2011 by Ann Lacy and Anne Valley-Fox.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Lacy, Ann, 1945-
Lost treasures & old mines: a New Mexico Federal Writers project book / compiled and edited by Ann Lacy and Anne Valley-Fox.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-0-86534-820-2 (softcover: alk. paper)
ISBN 978-1-61139-128-2 (e-book)
1. New Mexico--History, Local--Anecdotes. 2. Mines and mineral resources--New Mexico--History--Anecdotes. 3. Frontier and pioneer life--New Mexico--Anecdotes. 4. Pioneers--New Mexico--Biography--Anecdotes. 5. New Mexico--Social life and customs--Anecdotes. 6. New Mexico--Biography--Anecdotes. I. Fox, Anne Valley. II. Federal Writers Project. New Mexico. III. Title. IV. Title: Lost treasures and old mines.
F796.6.L33 2011
978.9--dc23
2011029103
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SUNSTONE PRESS / Post Office Box 2321 / Santa Fe, NM 87504-2321 /USA
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D edicated to the writers of the New Mexico Federal Writers Project, 19351943.
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
W e wish to thank the New Mexico State Records Center and Archives, the Museum of New Mexico Palace of the Governors Photo Archives and the Fray Anglico Chvez History Library, Santa Fe, New Mexico for the use of their collections.
We are grateful to the archivists at the NMSRCA for their able assistance with our research.
Special thanks to Project Crossroads and Elise Rymer for her inspiration and enduring support.
Editors Preface
W hile researching New Deal records at the New Mexico State Records Center and Archives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, we discovered a treasure trove of folders labeled WPA 1936-1939. Inside were hundreds of manuscripts pecked out on old upright typewriters by New Mexico writers determined to make a buck by their wits while documenting some of the states historical highlights. The first book, Outlaws & Desperados: A New Mexico Federal Writers Project Book, was published in 2008 to mark the 75th anniversary of the New Deal; the second, Frontier Stories: A New Mexico Federal Writers Project Book, followed in 2010. This volume, Lost Treasures & Old Mines, is the third in the series.
Between 1936 and 1940, the writers from the New Deals New Mexico Federal Writers Project (NMFWP) collected stories throughout New Mexico describing a time that was beginning to fade into history. The experiences and exploits of settlers and earlier inhabitants of the New Mexico Territory during the territorial days after 1846 gave way to a less isolated and more modern era beginning with statehood in 1912. By the 1930s, NMFWP writers were recording the stories of old-timers reflecting back on New Mexicos vanishing past.
The stories in this volume offer many colorful first-hand accounts of life on the frontier. It is important to remember, however, that not all perspectives are represented in the WPA archives. The voices of Native Americans, for instance, rarely show up in the New Mexico Writers Project interviews, and first-person narratives by women are also rare. Therefore, in the words of former state historian Estvan Rael-Glvez, readers should be encouraged to read between the lines.
With a view towards authenticity, the writers of the New Mexico Federal Writers Project attempted to capture each informants particular way of speaking; the oral histories in this collection reflect some of the colloquialisms of old Territorial days. As editors, we have tried to stay close to the original manuscripts and have corrected punctuation and spelling only when necessary for readability and clarity. For the most part, the manuscripts stand close to their original archival versions. We hope you enjoy Lost Treasures & Old Mines as a rich expression of New Mexicos colorful past.
Ann Lacy and Anne Valley-Fox
Santa Fe, New Mexico
About the
New Mexico Federal Writers Project
T he Great Depression that came on the heels of the stock market crash of 1929 threw the countrys financial institutions into chaos and put many people across the nation out of work. In 1933, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt inaugurated his New Deal administration, a comprehensive program designed to stimulate the countrys economy while lending a hand to the unemployed. March, 2008, marked the seventy-fifth anniversary of the New Deal.
At a time when many people were down on their luck during the Great Depression, the New Deals New Mexico Federal Writers Project (NMFWP) employed writers around the state to record the extraordinary history and lore of New Mexico. The Federal Writers Project was one of a number of white-collar relief projects of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) that put Americans back to work. In addition to the Federal Writers Project (FWP), the projects included the Federal Art Project, the Federal Music Project, the Federal Theater Project and the Historical Records Survey.
The New Mexico Federal Writers Project was officially launched on August 2, 1935, under the direction of poet and writer Ina Sizer Cassidy. Between October, 1935, and August, 1939, a cadre of field writers wrote stories, collected articles, conducted interviews and transposed documents for the public record. Although each of the 48 states across the nation launched their own Federal Writers Project, New Mexico was seen as geographically and culturally unique. From his office in Washington, DC, the national director of the Federal Writers Project, Henry G. Alsberg, urged New Mexico project writers to emphasize the states visual, scenic and human interest subjects in the projects guide, New Mexico: A Guide to the Colorful State. Try to make the readers see the white midsummer haze, the dust that rises in unpaved New Mexican streets, the slithery red earth roads of winter, the purple shadows of later afternoon... , he told them.
New Mexico field writers apparently felt a similar enthusiasm, as they created hundreds of documents to preserve the states vivid lore, scenic locale and colorful past for future generations. Their subjects ranged from the colonial New Mexico days of the 1600s and 1700s to the beginnings of the 1900sfrom horse-drawn cart to car. Their many lively selections included firsthand oral accounts and remembrances by settlers and residents who lived to tell the story of New Mexicos Territorial days.
In 1939, under the WPAs reorganization, the New Mexico Federal Writers Project became the Writers Program. By that time, Aileen OBryan Nussbaum had replaced Ina Sizer Cassidy as project director. In Washington, DC, Charles Ethrige Minton supervised the New Mexico Writers Program until its closure in 1943. Through its tenure, the New Mexico program produced
