On a recent vacation in New Mexico, I went into Harding County, which I spoke of on my other blog "Ramblings From The Rim." This is the county in the northeastern part of that state that was severely depopulated by the Dust Bowl of the 1930s and to this day has never recovered from that traumatic period of American History. I will have more to say on Harding County in the near future, but for now, I want to concentrate on a specific part of that beautiful, but mostly deserted county. I have about 10 pictures that I took of this place and I will post them on this blog as soon as someone shows me how(The photo on this blog was put there originally by the person who set up two of my three blogs. This specific blog I set up on my own, and the photo transferred from the other two blogs when I set it up).
For about the past dozen years, I had noticed that a state park on the high plains of northeastern New Mexico had suddenly disappeared from the map. I know of several other former state parks in other states that are no longer state parks for variuos reasons, usually budget cuts. Because of budget cuts the state either gave the state park to a county and it now serves as a county park, sold the park to a private individual or company and it is now a privately owned campground or, in some cases, the state park is now part of a national park or national forest. Examples of a state park that is now a county park are Tips Park near Three Rivers, Texas; Wolf Creek Lake Park near Perryton, Texas and Painted Rocks County Park near Gila Bend, Arizona. An example of a former state park that is now a privately owned campground is Harry McAdams Park in Hobbs, New Mexico. A former state park that is now a city-owned park is Red Rock Park in Gallup, New Mexico. Examples of 2 state parks that are now Bureau of Land Management Campgrounds are Valley of Fires Park near Carrizozo, New Mexico and Newspaper Rock Campground near Monticello, Utah. An example of another former state park that is now federally-owned is Optima National Wildlife Refuge near Hardesty, Oklahoma. This wildlife refuge was once Optima Lake State Park. One last example is the Kaibab Lake Campground in Kaibab National Forest near Williams, Arizona. This was once a state park.
Well, on my recent trip to Harding County, New Mexico, I found another former state park and was shocked by what I saw! I still have a vivid picture of this place in my mind because it had such a profound effect on me.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Sunday, October 11, 2009
The Bisbee Deportation, finale
Meanwhile, the mine companies set up armed guards on all roads leading into Bisbee, Warren and the other towns in the area to make sure that none of the "troublemakers" returned.
Also, in the next few weeks, the mine companies, along with the various town governments, set up "kangaroo" courts to try anyone that was accused of supporting the IWW or any other union and thereby threatened the interest of the mine companies. Many of these people were also shipped out of town.
Several months after the initial deportation on July 12, United States President Woodrow Wilson established the Federal Mediation Commission to investigate the deportation and all of the related events. The commission ruled against the mine companies and in favor of the IWW and all of the workers and innocent bystanders. They then handed the case over to the state of Arizona for prosecution and the state did absolutely nothing! They took no action whatsoever against the mine company managers!
In the next few months, approximately 300 lawsiuts were filed by the deportees, but only one ever went to trial. The mine companies were found "not guilty!" Many other cases were settled out of court and the rest of them were dismissed! The mine company managers were found to be at fault by the federal government, but no action was ever taken. They got away with it!
There is a quote by IWW member Fred Watson that sums up everything perfectly. He said "How it could have happened in a civilized country I'll never know. This is the only country it could have happened in. As far as we're concerned, we're still on strike."
224 of the vigilante members were prosecuted for their crimes, however.
These seminal events are rarely talked about in the Bisbee area today because there are still alot of bad feelings involved. Even today, 92 years later, it is still a volatile situation mainly because the mine company managers were never punished for their crimes. As far as I can tell, none of the members of the various town governments were ever prosecuted for setting up the "kangaroo" courts to weed out other people who disagreed with the mine company manager's tactics.
Also, in the next few weeks, the mine companies, along with the various town governments, set up "kangaroo" courts to try anyone that was accused of supporting the IWW or any other union and thereby threatened the interest of the mine companies. Many of these people were also shipped out of town.
Several months after the initial deportation on July 12, United States President Woodrow Wilson established the Federal Mediation Commission to investigate the deportation and all of the related events. The commission ruled against the mine companies and in favor of the IWW and all of the workers and innocent bystanders. They then handed the case over to the state of Arizona for prosecution and the state did absolutely nothing! They took no action whatsoever against the mine company managers!
In the next few months, approximately 300 lawsiuts were filed by the deportees, but only one ever went to trial. The mine companies were found "not guilty!" Many other cases were settled out of court and the rest of them were dismissed! The mine company managers were found to be at fault by the federal government, but no action was ever taken. They got away with it!
There is a quote by IWW member Fred Watson that sums up everything perfectly. He said "How it could have happened in a civilized country I'll never know. This is the only country it could have happened in. As far as we're concerned, we're still on strike."
224 of the vigilante members were prosecuted for their crimes, however.
These seminal events are rarely talked about in the Bisbee area today because there are still alot of bad feelings involved. Even today, 92 years later, it is still a volatile situation mainly because the mine company managers were never punished for their crimes. As far as I can tell, none of the members of the various town governments were ever prosecuted for setting up the "kangaroo" courts to weed out other people who disagreed with the mine company manager's tactics.
The Bisbee Deportation, part 2
On July 12, 1917; at 6:30 a.m., approximately 2,000 vigilantes, who had been assembled by the mining companies and organized by the Cochise County Sheriff, Harry Wheeler, began rounding up union workers that had waged a labor strike against the mines in the area. Men were rousted out of bed, taken from their houses and kidnapped off the streets. Most of these men were beaten and robbed. Later, it has been confirmed, the wives and daughters of many of these men were raped by vigilante members. Many of the men that were rounded up were not strikers or even union members! Two men were killed during this roundup. The men that were kidnapped by the vigilantes were marched, at gunpoint, for distances up to 4 miles. They were held at Warren Ballpark, the local baseball stadium that is now used by both the Bisbee High School football and baseball teams. The high, stockade-like, wooden fence that surrounds the stadium served as an effective barrier against escape. At 11:00 a.m.
1,186 men were loaded onto railroad boxcars that were filled with deep manure, and shipped out of Warren. They did not have any food or water, nor were they given any.
The train was sent to Columbus, New Mexico, approximately 220 miles away. However, when the train arrived in Columbus, it was turned away because the town did not have the accommodations for that many people. As the train headed back west, it stopped 20 miles west of Columbus in the tiny town of Hermanas, which is now a ghost town. Once the train stopped in Hermanas, everyone was ordered off the train by the armed guards. After they all got off the train, everyone was told that if they ever returned to the Bisbee area they would be killed. Then the train left them behind and headed back to Warren. The next day, a train arrived with food rations and water, but everyone was left without shelter for 3 days until U.S. Army troops arrived from Camp Furlong in Columbus(the site of the famous raid by Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa one year earlier. The troops took everyone to Camp Furlong where some of them were detained without being charged with a crime for several months.
1,186 men were loaded onto railroad boxcars that were filled with deep manure, and shipped out of Warren. They did not have any food or water, nor were they given any.
The train was sent to Columbus, New Mexico, approximately 220 miles away. However, when the train arrived in Columbus, it was turned away because the town did not have the accommodations for that many people. As the train headed back west, it stopped 20 miles west of Columbus in the tiny town of Hermanas, which is now a ghost town. Once the train stopped in Hermanas, everyone was ordered off the train by the armed guards. After they all got off the train, everyone was told that if they ever returned to the Bisbee area they would be killed. Then the train left them behind and headed back to Warren. The next day, a train arrived with food rations and water, but everyone was left without shelter for 3 days until U.S. Army troops arrived from Camp Furlong in Columbus(the site of the famous raid by Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa one year earlier. The troops took everyone to Camp Furlong where some of them were detained without being charged with a crime for several months.
Bisbee, part 8/ The Bisbee Deportation
The summer of 1917 was a tense one in the Bisbee area, particularly in Warren. The tension started as a labor dispute between the various mining companies and their employees. These events led to the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) becoming a powerful organization. The labor dispute escalated into armed vigilante action. The culmination of these events is one of the darkest episodes in American and Arizona history.
On June 24, 1917, the IWW sent a list of demands to the various mining companies on behalf of the employees of the mines. These demands included the following:
1) improved working conditions with increased safety, 2) An end to discrimination against foreign workers, 3) an end to discrimination against union laborers and 4) a flat wage instead of the sliding pay scale that was tied to market prices in which workers were paid more when prices were high and paid less when prices were low. As far as improved safety conditions went, the IWW wanted 2 men on each machine and a cassation of blasting while men were working in the area.
The managers of all of the mining companies in the Bisbee area rejected all of these demands, setting the stage for the Bisbee Deportation that began on July 12, 1917.
On June 24, 1917, the IWW sent a list of demands to the various mining companies on behalf of the employees of the mines. These demands included the following:
1) improved working conditions with increased safety, 2) An end to discrimination against foreign workers, 3) an end to discrimination against union laborers and 4) a flat wage instead of the sliding pay scale that was tied to market prices in which workers were paid more when prices were high and paid less when prices were low. As far as improved safety conditions went, the IWW wanted 2 men on each machine and a cassation of blasting while men were working in the area.
The managers of all of the mining companies in the Bisbee area rejected all of these demands, setting the stage for the Bisbee Deportation that began on July 12, 1917.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Bisbee, part 7
A short distance south of the Bakerville section of Bisbee is the former town of Warren. This is where the Bisbee City Hall and Bisbee High School are located. Warren has a very old, historic downtown business district that has seen better days. This section of Bisbee has about 1,100 people, which makes it the third most populous section of the sprawling town of Bisbee.
This is the only one of the 8 towns that merged to create modern Bisbee that actually existed on blueprint before it existed in reality. All the other sections of town have streets that were built without any apparent pattern to them because they follow the lay of the land. However, Warren was a planned town. Most of the east-west streets are in an "arc" pattern. That is they run in a northeast direction and then they bend and run in a southeast direction. At the apex of the curve, the streets are intersected by twin streets that run due north-south. These streets, called East Vista Boulevard and West Vista Boulevard, are separated by a long, linear park. Two blocks farther east is Arizona Street, the "main drag" of Warren. Most of the streets in Warren are named after mining company managers, such as Congdon, Hovland, Cole, Briggs, Ruppe and D'Autremont.
Warren does not have steep hills or mountains surrounding it. There are hills, however, but they are not as perpendicular as they are in other parts of town.
Warren was laid out in 1907. Most of the north-south streets end in front of a fabulous mansion that was once occupied by a mining company manager.
On the south edge of Warren, at the intersection of Arizona Street and
Ruppe Avenue, is one of the most legendary sports stadiums in the country--Warren Ballpark. It is a combination football field and baseball field and is used by the Bisbee Pumas high school football and baseball teams. It was originally built as a baseball stadium in 1907 for a semi-pro baseball team, the Bisbee/Douglas Copper Kings. The northeast corner has a very old fashioned baseball grandstand, built out of wood, that looks like something from the early 1900s, which is indeed when the structure was built. On the west side of this stadium are some more modern football grandstands and out in the middle, in the baseball outfield, some temporary grandstands are put up every summer to accommodate visiting teams' fans for football games. These stands are taken down sometime before baseball season starts. This entire structure is enclosed by a high, wooden fence.
This is one of very few sports stadiums in the country that have a state historical marker on it and the only high school-owned stadium I know of with a historical marker.
This venerable, old stadium has played a pivotal role in the history of the Bisbee area and Cochise County and I will go into more detail in future editions of this blog.
This is the only one of the 8 towns that merged to create modern Bisbee that actually existed on blueprint before it existed in reality. All the other sections of town have streets that were built without any apparent pattern to them because they follow the lay of the land. However, Warren was a planned town. Most of the east-west streets are in an "arc" pattern. That is they run in a northeast direction and then they bend and run in a southeast direction. At the apex of the curve, the streets are intersected by twin streets that run due north-south. These streets, called East Vista Boulevard and West Vista Boulevard, are separated by a long, linear park. Two blocks farther east is Arizona Street, the "main drag" of Warren. Most of the streets in Warren are named after mining company managers, such as Congdon, Hovland, Cole, Briggs, Ruppe and D'Autremont.
Warren does not have steep hills or mountains surrounding it. There are hills, however, but they are not as perpendicular as they are in other parts of town.
Warren was laid out in 1907. Most of the north-south streets end in front of a fabulous mansion that was once occupied by a mining company manager.
On the south edge of Warren, at the intersection of Arizona Street and
Ruppe Avenue, is one of the most legendary sports stadiums in the country--Warren Ballpark. It is a combination football field and baseball field and is used by the Bisbee Pumas high school football and baseball teams. It was originally built as a baseball stadium in 1907 for a semi-pro baseball team, the Bisbee/Douglas Copper Kings. The northeast corner has a very old fashioned baseball grandstand, built out of wood, that looks like something from the early 1900s, which is indeed when the structure was built. On the west side of this stadium are some more modern football grandstands and out in the middle, in the baseball outfield, some temporary grandstands are put up every summer to accommodate visiting teams' fans for football games. These stands are taken down sometime before baseball season starts. This entire structure is enclosed by a high, wooden fence.
This is one of very few sports stadiums in the country that have a state historical marker on it and the only high school-owned stadium I know of with a historical marker.
This venerable, old stadium has played a pivotal role in the history of the Bisbee area and Cochise County and I will go into more detail in future editions of this blog.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Bisbee, part 6
2 miles south of Tintown, the poorest part of Bisbee, is "New" Bisbee. This is the most populated part of Bisbee today, with about 4,500 people. This part of town was not one of the eight towns that merged to form modern Bisbee. Instead, this area was settled in the mid 1960s and now has nearly half of the town's population. This part of town does not have a downtown business district. The heart of "New" Bisbee is the intersection of Highway 92 and Naco Highway, which is the busiest intersection in town. Clustered around this intersection are several fast food restaurants and a big shopping center, or strip mall.
Also, a little farther south, is the Cochise County Government Complex. It is an 8-building complex that houses most functions of the county government. Everything except the county court system is located here. Court functions are still carried out at the old county courthouse in "Old" Bisbee. The old courthouse use to house the entire county government, back in the days when government was much smaller.
The county complex is located on a street with a pleasant name--Melody Lane. The administration building has a very large picture window with a great view! The window looks out across a big, grassy valley towards the towns of Naco, Arizona and
Naco, Sonora, Mexico. These towns are 5 miles away. The view is downhill and several mountain ranges in Mexico are visible. I love this view!
This part of Bisbee is the only section of town that does not have steep hills or mountains completely surrounding it. This part of town is not exactly flat, though. Instead it is on a downhill slope for nearly its entire area. This area is mostly a grassland.
This part of town has the middle school and an elementary school. It also has a post office, one of three post offices for a town with slightly less than 10,000 people.
I have one more part of Bisbee to talk about. This final section of town has a legendary history, quite possibly more legendary than "Old" Bisbee. It is also the location of a rather unique sports stadium.
Also, a little farther south, is the Cochise County Government Complex. It is an 8-building complex that houses most functions of the county government. Everything except the county court system is located here. Court functions are still carried out at the old county courthouse in "Old" Bisbee. The old courthouse use to house the entire county government, back in the days when government was much smaller.
The county complex is located on a street with a pleasant name--Melody Lane. The administration building has a very large picture window with a great view! The window looks out across a big, grassy valley towards the towns of Naco, Arizona and
Naco, Sonora, Mexico. These towns are 5 miles away. The view is downhill and several mountain ranges in Mexico are visible. I love this view!
This part of Bisbee is the only section of town that does not have steep hills or mountains completely surrounding it. This part of town is not exactly flat, though. Instead it is on a downhill slope for nearly its entire area. This area is mostly a grassland.
This part of town has the middle school and an elementary school. It also has a post office, one of three post offices for a town with slightly less than 10,000 people.
I have one more part of Bisbee to talk about. This final section of town has a legendary history, quite possibly more legendary than "Old" Bisbee. It is also the location of a rather unique sports stadium.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Bisbee, part 5
Next door to Galena, heading southwest on highway 92, are the former towns of Briggs and Tintown. The Briggs section of Bisbee lies mostly west of the highway and the Tintown section is mostly on the east side. Briggs was founded in 1901 and had 285 people at its peak. Today it has about 200. Like Galena, it was mostly residential with very few businesses.
Tintown was the poorest of the eight towns that merged to form modern Bisbee and it is still the poorest part of town. With the exception of Highway 92, every street in the Tintown section is dirt. The former City Hall is located on one of those dirt streets with windows missing and part of its roof missing. This area has about 75 people. At its peak it had nearly 1,000,so it has alot of empty buildings and ruins. It was first settled in 1898 by Mexican laborers.
Between the Galena and Briggs sections of Bisbee is one of only 2 intersections in town that have traffic lights, the intersection of State Highway 92 and School Terrace Road.
The next section of town I will talk about is called Bakerville. It is adjacent to the Lowell section of town, on the southeast, on Bisbee Road and due east of the Galena section. Today, the Bakerville section has about 500 people, but at its peak, the town of Bakerville had about 3,400 people. As might be expected, this section of town has alot of abandoned, dilapidated buildings. The downtown business district has a few businesses still open, but most of them are abandoned. The main feature of Bakerville is Copper Queen Hospital, which has only 13 beds, making it the smallest hospital in Arizona. Bakerville was settled in 1905.
I have 2 more sections of Bisbee to talk about. One of them has the majority of the town's population today, even more people than "Old" Bisbee. It is also the newest part of town, not part of the original merger. The other section has the most legendary history of all the town's sections, possibly more legendary than "Old" Bisbee.
Tintown was the poorest of the eight towns that merged to form modern Bisbee and it is still the poorest part of town. With the exception of Highway 92, every street in the Tintown section is dirt. The former City Hall is located on one of those dirt streets with windows missing and part of its roof missing. This area has about 75 people. At its peak it had nearly 1,000,so it has alot of empty buildings and ruins. It was first settled in 1898 by Mexican laborers.
Between the Galena and Briggs sections of Bisbee is one of only 2 intersections in town that have traffic lights, the intersection of State Highway 92 and School Terrace Road.
The next section of town I will talk about is called Bakerville. It is adjacent to the Lowell section of town, on the southeast, on Bisbee Road and due east of the Galena section. Today, the Bakerville section has about 500 people, but at its peak, the town of Bakerville had about 3,400 people. As might be expected, this section of town has alot of abandoned, dilapidated buildings. The downtown business district has a few businesses still open, but most of them are abandoned. The main feature of Bakerville is Copper Queen Hospital, which has only 13 beds, making it the smallest hospital in Arizona. Bakerville was settled in 1905.
I have 2 more sections of Bisbee to talk about. One of them has the majority of the town's population today, even more people than "Old" Bisbee. It is also the newest part of town, not part of the original merger. The other section has the most legendary history of all the town's sections, possibly more legendary than "Old" Bisbee.
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