and damage through
depredations of armed forces. The records were not clear,
however, as to the title to lands in the colonies, the respective
rights of individuals in community pastures and other com-
mon lands, and the value of real and personal property. The
sources of information on these matters being concentrated in
Salt Lake City and the vicinity, the expenditure of time and
money incident to an independent investigation was relatively
small. The Commission, therefore, authorized one of its mem-
bers to conduct such an investigation, and it was made with
the assistance of one of the attorneys of the Commission. It
was confined to general matters such as those suggested, and
no effort was made either to establish or to disprove the
merits of any of the individual claims. Similar investigations
were made later in Mexico, by two members of the Commis-
sion, assisted by three members of the staff, in connection with
several groups of claims as to which there were questions of
fact not susceptible of satisfactory determination on the basis
of the existing records. Numerous files were made available
to the Commission by the Mexican Foreign Office. A special
research assistant was, moreover, appointed for a period of
two months to examine and report on certain pertinent files in
the possession of former Senator Fall of New Mexico. The total
cost of the independent investigations of the Commission,
including the compensation of the special research assistant,
was $3,628.50. The Commission believes that these investiga-
tions contributed materially to the just and equitable deter-
mination of the claims affected by them.7

Of the 382 Mormon claims reviewed by the Special
Claims Commission, 309 were allowed while 73 were disal-
lowed because of "failure to prove citizenship, ownership of
personal property, the right to the use and enjoyment of
realty, or actual loss." Of the total amount of $4,657,567.99
claimed, $620,148.03 was awarded to the individual claim-
ants. As explained in their report, the bases on which the

7. Ibid., pp. 8-9.

304 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

Commission made the awards were the loss of use of prop-
erty and the forced absence of the colonists for one-half of
the 1912-1920 period.

In arriving at a proper measure of damages, the Com-
mission has given due weight to the consideration that, after
having been obliged to leave their homes because of the acts
of forces, colonists should have mitigated the damages flowing
from their actual or constructive eviction by returning to
their homes and continuing their normal pursuits as soon as
conditions would allow. Accordingly, the conditions existing
in the vicinity from 1912 to 1920 have been examined with a
view to determining for what period those conditions were
such as to make it unreasonable to expect claimants to return
to their homes. The conclusion reached by the Commission is
that the absence of the claimants from the colonies for ap-
proximately one-half of the period of eight years between the
date of the abandonment and May 31, 1920, can be properly
attributed to acts of forces creating Mexican liability under
the Convention.

The claims insofar as they relate to real estate, are essen-
tially claims for the loss of use of property as distinguished
from the loss of property. In each case involving claim for
the loss of use of realty the Commission has evaluated such
property upon the basis of written evidence in the various
files, and upon the basis of testimony received as a result of
the Commission's own investigation. Awards have been made
on the basis of the loss of the use of such property for a
period of four years.8

Two other claims agreements which related to the Mor-
mon colonies were the agreement of 1938 covering agrarian
claims filed before July 1, 1939, and the Claims Convention
of 1941 by which Mexico agreed to pay to the United States
Government forty million dollars in full settlement of all
claims of American citizens up to October 7, 1940. By an Act
of Congress in 1942, the American Mexican Claims Commis-
sion composed of three members was established to review
the claims covered by the 1941 Convention.9 Among these
claims were several relating to Mormon colonists in Mexico.
To the widow and eight of the children of Joshua Stevens,

8. Ibid., pp. 37-42.

9. American Mexican Claims Commission, pp. 72-73.

MORMONS IN CHIHUAHUA 305

killed in Pacheco in 1912, the sum of $12,000.00 was
awarded.10 However, two claims based on the loss of the use
of property in Colonia Diaz due to the failure of the Mexican
government to provide protection from squatters on the land
were disallowed as no proceedings had been instituted in
Mexican courts by the claimants to evict the squatters.11 In
a case involving the Escobar revolution of 1929, approxi-
mately one-half of the amount claimed was awarded on the
basis that the proportion of loss had been caused by federal
troops.12

Payments on the claims were made to the colonists whose
claims were allowed by the Special Mexican Claims Commis-
sion by the United States Treasury in installments as the
moneys were received from the Mexican Government, ac-
cording to the provisions of the Act of Congress approved
April 10, 1935.13 By 1950 all claims filed with and allowed
by the Special Mexican Claims Commission had been paid
to the claimants, but, as one recipient stated, only two and
one-half per cent of the amount claimed was paid, and of that
twenty-five per cent went to lawyer's fees.14

Many of the colonists who did not return to Mexico
sustained losses of property because of their failure to pay
the taxes on the land. All former colonists possessing lands
in Mexico were urged "to pay the delinquent taxes lest the
owners lose unoccupied lands in the Mexican colonies."15
Colonia Diaz, situated within the 100 kilometer frontier
zone in which the direct ownership of lands by foreigners
was prohibited by the Mexican Constitution of 1917, re-
verted to the Mexican government and later became an
ejido.™ Indications of the former prosperity of the Mormon

10. Ibid., pp. 848-49.

11. American Mexican Claims Commission, pp. 556 and 622.

12. Ibid., pp. 553-55.

18. Special Mexican Claims Commission, pp. 681-84.

14. Statement by Mrs. J. W. Huish, personal interview, July, 1950 (at Douglas,
Arizona).

15. T. C. Romney, Mormon Colonies in Mexico, p. 288.

16. Francisco R. Almada, Geografia del Estado de Chihuahua, p. 826 (Chihuahua,
Chihuahua, Mexico: La Impresa Ruiz Sandoval, 1945).

306 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

colony were noted by the American Punitive Expedition in
1916.

Colonia Diaz stood out in the midst of desert, fifty miles from
the border — although abandoned for some years, it was a
veritable oasis. Houses in good repair stretched along streets
lined with magnificent shade trees. The houses were sur-
rounded by green fields and flowers in profusion.17

Colonia Chuichupa, which became an ejido in 1931 and was
renamed La Nortena in 1941, 18 also made an impression on
the invading Americans who were caught in a snowstorm on
the 23rd of March while they were camped in the neighbor-
hood.

Chuichupa, the word meaning smoke in Yaqui Indian lan-
guage, proved to be an old American Mormon settlement, at
one time probably having 500 to 600 inhabitants but now
abandoned, since five years ago it was sacked by the "Red
Flaggers" as the revolutionists are called who sprang up all
over the country when the iron grip of Diaz began to relax.
The town is located on a rolling fertile plain surrounded by
pine forests in which wild turkey and deer abound. The in-
habitants were evidently thrifty farmers and cattle men.
Their homes were well built of frame, brick and adobe in the
American fashion, which is always a pleasing contrast to the
squat adobe or log houses which the Mexicans affect. Now
the houses and fences are falling down, acequias, gardens and
fruit trees gone to ruin.19

Romney points out that the Mexican government encour-
aged the return of the colonists in the statement made

by the President of Casas Grandes to citizen Joel H. Mar-
tineau of Colonia Pacheco that, "all lands that have been for
years abandoned may be settled on by any American citizen. If
the owner comes back later and pays all back taxes and ex-
penses we will let him have his property back."20

Likewise one of the leading Mormons in the colonies, Joseph
C. Bentley, who represented the colonists in their property

17. Col. F. Tompkins, Chasing Villa, p. 253 (Harrisburg, Pa.: Military Service
Publishing Co., 1934).

18. Almada, op. cit., p. 522. Mr. C. Bowman stated that no Mormon lands were
included in the ejido. Letter, August, 1950 (of Colonia Dublan).

19. Tompkins, op. cit., p. 104-6.

20. Romney, op. cit., p. 288.

MORMONS IN CHIHUAHUA 307

interests in northern Mexico, in an article dated October 3,
1921 stated that

the Mexican government was willing that Mexicans should
cultivate unoccupied lands of the colonists, that they would
cultivate the land for three years without rent, but that they
could receive no title and if, after three years they continued
to use the land, they must settle with the owners for rental.21

There were also Mormon colonists who failed to return
to their homes in Mexico because they felt that conditions
there did not offer sufficient security to warrant their return.
Others became discouraged waiting for conditions to im-
prove and found homes elsewhere. Their attitude is ex-
plained by Romney.

Notwithstanding the favorable attitude of the Govern-
ment for the return of lands to the colonists, but few have
availed themselves of the opportunity to re-possess them. Sev-
eral factors have entered in to create this lack of desire. In
the first place, the disturbed conditions in Mexico were of such
extended duration that many of the refugees, in the mean-
time, had purchased homes and other property in various
localities of the United States, and an attachment had grown
up for their relatively new environment that held them fast.
Then, there were others who still had a longing to return to
Mexico, even after a lapse of many years, but who were fear-
ful to return lest another political upheaval should send them
scurrying from the country again. Some there were whose
properties had so depreciated in value through the permanent
withdrawal of the population from the regions where located
as to render them almost valueless and, finally, there were a
number of instances in which the older members of the family
had a desire to return but the younger members thereof had
no such desire, they having been born since the exodus or
being too immature at the time of the exodus to retain any
fond memories of the land of their birth.22

Many of these former refugees sold their property in
Mexico to the colonists who had remained for a fraction
of its value, with the result that some of the colonists have
become very well-to-do. Moises T. de la Pena points out that

21. Ibid., p. 288.

22. Ibid., p. 289.

308 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

in place of the former Arcadia with neither rich nor poor,
which the Mormon colonies had represented, some of the
colonists have become rich and own much land while others
are poor and have little land. The prosperous colonists of
Dublan he classes as small latifundistas because of the fact
that six hundred and twenty-three hectares of irrigated land
are owned by twenty-five people.23 Romney attributes the
resultant inequity to individual initiative.

A few of the Mormons who have returned to the colonies
have fared well financially at the expense of those who, for
various reasons, refuse to return to their homes. These adven-
turous spirits endowed with unusual business acumen have
monopolized for the most part the orchards and farm lands
as well as the industrial facilities of certain of the colonies.
This was made possible by the inordinate eagerness of many
of the refugees to dispose of their holdings if for nothing
more than a mere pittance. Others of the returned exiles have
benefited by having the free use of range and irrigable lands
whose titles are held by those indifferent to the uses being
made of them.24

According to the Mexican Constitution of 1917, the right
to own land and to acquire concessions to exploit the natural
resources of the country are limited to native born or to
naturalized citizens, who, however, must obey the laws of the
country regulating the ownership of land and the exploita-
tion of its resources.25 The same property rights are granted
to foreigners who agree before the Mexican Department of
Foreign Affairs "to be considered Mexicans in respect to the
same, under penalty, in case of breach, of forfeiture to the
Nation of property so acquired."26 The Constitution further
states that private property shall not be expropriated except
for reasons of public utility and by means of indemnification.
Thus both the Mormons who became naturalized Mexican
citizens and those who retained their United States citizen-
ship but conformed to all the constitutional and legal re-

23. Moises T. de la Pena, "Extranjeros y Tarahumares en Chihuahua," in Obras
Completes, M. O. de Mendizabal, p. 226.

24. Romney, op. cit., p. 291.

25. Almada, op. cit., p. 153.

26. Constitution of the U. S. of Mexico (1926) p. 7.

MORMONS IN CHIHUAHUA 309

quirements for foreign property owners were protected by
the Mexican Constitution and the laws of the country as
regards the ownership and the expropriation of property.
The Constitution also forbids the direct ownership by for-
eigners of any land within a one hundred kilometer zone of
the frontier ; thus land owned by American Mormons within
the frontier zone can be held only indirectly through Mexi-
can corporations or companies.27

The right to the use of water of streams for irrigation
is also regulated by Article 27 of the Mexican Constitution
which states :

Any other stream of water not comprised within the fore-
going enumeration shall be considered as an integral part of
the private property through which it flows; but the develop-
ment of the waters when they pass from one landed property
to another shall be considered of public utility and shall be
subject to the provisions prescribed by the States.28

As the agricultural economy of the Mormon colonies is de-
pendent upon irrigation, they are directly affected by this
provision. In the Casas Grandes Valley the state of Chi-
huahua has as yet no official plan for the use of the water
of the river according to Senor Almada, who further states
that in the Casas Grandes region only the Mormons of
Colonia Dublan have regulated the use of the waters by
means of storage basins or lakes.29

When the Mormons first came to settle Dublan in 1888,
they noted the remains of an ancient irrigation system, visi-
ble in traces of a canal leading from the Casas Grandes
River to several large depressions, apparently ancient reser-
voirs, near the foothills in the eastern part of the valley.30
Very probably this irrigation system was a part of the an-
cient civilization which occupied the Casas Grandes Valley,
the ruins of which near the village of Casas Grandes are
thought by some to be the third abode of the Aztec peoples

27. Ibid., p. 7.

28. Ibid., p. 7.

29. Almada, op. cit., p. 270.

30. Romney, op. cit., p. 64.

310 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

in their migration from Asatlan, their place of origin, to the
Valley of Mexico.31 The Mormons, taking advantage of the
ancient system, dug a canal from the Casas Grandes River
some ten miles across the valley to the natural depressions
near the foothills to form two lakes known as the Dublan
Lakes. Here the water which comes from the mountains in
the rainy season is stored and later used to irrigate the crops
as needed.32 In recent years in conformance with the Mexi-
can agrarian policy and to assure an equitable distribution
of water for irrigation, the Mormons have shared their irri-
gation systems and water with the Mexicans who have ac-
quired farms in the neighborhood of the colonies. In Colonia
Dublan the Mormons signed a contract with the Mexican
ejidatarios whereby one of the Dublan Lakes, known as
Long Lake, was given to the ejidatarios who in return
agreed to enlarge the canal from the Casas Grandes River
and to add to the cement dam in the river in order to in-
crease the capacity of the lakes. However, only a part of
the work agreed upon has been done.33 In Colonia Juarez,
the waters of the Piedras Verdes River, after watering the
Mormon fields upstream, are utilized in the power plant to
generate electricity, and at night irrigate the fields of the
Cuauhtemoc ejidatarios?*

Thus as a result of the Mexican revolution some Mormon
lands in the colonies, lost mainly through failure of the
Mormon owners to pay delinquent taxes, have been acquired
by individual Mexicans or by ejidos, and water from the
irrigation systems built by the Mormons has been shared
with the Mexican farmers. However, the right of the Mor-
mons to own and inherit property as regulated by the con-
stitution and the law of the land, and the titles to their
lands on which taxes have continued to be paid have not been
questioned.

31. Almada, op. cit., p. 94.

82. Romney, op. cit., p. 97.

33. Letter from Mr. C. Bowman, Colonia Dublan, August 8, 1950.

34. Statement by Mr. J. Farnsworth, personal interview, August, 1950.

Notes and Documents

CHARLES BENT PAPERS
(Continued)

Toas January 16th 1841

Mr Alvaras
Sir

As Mr Robertson goes to day to Santafe I concluded to wright you
a fue lines, altho I have nothing of interest to comunicate. We have
bean engaged heare trying to arange the bussiness of the late firm of
Branch & Lee,12 but what we thare countramen ware doing and had
done for the interest of booth partys has bean undone by Lee & his
attorny Juan Vigil,13 that is to say by J. Vigil, as Lee is a mear sypher
in the bussiness. He is eaven more ignorant of his one interest than I
suposed him, but J. Vigil has got his hand in his pocket and I think
when he takes it out thare will be but litle left. I also believe that V.
is paid on the other side to act against Lee underhandedly, this is mear
surmize, but that Vigil will skin booth sides if he can I have no doubt.
Report says Lee payes him five hundred Dollars. I have heard a report
that the five or six Americans that left Santafe sometime since intended
to wait and waylay Chavusses party14 on thare way to the U. States
for the purpos of Robbing them, I have heard that they had increased
thare number to 18 men including some Shawnies I have no certain
information of this, report only. You can aprize theas Gentlemen of
this if you see proper. The Aripihoe Indians have made some threates
against this place, provided thare people that ware taken prisoners by
the, Eutaws are detained by the Mexicans as slaves. It would be well
for theas people to consiliate theas Indians before they doe comence

12. Lee: probably Stephen Luis Lee, sheriff at Taos, killed in the uprising of
1847. Garrard, Wah-To-Yah . . ., p. 182. The signature of Luis Lee is on a document
in the Manuel Alvarez Papers, November 9, 1839. Historical Society of New Mexico,
Santa Fe. See also, W. M. Boggs, "Manuscript," edited by LeRoy Hafen. The Colo-
rado Magazine, 7:59 (March, 1930).

Elliott Lee is listed as a member of the Grand Jury that indicted the participants
in the uprising of 1847. NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW, 1 :28.

Sabin tries to identify this Lee in his Kit Carson Days, 1809-1868, note 199. New
York : The Press of the Pioneers, Inc., 1935.

The only reference I have to a Branch family is the marriage of Ceran St. Vrain
to Louisa Branch of Mora. Laumbach in NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW, 8 :259.

13. Juan Vigil, brother of Donaciano Vigil, is mentioned in Twitchell, Military
Occupation, p. 208.

14. Antonio Jose Chavez, prominent New Mexican citizen and trader, en-route
to the United States in April, 1843, was waylaid and killed by a band of ruffians. The
story can be found in standard history books on New Mexico. It was reported in Niles
National Register, May 27, and June 10, 1843.

311

312 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

hostilities Thare will be on the Arkansas early next spring near 1500
Lodges of Indians including Aripihoes, Chyans, & Siouxs, and if the
Cumanchies meete them thare as they have agreed thare will be nearly
double that number of Lodges. It will require but verry little exertion
on the part of the Aripihoes to induce the, Chyans & Sioux to Joine
them against the Mexicans. The object of gane of its self is a
suffittient inducement to an Indian at all times. And they have one or
two Mexicans with them which will serve for guides,

I presume before this you have heard of my house and Bobeans
having bean searched for contraband goodes by Sarifino Ramereze.1^
the Scoundril agreed to give uss the names of the denouncers before
he left heare, which he did not doe he took good cair to leave unbenone
to uss. I believe that Rose, Cambell16 was the person that gave him
his information, at all events he is a damd Lyer, he has forfited his
word given in presance of the Alcaldi, Captain, and some twenty other
persons, he is a great lyar. Pleas let us know by the first opportunity
what report this Rameareze has made at Santafe and also what the
Govenor says on the subject, we have many reportes heare about this
transaction. Pleas let uss know the nuse from the interior thare are
several reportes respecting Texas17 heare, I should like to know the
truth if you have any authentic nuse from the interior respecting
Texas.

Youres Respectfully
Chas Bent

P. S. I sent word verbally by Lee to Mr. Giddings18 that I had no
fixed time to take LaRouxs19 deposition. You will pleas say to him

15. Seraffn Ramirez: mentioned as "first official of the treasury" in Miranda to
Alvarez, September 23, 1841, Benjamin M. Read, Illustrated History of New Mexico,
p. 402. Santa Fe, 1912. In Citizens' "Report," September 26, 1846, NEW MEXICO HIS-
TORICAL REVIEW, 26:76.

16. "At Tuerto, Mr. Campbell an American, had been engaged in working a
'Plassara,' [placer] in which he found a piece of gold weighing fifty ounces." Guadal
P'a: The Journal of Lieutenant J. W. Abert, from Bent's Fort to St. Louis in 1845.
edited by H. Bailey Carroll, p. 35. The Panhandle-Plains Historical Society, Canyon,
Texas, 1941.

Maybe Richard Campbell, Probate Judge for Dona Ana County, New Mexico, in
the 1850's — an elderly man at that time. See Edward D. Tittmann, "By Order of
Richard Campbell," NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW, 8:390 (1928).

17. Probably a reference to the pending Texas-Santa Fe expedition launched by
Texas in 1841 to take possession of New Mexico.

18. Alberto Giddings signed an address to Secretary of State, Daniel Webster,
dated Santa Fe, September 16, 1841, requestinc protection against the pending Texan
invasion of New Mexico. Read, Illustrated History .... p. 399.

James M. Giddings was in business at Santa Fe from 1840 to 1853. Webb, Adven-
tures .... p. 97 note, for sketch and bibliography.

19. Basal Lerew (or La Roux, as above, or Leroux) listed as a trial juror in
Taos in 1847. NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW, 1:81. Or Antoine Leroux. well-known
mountain man and sometimes resident of Taos, New Mexico. See Sabin, Kit Carson
Fays .... passim.

BENT PAPERS 313

I have not yet taken it nor shall not untill I heare from him, if he
advises me by the first opportunity.

CB

N'ayant rien de plus a vous ecrire que ce que Mr. Bent vous dit,
je me restrains a vous presenter mes complimens et vous souhaiter du
bonheur, reservant a une autrefois, vous ennuyer a mon tour

Charles Beaubien

[Having nothing more to write to you except what Mr. Bent tells
you, kindly accept my compliments and my wishes for happiness, re-
serving for another time an opportunity to bore you in return] 20

Taos January 20th 1841
Mr Manuel Alvarass
Sir

I was called on yesterday Justice for my letter of Security from
the Mexican Government. I have not got it. I have miss layed one I
procured from our minister Butler some yeares passed.

This is to request you to procure one for me. Posibly the Govenor
Don Manuel Armijo may be impoured by the general government to
grant leters of security to American Citizens in this province

At all events endeavor to procure me one eather in Santafe or
from Mexico.

Yours Respectfully
Chas Bent

Taos January 30th 1841
Mr M Alvaras

Sir

Inclosed pleas find a list of American Citizens resident in this
place. I have not as yet bean able to assertain, the name of the mexican
that left the Arkansas in company of the morman that was murdered
near the De Mora but I shall make everry enquiry, and should I
assertain you shall be aprised.

You ask me for local nuse of this place, I shall endeavor to give
you such as has come to my hearing. The greate Literry Marteanes21
since his returne has bean the all interesting topic, he has bean cept
constantly imployed since he got home detaining to his gready admirers
and hearers, the greate respect and attention that was bestoed on

20. Translation by Professor Hubert G. Alexander, Chairman of the Department
of Philosophy, University of New Mexico.

21. Referring to Fr. Jos6 Antonio Martinez, a well-known, talented priest and
politician in those years. He is discussed in standard history books on New Mexico.
See also Pedro Sanchez, Memoriaa eobre vida del Preabitero Don Antonio Jose Martinez,
Santa Fe, New Mexico, 1903.

314 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

him in his last trip to Durango, he says that he is considered by all
whoe he had an opportunity of conversing with, as one of the greatest
men of the age, as a Literary, an eclesiastic, a Jurist, and a philanthri-
pist, and more over as he has resided in one of the most remote sections
of this province intirely dependent on his one [own] resorses for such
an emence knolidg as he has acquired it is astonishing to think how a
man could posibly make himself so eminent, in almost everry branch
of knollidge, that can only be acquired by other men of ordinary
capasitys in the most enlightined partes of the world, but as he has
extraordinary abillities, he has bean able to make himself master of
all this knolledge by studing nature in her nudest gize, he is a prodigy,
and his greate name deserves to be written in letters of gold in all
high places that this gaping and ignorant multitude might fall down
and worship it, that he has and doze condisend to remain amongst,
and instruct such a people, It is certainly a greate blessing to have
such a man amongst uss, theas people canot help but find favor in
this and the other world in consiquence of having such a man to leade
and direct them; If the days of miricals had not gon by I should
expect that God would bestow some great blessing on theas people,
through this greate man. And posibly whenever the wise Rulers of
this land heare of the greate fame of this man they will no doubt doe
something for theas people in consideration for thare greate care of
this more than Salaman.

Ignatio Marteanz is heare taking depositions respecting the ani-
mals that ware stollen from him last season by Juan Nicolas Messtes
and party, and ware afterwardes captured by some Shawne Indians,
his object I am told is to try and proove that the animals ware pur-
chased by me and my people for the purpos of making me pay for said
animals. I am also told that the greate Martenize is making him a
representation to the Govenor on this subject, how true I canot say.
If you have an opportunity to mention this subject to the Govenor I
wish you to request him to call on me and such witnisses as I can
produce to contradict Ignatio Marteanz Statement, but let it be under-
stood that if the said Martean dare not substantiate his statement he
must pay all my expences and those of my witnesses, and If it is to the
contrary make me responsible for expenses.

The Cheaf s of the Aripihoes have made a formal demand through
us of the Mexicans for thare prisoners taken by the Eutaws, they
offer one horse for each prisoner, and if this is not accepted they
thretin to retaliate on theas people. I have aprised the Justice of this
place of thare demand and threat, wether any notice will be taken
of this I am unable to say, but if they should not heade theas indians,
they may repent when too late, thare are residing with the Aripihoes
one or two mexicans that are redy and anctious to leade them to any
part of this province.

BENT PAPERS 315

I had almost neglected to mention that the greate Marteans has
said that the Texians have bean beaten in Cauhilla and California
wonderful how did the Texians get thare, and what ware they doing
thare j \ j he deserves to be created Pope for his Geagrafical knollidge.

I think I and Workman 22 will visit Santaf e next week

Yours Respectffully
Chas Bent

Taos February 19th 1841
Mr M Alvaras
Sir

I arived heare last eavening without any axident to day about
mid day Workman and myself called on Juan B Vigil. I presented the
coppy of the representation he made against uss. I asked him after he
red it if that was a coppy of the one he had made to the Govenor he
said it was. I then asked him how he dare make such false representa-
tions against uss he denied them being false. The word was hardely
out of his mouth, when Workman struk him with his whip, after
whiping him a while with this he droped it and beate him with his
fist untill I thought he had given him enough, wharepon I pulled him
off. he [Vigil] run for life, he has bean expecting this ever since last
eavening, for he said this morning, he had provided himself with a Baui
Knife for any person that dare attack him, and suting the word to
the action drue his knife to exhibit, I supose he forgot his knife in
time of neade.

I called on Mr Lee this morning respecting what he had said
against uss in Santafe he denied the whole, and made many acknoledg-
ments He is a man you canot pin up he is a non combatant. I presume
you will have a presentation of the whole affair from the other party
shortely. You will pleas give me the earlest notice wether you procure
the traps or not. I have the offer of some heare. I doubt wether you will
be able to reade this I am much agitated, and am at this time called
to the Alcalde's I presume at the instance of Juan Vigil.

Yours Respectffully
C Bent

22. William Workman emigrated from New Mexico to California due to the dis-
turbed political conditions in New Mexico during the period of the Texan-St. Fe
Expedition. He was suspected of being implicated in the movement to introduce Texan
control over New Mexico. The Life and Adventures of George Nidever, edited by
William Henry Ellison, p. 21, p. 116 note 141 (University of California Press, 1937).
There is a master of arts thesis on George Nidever by Virginia Thomson, University
of California, 1952.

316 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

(This letter's date should be I judge from its tenor the 20th to
25th of Febr. 1841— B. M. Read)

Mr Alvaras
Sir

I mentioned to you in a letter of the 19th that Juan B. Vigil had
bean whiped: that same afternoon I was called before the Justice,
after a grea[t]deal of talk and a good many threats of Vigil, against
the Justice and myself, he perticularly thretened to raise his relations
and friendes if the Justice did not doe him Justice, according to his
will, I was ordered to jail. I reasoned the case with the judge and
convinced him that as yet thare was no proof against me, except the
say-so of Juan Vigil, and eaven he did not accuse me of any violance
on his person, the Justice then requested me to make Beaubeans house
my prison for the present, this I objected to on the same groundes as
before, he eventually ordered me to my one house, and I was to con-
sider that my prison untill further orders. I remained confined 48
howers. I was then taken out and required to give security for my
apperence whenever called on, I have not sean or heard, of any of the
charges against me. I believe the law requires that the, head of
the process should be made, and declirations taken within the 48
howers. All that I have heard was the virble statement of Vigil on
the 19th. I conseave myself much agreaved, but Vigil has tryed to
scare the Justice to act with violence and in part he has suxceaded.
The Justice told me he had suspended farther proceadings in the Case
untill he could consult the perfect or Govenor. Vigil I have understood
goes to Santafe tomorow or next day how true I canot say, I am in
hopes of a favorable answer from the Govenor to the Justices presenta-
tion. I think he the Govenor is not a man entirely destitute of honorable
fealings he well knowes thare are cases that the satisfaction the law
gives, amounts to nothing. I had rather have the satisfaction of
whiping a man that has wronged me than to have him punished ten
times by the law, the law to me for a personal offence is no satisfaction
whatever, but Cowardes and wimen must take this satisfaction. I
could posibly have had Vigil araned for trial for Slander but what
satisfaction would this have bean to me to have had him fined, and
moreover I think he has nothing to pay a fine with he is a vagabond
that lives by flitching his neighbor

If you think that you can doe anything with the Govenor for uss
you will pleas doe so. You will recollect the promises I told you that
had bean made to me in Santafe. now they will be tested. The law
requires that I should be araigned for t[r]ial within 48 howers, this
has not bean done, I have not sean a scrach of a pen on that subject,
the law requires that all should have bean concluded and sentenced
within 72 howers nothing definitive has bean done.

BENT PAPERS 317

Thare is some talk of the creditors of Branch & Lee Living on
the property, to secure themselves how they will suceade I am not
able to say, but I think that Juan Vigil will exert himself to prevent
the property from falling into the handes of the creditors, for a
while yet. he well knowes that the longer Lee ceapes possesion the
better chance he has of filling his one [own] pocket.

I left my leather Belt on your shelf you will please send it up
to me by the first opportunity.

The Indians from the Arkansas still continue to thretten theas
people, and no doubt will comit depridations on the first they fall in
with. They have driven from thare village Jose Deloris [Sandobal]
(the Rano) and party, they have gon towardes the Cumanchies. This
fellow had a good many friendes in the Aripihoes village but the ex-
itement was too grate for him to remain amongst them in safty. he
may verry likely try and raise a party (if he suceades in falling in
with the Cumanchies) to attack the present company from Santafe to
Missouri, he no doubt is aware that the company will leave this spring,
he and Leblends23 party no doubt had some comunication on that
subject.

You will pleas say to the Govenor I have not as yet suceaded in
geting Coffee for him, but I will try and procure it and send it down
by the first opportunity also If I can I shall borrow and send at the
same time if posible the Powder I promised him.

Yours Respectffully
Chas Bent

The picture of Billy the Kid, used as a frontispiece in this issue,
was provided by Mrs. William F. Neal, Box 1012, Jackson, California.

23. William Le Blanc is listed as a trial juror in Taos in 1847. NEW MEXICO
HISTORICAL REVIEW, 1:29. He lived at Arroyo Hondo, operating a flour mill and a dis-
tillery. "Micajah McGehee's Account of Fremont's Disastrous Fourth Exploring Expe-
dition, 1848-1849," The Journal of Mississippi History, 14:91-118 (April, 1952). Also
published in The Century Magazine, March, 1891.

Book Reviews

Kiva Mural Decorations at Awatovi and Kawaika-a, with a
Survey of Other Wall Paintings in the Pueblo Southwest.
Papers of the Peabody Museum of American Archaeology
and Ethnology, Vol. XXXVII, Cambridge : Peabody Mu-
seum, 1952. Pp. 348. 64 collotype figures, 9 color plates,
arid 28 illustrations in the text. $7.50 (paper) ; $10.00
(cloth).

The Peabody Museum Awatovi Expedition of 1935-1939
has afforded a fortuitous opportunity to study and observe
a 1200-year thread of culture in the pueblo Southwest. Ar-
chaeologist and ethnologist have joined forces to investigate
the cultural current of Hopi Country in a study of the pre-
historic ruins, the 17th-century Spanish remains, and the
modern Hopi settlements. Watson Smith's study of kiva
mural decorations at Awatovi and Kawaika-a reports a spe-
cialized phase of the expedition's research — the story of kiva
wall paintings.

In a general discussion, pueblo life is sketched and the
plan and the purpose of the study is outlined. A most wel-
come section on terminology brings reader and author to
complete understanding on how words are to be used. This
care in definition of terms which continues throughout the
book, together with Smith's lucid style of presentation,
makes the study more than a technical report.

After a description of painted walls and the material and
methods of construction, a section follows on field methods
of excavation, preservation, and reproduction of mural
painting which is deserving of special commendation. The
occurrence of successive plaster layers on the kiva walls (as
many as twenty-seven painted layers) presented a series of
problems in field technique. The copying, recording, removal
by stripping, remounting of stripped paintings and their
preservation, required an untold amount of study and ex-
perimentation. Final methods employed as well as data on
numerous partially successful experiments are recorded

318

BOOK REVIEWS 319

for other investigators faced with similar problems. Here,
as throughout the report, the cooperation and advice of
co-workers and specialized technicians is credited and
acknowledged.

Turning to a study of kiva mural painting, Smith first
studies them in the light of their existence and distribution
in the Pueblo area, noting likewise the chronological sequence
of their occurrence. This is followed by a classification of the
murals into four layout groupings based on the relative pres-
ence or absence of certain motives and the manner of repre-
senting such motives. The single features, anthropomorphic,
zoomorphic, botanical, and diverse objects, are analyzed and
identified.

Following the essentially descriptive part of the book is
a large section on the analysis and ceremonial significance of
the murals. In this discussion of the ceremonial significance
of the particular design elements, Dr. Smith surveys with
thoroughness the voluminous literature bearing upon South-
western culture and suggests analogies with present-day
ceremonial practices. The specialist in the field may suggest
alternative analogies as to the meaning and cultural signifi-
cance of some design elements ; yet he will readily acknowl-
edge the fairness and scholastic caution of the analogies. A
small section here on representation and symbolism can be
read and re-read with profit by those interested in art and
writing.

The nine serigraph plates by the Santa Fe Artist, Louie
Ewing, are a wise choice of media for presenting the color
values of kiva paintings.

In the final section, the murals are placed chronologically
and related to their cultural context. Dr. Smith, a specialist
in the field, has given the reviewer, a non-specialist, a fuller
understanding of a single feature in a pre-historic culture.
Kiva mural paintings are placed in their ceremonial patterns
and related to the religious life of the Pueblo Southwest. In
reproduction, description, and interpretation, life has been
imparted to pigment and mortar.

CHARLES E. DIBBLE
University of Utah

320 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

Old Spanish Trail: Santa Fe to Los Angeles; with extracts
from contemporary records and including diaries of An-
tonio Armijo and Orville Pratt. By LeRoy R. and Ann W.
Hafen. Glendale, Calif. : The Arthur H. Clark Co., 1954.
Pp. 377. $9.50. (Far West and the Rockies Historical
Series, 1820-1875, Vol. I)

Written in collaboration with his wife, Ann W. Hafen, a
well-known student of the West in her own right, this latest
Hafen volume has been designated Vol. 1 of Arthur H. Clark
Go's new series The Far West and the Rockies Historical Se-
ries, 1820-1875. LeRoy Hafen, for more than twenty-five
years Colorado's State Historian, retired in July, 1954, and,
with his wife, will devote all of his time to producing the
remaining fourteen volumes of the series.

Drawing from many published and unpublished sources,
the Hafens have compiled a volume of virtually every item
of historical fact known about the Old Spanish Trail. Almost
encyclopedic in nature, it will become a useful reference work
on the area covered by the Trail. The daily-kept journal of
Orville C. Pratt, who covered the Trail in 1848, is included
along with "Choteau's Log and Description of the Trail,"
and Antonio Armijo's diary. These three items will be of
great interest to historians of the areas involved.

In a sense, to describe the Spanish route from Santa Fe
to Los Angeles as a "trail" is a misnomer. Though a long and
colorful story, the history of the Spanish in California is not
within the scope of the history of the Spanish at the Santa
Fe end of the "trail." The northern movement of the Spanish
and Mexicans into the Intermontane Corridor (or Santa Fe
end of the "trail") required two hundred and twenty-five
years before reaching as far north as the Gunnison River in
western Colorado. And it was probably not until the winter
of 1830-31 that a party actually traveled the entire trail from
Santa Fe to California, thus linking the old established path-
ways between Santa Fe, in western Colorado, and eastern
Utah with other pathways in use in California. Using the
eventual continuity of the trail as a point of departure, the

BOOK REVIEWS 321

Haf ens have given us the historical development of segments
of the trail. No longer should maps indicating the "Old Span-
ish Trail" show it as a lopsided croquet wicket anchored at
Los Angeles and Santa Fe. It now becomes a significant term
covering the Spanish, Mexican, and American penetration
of a vast area.

The section entitled "Slave Catchers" (there are no
chapters but unnumbered and titled sections) leaves the most
to be desired of the entire work. The ethnology of the native
population of the area taken in by the Trail is the most com-
plex in the West. The term "Digger" alone is a confusing
term in the area. By custom the white man referred to any
Indian in a miserable condition as a "Digger" or "Root Dig-
ger" who lived in the area. Most generally, however, the
term applied only to Shoshonis, who were without horses.
The essence of this entire chapter, to this reviewer, seems
to suggest that with the coming of the Spanish into what is
now southern Utah and western Colorado also came slavery.
Actually a good case can be made to show that slavery existed
as an institution in this area previous to the arrival of the
white man. In the section entitled "Path Makers" (p. 302)
Capt. Gunnison is cited as "one of four" parties sent out by
Jefferson Davis on the Pacific-Railroad Survey. Actually,
Davis put six parties in the field — Gunnison, Stevens, Whip-
pie, Williamson, Pope, and Parke.

In the section "Fur Hunters" the segment of trail de-
scribed (p. 100-101) between the San Luis Valley and the
Colorado River via the Gunnison loses much of its signifi-
cance for the reader when it is not noted that on this section
at the junction of the Uncompahgre and Gunnison rivers
was located Antoine Robidoux' first post. The only mention
of this post is in a section near the end of the book ("Path
Makers," p. 304) dealing with Capt. Gunnison's expedition
which passed it after it had long since been abandoned.

The interpretation of Antoine Robidoux' inscription near
Westwater, Utah, is brilliant in its simplicity. Many re-
searchers have been led astray by this inscription; in some
cases causing serious errors in recording the history of the
days of the Mountain Man in this region. For the present, a

322 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

satisfactory interpretation seems to have been achieved by
the Haf ens. Robidoux' fort on the Uinta is correctly given as
"Uintah" when first cited, but later it is carried as "Uinta."
By custom the fort is spelled "Uintah."

The section entitled "Padres" is a well executed conden-
sation of essentials on the movements of Coronado, Rivera,
Escalante, and DeAnza in the Trail region.

Roscoe P. Conkling has supplied an excellent folding map
at the end of the volume. Though very short, the index will
be broadened when an analytical index to the entire series
is published.

It is interesting to note that the Hafens have fittingly
dedicated their volume to one of their few peers in Western
American historical scholarship.

LeRoy and Ann Hafen's Old Spanish Trail will rank
as a work of permanent importance on the history of the
West. They have maintained the best canons of historical
scholarship.

WILLIAM SWILLING WALLACE
New Mexico Highlands University

CONSTITUTION

OF THE

HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF NEW MEXICO
(As amended Nov. 25, 1941)

Article 1. Name. This Society shall be called the Historical Society
of New Mexico.

Article 2. Objects and Operation. The objects of the Society shall be,
in general, the promotion of historical studies; and in particular, the
discovery, collection, preservation, and publication of historical material
especially such as relates to New Mexico.

Article 3. Membership. The Society shall consist of Members, Fel-
lows, Life Members and Honorary Life Members.

(a) Members. Persons recommended by the Executive Council
and elected by the Society may become members.

(b) Fellows. Members who show, by published work, special
aptitude for historical investigation may become Fellows. Immediately
following the adoption of this Constitution, the Executive Council shall
elect five Fellows, and the body thus created may thereafter elect addi-
tional Fellows on the nomination of the Executive Council. The number
of Fellows shall never exceed twenty-five.

(c) Life Members. In addition to life members of the Historical
Society of New Mexico at the date of the adoption hereof, such other
benefactors of the Society as shall pay into its treasury at one time
the sum of fifty dollars, or shall present to the Society an equivalent in
books, manuscripts, portraits, or other acceptable material of an historic
nature, may upon recommendation by the Executive Council and elec-
tion by the Society, be classed as Life Members.

(d) Honorary Life Members. Persons who have rendered emi-
nent service to New Mexico and others who have, by published work,
contributed to the historical literature of New Mexico or the Southwest,
may become Honorary Life Members upon being recommended by the
Executive Council and elected by the Society.

Article 4. Officers. The elective officers of the Society shall be a presi-
dent, a vice-president, a corresponding secretary, a treasurer, and a
recording secretary ; and these five officers shall constitute the Executive
Council with full administrative powers.

Officers shall qualify on January 1st following their election, and
shall hold office for the term of two years and until their successors
shall have been elected and qualified.

324 NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

Article 5. Elections. At the October meeting of each odd-numbered
year, a nominating committee shall be named by the president of the
Society and such committee shall make its report to the Society at the
November meeting. Nominations may be made from the floor and the
Society shall, in open meeting, proceed to elect its officers by ballot, those
nominees receiving a majority of the votes cast for the respective offices
to be declared elected.

Article 6. Dues. Dues shall be $3.00 for each calendar year, and shall
entitle members to receive bulletins as published and also the HISTORICAL
REVIEW.

Article 7. Publications. All publications of the Society and the selec-
tion and editing of matter for publication shall be under the direction
and control of the Executive Council.

Article 8. Meetings. Monthly meetings of the Society shall be held
at the rooms of the Society on the third Tuesday of each month at
eight P.M. The Executive Council shall meet at any time upon call of
the President or of three of its members.

Article 9. Quorums. Seven members of the Society and three mem-
bers of the Executive Council, shall constitute quorums.

Article 10. Amendments. Amendments to this constitution shall be-
come operative after being recommended by the Executive Council and
approved by two-thirds of the members present and voting at any regu-
lar monthly meeting ; provided, that notice of the proposed amendments
shall have been given at a regular meeting of the Society, at least four
weeks prior to the meeting when such proposed amendment is passed
upon by the Society.

The Historical Society of New Mexico

Organized December 26, 1859

PAST PRESIDENTS
1859 — COL. JOHN B. GRAYSON, U. S. A.
1861 — MAJ. JAMES L. DONALDSON, U. S. A.
1863 — HON. KIRBY BENEDICT

adjourned nine die, Sept. **, 1863

re-established Dec. 27, 1880

1881 — HON. WILLIAM G. HITCH
1883 — HON. L. BRADFORD PRINCE
1923 — HON. FRANK W. CLANCY

1925 — COL. RALPH E. TWITCHELL

1926 — PAUL A. F. WALTER

OFFICERS FOR 1948-1949
PAUL A. F. WALTER, President

PEARCE C. RODEY, V ice-President

WAYNE L. MAUZY, Corresponding Secretary
ALBERT G. ELY, Treasurer

Miss HESTER JONES, Recording Secretary

FELLOWS

PERCY M. BALDWIN FREDERICK W. HODGE

RALPH P. BIEBER J. LLOYD MECHAM

HERBERT 0. BRAYER THEODOSIUS MEYER, O.F.M.

FRAY ANGELICO CHAVEZ FRANK D. REEVE

REV. STANLEY CROCCHIOLA FRANCE V. SCHOLES

CHARLES E. DIBBLE ALFRED B. THOMAS

AURELIO M. ESPINOSA THEODORE TREUTHLEIN

GEORGE P. HAMMOND PAUL A. F. WALTER

INDEX

Abbott, F. A., 284
Adams V. BoUn, 204

Adams, Eleanor B., "Bishop Tamaron's Visi-
tation of New Mexico," 41-47
Agricultural development, 253
Albuquerque, troops in 1913, 272
Alcalde, duties, 35
Almagre, Seja del, 10
Almazan, Gen. Jesus M., 298
Alzogo, 27

American-Mexican claims, 298 passim
Anderson, Arthur J. O. and Charles E.

Dibble, eds., Sahagun's Florentine Codex,

rev'd., 154

Anderson, G. B., 212
Anderson, Lillie Gerhardt, "A New Mexico

Pioneer of the 1880's," 245-258
Antes, Eva, 284
Antes, Howard, 284

Anthropology laboratory (Santa Fe), 140
Antoine Robidoux .... by Wallace, 320
Apache, 41
Aragon, Chato, 9
Aragon, Miguel (Alcalde 1819), 34
Archuleta, Juan Andres, 237
Arizona, statehood, 184; labor, 186 passim;

corporate influence, 193
"Arizona's . . . Initiative and Referendum,"

by Houghton, 183-209
Armijo, Gov. Manuel, 313 passim
Arnold, Elliot, The Time of the Gringo,

rev'd., 74

Ascarate, Jacinto ( family ) , 3
Ascarate, Juanita, (Mrs. Hugh Stevenson),

3

Ashley, Rev. Jacob Miles, 104
Atlantic & Pacific RR., 210
Automobile dealers association, 54

Bacon Springs, 211

Bankers association, 55

Bar association, 129

Beales, John Charles, 82

Beaubien, Charles, 313 ; see Bent papers

Beaubien, Pablo (Paul), 248

Bent, Charles, "Papers", 234-239, 311-317

Bentley, Joseph C., 290

Be-sho-she, Navaho leader, 264

"Bibliography of published Bibliographies..."

(western history), by Wallace, 224-233
Black, John, 95
Blind people, 138
Bliss, Brig-Gen. Tasker H., 270
Bliss, W. S., 214

Bourke, Lt. John G., quoted, 212
Boyd, Lt. Charles T., 294

Branch, Louisa, 311 (note)
Brown, Dave, 290
Brown, Nettie Catherine, 256
Burke, Dr. E. M., 216
Burkhart, Somers, 274
Business, bureau of better, 48

California, by Caughey, rev'd, 73

Call, Bishop Anson B., 181

Campbell, Richard, 312 (note)

Carr, Col. E. A., quoted, 215

Carranza, Venustiano, 176

Cases Grandes, 309

Cattle, brand, 253 ; growers association, 56 ;
industry, 249 passim

Caughey, John Walton, California, rev'd., 73

Cebolleta, 8

Changing Military Patterns of the Great
Plains, by Secoy, rev'd., 76

Chavez, Fray Angelico, La Conguistadora,
The Autobiography of an Ancient Statue,
rev'd., 243 ; "The Penitentes of New Mex-
ico," 97-123

Child Welfare, 59

Children's hospital, 49

Chouteau, Major P. L., 95

Church, in Mexican period, 36f ; school, 104 ;
Catholic, 116

Church-state in Mexico, 300

Claims, Mexican-American, 298 passim

Clancy, Capt. J. C., 248

Clark, Ella E., Indian Legends of the Pacific
Northwest, rev'd., 75

Clark, J. Reuben Jr., Ambassador, 302

Colonia Diaz, 167

Colonia Dublan, 167

Colonia Juarez, 167

Concordia ( Texas ) , 4

Constitution, Mexico, 309

Coolidge, Calvin, 219

Coolidge' T. Jefferson, 213

"Coolidge and Thoreau . . .," by Telling, 210-
223

Corason Hill, 20

Cordon, 18th century caravan, 46

Corporate influence in Arizona, 193

Crane (town), 218

Crane's ranch, 211

Credit service co., 59

Crippled children, 128

Cubero mission school, 104

Cuerbo, Gov. Jose Tienda de, campaign, 42

Culture, colonial, 115

Darley, Rev. Alex M., 102

Davis, W. W. H., and Penitentes, 106

327

328

NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

Deaf and Dumb asylum, 53

Death Valley, Lost Mines of, by Weight,
rev'd., 163

De Graftenried, Jasper, 249

Dennis, J. M., 215

Dental society, 131

Dewey (town), 218

Dibble, Charles E., rev., Kiva Mural Decora-
tions at Awatovi and Kawaika-a . . ., 318

Dibble, Charles E. and Anderson, Florentine
Codex . . ., rev'd., 154

Documents, Charles Bent, 234-239, 311-317 ;
Alexander Le Grande, 141 ; New Mexico
State. 124

Dodge, Chee, 273

Dominguez, Fray Francisco Atanasio, re-
port, 108

Duelm, Sophie Louisa (Mrs. Gerhardt), 246

Dwyer, James Magoffin, 4

Dwyer, James Magoffin Jr., "Hugh Stephen-
son," 1-7

Dwyer, Major Joseph, 4

Educational problems, 59 ; association, 60

Ejido in Mexico, 306

Ellis, Florence Hawley, rev., Secoy, Chang-
ing Military Patterns of the Great Plains,
76

Ellis, J. D., 213 ; constable, 217

El Paso (Texas), 1 passim

Engineers Society, 129

Escobar, Gen. Jose, revolt, 298

Espinosa, Aurelio M., and Penitentes, 108

Estep, Raymond, "The Le Grand Survey of
the High Plains : Fact or Fancy," 81-96

Ewings, Russell C., rev., Gibson, Tlaxcala in
the Sixteenth Century, 240

Exter, Richard, 82

Fergusson, Erna, rev., Chavez, La Conquis-
tadora . . ., 243

Fernandez, Fray Sebastian, 110

Firemens association, 133

Flagellanti, 113

Flagellation, 98

Florentine Codex . . ., by Anderson and Dib-
ble, rev'd., 154

Flynn, Charles L., 213

Folklore Society, 63

Folmer, Henry, Franco-Spanish Rivalry in
North America, rev'd., 160

Foreign rights in Mexico, 308

Fort Robinson, 271

Fort Sumner Cattle Co., 249

Foster, Bennett, rev., Arnold, The Time of
the Gringo, 74

Franciscans, 97

Franco-Spanish Rivalry in North America,
by Folmer, rev'd., 160

Franklin (Texas), 1 passim

Freight wagon, 251

French, Capt. Albert, 4

French, Florence, 4

French, Julia, 4

French, William, 4

Frontier life, 252

Funeral directors association, 68

Gallegos, Redondo, 10

Gallup, troops in (1913), 273

Genizaros, 115

Geological society, 64

Gerhardt family, 245 passim

Gerhardt, Frederick, 245

Gerhardt Valley, 254

Germans in Texas, 246

Gibson, Charles, Tlaxcala in the Sixteenth

Century, rev'd., 240
Giddings, Albert, 312 (note)
Gottbrath, Father Herbert, 276
Grass fire, 250

Gregg, Josiah, and Penitentes, 105
Gregg, Kate L., The Road to Santa Fe — ,

rev'd., 71

Ground water, 124
Guam (town), 218

Hafen, LeRoy R. and Ann W., Old Spanish
Trail: Santa Fe to Los Angeles, rev'd., 320

Hall, John B., 213 ; quoted, 215

Harris postoffice, 255

Hart, Henry, 214

Harwood, Rev. Thomas, 104

Hatch, Lynn, 178

Henderson, Alice Corbin, and Penitentes, 107

Heresy, 113

Heyn, F. W., 220

Highway problems, 65

Hill, W. W., rev., O'Kane, The Hopis .... 71

Historical Society of New Mexico, publica-
tions, 65 ; organization, 234

Historical criticism, 81

History bibliographies, 224

Homestead, 247

Homesteaders, 253

Hopis, see O'Kane, 71

Horticulture Society, 65

Houghton, N. D., "Arizona's Experience
with the Initiative and Referendum," 183-
209

Huerta, Victoriano, 175

Hunt, G. W. P., 186

Hurst, P. H., 290

Indians, 311 passim; see Charles Bent

Papers

Indian Affairs Association, 50
Indian Legends of the Pacific Northwest, by

Clark, rev'd., 75
Industrial school, 65
Initiative-referendum, in Arizona, 183
Insane asylum, 66
Irrigation, 31

Keegan, John J., 214 passim
Kelly, John, 216

Kenney, William, British author (1841), 81
Ketcham, Rev. William, 266
Kiva Mural Decorations at Awatovi and
Kawaika-a . . ., rev'd., 318

INDEX

329

Labor federation, 131

La, Conquistadora, the Autobiography of an

Ancient Statue, by Chavez, rev'd., 243
Lamy, Bishop John B., 99
Land, Texas grant, 82 ; speculation, 94 ;

ownership in Mexico, 308
Lane, Franklin Knight, 265
Langford, William, 235
Largo, Jose, 11

Law, Mexican period, 30 passim
Lawlessness, 215
Lawyers, 129
Laylin, Lewis C., 263
Leahey, Mrs. J., 213
Le Blanc, Wm., 317
Lee, Robert E., 246
Lee, Stephen Luis, 311
Le Grand, Alexander, 81
Le Grand Journal, 141
"Le Grand Survey of the High Plains," by

Estep, 81-96

Leonard Wood County, 253
Leroux, Antoine, 312 (note)
Lewis, Mrs. Irene, 214
Lovato, Bonaventure, 237
Lumber industry, 214 passim
Lummis, Charles F., and Penitentes, 105 ;

quoted, 213

McElroy, John T., 5
McGaffey, A. B., 222
McGloin, John Bernard, S. J., rev., Most

Reverend Anthony J. Shuler, by Owen,

157
McKibbin, Davidson B., "Revolt of the Na-

vaho, 1913," 259-289
McLaughlin, Major James, 268
Madero, Francisco, 169
Magoffin, Annette (Mrs. Joseph Dwyer), 4
Magoffin, Col. James Wiley, 4
Manaul, Floretta C., 284
Marino, C. C., "The Seboyetanos and the

Navahos," 8-27
Martineau, Joel H., 174
Martineau, Theodore, 181
Martinez, Antonio Jose, 101
Martinez, Ignacio, 314
Martinez, Fr. Jose Antonio, 313
Mathews, Wm. R., 202
Medical society, 125
Menchero, Father, campaign, 42
Mesilla (Old), 2
Mestes, Juan Nicolas, 237, 314
Mexican-American relations, 291
Mexican period, 28; revolution (1913), 175;

army, 291 ; constitution, 308
Military (1820's), 35; 18th century. 41

passim

Military Institute (Roswell), 125
Mills, Elizabeth H., "The Mormon Colonies

in Chihuahua after the 1912 Exodus,"

165-182, 290-310
Mills, W. W., 6
Mines of Death Valley, 163
Mining, 2, 125 ; school, 67

Miranda, Elena (Mrs. Horace Stephenson),

3

Mitchel, Charlie, 276
Mitchell, Austin W., 219
Mitchell, Wm. W., 219
Mitchell (town), 219
"Mormon Colonies in Chihuahua . . .," by

Mills, 165-182
Motor carriers, 126
Mt. Alice, 254
Murguia, Gen. Jose Carlos, 297

Nacajatteses, 18f

Nasatir, A. P., rev., Franco-Spanish Rivalry

.... by Folmer, 160
Navaho, 8, 43 ; revolt 1913, 259-89 ; customs,

259 passim
Nelson's store, 271
New Mexico Magazine, 124
New Mexico Military Institute, 125
"New Mexico Pioneer . . .," by Anderson,

245-58
New Mexico State reports, see Shelton,

"Checklist . . ."

Newspaper accuracy, 264 passim
Noel's store, 270
Notes and documents, 141, 234, 811

Ogle, R. H., rev., Antoine Robidoux .... by

Wallace, 159
O'Kane, Walter Collins, The Hopia: Portrait

of a Desert People, rev'd., 71
Old Spanish Trail: Santa Fe to Los Angeles

. . ., by Hafen and Hafen, rev'd., 320
Oliveira, Joe De, 249
Oratory, 124

Ortiz, Juan, Navaho captive, 15
Ortiz, Father Ramon, 5
Osteopaths association, 49
Owen, Sister M. Lillian a, Most Reverend

Anthony J. Shuler . . . First Bishop of El

Paso . . ., rev'd., 157

Pacheco, Gov. Carlos (Chihuahua), 167

Paddock, John, rev., Florentine Codex . . .
(3, 7) by Anderson and Dibble, 154

Page, Gregory. 214

Page, James, 214

Paquette, Peter, 273

Paxton, Charles M., 213

Pearson (Mexico), 297

Pena, Moises T. de la, 307

"Penitentes of New Mexico," by Chavez, 97-
123

Penitential tradition, 112

Peons, 31f

Perrigo, Lynn, "New Mexico in the Mexican
Period, as Revealed in the Torres Docu-
ments," 28-40

Pershing, Gen. John J., Mexican expedition,
290 passim

Petroleum industry, 127

Pharmaceutical association

Pharmacy, 127

Plumbers association, 48

330

NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL REVIEW

Politics, 252

Pope, Judge Wm., 274

Prices, Mexican period, 30 passim

Poultry association, 136

Public Service Co. of New Mexico, 138

Railroad, 21 Off, 252ff

Real estate (1883), 135

Red Flaggers, 290

Reeve, Frank D., rev., Lost Mines of Death

Valley, by Weight, 163
Religious societies, 18th century, 109
Retablos, 116
Revista Catolica, 102
Ribera, Fadrique Henrfquez de, 117
Rio Grande and Texas Land Company, 81
Ritch, W. G., and penitentes, 104
Roads association, 64

The Road to Santa Fe, by Gregg, rev'd., 71
Robidoux, Antoine, biography, rev'd, 159
Romney, Junius, 173
Rosenkrans, William R., 263
Royuela, Jose Manuel, 82

Sabinal, 30

Sahagun, see Florentine Codex . . .

Salazar, Gen. Jos6 Inez, 169

Salpointe, Archbishop, 100

Sandobal, Jose Dolores, 317

Sanjinez, Gen. Augustin, 172

San Juan, Manuel de, 45

San Lucas Canyon, 9

San Mateo, 9

San Miguel, Paraje de, 10

Santa Fe trail, 84

Santos, 116

School, association, 64 ; public, 249 ; see

Shelton, "Checklist . . ."
School of American Research, 140
Schuler, Bishop Anthony J., biography by

Owen, rev'd., 157
Science, academy of, 49
Scott, Brig-Gen. Hugh L., 271
Sebeok, Thomas A., rev., Clark, Indian Leg'

ends of the Pacific Northwest, 75
Seboyeta, 8
Secoy, Frank Raymond, Changing Military

Patterns of the Great Plains, rev'd., 76
Secularization, 116
Sells, Cato, 262
Seymour, Flora Warren, 285
Sheep industry, 247 passim
Shelton, Wilma Loy, "Checklist of New

Mexico Publications." 48-70, 124-140
Shelton, W. T., 260

Shuler, Anthony J., biography, rev'd., 157
Sierra Obscura, 92
Simpson, Jesse J., 298
Social life, Mexican period, 30 passim
Social welfare conference, 59
Speech association, 129
Spillsbury, Lemuel, 290
Staples, Berton I., 218
State bar, 129
Statehood, Arizona, 184

Stephenson, Adelaide (Mrs. James Zabris-

kie), 4

Stephenson, Benacia (Mrs. Albert French, 4
Stephenson, Horace, 8
Stephenson, Hugh, 1
Stephenson, Hugh Jr., 4

Stephenson, Margaret (Mrs. J. M. Flores), 3
Stevens, Joshua, 304
Strauss, Albert, 251

Taft postoffice, 255

Tariff, 252

Taxation, Mexican period, 37

Taxpayers Association, 139

Telling, Irving, "Coolidge and Thoreau : For-
gotten Frontier Towns," 210-223

Texas land grant, 82

Third Order of St. Frances, 97

Thoreau (town history), 210

The Time of the Gringo, by Arnold, rev'd.,
74

Tingley, Carrie (Hospital), 49

Tithe, Mexican Period, 87

Tlaxcala in the Sixteenth Century, by Gib-
son, rev'd., 240

Torres, Geronimo, 29f

Torres, Ramon (1820's), 83

Torres Documents, analysis of by Perrigo, 28

Traffic, 65

Transportation, 126, 251

Treutlein, Theodore E., rev., Gregg, The
Road to Santa Fe, 71

Truchas creek, 250

Trujillo. Juan de Jesus (1845), 111

Tuberculosis association, 135

Turley, Charles, 178

University of New Mexico, 136

Vigil, Juan B., 315 passim

Villa, Francisco (Pancho), 175, 297

Visually handicapped, 138

Wallace, William S., comp., "Bibliography
of published Bibliographies on the History
of the Eleven Western States, 1941-1947,"
224-233; Antoine Rodidoux, 1794-1860: a
Biography of a Western Venturer, rev'd.,
159 ; rev., Hafen and Hafen, Old Spanish
Trail: Santa Fe to Los Angeles . . ., 320

Weber, Father Anselm, 263 passim

Weight, Harold O., Lost Mines of Death
Valley, rev'd., 163

Whipple, James, 178

Whitmore, Emma, 253

Whitmore, James, 253

Wilken, Father Robert, 283

Wilson, Francis C., 280

Wilson, Stephen Julian, land grant, 82

Wool growers association, 136

Workman, William, 315

Wyllys, Rufus K., rev., Caughey, California,
73

Zabriskie, Col. James A., 4ff

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