The mine encroaching on Santa Rita, circa 1915. Photo courtesy Silver City Museum

"The Santa Rita is, perhaps, the most famous mine in Western America, for it was here that the techniques of copper mining were first developed in the Southwest." So wrote Carey McWilliams in his 1949 book, North From Mexico.

Santa Rita – some 15 miles east of Silver City, site of today’s mine and yesterday’s town – is in a region of greasewood flatlands, of yucca patches and carpets of creosote brush, with an offering of cacti in many varieties. Wildlife is abundant: canine and feline mammals, reptiles and a bird congress created to make sweet an ornithologist’s dream. Hazy mountains humpback on all horizons, abrupt arroyos cut into the hard desert earth. But in spite of the wildness, the loneliness, the feeling of things far away from everywhere, the air is sharp with industry, for in its midst the Kennecott enterprise is ever burrowing, digging, loading, hauling, milling and smeltering the precious substance – ripping out the Santa Rita as mining men have for all but 16 years of the last two centuries.

But where is the town of Santa Rita?

You won’t find its location on any up-to-date map because it isn’t there anymore. They just moved it out of the way to satisfy the strip mine’s ravenous Glory Hole. But there was a town of Santa Rita, once upon a time, a typical Southwestern mining community that held its frontier flavor to the end.

Only on the pages of history does Santa Rita remain as the pioneer of mining methods in the Southwest, flavored with early Spanish New Mexico, challenge and valor, greed and treachery – all the dust of the rawhide West.

Early in the first year of the 1800’s, the Spanish governor in Santa Fe ordered the military to take drastic measures against the Apache Indians, then the most troublesome of all tribes. Every Apache man, woman and child was to be killed by any method and no mercy extended. A garrison was established at Janos, in Chihuahua, not far below the present Mexican border – one of many in the very heart of the Apache country.

The mine encroaching on Santa Rita, circa 1915. Photo courtesy Silver City Museum

Among the officers at Janos was Lieutenant Colonel Jose Manuel Carrasco. While scouting the Rio Mimbres not far from the garrison with a troop of cavalry, he met a defiant band of Apaches armed and painted for war. In a skirmish a number of the band were killed, and a few taken captive. For some reason, Carrasco spared the life of one warrior in the band, actually befriended him and let him escape. In gratitude the Indian gave the colonel a token of gratitude – small in the palm of the hand but of value beyond reckoning to the eye of the Spaniard: an arrowpoint chiseled out of the purest copper. When questioned, the Indian told of an outcropping of this metal far up the Mimbres toward the snowy mountains known to the Spaniards as the Pinos Altos. Furthermore, the Indian said, the place could be easily identified. A hill with a peculiar rock formation rose directly above, one known today as Ben Moore Mountain. From there came the arrow point Carrasco held in his hand.

Jose Carrasco knew copper, could measure a bonanza should he ever meet up with one. He was born in Spain on the Rio Tinto, a place famed for its copper mines. Now in 1800, he realized that if he searched for the location, he would find a terrain in New Mexico similar to that he had known in his youth. It was time now to quit the army.

Carrasco resigned and with 24 companions left Janos for the upper Mimbres. He readily found the location described by the grateful Apache, and then returned to Mexico to look for backers. In Chihuahua City, he aroused the interest of Don Manuel Francisco Elguea, a prominent banker. Together they obtained a land grant from the Spanish government and named it Criadero de Cobre – Nursery of Copper. The miners they employed erected a village for themselves and called it Santa Rita del Cobre.

Elguea contracted with the government to provide copper for coinage. Southward from Santa Rita the Chihuahua train ran 400 miles, and along the route went crudely smeltered copper to be melted into bars, carried by muleback and on oxcarts. The journey was a cruel one through Apache territory and over rugged terrain under a death-dealing summer sun. To provide labor for the mine, the government established a penal colony at Santa Rita. During that period Carrasco sold his share to Elguea and departed the scene with nothing more to be heard of him.

By 1805, 600 men were employed at Santa Rita. With their families they gave size to the new community. Shafts were sunk and crude ladders rawhided together for descent and ascent. The ore was brought to the surface in tenates, crude leather bags strapped to the shoulder of men the miners called tenateros. The Elgueas built a small but sufficient smelter and kept a packmule train always ready to carry the product southward.

On arrival in Chihuahua the copper sold for 65 cents a pound. It was deemed necessary that the impoverished peon population have copper coinage, and through that necessity the Elgueas made a fortune.

Don Francisco Elguea died in 1809 and the mine was worked by his widow until 1822. Nowhere else was copper found of such high quality. After further refining in Chihuahua, relays of up to 100 pack mules, each loaded with 300 pounds, carried it down the Camino Real to the Royal Mint in Mexico City.

Business district east of Santa Rita, 1919 Photo courtesy Silver City Museum

In 1825, Don Juan Ortiz was in charge of operations for the Elguea estate when the first Americans arrived. They were the trappers Sylvester Pattie and his son. Their trapline was set along the Gila River and they were familiar with all that was happening at Santa Rita. Pattie negotiated a successful partnership with Ortiz, who apparently left the scene (history does not tell us what happened to him), and it seemed that Pattie would be lord and master of Santa Rita. But the devil works his mischief in the happiest of circles. A trusted scoundrel in his employ made a sudden exit, taking with him $30,000 in working capital, never to be seen again. Bankrupt, Pattie went back to the trapline collecting furs.

Then came an honest and able man, Robert McKnight, who worked the property from 1826 to 1837. At the close of his tenure an act of treachery occurred at Santa Rita, one so villainous that it was to affect the lives and properties of all settlers, both Mexican and American, who resided within the Apache tribal range – a huge area in New Mexico, west Texas, Arizona, Chihuahua and Sonora.

On an afternoon in 1837, a ruthless band of traders led by James Johnson arrived in Santa Rita. Knowing that the Mexican government still offered a bounty for any Apache taken dead or alive – an offer ignored by most settlers – Johnson and his group made a pact with some Mexicans at Santa Rita to rid New Mexico of the "Apache menace."

Keeping the plot from McKnight and his American staff, Johnson arranged for a trading meet – a grand gathering of Apaches and Mexicans near the Santa Rita mine. Juan Jose, chief of the Mimbreno Apaches, was the chosen guest of honor. The traders also hoped that Jose would bring Mangas Coloradas, a subchief. Second to Cochise, Mangas Coloradas was the greatest of Apache leaders and the most ruthless. However, up to that point, the Apaches had always made friendly visits to the mine to trade and to beg. Their war had long been with the Mexicans, never forgetting the extermination order given by the Spanish governor in Santa Fe some 40 years before.

But Johnson had in mind two scalps of such quality as to command an extra bounty when delivered to the garrison at Janos.

The party was everything promised. Objects of trade were laid out in an open space among the hills, and the feast of roasted game and bread, the favorite Apache diet, was stacked like cordwood on spread-out hides. Indians and Mexicans mingled at the banquet with excitement growing rampant as the trade goods were handled. Later, there would gambling, perhaps. But no intoxicants. McKnight was emphatic about that when he was told of the celebration already planned. He praised Johnson for his generous move to build harmony with the Apaches.

As this was purely a Mexican-Apache affair, Mcknight and his few Americans stayed away. Juan Jose and Mangas Coloradas sat together watching the show, stoic with the dignity their social status commanded. There were women attending, some with their very young in cradleboards of wood and buckskin.

Johnson’s voice was loud above the festivities, encouraging all to enjoy themselves, full of good humor. However, a few of Johnson’s trappers were absent – busy on a hillside overlooking the gala scene. A howitzer was concealed in the dense brush with ample ammunition ready for use. Johnson gave a signal the miners moved away form the stacks of food and trade goods. Only the Apaches were bunched together, gorging themselves and inspecting the treasures.

The howitzer roared, quivering the hills, followed by a blast of pistol and rifle fire. Havoc overtook the sunbright afternoon. Juan Jose was numbered among the many dead. A few Apaches made their escape, among them Mangas Coloradas.

Throughout the Apache region, runners carried word of the slaughter. In the quiet hills about Santa Rita, Mangas Coloradas, skilled in the art of blood-for-blood retaliation, went about the business of revenge. A planned act of treachery had brought on actual war, one that would last for almost half a century.

Johnson, of course, did not collect his prize scalps. He miraculously made his escape, but nearly all his trapper friends were caught, tortured and killed. He made his way through the heart of Apache land and on to California, where he died in poverty. McKnight, who made a fortune from the mine, managed to get through the Apache cordon with his American friends. Now only the Mexican miners and their families were left to keep Santa Rita alive.

But for how long?

The scattered Mimbreno Apaches were gathered together – and the slaughter began. The first to taste vengeance was a party of 22 trappers camped on the Gila, every man killed, the bodies mutilated. Benjamin Wilson along with two trappers met up with Apache warriors east of Santa Rita. The trappers were tortured to death, but Wilson got away.

Although Wilson’s trappers had been left for the buzzards, their deaths were speedier than the sort that threatened the 400 men, women and children who stayed on at Santa Rita. Day and night they were aware of Indian eyes watching from the hills. Devoutly religious, the people kept themselves in constant prayer. Their only hope was the long supply train due to arrive from Chihuahua. Never had it failed to reach its destination. It was comprised of trailing ox wagons, carts, pack mules, burros, all laden with foodstuffs, clothing; tools for the shaft and smelter, and above all, ammunition for the pistols and rifles.

Hunters ventured out, but never far from the village, and brought home venison, bear and wild turkey. All the while the staple food supply was dwindling, the ammunition was running low. Each sunrise brought new hope that this day would see the arrival of the supply train, but always the sun faded into twilight leaving only bitter disappointment and fear.

When a few fearless young men suggested they go down the trail to find the train, their offer brought protest. If any were to leave Santa Rita, then all must go – every man, woman and child. But the supply train, of course, was never to bless little Santa Rita. Mangas Coloradas had seen to that.

So the miners and their families left Santa Rita – left their homes, the mine shafts, the tiny smelter, their livestock – left it a ghost town. Theirs was a pathetic procession as it moved southward, each under his or her load. The cargo was mostly carried on horses, mules and burros. A few strong men pushed laden wheelbarrows.

They decided, as they went on, that if the train was not met they would go the entire 400 miles to Chihuahua. They were aware that warriors followed – hidden from view but hungry to avenge the slaughter at Santa Rita, a blood payment for the life of Juan Jose, for the trusting women, for the innocents in cradleboards. In bright sunlight there came a time for the massacre. Out of the 400 who started, only six lived to reach Chihuahua.

Santa Rita was still deserted some 12 years later when an overflow of "forty-niners" from California prospected for gold in the surrounding area, and the bonanza camps of Pinos Altos, Georgetown, Silver City and Mogollon were staked out for residence while working the lodes. A company of cavalry then occupied the old Santa Rita torreon, or fortress, built by the Elgueas a half-century before, while they protected the gold miners against Apache attacks. No interest was shown in copper. gold and silver shining bright were the twin elements that gave lift to the muckstick and sound to the blast.

By 1872, Cochise of the Chiricahua Apaches had succeeded Coloradas as supreme chief. He made a treaty with the government that put the tribesmen on reservations, and it seemed that at last peace had come to the hills and flats and arroyos that were the Mimbres.

So a Denver man, Martin B. Hayes, took over the Santa Rita mines. Obtaining a patent was no easy task, as the Elguea heirs were scattered over Mexico and Spain. He obtained ownership, however, the 45 claims, each with a name recorded by its former operator. One was called El Chino, translated form Spanish as "The Chinaman."

But peace, such as it was, did not last – could not last. Santa Rita enjoyed only a few years of revival. Geronimo escaped form the reservation hating all Mexicans and Americans, among the latter, the Spanish-Americans of New Mexico. He fled southward to Mexico where, with a band of feisty warriors, he set up a stronghold in the Sierra Madre. From there he continued a war of vengeance.

In 1879, Victorio, another Apache leader, with a large following of Mescalero braves, crossed the Black Range into southwestern New Mexico. Other bands attacked other locales. All this didn’t help harvest the copper at Santa Rita. Then Victorio was killed in Chihuahua in October 1880. in 1886, Geronimo surrendered to the military in Skeleton Canyon in the Peloncillo Mountains, thus ending the Apache wars that began with Johnson’s howitzer party at Santa Rita in 1837.

J. Parker Whitney purchased the copper mine from Hayes sometime before 1886 and operated it until the turn of the century. Then a group of New York investors established the Santa Rita Mining Company and leased the claims to miners. The miners, in turn, brought up the ores. The job of milling was done by the company.

Santa Rita was then 100 years old. The high-grade ores were ready to play out. Bodies of sulfide rock were showing, but little did the people concerned realize that this massive geological change was a herald of the real bonanza – the priceless treasure chest of Chino mines.

In 1904, the ores assayed less than 10 percent copper content, no longer considered worth processing. But that same year there arrived in Santa Rita a young and ambitious engineer, John N. Sully, sent by the Hermosa Copper Company, which hoped to purchase Santa Rita. Converting low-grade ore to profit was Sully’s stock in trade.

He explored the old diggings, then in 1905 came up with the news that there were six million tons of undeveloped ore averaging 2.73 percent copper, the huge amount making mining worthwhile for a company that could afford the initial capital outlay to finance it. Hermosa gave up its plan to purchase, which set Sully free to do as he pleased with the survey. In 1909, after four years of trying with no results, he attracted backers and formed the Chino Copper Company. In 1910, the steam shovels began biting into the earth, and the great open pit of today began to take form. A mill was erected at nearby Hurley in 1911, a smelter in 1939, a fire refinery in 1942. After years of company mergers and consolidations, Chino became part of the worldwide Kennecott Corporation.

And as the width of the Glory Hole expanded, so the town of Santa Rita moved back to make room for the harvest – for Copper the King – and finally at the monarch’s command be gone, dissolve, live only on the pages of history. At Santa Rita all has become change, from the big to the mammoth, from the earliest event in the chronicles of the American West to the spectacular of present-day industry.

What sound and clatter, what dust, upheaval, joy, pain and death have sprung from a small copper arrowpoint held in the palm of the Spaniard Carrasco, the gift of an Apache warrior in exchange for a show of compassion.

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Fort Bayard began in 1866 when Company B of the 125th U.S. Colored Infantry under the command of Lieutenant James Kerr established an encampment near the gold and silver mining communities of Pinos Altos and Silver City, New Mexico. This location commanded Apache war trails from their lands near the present Faywood Hot Springs to numerous mining areas. According to Lieutenant Kerr, it was “. . . a beautiful situation on the eastern slope of the Pinos Altos Mountains,” with abundant wood, water, and forage.

Alma, five miles north of Glenwood on U.S. 180, was a hideout for Butch Cassidy and his gang. when they worked for the W-S Ranch in the 1890s. It is said the gang members were good workers, and Cassidy was even offered a permanent job there. A post office existed from 1882 to 1896, then again from 1900 to1931. Mail now goes to Glenwood.

North of bustling Silver City and south of the rugged Datil Mountains lies the Gila River Valley of southwestern New Mexico, a place rich in history, beauty and spirit. Nearly eighty miles long (north and south), this area encompasses three distinct eco-zones, scenic vistas which even modestly accessed must be called breathtaking, and a human synergism without parallel in the region.

In 1873, Silver City resident Louis Abraham, a boyhood friend of Henry McCarty as he was known then, described her as a “jolly Irish lady, full of fun and mischief.” But for being the mother of Billy the Kid, history would probably never know the name of Catherine McCarty. One hundred and twenty-five years later, history still knows precious little about her.

Double-E Guest Ranch is a 30,000 acre working Cattle/Guest Ranch which adjoins the legendary 3 million acre Gila Wilderness in southwestern New Mexico, in the small community of Gila. This area is considered by many to be one of the most spectacular in the world – generally untouched and pristine. Rising from an elevation of 4,700 feet at Ranch headquarters on Bear Creek to over 7,000 feet in the Pinos Altos Mountains, the setting at the Ranch offers guests a variety of astonishing landscapes – from wind swept mountaintop vistas, to deep incised vertical rock canyons; from open upland plateaus to peaceful cottonwood and sycamore-lined creek bottoms.

It’s a place where once upon a time the Old and New World came together. Now the past and future are meeting in a little ghost town called Fierro, New Mexico, a few miles north of Silver City in the southwest corner of the state.

Little extras can really enhance the dining experience. After 28 years of being in business, El Paisano’s owner, Natalia Palacios, has learned that giving more than is expected can pay dividends in repeat business. The combination of great value and consistently good food is why El Paisano is one of Silver City’s most popular Mexican restaurants.

You sit around enough campfires or barrooms with enough fisherman and you realize that every one of us is pleased to argue for our favorite fish, favorite fishing spot, and favorite method of pursuing fish. Like the endless debates over guns, game animals, and calibers, these are arguments that won’t go away, and that outdoor writers will forever milk for copy.

From 1747 when Spanish explorers discovered Indians farming in the verdant valley until today, visitors have enjoyed the quiet beauty of the San Francisco River country. Glenwood with its quaint shops, motels, and restaurants, is the center of this valley in West Central New Mexico.

Providing car rental, flight instruction, aircraft rental, aircraft maintenance and Phillips Aviation fuels. At the Grant County Airport, Silver City, NM.

Visitors to the Silver City area will soon find its art scene is alive and thriving. In this part of New Mexico, many artists have been born, raised and nurtured in their art. Others, who have migrated from other parts of the nation and abroad, have helped bring diversity and enrichment to our local culture.

Hot springs in the Gila vary in their accessibility.  A trip to the Middle Fork hot springs, for example, only requires a half hour walk and a couple of river crossings, while others are a full day’s hike and an overnight stay away.  But whether you’re feeling adventurous or mellow, you can always find a chance for a relaxing soak in a beautiful outdoor setting.  With a little exploration, visitors can discover quiet, remote springs.

When my husband and I dug the foundations for our home in the Mimbres Valley of southwestern New Mexico, we found a metate – a large grinding stone – buried two feet deep. We had selected this building site, with its view of a distant mountain peak, because it was close to the Mimbres River but not close enough to be flooded in a rainy season. Now we knew that another family had made this same decision. Perhaps a thousand years ago, they too had chosen this place for their home.

The Spanish journeyed to Santa Rita looking for Cibola, the City of Gold, and instead discovered rich deposits of copper, thanks to a friendly Apache chief who showed them where his people had been mining the shiny metal for untold years. The result was the Santa Rita del Cobre . . . and the beginning of the Kneeling Nun legends . . . legends that will likely persist, as long as she continues to grace the landscape above this Southwest New Mexico community.

Cliff dwellings. What an unremarkable phrase for such a remarkable feat. An entire village carved out of solid rock. Carved not with the bulldozers and explosives that we so casually use today to gouge mortal wounds into Mother Earth, but with primitive tools and back-breaking labor. Carved not to pillage or destroy but to settle into Earth’s protective bosom as children settle into their mothers’ laps.

Hidden away in Southwest New Mexico lies the Trail of the Mountain Spirits, a loop drive through the historically rich and beautiful Mimbres Valley, Lake Roberts, and Gila Hot Springs area, still called the Inner Loop by most locals. Intriguing stories about this area abound, beginning with the ancient Mogollon, Mimbreno and Apache Indians and continuing to the 1500s and beyond when Spanish settlers, mountain men, soldiers, miners and cattlemen arrived.

Pinos Altos (Tall Pines) is located about six miles north of Silver City on NM Highway 15. The townsite is located along the Continental Divide at an elevation of 7,067 feet at the southern end of the Pinos Altos Mountains. Pinos Altos is a very old mining town; it was Grant County’s first county seat.

“Pinos Altos? It’s six miles north of Silver City on NM 15.”

Most of the 300 residents of this mountain hamlet will say that far from being an appendage to Silver City, Pinos Altos is a distinctive community in its own right. Looking down on the larger city from an altitude of 7,040 feet, it is ten degrees cooler in the summer and ten degrees brisker in the winter.

Autumn slips across the desert quietly. Although nights grow chill, summer’s heat lingers in the afternoons, and the greenery brought on by summer rains simply fades to dusty olive, bleached straw, and weathered brown. As the soil dries out, mesquites, desert willows, and ocotillo drop their leaves without any fanfare. But here and there where water flows – a spring, stream, an irrigation ditch, or a river – autumn shows in the rich yellows and golds of cottonwood trees.

“The Santa Rita is, perhaps, the most famous mine in Western America, for it was here that the techniques of copper mining were first developed in the Southwest.” So wrote Carey McWilliams in his 1949 book, North From Mexico.

Tucked against rolling mountain foothills at 5,920 feet, Silver City’s mild climate, Victorian charm, friendly people and proximity to the Gila Wilderness have for decades attracted adventurers and people seeking a healthy, low-key lifestyle. Longtime mining and ranching influences commingle with such growing segments as retirees, entrepreneurs, artists and naturalists.

I had flown into Albuquerque, rented a vehicle and driven down to Carrizozo through Sorroco and across the Stallion Station. Severe thunderstorms had moved through the area that day, providing some incredible sights of distant cloud formations with rain shafts and lightning displays. As I drove across Stallion Station, an oryx stood by the fence chewing his cud, a sight that made me do a double take as I had only seen one in a zoo before and had no idea such a critter existed in this country otherwise. I commented to myself that after having read about the Trinity Site bomb test, it was probably just a radioactive mutated range cow deceiving my eyes.

If Grant County is the heart of New Mexico’s metal mining industry, then the Central Mining District is the soul. Bayard, Hurley, and Santa Clara, with a total population of 6300, are the population centers in the District.

Santa Clara, formerly called Central, is nine miles east of Silver City on US 180. The oldest village in the District, its history is closely tied to Fort Bayard. Soldiers from the fort found their recreation in Santa Clara. At one time, some forty working mines in the area produced gold and silver.

By It has been written that behind every great personal fortune lies a crime, and there is probably no better illustration of that adage than the cattle empires of the Old West. New Mexico’s territorial days offer a number of such illustrations, but perhaps none better than the story of the Lyons and Campbell Ranch and Cattle Company of the Gila River country and beyond.

Angus Campbell, a Scotsman, came to New Mexico from California after gold-rushing with his parents. He discovered what became the Gosette Mine on Lone Mountain in the late 1870s, established a foundry in Silver City, and went into business with Thomas Lyons, an Englishman who had recently arrived in the Territory from Wisconsin. The partnership prospered, but the two decided that the future was in cattle and in 1880 sold their mine and foundry and began to acquire land and cattle. The “LC,” as the company was popularly known, began its climb from modest ranch to cattle empire, and its holdings at the turn of the century stretched from Silver City west to Arizona and from Mule Creek south to Animas – more, it was said, than five hundred thousand acres.

It’s no secret why we call New Mexico the Land of Enchantment. Our state possesses some of the nation’s most beautiful natural wonders, including Carlsbad Caverns, Taos’ Moreno Valley and White Sands National Monument.

Having grown up in Silver City at the doorstep of the Gila National Forest, I have always felt very lucky to have come from such a special place. During my time as a Senator, I’ve worked to help promote New Mexico and its splendor as a tourist destination – because it’s important to our people, our economy and also our sense of pride in our home state.

The North Star Road (Forest Route 150 on the Gila National Forest map), an unpaved road connecting New Mexico’s Mimbres Valley with Wall Lake, has an undeserved bad reputation. On checking with the Mimbres Ranger Station, I was cautioned to use a high clearance vehicle. I have driven the entire route several times, only once with a high clearance vehicle. I cross-examined the Forest Service person about creek crossings and they all seemed to be fine, so I gassed up my Subaru wagon. We loaded it with a picnic supper and took off

For attractive, comfortable, and convenient lodgings in Silver City, no place surpasses the Palace Hotel. The hotel’s charm combines old world elegance with down home Western comfort. Situated on the corner of Broadway and Bullard Streets, the heart of downtown Silver City’s historic district, the Palace Hotel is within walking distance to shops, galleries, and restaurants.

Certain stories are so evocative of time and place, they enter a zone of both fiction and common knowledge. The story of the Johnson Massacre is such a story. It has been retold in books and magazines claiming to report real life in early New Mexico. The story has been borrowed by the movies, for its dramatic qualities give themselves to the medium of film. Let me tell you the legend, and the real incident which gave rise to it.

Victorio’s Mimbres Apaches were concentrated family units which had once populated the Mimbres and Gila Rivers, and Mogollon Mountains. Through attrition from contact with encroaching Spanish, Mexican, and American settlers, their numbers dwindled, and in 1870 the Mimbres Apaches were given a small reservation, Ojo Caliente or Warm Springs, northwest of present Truth or Consequences.

For More Information: Glenwood Area Chamber of Commerce
P.O. Box 183
Glenwood, NM 88039
(505) 539-2711
Fax: (505) 539-2722
Chamber@GlenwoodNewMexico.com
GlenwoodNewMexico.com
Silver City/Grant County
Chamber of Commerce
201 N. Hudson
Silver City, NM 88061
(505) 538-3785
(800) 548-9378
scgcchamber@cybermesa.com
silvercity.org

Silver City/Grant County
Economic Development Corporation
P.O. Box 2672
Silver City, NM 88062
505-538-6320
FAX: 505-538-6341
sbdc@silver.wnmu.edu
www.silvercity-business.com

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The Pinos
Altos Museum
Photo by Bob Wilson

Pinos Altos (Tall Pines) is located about six miles north of Silver City on NM Highway 15. The townsite is located along the Continental Divide at an elevation of 7,067 feet at the southern end of the Pinos Altos Mountains. Pinos Altos is a very old mining town; it was Grant County’s first county seat.

Gold was first discovered by the Spanish and Mexican miners. The Americans discovered gold in 1859/60. Hank Smith, a German immigrant, described how a placer deposit was found on Bear Creek in 1859, and other prospectors of the Col. Snively party talk of the big find on Bear Creek in 1860 and the naming of Birchville, Pinos Altos’ first name, after the prospector who found the first "color."

Pinos Altos’ history includes a short time under the flag of the Confederacy when the Confederate States of America invaded the Union Territory of New Mexico. The Confederate legacy was a brief period from February, 1861 until June of 1862. The Southerners were defeated at the Battle of Glorieta Pass east of Santa Fe in March of 1862. The Confederate soldiers were routed back to El Paso by the Union forces from Colorado.

The miners and the mining camp at Pinos Altos were under constant threat from the Apaches and an occasional band of Navajos. The miners and the Indians were not good neighbors. In the spring of 1860 Chief Mangas Coloradas was invited for a "friendly" visit to the Pinos Altos mining camp. The treacherous miners tied him to a tree and lashed him unmercifully with their bullwhips. When the chief recovered from his wounds he enlisted his son-in-law’s help. His son-in-law was Chief Cochise, and revenge was an important factor in Chiricahua Apache warfare.

Main Street in
Pinos Altos
Photo by Carla DeMarco

Captain Thomas Marston of the Arizona Scouts led a company of volunteers in defense of Pinos Altos in the revengeful Apache War of September 27, 1861. Captain Marston and many others on both sides died in this battle. The combined forces of the Apaches some 400 strong under the leadership of Cochise and Mangas Coloradas convinced most of the miners that gold was not worth living in fear of the Apaches, and Birchville was nearly abandoned.

The California Volunteers of the Union forces known as the "California Column," under the command of Brigadier General James H. Carleton arrived in June 1862. Upon arriving General Carleton learned that Pinos Altos was under siege and surrounded by Apaches, being slowly starved out. He immediately sent two wagon loads of provisions with soldiers to relieve the beleaguered town. Realizing the importance of the mines at Pinos Altos, General Carleton ordered General Joseph West to establish a military fort near the Gila River. Fort West was established on January 24, 1863 (about two miles south of Cliff) with four companies of troops to protect Pinos Altos from hostile Indians.

Before Captain Thomas Marston’s death he had sold his share of the Pacific Mine to his brother Virgil in the spring of 1861. Virgil never left Pinos Altos with the other miners; he continued mining and developed the Pacific lode. In 1866, he charted the Pinos Altos Mining Company under the laws of the Territory of New Mexico. A stamp mill of 15 stamps, each weighing 700 pounds, were hauled by ox-drawn wagons from St. Louis, Missouri, and erected on site by the company. The Pacific lode crosses the Continental Divide and is rich in silver, gold, lead, zinc and copper. The Pacific Mine alone produced over a million dollars in copper and gold. Sometime after the miners left in 1861 and returned in 1866 the town was renamed Pinos Altos, the original Mexican village name. After the Legal Tender silver mine in San Vincente de La Cienaga was discovered in 1870 Pinos Altos soon lost the county seat to the town renamed Silver City.

The mines at Pinos Altos and the smelter at Silver City, which had belonged to the estate of Senator Hearst, were sold to the Comanche Mining and Smelting Company in 1903. In 1905 it was announced that the company would build a railroad between their smelter in Silver City and the mines in Pinos Altos. A 24 inch narrow-gauge Shay locomotive railroad (about two-thirds of the normal width of a narrow gauge) was completed in April of 1906 between Silver City and Pinos Altos a rail distance of 12 miles. The rail operated only for a short time; the company went bankrupt in the fall of 1907.

Present Day Pinos Altos

The present day Pinos Altos includes an adobe Methodist-Episcopal church built with Hearst money in 1898 and now houses the Grant County Art Guild. One of the many interesting things that you can find there is the funeral hearse of Pat Garrett, a famous western lawman, who killed the outlaw "Billy the Kid."

Pinos Altos
Opera House
Photo by Bob Wilson

The Opera House captures the flavor of the Old West. It is an excellent replica of an Old West Victorian frontier theater. It was built in 1969 of salvaged old buildings and fixtures. Inside are displays of Old West photos and artifacts. Year round, Sean O’Hare & Jillian Graves hysterically present an Old West melodrama every Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m.. A show worth seeing!

The Buckhorn Saloon is located just east of the Opera House on Main Street and is an refurbished authentic building from the 1860s. The inside is decorated "tastefully" with bar room paintings, mannequin representing ‘ladies of the night’ and "Regular" Joe, a mannequin bar patron. There are also many artifacts and early photos of the area. Excellent food is served in the dining room as well.

The Pinos Altos Museum, an old family log cabin built around 1866 with later add-ons, was Grant Counties first school house. Mrs. George Schafer and her son, Bob, run a very interesting museum of old mining artifacts and a gift shop. It is open seven days a week year round. The museum is located on Main Street across from the Buckhorn Saloon.

The McDonald Cabin was built about 1851 before the gold discoveries of 1859/1860. It is probably the oldest cabin in Grant County and is located on Spring Street directly behind the opera house.

Santa Rita del Cobre Fort and Trading Post Photo by Carla DeMarco

The Santa Rita del Cobre Fort and Trading Post is a 3/4 scale of the original fort built at the Santa Rita copper mines in 1804 by the Spanish to protect the miners from Apache attacks. Inside the fort and trading post are many interesting mining and other artifacts of the era along with a replica of an old miner’s cave. The actual fort at Santa Rita was renamed Fort Webster in 1851 by the American Army.

The Bear Creek Motel and Cabins are located at the intersection of Main Street and State Highway 15. The cabins are very rustic and shaded by tall pines, with a very serene ambiance.

The old Judge Roy Bean general store site was located next to the present day Post Office. The Judge’s store was built in the early 1860s during the gold rush and was run by Roy and his brother Samuel. Trappers Cafe is now located on the site.

The site of the first Grant County Seat and Court House of 1871 is located east of Bear Creek on Main Street. The "hanging" tree in front of the old Court House is said to have brought Western justice during troubled times in Pinos Altos.

Bear Creek Cabins Photo by Carla DeMarco

The Pinos Altos cemetery, just north of Saint Alexis Catholic Church, dedicated on July 17, 1888, is where Captain Marston and his brother Virgil are buried next to each other. The miners erected the cross on Cross Mountain north of town after an agreement with the Indians – no more killings as long as the cross remained.

The Continental Divide RV Park is located across from the Gold Rush Cafe and offers many spaces.

The Gold Rush Cafe is the site of an earlier Post Office and a place to get a good meal for a good price. It is located on the way into or out of town depending on which way you are going.

The present day Pinos Altos Post Office and Ice Cream Parlor was built as the Norton Store around 1890. The Norton Store was built on the site of a two-storied log structure known as the Occidental Hotel. When Gary MacGrumbley became the proprietor of the Ice Cream Parlor and postmaster of Pinos Altos a few years back, his true forte came to the forefront. He enjoys customer relations to the utmost. He asks everyone from out of town the where, what, when, and how they are doing. Not to be nosy, but to be helpful with local sites to see and things to do.

Plan a trip to the mountains to visit Pinos Altos. Enjoy a trip back in time when life was simpler and friendlier. While you are there, enjoy a piece of homemade fudge and the best coffee either side of the Continental Divide at Gary Mac’s Ice Cream Parlor, or belly up to the bar at the Buckhorn Saloon. Explore the Pinos Altos Museum, Santa Rita del Cobre Fort and Trading Post, and other sites. Have a great time in Pinos Altos!

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The Kneeling Nun monolith. Photo by Dianna Dobbs

"What would you, holy maiden
Of that rock face, cold and grim?
Were you seeking for a loved one
When you knelt in prayer to Him?"

These first lines, from an early 1900s poem entitled "The Kneeling Nun," were written by Lou Curtis Foster, the niece of a Silver City Judge. The pathos of the words beautifully expresses the feelings of wonder that Santa Rita’s famous volcanic monolith inspires in all but the most insensitive of souls.

For who has not heard of the Spanish legend of the fair nun, Teresa of the Mission of the Knights of the Holy Grail, who shared a forbidden love with a handsome soldier and was turned to stone for abandoning her vows?

A few years before Foster’s written thoughts about Sister Teresa were put to paper, a long-time patient at the U.S. General Hospital at Fort Bayard penned another poem about her. He wrote it in story form, calling it "Legend of the Kneeling Nun." From his bed he was no doubt influenced by a daily view of her. His narrative concludes with a graphic description of the young woman’s eternal fate:

"So in the desert country through all the length of days,
Kneeling before her altar, for the erring souls she prays;
And oft’ when the storm is raging they hear her piteous cry;
"Oh Madre de Dios! Thy mercy on such as I!"

(A slightly mysterious footnote to its history has followed this particular tale. At various times it was attributed to "author unknown," Walter Sellers, and Edwin Foote Sellers.)

Quite different, and lesser known apparently, is an earlier account of the tragic maiden. In this version, written in 1899 by Harry Burgess, she was known to natives as Sister Rita.

Simply called "The Kneeling Nun," this saga by Harry Burgess tells how Rita and a young monastic fall deeply in love. Finally, unable to contain themselves, they are found in one anothers’ arms in the convent garden by the stern Abbess. Rita’s lover flees, and she, unrepentant, is put in the dungeon, under sentence of death. Before the awful deed can be carried out, however:

"Lurid gleams the vivid lightning,
Deafening are the thunder crashes,
And the earth, with fitful shuddering,
Heaves and groans with fiery mouthing,
As the earthquake works its ruin . . . "

The convent falls into a "yawning chasm" during the quake, but a miracle saves the young nun from being crushed in her dark cell. Her lover finds her on the nearby mountain and begs her to leave the place of terror with him.

But Rita, truly contrite now, is asking God’s pardon for the sin of broken vows. She begs Him for the strength to stand against all entreaties so she will be "firm and staunch as rock unyielding."

When her lover tries to lift her from the ground where she is kneeling in prayer, she turns to stone. He cries in anguish, falling backwards. His body hurtles downwards and dashes lifeless on the bottom! The poet who wrote this legend ends it by pronouncing:

"Still the nun bends o’er her penance,
Kneeling onward through the ages,
Making endless reparation."

Throughout the ages, these and other Spanish legends centering around the convent nun have grown and been passed down from generation to generation, likely beginning around 1800.

Apache Indians surely had legends of their own, Spanish explorers are said to have "noted" about that time. They refused to camp in the vicinity of the rock formation that uncannily resembled a veiled woman "despite the excellent vantage point into the valley below."

Though no Apache stories of the Kneeling Nun seem to exist today, there are two centuries of speculation surrounding an Indian prophecy regarding a sacred messenger who would appear in the form of a female spirit. For reasons lost in the shadows of long-ago events, the Spaniards linked this prophecy with "Cibola."

Cibola, in Spanish, means female buffalo. At one time explorers called the Kneeling Nun by that name. They thought the fabled Seven Cities of Cibola lay somewhere in the region in caves, probably buried during an earthquake (such as the one in the Sister Rita story, and other documented quakes that shook Southern New Mexico in 1885 and 1887).

Perhaps they believed this because in "New Spain" (Mexico), a story was being told by natives there of groups of ancient towns with many people and great wealth, to the north (the Mimbrenos?).

The Spanish journeyed to Santa Rita looking for Cibola, the City of Gold, and instead discovered rich deposits of copper, thanks to a friendly Apache chief who showed them where his people had been mining the shiny metal for untold years. The result was the Santa Rita del Cobre . . . and the beginning of the Kneeling Nun legends . . . legends that will likely persist, as long as she continues to grace the landscape above this Southwest New Mexico community.

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Fierro Cemetery Photo by Frank Ramirez

Records indicate that mining began in Fierro around 1841. While working in a Mexican mint, a German immigrant noticed the high quality of copper coming from up north, and he went to check it. Attracted by the rich deposits of copper and iron, he started to mine on a mountain a few miles north of the Santa Rita mine. He named it Hanover mountain, after his home in Germany. There was enough copper to warrant a Confederate raid on the mine site during the War between the States. But there were natural limitations on the amount of ore that could be mined, war or not. The problem was getting the raw ore to a place of refining. At the time the closest spot was in Colorado.

For most of the nineteenth century Fierro could be described as a typical mining camp. In his book, "Black Range Tales," McKenna tells about stopping off at a saloon in Fierro for a drink. He also describes the method of incarceration used in mining towns, including Fierro. A big log was imbedded into the ground, with about eight feet exposed. The unlucky culprit who disturbed the peace was tied to the log until he sobered up or quieted down. Sometimes this could be overnight.

Late in the nineteenth century the railroad was extended to Silver City, and to the copper mines in Santa Rita. Now the ore had only to be carted a short distance. Around the turn of the century the railroad was extended to Fierro, and mining now experienced a tremendous growth. What the mines needed now was a source of cheap labor, and fortunately for them, this was close at hand.

Since gaining independence from Spain, Mexico had been experiencing severe civil unrest. An easy way for people to escape the suffering was to head north, where they knew that work was plentiful. And north they went. The Old World met the New World as many Mexicans joined the German enterprise and wound up in the iron mines of this small mining camp northeast of Silver City. They called it El Fierro, the Spanish word for iron. Fierro now grew from mining camp to mining town. Men with names like Niffen, Peoples, and North worked with newcomers with names like Arellanes, Loera, and Maldonado. Holidays like the Fourth of July and the Sixteenth of September were celebrated with equal gusto.

The Mexican population lived differently from the mining company staff. For instance, the latter had running water, flush toilets, and a golf course. But the memories many of us have are not of deprivation or prejudice, but the excitement of growing up in the midst of a boom town.

The Great Depression was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Mining operations ceased in 1931, and were to remain dormant for many years, long enough for the town to die. All businesses, with the exception of a couple of grocery stores, were closed, and people started moving out. Fierro still existed during World War II, as many of its native sons went off to war. But time seemed to pass Fierro by, and there are now only a few hardy citizens living there.

St. Anthony’s Church. Photo by Frank Ramirez

But the past is still there, located in the ruins of buildings. Most of the streets are now overgrown with brush and trees. Both the church and, ironically, the cemetery, are vital and alive. Masses are offered at St. Anthony’s every other week, and the feast of St. Anthony in June is a homecoming of sorts, as hundreds return to worship. The cemetery has also become a focal point for those who love Fierro. Many tombstones, long neglected, have been redecorated. The past can be read there as well. In one place four young men lie side by side; they died in a "short fuse" mine accident. There are other tombstones which tell of those who went to war and never returned, or who took sick and died unexpectedly.

And just as Fierro was once a place where the Old World met the New, now it is a place where the Past meets the Future. Fierro is in the news again. After the mines closed and the people moved away, one mine – the Continental Mine – continued to work periodically. A few years ago the current operators, Cobre Mining Company, announced an extensive expansion plan that would have made the old-timers’ eyes bug out. The Continental Mine was by now a large open pit. The cone-shaped Hanover Mountain at the north end of town was slated to be carved out, to become an open pit as well. Various other operations would be carried out in the townsite. The old way of life seemed to be returning.

But there was a great difference between one century and the other. Environmental legislation enacted since the days of the old mining operations required that the environmental impact of the mine be studied. The company had requirements to meet.

In addition, many former residents moved back into the area as they retired, and their children and their children’s children took an interest in the place where their ancestors had come from. They became very concerned about the fate of the two important landmarks within the town, St. Anthony’s, and the cemetery.

As a result the company has promised that neither of these two places will be disturbed. Local city governments have come out in favor of the proposed mining operations. It appears that everything will be settled to everybody’s satisfaction, and the proposed operations will become a reality. Economically, everyone should benefit.

In addition, the Fierro of memory has come alive again as well, and the interest of those who have come from what is now a ghost town will ensure that its memory will live on, both on the page and in the hearts who have come from there.

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"The months ahead are filled with exciting events in the Silver City area," according to Camille Clark, the new director for the Silver City Grant County Chamber of Commerce. The Silver City calendar is peppered with exciting events that really capture the romance of this southwestern town.

In March, Showcase 2002 will be held Easter Weekend the 29th-31st in the WNMU intramural gymnasium. Come and see all that Silver City and Grant County has to offer! Great food, entertainment and a chance to see the finest businesses, products and services from the area. Booth space is still available for organizations that are interested in participating. Call the Chamber for details (505) 538-3785.

April 28th The Gila Monster Inner Loop Ride kicks off the bike racing season. There will be multiple races of various lengths. But the Monster is a 107 mile race that is fully supported with multiple food and drink stations. The bulk of the 500 to 3000 participants are expected to be amateurs of all ages. This "fun ride" is a fundraiser for future cycling education and safety events, as well as a mentoring program that gives bikes to at-risk kids. For more information contact Jamie Thompson (505)538-6635.

May is definitely the month to be in Silver City for three key events: the Tour of the Gila, the Silver City Blues Festival, and the Wild, Wild West Pro Rodeo.

May 1-5 is New Mexico’s premier road race the Tour of the Gila. As a race placed on the national calendar by USA Cycling, the Tour of the Gila draws professional cyclists from across the globe. The Gila is one of the Nation’s only five (5) day races. Its difficultly and duration make it a challenge for the sport’s top athletes. For more information (as it becomes available) check out: http://www.tourofthegila.com.

Mark your calendars for Silver City Annual Blues Fest May 24-26. Set on the edge of the Gila National Wilderness this event drew thousands to enjoy blues in Southwest New Mexico. So make plans to sit, relax and enjoy the cool sound of blues on a warm spring weekend. Look here for more info: http://www.mrac.cc/bluesfest/home.htm.

The Wild, Wild West Pro Rodeo will be May 29- June 1. A parade, golf tournament, Cowboy Breakfast and other kickoff events set the stage for some of the Nation’s hotest rodeo competitors to enter the arena. Rodeo events will include Bull and Bronco Riding and other Roughstock Tying events and for the ladies, Barrel Racing and Breakaway roping.

June 13-18, Silver City will be kicking off a truly captivating event, the Air Race Classic 2002, Wings Across America. This all women’s air race will cover ten states and 2,166 miles. The 26th annual Air Race Classic will start in Silver City, New Mexico (June 18) and finish in Chesapeake/Portsmouth, Virginia (June 21). It is the the longest all-woman race in the world. Racers run the gamut of age and experience from students to professionals, astronauts to homemakers. To learn more see http://www.ninety-nines.org/arc.html. Contact the Chamber for details about the Kick Off.

Of course in July, Independence Day festivities are the highlight. Silver City recreates the tradition, charm, pride and patriotism of "old-Time" small town July Fourth celebrations, complete with Parade, Ice Cream Social, Bands, and Fireworks, of course.

One final note for Silver City offerings, the Chamber of Commerce is now holding monthly luncheons for members and future members. Special presentations by experts will be the highlight of the events. As always, there will be opportunities to network with other Chamber members. February’s luncheon will be held Noon on the 27th at Red Barn Family Steakhouse. Arnold Cordova, of The Association of Commerce and Industry, will be giving details on the 2002 New Mexico Legislative Session, which will have just ended.

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Grant County Beef Country Sign. Photo by Carla DeMarco

Drive any of the three main approaches to Silver City and a moment comes when your eye is arrested by a homely, hand-painted billboard showing dozens of cattle brands grouped around the silhouette of a cow. It doesn’t take higher math to put two and two together:  A lot of Grant County’s residents and acreage are in the cattle business.

All of the brands pictured have current registration, or did when the billboards went up about ten years ago. Pick any brand and chances are, right now it’s moving through the greasewood on the warm hide of some foraging ungulate.

Plain or fancy, cattle brands provoke curiosity. Those versed in reading brands have a leg up.

Take the brand, for example. Since brands are read either left-to-right or, in this case, top-down, a cowboy might guess that a hat combined with the letter E suggests a woman named Hattie. Indeed, it was registered in 1903 to Hattie Shelley and handed down until today great-grandson Jerrell Shelley uses it on the original ranch near Cliff.

A brand can be as simple and as enigmatic as an Indian petroglyph. The brand, (read:  rafter diamond), of unknown origin, is now held by the McCauley family, south of Silver City. Less mysterious is the hourglass brand (of the Hourglass Ranch on the Mimbres River) registered in 1918 by a partner in the Gruen Watch Company, presumably to remind him of his grubstake. Nowadays it serves great-grandson Kevin Giraud.

Cattle crossing a Grant County road. Photo by Carla DeMarco.

At least one brand now in Grant County carries the cachet of legend. Harlie Cox of Faywood inherited (and still uses) the XIT brand, once the emblem of the granddaddy of all Texas ranches. Comprising the northernmost ten counties of the Texas panhandle, or somewhere around three million acres, the ranch was enclosed by 1,500 miles of fence. The brand had ideal attributes for its day:  It could be stamped with a simple iron bar; it was difficult to alter; and it stood for something most people could remember – ten counties in Texas.

A cattle brand protects a marketable product and should not be mistaken for a family crest or coat of arms. To be sure, considerable pride and sentiment may attach to an old brand. But talk to a few ranchers and you’ll begin thinking of a brand as a business logo or trademark rather than a shield to die on. Ranchers tend to be businessmen first, knights second.

And yet romance permeates the humble cattle brand, as it does the West itself. You have to root for a family that puts their in their brand. And there’s something awesome about any brand that ruled 3 million acres – even if it was in Texas.

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Today Cathy McCarty, the mother of Billy the Kid, rests in a cemetery off Highway 180 leading into Silver City.

In 1873, Silver City resident Louis Abraham, a boyhood friend of Henry McCarty as he was known then, described her as a "jolly Irish lady, full of fun and mischief." But for being the mother of Billy the Kid, history would probably never know the name of Catherine McCarty. One hundred and twenty-five years later, history still knows precious little about her.

What we know of her today comes mainly from interviews with many of her friends and aquaintances in Silver City, New Mexico, where she lived for two years until her death in 1874. Those who visited her household often speak of the hospitality they received and the good home she made for her family.

Her world revolved around her two young sons, Joseph and Henry, and on her deathbed, she confided to Clara Truesdale, who nursed her, that she was worried about leaving them in a "wild country." If Catherine McCarty-Antrim had lived beyond her 45 years, history might have changed that day and the world would never have heard the name of Billy the Kid.

She who gave birth to the Southwest’s most celebrated outlaw was herself born in Ireland around 1829. Her surname, parents and siblings, if any, are a complete mystery and may never be known. During the Irish potato famine of 1845, Catherine emigrated to New York City at the tender age of seventeen. A Catherine McCarty is listed on board the passenger ship Devonshire as it departed Liverpool, arriving on American shores April 10, 1846. After her arrival, Catherine found herself all alone in a city overflowing with other immigrants from all over the world, seeking as she did, a better life for themselves. It must have been a terrifying experience for her as she made her way through the streets and back alleys, constantly aware of the numerous thugs loitering in the shadows.

For the next several years, Catherine’s life and whereabouts are in dispute. We know she gave birth to two sons, Joseph and Henry, AKA Billy the kid, probably in New York. Joseph, the older brother, was born in 1854, and died in Colorado on November 25, 1930, at the age of seventy-six. Young Henry, it is thought, was born in 1859. But other questions arise: Who was their father? Did they have different fathers, and if so, what were their names?

A number of western historians such as the late Philip J. Rasch and others have endevoured to solve these mysteries of the McCarty genealogy but with only limited success. The sheer number of Catherine McCarty’s listed in the federal census for New York in 1850 makes it virtually impossible to distinguish her from the rest. As noted Lincoln County War historian Frederick Nolan has speculated in his Documentary History, Catherine may well have been a "fallen girl," forced to live a life on the streets of New York with two illegitimate children. Sometime after her arrival in New York, Catherine learned she had contracted tuberculosis, or "galloping consumption," as it was called in her day.

On the advise of doctors, she moved her family west, taking up residence in southern Indiana around 1866. It was here she would meet William Henry Harrison Antrim, her future husband. Antrim was a veteran of the Union Army and had served with Company "I" of the 54th Regiment of the Indiana Volunteer Infantry as a private until receiving an honorable discharge from service in September 1863. Three years later in 1869, the McCarty family again pulled up their stakes and with help from Mr. Antrim moved to Wichita, Kansas, where Catherine would open and operate a hand laundry service. Antrim, whose property adjoined the McCarty’s, turned to farming, carpentry, and tending bar part-time in the local saloons.

Once again, Catherine’s health began failing her and friends urged her to seek a more arid, dryer climate. With his fortunes fading in Kansas, Antrim had become afflicted with gold fever and informed neighbor Catherine of his plans to journey west to Denver Colorado, to try his luck at prospecting; she agreed to accompany him. Then, with nothing to show for his efforts in Denver, Antrim brought Catherine and her two sons to Santa Fe in New Mexico Territory, where they stayed with his sister Mary Antrim Hollinger. Up until now, Catherine’s relationship with William Antrim seemed cordial enough to allow her to join him in his travels. They had come to know each other well for the last several years, and on March 1, 1873, they were married at the First Presbyterian Church in Santa Fe. The service was ministered by Rev. David F. McFarland and witnessed by a Mr. Harvey Edmonds, Mrs. A.R. McFarland, her daughter Katie, and by Catherine’s two sons Joseph and Henry.

Almost immediately after their wedding, Antrim’s ears were filled with rumors of rich silver strikes in the small mining town of Silver City in Southwestern New Mexico, and he quickly moved his new family there. In William Antrim’s mind, it was all finally coming together for him. He was now living in a log cabin with a new wife and two new stepsons, surrounded near and far by mines with the potential to make a man rich. Catherine spent much of her time making a home for her sons and cooking pies and other assortments which she sold easily to the local citizenry. Years later, boyhood friends of Henry and Joseph would rave about "what a good cook Mrs. Bill Antrim was." Catherine loved kids, and after school all the neighborhood boys raced for the Antrim cabin where she would greet them with a smile and freshly baked cookies. Although the Antrim household was a happy one, it was far from a prosperous, as husband William was away most of the time in the mines. For badly needed extra money, Catherine took in boarders from time to time. In 1874, Ash Upson, the newspaperman who would later help Pat Garrett write The Authentic Life of Billy the Kid, and who later claimed to have written every word, boarded with the Antrim family. Upson wrote of her as, "about medium in height, straight, and graceful in form, with regular features, light blue eyes, and luxuriant golden hair. She was not what the world calls a beauty, but a fine looking woman. A lady by instinct and education."

For a time, Catherine’s health seemed to be on the mend. With an energy unknown to her for some years, she and son Henry joined in the fun at the town bailes (dances) held every week. Louis Abraham remarked that "Mrs. Antrim could dance the Highland Fling as well as the best of the dancers." But during the spring of that year, Catherine was again feeling weak. After treatments of warm sulphur water baths failed to restore her health, Catherine was confined to her bed for the next four months.

As she lay in bed gasping for breath and coughing up crimson, Catherine realized she was dying. With her husband gone, her only concern was for the well-being of her two boys. As a last request she asked Clara Truesdale, her nurse, to look after them. Shortly afterwards, on September 16, 1874, Catherine McCarty-Antrim closed her eyes for the last time. She was only 45 years old. Three days later her obituary appeared in the town newspaper, The Silver City Mining Life:

"Died in Silver City on Wednesday, the 16th, Catherine, wife of William Antrim, aged 45 years. Mrs. Antrim with her husband and family came to Silver City about one year and a half ago, since which time her health has not been good, having suffered from an affection of the lungs, and for the last four months she has been confined to her bed. The funeral occurred from the family residence on Main Street at 2 o’clock on Thursday."

Today the mother of Billy the Kid rests peacefully in a cemetery off Highway 180 leading into Silver City, New Mexico. Her marker, although misspelled, reads simply:

In Memory of Mrs. Kathrine Antrim

1829-1874

"The Mother of Billy the Kid"

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View from Alma Photo by Phyllis Eileen Banks

Alma, five miles north of Glenwood on U.S. 180, was a hideout for Butch Cassidy and his gang. when they worked for the W-S Ranch in the 1890s. It is said the gang members were good workers, and Cassidy was even offered a permanent job there. A post office existed from 1882 to 1896, then again from 1900 to1931. Mail now goes to Glenwood.

Only a few families reside in this once prosperous supply town for nearby ranches and mining camps. Capt. J. G. Birney purchased the townsite from W. H. McCullough in the late 1800s. Originally named Mogollon, Birney changed the name to Alma. Some said he named it for his mother, others for his wife and still others for the Latin alma meaning "nourishment" because that is what the town provided for the valley.

Bill Rakocy in his book, Mogollon Diary No. 2, quotes from 1899 writings by M. H. Brothers and Homer Hirsch: "The giant oak that stands on the outskirts of this ghost town once sheltered a blacksmith shop where Uncle Dad Russel and Uncle Billy Antrim (stepfather of Billy the Kid) kept freight wagons rolling and they shod horses for many men."

Just northeast of Alma is a small graveyard of some half-dozen mounds, perhaps graves of unknown men. Alma was a place where bullets popped often with resulting deaths of both the good and the bad.

The W-S Ranch, standing for partners Wilson and Stevens, surrounded Alma. Montague Stevens, visiting from England, decided he wanted to help hunt for Geronimo. The land around the Mogollon range fascinated him, and he started a cattle ranch there with Harold Wilson. Stevens was on the final expedition to Mexico to find Geronimo. He wrote with admiration of the chief who had eluded some 8,000 U.S. soldiers for eight years.

The rise and fall of many towns in New Mexico still have a remnant that provides community. The Red Hen Café in Alma is such a place. "Stop for a break and a hug," invites you in. It’s a welcoming place, and the locals around the woodburning stove are friendly. These are the basic tenets that bring people to a place and keep them there, adding to the history and folklore of a town that was once large and prospering.

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Glenwood, New Mexico Photo by Carla DeMarco

From 1747 when Spanish explorers discovered Indians farming in the verdant valley until today, visitors have enjoyed the quiet beauty of the San Francisco River country. Glenwood with its quaint shops, motels, and restaurants, is the center of this valley in West Central New Mexico.

The village of 300 people is 65 miles northwest of Silver City on US 180, and is 39 miles south of Reserve. The first house was built there in 1878 when this spot was called the Bush Ranch. Later, it was named White Water for the creek that runs through it. As a stage stop, it was called Glenwood Springs. The name of Glenwood was bestowed in 1901.

New Mexico’s first powered airplane flight took place in 1909 near Glenwood. The owner of the stage stop built a plane which landed on what is now called Whitewater Mesa.

At 4,700 feet, Glenwood looks up to the Mogollon Mountains to the east. Mining in the mountains has always affected Glenwood. One of the biggest tourist attractions today is the Catwalk in beautiful Whitewater Canyon. A mere five paved miles from the village, this historic remnant of the short-lived mining town of Graham records 29,000 visitors a year, either using the trail or the picnic area at the mouth of the canyon.

Cooney’s Tomb is also visited by the curious, who drive seven miles north of Glenwood to the southern outskirts of Alma, turn right on a dirt road and five miles later see a huge boulder smack-dab beside the road. Inside is sealed the body of James C. Cooney who discovered gold ore in the Mogollons in the 1870’s, and was killed on this spot in 1880 by Apaches.

In the mountains, about 15 miles from Glenwood, is the old mining town of Mogollon. From here, roads lead into the heart of the Gila National Forest.

Glenwood has been called a sportsman’s paradise. The Glenwood State Trout Hatchery is located a short distance from the center of the village. Picnic tables and an obliging staff make this an interesting stop for children. Birders should be on the watch for great blue heron. Also in the area are Rocky Mountain big horn sheep, mule deer, and elk.

At the end of a day in the pristine outdoors, birders, hunters, fishermen, hikers, and just plain sightseers can relax and enjoy food and lodging in Glenwood’s welcoming motels and restaurants.

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