The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1920-11-26
TO NEW MEXICO BY AUTO

The following letter from Gene
Sturdevant describing his overland
trip to New Mexico, and addressed to
Wash Leedom Of this city, will no
doubt be Of interest to many OF u
readers:
Pennington, New Mexico. Nov. l3, 20
Dear Friend:
[ will try and write that letter ]
promised you when | left there, so l
will begin. We left home September
10th and arrived at Pennington, n.
M. October 10th after a hard trip.
There were places that / had TO have
a full tank Of gas to pull the hills and
some could not pull so had to use a
block and tackle, but after | hit the
state roads at Cheyenne, Wyoming, 1t
was all o. X. | went from DeadwoOd
TO New Castle, Wyoming, then to
Edgemont and Ardmore, ). d., then
TO Harrison, Neb., then west to Van
t~assel, Wyoming, then south to Tor
ington, Wyoming, then TO Cheyenne,
Wyoming, then south through Greeley
Castle Rock. Denver, Colorado Springs,
Pueblo, Walsenburg, Colorado; then
west through Levata, there YOU go
over the pass, but this is not bad as
| made ii most OF the way on high.
From there on west TO AlamoSa throu
gh the San Louis valley, that you hear
80 much about. | would not be found
dead. There is nothing but grease
wood, sand and sage. 1t is all right
around Del Norte and Monta Vista.
From there | went on west to South
Fork. There is where hell began over
the Wolf Creek pass. 1t is between
30 and 10 miles across. Half the way
up bill SO that you have TO run Oh low
all the time TO the top Of the Cont
nental Divide, l 1000 feet high; then
down hill with all brakes set and no
gas on TO the foot. Sometime you can
look straight down a thousand feet,
and a road SO narrow that you don't
have a foot TO spare either way, but |
can say one thing, that l vas as near
heaven as ever want - 20. would
not 90 back owe the pass. not unless
| was afoot OF on a sure footed horse.
After leaving the pass you 60 through
Pdgasoa Springs. They have hot
Springs there, but | did not feel like
taking a bath. From there to Bay
held is a nice mountain country and
good roads. Bayfield, is a nice town
and a good country around it, but
have lots Of snow there In the wintar.
From there | made it to Pennington
in a day in a regular South Dakota
wind storm, as bad as they eve had.
| was not much taken up with New
Mexico that day, but they don't have
such wind here very often.
So now about New Mexico. They
raise all kinds of fruit here. Apples,
peaches, pears, a%pricotS, nectarines,
prunes and all kinds of small fruits
Corn does fine here as does all kinds
"a ohioii Sioiiis ooo WIN oid
are the principal crops, outside of
fruit, that Is grown here. We are
5000 feet high here. 1t Is all irriga-
ton here and you have all the water
you can use any time. and cheap, "a
bout zoe per acre. 1t is all small places
from five to 40 acres. Coal is IS a ton
in town; - a ton at the mine, II miles
out. Every thing Is cheaper here
than at home. Land is high from $50
to $500 per acre, but you can raise
more on ten acres here than on 100
there. Have snow here. 1t showed
last night but was all gone in half an
hour after the sun came up. The
trees are all green here yet. / picked
some apples the llth that were not a
bit frosted yet. They pillow all winter
long here. There are several South
Dakota families here: Joe Moore who
used to live on Medicine Greek, Her
man Hellekson, Chas Cordes, and a
man by the name Of Cover from Aber
deem.
Well as l can't think Of any more
news / will close. The boys are going
to school in town. l live two miles
east of town. l rented a house for
this winter, 4 rooms, barn and cistern
for s. a month. The houses, or most
OF them ale built Of dobe or brick.
They sure are fine to live In, built
with fire places In them.
Well, Wash, remember me to all
the old friends and tell me all the
news. EUGENE STURDEvANT.
p. S.: There Is . Mormon colony
west of here so you could join them
and have as many wives IS you want.
There are no Mexicans In this neigh
borhood.