Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1905-01-03
COURT HOUSE
ON WHEELS
Torrance County Ushered Into
Existence ona Santa Fe
Central Railway Car.
OFFICIALS SWORN IN
Resolutions of Thanks to General
Francis }. Torrance and Delegate.
Elect W. H. Andrews.


Many striking and singular event
are recorded in the history of the de
velopment of the west, but yesterda,
was probably the first time in it's an
mails that a county was ushered int
official existence and organized on F.;
railway passenger coach. Such was
the beginning of the County of Tor
rance, the twenty-fifth of the counties
of New Mexico. The Thirty-fifth Leg
1slative Assembly had decreed that the
county seat of the new county should
be Progreso. At that time Progresc
consisted of the home ranch, now his
toric, of the late Colonel J. Franco
Chaves. The ranch building is not
even pretentious, merely small
frame house. 1t is over a mile to the
next place. Soon thereafter, the San
ia Fe Central Railway built frame
station over half mile from the
ranch and called it Progreso but soon
abandoned it for there was no bust
ness to be gotten or to be created at
Progreso. The county seat is marked
on some maps but even there not ac.
curately, and a few days ago the post
Office department asked: "Where is
Progreso the county seat of Torrance
County," But nevertheless, it is i'm
perative that the board of county COM
missioners meet there and that the
county officials transact their business
there until the Thirty-sixth Legisla-
tive Assembly establishes the county
seat elsewhere
Senator W. H. Andrews, president of
the Santa Fe Central Railway and
Delegate-elect to Congress- resource
full and helpful offered the new coun-
ty court house on wheels and prom
ised to take it to the county seat at
his expense whenever needed. It, is
true, 1t Is only a pass\ niger coach at
tached to special train but it served
its purpose well yesterday and the
new county, although officially born on
the morning of January 1. was brought
into actual existence yesterday under
auspicious circumstances and with due
ceremony.
The special train left Santa Fe yes
terday morning at o'clock with Gen.
eral Manager. s. B. Grimshaw Of the
Santa Fe Central Railway, Dis
trict Attorney E. g. Abbott,
District Clerk A. NJ. Bergere, and
son Luna, Charles F. Easley, and al
representative of the New Mexican.
Just across the line of the new coun-
ty, at Moriarty, Perfecto Jaramillo, |
the assessor of Torrance County, |
Joined the party. At the next station,
w. w. Mcintosh, treasurer and ex-offi- |
clio collector and N. P. Thorpe, county
surveyor, boarded the train. At Els.
tancia, large delegation of citizens
was at the station and among those |
who Joined the party there were Judge
e. A. Mann of Alamogordo, who had
just arrived on his way to Santa Fe
to attend the session of the Territor-
ial Supreme Court, Attorney F. G. Mat |
teson of Tucamcari; w. P.Clarke, P. A. /
Speckman of the .Estancia News; Tran
quilino Labadie of Santa Rosa, and
others, besides the following county
9fdcials: County Commissioners San
tiago Madril and Pablo Baldonado;
Sheriff Manuel Sanchez; Probate Clerk
John w. Corbett who had driven over
from Mountainair that morning and
County School Superintendent Juan G.
Jaramillo.
Justice of the Peace Garnett of Es-
tancia, was summoned and the first
ofdcial of the new county to be sworn
IN was County Commissioner Santiago
Madril. County Commissioners Pablo
Baldonado then took the oath of office
md was followed by Sheriff Manuel
A difficulty now arose. The
new county officials there and then at
.empted to move the county seat to
Dstancia. It took an hours parleying
IN the part of their legal advisers,
Judge p. A. Mann, G. F. Easley and e.
>. Abbott, together with all the elo:
luence Of District Clerk A. M. Ber.
,ere, to convince them that the legis.
ature alone had the power to change
me county seat and that they had bet
er 50 along to Progreso and launch
he new county there instead Of at Es-
ancia. 1t was noon before the train
EFT Estancia and 1t was / o'clock when
I arrived at Progreso station. I
SvSa- 1
organized Immediately by electing the
Ibsent member Valentin Candelario,
,hairman. Mr.. Madril was chosen
temporary chairman. Both county
filed their bonds with
be probate clerk and Judge Mann ap-
proved them. Probate Clerk Corbett
and the other officials present
ollowed suit. District Clerk A. M.
3esgere directed the deliberations 80
(centInusd on Page Eloht.)