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2dith L.Crawford
:arrizozo,K.rex.
PIONEER STORX
Words 2205 2-P'
APR 1 1 1938
I was born in Austin Texas* in 1E74* and live there until i was
twelve years old* I have lived in the state of New Y:oxico, for
fifty one yeere, and in Lincoln County thirty three yeers.
ley father, W. V. Watson, my mother, one ulster, two brothers
and myself, left Austin Texas, in October 1866 in en immigrent
trein consisting of seven covered wagons. Bach wagon was drawn
by four horses. There was the Johnson family, tether, mother and
six children, the Reeves featly, father, zother end eight Waldron.
One wagon hauled nothing but provisions, the other six wagons/were
for the families and their clothing and bedding. Each femily had
their Own chuck box on the beck of their wagon and each family did
their own cocking. kother and I did the cooking for our family. I
was the oldest girl and Lother was in very poor health which is the
reeson thet we left Texas. Father hed owned e farm on the ablo.i;i10
river just below Austin, where we raised chickens, ducks, geese,
hogs, cattle and earns horses. ?:e raised all kind of feed for our
stock and lots of graden stuff. Before we sold out the/farm to
eons west we canned a lot of stuff from our garden, cured up a lot
of hog meet and mede lots of candles out of beef tallow and cotton
string for our trip to the west. Yother had her own candle moulds
end brought them with her. We ground our own corn meel before leav-
ing the farm so we had encugh provisions to do us until we reached
Silver City Kew Mexioo, so we thought. On the trir, we rade sour
dough biscuits and corn pones end baked them in Dutch ovens. Jo
had n cow hide stretchediunderneeth our wagon to carry the cooking
utensils in as they were too bleak to go inside the wagon. We used
Edith L. Crawford,
Carrizozo, New ilex.
2.
Words 2205
wood to cook with until we reached the staked plains in west Texas and
then we had to use Buffalo and cow chips as there was no wood on the
plains. What a happy bunch we were. The first night we camped out
somewhere between Austin and Llano Texas, on some river, I can't re-
member the name of it. The trip was such a lark for we children until
we reached the staked plains, and there the coyotes and wolves would
howl at night and scare we kids nearly to death. The men folks hunted
for antelope and deer all the way along and that was the only fresh
meat we had until we got to Pecos i Texas. All the children in the
crows were so afraid of the Indians for we had heard the older folks
tell about the horrible things the Indians did to the white people
coming to the west. We would be riding along and would see the tall
daggers in the distance and we just knew it was e band of Indians
waiting to attack us when we got near enough. I wanted to see a body
of water so bad while crossing the plains that when I saw my first mi-
rage I just knew that we were coming to a lake of water soon, but we
never got ot the lake. I was raised on the Colorado river in Texas and
had always been used to lots of water. One day while traveling on the
plains we ran short of water for drinking and cooking. We had to travel
late into the night until we came to some lakes northwest of San Angelo
Texas. We struck the Conch() river just below San Angelo Texas and
camped in e big pecan grove on the river. 4e camped there for several
days and gathered pecans. While traveling across the plains we always
tried to make it from one camp ground to another. One night we were
late making the camp ground and by the time we had our suppers and
fixed the horses for the night it was dark. We all went to bed and
were just about asleep when we heard the coyotes and wolves howling
and snarling some distance from our camp and they kept it up all
Edith L. Crawford,
Carrizcze, New Mex.
3.
,.ords 2205
night. ,e could not make out whet they were after for we knew that they
were not after our horses. Early the next morning tether got up end
walked out in the direction from where we had heard the wolves end
coyotes and found that they had been digging in a new made grave. B.
called to the other men to come and help him fill in the grave as the
wolves and coyotes had due down to the coffin. The coffin had been
made of pine boxes and what small pieces of wood they had had with
them. There wes a small board with the name "Lillie Walker Age 16
years" which they put at the head of the grave. We left the camp
on our way and overtook fni immigrant train and we all cemped together
the next night end they told um about Lillie nalker taking sick and
dying on the plains end that her father end mother were in the immi-
grant train and how broken hearted they were because they had to
leave their child all alone out on the plains. She had died one night
and they had to bury her the next morning as they were short of water
for their stock end had to keep on their way. This made a deep im-
pression on it. end I have never forgotten it. I was so sorry for the
girl's father end mother. We traveled with these people until we got
to Pecos Texas and they went on to 1iite Oaks New rexico to the gold
fields. It took us about two months to make the trip from Austin
to Pesos Texas. e had traveled slow and when we ammo to a nice place
where there was nice grass for our horses and wood and water we would
ley over several days to let the horses rest and the families wash.
I shall never forest when we first came in sight of the Pecos River.
is were so glad to see so much water but when we reached the river it
was way up and such dirty red water. 40 had to dip it up in buckets
and barrels and let it settle before we could use it. Se crossed the
river on the Texas end Pacific Railroad bridge between lecos and Bar-
stow Texas. ,hen we got to iecos Vother wes feeling so bad we had to
4.
Edith L. Crawford, iiords 2205
Carrizozo, New Max.
lay Weer there until she was able to travel again. The rest of our
party went on into Lincoln County New Mexico. We never heard from them
after they left us. Mother was so bad while we were in Pecos that I
had to take all the responsibility of the family and raised the two
smaller children, for my Mother died in the fall of 1897.
While we were living in Pecoe waiting for Mother to get strong enough
for us to travel, Father worked for the Texas and Pacific Railroad
Company. We four children dug mesquite roots and sold them for fire
wood end also traded them to an old Dutchman for vegetables. About
the time we were ready to leave Pecos Texas for Silver City New Mexico
there was a family by the name of Henderson living in Pecos. One of
their small boys picked up a silk handkerchief along the railroad track
and took it home to his Ircther. In a. few clays the whole family took
down with smallpox. The mother and six children died, leaving the
father and one four year old boy. The people of Pecos had rushed to
the Henderson family when they first became ill and before they knew
what was the matter with them, and every one that went to the Hender-
son home took smallpox end lots of them died. Our being new comers
and not knowing very many people is all that saved us from having
this dreadful disease. They traced the source of the disease beak
to the silk handkerchief which was supposed to have been thrown from
a passenger train as there was no smallpox at Peace at that time.
Another sad thing happened at Pecos while we were there that impress-
ed me. I have forgotten the name of the family. The husband was the
foreman of a big cattle company that had several cattle ranches near
Pecos. He had to go to Pecos eaoh month to get the money to pay off
the ranch hands. This particuler time he had quite a sum of money.
When he got hone he put the money under the head of his bed as he was
Edith L. Crawford, words 2205
5.
Carrizozo, New Mex.
not to pay off until the next day. He always kept a loaded six shoot-
er at the head of the bed. Late in the evening he came t6 his wife
he had to go to one of the other ranchers and that he would not be
beck that night. He told her to be sure and look the house up good
and be careful of the money. After her husband left she went into the
bedroom to see that the money was all right, and to be sure that the
gun wee where she could get it real quick it she had occasion to use
it. She found that every cartridge had been taken from the gun and
she could not understand that as it was always loaded. She looked up
some more shells and loaded the gun and went to bed and to sleep.
Some time in the night she was awakened by some one in the room. She
reached under her pillow and got the gun and asked "Who's there?"
The man did not answer but kept on walking toward the bed. She fired
point blank at him and he fell. She waited a few minutes and got up
and lit o lamp and found that she had killed her own husband. Then
she realized why the gun had been unloaded. Everybody decided that
the men had decided to get the money himself. My father sat on the
Coronor's jury who held the inquest for the dead men. I was about
twelve years old when this happened but I have never forgotten it.
is left Pecos Texas in February 1867, for Silver City New Lexie°.
My Yother's tether, A. F. Bell, and her mother and five brothers liv-
ed on a cattle ranch there. There were eight wagons in this immigrant
train, some going to New Mexico end some to Arizona. Mr. Henderson,
the man who had lost his family from smallpox, and his little four year
old boy traveled with us in this train. He stopped at Lordsburg New
Mexico. The trip from Pecos to El Paso Texas was en awfully hard one
on us as my Xother felt so badly and it was such cold weather.
stopped in El Peso Texas for severel days and camped where 6ashington
Edith L. Crawford,
Carrizozo, New Mex. 6.
words 2205
Park is new located. I saw my first adobe houses in Cl Paso end we
ete our first frijol* beans. The immigrant train split up et Lords
burg New Yexico, most of them going on into Arizona. My father wee
anxious to go to firizona too but my mother was feeling so bad that
she wanted to go to silver City where her people were so that she
eould be near her mother. ide stayed in Lordsburg until June end
then started for &liver City by way of the Burro Kountains. *As chil-
dren were enxious to see the place where ieronimo had killed Judge
Gomez and his wife and had taken their five year old OOR away with
them. The soldiers from Fort Bayard Few Mexico and the Scouts went
after Geronimo and his bend of Indians.. They trailed them to the line
of Old Mexico whore they met a band of squaws who told the soldiers
and scouts that the little boy's brains had been dashed out against
a tree. kr. Cravens, the men I afterwards married was one of the
Soouts who trailed Geronimo then. Er. Cravens ran a livery stable
in Silver City et that time and judge Gomez end his wife and small
son were on their way to Lordsburgoin a buggy rented from Mr. Cravens,
when they were attacked by Ceronimo and his bend of Indians. They
shot one of the horses to stop the buggy and took the other horse
sway with them. After I was married to Mr. Cravens we were down in
Mexico in 1902 end we were told that the Gomez boy had not been killed,
that he was the chief of a bend of Indians.
After we got to Silver City the people there told us such horrible
things about whet the Indians did to the white people around there.
I remember one of the stories they told was that the Indians had
taken a little white girl and hanged her on a meat hook.
Alen we got to bilver City father took up a claim west of the town on
the Gila river. o had some (settle and e small farm. Mother died in
the fall of 1887. That was the first year of the Cattle Mm's ,iar in
Grant County.
Edith L. Crawford, 7.
Cerrizozo, New Mex. Words 2205
I met Yt. Cravens in Silver City and we were married in 1898. We
had no children. My father died in 190E. Mr. Cravens and I came
to Lincoln County New Mexico in 1905. We bought a ranch at the
foot of Nogal Peak, eight miles south east of Carrizozo, where
we raised cattle ond Mr. Cravens did sore prospecting for gold.
Yr. Cravens died in Carrizozo, New Mexico, key 1, 1936.
NARRATCR: Mrs. Florence Cravens, Carrizozo, N.Y. Aged 63 years.