Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1885-01-11
a s,EasA COUNTRY.

- NENNNEN"-NN
HuIsBoRo. NEw MExIco, January D.
Il MAJ be interesting to your readers to
know what interests the people in this
corner Of the Southwest Hillsboro is the
county seal Of Sierra county. and has two or
three hundred inhabitants, with its share OF
lawy ers. Chinese, gamblers and burroS, ever
for q far western town. 1t is almost half
wood and half adobe. The former being
from six to eight miles away. The Percha
Spanish for Dark riVer), called so because
il. heads in the Black Range, flows though
the town and is now about the size OF
Wheeling creek at en- ordinary stage. In
summer the BID il generally cry, it does no
How.
This town cannot be called either q min
ing or ranching town, although lying in the
Lake Valley mining belt the richest in
New Mexico, if not in the country, but
little mining is done. Two idle mills stand
near BY, quartz mills. Ranches are on
every side of the town, yet cowboys
never take the town, which Is
generally as quiet as q Washington
county Presbyterian village, yet the princi-
pal places of business are saloons. Churches
are not tolerated, except among the Next
can population, who have q chapel on the
hill and occupy about one-third ofthe houses
around town. Around in its strict mean
ing, as a young man has his arm around 8
young lady, on the outside of the town,
although q part of which the young man
cannot be said to be.
This place was here when the Apaches
were around, and is probably the Oldest
town in the county. Considerable mining
has been done here, but since the Indians
have given up their raids within the past
two or three years, other places have taken
away the mining business. Lake Valley,
seventeen miles away, with one mine hay-
ing an output Of four million, within the
past two years would naturally take away
business from any ordinary town, and
Kingston, twelve miles on the other side,
having q dozen paying mines to onein Lake
Valley, leaves Hillsboro but little except 10
act as hosiery to the traveller as he journeys
to aad from the mining towns,
and its being made COUNTY
capital keeps HIllsborO from actual death.
| have not struck any booming towns, al
though nearly all seem to be steadily i'm
proving. There is nothing to make a own
boom in this section. Mining is different
from what it was when Leadyilie was boom
ing, and while Lake Valley has Some richie:
mines than lever Leadville had, it is a town
Of only a few hundred people, and az the end
offs railroad, a bn nch OF the A. I. Il 5. r.,
and q distributing and shipping point Tor
several mining camps.
| have heard Of no particular mining ex-
elements for months, although every min
ing camp which are numerous in this cor
ner" has its local excitement every few
days. Every day heavy OK and mule wag.
ons pass through here loaded with silver
ore from the Black Range, principally from
Kingston. The ore runs from $50 per ton
up The most valuable car load Of ore
ever shipped from HiIgs,on was valued at
ST., 0GO-l4 tons. The most OF this ore
was stolen, we understand, before 1t reached
its destination, and the returns only made
it 81, OCO. This was n early days, and such
things were common two or three years ago,
Lut now we seldom hear of any such rust
Ing either among miners or ranchmeO.
The cattle thieves noticed some time since
in your columns as being rounded in are
still in Jail here, except what are out on
bail and what have escaped. All escaped a
lew weeks ago, but all were captured again
except one, the worst Of the LOT, who is sfll
at large.
There are two classes Of people in this
Territory. One processes to believe hal the
Territory Of New Mexico is eEerstocked with
cattle; the other class claim that there are
room for as many more, and, with wells and
windmills to brings the water to the surface,
the capacity OF New Mexico for raising stock
can be increased many fold. Of course, the
first class includes the large stock owners,
who want ne new Icomers- 70 come IN, but
want 10 m~onopoize the ranges and even to
drive out the homestesders, whom they try
to bring into obloquy by calling them nest
ers," and even worse names, and set their
cowboys to worry them in every possible
way.
The conflict between the Homesteader
and the country is q growing problem al
through the West, where the country has
heretofore been given over to grazing. As
the public lands available for homesteading
grow less, the emigrant In search of a free
home pushes on to the domain of the COW
boy, who has made his fortune, often con-
sisting of hundreds of thousands or even
millions, by having free occupancy Of gov
eminent land, and Of course are 10th to give
them up, and according TO common law IN
many States, q certain number OF years in
~updisputed possession would give them a
ntle, and whatever may be the right OF the
actual settler, which the cowboy cannot
generally be said 10 be, and however proper
the policy Of the government may be in de-
sirirg the public land settled up, yet 1t Is
VIGOROUSLY unjust TO allow the cowboy to 60
OF and make improvements, get and devel-
ope water or land otherwise barren, and
then to have the land thus improved, and
made marketable taken away from them,
and not even the privilege allowed of pur'
chasing the land, at the anne price that
others pay, or have paid for public lands,
| do not use the term cowboy in an often
sive sense, but because it is quite expires
sive, and liked By those to whom it
is applied. Nor do l pretend to enter
into . discussion of the merits Of this
growing problem" which really belongs
to the hall of Congress, who in Justice to
the government and all parties concerned
should legislate at once, and save trouble
and bloodshed. All public lands should be
sealed and prices pat upon them, so that
they could be homesteaded p~re-empted, sold
or leased, and some revenue derived nom
them b. the government.
This has been a rough winter for this sec
ton, although the thermometer has not got
down anything near zero, and scarcely out
Of range Of freezing point. In fact for a
winter climate this may be called an Eden,
compared with the eastern places as far as
mildness Of weather, and q healthy climate
is concerned and physicians have other
means Of living besides fees from patients,