By April Holthaus
Special to The PREVIEW

During the Civil War, the Union Army wanted to empty its prison camps and stop feeding and burying Confederate prisoners. Many of these prisoners were Unionized to do Army business and go west.

What prisoner wouldn’t want to be free and also earn a bit of money?

If you are interested in the Civil War or western history, you are invited to come to the meeting of the Archuleta County Genealogical Society to learn about “Galvanized Yankees.” Our speaker, Karen Hancock, has done extensive research on this subject. You may be surprised to learn we have some “Georgia Peaches” near Pagosa Springs in southern Colorado.

The full version of this story is available in the print edition and e-edition of the Pagosa Springs SUN. Subscribe today by calling (970)264-2100 or click here.

By Margaret Gallegos
Special to The PREVIEW

Historic Preservation Month is celebrated nationally during the month of May, and is a tradition in the state of Colorado and in Pagosa Springs.

The Town of Pagosa Springs Historic Preservation Board will host and facilitate historic preservation workshops and events during May to highlight and raise awareness about the preservation of Pagosa Springs’ unique social, economic and diverse cultural heritage.

Historic Preservation Board members Brad Ash, Peggy Bergon, Chrissy Karas, Judy James and Andre Redstone would like to encourage you to take part in and enjoy as many national, state and local historic preservation activities as possible during the month of May.

The local events will provide you, your family and guests with excellent opportunities to learn about Pagosa’s past, share in its history and celebrate its diverse cultural heritage, architecture and economy.

To experience pride in the beauty and accomplishments of the past, events will take place at the Fred Harman Art Museum, Chimney Rock National Monument and the Pagosa Springs History Museum. Also, new historic designation plaques will be displayed at the Metropolitan Hotel, owned by Nettie and Danny Wood, located at 422 Pagosa St., and the Phillips’ house, owned by Susan Winter-Ward, located at 138 Pagosa St.

Activities added to this year’s events to highlight Pagosa Springs’ history include:

“The West,” eight weeks of documentary films about the American old west, shown at the historic Liberty Theatre each Tuesday evening through May 26.

Certificates of appreciation will be presented to Bryson Rentals and Riff Raff Brewing Company at 5 p.m. on May 14 at the Riff Raff Brewing Company.

A public presentation forum about “The Benefits of Historic Preservation and Heritage Tourism” will be held in Pagosa Springs with representatives from the State Historic Colorado tax credit program and tourism office at a date to be announced.

Returning annual events include the student poster contest, a downtown walking tour on May 17 and the Pagosa Springs Car Show May 15-17.

We hope to see you out and about in Pagosa Springs during the Historic Preservation Month of May. For a complete schedule of activities, please visit the building and planning department at Town Hall, located at 551 Hot Springs Blvd., call us at 264-4151 or access our website at www.townofpagosasprings.com.

Photo courtesy John M. Motter
Made circa 1884, when the town of Pagosa Springs was platted into lots, this line drawing shows the hot springs in the foreground, Pagosa Springs in the background to the right and the buildings of Old Fort Lewis in the background to the left.

We wrote last week about the friction between Anglos and Hispanics for control of the government of newly formed Archuleta County. When the first elected county officials met to organize the new government in January of 1887, a group of armed men, all Anglo, broke up the meeting.

One of the men, Ethereal T. Walker, carried a hat box into the meeting. Once inside, he opened the hat box to display to the wide-eyed horror of the newly elected commissioners, all from the Hispanic faction, a brand new rope, neatly configured with a hangman’s knot.

The commissioners quickly adjourned and did not meet again until the end of September in 1887.

Meanwhile, a grand jury convened in Durango in October of 1887. Under indictment for riot from Archuleta County were the men who interfered with the January county commissioner organizational meeting. Indicted were: E.M Taylor, John Dowell, Frank Cooley, H.D. Bowling, John Kemp, Jacob Dowell, Charles Chambers, Walker, Tully Kemp, J.H. Hallett and R.J. Chambers.

The full version of this story is available in the print edition and e-edition of the Pagosa Springs SUN. Subscribe today by calling (970)264-2100 or click here.

By Margaret Gallegos
Special to The SUN

Take a walk through the historic Town of Pagosa Springs on Sunday, May 17, with community members Twila Brown and Judy James. They are geared up to be your personal guides and interpreters of the downtown historic district.

The tour will highlight the buildings, architecture and local economic importance.

The full version of this story is available in the print edition and e-edition of the Pagosa Springs SUN. Subscribe today by calling (970)264-2100 or click here.

Photo courtesy John M. Motter
J.T Martinez is shown supervising the shearing of his sheep. J.T. was a member of the Martinez family once powerful in county politics. The Martinez family collaborated with the Archuleta family in an effort to control the county government.

During the first 15 years of its existence, competition between Anglos and Hispanics for control of the Archuleta County government was so fierce it attracted the attention of newspapers across the state. The messy situation is said to have attracted the undercover attention of the Pinkerton Detective Agency’s cowboy detective Charlie Siringo.

One of the best expositions describing this power struggle was written by John Taylor, a man teaching school in Archuleta County at the time. Taylor moved on, but in later life described affairs in Archuleta County. His memoirs are on file in the Denver Public Library History Museum. Taylor wrote the following in his memoirs:

“In the southern part of the county was a voting precinct known as the Archuleta precinct, here over a hundred Mexicans from New Mexico were voted to hold their gang in power.

Photo courtesy John M. Motter
From left are Manuelita Martinez (nee Madrid), the wife of Jose Teofilo Martinez; Fred Harman; former County Judge J.T. Martinez; and the judge’s son, Emmett Martinez. J.T. was a member of a pioneer county family and served as county judge from1934 until 1954, when he passed away.

We have been describing the bitter contest between Anglos and Hispanics for control of the Archuleta County government during the first years following creation of the county. Today, we continue quoting from the memoirs of John Taylor, a school teacher of the time who was personally involved.

“The fight in Archuleta County was fierce and hot. Maurice Brown and I on that election went to Archuleta precinct (Motter: Edith) and challenged 334 votes that lived over the line in New Mexico. Marcelone (Motter: Marcelino) Archuleta accepted them all as legal. Sheriff Dyke had deputized me to bring the box to Pagosa. To reach there we had to ford the San Juan. My horse lost his footing and in this way the ballot box was lost. It never reached Pagosa and we elected all officers except that of County Clerk E.M. Taylor, good fellow and an unbeatable politician.

The full version of this story is available in the print edition and e-edition of the Pagosa Springs SUN. Subscribe today by calling (970)264-2100 or click here.

Photo courtesy Historic Preservation Board
Historic Preservation Board and school representatives pose with the elementary school winners of the Historic Preservation Youth Poster Contest. In back are, left to right, HPB member Chrissy Karas, Judy James, art teacher Tessie Garcia and HPB chair Brad Ash. In front are, from left to right, Elyssia Deangelo, Annie O’Donnell, Rio Mylius, Karina Brown, Heath Fulbright and Angelo Gallegos.

By Margaret Gallegos
Special to The PREVIEW

What do you do with 205 pieces of paper? Take a Pagosa Springs scene that is close to your heart, draw it on a piece of paper, apply some color and create art for the 11th annual Historic Preservation Youth Poster Contest.

The Historic Preservation Board received 205 art entries from Pagosa Springs youth for the poster contest that began in April and was open to all Pagosa Springs youth in three categories — elementary and younger, junior high and high school.

The theme for this year’s contest was “History in the Making: Celebrating Youth in Preservation.” The board decided to adopt the same theme as the state, defining the theme as “What do youth see in Pagosa Springs that is worth preserving?”

The full version of this story is available in the print edition and e-edition of the Pagosa Springs SUN. Subscribe today by calling (970)264-2100 or click here.

Photo courtesy John M. Motter
The Chapsons ranched and raised a family overlooking the West Fork of the San Juan River during the late 1890s and early 1900s.

Prejudice between Anglos and Hispanics existed during the early settlement of Archuleta County, just as it did throughout the pioneer west. A related prejudice between sheepmen and cattlemen was also evident. Not all sheepmen were Hispanic and not all cattlemen were Anglos, but it seems the ethnic problem was closely related to the ovine/bovine rancher problem.

I was told by the late Ray Macht, a descendant of an early Archuleta County family recognized as cattle ranchers, that an unwritten rule guided the sharing of range between cattlemen and sheepmen. At times, the rule was enforced with guns.

According to Macht, during the summer grazing season, cattlemen allowed sheepmen to run their flocks on the lush grass found above 10,000 feet in the San Juans. To identify the 10,000 feet elevation level, Macht pointed to the rock cliffs evident in the mountains looping around Pagosa Springs on the East and North. When the summer season ended, the sheep were driven back into New Mexico for the winter.

The full version of this story is available in the print edition and e-edition of the Pagosa Springs SUN. Subscribe today by calling (970)264-2100 or click here.

Photo courtesy John M. Motter
Henry Gordon was one of the more colorful characters to saddle up in pioneer Pagosa Country.

Last week, we started telling of the Montoya/Howe Sheepmen’s/Cattlemen’s War.

William Howe was a young cattle rancher who homesteaded along the west fork of the San Juan River on a ranch later known as the At Last Ranch. Howe’s life had definitely been on the bloom. He’d married the love of his life in 1891 and was elected county commissioner on the Republican ticket in 1892. Cream was added to the cake when the young bride announced her pregnancy a short time later. If your name was William Howe, life was good.

On the day our story begins, Howe was sitting in his ranch house, hand on his forehead, surrounded by friends helping the bereaved young man deal with the recent loss of his wife as she gave birth to their first child in April of 1892.

The surviving son provided a smattering of solace after the loss of his young bride. The boy was named Abraham in honor of a brother who homesteaded upstream from William’s place. Sadness deepened when young Abe passed away in August, just 4 months old. Joining in the wake for the young lad were Uncle Abe Howe, Old Joe Mann who was a family friend who lived up the east fork of the San Juan River, and several sympathizers from Pagosa Springs.

The full version of this story is available in the print edition and e-edition of the Pagosa Springs SUN. Subscribe today by calling (970)264-2100 or click here.

Photo courtesy John M. Motter
Billy Kern is one of those early Pagosa Country pioneers who is worth a story by himself. He arrested Juan de Dios Montoya for murdering William Howe in 1892 and, in a very threatening environment, delivered his prisoner to Durango for trial.

We’ve been writing about the Montoya/Howe Sheepmen’s/Cattlemen’s War that took place along the west fork of the, San Juan River where it crossed what we recognize today as the At Last Ranch.

Just as we closed last week’s column, Juan de Dios Montoya leaned his 45.90 buffalo rifle against a boulder on the west side of the river. Montoya gripped a bullet-shattered shoulder as his searching eyes watched William Howe’s body, stripped of life, slump from his blood-stained saddle into the oblivion of knee-high grass.

The shooting in this so-called war lasted scarcely longer than a minute. In that oh-so-brief time, one young man still in the vigor of youth lay dead and another, equally young and vigorous, clutched a bleeding shoulder, still shaking from the suddenness of his near-death encounter with the grim reaper.

The full version of this story is available in the print edition and e-edition of the Pagosa Springs SUN. Subscribe today by calling (970)264-2100 or click here.

Photo courtesy John M. Motter
Bonnie Kern shown with her father, Billy Kern, circa 1925. Kern lost his trigger finger to frostbite and is said to have fired his six-shooter by fanning the hammer. In 1892, Kern arrested Juan de Dios Montoya on the charge of murdering William Howe.

Today we finish telling the story of the 1892 Montoya/Howe Sheepmen’s/Cattlemen’s War. Today we report the trial results.

If you have been following this story in The SUN over the past few weeks, you know that sheep rancher Juan de Dios Montoya shot and killed cattle rancher William Howe. Montoya was arrested by Archuleta County Sheriff Billy Kern. Montoya was charged with murder and the trial took place in the Sixth Judicial District Court in Durango.

Given the Anglo prejudice against Hispanics at that time and the storied enmity between sheepmen and cattlemen, one would have to be skeptical of Montoya’s chances of walking free.

The trial of Montoya finally took place in January of 1892. He was defended by probably the best trial lawyer in southwestern Colorado, Adair Wilson. Wilson had practiced law in Del Norte before moving to Durango and was a personal friend of the Montoya family. Taking part in the trial were several Pagosa Springs witnesses who had been ministering to the dead man at the wake held for his deceased son just before the shootout.

Durango newspapers gave much space to the trial and when Montoya was freed by a jury convinced that he acted in self defense, a reporter asserted somewhat jubilantly that “these sons of sunny southern climes joyfully retired to Delmonico’s to celebrate.”

The full version of this story is available in the print edition and e-edition of the Pagosa Springs SUN. Subscribe today by calling (970)264-2100 or click here.

Photo courtesy John M. Motter
Several historic gems remain off the beaten path in Pagosa Country. This building, known as the Bond House, remains on the upper reaches of the Navajo River where that stream meanders northward. The building once served as a hotel and as a school. It is a reminder of the only gold rush in Archuleta County. Gold was reported in the area during the 1890s and that is where a man named Bond erected this building as a hotel. Old courthouse records reveal a lot of claims were filed, but, excuse the pun, they didn’t pan out. This building is on private land, so don’t trespass searching for it.

We’ve been writing about lawlessness during the pioneering days of Pagosa Country settlement. We continue that venue today by describing the last stagecoach holdup.

Before getting into the story, I feel compelled to tell an often repeated story I heard several times while drinking coffee with some of the oldtimers I knew shortly after moving here in 1970. The chief proponent of this story was Earl Mullins, the former barber.

According to Mullins, the stagecoach running between Chama and Pagosa Springs had been held up. In the process, the robber or robbers had abandoned the stagecoach somewhere in the aspen groves on the south side of the Blanco River, maybe as far east as the Upper Blanco Basin.

Mullins didn’t claim to have seen the derelict coach himself, but said Red Sisson had seen it and told him about it. Red was the husband of school teacher Ruby Sisson, for whom the Pagosa Springs library is named. The Sissons ranched on the Upper Blanco a short distance east of the bridge crossing shortly after the road reaches the river bottom. An old country school once stood on the north side of that road near the Sisson place. Early in her career, Ruby taught at that school. The school building still survives, but has been moved to the Fred Harman Art Museum.

The full version of this story is available in the print edition and e-edition of the Pagosa Springs SUN. Subscribe today by calling (970)264-2100 or click here.

Art courtesy John M. Motter
Before the railroad connected with Pagosa Springs, most of the freight and mail and many of the visitors reached town by way of a stage coach running between Pagosa Springs and Amargo. The Denver & Rio Grande Railroad ran through Amargo on its way to Durango.

Pagosa Country’s last stagecoach holdup took place three miles south of town in September of 1892.

Seventeen-year-old Alfred Black was driving the mail wagon, a hack, bound from Pagosa Springs to Amargo. Frank Spickard was a passenger on the stage. The holdup took place near the present junction of U.S. 84 and Hot Springs Boulevard.

The Pagosa Springs News reported:

“On Wednesday morning, three miles out from Pagosa, the mail carrier was unceremoniously invited to hold up his hands. Frank Spickard was a passenger and the request was also directed at him. Alfred Black was driver that morning. As the two gentlemen looked down the barrel of a large six-shooter they unhesitatingly, though unwillingly, complied with the slight request.

The full version of this story is available in the print edition and e-edition of the Pagosa Springs SUN. Subscribe today by calling (970)264-2100 or click here.

Photo courtesy John M. Motter
Emmit Wirt, pictured here during a long and distinguished career as post trader on the Jicarilla Apache Reservation, sewed some wild oats during his younger days, as the accompanying column reveals.

We have reported a series of election confrontations between Anglos and Hispanics for political control of Archuleta County. The events we reported took place in the first election after creation of the county in 1885.

Most of the information for what happened locally during those years was obtained from newspapers in neighboring counties. Pagosa Springs did not have a newspaper at that time.

Pagosa Springs finally got its own newspaper when D.L. Eggers came to town in April of 1890. On April 10 of that year, Eggers published the first edition of his newspaper called The Pagosa Springs News. Eggers, a populist, immediately jumped into the middle of local politics, where he remained for the approximately 10 years he published the News.

Frank Deatheridge had published a weekly called The Pagosa Springs Herald the summer before Eggers arrived, but no copies of that effort remain. It appears Deatheridge got in trouble with the law and, adorned with a pair of handcuffs, departed for the state prison at Canon City, ending his newspaper endeavors.

From the pen of Eggers, we read of the following Wild West excitement. It seems Sheriff Billy Kern had built a new house at the corner of San Juan and Park streets. We know what the house looked like because it is still standing at that location. For years, oldtimers called it the “Sturdivant House.”

Here’s what happened when Kern threw an open-house celebration.

The full version of this story is available in the print edition and e-edition of the Pagosa Springs SUN. Subscribe today by calling (970)264-2100 or click here.

Photo courtesy John M. Motter
This building served as one of Pagosa Springs’ first hotels. It was erected by a pioneer family which served the community well.

With today’s column, we begin a time trip through pioneer Pagosa Springs with Daniel Egger, editor and publisher of the brand new Pagosa Springs News, as tour guide.

During the summer of 1891, we read, “There is considerable building being done in and about Pagosa Springs this summer … the Strawns house on the north side is now receiving guests … W. H. Kern will put on a stage line between Pagosa Springs and Durango starting next Monday … A.D. Garvin opened his ‘Little Parlour’ saloon to the public on Tuesday evening … J.V. Johnson came up from Chama last Thursday, accompanied by L. Hersch. The latter gentleman is from Santa Fe and will take charge of Mr. Johnson’s store at this place … The San Juan Hotel has not had a vacant bed or room this past week.”

The above brief items indicate a growth spurt in Pagosa Springs at that time. The Strawns house was a two-story wooden hotel which stood on Pagosa Street, just north of today’s school district administration building.

Full of local history, it was still standing when I moved to Pagosa Springs some 40 years ago, but has since burned. It was erected by James C. Strawn, who was one of the first to use the Morse code as a telegrapher. The Strawns also had a homestead at the mouth of Turkey Creek and operated horse-drawn freight wagons across Elwood Pass. He was a member of the first town council following incorporation of Pagosa Springs in 1891.

The full version of this story is available in the print edition and e-edition of the Pagosa Springs SUN. Subscribe today by calling (970)264-2100 or click here.

Photo courtesy John M. Motter
This was the first bathhouse at the Pagosa hot spring, erected in 1881. It had a large plunge bath fully 4.5 feet deep and several single tubs.

We continue to list interesting news items taken from the 1891 Pagosa Springs News.

The opening for settlement of the 6-square-mile military reservation surrounding Pagosa Springs was announced in the July 3, 1891, edition of “The News.” The announcement said, in part, “When it is opened there will be a lively scramble to get a piece of it. A good part of it is already improved and resided on by those who improved it. The bill makes no stipulation in regard to those squatters but it is assumed that they gave no prior rights.”

Ownership of the Pagosa hot spring and the land surrounding it was a cloudy issue in the early days. The cloudiness comes from a series of governmental “set aside” orders that assumed the federal government owned the land in the beginning and could therefore legally dispose of it.

Remember, the land we are talking about had been part of the Southern Ute Reservation. A series of treaties, some disputed by the Utes, seemed to separate the Utes from this land. Especially questioned was the Brunot Treaty of 1873, which seemed to negate any Ute ownership of lands immediately adjacent to Pagosa Springs or of the hot springs.

Here, in chronological order, are a series of federal “set aside” actions:

The full version of this story is available in the print edition and e-edition of the Pagosa Springs SUN. Subscribe today by calling (970)264-2100 or click here.

Photo courtesy John M. Motter
I suspect this photo was taken on the porch of the Methodist Church on Lewis Street. I also suspect these ladies (in a spirit of reminiscence) have rummaged through their trunks to find the dresses they are wearing from an earlier time. The ladies are, from left, Annie Byrne, Hattie McGirr, Maude Garvin Hart, Laura C. Manson White and Myrtle Schonefelt.

We’ve been reporting news items written in the Pagosa Springs newspaper during the early 1890s. Today’s selected items give the reader a feeling for social events taking place at the time.

We learn that the Literary Society first formed in February 1891. Its first debate question was, “Resolved — that women have more influence over men than money?” This question seems a little unclear to me. I assume it means that men choose women in preference to money. To the best of my knowledge, only the Macht family name remains in our community from the list of 14 founding members.

On March 5, 1891, we learn that “… the snow blockade on the Cumbres range continues and we are still without any eastern mail … It is reported that at some places the snow is deeper by four feet than the height of the telegraph poles (Motter: Telegraph; there were no telephones yet.) and that there is more snow than there was in 1884, when the road was blocked for three months.”

The full version of this story is available in the print edition and e-edition of the Pagosa Springs SUN. Subscribe today by calling (970)264-2100 or click here.

The following items appeared in the Pagosa News during the early 1890s.

During September 1891, the News reported, “The property in this town belonging to Capt. M. H. Insley and Dr. Van Duyn of Leavenworth, Kansas, and Joseph Clarke of Durango, has been divided and now each one owns a certain portion of lots individually. The property comprises about forty lots on the west side on which the barracks are located. Messrs. Insley and Van Duyn have placed their lots on the market.”

Included among these lots were most of the lots fronting Pagosa Street, where most of the town’s businesses were located. Clarke could be considered the town father. In 1877, Clarke was operating a general store about a mile south of town on the west bank of the San Juan River. A bridge crossed the river there carrying travelers headed to and from New Mexico and Cumbres Pass to Animas City and a number of mining communities in the San Juan Mountains, including Silverton and Ouray. Clarke also submitted a request for the first post office in Pagosa Springs and was appointed the first postmaster.

Photo courtesy John M. Motter
The Walter Himes family purchased a ranch on the San Juan West Fork that had been homesteaded in Mineral County by a Summitville miner named Berlin.

In May of 1892, The Pagosa Springs News reported: “Pagosa Springs will hereafter constitute a charge of the Methodist Episcopal Church and Rev. H. Harpst will be the resident minister. Services will be held twice every Sabbath at 11:00 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. The first service will be held on the first Sunday in May.”

Churchgoers had been meeting since Fort Lewis was established in Pagosa Springs in 1878. Early services were held in a log cabin near the Great Pagosa Hot Spring. Traveling preachers ministered to the needs of the locals, often meeting in the school houses. The above announcement marked the beginning of the local Methodist church and first resident pastor.

A plethora of mining claims excited the community during 1892. A.D. Archuleta reported a silver find on the Weminuche that promised to be “a second Creede.” Mason Farrow reported a gold strike on the Piedra River and others reported strikes on the Navajo and Blanco Rivers, Turkey Creek, Four Mile Creek and the San Juan River. None of these strikes amounted to anything, nor did they create much of a rush to Pagosa Springs. The claim on Turkey Creek was more extensively developed than the others, but we know of no paying ore shipped from there.

Photo courtesy John M. Motter
This 1894 photo of Pagosa Springs taken from a vantage point northwest of town, looking to the southwest, and shows the Fort Lewis four officer’s quarters on 8th Street in the foreground and an enlisted men’s barracks along Lewis Street to the right.

The first library in Archuleta County was described in this December 1892 news item in the Pagosa News:

“At the Sunday School session next Sunday, the new library books will be given out as far as are needed. These books are 48 in number and are the gift of a wealthy Methodist man who died in New York City. This is the first library in the county. If the officers of the Sunday Schools on the Navajo and the Blanco would like, Rev. Harpst will aid them in securing a gift, according to the number of scholars. This should be done in time for the early opening of schools in the spring.”

1893 was a year of progress and building in Pagosa Springs. The county commissioners ordered “the old barracks in this town destroyed. It would be more convenient for those occupying the buildings if it were summer rather than winter. Nevertheless, these breeders of disease cannot be destroyed too soon.”

The county health officer helped with this order by declaring the old fort buildings “a source of disease and filth.”

The full version of this story is available in the print edition and e-edition of the Pagosa Springs SUN. Subscribe today by calling (970)264-2100 or click here.