Document text
Marie Carter 700 words
Anthony, N. Mex.
OLD TIMERS STORIES
Mrs. JOh Valdes (husband; Juan Valdez
Interview; May 18, 1937
Juliana Valdez, orAirs. Juan Valdez, smiled as she informed me
with a slight accent; "I was born in La Union, senora; my childhood,
girlhood and womanhood, have been spent at the old Mission, La Union.
You see, senora, that is what they called it in the old days when the
first settlers colonized this valley. La Union is the foundation of the
Refugio Grant."
Juan Valdez affirmed Juliana's statement with a nod, and smiled
as she resumed& "I was born in 1879 on the 9th day of January. That
is a long time, senora. My father was Jesus Enriquez; my mother was
Luz Noreigo de Enriquez. They immigrated to the United States from
Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico; then up the Rio Grande Valley to La Union.
They, my parents, were very fine people. "She volunteered with pride.
In speaking of her husband Juliana.said: Juan was born in Mason,
Texas, 1880 on the 5th day of February. Then, senora, he came to La
Union to fall in love, and hEs been here ever since. You see how he
sits and watches me? Well, he did that before we were married. One day
I said Jaun why do you watch me all the time?"
"'Juliana,' he said, I can't help it; I want to marry you,'
"'Buenoll I said, 'let's get married. Maybe you will stop watching
ck1 me.' But it didhlt work, senora. All these years he has done nothing
else.
Carter --2
Including the whole country with a wave of her hand, Juliana
continued; "then my parents came here that was all bosque, or wood-
land. Many people left Chihuahua when they learned that they could
get plenty of free land in New Mexico. My father was one of the com-
missioners for the Refugio Corporation. Some of the Americans called
their grants Iterrenasi but the correct name is Terreno. Instead of
a terreno being fifty-four acres, as some of them thought, it was
between thirty-six or thirty-seven acres. And a vara, by which the
Gol-tthi4sts measured the land, was not a yard of thirty-six inches, but
thirty-three inches."
Juliana didnit have any more respect for the ruthless Rio Grande
of the past than her neighbors, for she referred to it as: "The btg
fussy river."Senora,.! she said, "it was never still, for there was
nothing to hold it back. Sometimes it would suddenly dry up; then our
crops would dry up. Then we would worry and pray for water, and bah,
a flood would come and almost destroy us. An, senora, I know this
country well. I am part of it. I have spent the best part of my life
helping to make it what it is today. Fighting the wind, turning the
soil, hating and loving the fiver, planting the seed, watching it grow.
Si, senora. I, like the reat, have suffered, ,but I think it is a pretty
fine country."
Juliana, or Mrs. Juan Valdez, was born in La Union, New Mexico,
Dona Ana County: January 9, 1878; Juan Valdez Sr. was born in Mason,
Texas, Mason County: February 5, 1880, and went to La Union, New Mexico
in 1900. Jesus Enriquez, who immigrated from Juarez Chihuahua, Mexico
to La Union, New Mexico in 1877, was the father of Mrs. Juan Valdez Sr.
Mrs. Luz horeigo de Enriquez, wife of Jesus Enriquez, who immigrated
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from Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico in 1877, was the mother of Mrs Juan
Valdez Sr.
Mr. and Mrs. Juan Valdez are the parents of Robert, Juan Jr.,
Magadelena and David Valdez. Robert Valdez, who was a teacher and
principal of the La Union School for several years, is now the States
Corporation Commissioner for New Mexico. He was recently appointed
Chairman of the New Mexico State Corporation Commission by-Govenor
Clyde Tingiley, to represent New Mexico at the Juarez-Chthuahua Road
meet to boosttfor the Juarez -Chihuahua -Mexico City. Highway, May 14, 1937.
Robert Valdez married Nellie Nevarez of Las Cruces, New Mexico. Mr.
and Hrs. Robert Valdez live in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Juan Valdez Jr., second son of Mr. and Mrs. Juan Valdez Sr., is
a farmer of La Union, New Mexico. Juan married Katy Medena of Las Cruces,
New Mexico. Magadelena Valdez is at home with her parents. David Valdez,
who was graduated from the La Union Valley High School in the class of
1935, and attended the N State College of New Mexico in 1936,
married Annie Marie Ames of Las Cruces. David is associated with his
father in farming at the home ranch in La Union, New Mexico.