Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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Editor’s note: This is the first of a two-part series on the life and times of Kathy Edwards. Her report will conclude next Wednesday. “I was born in Roswell,” said Kathy Edwards, “because where my parents homesteaded in DeBaca County, Roswell had the closest doctor. My Daddy was L. W. Barnhill, coming to New Mexico from Oklahoma in 1932. But prior to that, my grandfather, Lafayette Preston Barnhill, his wife, three sons and five daughters had homesteaded at Melrose in about 1907. The fourth son, age 10, became my father...
One of the busier pioneers who helped in the making of Clovis was A. L. Gurley. He made his fortune in broomcorn and oil. Success in oil was the tricky part! This is how it came about: First he married his childhood sweetheart, Myrtle Poor, in Purdy, Mo. That was in 1903. They headed west in 1905. They came by train to Texico and then by wagon to their homestead 10 miles north of Melrose, where his sister had earlier filed a claim. He immediately had a dugout finished and then built a wooden cabin over it. Leaving his wife...
Mary Lewis said she never missed a Ronald Reagan movie. The 77-year-old Texico resident praised the former president. “I just loved him, he was just so handsome and such a good actor,” she said. “He was a wonderful president and a loving husband.” Reagan, the nation’s 40th president, died Saturday at age 93 after a decade-long battle with Alzheimer’s. Clovis historian Don McAlavy said a woman reported seeing Reagan in 1957 reading the newspaper in the lobby of the Clovis Hotel. He reportedly had an hour layover between train... Full story
Mary Lewis said she never missed a Ronald Reagan movie. The 77-year-old Texico resident praised the former president. “I just loved him, he was just so handsome and such a good actor,” she said. “He was a wonderful president and a loving husband.” Reagan, the nation’s 40th president, died Saturday at age 93 after a decade-long battle with Alzheimer’s. Roosevelt County Commissioner Tom Clark, a Democrat, remembers Reagan as an effective leader. He said while he didn’t always agree with Reagan’s views, he agreed with his... Full story
What is it about young boys that makes them dig holes in the ground? Now that I’m older, I believe all boys have a gene in their DNA that is a “survival gene,” a throwback from our cavemen ancestors who took haven in caves and had to fight to defend them. I grew up a poor farm boy in Curry County until I was 13. With my younger sister’s help, I once dug a hole for a fort. This was out on the prairie. I knew my father would whip the tar out of me if I dug a hole on our own land, so I went across the road to a neighbo... Full story
Memorial Day, observed on Monday, is upon us. This is the day we honor our veterans who lost their lives in service to our country. I’ve chosen to tell you about soldiers from Clovis and Grier who fought in World War I and were killed in France fighting the German army. Tom Lucas’ family received a telegram on Sept. 28, 1918, announcing son Dean Lucas had been killed in action in France. Dean was a machine gunner. Here’s how one of his buddies described the battle at Chateau Thierry on that day: “Our outfit was moving... Full story
How would you feel if you caused the death of your wife? It’s unthinkable, but such a tragedy occurred in Curry County nearly 87 years ago. Sometime on the Sunday night of Sept. 2, 1917, on a farm about 20 miles northwest of Clovis, a man walked up to the house of Rufus and Summerfield Duke, got their attention and said his car had run out of gas. Rufus Duke was not one to refuse a neighbor or a stranger and he tried to help the man. A lot of people considered Rufus Duke a stern man, but he was a good family man. He was 60 y... Full story
Back in 1943, Ira Taylor and his wife had an auction of their livestock and property near Texico. “Colonel” Dick Dosher conducted the auction that Jan. 6. It was announced that the Taylors were writing the final chapter for the residents of Texico’s undisputed original pioneer family. They were pulling up stakes after living more than 40 years on the same plot they had homesteaded since shortly after the turn of the century. The Taylors came to this section of the country in 1899. “I would have gotten here in Decembe...
Ernest Garcia always said “I attended the school of hard knocks!” Garcia had only two years of schooling. Born on his grandfather’s ranch at Anton Chico in 1910, Ernest knew nothing but work from daylight to dark. He was one of five bothers with seven sisters. When he thought he had learned all he needed to know about horses and ranching he hopped a freight train and rode the rails to Texas, to Colorado, and ended up in Wyoming where he started work on a ranch. There he worked with sheep and tried his hand at raising sugar... Full story
Coffee anyone? Here in Clovis you can figure at least 16 coffee clubs are serving up hot coffee every weekday morning. Most of the participants are retired, but a lot of them are still working and make it a habit to sit with friends and discuss the weather, politics, women — or men — and the latest news. At my club, we hardly ever talk about the work we used to do, but what we plan on doing soon — like a trip in a motor home, maybe to Laughlin, Nev., or taking your sweetheart (I mean wife) on a cruise through the Carib...
Don McAlavy: Clovis historian The Merritt legacy: That’s what Daisy Gertrude Merritt and her husband Charles left Clovis, and that’s what her talented son, Dr. Dean Merritt left his family, friends, and Clovis. The story began when Charles, from Kansas, married Daisy Gertrude, from Missouri. She was 23 and he was 50. Because of his health, the two came to the Sunshine State, New Mexico, in 1907 where he was soon able to work again. They homesteaded south of Clovis and lived for a time in a dugout. But when Daisy found a rat...
Don McAlavy: Local columnist MORTON, Texas — This story began in the late 1950s when a wooden box containing human bones was found in the old Cochran County Museum in Morton. Morton is about 30 miles south of Muleshoe. The box was labeled “Indian bones — part of skeleton found in southern Cochran County.” Maxine Yeary and her family found a human skull on their ranch land near Pie Town in western New Mexico. Rains had eroded the soil and exposed the skull. Family members believed the remains were from a Native America... Full story
Letters to the Editor I enjoy reading Don McAlavy’s historical articles in the Wednesday papers. I would like to make a comment and correction in the story about the drowning of Aric Arnold, who died, June 8, 1988, at Greene Acres Lake in Clovis. McAlavy stated that the two girls were trying to save Aric from the water. The truth is the two girls were struggling in the water first. Aric went into the water purposely to save them, and ended farther out into the channel. For the past 16 years, as I drive by the scene of his d...
The oldest senior citizens center in New Mexico is here in Clovis, and it’s about to celebrate its 47th anniversary. I’ve always known our senior citizens are treasures as they know so much more than us younger ones. The late Alice Converse thought the same thing. Until April 14, 1957, Clovis had no plans to meet the challenge of providing social and recreational services for these seniors. Converse and members of the local Soroptimist Club started the movement to secure a place where seniors could gather. The first pla...
It seems strange that in all the incidents of life the greatest tragedies come in the hours when least expected. On the morning of Monday, April 29, 1919, a 12-year-old boy, Hubert Bell, son of a prominent real estate dealer of Clovis, left his home, calling back to his mother: “Mother, you must come, you can’t miss it.” Hubert referred to an Army tank that was being displayed on Main Street. Hubert went alone and, after enjoying the pleasures of seeing the tank and running races, he and two companions went to Dutchman’s Lake...
Lula Mae (Ikard) Pack was born at Ninnekay, Okla. She said Ninnekay was a route, not a town, close to Chickasha, which was 15 miles away. The family sometimes left home at 5 a.m. in a wagon wrapped in quilts. “We would spend the day and shop and get all of our groceries and shoes. That was an exciting time, though,” she said. “I got married at the age of 15 — not unusual at that time — and I married T. H. Pack whose folks had gone to homestead near Melrose. Getting married was quite an adjustment. I was very sheltered... Full story
Don McAlavay John Hannibal George, 92, says he’s proud to think he’s a small “dot” in the history of the great state of New Mexico. He was born 12 miles west of Clovis, but is now living in Springfield, Mo. This is his story: “When the New Mexico territory was opened, three related families, all Missouri farmers, wanted to start a new life on this unknown land,” George said. “My dad, his brother and sister, living in Cole County, Missouri, headed West in 1908 where space was free. “Those making the journey were my father, Jas...
Commercial candy making in Clovis began in 1926 when Kalie H. Saykally established the Saykally Candy Company at 512 Second St. Saykally was born in Beirut, Syria, in 1885. He came to America in 1893 and settled in Chicago. He came to Clovis in 1926 and married Hedrick Schoelz that same year. Their children were Regina, Viola, and Derrell. Regina grew up in the candy company. She died Dec. 9, 2003. Kalie Saykally died in 1941 in Clovis. His business was continued by his wife, Hedrick. She and her family ran it until 1949 and...
Editor’s note: Col. Travis Hoover was born Sept. 21, 1917, at Melrose. The son of the late Fred and Elizabeth Hoover died at age 86 in Joplin, Mo., on Jan. 17. A daring raid. Beyond daring, even. Suicidal. Yet, it changed the course of a world war, and — who knows — perhaps the course of history. Travis Hoover was one of 79 men who joined Lt. Col. James Doolittle on a bombing raid over Japan on April 18, 1942. By early 1942, Japan had conquered Guam, Singapore and Wake Island, and had bombed the American base in Hawaii. Ameri... Full story
Clovis’ Fallen Heroes The following military personnel from Curry County were killed or declared missing in action during wartime. Sources are cited. Please contact Veterans Council member Jim Cowman at 762-3066 with any corrections, additions or questions. 1916 Punitive Expedition Everett Fitzhugh World War I William Galloway Glen Harris Henry “Tex” Huff Charles Ledbetter Dean Lucas Glen Snodderly Rayne Vivard Charles J. Williams Charles Wilson World War II Harold R. Anthony John H. Austin Bob Balch Harold W. Barber Lloyd...
Many people in Clovis still remember Dr. George Prothro. Even though he lives in Tulsa, Okla., now, some of us still correspond with him. He is retired, but still very active in medical projects. Prothro grew up in Clovis, coming with his family from Arkansas when he was a year old in 1921. His parents were Henry and Norma Prothro. “I decided to become a physician at an early age,” he said. “When I was 7 or 8 I saw a movie, I don’t remember the name of it, but this young doctor saved the life of his mother and that impress...
I write this column as the snow is falling. The last few snows in this area can’t compare to the snows we had in the 1950s and especially in the winter of 1923. Old-timer Haney Tate was telling me about three kids being frozen to death just west of Grady in 1923. We didn’t have weather reports on TV back then and for most people those blizzards and other storms just snuck up on us. Eleven inches of snow fell in Clovis two days before Thanksgiving in 1923. Then the big blizzard took east-central New Mexico and the sou... Full story
Curry County Genealogy Society The Curry County Genealogy Society held its February meeting at Carver Public Library with Vice President Don McAlavy presiding. The $10 membership dues were collected from six additional members to the society. Discussion of the Library of Congress project to gather tape interviews from World War II veterans encouraged members to obtain interviews of veterans they encounter. Information on the interview project can be obtained from the Library of Congress Web site. Genealogy classes scheduled...
Editor's note: This is the second in a two-part series of stories told by Jack Winton and Engle Southard (Clovis High School class of 1951). The interviews were conducted a couple of months ago. “One of the jobs I had was at Piggly Wiggly while going to school,” said Engle Southard. “That’s where I first met Jack Winton. He and I were in the same home room at high school, but really didn’t know each other. ... Somehow we got connected and we just had some fun times together. “We both worked at the old Whipple drive-in mo...
This is the first of a series of stories told by Jack Winton and Engle Southard (Clovis High School class of 1951). The interviews were conducted a couple of months ago. Both of their parents were hard-working people and both of the boys learned the work ethic: “We were really good kids growing up,” Jack Winton said. “We didn’t know the difference. We just thought that’s the way you were supposed to be. We went to church. We obeyed all the rules. We were basically good citizens, although some of us were lax and lazy and didn... Full story
