Silver City, New Mexico History Part III - The Apaches

New Mexico Territory, in the 1860s to the end of the century, was known as quite a wild and dangerous place, largely due to the bands of marauding Apaches who made their resentment of the white man well known. The risk of travelers being tortured, killed, and kidnapped by bloodthirsty Apaches was not just the use of artistic license by Hollywood filmmakers; it was a real and immediate threat, particularly to the hordes of miners invading the territory in search of silver and gold.

Silver City had its share of notorious Apache warriors. This band of Native Americans differed quite drastically from the peaceful tribe of Pueblo Indians, the Mogollons, who settled the area in the 13^th century. The Apaches, led alternately by Cochise, Victorio, Nana, and Geronimo, had learned to distrust the settlers who came for gold and silver ore, and with good reason. Living in relative peace until 1860, it was the white man who encroached upon their territory and attempted to force them out. The violent warrior Geronimo is said to have been born near the Gila Cliff Dwellings, at the headwaters of the Gila River outside Silver City, once home to the peace-loving Mogollons.

Beginning in 1861, Cochise joined the Hot Springs Apache band under Mangas Coloradas, who was determined to drive out “Los Godammies”, their term for white men. In September they attacked the mining camp of Pinos Altos. Captain Thomas Mastin, who defended the camp along with nine Arizona Scouts, was fatally wounded before they withdrew. Mangas Coloradas was captured in 1863 and killed a day later, on January 14^th, at Fort McLane in Pinos Altos. The following day, his wife and ten of his followers were executed.

It was 1872 when the Apache leader, Cochise, was finally persuaded by the government to move his band to reservation land. At this time, the Chino Copper Mine finally began operating in full swing, lulled into a sense of security with Cochise out of the picture. Unfortunately, Geronimo took over where Cochise left off, but his capture in 1877 again allowed mining operations in Santa Rita, Mogollon, and Pinos Altos to continue uninterrupted and even expand. Geronimo was released in 1882.

In 1879, Victorio led a revolt against reservation life and took his tribe on raids which extended from the Rio Grande River, near Las Cruces, New Mexico, all the way to Arizona. Sgt. James Cooney, in Mogollon, became one of Victorio’s victims; the soldier turned miner was mutilated and killed in April of 1880. Victorio finally died in 1881, but his son-in-law, Nana took over where Victorio left off. Nana fought, and won, eight battles with troops of US soldiers before being sent to a reservation in eastern Arizona.

In the 1880s, troops of Buffalo Soldiers – so called by the Indians due to their curly black hair – were redeployed from the Llano Estacado of the eastern plains to southwestern New Mexico to control the escalating raids.

It didn’t take long for Geronimo to begin causing trouble once freed from the government’s control. The McComas Massacre occurred in 1883 in Silver City. Judge McComas and his wife were attacked by Geronimo and his band of Apache warriors. They were killed and their six-year-old son kidnapped and taken to Mexico.

Another escape occurred in 1885 as Nana and Geronimo left the reservation yet again, heading a band of Chiricahua Apache. These two fearsome leaders would wreak havoc in the southwest for one year before finally surrendering to US troops.

It has been said that Indian raids occurred in the southwest years long after the rest of the United States found peace. More than likely this was true and it was the main reason why New Mexico never developed as fully as many other states. It is great, however, for creating excitement works of fiction based on history. Although Geronimo does not show up in Golden Enchantment, there are some references to Apache raids.

Silver City, New Mexico History Part II - Billy the Kid

The Silver City/Billy the Kid Connection

William H. Bonney, better know as Billy the Kid, achieved his claim to fame through his involvement in the Lincoln County War between ranchers in northern New Mexico. Prior to the Lincoln County “bloodbath”, however, Billy the Kid made a name for himself in and around Silver City, New Mexico.

Born in New York City, Billy’s mother, Catherine McCarty, married William Antrim in Santa Fe in 1873. Then about 12 years old, the family moved to Silver City to take advantage of the newest and richest mining district in the area.

Billy’s stepfather soon purchased a house in town to install his family while he went off gallivanting about the countryside searching for silver and gold. Legend has it the young lad's real name was Henry McCarty and attended a local school. According to one classmate, Henry (Billy) was very small and rather effeminate, with dark hair and eyes, and an avid reader.

Billy’s mother died in 1874 and she was buried in Memory Lane Cemetery in Silver City. Her grave still stands to this day and it a popular tourist attraction. According to legend, it didn’t take long for Billy to turn to a life of crime. He began with theft – stealing butter from the hotel he worked at and then robbing a Chinese laundry. The fifteen-year-old was incarcerated in the local jail but quickly escaped by contorting his slender body to fit through the chimney.

Some have claimed that Billy the Kid killed his first man in Silver City, but historical records show that this happened, instead, in Arizona. To escape the murder charge, he returned to New Mexico and quickly became embroiled in the Lincoln County War. This may be when he adopted the name William Bonney and it is speculated he used his mother's maiden name in conjunction with his stepfather's first name to come up with this new moniker.

While I was growing up, I was always told Billy’s mother's grave was located in Pinos Altos in front of a small house with an orchard in front. Some stories claim the grave site was moved to town later. I can find no records which verify this claim, but it made for a nice story. Pinos Altos is a rather spooky place anyway - I'll relate some tales from my youth in a later post.

It is extremely difficult to separate fact from fiction when it comes to Billy the Kid, but no matter what you believe, you can’t deny that Billy the Kid’s story is one which conjures up romantic, and violent, images of the old West.

Silver City NM History - Part I

In honor of the release of Golden Enchantment, I’m dedicating blog space to the history, artisans, nature, and beauty of the “Land of Enchantment”, New Mexico.

The title of my Western historical romance, Golden Enchantment was derived from the state’s nickname “Land of Enchantment”. The town outside of which Andrea Alexander and Jake Houston live, San Vicente Ciénega, is also based on a real town – Silver City, where I grew up.

Founded in 1870, La Ciénaga de San Vicente literally means “The Marsh of Saint Vincent”. Although little evidence of a marsh remains, this topographical feature would be the eventual downfall of Silver City’s main street. In 1896, the strip mining process most commonly used to find silver and gold ore, had desiccated the vegetation. All it took was one good storm for the rain water to come rushing through the middle of town. Another flood in 1903 saw the complete demise of Main Street. Years later the main thoroughfare through town and its buildings were relocated and “The Big Ditch” which remained with its steady flow of water was turned into a park. When I lived in Silver City, I often escaped down to the ditch for a quick picnic amidst lush greenery, a picturesque steel bridge, and rustic stone benches in the middle of the work day. I sure do miss that!

Originally, silver mining was the industry which brought settlers to the area in the 1860s, but it would be copper mining that kept it going for the next century and a half. In the early days, the miners who’d flocked to the area were hauling in ore so fast that bricks of gold and silver were often seen stacked on the sidewalks. Although copper had long been mined by the earliest inhabitants of the area, it was not as lucrative an ore as silver and gold.

When the Kennecott Company bought the ancient site of the largest copper mine, it was turned into an open pit operation. It was soon dubbed “the world’s most beautiful copper mine” due to the colors in the striations of rock left behind by the open pit mining procedure. When I was growing up, tours of the facility were available periodically. I’ll never forget the sheer magnitude of the mine and the trucks carrying ore up and down along the rocky ledges of the deep, open pit. Standing next to the tire of one of the smaller Euclid hauler trucks, my head barely reached the bottom of the hub cap.

There’s much more to Silver City and the surrounding areas these days and I’ll include further information in future blogs. Coming soon: "The Billy the Kid Connection" and "The Consquistadores".