Rocky Ford enterprise., 1898-02-17
Quarter Of a Century Ago.

Interesting "reminiscences OF
Otero County by One of
the Pioneers.
Some of your readers may be
interested IN knowing what Otero
county was 25 years ago. As
there are not many here now who
at that time were residents it will
not take much space to name the
little band, few if any of whom
can expect to be on the stage OF
life a quarter of a century hence.
They are the following, precedence
being given to the earlier settlers
SO far as I know: Jesse Nelson
and wife, Jos. Graham, j. N. and
J. w. Beatty, j. w. Potter and
wife, 81. Best, A. Russell, Frank
Bingham and the writer. Jesse
and Mrs. Nelson were companions
and intimate friends of Kit Car
son before most of us were born,
and with Joe Graham were looked
ON as old timers and may probably
forget how long they have lived in
Colorado. They can almost claim
to be like II. NJ. Fosdick ST., of
Boone, "discoverers of Colorado" +"
I have often wondered why some
erterprising journalist has not
spent few weeks at Mr.. Nelson's
home hearing and taking notes of
the history of southern Colorado,
how the pioneers lived and how
many of them died.
The white men at that time in
what is now Otero county num-
bered, 1 believe, 29, and they
either made trips to Pueblo to
procure necessaries or patronized
the only store. that of Russell &
Swink, at the old Rocky ford.
Swink still lives in Illinois.
The only piece of fence that l
can recollect between Pueblo and
the Kansas line was one made of
poles which fenced little bottom
at Beaty's for a horse pasture.
Stock raising, though at that time
the principal and in fact only in
dustry was on a very limited
scale, the numbers probably not
exceeding 1900 head Of cattle
and so horses.
We could ride or drive to Pue-
bio or Las Animas (the old town
east of the Purgatoire) aud meet
no one on the road; if we did, the
fact would be an event in ones
life and a circumstance to be
talked of if we could find any one
to talk it to.
OF farming there was very little.
In the west end there was the
Hollis & Hungerford ditch, which
in high water (about four months
of the year as there were no big
canals anywhere to take the water
out of the river) carried enough
to irrigate about Is acres. The
Lavender ditch irrigated still less,
about the mouth of Timpas creek,
except when the fume across the
ditch was washed out and that
was the rule and not the excep-
ton. The owners, Texas people,
hated to repair the flume for fear
the creek would wash it out again,
SO usually had no fume, no water
and no corn. Crhe Arkansas
mans theory about his roof when
it rained he could not fix it and
when not raining it was all right. J
There was not a school or school
house, nor was there much use for
them, except in the settlement be-
tween the present site of La Junta
and Timpas creek, and I doubt if
education would not have been
like throwing pearls before
swine"
District court was held once a
year at Las Animas, the county
seat of Bent county, which ex-
tended from the Pueblo county
line to Kansas on the east and
miles north of Kit Carson Oh the
K. P. r. r. The sheriff seldom
had trip to this end except to
summon jurors who would take a
mess wagon along and camp on
the river opposite Fort Lyon. A
man called Jones, who was owner
or had possession of stove pipe
hat, on one trip thought he would
astonish the natives by wearing it
to court. He did and they aston
ished him, but when the boys got
through, the maker could not have
told what it was or had been. It
is unnecessary to tell what be-
came of the headgear.
Elections were held and the
only voting place west Of the
county seat was where r. o. Nc
Claim now lives. The county was
democratic, and 1 am not certain
whether the republicans took the