THE CHARMER

          It was an autumn Saturday afternoon.  The New Mexico sun shone, but without the warmness of summer.  The wind blew off the mesa towards our group of five, as we walked to the Hoffman Town shopping area. A new record store had opened and I had two dollars tucked in my jeans pocket.  I was going to buy the latest singles: “Peggy Sue” and “Maybe Baby.”

          I walked between Joey and Dave.  Joey was Dave’s friend and he tagged along everywhere we went. I didn’t mind, the three of us had a lot of fun together.

          “Shorty, when are you going to grow up?” Dave laughed as he patted the top of my head.

          “I may be short, but I’m mighty!” I teased back with a nudge.  Joey entered into the playful antics as we joked around.

          The three of us turned and waited for the “lovebirds’ to catch up.  Their arms were entangled around each other and I felt a twinge of embarrassment as they kissed.

          “Come on you two, or we’ll never get there,” I admonished.

          Slowly they unglued and began strolling until they caught up.  They were always demonstrative in their affection towards each other.  No matter who was around.  Dave and I held hands and when we said goodbye he would peck me on the lips. (Unless Joey was watching.)  But, our friends, bringing up the rear, had a different kind of love.  It bordered on the edge of..."desperate."  They were cemented together as two lone souls adrift from the rest of the world.

          Chuck was tall and husky with dark hair and blue eyes, set over sprinklings of freckles on his cheeks.  He had the appearance of a healthy American lad.  Even my mom had been smitten with him.

          “He’s such a polite young man,” she said when she met him.

          To look at Chuck you would never know he had a problem.  But, there were rumors that if he got into trouble again he would be sent to Springer's reform School.  Just last year, Chuck had run away from home.  He bragged of hitchhiking to California.  He kept us spellbound with his tales.  We could feel the hair on the back of our neck prickle as he told us of one experience.

         According to Chuck, he fought off the advances of a man who picked him up and Chuck demanded to be let out of the car.  The driver pulled over and Chuck exited in a flash.  Chuck was left by the side of the road to thumb another ride.

          Chuck’s mother worked as a carhop at a drive-in restaurant and there was no father in his home.  I often wondered if Chuck’s dad was in California, and perhaps Chuck had hitchhiked there to search for him.  
          My own father, Kenneth, was on the West Coast.  I mused that perhaps all divorced fathers headed for California.  All of this concerning Chuck’s dad, was purely speculation on my part.  Chuck revealed himself within limits, and then he would clam up.  I had the feeling there were many secrets hidden inside of him.  I also noticed he had no close friends.  He hung around with us because of Barbara.

          Barbara and I were best of friends.  She was full of chatter and giggles.  She was a live wire, dishwater blond.  All Barb ever thought of or talked about was Chuck.  She was completely captivated.

          “Our lives will always be inseperatable,” she would dramatize.

          Barb’s mother would like to have separated the two.  She was against the relationship and viewed Barb as a willful teenager.  Barb was hardheaded it was true.  She was determined to do what she pleased, despite her mother’s disapproval. 
            Barb’s home was also without a father.  She had confided to me her displeasure and dread of her mother’s approaching marriage. I had spent the night at Barb’s house a number of times and the icy tension  was obvious.  I also noticed, from their standard of living, that there were no apparent financial difficulties.  Barbara lacked for nothing materially but emotionally she clung to Chuck.

          As we neared the shopping area, I remembered Mom’s comment when I told her Chuck had been in trouble.  “All that boy needs is a good home and a family.  Why, that young man could charm anyone.”

          “Yes, Chuck was charming.  He had charmed Barbara, mom and me.  But, was a charmer someone who was real and trustworthy?  We would find out in the months that followed.

Historia de Belén

Two Spaniards, Captain Don Diego Torres and Antonio Salazar, Torres’ brother-in-law, founded Belen in 1740. They named it Belen, Spanish for Bethlehem, in honor of that town. The forty families who founded Belen began a community based on agriculture. By the 19th century, Belen’s economy had expanded into sheep herding, and the town grew. After New Mexico became a territory of the United Stated in 1846, immigrants began arriving and the Belen area developed as a mercantile center with trade base extending west to the Arizona line and east to the Estancia Valley. The arrival of the railroad in 1880 eventually brought shops, a roundhouse, ice plant, and yards containing miles of track and a depot. In 1918, the village of Belen came into existence. The first village ordinance was passed July 1, 1919 to provide for methods of enacting ordinances that would result in officials and taxes as well as fire and police protection.

Belen became a town in 1940 and then a city in 1966. Today Belen boasts stores, motels, restaurants, friendly residents, and interesting places to visit and enjoy.

THE HISTORY OF SOCORRO, NEW MEXICO

Socorro History

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Socorro (literally to give aid, to give succor) was indeed a source of help to the first expedition of Spanish families traveling north from Mexico in 1598, led by Don Juan de Oñate y Salazar. Socorro’s first inhabitants, Piro-speaking people of the Teypana Pueblo, welcomed the scouting party of Oñate and his men. They showed no fear of the strangers, according to Oñate’s official log, and with hand signs told the group what lay ahead.
When the Teypana inhabitants unexpectedly gave the group a large gift of corn, Oñate renamed the pueblo Socorro.
Nothing remains of Teypana today, but on the east edge of Socorro County, the ruins of the vast Gran Quivira Pueblo stand as tribute to the great trade culture of the Pueblo Indians. One of three pueblos of the Salinas Missions National Monument, the ruins of Gran Quivira show the excellent masonry of their architecture.
Oñate’s expedition began a century of trade along El Camino Real (the Royal Road). From its early days of caravans bringing missionaries and supplies, the road over its 223-year history connected the New Mexico Territory to Mexico and Spain.
Little parajes (resting places) sprang up along the Rio Grande from Paraje de Fra Cristobal, at the northern end of Jornada del Muerto, to Casa Colorado in the northern end of today’s Socorro County. A bit of the oldest trail in North America can still be traversed along a dirt road section east of Escondida. El Camino Real is beginning to receive the recognition it deserves in history. A visitors center detailing the road’s history opened in the fall of 2005 at the south end of Socorro County, overlooking a section of the historic El Camino Real.
San Miguel Mission, in the City of Socorro, was one of four missions built among the Piro Pueblos during the 1600s. Spanish families surrounded the mission, farming and ranching on land given them in Spanish land grants. During the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, the Teypanas left with the Spaniards, establishing a new community further south. Socorro was not re-founded as a community again until late 1816.
In 1854, Fort Craig was built at the north end of Jornada del Muerto, to guard against Apache and Navajo raids and to protect El Camino Real. With the outbreak of the Civil War, the fort remained a Union Army Post.
On February 21, 1862, Confederate troops under General H.H. Sibley engaged the Union Army troops under Colonel R.S. Canby. Confederates won the Battle of Valverde, fought upstream from the fort at the Valverde Crossing. Fort Craig later was home to the Buffalo Soldiers, regiments of Black soldiers who served after the Civil War.
Today, the Fort is open from dawn to dusk, seven days a week. Maintained by the Bureau of Land Management, the site has interpretive signs and a campsite. The Battle of Valverde is re-enacted each year, on a weekend near its February anniversary date. Activities are centered in the City of Socorro and include re-enactments of the battle, the “liberation” of the town of Socorro and other events.
The arrival of the railroad in the 1880s brought miners, merchants, and cattlemen to Socorro County. In the west, Magdalena became the center of mining activities and the “End of the Trail” for cattle drives from farther west. The town of Socorro sported a grain mill, a brewery and smelters to process the ores. California mission style homes and buildings took their place among the adobes in the booming towns. In 1889, the area’s first university opened: the New Mexico School of Mines, now known as New Mexico Tech. NM Tech has garnered an international reputation in the sciences and is consistently rated as a top college nationally. The Tech campus is also home to the National Radio Astronomy Observatory’s VLA and VLBA, and several associated entities.
The beginning of World War II saw an increase in activity in Socorro County’s southeast quarter. With the increase in temporary workers traveling through, San Antonio’s Frank Chavez answered a need by opening a small restaurant in his store, and created the first green chile hamburger at the Owl Bar and Cafe. The workers wouldn’t say what they were doing but did tell residents to watch for something big on the morning of July 16, 1945. Many Socorroans remember the light of the first atomic blast at White Sands Missile Range. Trinity Site is now a monument, open twice a year.
Socorro residents maintain an independent attitude, reminiscent of its “Wild West” past. In the ’50s, a few citizens trumpeted the idea that Socorro had somehow escaped all legal transfers from Spain to Mexico to the U.S. and started a secession campaign. License plates reading “Free State of Socorro” can still be seen.

Historic...Magdalena...where I was born.

Historic Magdalena New Mexico

A community rich in history...

Stay and explore our history and natural beauty
The Village of Magdalena is an incorporated village with its own governing body, nestled in among the beauty of some of the most scenic mountains, trails and historic buildings. Located at an elevation ranging from 6,548 feet (Magdalena) to 12,600 feet (South Baldy Peak) and an area population of approximately 1200, the small town atmosphere is host to some exciting and vibrant changes. Over the past few years many new businesses have opened their doors to serve the local population and travelers.
The perennial mild climate makes this a great year-round destination with temperatures for this area ranging from around 19°–60's (fall/winter) and 43°–90's (spring/summer), with mountain breezes and summer monsoon showers.
There are several historic buildings, still to be found in Magdalena, and several of these today are home to active businesses and private homes. Magdalena is undergoing a "face-lift" and is being recognized for its growing arts community, place to stop, shop and stay a while. The Historic U.S. Route 60 is home to one of the most delightful towns, numerous galleries, stores, hiking trails and other events and attractions.

The history surrounding Magdalena is rich with Old West Legends, Dusty Cattle Drives, Pioneer families, Main Street Shoot-outs, Fiery Ranchers and Grimy-faced Miners. This history just adds to the many area attractions. To name but a few of those attractions:

Trail's End

Magdalena is known as the "Trails End" for the railroad/spur line which was built in 1885 from Socorro to Magdalena to transport the cattle, sheep wool, timber and ore. Thousands of cattle and sheep were driven into town (cowboy style) from the west, using the historic "Stock Driveway", aka "Hoof Highway." The original historic stockyards are still intact.
This historic Stock Driveway was used annually, from 1885 through 1916 when the driveway was officially designated by law through the signing of the "Grazing Homestead Act" and was continually in use through 1971.
The 125 mile driveway extended west to Datil, New Mexico then forked south toward Horse Springs and Reserve, New Mexico, while the other fork led to Springerville, Arizona.
The drive was 5 to 10 miles wide and covered 200 square miles. The peak trailing year, 1919, saw 150,000 sheep and 21,000 cattle pass the point around Ten Mile Hill.
The Civilian Conservation Corp., (the CCC) boys fenced the driveway in 1930, and drilled a well about every ten miles.
During the drives cowboys moved about 10 miles a day, and herders moved sheep about 5 miles a day, allowing them to graze as they went. Chuck wagons and relays of horses followed behind. Trailing gave way to trucking, and the last portion of the driveway was officially closed in November of 1971.

Mary Magdalene

Mary Magdalene (aka "Lady on the Mountain") gazes down from the Magdalena Peak today as she has for centuries, keeping a watchful eye over her town.

Kelly Ghost Town

The "Ghost Town of Kelly," located just minutes from Magdalena, was in its day home to close to 3,000 people, with shops, doctors, saloons, churches, hotels and schools. Mining bought prosperity to the area in the early 1880's.