Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1897-01-20
ANTON CHICO AFFAIRS.
The Neighborhood QuarreIs and
Something About Old Man Mink.

To the Editor OF the Optic.
EAST LAS VEGAS, N. NJ, January
18Th, 1871 have been a frequen,
visitor to the Anton Chico country,
during the last fifteen years. On my
last trip, a few days ago, I was forcibly
struck with the non-progressive char
acter of the country. I asked myself
the question: "Why is this town just
as it was fifteen years agop" The only
changes / could notice were the store
Of j. M. Abercrombie and the Pecos
river bridge. The latter is in a dilap-
idated condition; dangerous to use,
and liable to be a thing of the past,
after the next high water.
up the Anton Chico neighborhood are
stretched along the Pecos valley, for
about eight miles, from the mouth of
the Tecolote. The district includes
about 1000 acres of very fine agricul-
tural land, under ditch. The land is
divided into very small tracts, and
owned by the occupants. There are
numerous small orchards; many of
them just coming into bearing. The
elev alton is about 5000 feet; and all
the fruits and vegetables Of the temper
ate zone flourish and thrive with the
least possible amount of care and pro-
lection. Under such conditions, it
seems difficult to find any reason for
the fact, that every year the farmers
grow poorer; more aud more the land
IS left uncultivated, and more and more
able bodied men loaf around the
saloons.
The only plausible solution to my
mind IS in the fact that the people are
In a state of constant quarreling, strife
and pickering. They are divided into
bitter factions. The division of water
for i~rrigating is a source OF constant
discord. I understand that the Llano
ditch has been in the courts for ten
years. The justice courts are often
occupied, and the people complain
bitterly that they have had no district
court in their county, and have no
prospects of having any.
A bitter political contest has just
ended in the election. by ten majority,
OF the octogenarian John II. Mink,
justice of the peace.
Mink was born in Bielfeld, Ger many,
November Goth, 1916; served two
years in the Prussian army; taught
school; caught the American fever, and
landed in New Orleans in 1874 fol-
lowed the Mississippi to the head Of
navigation, St. Anthony falls; re-
turned to st. Louis and engaged in the
clothing business in 1915; burned out
in 1916 and joined the U S. volunteer
service under Kearney. In September,
1916, Mink rode into Las Vegas on the
caisson of a six pound cannon, drawn
by four yoke of cattle. Mink parted
company with Kearney In Santa Fe
aud joined the expedition against the
Taas Indians, after the massacre; and
then having saved q little money, he
went, in 1847, to st. Louis and brought
out a stock of goods, with which he
q store on the Rio Grande
river, twenty-seven miles north OF
Santa Fe. II was there, in
1848, that he met and married
Antonita, then q girl of fifteen, who
still lives and shares the blanket with
him. He sold out there in 1849 and
returned to Santa Fee, where he fol-
lowed for years the life Of ~bookkeeper
and clerk, serving Spiegelberg, and
Santa re firms, until 1864, when
went to La !nnta and served VIM.
Kroenig in the same capacity for five
years; then, after spending a couple of
years in Las Vegas, he established him.
self in Anton Chico to await the boom
that should follow the building OF the
Atlantic & Pacific railroad, the survey
for which was then in progress. Mink,
like many another man in New Mex
leo is still awaiting the boom.
Mink is a remarkable man in many
particulars. He is always inclined to
be aggressive. and is never so happy
as when engaged in some kind of a
contest. He is remarkably well pre-
for a man OF his years, and is
very likely to live out his full century.
He often sits up two-thirds OF the night,
reading fac print by the light of a
single candle, and without the aid OF
May his shadow never grow lessl
f. MEREDITH JONES.