New Mexico
I was born in Alamogordo and my family roots in New Mexico go back to1868 when my great-grandfather Joel Warner Curtis moved his extended family to Colfax County near today's town of Raton. Joel's story is told in the family Histrory "Four Hundred Years in America." Below are some photos taken in 2009 when Vicki & I visited the places my ancesters had lived and wher our parents were married.
Our driving route from Silver City to Raton
Santa Rita was where Melvin Dollins & family moved to in 1918 to work in the copper mine. Eventually, the mine consumed the entire town and the "pit" is visible in the background.
Charles Fuqua and Gloria Cramer lived in a rented room in the back of this house in Deming. The USO was a block away where they spent their free time.
Las Cruces 1st Baptist Church is where my parents were married in 1944.
"The Lodge" at Cloudcroft where we stayed while touring Mayhill.
The Joel Warner Curtis Homestead was on the Rio Peñasco just south of Mayhill. The John Godfrey White Homestead was adjoining south of Joel's ranch. They arrived in late 1881 from their homesteads near Dawson in Colfax County.
The David & Melvin Dollins Homestead was in Dollins Canyon above Curtis Canyon. Melvin joined his Dad in 1902. Shown on the right is the view looking east from the Dollins Homestead toward the Curtis Homestead. Melvin & Nora lived here for a short while just after they were married.
The Rio Peñasco on the Curtis Homestead.
Joel Curtis drove cattle several times between 1858 and 1868 from his Texas Homestead in Stephens County to Fort Sumner to sell the herd to the US Army. This is the site of the Fort and a museum stands today.
Joel Curtis purchased land on the Vermejo River from Luien B. Maxwell in 1868. The land was part of the Beaubien-Miranda Land Grant of 1841 and the Curtis Homestead became a part of the "Vermejo Park Ranch."
Joel's brother-in-law, John Dawson, purchased a larger portion oj the Maxwell Land Grant and the Dawson Ranch in the Elk Valley and the town of "Dawson" was born. Joel's ranch was upstream of the Dawson Homestead.
Joel and his new father-in-law John Godfrey White purchased land east of Dawson in 1880 on the Uña de Gato.
The open range around John Godfrey White's Ranch on the Uña de Gato.
The home of Elmer Samuel Curtis and Marjorie Juanita Dockray built on the corner of Joel's Homestead. Melvin & Noira Dollins built a house in 1915 when they moved down from Dollins Canyon that was located in the middle of the road at this location.
Both Joel Curtis' & John Dawso's Homesteads were in Elk Valley
