Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1908-10-14
HIGHWAY ACROSS
THE ESACRAMENTOS
Otero County Citi-
zen Makes Plea for
Such a Road
WOULD OPEN RICH VALLEY
Prolific Agricultural Section
Now Shut OFF From World
By Mountain Range.

House OF representatives VI IHo IulI-
ty-seventh legislative assembly, who is
largely interested in land and mining
in this territory, arrived here Monday
and registered at the Claire hotel.
He will remain here three or four days
on personal business. Mr.. Beach's
headquarters are at Orogrande, Otero
county, and it was for the district COM
posed of Otero, Grant, Luna and Dona
Ana counties, that he was elected to
the House of Representatives.
During the past few months, how.
ever, he has been travelling extensive
ly in the East, North and Northwest
on business. When seen at the Claire
hotel last night, Mr.. Beach was asked
to- tell about conditions as he found
them in the country in general and in
Otero county in particular, but 1t was
hard to get him to digress from the
subject of road between the eastern
and western sections Of Otero county,
which are separated by the Sacramen,
to mountain range. This is a project
which ID dearest til bis heart, and for
which he labored almost successfully
in the Thirty-seventh legislative as.
sembly. He had a bill passed by the
assembly appropriating $4,000 for the
road. which was to be built by convict
labor, but it was vetoed by Governor
Hagerman. It was afterwards passed
over the governors veto by the house,
but failed Of passage in the council.
He is staunch Republican.
"Of course, the assembly is going to
be overwhelmingly Republican this
year. said Mr.. Beach at the Claire
last night to representative of the
New Mexican and a Republican rep
resentative from my district will there
fore be able to do considerably more
than any Democrat would be. The
campaign is on and firmly believe
that Otero county could be easily car
ried for the entire Republican ticket,
If the matter Of this road between the
fertile valley on the west OF the Sacra'
mento range and Alamogordo and the
other towns on the east, was taken up
and definite promises made that it
would be built without any unneces.
sary delay.
Prolific Valley Needs an Outlet.
"The valley on the west of the range
in Otero county is one Of the most
fertile and prolific in Otero county, and
l might say in the territory of New
Mexico, but at the present time it IS
practically inaccessible from a com.
mercial standpoint and the thousands
Of people who reside in it are shut of
from the rest Of the world, because OF
lack Of transportation facilities. The
entire vast Penasco country to the
west Of Alamogordo, could be easily
made one Of the garden spots of the
territory If it had means Of communi-
cation with the other parts Of the ter
ritory.
"With convict labor it would cost
only about $4,000 to build the road
which would connect this wonderfully
fertile valley, which is watered BY the
Sacramento river, with the rest Of the
territory. The people Of Otero county
are always active and alive to their
own as well ais to territorial interests,
and they would throw party lines aside
i with a zeal that would astonish party
J bound men, IL this project were taken
up BY the Republican party during the
present campaign
Have to Travel Long Distance.
.sThey now have to travel long dis,
tances either north or south In order
to turn the flank Of the mountain range
and this has kept them from entering
into any important commercial com
munication with the rest Of the terri.
tory. There is In that valley as good
and. and as well watered land, as can
be found under the sun. and all that is
needed to develop 1t is road over the
crest Of the range, which will allow
the farmers to haul their products to
market.
There Is q road now, which hardly
deserves the name Of highway. Its
grades are too severe, its bed Is filed
with boulders and ruts and it is worth
almost az much as a mans life to
traverse II In any other manner than
son foot. Ten thousand dollars and the
work Of few conyicts would reduce
the grades, eliminate the ruts and
boulders and make flne highway
which IA short time would increase
the wealth Of otero county and New
Mexico by no small amount. \ took
! ! trip over the rangs rome time ago,
ma \ n plfal Ren
! sndsd. itI |ai v light llIl M lllI1 Es iehad