USA > New Mexico > History of New Mexico : its resources and people, Volume II > Part 46
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Bee culture has passed the experimental stage, and there are several profitable apiaries of 100 hives and upward. The orchards and alfalfa fields, and especially the cleome, or wild bee weed, furnish inexhaustible food. The quality of the honey is superior, while the mild winters render it easy to carry the bees through with comparatively small loss. Dairying is a rapidly growing industry, and several creameries are about to be estab- lished at central points.
The colleges of agriculture at Fort Collins, Colorado, and at Mesilla Park, New Mexico, have made tests of the percentage of saccharine matter
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in the sugar beets raised in the western states and territories, which have demonstrated that San Juan and Santa Fe counties stand at the head of the list.
San Juan county was without railroads until 1905, when the Denver & Rio Grande constructed a standard-gauge branch line from Durango south through Aztec and Farmington. The main irrigable areas of the county are thus brought into close touch with the general markets of the west. The Colorado & Arizona Railroad has made three complete sur- veys through San Juan county-one up the San Juan river to Pagosa Springs, Colorado; one up the Animas, via Durango, to Pueblo, and the third crossing the San Juan river at Jewett, and thence through the Mead- ows, the La Plata valley and the coal fields of that locality to Durango and Pueblo, Colorado. The Southern Pacific, of which system this line is really a part, has acquired title to large tracts of these coal lands, and has begun the construction of its main line from the copper district of Arizona to Denver. The road will follow the coal belt in the western portion of San Juan county, cross the San Juan river at Jewett, tapping the Meadows and La Plata valley on its way to Pueblo and Denver. As these coal fields constitute the largest body of the mineral of convenient access, not :only to Arizona and Mexico, but to the southern sections of the Pacific coast, the opening of this line will mean much for the future development of the county.
Telephone Connections .- The people of San Juan county have been supplied with another means of communication, almost as important as the railroad. In 1904 a telephone line was completed from Durango through the county by way of Aztec and Farinington, and on to Fruitland and La Plata valley, its entire circuit being about 150 miles. This con- nects with the long distance telephone line to Pueblo, Colorado Springs, Denver, Santa Fé, Albuquerque and other points in New Mexico, as well as with the mining towns and lumbering camps of southwestern Colo- rado.
Scenery and Ruins .- Along the valleys of the San Juan, Animas and La Plata rivers are extensive, interesting and picturesque ruins of the ancient civilization of the Aztecs. Besides the irrigating canals are castles of stone, mortar and massive masonry and huge apartment houses that must have contained more than a thousand rooms. Buried deep in these ruins are found petrified corncobs. turkey bones, stone mortars and other articles which give a fragmentary idea of the domestic life of our an- ·cestors. Long before the advent of the Spaniards the entire region evi- dently supported a vast and an advanced population. In the Chaco canyon, which empties its waters into San Juan from the south, are the ruins of seventeen villages, of which those near the Pueblo Bonito are the most wonderful. Several of the larger structures are of dressed stone and con- tain 1,200 rooms. At the pueblo itself there is a lower city in the valley and , one two hundred feet higher on the mesa, connected by a stone stairway, which leads up the face of a bluff over one hundred and fifty feet high. . In the exploration of this locality an archaeological company excavated five hundred rooms, in which it found 50,000 pieces of turquois, 10,000 pieces of pottery, 1,000 stone implements and many skeletons.
At the town of Aztec the foundations of more than a dozen large ruins are to be found, while directly across the river was a large pueblo, of
Ancient Pueblo Ruins
Ancient Ruins in Chusco Canon
First explored by Major Powell. Engraved from photographs taken in 1893 by George S. Orth. of Pittsburg, Pa., in company with Scott N. Morris, of Farmington. These buildings are believed by archaeologists to have been erected by the progenitors of the Aztecs, and afford an excellent example of the character of pre-Columbian architecture.
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which one three-story house still remains, over six hundred of its rooms being still in a good state of preservation. In the neighborhood of Fruit- land and Olio the whole valley is covered with ruined structures. These pueblos differ from the others in New Mexico in that they are not built in inaccessible places, but on the open mesas. On the Mancos, however, and at other points are clustered cliff dwellings so difficult of access that modern ingenuity has been unable to reach them.
The Hyde Exploring Expedition of New Mexico, with headquarters at Farmington, was incorporated January 17. 1903, with a capital stock of $250,000, for the purpose of exploiting the ruins in the sections of the county above described. This corporation began operations on a large scale, and its work was so destructive that in 1906 Congress passed an act prohibiting similar research-particularly the excavation of ancient Indian dwellings and ruins-unless done under the supervision of agents of the government, if the scene of operations be government land. The Hyde company closed its affairs in February, 1904, after heavy losses, and was succeeded by the San Juan Stores Company, which likewise suspended operations in the following winter.
From the standpoint of nature, San Juan county has a grandeur pe- culiarly its own. There is one view from near the center of the county which is especially grand. To the west and far down the San Juan valley towers Ship Rock, a beautiful peak of 1,200 feet, rising like a giant ship with all sails set. In the far southeast, on a high crag, stand two stone figures, carved by nature into the semblance of "Angels," as they are called. All along the southern horizon stretch either high, rolling mesas or weather-beaten cliffs, while to the north tower the cloud-crowned summits of the blue La Plata mountains. This is only one of the many delightful prospects for tourists, but it embraces a stretch of country fully one hun- dred miles long.
County Seat Fight and County Officers .- Like all other counties in the United States, San Juan had its fierce contentions before the seat of gov- ernment was located with any degree of permanence. When the county was organized in 1887 the legislature named Aztec as its county seat, and the first meeting of the board of commissioners was held there on March 7th of that year. In the same month the citizens of the older town of Farmington petitioned for a removal to that place, and similar requests were received from Junction City, Largo and Mesa City. At the election held in 1890 for the location of the county seat Junction City received 255 votes, Aztec 246 and Farmington 1. The county officials refused to move until they received peremptory orders from Judge E. P. Seeds to do so. No building had yet been provided by Junction City, and after considerable delay in securing accommodations the county functionaries occupied their new quarters February 14, 1891. But the case was taken to the Terri- torial Supreme Court, which, in August, 1892, decided in favor of Aztec.
Following are the officers of the county since its organization :
1887 :- Governor Ross commissioned its first officers, viz .- Commissioners, Moses Blancett (chairman), Daniel Rhodes, David Lobato; probate clerk, J. G. Kello; sheriff, Daniel Sullivan; assessor, J. G. Wullett; treasurer, C. H. McHenry. Since this year the choice has been by election.
1888-9,-Commissioners, Henry Hull (chairman), L. F. Willmers, H. J. Kiffen ;
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HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO
probate judge, Salome Jaquez; probate clerk, J. G. Kello; sheriff, J. C. Carson ; assessor, Nestor Martinez ; treasurer, Frank M. Pierce.
1890-1 :- Commissioners, Henry J. Kiffen (chairman), Simon Martinez, C. J. Moss; probate judge, Santiago Martinez; assessor, Lawrence Welch; probate clerk, J. W. Berry ; sheriff, J. C. Carson ; treasurer, J. N. Jaquez.
1892-3 :- Commissioners, J. G. Kello (chairman), Simon Martinez, T. J. Arring- ton; probate judge, Ricardo Archuleta; probate clerk, C. F. Jones; sheriff, A. E. Dustin; assessor, C. C. Pinkney ; treasurer, Frank M. Pierce.
1894-5 :- Commissioners, P. M. Salmon (chairman), J. E. Manzanares, John Real ; probate judge, Chrisostomo Dominguez; probate clerk. William McRae; sheriff, A. H. Dunning; assessor, Teofilo Jaques ; treasurer, Monroe Fields.
1896-7 :- Commissioners. John Real (chairman), J. E. Manzanares, P. M. Salmon ; probate judge, Ramon Lobato; probate clerk, William McRae; sheriff, J. W. Brown; assessor, Leonor Garcia ; treasurer, Monroe Fields.
1898-9 :- Commissioners, T. J. Arrington (chairman), J. A. Jaques, A. J. Gil- mour ; probate judge, M. Pacheco; probate clerk, C. V. Safford; sheriff, J. C. Dod- son : assessor, John R. Young; treasurer. C. H. McHenry.
1900-1 :- Commissioners, C A. Chubb (chairman), J. V. Lujan, C. Brimhall ; probate judge, Juan B. Valdez; probate clerk, Charles V. Safford; sheriff, J. W. Brown; assessor, D. J. Donovan; treasurer, Monroe Fields.
1902-3 :- Commissioners. J. E. McCarty (chairman), J. R. Williams, J. V. Lujan ; probate judge, Marcelino Garcia; probate clerk, Joe Prewitt; sheriff, James E. Elmer; assessor, Boone C. Vaughan; treasurer, W. G. Black.
1904-5 :- Commissioners, J. R. Williams, (chairman), J. V. Lujan, Frank M. Pierce; probate judge, Frank Mir; probate clerk, L. G. Eblen; sheriff, Boone C. Vaughan ; assessor, Richard Hendricks; treasurer, W. E. Williams.
School Districts .- As now organized there are thirty school districts in the county. At Farmington and Aztec the terms are from eight to nine months, and the schools are graded, with from three to four teachers. At Jewett there is a large Indian mission school, and about fifteen miles down the San Juan valley the government has just established the Ship Rock institution for the education of the Navajo Indians. The plan includes both mental training and practical education in farming, fruit-growing and other industrial pursuits. Large irrigating canals are being constructed in this locality and large tracts of land are being reclaimed and placed un- der cultivation. It may be added that almost since the establishment of the Navajo Indian reservation the national government has maintained several schools thereon.
Towns and Villages .- Aztec, on the southeast bank of the Animas, and near the center of the voting population, is the county seat. It stands on the site of a native pueblo, has a population of 500 or 600 people and is twelve years old. The place has a good $10,000 court house, a high school building, three churches (Baptist, Methodist and Presbyterian), a modern flour mill, a bank, four or five general stores, two hardware stores, a hotel and drug store, a number of lawvers and physicians and sufficient tradesmen to mect the demands of the community. Of the fraterni- ties, the Masons, Odd Fellows and Maccabees are represented by lodges.
Farmington, the oldest and largest town, has a population of about 750, and is situated on the San Juan river between the Animas and La Plata. It was an Indian trading post thirty years ago and was for some time the county seat. From Farmington the full scenic beauty of the valley reveals itself, at this locality being the densest population of the county and the widest spread of cultivation. Every branch of trade and business is well represented in the place, besides the ordinary establish- ments of the region there being a flour mill, a distillery and evaporater and
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two lumber vards. It has a national bank, two weekly newspapers-the Farmington Times-Hustler and the Farmington Enterprise-a commodious brick school building, three churches, and lodges of Masons, Odd Fellows, Maccabees, Woodmen and Workmen. Farmington is an incorporated town, has a system of waterworks and an electric light plant. At the pres- ent time it is the terminus of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad.
Largo may be considered the center of population on the upper San Juan. Taking with it the settlements on Pine river and at Bloomfield, the population is between 1,000 and 1,200 persons, the majority of whom are of Spanish descent.
Olio, Jewett and Fruitland are situated on the San Juan below its junction with the La Plata, west of Farmington. Fruitland, the largest of the trio, has a population of about 400. They lie in a rich fruit belt, which is thoroughly irrigated by the well-known Coolidge ditch, or the Animas, La Plata & San Juan Canal.
Ten miles north of Aztec is the village of Cedar Hill, and six miles south, on the Las Animas river and in the heart of a fair agricultural and fruit country, is the pretty little town of Flora Vista, or Flowery Vale. The latter is a station on the Denver & Rio Grande.
History of the County .- In the early days of white settlement the re- gion now embraced within the limits of San Juan county was occupied chiefly by cattlemen, most of whom came down from Colorado with their herds. George Thompson was probably the most extensive cattle operator in the county during the pioneer period. He occupied the ranch in the upper San Juan valley as early as the spring of 1882. Though at one time he refused a cash offer of $320,000 for his cattle and horses, he lost everything during the hard times following the panic of 1893. He now resides in Trinidad. Mr. Thompson's herd at one time numbered fully 8,000 head. "Uncle" Washington Cox was also an extensive operator in the early days. He once refused $100,000 for all his branded stock, but died a pauper in Aztec. John and Charles Pierson, brothers, occupied the San Juan range about the same time and owned large herds.
For many years this region was a portion of the Jicarilla Apache Indian reservation. On the 4th of July, 1876, this portion of the reserva- tion was thrown open to settlement, and a large number of whites, prin- cipally from Colorado, entered the new country and located claims, but few of these first settlers held their land. Some of those who came prior to 1886 and remained in the valleys of the San Juan, the Animas or the La Plata for any length of time were Joseph Howe and Daniel Howe, William Locke, Peter Knickerbocker, H. M. Sharp, Joseph Crouch, Moses Blancett and his son. "Sel" Blancett, James Ferguson, G. W. McCoy, B. H. Millison, J. R. Williams, Alfred U. Graves, Captain W. B. Haines, P. M. Solomon, Orange Phelps, Joseph Starriett, J. C. Carson, the Car- lisle brothers, George Spencer, A. F. Miller, Frank M. Pierce, Isaac Stock- ton, "Port" Stockton and men named Kiffen, Slane, Roff, Clayton and Eskridge. Most of the above brought horses or cattle, or both, into the country, which at that time was regarded as practically worthless for ag- riculture.
"Ike" and "Port" Stockton, brothers, and Eskridge were three leaders of a notorious band of cattle thieves who caused the early ranchers end- less trouble. Their operations were primarily responsible for the so-called
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HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO
· war between the white settlers and the Indians. Not only were the depre- dations of the "rustlers" a serious drawback to peaceful conditions, but the cowboys themselves, while honest, ran wild at times and were the cause of serious misunderstanding. "Shooting up the town"-such town as there was at Farmington at the time-was a not uncommon form of diver- sion. Some of these rather too free-and-easy cowboys afterward settled down and were numbered among the best citizens of the county. The In- dians, who suffered most from the depredations of the rougher element among the cowboys, regarded all white men alike, and the responsibility for the troubles between the two races, and especially for one or two un- provoked murders of Indians, so wrought up the Apaches that for a time it looked as if the white settlement would be annihilated.
The first permanent white settlement on the land now forming a por- tion of the site of Farmington was made in the late summer of 1876. In the spring of 1877 a general store was opened there by A. F. Miller, who was succeeded as proprietor by Frank M. Pierce. George Spencer opened trade with the Indians in 1880, his "establishment" being a tent. The first physician there was Dr. Stoughton Mingus, who came about 1883. George Spence was the first lawyer in town, and Rev. Hugh Griffin, a missionary of the Methodist Episcopal church, held the first preaching serv- ices in the school house.
The land now occupied by Aztec, the county seat, was first owned by J. A. Koontz, who homesteaded it, and in 1890 sold forty acres to the Aztec Townsite Company, composed of Colonel W. H. Williams, G. W. McCoy and others, to the number of twenty-five. The town made little progress at any particular period until 1905, when its growth became marked. Koontz, the original settler, came from Pennsylvania in 1871, developed a farm on land which included within its limits two large Aztec ruins, opened a general store and became wealthy. He was utterly lacking in public spirit, being entirely governed by considerations of personal gain. In 1890 he sold his store to Colonel W. H. Williams, a public-spirited gentle- man, who has done much for the upbuilding of the community. Ex- Judge Granville Pendleton, who located in Aztec in 1898, became the best "boomer" the town ever had, though his methods were generally criticized.
For several years the government maintained an agricultural experi- ment station about a mile northwest of Aztec. This property was turned over to the county when the station was abandoned, and from the pro- ceeds of its sale the present court house was erected in 1901-02, after a bitter fight between the supporters of Aztec and the champions of Farm- ington.
Mormon Settlements .- That portion of the San Juan valley between the mouth of the La Plata and the Navajo Indian reservation is occupied chiefly by the Mormon pioneers and their descendants. Its irrigation was first made possible by the construction of a community ditch by Judge S. T. Webster, L. C. Burnham, Walter Stevens, Henry Slade. Jefferson Slade and J. E. McCarty. Upon the construction of the "Coolidge ditch" farming land lying under the canal was at once developed by W. L. Ken- nedy, A. D. Coolidge, A. C. Huniker, A. C. English, Mr. Carman, William White and Albert White.
This section of the country, including Fruitland, Jewett and Kirkland,
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contains the largest Mormon settlement in New Mexico. The pioneer set- tlers were Luther Burnham, John R. Young and .Walter Stevens. Among those who followed them at an early day were J. B. Ashcroft, Ira Hatch,. Asa Pipkin, J. K. P. Pipkin, Thomas Evans, all members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Among the pioneers who were not members of the Mormon church were T. C. Bryan, the first merchant of. Fruitland; J. E. McCarty, Schuyler Smith, W. L. Kennedy, Frank Coolidge, A. D. Englishi, W. S. Weightman, A. D. Coolidge, Judge Web- ster, Cyril J. Collyer, John Moss and Mr. Woolery. The Mormon set- tlement in the San Juan valley was entirely voluntary, and not under the direction of the church authorities. The total Mormon population is now estimated at about 650, and it certainly is not in excess of 700. The total Mormon vote is estimated at about sixtv-thirty-five in the Fruitland district and twenty-five at Jewett. All are included in one ward, called the Burnham ward, which is embraced within the San Juan stake under the presidency of Walter C. Lyman; its first bishop was L. C. Burnham, who was successively succeeded by James B. Ashcroft, Clayborn Brimhall and J. T. Nielson (the present incumbent ). The Fruitland Tribune was estab- lished by William Evans and Frank Staplin on January 15, 1906, and is published semi-monthly. It is the pioneer paper of the valley west of Farmington.
A reliable member of the Mormon church at Fruitland states that in all the history of the valley settlements but three men have had a plurality of wives. Of these, one is dead and one has removed from the com- munity. The Mormons have been in a slight majority at Fruitland for about fifteen years, but during that time no intoxicating liquors have been sold there until June, 1906, when a saloon was opened. The children are educated in the public schools, no school having been established under the direction of the church. There are two meeting houses, one at Fruitland and one at Jewett.
The settlement in and near Bloomfield, northeast of Farmington, while made originally by stockmen, has since become largely composed of Mor- mons, who, as in the west end of the valley, have done the pioneer agricultu- ral work.
Among the earliest residents on the present site of Farmington were William and Marion B. Hendrickson, who arrived in 1876. The former died in Colorado in 1904. Orville Pyle (now of Colorado) was here in 1876-77 and Os Pewett (now away) in 1877. A. F. Miller came in 1878 and Seth Welfoot (now deceased) and Ben McGalliard in 1877. The Virden brothers, Charles and Milton, now in Colorado, also arrived in 1877 and William Locke on the Ioth of October, 1878. The last named was the most prominent among the pioneers, contributing most largely to the substantial improvement and development of this part of the Terri- tory. The strip of land upon which these men settled originally belonged to the Apaches and was open to settlement in 1876, although no lands were surveyed until 1880. The usual experiences, hardships and privations of pioneer life were endured. Mrs. Mills, now deceased, the mother of the Virden brothers, arrived in 1877. The Virdens, however, were afterward run off by Indians, who burned their house down. They then settled on other lands further down the river. Wright Leggett, now of California, was another early settler, who arrived in 1877, and all these took up squat-
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HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO
ter's claims. Later, however, Wright Leggett sold his claim to William Locke for three ponies, huit there was no written transfer of title. Oliver McGordon, now deceased, a newspaper man, visited this district in the spring of 1878, and early in the fall of that year returned and located where a part of the town now lies. He afterward sold his property there to McGalliard and located another claim. He was hanged in the state of Washington in November, 1905, for the killing of his wife.
The first settlers turned their attention to common farming, and the Virden brothers built the first ditch in connection with McGalliard on the north side of the river. This ditch carried water for a distance of two and a half miles, and the Virden brothers had about three or four acres thus irrigated. They had no money, but each owned teams. When William Locke arrived the above mentioned were the only people in the district and they had done almost nothing for its reclamation. The first families were those of Mrs. Mills, Mrs. Simeon Hendrickson, Mrs. Hendrickson's daughter, the wife of Orville Pyle, and the family of A. F. Miller, arriving n 1878. These located in the vicinity of the present site of Farmington. near the forks of the San Juan and Animas rivers. Farmington started with only a name, the town having no real existence, but after the arrival of William Locke in 1879 the school house was huilt. The first merchant. F. M. Pierce, also arrived in that year. The first church services were held in the old school house, which was eighteen by twenty-four feet, and when this became too small a Methodist Episcopal church was erected about 1886 or 1887 and used for both church and school house.
A. F. Stump and family arrived here in Tulv. 1879, and settled be- tween the Animas and San Juan rivers, where in 1880 he burned the first brick kiln. C. H. McHenry arrived in the fall of 1879. and he and his father-in-law, a Mr. Williams, built a flour mill. They also built a large. substantial brick residence. These buildings were put up in 1880.
This section of country was claimed by the Apaches. although the Navajo Indians had occupied it for a number of years. The latter had heen at war with the Mexicans for a number of years, until Uncle Sam took them in hand and quieted them. When the whites settled here they had no serious trouble with the Indians. The cowboys proved worse ene- mies to the farmers than the Navajos, and trouble frequently occurred be- tween various factions of the herders. The first trouble was occasioned when a drunken cowhov shot an Indian on the streets of Farmington in the spring of 1883. Although the man was not killed, the Indians threat- ened to go on the warpath, and two days later several hundred Navajos sur- rounded the town, butt Gregorio, a friendly Indian, came and warned the settlers and said if the plowmen and the ranchers staved in their homes they would not be hurt. for the Indians were after the "tejanas." or cow- boys. After considerable parleving the Indians agreed not to begin hos- tilities until the war chief came for conference, and then it was decided not to make the attack. Another time, in 1885, Largo Pete, a sub-chief, turned his horses loose in W. P. Hendrickson's grain field. The whites held a meeting. securing an Indian, Costiano, for interpreter, and Mr. Hendrickson and Mr. Locke sent to Fort Lewis for troops, who came and finally brought the Indians under subjection, the red men promising to behave.
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