USA > New Mexico > History of New Mexico : its resources and people, Volume II > Part 23
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The legislature to which Mills had been elected moved the courts from Cimarron and Colfax county to the adjoining county of Taos, where the next term was held early in the following spring. Because of the threats said to have come from these mob people in Colfax county, it was thought best by Federal officials to send U. S. Troops, and accordingly the court was held by Chief Justice Waldo under the shadow of United States In- fantry. A full investigation was had by the grand jury, witnesses were subpoened from Colfax county and all over the country ; but no indictments were found against Mills or any of the men named in the Cardinas affidavit. The Methodist church, becoming much interested because of the murder of the Rev. Tolby, and the part that McMains had taken, and because of the charges against him, sent Bishop Bowman to make a full investigation also,
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and much has been done to ferret out the motive of the murderers of the Rev. Thos. Tolby. Although nearly thirty years have intervened, no fur- ther evidence has ever been discovered and no motive ever located that should have induced anyone to have taken the life of the preacher. The innocent men who lost their lives and were sent into the unknown coun- try by being shot and hung are as innocent now, so far as any discovery of any evidence against them, as they were the nights they were murdered. The leader, Harberger, who extorted the Cardinas affidavit and who was said to have shot Cardinas afterward, and who murdered another man, was afterward prosecuted by Mills as district attorney, convicted and sent to the penitentiary, within the walls of which he afterwards died.
It was here at Cimarron that many desperado bad men grew into prominence. many of whom have been referred to in other pages of New Mexico history ; but none of them outranked that wild, dark eyed Ten- nessseean, Clay Allison, the slayer of "Chunk," "Cooper," "Griego," and others. This man sought with a mob at one time to capture and make M. W. Mills his victim of death, and strange to say a few hours later ac- knowledged that he was wrong and took another mob of men to wrest Mills from the hands of another mob, who, with a hangman's rope, were after him and within a few rods of his house, so that Clay Allison boasted many times afterwards of having saved the life of M. W. Mills. This man Allison had such power and personal following making him immune from sheriff's arrest for many years, but the Federal authorities finally sent to the aid of Sheriff Rinehart a few companies of soldiers that surrounded. in the early morning, the house where Allison was located and finally suc- ceeded in arresting him. He afterwards made his escape, however, and after all, like most all men who take human life, died an unnatural death.
It soon became apparent that this wild town of Cimarron, so properly named, the former rendezvous of Maxwell, Abreu, Shout, Dold, Moore, St. Vrain, Wheaton, Kroenig, Beaubien, Wootton, Carson, and many other old time characters, was about to subside. The great Santa Fe Railroad had already crossed the Raton mountains and was over the northern bound- ary of New Mexico, and would so centralize business centers, calling for another removal of the county seat of Colfax county. As before, it fell upon M. W. Mills to head the proposition, who went to the legislature, securing the removal to the town of Springer. At this time Mills was county attorney, and a little later district attorney for Northern New Mex- ico. The better class of people began to say among themselves, and to con- gratulate themselves that the days of mob law and terrors of desperadoes were things of the past, but their congratulations came quite too previous as it turned out. A party of outlaws got together under the leadership of a young cowboy fellow, by the name of Dick Rogers, a party of thirty or forty, who appropriated to themselves about what they wanted. They be- gan to board the trains, walking back and forth through the cars with their big hats, spurs, chaparral, pistols, etc., alarming the passengers, intimidat- ing the people again, in the old fashioned way. A new sheriff had been elected, largely by efforts of M. W. Mills, by name of John Hixenbaugh, and a militia company organized under the leadership of a man by the name of Matherson. But the Dick Rogers gang took possession of them and all their munitions of war early one morning when first starting out, marching some of them over the Raton mountains into Colorado. The new
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sheriff attempting to arrest some outlaws had got shot, and his principal under-sheriff, Jesse Lee, after the militia had been captured, took charge of the court house and jail at Springer, who along with a fellow called Dirty Dick made a stand against the Dick Rogers gang of outlaws to keep them from liberating some prisoners they wanted in jail. At that time Rogers with a party of thirty or forty went to the office of the district attor- ney and demanded of him that the prisoners be liberated. Upon being re- fused they gave notice, all being heavily armed and equipped for warfare, that unless the prisoners should be turned loose, the district attorney and other officers would be transformed into cold corpses before morning. The next morning, very early, an attack was made on the jail by Rogers' party, who were repulsed by Jesse Lee and his comrade, Dick Rogers, and two others shot and killed, while others were wounded and their horses shot from under them. These outlaws had many friends who began to gather at Springer until a thousand or so of demonstrative, threatening, frenzied people were on the ground. The telegraph office was surrounded, so that District Attorney Mills could not wire the governor at Santa Fé, and then Mills took his private conveyance, ran the horses twenty-five miles to Wagon Mound, telegraphing to Governor Sheldon at Santa Fé, and General Pope at Leavenworth, Kansas, and succeeded, with the aid of Chas. Dyer, Santa Fé Superintendent, in getting United States soldiers on the ground before the mob reached the court house with wagons of baled hay saturated with · coal oil to fire and tumble into that structure. The soldiers took the under- sheriff and his deputy before Chief Justice Axtel. A grand jury was organ- ized, many indictments and convictions followed, prosecuted by the district attorney, with Jesse Lee and his companion tried and turned loose.
Shortly after this time, Mr. Mills becoming tired of this strenuous life, gave up for the most part his practice and his official life, devoting him- self to the looking after a lot of investments in ranches and other enter- prises ; principally horse, cattle, and fruit ranches. After having these properties very successfully developed into a paying investment, resort, and retirement places, the flood of 1904 came, sweeping away orchards, ditches, fences, buildings, and extensive improvements valued at hundreds of thou- sands of dollars-the work of a whole life time swept away,-and now, for the most part, he is still engaged in rebuilding and restoring these prop- erties. Mr. Mills was married in 1877 ; not having any children, he adopted four as his own children. His mother and wife (Ella E. Mills) are still living, his father having died in 1903.
Louis Garcia, postmaster of Springer, Colfax county, New Mexico, was born seventy miles southeast of Albuquerque, near Manzano, Septem- ber 25, 1873, son of Juan Garcia and Francisca ( Padilla) de Garcia. His father, a minister of the Spanish Methodist Episcopal church, for many years preached on the circuit embracing Manzano and wielded an influence that was felt for good far and wide in the locality in which he labored. He died in 1897. Mr. Garcia's mother is still living. He has three brothers and two sisters, all married and living in New Mexico.
At the age of six or seven years Mr. Garcia came to live with his uncle, Rev. Benito Garcia, of Ciruelita, Mora county, New Mexico, the first ordained Spanish Methodist minister in the world so far as we know.
Louis Garcia was educated in the Mission school, under Mrs. Thomas Harwood, at Tiptonville. New Mexico, and when he started out in the
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business world it was to work in a printing office at Wagon Mound, the office in which La Flecha (The Arrow) was printed, under the manage- ment of W. T. Henderson. The publication of this paper has been dis- continued. After remaining there seven or eight months, young Garcia worked at his trade on other papers, among them El Abogado Cristiano, published at Albuquerque, Socorro Chieftain, Raton Range and Colfax County Stockman. He was employed in the Raton Range for about ten years-Capt. G. W. Collier was editor of the paper at that time-and con- tinued thus occupied until he was appointed postmaster of Springer, April 18, 1903. Springer was at that time a third-class office. July 14, 1905, it was recommissioned as a fourth-class office.
Mr. Garcia is a member of the Knights of Pythias and the Woodmen of the World. Politically he is a Republican, and he has served as inter- preter in the Republican county convention of Colfax county.
October 22, 1896, he married Miss Lucinda Arellano, at Springer, New Mexico, and they have one daughter, Fabiola Elminda, living, and a son and daughter dead. They are members of the Spanish Methodist Episcopal church.
Marion Littrell, sheriff of Colfax county, New Mexico, was born in Carroll county, Arkansas, February 1, 1855, son of John C. and Miranda (Howard) Littrell. About 1862 or '63 the family moved to Missouri and located near Springfield, where they remained until the close of the Civil war, when they returned to Arkansas. Being a northern sympathizer, John C. Littrell suffered on account of numerous depredations in Arkan- sas before he took his family to Missouri.
His father, a farmer, Marion Littrell, early became familiar with all the details of ranch life. From 1869 until 1873 he was in Texas, the latter part of that time on a cattle ranch, and in 1873 he came to New Mexico, driving a herd of cattle for a man named Cox, and that year spent some time on the Una de Gato creek. The next year he returned to Texas and came back with more cattle, and continued in the employ of Mr. Cox until the latter moved to the San Juan country, about 1877. In the mean- time young Littrell had saved his earnings and invested in cattle, accu- mulating a nice little bunch. The next two or three years he worked for Dr. Wilson L. South and others. About 1881 he entered the employ of the Maxwell Land Grant Company, being placed in charge of their round- up outfit, and continued thus occupied for twelve years. During this time he made his home on the Vermejo.
In 1894 Mr Littrell was elected sheriff of Colfax county, at the end of his term was re-elected, and served four continuous years as sheriff. Again, in the fall of 1902, he was the choice for sheriff, and was again re- elected at the end of his term. A man of cool nerve and daring courage, as sheriff he is the right man in the right place. Between his official terms Mr. Littrell was engaged in stockraising on land leased of the Max- well Company, which he finally bought. This land, 9,000 acres on the Vermejo, he sold to William Rustin in August, 1903. He owns real es- tate in Raton, where he lives, and is a stockholder in the First National Bank of this place. Formerly he was a stockholder and director in the old Citizens' Bank, which he helped to organize.
Mr. Littrell has always been a Republican. Fraternally he is both a Mason and an Elk. He is a member of Gate City Lodge, No. 1I, A. F.
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& A. M., and has also taken the chapter degrees. While living on the Vermejo he served as a member of the school board.
September 19, 1879, Mr. Littrell married Miss Carrie C. Gale, a na- tive of Ohio, but reared in Illinois, and they have five children living, viz. : Violet May, wife of George Warden, a merchant of Springer, New Mex- ico; and Ollie, Roy, Carmelia and Mation, at home.
William Albert Chapman, county surveyor of Colfax county, New Mexico, was born in Malden, Massachusetts, June 2, 1861, son of John W. and Agnes (Allen) Chapman. His father was killed in a wreck on the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern, at Angola, New York, in December, 1868: his mother died October 1, 1867, and thus at an early age William A. was left to the care of a guardian. He was educated in Allen's Eng- lish and Classical School at West Newton, Massachusetts, and at High- land Military Academy, Worcester, Massachusetts, where he graduated. Afterward he attended Croton Military Institute, Croton, New York, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1883. on account of failing health he sought a change of climate and came to San Marcial, New Mex- ico, where he remained until 1887, engaged in the cattle business, and where he was so unfortunate as to lose everything he had. In 1887 he came to Raton and worked at anything he could get; was transit man for L. S. Preston, surveyor for the Maxwell Land Grant Co .; taught school at Catskill, Elizabethtown and Ponil Park in Moreno Valley; in 1898 was elected county superintendent of schools, to which office he was twice re- elected, and at the end of his third term declined renomination, his last term ending January, 1, 1904. In 1900 he was president of the Terri- torial Educational Association. He was elected county surveyor in the fall of 1904. Previous to this, while teaching, in 1895, he filled the office of county surveyor. Since January, 1905, he has been a member of the school board; is also a member of the examining board for Colfax county.
Mr. Chapman has been a Mason since the first year of his residence in New Mexico, having received the degrees in Hiram Lodge No. 13 at San Marcial; is now a member of Gate City Lodge, A. F. & A. M .; Raton Chapter No. 6. R. A. M., and Aztec Commandery No. 5. He was first lieutenant of the Third Regiment of Cavalry. New Mexico National Guards, commissioned October 29, 1887, by Governor Ross, and served throughout his administration. Politically he has always been a Demo- crat. At the spring election of 1906 he was elected city clerk for a two- year term, and in May of the same year was appointed city engineer by Mayor McAuliffe.
August 3, 1899, Mr. Chapman married Lottic Manville, a native of Bayard, Iowa, and they have one son, Manville Chapman.
Manuel M. Salazar, a merchant of Springer, was born in Puertecito, San Miguel county, New Mexico, December 10, 1854, and is a son of Tomas and Margarita (Sandoval) Salazar. Toribio Salazar, his great- grandfather, was married to Apolinaria Gutierrez (otherwise known as Na Zarquita). They located at Puertecito, San Miguel county, now Sena, in 1826 and there their son, Juan Jose Salazar, was married to Rita Mar- tinez. She was the daughter of Francisco Martin, a son of Antonio Mar- tin, who married Ana Maria Cruz. Francisco Martin married Marta Lucero and his death occurred in 1863, while his wife died in 1865. They had several children, including Rita Martinez, who became the wife of
His Kershner
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Juan Jose Salazar. His death occurred in 1863, while his wife passed away in 1868. It will be noticed that there is a different form of spelling in the above record as Martin and Martinez. The proper surname is Mar- tinez, while the name Martin is really a given name, but the Spanish form has frequently been dropped for the English.
In research amid the annals of the maternal ancestry of Manuel M. Salazar it is found that his great-great-grandfather, Miguel Ortiz, was married to Na Juanica, believed to have been Juana Lopez. They only had one child, Juan Christobal Ortiz, who died at Santa Fe, New Mex- ico, in 1837. He was married to Josefa Lobato, who died at Santa Fé, New Mexico, in 1825. They had several children, including Martina Ortiz, who was married to Mateo Sandoval, who was born in 1801 and was a son of Antonio and Marta (Garcia) Sandoval. The former died in 1842 and the latter in 1848. Their son Mateo, as before stated, married Martina Ortiz. He died at Santa Fé in 1861 and was buried in St. Michael's church cem- etery, while his wife died at Sweetwater, Colfax county, New Mexico. in 1889. They had several children, including Margarita Sandoval, who was born at Santa Fé, New Mexico, February 22, 1832. She gave her hand in marriage to Tomas Salazar at Mora, New Mexico, in November, 1853, and their only child is the subject of this review. Tomas Salazar, who was born November 21, 1832, died November 6, 1897, and is still survived by his widow, who has reached the age of seventy-four years. Tomas Salazar was a first lieutenant in the United States army, holding a commission from Miguel Otero, father of ex-governor M. A. Otero, then secretary of the Territory. He participated in the battle of Val Verde. The last years of his life were spent in stock raising in Sweetwater valley.
Manuel M. Salazar remained a resident of San Miguel county until twenty years of age, when in 1874 he went to Mora county, where he be- came a teacher in the Spanish schools. On the 28th of February, 1878, he removed to Rayado, where he continued to teach for three years and was a part of the time in the clerk's office at Cimarron. In 1881 he went to Springer to become deputy county clerk under John Lee and in 1884 was chosen by popular suffrage to the office of county clerk of Colfax county, being the second clerk elected. He served in that capacity until January I, 1895, when he was succeeded by A. C. Guiterrez. Upon the expiration of another term on the Ist of January. 1897, Mr. Salazar was again elected, serving until January 1, 1899. being elected in 1898 by over six hundred majority. On account of the contest between Springer and Raton for the removal of the county seat Mr. Salazar was summarily re- moved from office by Governor Otero, which was a strictly partisan meas- ure. In 1895 he had established a mercantile business, which he has since conducted.
On the 27th of October, 1881, Mr. Salazar was married to Fannie Warder, who was born in Golondrinas, Mora county and is a descendant of the old and prominent Shotwell family of Missouri. Their living chil- dren are: Thomas A., Agnes, Fannie, Manuel, Sophia, Esther, Rosa and Eliodoro. Mr. Salazar is a member of St. Joseph's Roman Catholic church which was established in 1881. In 1895-6 he was a member of the school board and he is deeply interested in community affairs, co-operating heart- ily and zealously in many movements for the general good.
William D. Kershner, interested in mining operations in the vicinity
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of Raton, where he makes his home, was born in Bond county, Illinois, and became a resident of this Territory in 1883. In the following year he secured a position of cow puncher on the Dorsey ranch, where he was em- ployed until 1885. He was working in the southern part of the Territory during the Apache Indian war and in 1887 returned to Raton. He made three trips over the old trail from Texas to Cheyenne, Wyoming, for the Ute Cattle Company and following his return took part in the fight at Stonewall, concerning the Maxwell land grant. In 1890 he entered the employ of the Maxwell Land Grant Company as special officer and deputy sheriff and was thus engaged until 1894 when, in connection with W. E. Hughes, he established a saloon in Raton, carrying on business for about eleven years, or until the fall of 1905, when he sold out. He is now inter- ested in mining on Red river. Mr. Kershner has a family of four chil- dren and belongs to Raton Lodge No. 815, B. P. O. E.
Frank Arnold Hill, postmaster of the town of Raton, was born in Livingston county, Missouri, September 13, 1868, son of Amos L. and Cordelia (Arnold) Hill. He remained in his native state until he was seventeen, when he went to Wyoming as a cow boy, and for nearly ten years he enjoyed the wild, free life of the plains. September 8, 1895. he landed in Raton, New Mexico, and bought H. H. Butler's harness shop. This business he conducted until the opening of the Spanish-American war, when, April 29, 1898, he enlisted at Raton for the war. He was mus- tercd in at Santa Fé on May 2nd of that year, as a saddler in Troop G, Rough Riders, under Capt. W. H. H. Llewellyn. They sailed from Port Tampa for Cuba on the Yucatan June 13. 1898. He remained in the service until the close of the war, when, in September, 1898, he was mus- tered out. as sergeant, at Camp Wyckoff, Long Island, New York. Among the engagements in which he participated were the fight of June 24th at Las Guasimas, the battles of Kettle Hill and San Juan Hill, July I to 4, and the surrender on July 17th. He was with the soldiers who made the voyage to New York on the steamer Miami, sailing Angust 8th.
From New York Mr. Hill came back to New Mexico. He sold his business in Raton and soon afterward became under sheriff, a position he filled for six years, until he was commissioned postmaster, April 18, 1904, by President Roosevelt.
For years Mr. Hill has taken an active part in political affairs in his locality, giving his stanch support always to the Republican party. Fra- ternally he is a member of the Elks Lodge at Las Vegas.
Mr. Hill was married October 7, 1903, to Miss Amelia C. Weaver, a native of Brooklyn, New York.
Robert Kruger, city marshal of Raton, who was formerly connected with industrial interests of the city. is a native of Hanover, Germany, and came to the United States in 1869. He was for eighteen years engaged in general merchandising at Mitchell, Illinois, where he conducted a good store, and later he carried on general farming in York county, Nebraska. On the 6th of January, 1896, he arrived in Raton, where he had charge of the throttle and steam pipes on the engines in the Santa Fé railroad shops. He there remained for four years and was recognized as a capable employe of the railroad company. In April, 1899. he was ap- pointed marshal of Raton by Mayor Shuler and has filled the position continuously since. discharging his duties without fear or favor and with
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marked promptness and fidelity. He has also been street commissioner and sewer inspector and was elected constable for three different terms.
Mr. Kruger is married and has a family of four grown children. He is a member of Raton Lodge No. 865, B. P. O. E. He has gained a wide and favorable acquaintance during the ten years of his residence in Raton and has proved a very capable and trustworthy city official.
Josiah A. Rush, proprietor and manager of the Rush Lumber Com- pany, Raton, Colfax county, became a resident of this Territory in 1887. That year he located at Springer, as manager for Hughes Brothers' Lumber Company, and remained there until the fall of 1890, when he came to Raton, where he has since made his home. He continued as manager for Hughes Brothers till he bought them out in 1903, since which time the business has been conducted under the name of the Rush Lumber Company.
Mr. Rush is a native of McDonough county, Illinois, the date of his birth being Aug. 6, 1858. His early life was passed on a farm in Illinois and his education obtained in the district schools. April 11, 1886, the year before he came west, he married Miss Emma Mitchell, daughter of Theophilus and Alpha (Riggs) Mitchell; and they have two sons and two daughters, namely. Laura, Roy, Harry and Florence.
Politically Mr. Rush is a Democrat. During the fifteen years he has resided in Raton he has taken an active part in promoting the best interests of the city. He served one term as a member of the city coun- cil, from the first ward, elected on the citizens' ticket, and in 1899 he was a member of the school board.
For nearly twenty-five years William F. Degner has been a resident of New Mexico. the most of this time identified with Raton, where he has acquired valuable property, and is ranked with the representative citizens of the town. He was born in Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Germany, January 1, 1859, and in his native land spent the first seven years of his life. Then the family emigrated to America. From Cleveland, Ohio, in 1881 he came to New Mexico, locating first at Springer. Six months later he came to Raton, where he has, since that date, been in business, and has met with prosperity. From time to time he has made valuable investments, including much city property, and land south of Raton ; and he is a director and stockholder in the First National Bank of Raton.
For a number of years Mr. Degner has been an active member of Raton Lodge, I. O. O. F .. No. 8, in which he has filled all the chairs; and has also been a delegate to the Grand Lodge.
A. S. Neff, for the past eight years engaged in the grocery business at Raton. New Mexico, has had an eventful life in many respects. Mr. Neff was born in Ohio, July 11, 1844, and passed his boyhood on a farm, receiving his education in the district schools. At the time the Civil war broke out he was a youth of seventeen, ambitious and patriotic, and when the call was made for volunteers he was not slow to respond. En- listing as a member of Company B, Seventh Iowa Volunteer Infantry, he served until the close of his term, when he was honorably discharged. Afterward he re-enlisted, becoming a member of Company B, Fortieth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, the fortunes, of which he shared until the close of the war. His army service took him into many states, on hard
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