USA > New Mexico > History of New Mexico : its resources and people, Volume II > Part 27
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Natural Features .- The county is chieflv drained by Ute creek, which flows southeast through its western and southwestern portions into the Canadian river, and by the Cimarron river, which traverses its northern sections in an eastward course toward the Arkansas. The general slope of the county is toward the southeast, and the surface is generally divided into high mesas, extensive plains and narrow river valleys and canyons. Mountains and hills covered with timber occupy the northern and western portions ; thence they gradually slope into valley lands, which sink into grass-covered mesas, and roll on into the plains of the Panhandle of Texas. On the Cimarron, Tramperos and Ute creeks are valuable tracts of cedar
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and pine, which have not been touched except to supply a small amount of fuel for domestic purposes.
The altitude of Union county ranges from 4,000 to 8,000 feet, and both air and climate generally are favorable to pulmonary troubles. The nights are always cool, the summer heat is modified by the altitude and the moun- tain breezes, and the cold is tempered by the mountain barriers which shut off the high winds. The country abounds in mineral springs. Both the large and the small game of the west is abundant, so that the region is be- coming a favorite resort for hunters, pleasure seekers and semi-invalids.
Stock Raising and Agriculture .- In the raising of sheep and the pro- duction of wool. Union county is first in New Mexico, and Clayton one of the most important centers in the Territory for the handling of the live stock and raw material. The river bottoms, especially along the Cimarron, are used to some extent in the cultivation of alfalfa for cattle and sheep. The raising of goats and horses is a growing industry, and the live stock interests, as a whole, are in process of rapid expansion because of the good transportation facilities afforded by the three railroads of the county.
Wherever water can be obtained all grains, vegetables and fruits can be successfully raised. Unfortunately, irrigation has made little progress in the county. Except corn, every agricultural product is raised success- fully on the higher mesas without resorting to irrigation. Especially fine potatoes are produced, and the alfalfa crops are prodigious. In fact, during the eighteen or twenty years which cover the period of its cultivation, the mesa has never failed the agriculturist. According to the census of 1900 the value of all stock and farm property in the county was $4,664,000, only two other counties in the Territory exceeding it in that respect. When it is remembered that Union county has something like 600,000 sheep, 60,000 cattle, and 10,000 horses and goats, it will be realized how small a proportion of this sum can be credited to its agricultural interests. It must also be remembered that this is the taxable valuation, and by no means represents the selling, or true value.
Chief Towns .- Clayton, the county seat, is a town of about 800 people, a station on the Colorado & Southern Railway, and is situated in the north- eastern part of the county. It has electric lights and waterworks, a tele- phone system, a good public school building, Methodist, Baptist and Christ- ian organizations, a number of secret societies and the usual business es- tablishments, with large yards and other extensive facilities for handling cattle, sheep, lambs and wool. There are also a first-class hotel, a $20,000 court house, a national bank, and a weekly newspaper published in Spanish.
Folsom, situated in the extreme northwestern part of the county, also on the Colorado & Southern Railroad. is nearly the size of Clayton, and is gaining quite a name as a health resort. It is located in a beautiful valley, 6,400 feet above sea level, while twelve miles to the southwest rises the noble Sierra Grande to an altitude of 11,500 feet. During the summer months this mountain is a mass of flowers rising into the clear blue sky, and is one of the most charming and magnificent sights in New Mexico. Five miles from town is Sierra Capulin, 9,500 feet high, bearing on its crest a perfect volcano crater, and affording a magnificent outlook over lesser peaks in all directions, while in clear days the range of vision may sweep far to the northwest and include the Spanish and Pike's peaks of
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Colorado. Sulphur and iron springs abound near Folsom, and there are several imposing sanitariums.
Folsom (formerly Fort Folsom) has long been an important shipping point for live stock and wool, and one of the busiest localities in New Mexico is the ground upon which stand the sheep-dipping tanks owned and operated by the railroad company. The town has a fine public school, a large hotel (sanitarium), and Union Protestant and Catholic congrega- tions. Its business houses are creditable, and from the lime quarries near by is manufactured a good quality of plaster. A Spanish weekly is pub- lished in Folsom, and altogether it is a brisk and growing little place.
John F. Wolford, of Clayton, was born in Cleveland, Ohio, October 22, 1844, a son of John and Elizabeth Wolford. He attended the public schools in his native city to the age of fifteen years and some months after- ward left Ohio and went to Leavenworth, Kansas, where he located in the spring of 1859. He was first employed in a shingle factory and after- ward went to Fort Scott, Kansas, and subsequently to Carthage, Missouri. Later he was in the Indian Territory and in July. 1859, he made his way to the present site of the city of Denver. He began mining in Grand Gulch. He spent about eight months in Colorado and in the spring of 1860 came to New Mexico, making his way to Taos and afterward to Fort Union, assisting in building the present fort. After about four months there passed he went to Rayado, where he was in charge of government mules and horses belonging to Fort Union that had been brought from California in 1862. There he met many historic characters, including Kit Carson, Abreu, Maxwell, Zan Hichland, and John Boggs, also Richard Hunton and Mr. Moore, who conducted the sutler's store at Fort Union, the only store in that part of the Territory. After remaining in New Mexico for nine years, Mr. Wolford returned to Colorado on what was known as the picket wire and in that state engaged in farming for a short time but was driven away by the Indians. He then returned to Rayado, New Mexico, and shortly afterward moved to a ranch at the head of Dry Cimarron, where he remained for two years, or until 1877, when he went to Fort Bascom and was employed in the government secret service. Previous to that time he had gone with Kit Carson into the Navajo coun- try and helped to bring out the first Navajo Indians that were ever at Fort Sumner. He also made two trips to Independence, Kansas, before the advent of railroads into that state. He saw Independence and Platt City destroyed by fires kindled by Quantrell on his raid.
Mr. Wolford witnessed many stirring events connected with the early history of New Mexico and adjoining territories, after which he settled, in 1880, on the Paenes in Mora county, New Mexico. The name of the place, however, has since been changed to Colfax and Union counties. His place of settlement was thirty-five miles south of Clayton. He owns some good city property in the town. He also has a flock of sheep of nineteen thousand head and is one of the heaviest producers of wool in northeastern New Mexico. He was for a time engaged in the cattle business on an extensive scale and is well informed concerning the early history of the cattle industry of the southwest. For six years he was captain of the range, which was at that time an important position, but he at length re- signed because of the arduous duty and service imposed thereby. He came empty-handed to the southwest and has made his way unaided, advancing
John, F, Wolford
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steadily upward until he occupies a foremost position among the substan- tial residents of the Territory. In 1870 lie met with reverses and lost all that he had, but with unfaltering spirit and determined energy he set to work to retrieve his lost possessions and has forged to the front until he is again numbered among the successful and wealthy residents of the Ter- ritorv.
Mr. Wolford was married in Rayado, New Mexico, December 17, 1862, to Miss Margaret Moras, a native of the Territory. Seventeen children were born to them, of whom thirteen are living, and there are also forty-three grandchildren and one great-grandchild. All but six of the grandchildren reside in New Mexico and those are living at Pagosa Springs, Colorado.
In his political views Mr. Wolford is a stalwart Republican, active in the affairs and work of the party, and at the present writing, in 1906, is serving as collector and treasurer of Union county, to which office he was elected in January, 1905, for a two years' term. In 1860 he surveyed the Maxwell grant for Messrs. Maxwell and Beauhien, since which time no change has been made. During the survey they were harassed consider- ably by the Apache Indians, who, however, were held in check by a body of soldiers known as the home guard. Mr. Wolford also subdivided most of Colfax county and all of Union county and located all the big stock ranches in the latter. He was an eye-witness of the fight at Albuquerque between the southern and northern forces and also witnessed the destruc- tion of the commissary at Santa Fe and saw the battle at Pigeon Ranch in the canyon, which was fought between the northern and southern forces. Mr. Wolford has seen the great transformation that has taken place in the southwest, particularly in Texas, New Mexico and Colorado. He is a Knight Templar Mason and is a man of enterprising and resolute spirit, as manifest in his business career and in all life's relations. He certainly deserves mention in this history, for he belongs to that class of representa- tive pioneer men who have aided in carrying civilization into the southwest and in promoting its development and progress. He has displayed splen- did business ability in the control of his private interests and at the same time has manifested a keen recognition of the possibilities of the territory and most effective labor in the substantial development of this part of the country.
Charles A. English, now residing at Folsom, Union county, came to New Mexico in April, 1895, and settled on Johnson's mesa. On the 10th of August of the same year he located a claim of one hundred and sixty acres in Colfax county, upon which he made his home until 1906, building thereon a good residence in 1901. There he was engaged in general farming, raising a variety of crops, including oats, wheat and barley, and keeping on an average of twenty head of cattle and horses. From that place he removed to his present residence, where he is also carrying on general agricultural pursuits.
Mr. English is a native of Pennsylvania. He was born in Clarion county, that state, October 1, 1836, of Scotch-Irish parentage, and remained there until he was twenty. Then he went to Iowa, landing in that state October 13, 1856, and from that date until the spring of 1895 was engaged in farming there, in Scott, Clinton and Greene counties. On account of ill health he sought a change of climate. He had been in New Mexico only
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a few weeks when the improvement in his condition was such as to influ- ence him to locate here permanently, and now, after a residence of ten years in this mild climate, he does not regret the decision then made.
Politically Mr. English has always been a Republican. He is a mem- ber of the school board in district No. 21, and takes an active interest in both educational and religious matters in his locality. He was one of the principal organizers of St. John's Methodist Episcopal church on the mesa and gave material help toward the erection of their house of worship in 1897. While a resident of Iowa he was initiated into the mysteries of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Churdan.
In August, 1863, Mr. English married Miss Mary A. Williams. Of their children we record that the eldest, Edward Newton, resides in Chur- dan, Iowa; Lulu T. is the wife of John Utton; Gertrude is the wife of Edward C. Elston, of Waverly, Washington; Thomas M. and H. Bruce are with their parents; Clyde lives in Churdan, Iowa; and Elizabeth, wife of John Floyd, resides on Johnson's mesa, Colfax county.
Ruins of Ancient Spanish Fort, Grant County
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GRANT COUNTY.
Grant is the extreme southwestern county of New Mexico, and has Socorro to the north, and Sierra and Luna counties to the east. In size it is only exceeded by Socorro and Chaves, having an area of 9,327 square miles, or 22 square miles larger than New Hampshire. It has a population of 12,883, its principal center being Silver City, with 3,000 people.
Creation of the County .- The county of Grant was created by legisla- tive enactment January 30, 1868, and Central City was named as the seat of government ; but Pinos Altos was then the leading town, with a popu- lation of about six hundred people, was a busy silver mining center, had a number of good hotels and stores, substantial bridges gave access to the place, and it was in every way better adapted for the county seat. By an act approved January 8 of the following year Pinos Altos therefore became the official custodian of the county records, and provided such accommoda- tions as it could for the sittings of the territorial courts.
Pinos Altos' Gay and Only Term of Court .- S. M. Ashenfelter tells of this remarkable historic event, in the Silver City Independent of Au- gust 19, 1902: "In those days the Federal judges for the Territories were selected almost without exception from the decayed, or decaying, politicians of the east, and more than one of such appointees, after venturing into the country as far as the Mesilla valley and hearing of our Indian troubles in Grant county, took early return coach for home. The consequence was that for the years 1869 and 1870 this Third Judicial District was without courts, except for two brief terms held at Mesilla.
"But in 1871 a term of court was held at Pinos Altos, and that term was probably one of the 'loudest' ever held in the Rocky Mountain region. The incumbent on the bench was D. B. Johnson, then recently appointed from the east, and it was his first and only term. Partly to distinguish him from Old Blue Johnson, who presided in the Second district, and partly because of his character and the suggestive arrangement of his initials, our man was called 'Dead Beat Johnson.' Bill Reid and his Canuta were the moving spirits of that term-and a Mexican band furnished the music. With one exception, bar and court were highly hilarious throughout the entire sitting.
"Judge Johnson evidently thought these Romans did things that way, and he must do likewise-if he would be popular, and equip himself to grasp the senatorial plum still so tempting to Federal judges who came from the states to administer the law in New Mexico. By day it was loud, and by night it was louder : and the vision of the court shorn of its judicial ermine and robed out in the scantiest of night attire, dancing the can-can to the twanging of the festive guitar, the wild shrieking of an untuned violin and the discordant gutterals of a base viol, while about him circled
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in the dance a crew of half drunken, shouting attorneys, gamblers and mid- night sportsmen-that vision was one which will never fade from memory. And there live in Grant county a number of sedate citizens who partici- pated in those revels, and in other equally striking incidents which marked the first and only term of court held in Pinas Altos. Judge Johnson left the country never to return, and the next legislature changed the county seat to Silver City."
County Officials .- Silver City has been the county seat of Grant county continuously since 1874, the first official records being dated from Pinos Altos June 5, 1868. As shown by them, the list of county officials has been as below :
1868 :- Probate Judge, John K. Houston; clerk. Alexander Brand; treasurer, John A. Miller (appointed by Judge Houston, Ang. 10, 1868, to succeed Hugh Mc- Bride, resigned; Sept. 9 appointment rescinded, as found to be made in error).
1869 :- Judge, John K. Houston, and clerks, Alexander Brand and Albert Juch; judge, Richard Hudson, and clerks William M. Milby and George C. Spears (ap- pointed March 1, 1870, to succeed Milby, resigned).
1870 :- Judge, John K. Houston ; clerk, George C. Spears; sheriff. James G. Crit- tenden.
1871 :- Judge, Richard Hudson ; clerk, George C. Spears; sheriff, James G. Crit- tenden.
1872 :- Judge, Richard Hudson; clerk, George C. Spears; sheriff, James G. Crit- tenden.
1873 :- Judge, Richard Hudson-C. Bennett from Nov. 1; clerk, George C. Spears; sheriff, Charles McIntosh.
1874 :- Judge, Cornelius Bennett : clerk, George C. Spears; sheriff, Charles Mc- Intosh.
1875 :- Judges, Cornelius Bennett, John A. Ketchum and J. F. Bennett ; clerks, George C. Spears : sheriff, H. H. Whitehill; treasurer, J. R. Adair.
1876 :- Judge, J. F. Bennett ; clerk, J. A. Ketcham; sheriff. H. H. Whitehill. The first regular meeting of County Commissioners was on April 2nd of this year.
1877 :- Judge. George W. Holt; clerk, James Mullen; treasurer, J. R. Adair; sheriff, Harvey H. Whitehill; commissioners, Isaac N. Cohen (chairman), J. S. Card- well, John R. Magruder.
1878 :- Judge, George W. Holt; clerk, James Mullen-also, R. V. Newsham; sheriff, Harvey H. Whitehill.
1879-80 :- Judge, John M. Ginn; clerk, R. V. Newsham; treasurer, J. B. Morrill ; sheriff, H. H. Whitehill.
1881-82 :- Commissioners, J. D. Bail (chairman), and William H. Newcomb (chairman), George O. Smith, W. A. Craig ; clerk, Edward Edmond Stine; treasurer, W. A. Wilson ; sheriff, H. H. Whitehill.
1883-4 :- Judge, James Corbin; clerk, Edmond Stine: treasurer, Samuel H. Eckles; sheriff, James B. Woods; commissioners, Hamilton C. McComas (chairman) and M. W. Bremen (chairman), Charles S. Welles, J. L. Vaughn.
1885-6 :- Judge, F. M. Prescott ; clerk, Edmond Stine; assessor, Richard Hudson ; treasurer, C. H. Dane; sheriff, James B. Woods; commissioners, Angus Campbell (chairman), G. N. Wood, J. H. Clossen.
1887-8 :- Commissioners, Thomas W. Cobb (chairman). John H. Bragaw, Sam- tel P. Carpenter ; clerk, A. H. Morehead : assessor, E. G. Payne; treasurer, H. M. Meredith; sheriff, A. B. Laird.
1889-90 :- Commissioners, Samnel P. Carpenter (chairman). John H. Bragaw, Thomas W. Cobb, Joseph E. Sheridan (succeeded Cobb in 1890) ; judge, W. G. Holman ; clerk, A. H. Morehead; sheriff, H. H. Whitehill; treasurer, W. H. Neff ; assessor, H. Clossen.
1891-2 :- Commissioners, Angus Campbell (chairman) and James N. Upton (chairman), Robert Black (succeeded Campbell), Carl F. W. Schmidle: judge, W. G. Holman; clerk, E. M. Young; treasurer, C. C. Shoemaker ; sheriff, James A. Lockhart.
1893-4 :- Commissioners, Stanton S. Brannin (chairman), Baylor Shannon,
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Thomas Foster; judge, M. W. Porterfield; clerk, E. M. Young; sheriff, A. B. Laird; sessor, E. J. Swarts; treasurer, John W. Fleming.
1895-6 :- Commissioners, Stanton S. Brannin (chairman), Thomas Foster, A. J. Clark; judge, R. V. Newsham; clerk, E. M. Young; sheriff, Baylor Shannon; collector, A. B. Laird; assessor, T. N. Childers; treasurer, N. A. Bolich.
1897-8 :- Commissioners, A. J. Clark (chairman), Martin Maher, H. J. Hicks; judge, R. V. Newsham; clerk, E. M. Young; sheriff. William G. McAfee; collector, John L. Burnside; assessor, John H. Gillett ; treasurer, J. S. Carter.
1899-1900 :- Commissioners, W. R. Merrill (chairman), T. F. Farnsworth, W. M. Taylor; judge, R. G. Landrum; clerk, S. H. McAninch; sheriff, James K. Blair ; assessor, G. W. M. Carvil; treasurer, John L. Burnside.
1901-2 :- Commissioners, W. D. Murray (chairman), W. M. Taylor, Seaman Field; judge, Edward Baker; clerk, S. H. McAninch; sheriff, Arthur S. Goodell; assessor, John H. Gillett; treasurer, Adolph Wetzel.
1903-4 :- Commissioners, W. D. Murray (chairman), John C. Cureton, Hiram G. Shafer; judge, L. H. Rowlee: clerk, W. B. Walton; sheriff, James K. Blair; as- sessor, E. J. Swarts; treasurer, John W. Fleming.
1905-6 :- Commissioners, John C. Cureton (chairman). B. T. Link. B. B. Ownby ; judge, Cornelius Bennett ; clerk, W. B. Walton; sheriff, Charles A. Farnsworth; assessor, Samuel H. McAninch (McAninch died and Governor Otero appointed A. B. Laird to succeed him) ; treasurer, Arthur S. Goodell.
Ralston and Shakespeare .- The genesis of some of the earliest settle- ments in Grant county is traced to the Ralston mining camp of 1870, which comprised the present site of the town of Shakespeare and which was founded on the collapse of one of the greatest speculations in the history of the Southwest. In the late '6os a party of government surveyors were running their lines through southern Mexico, being engaged in laying out the proposed overland route, which was to follow the thirty-second parallel of latitude. W. D. Brown and a companion, who seemed to have held some irresponsible positions with the party, deserted the expedition and struck across country toward the old Santa Fé trail. Brown secured some fine specimens of silver, and at or near the present town of Shakespeare discovered bold and extensive outcroppings of ore rocks. But as the Apaches were then on the warpath, he made all possible haste for San Francisco, loaded with specimens and accurate information as to the locality of the most promising surface indications.
Brown had his specimens assayed and the finest of these indicated 12,000 ounces of silver to the ton. He then attempted to interest capital and organize an expedition to develop his discovery, but as "a promoter" he seems to have been a failure, and left San Francisco in disgust. In the summer of 1869 the mining firm of Harpending & Company, of that city, of which President Ralston, of the Bank of California, was the leading spirit, decided to extend the scope of their investigations from. Arizona into the district boomed by Brown. After extensively advertising for him, Brown was finally rediscovered and engaged as a guide, a man by the name of Arnold being the leader of the entire expedition.
The party reached the district in September, 1870, and, understanding from Ralston (who was in desperate financial straits) that a big mining company must be organized, Arnold and Brown gathered many choice silver specimens, made an accurate outline and descriptive plat of the prin- cipal ledges and spurs, together with a fair map of the country from the Burros to the Lower Gila, posted up a general claim to the entire district, and hastily returned to San Francisco, leaving behind a few of the expedi- tion to protect the property. The press, the telegraphs and the mails of the
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country were soon flooded with advertisements and astounding stories of the riches of the new silver district, and Ralston's agents were sent to London, Paris and other European centers to interest foreign capital.
Harpending & Company at once organized and dispatched a second expedition, but before it reached Tucson (in February, 1870) the New Mexico Mining Company had been organized in London with a capital of £6,000,000 (£1,000,000 working capital), and £500,000 of stock had actually been sold at par in the world's metropolis. The prospectus of the new com- pany set forth the building of a railroad to the Gila river ( said to be twenty miles distant), and upon its completion the prompt erection of 300 stamps for the treatment of the ores.
Upon their arrival at Tucson, Harpending's second party learned that the men of the first expedition who had been left as a guard, with perhaps new arrivals, were rapidly taking the best claims in the district. The fur- ther history, the complications with the territorial laws, which had been ignored by the great New Mexico Mining Company, and the final collapse of what was little more substantial than a bubble, are included in the fol- lowing graphic account from the pen of S. M. Ashenfelter, published in the Silver City Enterprise :
"The outline and descriptive plat was brought into requisition, and with its aid- Arnold proceeded to locate what was regarded as the most promising ground, and these locations were made according to the local rules and regulations prescribed in the Virginia Mining District of Nevada, which were adopted as governing this new district in New Mexico. And all this was done at Tucson, in Arizona, where these locations are said to have been recorded. Then the expedition pushed forward, arriving at its destination February 12, 1870. They found just four men on the ground and but few locations made.
"Upon arrival they immediately organized the town of Ralston, had a regular survey made, laid out streets, divided the various blocks into town lots and offered the latter for sale. The district was christened the Virginia Mining District, and the rules and regulations heretofore referred to were then on the ground formally adopted, a miners' meeting being called tor that purpose. Then our adventurers proceeded to reach out for the mineral wealth spread upon all sides. They had located about twenty thousand feet upon their map, at Tucson, and now on the ground they took up about seventeen thousand feet of additional claims. Unfortunately for themselves, or, rather, for those whom they represented, they paid no attention to the requirements of territorial law or to the provisions of the United States statutes. They complied with their own local laws- the laws of the Virginia Mining District-and this they held to be suffi- cient.
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