USA > New Mexico > History of New Mexico : its resources and people, Volume II > Part 9
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Alexander Hatch was also an early settler. Dr. Stephen Boyce, a Canadian by birth, engaged in practice at Las Vegas about 1850, but soon embarked in trade and abandoned his profession. He married Mrs. Helen Hatch Streeter, a daughter of Alexander Hatch. After his death she married D. W. McCormick, a well known pioneer of Trinidad, Colorado. Mr. Hatch came from New York State about 1849, and for several years had a farm at Chaperito, about thirty miles south of Las Vegas. One of his daughters married E. F. Mitchell, and another a Mr. McClure, who was connected with the quartermaster's department of Kearny's army.
Frank O. Kihlberg, the only one of these pioneers who still resides in Las Vegas, was engaged in business as a general merchant and distiller, having as a partner George W. Merritt.
Mr. Kihlberg was born in Mobile, Alabama, November 31, 1831, his parents being Peter and Louise Killberg, the former a native of Sweden and the latter of Wurtemberg, Germany. In his childhood days Frank O. Kihlberg was taken by his parents to Venezuela and was educated in the Spanish college at Caracas. The father was engaged there in the manu- facture of handsome and costly furniture, all of which was made by hand. Having completed his education, Frank O. Kihlberg spent nearly two vears as a clerk for Frederick Cordes & Company, a Hamburg (Germany) firm, doing business in Caracas. The revolution of 1848, however, caused his mother to leave Venezuela for St. Louis, Missouri, and the father died soon afterward. Because of these events Mr. Kihlberg went to Baltimore, Maryland, in May, 1849, and thence to St. Louis, Missouri, accomplishing the greater part of the overland journey by stage. He continued in St. Louis until July, 1852, when he came to New Mexico and engaged in mer- chandising and overland freighting as one of the pioneer settlers, identify- ing his interests with the new west, where the settlers were very widely scattered, there being few evidences of improvement or civilization or indi- cation that rapid progress would soon be made. From January, 1853, until the spring of 1855 he acted as a clerk for Connelly & Mitchell at Las Vegas, and in the latter year became a partner of George W. Merritt in the con- duct of a general mercantile store in that city. He continued in business until 1869 and in the meantime made many trips to Kansas City for freight. In the '6os he had a train of thirty large freight wagons, carry- ing from six to seven thousand pounds, and freighted extensively for others as well as for himself. The long trips across the plains were fraught with hardships and dangers, and he had many encounters with the In- dians. During that period he used cattle trains entirely, having six or seven yoke of oxen in a train. In the year 1869 he went to Kansas City to fill a contract for transporting military stores for the government from Fort Harker, Kansas, to Camp Supply and Fort Sill, and also from Fort Kit Carson, Colorado, to New Mexico, and to military posts in Colorado. He was thus engaged for two years.
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After the contract had been completed, Mr. Kihlberg established a forwarding and commission house at West Las Animas, Colorado, for- warding to New Mexico points from 1874 until 1876. During this time he made frequent trips to Las Vegas, and in the latter year he returned to the city and entered the real estate and live stock business. He has done much surveying in this vicinity, especially in Las Vegas, and has intimate knowledge of property interests in the city and surrounding districts.
Mr. Kihlberg was married, in 1858, to Lena G. Hoffelmann in Natchez, Mississippi. They had one son, Alfred E., who was educated at the Kemper school, Booneville, Missouri, and died in St. Louis, March 25, 1881, at the age of twenty-one years.
With the interests of Las Vegas Mr. Kihlberg has been identified from the period of its early development down to the present, and has watched with interest its growth since it was a pioneer settlement. Today it has all of the conveniences, advantages and accessories of a modern civiliza- tion, and Mr. Kihlberg has always stood for improvement here. In 1881 he began building a park in the plaza at Las Vegas. An attempt had previously been made to build a court. He met with radical opposition. but continued the work on his own responsibility, and as time has passed by he has received the indorsement of all public-spirited citizens on account of his excellent work in this direction. One of his pleasant recollections of a long and useful life full of dramatic incidents and stirring events is of a great buffalo hunt in 1872, which was planned for the amusement of the Russian grand duke, Alexis. This occurred near Kit Carson, Colo- rado, and was participated in by Mr. Kihlberg, General Phil Sheridan, Colonel William F. Cody (Buffalo Bill), General McCook and other famous plainsmen and hunters.
Las Vegas was a place of slow growth as long as the old-school Mexican element predominated, and by 1870, even, the plaza was entirely unimproved. In that year Americans commenced to locate in business in that vicinity, and the entire population seemed to be inoculated with the spirit of enterprise. Then all the buildings but one on the plaza were adobe (the roofs generally of the same material), and the only two-story structure in the place was Havs' store (stone). The adobe court house, which stood back of Ilfeld's store, is now used by C. Ilfeld as a ware- house. In 1870 the river covered most of the present line of Bridge street, and what was not under water was quite unimproved.
If a directory of that period had been in existence it would have shown the following residents and facts: Judge Hubbell, Major Breeden (brother of Colonel William Breeden), and Max Frost, attorneys; Major Hays, Emil Wesche, Rosenwald Brothers (Joseph and Emanuel), Dr. F. Knauer, Charles Blanchard, Letcher (Otto) & Ilfeld (Charles), Chapman & Dold, Geof & Desmerais, Brunswick & Romero (Trinidad), and Fr. Gerselachovsky, general merchants-the last named being a priest who had resigned his charge for a business career; Charles Kitchen, Exchange Hotel (site of Barber's saloon) : Pendaries' Hotel (site of Plaza Hotel) : Wagner's Hotel (site of old First National Bank) ; a dancing hall on the east side.
An issue of the Las Vegas Optic of November 5, 1879, indicates de- cided growth. Among the attorneys were Judge Palen, Senator Stephen
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B. Elkins, Thomas B. Catron, Colonel William Breeden, Conway,
Frank Springer, O. P. Lydon (Old Town), and D. P. Shield; physician and surgeon, A. G. Lane; notaries public, C. R. Browning, H. L. Trisler, Russell Bayly, J. Severson, C. R. Browning (also real estate), and H. L. Trisler (also conveyancer). Locke & Brooks were proprietors of a health office in East Las Vegas, and made this startling claim: "All diseases in- cident to mankind cured on short notice." The following were other lines represented in the columns of the paper, which obviously covered the bulk of the business houses in Las Vegas. Unless otherwise specified, they were located in East Las Vegas: F. C. Martsolf, contractor; Miguel D. Marcus, "The Boss Cigar Store"; G. H. Moore, "conductor" of Rail- road Commissary Department; Kate Nelson, restaurant; John J. Connor, boots and shoes ; Rupe & Castle, builders' hardware; Mills & Beecher, insurance agents ; Browne & Inanzanares, wholesale grocers, forwarding and commission merchants; Denver Restaurant (Old Town), H. H. Bell, proprietor ; O. L. Houghton, hardware; Frank Chapman, general mer- chandise (Old Town), C. E. Wesche, dry goods and groceries ( Old Town) ; Otero, Sellar & Co., commission merchants; N. L. Rosenthal, general merchandise; William Steele, Jr .. real estate; Philip Halzman, general merchandise; Robinson House (opposite depot), J. C. Robinson, proprietor ; F. E. Herbert & Co .. druggists (East and West Las Vegas) ; "Cheap John Restaurant"; Santa Fé Bakery, Quissenberry & Willis, pro- prietors ; St. Louis House, B. Ladner, proprietor ; Chicago Boot and Shoe House: George Mckay, Pan Handle Restaurant; Variety Hall, Chase & Patterson, proprietors; R. C. Richmond. watchmaker; C. W. Mack, boots and shoes; R. G. McDonald, liquors; Lockhart & Co., contractors and builders: E. G. Arment, meat market ; E. Munsch, painter ; Jaffa Broth- ers, general merchandise; Monarch Hall, Ward & Tamme, proprietors ; W. G. Ward, contractor and builder : H. G. Neill, justice of the peace.
The late seventies may be said to have closed the pioneer period of Las Vegas, and at a banquet given by the settlers of '79, in February, 1902, a striking list of departed pioneers was presented to the guests. Only the "old-timers" recognized the names of the deceased: Caribou Brown, French Pete, Billie the Kid, Dutch Charlie, Dirty-face Mike, Hoodoo Brown, Red Laughlin, Scar-faced Charlie, Pawnee Bill, Kickapoo George, Jack-Knife Jack, Off Wheeler, Sawdust Charlie, Johnnie Behind the Rocks, Fly-speck Sam, Beefsteak Mike, Mysterious Dave, Hatchet- face Kid, Broncho Bill, Solitaire, Texas George, Durango Kid, Jim Lane, Pancake Billy, Cock-eyed Frank, Rattlesnake Sam, Kansas Kid, Red the Hack Driver, Split-nose Mike, Kim Ki Rogers, Charlie the Swede, Web- fingered Billy, Nigger Bill, Curley Moore, Light-fingered Jack, "Chuck," Billy the Kid the Second, Pretty Dick, Forty-five Jimmy, Lucky Dick, Wink the Barber, Red Mike, Silent Henry, Double-out Sam, Dutch Pete. Curley Bill, Black Kid, "Kingfisher," Handsome Harry the Dance-Hall Rustler, Big George the Cook, Jimmie the Duck, Cock-eyed Dutch, Little Dutch the Detective, "Smooth," Pock-marked Kid, Flap-jack Bill, Buck- skin Joe,' "Tennessee," Brocky-faced Johnnie, Piccolo Johnnie, Pistol Johnnie, Big-foot Mike, China Tack, "Pinkev," Happy Jack. Big Burns, Cold-deck George, Hop-fiend Bill, Pegleg Dick, "Rosebud," "Sandy" (Red Oaks), Dutch the Gambler (Jim Ramsey), Red-face Mike, Dummy the Fox, Red River Tom, Hold-out Jack, Short Creek Dave, "Skinny," Long
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Vest George, Smokey Hall, Bald-faced Kid, Cockey Bill, One Armed Jim the Gambler, One Armed Kelley, Lord Locke, Long Lon, Maroney the Peddler, "Shakespeare." Chuck Luck Betts, Hog Jones, Hog-foot Jim, Bostwick the Silent Man, Hurricane Bill, Pawnee George. "Blondy." Shotgun Bill, "Scotty," Big Murphy, Box Car Bill, Little Jay, "Ken- tuck," Tommy the Poet, Sheeney Frank. "Shorty." Skinny the Barber. Elk Skin Davis, Broken Nose Clark, Soapy Smith, Squint-eyed Bob, Stuttering Tom, Repeater Shan, Buttermilk George, Billie-Be-Damned, and Candy Cooper.
Schools of Las Vegas .- The school buildings of the city are two in number, located on Douglas and Baca avenues, and the town, or the West Side, has a substantial two-story structure of its own, besides smaller buildings, devoted to the cause of education. The Douglas avenue build- ing was the first erected in New Mexico from public moneys. It is a handsome stone building, comprising eight school rooms and two offices, with large basement. and is heated by the hot-water system.
The Baca avenue building is one of the most tasteful and unique edifices of the kind in the west. It is built of a beautiful red sandstone, and in its towers, copings and general architectural features resembles a feudal castle. From this fact it is popularly known as the "Castle" school building. It contains ten well-lighted and commodious rooms, two offices and a large basement, and is heated by steam. The high school occupies the entire upper floor.
The Las Vegas city schools now offer a semi-kindergarten course, the regular eight primary and grammar grades, and the full curriculum of four years in the higher branches. The high school was not organized upon its present basis until in 1902. One of the recent additions to its educational facilities is a laboratory for physical and chemical work.
Previous to September, 1904, the schools in the town of Las Vegas were unclassified, and each was under a separate board of directors. At that time the movement was begun which, under the active superintendency of Anna J. Rieve, of Baltimore, resulted in the grading of the pupils. The system is also now under one board of directors. Progress has been made in the establishment of both a library and museum, and under the new management both schools and grounds have been repaired and beautified.
The New Mexico Normal University was established at Las Vegas in 1898, and has already accomplished a good work in educating teachers for the territorial schools, which in years past have been in sad need of competent instructors. The number of students now ranges from sixty- five to ninetv. For several years past summer schools have been held under the auspices of the faculty for the benefit of teachers who are em- ploved during the winter, and the increasing attendance shows that they are steadily gaining in popularity.
The system of the Normal University embraces a department of music, comprising the theory of music, sight reading, history of music, ear training. interpretation, voice culture, chorus, piano, violin and other stringed instruments, ensemble playing and elementary harmony.
Churches and Societies of Las Vegas .- Las Vegas has ten places of worship, nine church buildings, representing eight denominations, and five pastoral residences. All have Sunday schools and the usual societies, and
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the Young Men's Christian Association has recently completed a large, handsome and modern structure-the first of the organizations in the far southwest to be so honored.
The Catholics, of course, first occupied the field in Las Vegas, as they did in New Mexico as a whole. There are two Catholic churches, that on the west side being in charge of Fr. Paul Gilberton, and that on the east side, of Fr. Henry C. Ponget.
The Baptists were the first Protestants to enter the Territory, coming as early as 1849. They organized a congregation in Las Vegas in 1880 with seventeen members, and now occupy a handsome frame structure. The Methodists came into New Mexico and, in August, 1879, organized a local society.
The Protestant pioneers of Las Vegas, however, were the Presby- terians, who established a church on the west side in 1869. In 1881 their east side edifice was dedicated. St. Paul's Episcopal church was estab- lished in 1879, being the first of that denomination in New Mexico. The Jewish synagogue of the Congregation Montefiore was also the pioneer of that sect in the Territory, and the society is the wealthiest in the city. In 1887 the African Methodist Church was organized, and has a large membership.
The Young Men's Christian Association has recently completed the first building erected by that organization along modern lines in the south- west. The handsome stone structure is 100 feet deep and has a frontage of fifty feet on Sixth street, has a height of two stories and basement, and is located half a block from the principal business corner of the city.
The Ladies' Home was organized over twenty years ago by the min- isters of Las Vegas. It is managed by a board of ladies, and is supported partly by the Territory and partly by private funds. During 1900, which was the busiest year in the history of the society, 180 patients were cared for.
Another worthy charity is St. Anthony's Sanitarium, erected in 1896 by the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth, Kansas. It is a solid three-story structure built of stone, 160 feet in length, and has a broad veranda extend- ing along three sides of the building.
Las Vegas Clubs .- The Commercial Club of Las Vegas, whose pur- poses are both social and of a business character, was organized in No- vember, 1903, with the following officers: A. A. Jones, president; Max Nordhaus, vice-president, and George P. Money, secretary. It occupies the building jointly erected by the Masons and the Montezuma Club.
The Montezuma Club is strictly social in its nature. It was incor- porated in the fall of 1886, with O. L. Houghton as president.
The Owl Club is a social organization of young bachelors.
The Las Vegas Street Railway .- This line, which not only connects the city and town, but extends nine miles up the picturesque canyon on the Gallinas, is owned and operated by the Las Vegas Electric Railway & Power Company, of which W. A. Buddecke, late of St. Louis, is presi- dent. Its plant consists of a large powerhouse of stone and brick, a two- story office building, street car stables, shops and sheds.
New Mexico Hospital for the Insane .- This institution was created by act of February 28, 1889, and the buildings, at the authorized cost of $25,000, were erected on land donated by Benigno Romero. The hospital
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contains an average of some 150 patients, and is well conducted. Its grounds are neatly kept, and include a small farm, on which the inmates raise fodder, vegetables and fruits. In March, 1905, an addition was com- pleted to the main building which added fifty-five rooms to the previous accommodations. The completion of this building made it possible to remove a good number of the insane from the county jails, as well as to furnish quarters for those who were being cared for in their homes. The capacity of the hospital is now about 180 beds.
The National Fraternal Sanitarium .- The greatest sanitarium in the world for the treatment of tuberculosis, in all its stages and by every means known to science and medicine, will be established on a tract of land about fifteen miles square, six miles from Las Vegas. Its nucleus is the superb Montezuma Hotel, erected by the Santa Fe Railway Com- pany to take the place of the former structure, destroyed by fire in 1884. The new hotel is three stories in height, built of stone and brick and contains 350 rooms. There are also a group of cottages, and the famous hot springs, which first called the attention of the country to Las Vegas as a health resort.
In 1902 a movement for the establishment of such a sanitarium orig- inated with several high officials of the fraternities of the country, which was finally recommended by the National Fraternal Congress and the Associated Fraternities. The ultimate outcome was that 163 orders, rep- resenting over 5,000,000 members, supported the enterprise to the extent of almost $1,000,000 a year. Thereupon the Santa Fé Company trans- ferred the title to all this property, covering 1,000 acres and appraised at $1,000,000, to a board of trustees representing the fraternal societies of the United States, among whose members tuberculosis was making such fearful inroads. The transfer was made without consideration and upon the only condition that a sanitarium should be established and permanently maintained at this point. If the plan should ever be abandoned, or the property be used for any other purpose, it will revert to the railroad company.
In addition to this property the citizens of Las Vegas presented to the fraternal trustees 10,000 acres of land-a portion of the old Mexican grant, which they had held for seventy years. This immense tract adjoins the Montezuma property, and will eventually be well covered with tents, varying in sizes from those designed to accommodate families to those erected for individuals.
With every variety of amusement near at hand, surrounded by a country of great beauty and natural interest, it is believed, from the ex- perience of the past, that the treatment of those in the early stages of tuber- culosis will be even more wonderful than in the past.
Gallinas Park and Gallinas Canyon .- Although Gallinas Park, on the line of the electric railway, was founded as late as 1903, it is already a strong feature of the attractions surrounding Las Vegas. It embraces a race track, upon which a world's record for a mile was made in June, 1905. Over the brow of a hill to the northward is a wooded part, diversified hy verdant slopes, running water and mossy dells, and this portion of the grounds is becoming a very popular resort, both with residents and vis- itors.
The Gallinas Canyon, near Las Vegas, is a continuous panorama of
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picturesque and unique scenery. A short distance above the Montezuma Hotel it presents a phenomenon which is quite startling. Here the south- ern banks are so high and steep that the low-lying winter sun never strikes the surface of the narrow stream, the ice forming two feet thick. In summer, even, its rays are so short lived and ineffective that the canyon at this point never really gets warm, and "where," as remarked by a trav- eler, "the thermometer will stand at freezing point for weeks at a time, while the people at the hotel half a mile below will be sitting on the porches without wraps, and the ranchmen will be working in their shirt sleeves." The natural ice factory and storage house have been utilized by a company, which has constructed several dams across the river and erected nine ice houses with a capacity of 25,000 tons.
Margarito Romero, engaged in merchandising in Las Vegas, has been an important factor in the development and progress here. He was a prime mover in having the old town of Las Vegas incorporated, that the work of public improvement might be carried on and that a postoffice might be established, and he has continuously aided along practical lines in the work of general development. He was born in Santa Fé county, New Mexico, February 22, 1851, a son of Miguel Romero y Baca, who was several times probate judge of San Miguel and was highly esteemed throughout the Territory. He engaged in general merchandising in Las Vegas, establishing his business about 1851. He was the first jobber in groceries in that city and during the period of the Civil war he furnished horses and supplies to the northern army. He married Josefa Delgado, who was born November 15, 1816, at Santa Fe. Her ancestors were of high Castilian birth and held many distinguished offices during Spanish rule. They came to Las Vegas in 1851 and were widely known for deeds of kindness and charity, as well as for efficient service and business ca- pacity. Miguel Romero y Baca died about 1881 or 1882, and his wife's death occurred in Las Vegas, August 5, 1877.
Margarito Romero was educated in the Christian Brothers College at Santa Fé and entered business life as a salesman in the mercantile store of M. Brunswick. In this employ he remained for five years. He then es- tablished a general mercantile business and also engaged in the cattle and sheep industry at La Cuesta, New Mexico, in 1880. There he continued for two years, after which he removed his store to Las Vegas. During the first two years of his connection with commercial interests in Las Vegas he was in partnership under the firm style of T. Romero & Brothers. He afterward established a store of his own, which he has since conducted, and at the same time he is a well known representative of cattle interests, having a ranch at Trementina, where he runs about one hundred head of cattle. A man of resourceful business ability, he has extended his efforts to other lines. carrying forward to successful completion whatever he un- dertakes. In 1895 he built a hotel of forty rooms at Porvenir for a health resort, but this was destroyed by fire in 1903. He also operates a saw- mill at Porvenir and is engaged in the lumber business, and for the past ten years he has conducted trade as a railroad timber contractor. The scope and variety of his business interests indicate his capacity and en- terprise and capable management, this bringing him gratifying success.
Mr. Romero was married in 1872 in Santa Fé to Miss I. D. de Romero, of that city. To them were born seven children, but all are de-
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ceased. Mr. Romero is a member of the Knights of Columbus, belong- ing to Las Vegas lodge. In politics he is a Republican, and was treasurer and collector of San Miguel county in 1898-99, during which time he col- lected three hundred and sixty-eight thousand dollars-an exceptional rec- ord-which put the county on a good financial basis. He was the first mayor of the old town, serving for two terms in 1903 and 1904. In public office he has ever given a practical and progressive administration, bringing to bear in the discharge of his official duties the same safe and conservative qualities which mark his business record.
Charles Tamme, city clerk of Las Vegas, was born in the duchy of Braunschweig, January 27, 1844. He was educated in Germany and in 1865 came to the United States for recreation and travel, intending to re- turn to his native land. However, he crossed the plains four or five times, freighting with ox and mule teams. Being pleased with this country he determined to make it his home and has lived at different times in Mil- waukee, St. Joe and Neenah, Wisconsin. He has also visited more west- ern and northern towns as a freighter and in 1867 he went to Trinidad, Colorado, with government freight. In 1871 he engaged in the stock busi- ness in that locality, continuing therein for three or four years, and at the same time he occupied the position of clerk in the United States Hotel at that place.
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