Albuquerque daily citizen. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1895-1903, 1902-11-27
EARLY T~HAMKSG|YINGS.
SANDY" WardweII and D. R. Evans
Relate Interesting Tales.
INDIANS WERE THEIR FRIENDS.

The contrast Of the Thanksgiving in
the southwest today and the Thanks
giving of 1860 is most interesting. The
manner in which the old pioneers cele-
brated the great event was much more
fascinating and perhaps more enjoya-
bic than are our quiet celebrations and
easily obtained feasts.
Albuquerque has several old pion-
GERS in her midst this Thanksgiving
who have a vivid recollection of the
Thanksgiving as it was celebrated on
the plains in the early Cos and 70s.
Several of these early plainsmen were
seen yesterday and extracts of the ear
ly Thanksgiving are given in this ar
ticle.
Sandy Wardwell's Thanksgiving.
The first pioneer approached was l..
c. Wardwell, better known as Sandy"
g name which he acquired on plains
years ago.
Thanksgiving now" said Mr.. Ward
well, docs not have the gayety and
excitement that it had in the early
days. | remember a Thanksgiving in
1860, I believe the first one | spent in
New Mexico. 1t vas at the ranch of
Lucia B. Maxwell, a Frenchman. He
owned the old Maxwell land grant, the
largest tract of land in the country 1t
that time. 1t is now owned by some
British land company, and the town
OF Cimarron now stands where we held
cur celebrations. Maxwell was an old
trapper, and on these occasions Kit
Carson, Tom Tobin and other old cele-
brated frontiersmen would gather
here. and what a time we would have.
"On this special Thanksgiving there
were 800 or 400 Ute Indians present.
We were on pretty good terms then,
and they celebrated with us. There
was lots of sport in those days. Horse
races that were very exciting, Indians
against the whites and whites against
the Indians. There was lots of betting
end high stakes, but usually there was
not much money up. The sporting men
would bet from so to 200 cattle and
from 500 to 500 sheep, which soon run
up into dollars.
81 have heard old Maxwell tell his
rider that if he didn't win he would
shoot him. So you a imagine that
there was nothing tame about these
races.
Eyes, all running races, and the kind |
you don't see nowadays Then there |
was the turkey shooting The turkey |
was put in a box some distance away. |
Each man had to pay so much for a
shot and the man who put a bullet
through the head got the turkey,
"The men who attended these
Thanksgiving feasts were stockmen,
stage drivers, prospectors, government
officers from Fort Union and other
men who were engaged in work in the
west.
wild game was plenty and previous
to the feast there would be a big hunt.
Nick nacks like one gets these days
were unknown. After the hunt a big
fire would be built and the barbecue
would begin. An OK would be roasted
whole, and the big brown bears roast
ed were delicious. Then we would have
icbo "a ~ oiu uihCyo. hOo
feasts were great. At Maxwell's place
the tables were sixty feet long and
they were always filled to overlooking.
The Indians sat at one table and we
sat at the others, all eating the best
meals OF u lives. After the dinner
the Indians would have their fire
dances and the boys and Mexicans
xrnp1l Ianna ,,nti1 xrarx, late ~ .tnbt
There were lots of sports then and
the betting stakes were very high.
Those who had money didn't think any
thing of stalking s / 1000 or o on a
~favorite horse. Jim Hickland was the
greatest sport in the bunch. Kit Car
son wasn't much of a sport; he was
rather quiet.
people came all the way from San
ia Fe and Elizabethtown and other
places to attend the one event of the
year"
NO" concluded Sandy, ''Thanksgiv-
ing now is nothing like we use to have.
1t lacks the interest and excitement of
the old days On the plains"
Evans Thanksgiving.
Another pioneer, the oldest in the
city, ID. r. Evans. was also seen by the
Citizen representative and the story he
told of the good old Thanksgiving was
equally as interesting.
THE first Thanksgiving I spent in
New Mexico was in 1879" said Ne Ev,
ans, his face beaming at the recollec,
ton of the day of enjoyment. "A party
"a
rorth of Elizabethtown and We had a
grand celebration. The forests abound
ed with wild game of every descrip