USA > New Mexico > History of New Mexico : its resources and people, Volume II > Part 28
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"Intelligence of the discovery had spread, and soon miners were com- ing in from all directions. The company pressed its lots upon the market, stating that a patent had been applied for and would certainly issue, and that those who now refused to buy would certainly be ejected and would be denied all further privilege the moment the title was perfected under the patent application, while those who bought would be the recipients of especial favor. Influenced by the threat and promise, most of the new- comers purchased lots and were careful in locating claims to avoid those ledges already covered by claims of the company. And the company, upon
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terms very favorable to the miners, took bonds upon some twenty-five thou- sand feet of additional ground.
"This state of affairs continued until the IIth of June, at which time another meeting of miners was called and held, the latest comers being largely in the majority. The laws of the district were radically revised, and all mere paper locations and those not in strict compliance with the Federal and territorial laws were declared void. Thereupon the miners, knowing that of the persons in whose names the company locations stood but four had ever been upon the ground, and believing that failure to com- ply with territorial law invalidated all their claims, commenced to place locations upon what had theretofore been regarded and treated as com- pany ground. And in the bitter controversy which followed it was pointed out that the company practiced deception in the matter of its town lots, as there was no United States law under which it could, as a company, obtain a townsite patent, and the controversy waxed warm. The com- pany had its hired fighters, but the miners were determined, and at one time it appeared as though an armed conflict was unavoidable. But wise counsels finally prevailed, and both parties agreed, somewhat vaguely, to await the test and developments of time. By the end of July there were three hundred men in camp, although under the Fabian policy which had been inaugurated but very little work was being done. Another company was organized, with a capital of $5,000,000. taking the name San Diego and Arizona Mining Company. Both sides held on until the fall, when the facts as stated were published at Santa Fé, then connected with the east by military telegraph wire. At once dispatches were forwarded to New York which gave the death blow to the entire Harpending-Ralston enter- prise. Then the collapse came. The London shares of the New Mexico Mining Company went down to unfathomable depths. Ralston committed suicide and the camp which bore his name did something very similar. All gradually came to realize that this was not a poor man's camp. The managers for the Company and its employes one after another disappeared. and the miners, driven by dire necessity, were also compelled to leave. Some clung to their claims tenaciously, but by the late '70s nearly everything was open and free to the grasp of burly John Boyle, who struck the final blow in depriving the camp of its historic name.
"But while it is true that there never was at Shakespeare the bodies of high-grade ore which Harpending represented, it is also true that there are probably no larger bodies of low-grade ore anywhere on the continent, and it is also true that values steadily improve with depth. To a large extent copper now appears to predominate in many of the leads, and de- velopment work, although not pushed upon an extensive scale, is leading to satisfactory results. Indeed, judging from present conditions, it looks as though Harpending's company, if it had not been interfered with and had been given full swing with its immense capital, might have success- fully built up in southern Grant county one of the biggest mining camps the world has ever seen, and have paid fair dividends, even upon such enormous capitalization."
Pinos Altos .- Although old Mexican residents claim that before the Mexican war their people had washed gold in Santa Domingo gulch, the practical mining results and the continuous history of Pinos Altos dates from the spring of 1860, when Messrs. Birch, Snively and Hicks discov-
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ered the precious metal at this point. The camp which sprung up around their claims was first called Birchville, and the name was afterward changed to Pino Alto and Pinos Altos.
By the fall of 1860 there were some seven hundred men in the settle- ment, but only a few remained during the Civil war period on account of the almost constant attacks of the Apaches and because the manhood of the country was needed in the east. In 1861 the Pinos Altos Hotel was con- ducted by Buhl & Gross, who advertised in the Mesilla Times that they would supply "bread and meals." Samuel G. and Roy Bean, on Main street, were dealers in merchandise, liquors, and had "a fine billard table." Colonel Thomas J. Mastin was "pushing ahead his work of grinding quartz and doing well, although constantly annoyed by Indians." It seems that two hundred quartz miners were wanted at Pinos Altos at from $1 to $2 per day with board.
The first murder in which white men were engaged occurred in the winter of 1860-61, William Dike shooting Dan Taylor in a dance hall and making good his escape; but, in view of the constant killing of white set- tlers by Apaches, it created comparatively little excitement. In the fall of the latter year the Indians made one of their fiercest onslaughts upon the camp, but were driven off with a loss of fifteen warriors and three miners killed and seven wounded. Colonel Thomas J. Mastin, the com- mander of the whites, was wounded and died of blood poisoning the sev- enth day after the fight. A party of twenty-five men went to Mesilla for a doctor, but before their return in five days the trouble had advanced too far to be checked. The deceased was very popular and a leader among the American miners in every way. The result was that at his death many deserted the camp and left a small minority to deal with the hated Mexi- cans. During the later years of the Civil war various detachments of cav- alry and infantry, attached to the California Volunteers, were engaged in constant warfare with marauding bands of Apaches, not a few of the at- tacks of the Indians being made at Pinos Altos. Among the members of Captain Whitlock's company of the Fifth California Infantry, which did such good work in 1864, were Lieutenant John Lambert, Sergeant R. V. Newsham, Corporal James L. Crittenden (afterward sheriff of Grant coun- ty), Richard Mawson and David Stitsel.
After the war the Navajos joined the Apaches in their war against the whites, and by the summer of 1867 they had become so destructive to human life and were creating such havoc to the live stock interests of the district that the settlers determined upon a retaliation which would be long remembered. At the time mentioned, Governor Mitchell and General Carle- ton, the latter in command of the military district embracing southern New Mexico, visited the camp at Pinos Altos and found the citizens greatly ex- cited over recent outrages.
As both the civil executive and military commander encouraged the settlers in their plan to organize a retaliatory expedition, the men of Pinos Altos, some of whom had served among the California Volunteers, or- ganized a company of forty or fifty and elected Richard Hudson captain. General Carleton gave an order on the Fort Bayard quartermaster for five government pack mules; Captain Hudson contributed five more from his freighting outfit, and Governor Mitchell issued a formal commission to the latter. Supplies were furnished promptly and in abundance, and the com-
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mand started, reinforced by half a dozen cavalrymen of the regular army, furnished by General Carleton. About half the volunteers were Mexicans. Among the soldiers were Henry Barton, Lanklain Butin, E. C. Hartford, Tom Graves, Dan Dimond, Juan Garcia, Juan Arroyas (a well-known gov- ernment guide) and one Riley, who was afterward murdered at Pinos Altos. Dan Dimond was hung the same year by a band of vigilantes for the murder of a Pinos Altos butcher, whom he shot in a jealous rage over a Mexican woman.
About one hundred miles from Pinos Altos, in the deep canyons of the Mogollons, the little determined band of whites came upon Jose Largo's band of Navajos. In the short, sharp fight which ensued thirteen Indians were killed and seven captured, the latter being promptly sent to their hunting grounds of the beyond. Although this expedition had a salutary effect, it did not entirely check the Indian outrages; as will be seen here- after, their cessation was caused by entirely different means.
In 1867 a regular survey of the town was made, it being laid out and platted by the Pinos Altos Town Company, of which Samuel J. Jones was the leader. The town site covered 320 acres. During the following year four bridges were built over Bear creek and several wells were sunk close to the bed of the creek to insure a good supply of water for drinking pur- poses. The principal merchants then were Raynolds & Griggs, Vigil Mas- tin, John A. Miller, Carlos Norero and W. Lee Thompson.
Mastin had one of the largest stores in Pinos Altos, was extensively interested in mining and was altogether one of the big men of the place. He was killed by Navajo Indians on the road south of Pinos Altos in 1868. A fortnight later Richard Hudson was shot through both arms at the foot of the hill near the camp. In fact, single individuals or small parties venturing half a mile beyond the outskirts ran serious risks, and the stories of narrow escapes would fill volumes.
Finally the settlers determined to enter into a compact with the Indians for the cessation of hostilities. It was agreed that a large cross should be placed on the summit of the hill just north of the town, and that as long as it was left there no killing should be done. "This compact was strictly adhered to," says the Pinos Altos Enterprise of November 23, 1882, "and from 1868 to the present time no resident of Pinos Altos has been killed by an Indian."
Notwithstanding this assurance of security, Pinos Altos appears to have reached the flood tide of its prosperity at about 1868, and when it lost the county seat in 1874 it was overshadowed by the growth of its younger and more vigorous rival, Silver City.
Silver City .- Founded upon a favorite camping ground and watering place of both the Navajos and Apaches, it is little wonder that Silver City was the focus of their hostilities. During the first few years of its set- tlement both miner and ranchman lived a life of constant anxiety. The roads were unsafe in all directions, and stock left to graze even at the very edge of town, was run off into the foothills or mountains, and either killed or permanently appropriated. Even between Silver City and the neighboring post of Fort Bayard the road was insafe.
In spite of this insecurity Silver City grew from half a dozen perma- nent settlers in 1870 to a place of some eighty buildings in February of the following year. Among the founders of the place may be mentioned
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L. B. Maxwell, who started the first ore mill (operated later by Messrs. E. E. Burlingame, James Shelby and Charles Thayer) ; Harvey H. White- hill, William Chamberlain, James Corbin, S. M. Ashenfelter ; Col. Richard Hudson, formerly of Pinos Altos; Col. J. F. Bennett, who was in business in Las Cruces for some time, but operated a stamp mill here; Judge Hack- ney, who in early times owned a newspaper at Globe, Ariz., where he died, and Brad Dailey, who teamed into Silver City from Las Cruces.
No man of those days, however, was more generally honored than John Bullard, who bravely met his death at the hands of a treacherous Apache while leading a Silver City expedition against the Indians of that tribe, near the San Francisco river, about twenty miles above the present site of Clifton, Ariz. It was in February, 1871, and Captain Bullard, who had brought his command of thirty citizen-soldiery to this point, had sighted a band of Apaches. He divided his command, and, after detailing a guard for his pack train, gave the command to move forward and strike the enemy both from the north and the south. The sad tragedy which fol- lowed is best told in the words of S. M. Ashenfelter, his friend: "Captain Bullard and a companion suddenly ran upon an outlying Apache, who was running in evident effort to reach and give the alarm to his people. The companion fired, wounding the Apache in the thigh. Then Bullard fired, his bullet piercing the body of his foe. who sank slowly to the ground. The two rushed forward, when the dying Indian, in his last agony, slowly raised a revolver with both hands, aiming at Bullard, whom he evidently recognized as a leader. The latter saw and fully realized his danger. He had failed to throw a fresh charge into his own rifle, and he called to his companion to fire. The latter pulled rifle to shoulder, and two shots rang out almost simultaneously. The Indian fell back with the entire top of his head blown away, while Captain Bullard reeled and fell into a half recum- bent posture. He tore open his shirt, gazed a moment at his bleeding wound, and, without a word or a groan, fell back dead. The ball had pierced his heart. Speedy vengeance followed. Within a few minutes four- teen Apaches lay dead upon the ground, while the rest of the band was scattered among the huge boulders close at hand, many being badly wounded, as was afterwards learned from the Camp Grant reservation, where they took refuge. The attacking party suffered no further loss, and an Apache boy was captured and brought to Silver City. He was taken in charge by "General" Wardwell, who afterwards surrendered him to his tribe. The remains of Captain Bullard were brought back to Silver City, and the interment took place in the cemetery which then occupied the slope to the south and west of Professor Light's present residence. Major Kelly brought over a company of troops from Fort Bayard, and military honors were accorded the dead. The remains were afterwards removed to the cemetery east of town and to the southward of the Fort Bayard road, where they now rest. The loss of John Bullard was deeply felt. He had been a recognized leader; one of the principal streets of the town bore his name, and to this day a shade of regret colors the old timer's mention of the man's name. A public meeting was held, and resolutions were adopted expressive of the general grief. It was by a remarkable coinci- dence that Major Kelly and his command had just returned to Fort Bayard from a raid among the hostiles, in which they also had succeeded in kill- ing fourteen braves. The effect of the two blows was most salutary. For
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years afterwards Silver City enjoyed comparative peace, in so far as the immediate surroundings of the town were concerned. Almost coincident with these tragic events, others of the Warm Spring Apaches made their presence felt near the Mexican border to the south of us. Kearl & Miller's train was moving northward laden with freight for Fort Bayard. Charles Kearl and his wife, accompanied by six men, had ridden out several miles in advance of the train. They were attacked and but two escaped, one of these badly wounded and dying a day or two later. The bodies were horribly mutilated, especially that of Mrs. Kearl, then but recently a bride. Besides the Kearls, the dead were Gus. Hepner, Charles DeLard and three men named Sutherland, Bellhouse and Burnham."
But money was plenty, the new discoveries were "panning out" into substantial profits, the community was buoyant with hope and confidence, and a constant stream of new settlers added to the population, notwith- standing the hovering bands of hostile Indians. Substantial buildings were also being erected on all sides, and M. W. Bremen's saw-mill, in the heavy timber some five miles above town, could scarcely keep pace with the demand for lumber. In the spring of 1871. although there were three stores in town, the main points for supplies, including mining tools, were Las Cruces and Mesilla. The freight was $1.25 per hundred pounds ; bull teams did the hauling and about a week was consumed in the trip. The stage fare from Las Cruces was $25, from Santa Fé $100. In addition to the three stores mentioned, Silver City had, in 1871, one livery stable, one boarding house, two blacksmith shops, one shoe shop, one paint shop and a large lumber yard.
A Shot at Congress .- The early settlers of Silver City never forgave the Apaches for the untimely death of John Bullard, and shortly after the tragedy a measure was introduced in congress providing for an appropria- tion of $30,000 to defray the expenses of gathering their enemies upon permanent reservations. The people of Silver City thereupon held a mass meeting, at which Richard Yeomans presided and William H. Eckles acted as secretary. With I. J. Stevens, James Bullard and E. M. Pearce, they formed a committee of resolutions, who, after calling the attention of congress to the fact that the proposed action was a misappropriation of public moneys, concluded with the following, which was unanimously and enthusiastically adopted : "Resolved : That by the expenditure of $30,000 among volunteers, the Indians can be gathered upon reservations where they will stay forever."
Incorporation of the City .- Silver City is the first incorporated town in New Mexico that has continued its government under the charter granted by the legislature. It was incorporated by special act, February 15, 1878, and its limits were described as "an area of two square miles con- forming to the points of the compass, north, east, south and west, measur- ing from the point intersecting at right angles Broadway and Main streets, which point shall be the center of the corporate limits." This charter was amended by act of the legislature March 19, 1884, and again Febru- ary 8, 1889, providing that a city councilman must be an owner of real estate in town.
Residents of 1882 .- In this year the professional and business men of Silver City were as follows :
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Clergymen :- H. L. Gamble, rector of Episcopal Church; C. L. Allen, pastor of M. E. Church; Peter Bourgade, priest in charge of Catholic Church.
Attorneys :- Frank J. Wright, John D. Bail, H. C. McComas, Andrew Sloan, John M. Ginn. Edward V. Price, Elisha M. Sanford.
R. C. Anderson was an M. D., and G. W. Bailey, the druggist.
Merchants :- Derbyshire Brothers (M. E. and S. S.), furniture dealers; C. P. Crawford, general merchandise (also banker) : D. H. Gilbert, general merchandise; Marritt & Company, general merchandise: R. R. Higbee, wholesale and retail grocer ; Abraham Brothers, clothing: W. C. Jasper & Company (A. H. Morehead), groceries ; D. P. Neff, hardware; William Walker, merchant tailor; Martin Maher, bakery.
Bankers :- C. P. Crawford, successor to Porter & Crawford-H. Booth, cashier; Newton Bradley, manager of Grant County Bank.
Hotel Keepers :- A. M. Connor, proprietor of the "Southern Hotel," corner of Broadway and Hudson streets; Louie Timmer, proprietor of the "Exchange Hotel." "The Delmonico of the West," and "the most stately edifice in New Mexico;" Peter Ott, proprietor of the "Tremont House," on Main street (now an arroyo).
It is also learned that at this time Kennedy & Thobro were dealers in drugs at Georgetown, C. H. Dane was a forwarding and commission mer- chant at Deming, and Richard Hudson was proprietor of Hot Springs, twenty-five miles southeast of Silver City.
Municipal Officers .- As stated, Silver City was incorporated in Febru- ary. 1878. Its first officers assumed their positions on May Ist of that year. Following is the list :
1878 :- Mayor, Robert Black; clerk, J. Porter; councilmen, John Morril, C. P. Crawford, William Chamberlain, Robert V. Newsham.
1879 :- Mayor, Martin W. Bremen; clerk, H. W. Sherry.
1880 :- Mayor, Martin W. Bremen; clerks, H. W. Sherry, O. L. Scott, Henry Fenton, A. C. Downey.
1881 :- Mayor, Eugene Cosgrove; clerk, Henry Fenton.
1882 :- Mayor, Cornelius Bennett ; clerk, Henry Fenton; treasurer, H. B. Ailman.
1883 :- Mayor, Robert Black; clerk, Henry Fenton.
1884 :- Mayor, Martin W. Bremen, clerk, E. Cosgrove ; treasurer, H. B. Ailman. 1885 :- Mayor, J. W. Fleming ; clerk, E. Cosgrove; treasurer, Max Schutz.
1886 :- Mayor, Cornelius Bennett ; clerk. John A. Apperson.
1887 :- Mayor, John D. Bail; clerk, William H. Allen ; treasurer, G. D. Goldman.
1888 :- Mayor, J. W. Fleming; clerk, H. W. Lucas; treasurer, George D. Gold- man.
1889 :- Mayor, J. W. Fleming; clerk, H. W. Lucas; treasurer, J. W. Carter. 1800 :- Mayor, J. W. Fleming; clerk, H. W. Lucas; treasurer, J. W. Carter.
1891 :- Mayor, J. W. Fleming ; clerk. W. F. Lorenz : treasurer, J. W. Carter.
1892-6 :- Mayor, J. W. Fleming : clerk, William F. Lorenz.
1897-1906 :- Mayor, J. W. Fleming ; clerk, H. H. Betts; treasurer Hyman Abra- ham.
Mowry City .- Mowry City, formerly quite a brisk place in Grant county, is thus described by S. M. Ashenfelter in one of his reminiscences contributed to the Silver City Independent, the picture being drawn for 1871 :
"At Mowry City, on the Mimbres (now Whitehill's ranch), there was a considerable population. R. V. Newsham and M. St. John had large stocks of general merchandise. A. Voorhees ran a hotel, which afterwards came into the hands of "Old Man" Porter, father of Frank and Harry Porter, well known in later years. Kimberlan & Company had a flouring mill, and Dick Mawson and "Hairtrigger John" Gibson did the black- smithing for the countryside. The main mail line west from Mesilla to Tucson passed through Mowry City. It was run by J. F. Bennett & Co.,
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the company being Henry Lesinsky and Con Cosgrove. It was the old Southern Overland route, coming up by the way of Rough and Ready, Slocum's ranch, Fort Cummins and Cook's Canyon; and it crossed the Mimbres at Mowry City. In the spring of 1871 the branch line to Fort Bayard, Silver City and Pinos Altos was run by W. H. Wiley & Company. Slocum's was as famous in its day as Fort Cummins, and John D. Slocum was a man of recognized eminence on this frontier."
Mines Throughout the County .- The mines at Lone Mountain were discovered in February, 1871, and quite a number of Silver City pioneers moved over to the new camp. Much work was done there, and some very rich ore was taken out, but it was never found in sufficient quanti- ties to make mining operations profitable in a permanent way.
Santa Rita was one of the oldest mining camps in the Territory. It was worked by the Mexicans centuries ago, who dug out the rich copper ore, smelted it and carried it to their country on burros. In 1882 the Santa Rita Copper & Iron Company (capital $5,000,000) owned this an- cient mine, which was managed by T. E. Swarz.
San Jose, a mining camp revived in the early eighties, was also oper- ated in the olden times by the natives of Mexico. It was at first under the management of B. S. Loney.
The town of Paschal, sixteen miles southwest of Silver City, was named in honor of Paschal R. Smith, manager of the Valverde Mining and Smelting Company. It was the first camp in the Burro mountains, and for years was one of the leading copper mines in New Mexico. Especially rich discoveries were made in 1881, at which time the St. Louis mine was the most developed. The Clara Clarita mines, five miles southeast of Paschal, were then in the possossion of P. R. Smith, Asa Kilbourne and Hosiah Bailey.
In 1870 mineral was first discovered at Pyramid. or Leitendorf, nine miles southwest of Lordsburg. Col. Amos Green, a prominent developer of early railroad properties, was president of the company which worked the Viola and Penelope mines and erected the first large mill in the region. In the early eighties perhaps the best developed mine in the Leitendorf district was the Last Chance, owned by an Evansville company and in charge of W. J. Crosby. There were also the Ormus Company, of Hamburg, Ger- many, and New Orleans, La .; Silver Belle, Messrs. Enoch Warrington and F. Gilchrist being its proprietors; and such mine owners as Frank Reno, Sherrer & Butnuh, George Martin, J. E. Long, John Farrell, J. T. Ustick and A. J. Hughes.
In the Victoria mining district the following owners were operating in 1882: William Kent. William Hyters and Joseph L. Dougherty, who located their camp in 1880; Higgin, Head & Hearst; Grodhaus, Fuller & Cusack; and the Victoria Mining & Smelting Company, Joseph W. Branc being president.
In the group known as the Hanover mines at this time were: Copper Pan, owned by Captain Eakridge: Convention, Lloyd Magruder : Crabtree, Crabtree, Willis & Company: Buckeye, Mr. Burgerott: Jim Fair, Jack Shanley and H. J. Hutchinson : Virginia, J. C. Winter ; Philadelphia, Mr. Harper ; Lucky Chance, Jack Shanley ; other owners being Charles Nack & Brother, William Chamberlain, Judge Potter and J. M. Lacy.
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