USA > New Mexico > History of New Mexico : its resources and people, Volume I > Part 63
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In place of the former military post at Fort Stanton, has been estab- lished the United States Marine Hospital Sanatorium for Tuberculosis.
Fort Stanton is situated on the right bank of the Rio Bonito, a moun- tain stream, having its source in the White Mountains, about 18 miles distant : it is 10 miles from Lincoln, the county seat of Lincoln county, and eight miles from Capitan, the nearest railroad point, and terminus of the El Paso & Northeastern Railway.
Fort Stanton was established in 1855 to control the Mescalero and White Mountain Apaches. The post was burned and abandoned in 1861 by the United States troops upon the approach of the Texas troops under General Sibley. In the spring of 1863, after the defeat and withdrawal of the Confederates, a garrison of volunteers re-occupied the post, and by covering the old walls with rafters and earth roofs, made the quarters tenantable. In this condition the post was occupied until 1868, when re- pairs and reconstruction were commenced. Substantial stone barracks, quarters, offices, and store houses for the accommodation of four com- panies were erected from 1868 to 1871, or adapted from the old buildings whose walls had been left standing.
The original reservation embraced 144 square miles, or was 12 miles square, but under authority of the Act of Congress of May 21, 1872, 128 square miles were transferred to the Interior Department and thrown open to settlement under the general land laws. A tract embracing 16 square miles, eight miles in length and two miles in width along the Rio Bonito, was retained for military purposes. In August, 1896, the post was aban- doned, all troops withdrawn and the reservation was turned over to the Interior Department. The reservation was then transferred to the Marine Hospital service, and was formally accepted from the Interior Department on April 27, 1899, by Passed Assistant Surgeon J. O. Cobb, who had been
United States Hospital for Consumptives, Fort Stanton
New Mexico Institute for the Blind, Alamogordo Building completed 1906
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detailed for that purpose. On November Ist, 1899, the reservation was extended one mile on the north and one and three-quarters miles on the south, and now contains 38 square miles, nearly all under fence.
Since the transfer of this reservation from the Interior Department, the Marine Hospital service has been constantly at work repairing and altering the buildings, beautifying the grounds and making the place one of the finest Sanatoria in the United States.
The beneficiaries of the Sanatorium are restricted to seamen employed on the Merchant Marine vessels of the United States, officers and men of the Revenue Cutter service, keepers and crews of lighthouse establish- ments, and seamen employed on vessels of some other branches of the public service, other than the navy. At this writing the number of patients is between 200 and 250.
The history of the movement to establish the Sanatorium for the serv- ice is given as follows by Surgeon P. M. Carrington: "So far as the writer is aware, the first movement by any officer of the service towards securing such a place in the arid district was by Dr. Walter Wyman, then a young officer in the service. He had considerable correspondence on the subject, and at one time he tried to interest the minister from Mexico, with the intention of establishing a tuberculosis colony in Old Mexico. I am not able to state it as a fact that Dr. Wyman was not encouraged in his prospects, but owing to his reticence on the subject I suspect that was the case. The subject was always uppermost in his mind, and he often discussed it with other officers. As surgeon-general his ideas were con- summated in the establishment of this station.
"I was called to Washington for the purpose of examining the records in the War and Interior Departments concerning abandoned military reser- vations, for it was thought that as the army was first in a country the forts and posts would be selected for the best water and grazing pastures. It was essential that we have an independent water supply, and it was certain that all the posts were desirable in this respect. I made a detailed report of the information which I had collected in the departments, and he (the surgeon-general) then directed me to proceed on an inspection tour of Arizona and New Mexico. This resulted in the recommendation that Fort Stanton be selected as the site for a ranch or sanatorium for consump- tives. On April 1, 1899, the president, by executive order, set aside the Fort Stanton Military Reservation for the use of the service."
Surgeon P. M. Carrington, U. S. P. H. and M. H. S., who took charge of the United States Marine Hospital Sanatorium at Fort Stanton on the 25th of January, 1901, and has continued at its head to the present time, is a prominent and able representative of the medical fraternity. He was well equipped by thorough preliminary training for the duties of his present position. He had charge of the personnel and accounts division of the surgeon general's office in Washington previous to assuming his present position at Fort Stanton. He had contracted tuberculosis in the city, and it was this which led to his transfer to Fort Stanton. His broad learning and skill and his devotion to his profession have made him well trained for the position which he now occupies. He is a member of the Territorial Medical Association, the American Medical Association, the Association of Military Surgeons, the National Association for the Study and Prevention of Tuberculosis and the American Sanatorium Association.
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The New Mexico Cottage Sanatorium, construction of which began in August, 1905, is located just north of Silver City. According to the Silver City Independent of that date "the principal object of the institu- tion is to provide at the lowest possible cost a closed sanatorium for the treatment of tuberculosis, conducted in accordance with the accepted prin- ciples of management in this disease and located in a climatic environment that is generally conceded to be unsurpassed and which, in conjunction with proper management, unquestionably affords the highest percentage of cures.
"The money required to build and equip the institution has been ob- tained by gifts from charitable persons who are interested in returning to health those afflicted with tuberculosis. The cottages are to be designated by the names of the different donors.
"The medical control of the institution is vested in the medical di- rector, Dr. E. S. Bullock, formerly pathologist and diagnostician United States General Hospital for Tuberculosis, Fort Bayard, New Mexico, and medical director at St. Joseph's Sanatorium, Silver City, New Mexico, and who is recognized as an authority in his specialty. In addition there is an advisory board, having absolute control of the methods of treatment em- ployed by the management of the institution, and composed of medical men identified with the modern movements for the cure and control of tuberculosis."
George William Harrison, M. D., president of the New Mexico Board of Health and representative of his district in the Thirty-fourth legislative assembly. was born in Lafayette county, Missouri, in the neighborhood of Higginsville, November 12, 1855. His father. William Hiram Harrison, was a native of Virginia, and a son of William Walker Harrison, a first cousin of William Henry Harrison, at one time president of the United States. His mother, Harriet Ann Davis, was a daughter of the Carolinas. Both parents died during the childhood of their son, Dr. Harrison. He lived and worked upon his father's farm until sixteen years of age, and after the crops were raised and gathered he attended the country schools. Sub- sequently he was sent to Washington University, in St. Louis, Missouri, and in due time was graduated from that great institution of learning, the State University of Missouri, at Columbia. Preparing for the practice of medicine as a life work, he was graduated at Missouri Medical College, at St. Louis, Missouri, now the medical department of the Washington University, in the class of 1878, and in May, 1880, he became identified with the medical fraternity of New Mexico, spending one year in Las Vegas, after which he removed to Bernalillo county. For ten years he remained in the town of Bernalillo, and for sixteen years has been a resi- dent of Albuquerque. He has been prominently and intimately associated with the medical profession of New Mexico, and has been honored with official positions in the New Mexico Medical Association, having held the office of president and treasurer for successive terms, while he is now councilor for the association. He was editor during the first year of the life of the Journal of the association. He has also been identified with several of the most successful business institutions of Albuquerque, and has contributed in substantial measure to the upbuilding and progress of the community. He was one of the founders of the Bank of Commerce of Albuquerque, serving several years as its president.
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In political circles Dr. Harrison is equally well known and honored. He lias several times been elected by the people of the city to positions of public trust, serving for four terms as alderman, and he is now serving his second term as a member and as president, of the New Mexico Board of Health, which is also the licensing board for physicians to practice medicine in New Mexico. He was called to represent his district, compris- ing Bernalillo and Mckinley counties, in the legislative assembly, and as a member of the legislative senate, and as representative of the profession before the legislature, and he succeeded in securing the passage of the present medical law in New Mexico, which has been fully endorsed by the profession in general throughout the Territory. The Santa Fe New Mexican of March 2, 1901, said of Dr. Harrison in his legislative work : "He is making a splendid record. Here he brings to bear upon all public measures that same thoughtful conservatism which so strongly character- izes his personality in the world of trade and finance. He is a worker, and a hard worker, both on the floor of the council and in committee, and is a member of no less than eight legislative committees, including those on education and judiciary. He is the author of a number of excellent meas- ures now well along toward becoming laws, and one of his bills, regulating the practice of medicine, has thus early become law."
In the Masonic fraternity Dr. Harrison has attained the thirty-second degree, and is also a member of the Mystic Shrine. He is a man of com- manding presence, bearing the stamp of the old Virginia school of affa- bility and politeness, is considerate and conservative, and is well fitted for the positions of leadership which he has attained in fraternal, political, professional and social circles.
James H. Wroth, M. D., has been engaged in the practice of medicine in Albuquerque continuously since 1881, and is therefore, in point of years devoted to professional life, one of the oldest practitioners in the Territory. A native of Camden, New Jersey, he received his classical education in the Philadelphia High school, being graduated therefrom in 1873, and he qualified in medicine and surgery in the medical department of the same institution, receiving the degree of M. D. in 1878. For three years he practiced in Philadelphia, at the same time acting as instructor in chemistry in his alma mater, removing upon the expiration of that time to Albuquerque.
Dr. Wroth's professional labors have been rewarded with success. He has served as president of the New Mexico Medical Association and has taken a profound and helpful interest in all matters pertaining to the ad- vancement of the profession. In Masonry he occupies a high position and has filled most of the chairs in the grand bodies of the Territory.
Major J. F. Pearce, M. D., has been engaged in the practice of medi- cine in Albuquerque since 1883. A native of Cecil county, Maryland, he was graduated on the completion of the classical course from the Delaware College at Newark, Delaware, and followed his literary training by a course of study in the Jefferson Medical College at Philadelphia, from which he was graduated in the class of 1883. During his medical course he enjoyed the advantage of private instruction under Professor Pancoast. Soon after his graduation Dr. Pearce located for practice in Albuquerque, where he has remained continuously since. His labors have been rewarded with great success as viewed from either the professional or the financial standpoint.
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Since 1897 he has been surgeon of the First Regiment of the New Mexico National Guard, with the rank of major, under commission of Governor Ross.
John W. Elder, M. D., of Albuquerque, has become recognized as one of the successful practitioners in the Territory. He is a native of Clarion, Pennsylvania, and a graduate of Princeton University, while his profes- sional education was obtained in the West Penn Medical College, at Pitts- burg, Pennsylvania, from which he was graduated in the class of 1892. He practiced in this city for four years, and subsequently removed to Al- buquerque, where he has since been located. He is a member of the Ameri- can Medical Association, the New Mexico Medical Society and the Bernalillo County Medical Society, and is highly esteemed by the profession and the laity alike.
W. T. Joyner, physician and surgeon engaged in active practice in Roswell. his capability ranking him with the men of prominence in the profession in his part of the Territory, was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1867. His collegiate course was pursued in the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, and he was graduated from the medical department of that institution in the class of 1889. He further prepared for his chosen profes- sion by post-graduate work in the New York Polyclinic in 1900-01.
Dr. Joyner began practice in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1889, and was elected to the position of county physician, which he filled for two years. He also had charge of the Pulaski County Hospital, and in addition had a good private practice. Thinking that he would have still better business opportunities in the new and growing city of Roswell he removed to the Territory in 1892 and has practiced in Roswell continuously since with a growing patronage, leading to gratifying financial as well as professional results. He has served as health officer for a number of years, is now county health officer, and since 1894 has been surgeon for the Pecos Valley Railroad Company, and also surgeon for the New Mexico Military Insti- tute since its establishment. He was chosen the first president of the Chaves County Medical Society in 1904. He was chiefly instrumental in its formation, realizing the value of such a society as an incentive for the maintenance of a high professional standard and for the dissemination of knowledge concerning the best methods of practice of both medicine and surgery. He is a member of the New Mexico Territorial Society, and since his graduation has held membership with the American Medical As- sociation. He is now the oldest member of the profession in Roswell in years of active, continuous service and stands among the foremost physi- cians of the southern part of the Territory.
· Dr. Joyner was made a Mason in Roswell Lodge, No. 18, A. F. & A. M., in 1894, and has since attained high rank in the order. He now be- longs to Columbia Chapter, No. 7, R. A. M., Rio Hondo Commandery, No. 6, K. T., has attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite in the consistory at Wichita, Kansas, is a member of the Santa Fé Lodge of Per- fection, and belongs to the Mystic Shrine at Albuquerque. He has been honored with various official positions in different branches of Masonry, being a past master in Roswell lodge and past commander in K. T. com- mandery and the present high priest of the chapter. He is a member of the Board of Education of Roswell and community interests receive his
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earnest attention and consideration, while his active co-operation is given to many plans, measures and movements for the public good.
J. J. Shuler, M. D., engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery in Raton, New Mexico, where he dates his residence from the 16th of March, 1881, was born near Grove Hill, Virginia, and is at present one of the oldest practicing physicians of Raton. He won his professional degree on completing a course in the medical department of the University of Vir- ginia and later the degree of Doctor of Medicine was conferred upon him by the University of New York, in which he did post-graduate work. Com- ing to Raton, he has, since 1881, been division surgeon for the Santa Fé Railroad, and was physician and surgeon for the Raton Coal & Coke Com- pany from 1883 until 1894. His research and ability in the line of his pro- fession have made him a capable member of the medical fraternity. He keeps in touch with the most modern methods of practice and his knowledge is broad and comprehensive, while in the diagnosis of a case he is very care- ful, seldom making the least error in judgment concerning the outcome of disease.
Dr. Shuler has been actively identified with the material improve- ment and progress of Raton. He was identified with the movement for the formation of the town, organizing the first water company and served two terms as mayor of the city, during which time cement walks were built and a sewerage system established. Several times he has been a mem- ber of the Board of Aldermen and he was a member of the territorial board of health under Governors Prince and Thornton. His political allegiance is given to the Democracy. In addition to his professional and political service he has also become identified with the development of New Mex- ico's rich mineral resources. He is president of several mining companies, and in connection with others he has developed the Graphite mine, which is a paying property. Prominent in Masonry, he belongs to Gate City Lodge, No. 1I, A. F. & A. M., Raton Chapter, No. 6, R. A. M., Aztec Commandery, K. T., and the Mystic Shrine at Albuquerque. He married, in Raton, January 30, 1884, Miss Mollie K. Davis, daughter of Rev. Charles Davis, of Memphis, who founded the first Cumberland Presbyterian church of Memphis, Tennessee. Their children are Ada Evelyn and Virginia
Winifred.
C. C. Gordon, M. D., a distinguished physician of the Territory of New Mexico, now residing in Las Vegas, one of the oldest practitioners of New Mexico, was born at Key West, Florida, on the 4th of July, 1837. He was educated in the northern schools, completing his preparation for the practice of medicine and surgery in Long Island College Hospital, from which he won the M. D. degree, and in Kings County Hospital, in which he remained for a year, or until the outbreak of the Civil war. His spirit of patriotism aroused, he served as assistant surgeon in the Union army, and after the battle of Bull Run was promoted to the rank of surgeon in the Army of the Potomac. Subsequently he was transferred to New Jersey as medical director of that state. Leaving the volunteer service he went to California in 1864, and was made quarantine officer of the Port of San Francisco. He was also in the Pacific mail service between San Francisco and the Panama canal for four years. He engaged in the practice of medi- cine in San Francisco for a few years, and afterward traveled quite exten- sively over the United States until 1875, when he came to the Territory of
Vol. I. 29
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New Mexico, making his way to the military post of Santa Fe, then the headquarters for the Eighth United States Cavalry, commanded by Colonel Gregg. After six weeks he went to Fort Clark, Texas, but returned with the battalion of the Ninth Cavalry under Major Morrow to Fort Marcy. He afterward went to Fort Garland, Colorado, in 1877, and subsequently to Fort Stanton, leaving the service in 1878 at that point. Subsequently he made his way to Trinidad, Colorado, where he located and practiced until 1881. In the latter year he came to Las Vegas as railroad physician at the request of A. A. Robinson, now president of the Mexican Central Railroad Company. Dr. Gordon drew up the petition that was instrumental in or- ganizing the Santa Fé system of hospitals in 1882. In 1883 he went east in the interest of the Hot Springs Company of the Santa Fe Railroad. He has continued a practitioner of medicine in Las Vegas to the present time, and since 1885 has not been associated with the railroad company.
Dr. Gordon is also extensively and actively interested in community affairs. He was a member of the Board of Education for five years, was president of the board during the period that the High school was built, and the same instituted, thus increasing the educational facilities of the city. For years he was city physician. While in California Dr. Gordon married Miss Helen Gibson, who died in that state in 1874.
Frank I. Given, M. D., who since 1889 has engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery in Hillsboro, acquired his more specifically literary education in the Maine Wesleyan Seminary and prepared for his chosen profession as a student in Bellevue Hospital Medical College of New York, from which he was graduated with the degree of M. D. He located for practice in Auburn, Maine, where he remained until his removal to New Mexico, since which time he has been an active practitioner in Hillsboro. his ability winning him a liberal patronage. He is a member of the Ameri- can Medical Association and keeps in touch with the advance thought of the profession. Dr. Given was married in Maine, and has two children.
B. E. Lane, M. D., who, coming to New Mexico for his health in 1886, has remained almost continuously since in the Territory, winning promi- nence and success as a member of the medical profession and now practic- ing along scientifics lines in Las Cruces, was born in the southeastern part of Muskegon county, Ohio, and pursued his preliminary education in the schools of Columbus, that state. Determining upon the practice of medi- cine as a life work, he matriculated in Columbus Medical College, from which he was graduated in 1880 with the degree of M. D. He practiced for six years in Ohio before coming to New Mexico and then, because of impaired health, sought a change of climate, arriving in this Territory in 1886. He spent eighteen months mostly in Lake Valley, and then re- turned to Ohio, but after a year settled in Las Cruces in 1888 and has since engaged in the active practice of his profession here. He purchased a drug store from his brother in 1902 and conducted it for three vears, but sold out in 1905. His entire attention is now given to his professional duties and to his research and investigation along lines that continually broaden his knowledge and promote his efficiency. He is a member of the American Medical Association, the Territorial Medical Association, the Doña Ana County Medical Society, and of the last named is president. He was a delegate to the Anti-Tubercular League at Atlanta, Georgia, appointed by Governor Otero. Dr. Lane has made a close and earnest study of tuber-
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culosis and his efforts in its treatment have been attended with a gratifying measure of success.
In October, 1891, Dr. Lane was married to Miss Anna M. Hunter. To them have been born five children. He is a charter member of Valley Lodge, I. O. O. F., and has held office in this order. His interest in com- munity affairs is deep and sincere, while the efficiency of his efforts in his profession is indicated by the large patronage accorded him.
Charles Glanville Cruickshank, M. D., deceased, who won more than local distinction in the practice of medicine and surgery at San Marcial, was born October 19, 1853, in the province of Quebec, Canada. His edu- cation was acquired in the public schools and the military academy in Que- bec, from which he was graduated about 1870. In the same year he par- ticipated in the defense of Canada during the Fenian raids, and received a silver medal for his services from the Dominion government. He was then but seventeen years of age. His professional education was acquired in the medical department of the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, from which he was graduated in 1876, and he located for practice in Iosco, Livingston county, Michigan, where he remained for two years, when he removed to Howell, the county seat of the same county. In 1880 he came to New Mexico and for one year conducted a meat market at San Marcial. He afterwards spent a few months in the state of Washington, and in the spring of 1884 returned to San Marcial, where he entered upon the active practice of his profession, in which he continued until 1898. He spent the winter of 1897-8 in pursuing a post-graduate course in the Post-Graduate Medical College of New York city. On leaving San Marcial, in the latter year, he went to San Diego, California, and a few months later enlisted for service in the Spanish-American war. As lieutenant of his regiment he went to Albany, Georgia, and was chief surgeon in the United States army at Port au Principe, Cuba, for seven or eight months, which appointment he re- ceived after his discharge from the army. His connection with the military interests of the government being terminated, he returned to San Marcial, where he continued in active practice up to the time of his death, which occurred on the 16th of October, 1904. He was a member of the Michigan and the New Mexico medical associations and also of the American Medi- cal Association, with which he affiliated from 1888. He was local surgeon for the Santa Fé Railroad Company in New Mexico for a long period and enjoyed an extensive private practice. He was a student by nature and be- came a man of broad scholarly attainments, ever keeping in touch with the advancement made by his profession as the result of experiment, research and scientific investigation.
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