May 2008
History Lessons
Racking Up History column by Bill Rakocy
See also: At the Museum
Menu of this month's listings, stories and columns Fort Bayard Tours -- Walking tours of the historic fort is hosted by the Fort Bayard Historical Preservation Society are 9:30 a.m. Saturday, May 10 and 24, starting at the Fort Bayard New Deal Theater. Admission is free, but donations appreciated. Fort Bayard, N.M. is located off U.S. 180, southeast of Silver City. Information: (575) 388-4477.
A special walking tour in honor of nurses is 10 a.m. Saturday, May 3.
Magoffin Home State Historic Site -- 1120 Magoffin. Built in 1875 by pioneer El Pasoan Joseph Magoffin, the Magoffin Home exemplifies the Territorial style of the period, combining Southwestern building techniques and Eastern design. Guided tours offered 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday through Sunday, and by appointment on Wednesdays. Closed Monday and Tuesday. Cost: $3 (12 and under free). Information: 533-5147 or magoffinhome.org.
The annual Victorian Spring Tea, “Everything’s Coming Up Roses,” is Sunday, May 4, in the home’s lawn under trees and tents. Seatings are 1 and 3:30 p.m. Reservations required. No tickets sold at the door. Tickets: $14; available at the Magoffin Home or with Pres in the Gift Shop at Charlottes, 5411 North Mesa, in Peppertree Square. Information: 533-5147 or 585-4344.
Special “Visits with Spirits” tours featuring stories of spirits and odd events at the Magoffin Home State Historic Site and how they relate to the Magoffins are offered at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 10. Admission: $5.
Magoffin Street runs one way going east from San Antonio Street (a few blocks from the County Courthouse and Federal Building).
Downtown Ghost Tour -- Author Ken Hudnall will host a walking tour of El Paso’s ghosts at 5 p.m. Saturday, May 10, beginning at L&J Cafe, 3622 E. Missouri, and 6 p.m. Saturday, May 24, at El Camino Real Hotel, 101 S. El Paso. Information: 880-4376 or kenhudnall.com.
‘Visit Our Ancestors’ series -- The City of Las Cruces Branigan Cultural Center will tour the historic San Albino Cemetery, southern end of Calle de Guadalupe, at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 10, as part of the cemetery tour series. The tours, led by staff and guest speakers, provide the history of a cemetery, tour of gravesites of those who have left their mark on the community, as well as biographical sketches of both some well-known names and some not so well known.
Participants should wear comfortable walking shoes and bring something to sit on (chair or a blanket), hat, sunscreen, a snack or lunch and bottled water. Tours last about two hours. Admission is free. Information: (575) 541-2219 or museums.las-cruces.org.
Many of the early pioneers of the Mesilla Valley are buried at San Albino including Agostini-Justiniani, “El Ermitano,” a Hermit found murdered near La Cueva in 1869.
El Paso Archaeological Society -- The society’s monthly meeting is 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 15, at the El Paso Museum of Archaeology, 4301 Transmountain. Pete Eidenbach, professor of archaeology at the NMSU Alamogordo branch, will present a program on American Indian astronomical sites. Doors open at 7 p.m. Admission is free. Information: 751-0360 or epas.com.
One of the first prehistoric American Indian astronomical sites found in the Southwest was near Sierra Blanca Peak in the Sacramento Mountains of southern New Mexico at an elevation of 10,600 ft. Mark Wimberly and Eidenbach would later identify a second, related site on the Mescalero Apache Reservation. Both sites, Wizard’s Roost and Wally’s Dome, could be attributed to the Jornada Mogollon, circa A.D. 1000.
Doll’s Tea Party -- El Paso County Historical Society will host its popular tea party for girls of all ages at 1:30 to 4 p.m. Sunday, May 18, at the historic Burges House and Gardens, 1603 W. Yandell. Participants are encouraged to wear a hat, dress in their Sunday best (photos will be taken) and children are encouraged to bring a doll. Seating is limited, reservations required. Tickets: $15. Information/reservations: Carmen Stearns, 533-3178.
The event features tea delicacies, entertainment, etiquette lessons, songs, music, poetry, Victorian entertainers, guest photographs, goody bags and more.
‘Ask the River!’ puppet show -- Chamizal National Memorial, 800 S. San Marcial, will host the puppet show designed to familiarize young students with the Chamizal story at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Wednesday, May 21. This 40-minute interactive program includes a question and answer session with the puppets at the end of each performance. Admission is free, but reservations are required. School groups have first priority in requesting seats. Information: 532-7273 or nps.gov/cham.
Mexican Revolution Centennial -- The City of El Paso Museums and Cultural Affairs Department, in conjunction with several groups from both El Paso and Juarez, is hosting several events leading up to the centennial of the Mexican Revolution in 2010. Information: 541-4942 or elpasotexas.gov/mexicanrevolution.
Concordia Cemetery Ghost Tours -- Concordia Heritage Association and the Paso Del Norte Paranormal Society now offer evening walking “Ghost Tours” of Concordia Cemetery 7 to 9 p.m. first Saturday of the month, beginning June 7, at the cemetery at 3700 E. Yandell (between Stevens and Boone Streets). Proceeds benefit the restoration and preservation of Concordia Cemetery, a Texas State Historical Site. Reservations recommended, space is limited. Cost: $10. (ages 13 and older welcome). Information: 373-1513 or ghosts915.com.
Visit the haunted sites at Concordia Cemetery where people have reported seeing a Lady in White, and other ghostly apparitions. Guests may be a ”Ghost Hunter” and bring recording equipment, cameras, extra batteries, flashlight, comfortable walking (closed toe) shoes and a light jacket.
El Paso Museum of History -- 510 N. Santa Fe. Regular hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. Closed Mondays. Admission is free. Information: 351-3588. For exhibit and special event information, see “At the Museum” listing.
Old Fort Bliss -- Building 5051, corner of Pershing and Pleasanton Roads, Fort Bliss. The Old West days of the “Soldiers of the Pass” are relived through replicas of the original adobe fort buildings and military artifacts, Magoffinsville Post 1854 to 1868. Admission: free. Hours: Daily 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Information: 568-3137.
Old West Gunfight Tour -- The 90-minute walking tour of downtown El Paso is 3 p.m. the first Saturday of each month, starting in front of the Camino Real Hotel. Additional tour times by request. Call for reservations. Information: 920-1415 or KLWilden@yahoo.com.
The tour includes famous and not-so-famous locations with stories of the people and events that gave El Paso the title “Gun Fight Capitol of the World.” Visit the Ben Dowell Saloon, Wigwam Saloon, Acme Saloon, Bloody Utah Street, Coliseum Variety Theatre, Gem Saloon and more. Gambling demonstrations include actual Faro set up, Spanish Monte, Seven Up and Period Poker.
With advanced notice reenactors may be hired to reenact gunfights, speaking engagements on topics varying from gunfights, western characters, gambling, saloons and bordellos.
Chamizal National Memorial -- 800 S. San Marcial. The National Park Service operates the memorial on land once claimed by Mexico as part of a decades-long dispute over the international boundary. A similar park in Juárez lies across the Rio Grande, whose shifting nature in earlier years triggered the dispute. The visitor center has an exhibit on the history of the Chamizal dispute, including a video presentation. Park grounds and picnic area open 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily; visitors center open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday; closed Sunday and Monday. Admission is free. Information: 532-7273.
Free ranger guided tours and interpretive programs at are offered at 10 a.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays. The tours last 45 minutes to an hour and consist of walking short distances on the park grounds, as well as visiting various museum exhibits and displays located in the visitor center. Interpretive programs will include U.S./Mexico history and treaties, Cordova Island, the park’s mural Nuestra Herencia by Carlos Flores, the establishment of the Memorial, and a variety of other items related to the borderland community.
El Paso-Juarez Historical Museum -- 6400 Airport Road, Suite L. Admission is free, but by appointment only. Curator and founder is historian Fred Morales. For appointments, call 771-6727.
Mission Trail -- Three historic churches lie within eight miles of each other in El Paso County’s Mission Valley.
-- Mission Ysleta -- Spanish and Tigua Indian refugees from northern New Mexico founded the community in the 1680s. The first mission was built in 1692 and rebuilt completely in both the 18th and 19th centuries. The current structure was built in 1851. It’s near Zaragoza and Alameda on the Tigua Reservation. Information: 851-9997 (El Paso Mission Trail Association).
-- Mission Socorro -- The first adobe structure in Socorro was built in 1692, and like nearby Mission Ysleta, was destroyed by floods in later centuries. The current structure dates back to 1843, with additions completed in 1873. It’s off Socorro Road two miles southeast of Ysleta.
-- San Elizario Chapel -- Established in 1789 as a Spanish presidio, or fort, to protect the Camino Real, San Elizario was the first county seat of El Paso. The church was built in 1877, replacing a church built about 25 years earlier. Technically, San Elizario Chapel is a presidio church, not a mission. It’s on the San Elizario plaza, off Socorro Road, 5.5 miles southeast of Socorro Mission. Nearby is the famous jail that Billy the Kid reportedly broke into to rescue a friend. Group tours are available. For San Elizario tour information, call 851-1682.
Concordia Heritage Association -- Anyone interested in learning about, preserving and promoting history is invited to join the association, which meets at 7 p.m. on the third Thursday of each month, at Zion Lutheran Church, 2800 Pershing. Information: 581-7920.
The nonprofit group takes responsibility for taking care of Concordia Cemetery, home to over 60,000 famous, infamous and other eternal residents. The association also helps people locate ancestors buried there and researches requests related to the historic burial ground that once was the home of rancher Hugh Stephenson and his wife, Doña Juana Ascarate de Stephenson.
The group also sponsors the annual Walk Through History in October at Concordia Cemetery as well as other events involving characters from El Paso’s past, particularly those buried at Concordia.
Fort Selden State Monument -- Fort Selden, 13 miles north of Las Cruces in Radium Springs, was a 19th-century adobe fort established to protect early settlers from Indian raids. The monument seeks to preserve the remaining ruins and has a visitors’ center with exhibits of military life at the post. From Las Cruces, take I-25 North to Exit 19. Open 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Monday (closed Tuesday). Admission is $3; (ages 16 and under free). Sunday admission for New Mexico residents is $1. Information: (505) 526-8911 or nmmonuments.org.
Shakespeare Ghost Town -- A small pioneer settlement and mining town on the trail to California, Shakespeare, N.M., lives on thanks to a single family that has owned the townsite (2 1/2 miles from Lordsburg) since 1935. Information: (575) 542-9034 or shakespeareghostown.com.
Also on display: the Jim Emanuel Western Collection of antique and reproduction guns, custom-made holsters, saddles and tack.
To get there: From Lordsburg, take the Main Street exit (Exit 22) from Interstate 10 and turn south. Follow signs to Shakespeare.
Racking Up History column by Bill RakocyWhite Oaks revisited
In 1879, a traveler to California rested from his journey for a brief time with two southern New Mexico prospectors who were camped at White Oak Springs between Patos and Carrizozo Mountain. In order to plot his westward course, the traveler walked from camp to a distant high ridge. On his way, he sat down to rest and while sitting there, picked up some rocks he thought were pretty and put them in his pocket.
When he returned to camp, he showed the rocks to his hosts, who recognized them as gold ore. They asked to be shown the spot where the rocks could be found, and the next morning, while the traveler proceeded on his way, the prospectors busily staked claims. Thus began the White Oaks gold rush.
Roaring gold camp
White Oaks was founded Aug. 15, 1879. The main street was White Oaks Avenue and was 100 feet across, with trees planted along the avenue on both sides for shade as well as beauty. At first, there was the tent town, and then the shantytown. By July 17,1880, the first house was built and all White Oaks celebrated. By the end of December 1881, the town had a thousand souls.
Outlaws, too, stalked the bustling, dusty streets of White Oaks, claiming the booming camp as an area for their infamous activities. Billy the Kid was one of them. The day that the Kid made the historic escape from the Lincoln jail, Pat Garrett was in White Oaks.
That White Oaks eventually became a ghost town is another point of folly. By 1890, people knew that the mining center should have a railroad. Morris Lock and Company commenced to push rails from El Paso to White Oaks, spending $170,000 on the deal.
A look further back
The following is from old mining journals and newspaper accounts during the White Oaks heyday.
During the days of the Spaniards and Mexican rule, natives from San Antonio, Luis Lopez, San Marcial, Valverde and Socorro often looked for gold when away from the vigilant eye of the governor in Santa Fe and the soldiers of the presidio. If they were successful, they kept it a well-guarded secret. Nor did they go in for mining as their compadres did over in Santa Rita. Just enough to by a few sheep or a bottle of wine in Bernalillo or El Paso. Gen. Estanislao Montoya knew there was gold here, but it was easier to mine coal and he contracted to supply Fort Craig south of San Antonio.
White Oaks today
The town is into another renaissance with artists, writers, gold buffs, historians, poets and lovers of nature, and the grand west moving into Lincoln County and White Oaks. Taos and Santa Fe were developed by romantics and lovers of the unencumbered West. White Oaks also has such beautiful qualities; Ruidoso, 20 miles away, is developing into a fine arts and tourist section. As its Chamber tells us, Ruidoso is “seasoned just right.” All the little outlying towns also are so seasoned: Nogal, Alto, Capitan, Lincoln Hondo and San Patricio offer enchanting prospects. White Oaks may still have another boom time ahead.
Bill Rakocy is a veteran El Paso artist and historian whose books
include “Ghostown of White Oaks.” Information: 584-9716.
El Paso Scene MONTHLY
This month's listings, stories and columnsFeature story
Roundup
Music
Dance
Here's the Ticket
Program Notes
On Stage
Sports
Southwest Art Scene
At the Museum
History Lessons
Nature
Film Scene
Keep on Bookin'
Becoming Bicultural
Liner Notes
Stage Talk
Gallery Talk
Better ParentingCopyright 2008 by Cristo Rey Communications.