Part 6

Messrs. Birch, Snively and Hicks would not recognize the valley if they could come back one hundred years later. Gone are the tall pines that gave the place its name; gone for the greater part of the year are the streams where they placered for gold; gone are burros that carried their tools and supplies; gone is the excitement of a rich find and gone, too, are the hundreds of placer miners who followed them seeking “El Dorado”.

Today there are approximately fifty families and a few lone individuals living in the camp, many of whom are descendants of “old timers”. They refuse to admit that they live in a “ghost town.” They think they are very up-to-date because they use and enjoy modern conveniences. Instead of smoke rising into the sky there are TV antennas bristling over the homes. No longer do they buy wood by the burro load and hire Jose Maria Romero, invariably with a gunny sack over his shoulder, to cut it into stove lengths. Now they heat and cook with butane or electricity which comes from Silver City. No longer do they fill lamps and polish chimneys but light their homes with the flick of a switch. No longer do they draw water with an old oaken bucket, now just a museum piece, from a well, but thanks to electric pumps, they have only to turn a tap. If children but knew what they had missed, how thankful they would be, with no wood box to keep filled, no bringing in of chips and water for household needs. No longer do the women bend over a wash tub, scrubbing out grime and grease on a wash board. It is only a fifteen minute drive to a laundromat. Cars, trucks, and “jeeps” have taken the places of horses, mules and burros for transportation needs and pleasures. No more do they send first-of-the-month orders to the company store and have them delivered. Now, finding themselves short of margarine, or bread, or wanting a frozen vegetable, they take the Ford or Chevrolet and drive to a supermarket. Who plays baseball now or spend an evening around the old piano singing old familiar songs when one can watch sports events on TV, or listen to the radio? No longer do the men gather around the pot-bellied stove in the store or sit on the long benches outside, settling the affairs of the world. A favorite commentator or the pictures in Life keep them informed, and with so many smart men in Santa Fe and Washington, why should they worry? No longer do the workmen trudge up and over the hills to the mines and return from their shifts in single file, whistling and singing down the trail to their homes. If they worried about the meager wages of former days, it was not apparent. Now they ride in cars and trucks to their work in Silver City, Hurley and Santa Rita, often “cussing” their employers or the union, depending on their status in the industrial field. Housewives say the only convenience they lack is an electric dishwasher—and “who wouldn’t rather buy than be one?” The most common complaint is insufficient water for lawns, gardens and those dishwashers. If and when there is town water Pinos Altos will be truly a suburban Utopia.

Acknowledgements

To: Dr. Nanette Ashby of New Mexico Western College and her students of Southwestern Literature who have shown interest and pleasure as we gathered on the Continental Divide and talked of the “good old days”, whose questions and comments spurred me to write “The Story of Pinos Altos”;

To: The sons and daughters of the men and women who made those times what they were, and who have shared the tales their parents told:

To: The few “Old-Timers” who are left who remember so much and delight to recall their experiences, and especially,

To: Mrs. Alpha Hickman Stephens who first came to Pinos Altos in 1888. Her father operated a saw mill in Big Cherry for a Mr. Comer. It was Comer who constructed much of the Cherry Creek Road as we know it today. At that time the road, from Little Cherry to town, ran along the bed of the canyon. Hickman Springs was the site of the family home. In 1890 she married Charley Stephens, oldest son of Mr. and Mrs. Trolius Stephens. Her keen mind is a treasure house of recollections—from which she has generously supplied me with facts and figures—and pictures.

I say “Thank You”.

Dorothy Watson

Photographs

[Illustration: MAIN STREET, 1900. Dr. Robinson, the Robinson and Nolan boys pause to be in picture.]

[Illustration: The road leading into town, 1895. Picture taken from crest of Continental Divide. Corn grows on the Potosi Placer Claim.]

[Illustration: The Pacific House. In the group from left to right are Pat Mullins, John Head, Spaulding’s adopted daughter, the dog, “Wad”, Spaulding and Frank Bell, the first seated figure. Others not recognized.]

[Illustration: F. J. Davidson bought the Neff Store and operated it until it burned in 1902. It stood in the northeast corner of what was later the Henry Young Orchard. Russell Davidson stands on the porch near door. Later the Davidsons bought the “Old Store.”]

[Illustration: The “Old Store.” The adobe part was in constant use from 1868 to 1957.]

[Illustration: In the group are Dick Lee, Mr. Welsh, Antonio Montoya (sitting), John Fletcher, Homogon Cuebas. Sitting are two boys who wandered by and Victor Davidson and Allan Box.]

[Illustration: The bar of the Cave Saloon about 1900. Mr. R. E. Lee, proprietor.]

[Illustration: The flag was raised for the first time on the new pole in front of the second school building, Feb. 22, 1889.]

[Illustration: A ball team about 1890. Back row, Bill Christman, ——, George Husband, Herb Robinson, Jack Nolan, Dan Nolan, Dr. Robinson, Ed Kayler, Jackie Minear. Front row, ——, ——, Joe LeRoy, Joe Adair.]

[Illustration: Girls’ Basketball Team, 1902-1903. Claire Scott, Dorothy Watson, Mary Lee, Clara Upchurch (Trevarrow), Alice Scofield, May Marks, Alice Legros, Jennie Fox.]

[Illustration: A group of picnickers at Mill Creek in the fall of 1892. From the back row, reading from left to right are: Gertrude Trevarrow (Dimmick), Mrs. Trolius Stephens, ——, Mrs. Nat Bell, Mrs. Watson with Dorothy in lap, George Bell, Bert Stephens, Chan Derbyshire with Harry Watson, Joe Arnheim, Harry Williams, Mrs. Arnheim, Mrs. Williams, Henry Stanley, Frank Stephens, Frank Brito, Mr. McLean with Artie Williams, ——, W. E. Watson, Mrs. McLean, a Mr. Bell, Golden Bell.]

[Illustration: An invitation issued in 1888.]

[Illustration: Upper grades, Pinos Altos School, 1901-1902. Top row: Ernestine Marks, Bessie Harwell (Young), Eva Ratcliff, Mary Lee (Bloom), Alice Legros (Huff), W. H. Decker, Principal, Grace Head (Smith), Louis Marks, Zack Bellhouse. Second row: Dorothy Watson, Marie Pound, May Marks, Lillian Jackson (Forsyth). Third row: Henry Geitz, Gordon Davidson, Harry Watson, Mike Hughes, John Clark, Lyman Trevarrow, Alex Thomas. Fourth row: Fred Pound, Tom Phillips, Dan Nolan. Fifth row: ——, Herbert Herman. Sitting: Frank Mullins, Bob Ratcliff, Leslie Herman, ——.]

[Illustration: Apple trees blossom where corn once grew.]

[Illustration: The interior of the “Old Store” during the Hearst days. From left to right: Tommy Hall, Will Rivers, George Turner, Sidney Derbyshire.]

[Illustration: The Davidson families and two guests from Nova Scotia on the porch of the F. J. Davidson home, 1902. Back row: Mr. F. J., his son, Gordon, Mrs. F. J., Mrs. Russell Davidson, Victor, Claire Scott. On steps: Mr. Russell Davidson, his three children, Robert, Dorothy and David, Mrs. Forbes.]

[Illustration: In 1942 Rev. Henry Van Valkenburgh and his family visited the church he had served as pastor, 1898-1902.]

[Illustration: At the Young home, 1942. Mrs. Van Valkenburgh, Mrs. Hunt, the Vans’ daughter, Oleta Young, “Brother Van,” Henry Young, Mrs. Young, Vans’ son-in-law, “Young Henry”, J. G. Hunt.]

[Illustration: William E. Watson as he looked when he left Wisconsin to come to New Mexico in 1878.]

[Illustration: This is the site of the first lode claim, the Pacific. Mining in this manner from these mines yielded nearly one million dollars in gold between 1881 and 1889.]

[Illustration: Jake Long and Arrastra on the Oceola during the ’80’s.]

[Illustration: The Skillicorn Mill, later called the Stanley Mill, 1889.]

[Illustration: The Atlantic Mine in 1890 with the Deep Down Mill and bunk house in background. W. E. Watson, Willie Towatha and Walter Brandis standing near horse.]

[Illustration: The Bell and Stephens’ Mill as it looked from 1882-1890 from the Bear Creek side. The stone part was the original Ancheta Arrastra Mill, 1868-1882.]

[Illustration: Trolius Stephens, 1896]

[Illustration: Nathaniel Bell, 1896]

[Illustration: On the Sapello Ridge headed for the West Fork and trout. W. E. Watson, Jim Bell and Antonio Montoya bring up the rear.]

[Illustration: W. E. Watson at Bear Moore’s ruined cabin on the West Fork.]

[Illustration: A placer miners’ camp on Bear Creek.]

[Illustration: Stragglers on the last big cattle drive through town.]

[Illustration: Trolius Stephens brought his wife to this cabin in 1873. Before it was torn down in 1895 Mrs. Stephens insisted that Bert and Frank be photographed beside the house in which they had been born. Neither looks as if he aspired to be president.]

[Illustration: Dr. Nesta Thompson and Mrs. Henrietta Vincent, of the college faculty, 1938, enjoy a trail in the vicinity of Black’s Peak.]

[Illustration: Nell Hunt and Jo Ryan rest after climbing Signal and Black’s Peaks. The old tower in background.]

[Illustration: A picnic in Big Cherry is a “must” when former residents return for a visit. Joe Janes, Margaret Bell Leasure, Henry Young, Jean Watson Eckard, Nell Robbins Miller with Josephine Bell Ryan with back to camera.]

[Illustration: Same picnic with Mrs. Young, Mrs. Janes and Mrs. Harry Hickel in foreground.]

[Illustration: First Excursion on the Silver City, Pinos Altos & Mogollon R.R., January 1, 1906.]

[Illustration: THE SILVER CITY _Enterprise_]

Transcriber’s Notes

--Silently corrected many palpable typos.

--Added a Table of Contents.

--In the text versions only, delimited italicized text in _underscores_.