Apri11993

CSWR

35no.

ZIMOvsF791C7x

Un1Yersity of New Mex ico

~ .LA CRONICA

/ .OE NUEVO MEXICOISSUE NUMBER 35

A Burglary at Parker's Books of the Westin Santa Fe

SANTA FE RAILWAY DEPOT (1902 · 1993):ALBUQUERQUE LANDMARK UP IN FLAMES

Reported by Carleen Lazzell

An early post card of the Alvarado complex when the station, seen on the left.retained its original tower.

(Post card courtesy of Conron and Woods collection).

The death knell tolled for the ninety-oneyear old Santa Fe Railway Depot in Albuquer­que when the fire alarm sounded durinq the early morning hours of January 4, 1993. I

Constructed as part of the impressive AlvaradoHotelcomplex in 1901. the California Mis­sion Style depot was the only remaining remnant of the once spectacular Alvarado.Although the hotel portion was demolished twenty-three years ago, it has been difficultfor the public to separate the depot from the hotel. as in many minds. the Amtrak Depothas been a cherishedfragmentleft over from the once impressive Alvarado complex whichparalleled the railroad tracks in downtown Albuquerque from Central Avenue south toSilver Avenue.

AT&SF. He came to Albuquerque in 1901

to supervise the construction of theAlvarado. the Harvey House associatedwith the Albuquerque depot and one ofthe earliest of the Mission Style hotels builtby the Santa Fe. Whittlesey established hisheadquarters in Albuquerque while hewent on to design other Harvey Housesthroughout the AT&SF system ...." Whit­tlesey's plan, althouoh not specificallyrelated to the indigenous New Mexicanstyle. in a broad sense. reflected the"regionalism," of the American Southwest.

(continued on page 4)

When the railroad officially arrived inAlbuquerque on Aprils. 1880. theAtchison. Topeka and Santa Fe con­structed a wood frame building whichfollowed the architectural idiom of depotsin other Westerntowns. At the tum of thecentury. however. the AT&SF Railwaywanted something more "picturesque"and permanent for the site. According toKathleen broozer, "Albuquerque's perma­nent depot was designed by Charles F.Whittlesy. who in 1990 had been ap­pointed to his position as ChiefArchitectin Charge of Hotels and Stations for the

Rnow that no money was left in the storeover Sunday.

TheSanta Fe Police were calledand toldof the robbery: they came "pretty quick­ly". The inventory was checked and boththe Police and the owners toob ap­propriate action.

Riley Parkerfaxed the "Booksellers' Net­work" (Antiquarian Booksellers ofAmerica). What a network' Within thirtyminutes the dealer Parker had faxed inSanDieqohad reached his circleand WOOrenbrock'sfaxedback to Santa Fe that he hadbought four of the bOORS on Tuesday. Hehad paid by check (which was cashed thatday)and the sellerindicated he had moreto sell and would return. Parker notifiedthe Santa Fe Police who immediatelyinformed the San Diegopolice. On Thurs­day morning, the man returned to WahrenBrock's to talk about further business.Police were observing him on the premisesbut had no evidence to arrest so theyfollowed the suspect to his hotel.Forsomereason. he became frightened and insteadof returning to the antiquarian's, he pack­ed and headed for the bus station.

Since MatricR Moffet had incriminatingevidence on his person. the San Diegopolice arrested him. He was then held on$150.000 bail. Police found most of the restof Parker's bOORS. other items. a mostsophisticated lock-opening kit. and infor­mation about Mr. Moffet's activities. Hehad a reputation as a "big time crook" forhis activities in Kansas City. Phoenix. andTucson, His address is in Alaska where heworked for the Forestry Service.

CDS

·e

On Monday. February 8, a little beforeten. the usual time, Riley Parker. a memberof the Board of Directors of the NewMex­ico Historical Society. opened the door toParker's Books of the West. 142 WestPalace Street. Santa Fe. He walked in andbroused a bit as Amanda Evansand JustinParker, his assistants arrived. SuddenlyParker said loudly: "Where is the TaosPueblo bOOR"? Normally it was stored insight on the top of the low bOOR gantrybehind the glass case which shelters theofficedesk from the entrance. It is placedtowards the window between the walls ofbooks on either side of the narrow firstroom. It wasn't there: it couldn't befound.

Then all three noticed the lock on theglass case had been broken and that thecash drawer had been forced. In the glasscase were kept under view and IOCR themost valuable books and incunabula in thestore. A check was made. A lot was miss­ing. The rest of the store was searched. Inall twelve items were gone, and probablytwo more. Over $10 .000 worth! Stolen?Probably. Who. the Parkers and Evans ask­ed. After a while they thought with adegree of certainty the thief was a man,medium height, medium weight. blackhair.who had come into the store on fouroccasions the preceedinq week. He had100Red at bOORS, asked questions aboutcertain itemsand had bought two of themfor two hundred dollars, paying with twoone hundred dollar bills. On Saturday hehad purchased four more with four onehundred dollar bills. Of course he saw themoney put in the cash box but did not

IIOld Buildi.ngs That Make My Community Great"

An Essay Contest for StudentsThiscontest for junior~h and middle school students is designedto raise awareness of historic preservation by encouraginq youngpeople to share their feelings about the old buildings in theircommunity.

JPC

Historic Albuquerque Santa Fe RailwayIAmtrak Depot destroyed by fire. BernalilloCounty firefighters inspect the damage. Photo courtesy Albuquerque Tribune.

January 6, 1992. Photographer: Leo Hsu.

•A ROBBERY AT THE PALACE

Access Gained Through 2nd Floor Balcony

Ysidro sanchez confesses to robbing the Palace of the Governors in Santa Fe. sanchez,while "deceived by the devil" stole several items from a storeroom in the Palace. Because.one suspects. he could not carry all the goods on one trip, he returned the next night formore. The year of the robbery was 1720. (See story on page 2.)

1993 Historical SocietyConference

at La Posada Hotel in AlbuquerqueApril 22 • 24, 1993

See you all there

signature verifying that the essayanddrawing or photograph areoriginal.

• Theentry must includethe student'sname. address, age. grade andschool name and address plus a re­cent. preferably school. photographof the student.

AwardsThe winning essay will be featured in

HistoricPreservation News. All entrantswillreceive a certificate of recognition. Entrieswill be exhibited at the National Preserva­tion Conference in St. Louis. Missouri.September 29 - October 3, 1993.

DeadlineAll entries must be sent by July 2. 1993,

to: Essay Contest /Office of Communica­tions, National Trust for Historic Preserva­tion. 1785 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W..Washington. D.C. 20036. D

To enter the contest students must writean essay. 800 words or less, on theirfavorite historic building. (e.g., school.place of worship, theater. home, store).The building should be over fifty years oldand, preferably, in the National Register ofHistoric Places.

The essay should include:

• what the building 100Rs libe(architectural styles and details);

• when and why the student firstnoticed the building;

• why the building is important to thecommunity;

• why the building is important to thestudent.

Rules

• Although the contest isdesignedforstudents in junior high and middleschool. children of all ages mayenter.

• The essay must be accompanied bya drawingor photograph by the stu­dent of the old buildingdescribed.

• The student must include his/her

The Palace as it looked prior to the Jesse Nusbaum "restoration." A turn of thecentury post card where, as it states on the other side. postage was only 1ct.

Below. the Palace as seen after the "restoration." The post card is postmarkedJuly. 1939, and the postage was still only 1ct.

(Post cards courtesy of Conron and Woods collection).

When The Palace of The GovernorsHad a Second Story

ly easy Althoughby the time the incidentoccurred the Spaniardsand Pueblos hadbeen allies for nearly two decades. thelack of defensive measures seemremarkable.

The mental images of the appearanceof the Palace of the Governors produc­ed by the preceedtnq documents ob­viously bear little resemblance to the pre­sent building. Howlong the second floorof the Palace remained in place isunknown. During the 1730S both gover­nors Domingo de Bustamante and Ger­vasio Cruzat y Gongora claimed in theirresidencias that they were responsible forbuildinq the Palace. In 1731 sixwitnessestestified that Bustamante "made theroyalhouses of of thisvilla tht the ~over­

nors might live in decency: ' 14 Whereas.only six years years later. witnesses forCruzaty Gongoraclaimedhe had rebuilt.at his own expense. not only the Palace.but also "the stronghold and its fortifica­tion [including the] plaza de ermes:' 15

ThePlanof Santa Fe drawnbetween 1766

and 1768 by Jose Urrutia is of no use indeterrnininq anything but location.Finally. Fray Francisco AtanasioDominguez' curt dismassal of the struc­ture in 1776 leaves no clue to the ap­pearance of the building; "the govern­ment palace is like everything else here.and enouqh said: ' 16

Whyhas the fact that the Palace of theGovernorsonce had a second floorbeenlost to history? It is possible. of course,the reason there was no oral traditionconcerninq a two story buildinq is thatthe second story was removed so longago. the traditionwaslost. More than like­ly. however. since the Palacewasa singlestory in heioht when it was described byJosiah Gre~g. W W H. Davis and others,it was assumed the Palace had alwaysbeen limited to a single story." No oneever thought to ask the question. and noone volunteered the answer.

Although quickly revered for its aceand history. within years of becorninq aTerritory of the United States. moderniza­tion of the Palace becan . Each remodel­ing. however. succeeded in removingalmost all traces that may have remain­ed of former two story construction .except that which was sealed beneaththe floors.

In 1908, enablinq leqislation was writ­ten for the establishment of the Museumof New Mexico. Ironically. at the time theBoard of Regents was. "directed that allalterations. extensions. and additions tothe main Palace building shall be madeso as to keep it in harmony with theSpanish architecture of the period of itsconstruction. and preserve it as a monu­ment to the Spanish founders of thecivilization of the Southwest." 18 Passageof the legislation resulted immediatelyinJesse Nusbaum's "restoration". throughstabilization and rehabilitation. df theinterior of the building for the newMuseum of Archaeoloqy and for use bythe Historical Society of New Mexicobetween 1909 and 1911. 19 Brief remarksin the Nusbaum /Hewettcorrespondenceand a non-committal letter from RalphEmerson Twitchell in response to a let­ter from L. Bradford Prince. su~gest theformer ~overnor attempted to thwart allsuch work.20

By 1913. Nusbaumwas ready to restorethe exterior of the Palace using the Planof Santa Fe drawn by Jose Urrutiabetween 1766 - 1768 as his model. Theportal restoration so enraged GovenorPrince that he went to some lengths toprevent it by soliciting aid from a numberof people. includingDemetrio PerezandWilliam Allison. The latter replied. "thernodernlztnq of that buildinq would benothing short of sacrilege, and that weought not to allowifpossiblywe.by ourprotests. may be able to prevail." 21 Pro­testsnotwithstanding. Nusbaum proceed­ed with what he termed as the "restora­tion" of the exterior of the building.

The irony of the "restoration" of thePalace as a a one story building lies inpart with Ralph Emerson Twitchell.

open . . . there came to him thethought of climbing up by [means ofthe balcony and that for this [reason]he went in first to the guardroomand was chatting with a soldier onguard who was Luis Ortiz. fromwhom he begged a candle stub. andturning around to leave. and sayingQoodbye to the other [guard?] post.he came a~ain and went out recon­noiterinq the [guard?] post: he climb­ed to the balcony [or large windowwith a balcony] of the Palace usinga little window that served to climbup by that was adjacent. and goin~

through the window of the balconywhich was open he lit a light. thecandle stub referred to. with a strike­a-ltcht and I?] that fuse /wick withwhich he had come prepared forthat reason. he climbed down thestairs to the store, familiarizinghimself with what was in it. heselected several kinds of things thathe doesn't remember and [?] on aCarnpeche. or Campeches [blan­kets]; seeinq the opportunity of thedoor by the street. he left by

it . . .. 11

The balance of the account is garbled;however. apparently still "deceived bythe devil: ' Sanchez returned to the sceneof the crime the next night. a~ain takingadvantage of the open balcony window.While Sanchez was in the store. whichwas obviouslyon the ground floor sincehe had left the previous niqht by a doorto the street. one of the guardsapparent­ly closed and locked the balcony doorswith a cross-bar. Undaunted. Sanchezwaited until the guard left. then climbedthe stairs to the second floor. removedthe cross-bar. and escaped the buildingby means of a rope. 12 Incidently.Sanchez hid some of the stolen goodsbehind "viQas that were on the plaza:' (arather unexpected location for viQas).while others were buried behind the"hacienda made when Don Juan Floreswas governor: ' 13

Severalpoints in the preceedinq docu­ment are noteworthy. As we have seenthe Palace had at least one smallgroundfloor window. probably covered withselenite. in addition to the second floorbalcony with a window. And. whileguarded. entry into the Palace bynefariousmeans was apparently relative-

the lantern Qear. and there is no othermechanism for grindinQ wheat:' 8 Thereference to the lack of mills is curious:one wonders if the reference is to thevilla as a whole. or only to the Palacecomplex?

The document also con tains areference to a well in the patio. "fourandone quarter varas in depth with its up­per course of mud and rock and partlydestroyed. and presently without water.and with a wooden cover .. . . ' 9 This isnot only the earliest reference to a wellin the Palace. it is the only reference toa well in the courtyard prior to the mid­nineteenth century. although otherspresumably existed earlier.

A second document dated 1720 in­advertantly contains an even moreexplicit description of a portion of thesecond floor of the Palace of the Gover­nors.v The document. a criminal case.describes how Ysidro Sanchez. while"deceived by the devil:' stole severalitems from a storeroom in the Palace:

Questioned from where the [stolen]Qoods came from. he said it was thispast summer. cominq through theplaza. this confessant saw thebalcony [orwindow with a balcony]

by Cordelia Thomas SnowVirtually all visitors to Santa Fe, and, walls or rooms of the Palace, the struc-

indeed. the majority of the residents of the ture would have fallendown. Inside. thedty. see the Palace of the Governors as a ceilinqs were propped-up with woodentimeless structure set on the north side of posts and upriqhts. Only two rooms inthe plaza. unchanged and unchanqeeble the buildinqweresaid to be "serviceable:'However. even a brief review of the the military chapel. and a room abovephotoaapluc. historical. and archaeolodcel or adjacent to the chapel. 7

records of the building indicate that the The 1716 inspection of the Palace alsoappearance of the Palace has been radical- contains references to the two main en-lyaltered throuohtime. Further. the "restore- trances of the complex. One entrance.non" of the Palace between 1909 and 1913 a zaguan located on the south . or plazato its "orioinal appearance" was undertaken side of the bulldino. led to the courtyardat the expense of historical accuracy in an where the guardhouse was located. Theattempt to modernize the buildirs; provide other entrance, also on the south side ofspace for the then. new Museum of New the building led to a field. Further. "inMexico. and, most importantly. to provide said courtyard is a coachroom with itsa monument to the Spanish dvilization. lightcarriage. and two rooms. one above

Although the documentation isadmittedly and one below. of adobes in whichlimited. there is sufficient evidence to General Juan Flores had and made aprovethat the present Palace of the Gover- flourmill [tahona] and there is a thrust-nors resembles in no way. seventeenth and bearing stone [madresilla] on which runseighteenth century structures; on the site.Recent research indicates that durinc theseventeenth century. and for at least the firstquarter of the eighteenth century, portionsof the Palace were two stories in height.Moreover. durinq the earlyeighteenth cen­tury the south facade of the Palace had asecondstory balcony with a window whichoverloobed the plaza. in addition tonumerous otherfeatures no lonoer evidentby the early nineteenth century. 1

Archaeolodcal excavations carried out inthe west end of the Palace in 1974

uncovered a massive cobble stone founda­tionset in mud mortar. more than a meterin width. beneath the floor of the presentbuilding 2 Because the foundation wasuncovered beneath architectural featureswhich could be absolutely dated to thePueblo Reoolt of 1600 - 1693. it isevident thatthe foundation was constructed by theSpanish prior to 1680. possibly as early asthe 16405.

What we did not realize until recently.however. is that the width of the founda­tion was indicative of two story construe­tion.> Additionally. Ivey has suQQested thatthe foundation could have supported astructure as much as thirty feet in height.The foundation. which can be seen todaythrough a trap-door in the floor of thebuilding was for a structure that bears norelationship what-soever to the presentbuildinq as it extended north into what isnow the patiounder the present northwallof the palace.

Sometime after SantaFe was abandonedby the Spanish in 1680. Tewa and Tano In­dians built a pueblo over the site of theformer caxl5 teees. or royal buildinos, in theVilla de Santa Fe, which they occupieduntil the Spaniards returned in 1693. After1693 - 94 theSpaniards occupied the pueblofor several years more before it wasdemolished and the Palace and other dvilstructures which wererebuilt. in some caseswith second stories. 4

Theearliest description of the Palaceofthe Governors during the eighteenth cen­tury is dated 1716.5 The description wasthe resultof an inspectionof the buildingordered by Felix Martinez. during theresidencia ofJuanIgnado Flores MOQOllon.the outgoing governor. The Cabildo wasassisted in the inspection by AndresGonzalez and Juan Medina. In 1710

Gonzalez had directed the restoration ofthe Chapel of San MigueL while JuanMedina wasthe carpenter who had madethe altar for the Conquistadora Chapel inthe parroquia around 1714. both weremasters of their trades.6

The 1716 report of the inspectionof thePalace is important. not only because itimplies the entire complex was twostoriesin height.but alsofor the mentionof outbuildings and other features notgenerally mentioned in the documents.For example. the inspectors noted thatif it had not been for nine exteriorbutresses which supported the lower2

Althouqh his two volume SpanishArchives of New Mexico would not bepublished until 1914. Twitchell's fivevolume work Leading Facts ofNew Mex­ican History was published in 1912. Inother words. Twitchell had. most pro­bably. already transcribed and translatedthe documents discussed above. OnJanuary 3. 1912 Twitchell sent the follow­ing letter to Edgar Lee Hewett:

Knowing that you would like to haveall the information you can getabout the Old Palace at Santa Fe. itoccurred to me that possibly youwould like to know that. at one time.there was an order to destroy the oldbuilding. and erect another in itsstead. but this order was never car­ried into effect. and that on July rth .1708 the Viceroy - the Duke ofAlbuquerque - wrote to the Gover­nor - Cuervo - and ordered theacting Governor to show him bywhat authority. and his reasons forwishing to destroy the "CastilloPresidial". I think that a copy of thisought tobe [sic] hung up in Palace.and I will give you one with mycompliments. 22

Would Hewett and Nusbaum haverestored the Palace to its former twostory height had they known of its ex­istence? Probably not. A two storybuilding would not have projected theimage they wished to convey. Further­more. there was barely enough moneyto cover expenses as they were. Still it isinteresting to think what the Palace ofthe Governors might have looked like.had the new museum had the resourcesto rebuild a two story Palace of theGovernors.

NOTES

1. Linda Tigges (editor). Historic PlazaStudy III (Santa Fe. City Planninq Depart­ment. 1992). This project involved theidentification. transcription. and transla ­tion of more than 500 documents forland ownership and use of propertiesnorth of the Santa Fe River surroundinqthe plaza. The research was undertakenby David H. Snow of Cross CulturalResearch Systems assisted by CordeliaThomas Snow and Linda Tiggesbetween1990 and 1992. The Plaza Deed Projectwas funded in part by a grant from theHistoric Preservation Fund administeredby the National Park Service and by theNew Mexico Historic Preservation Divi­sion of the Office of Cultural Affairs.

2. Cordelia Thomas Snow. "A BriefHistory of the Palace of the Governorsand a Preliminary Report on the 1974 Ex­cavation: ' £1Palacio. Vol. 80. NO.3. (Oc­tober 1974): 1- 22.

3. James E. Ivey personal communica­tion. January 1993.

4. Spanish Archives of New Mexico(SANM) II. No. 94a. 1703. State RecordsCenter and Archives.

5. Report of the Cabildo to Felix Mar­tinez. July 13. 1716. SANM II: 253. StateRecords Center and Archives. Roll 5.Frames 564 - 567.

6. Fray Angelico Chavez . Origins ofNew Mexico Families (Albuquerque. TheUniversity of Albuquerque in collabora­tion with Calvin Horn Publisher. Inc.1973). 191, 228 - 229.

7. SANM II: 253.

8. SANM II:253. I an indebted to EarlPorter for his assistance with grist-millterminology.

9. SANM II:253. Ralph Emerson Twit­chell. Old Santa Fe (Santa Fe. New Mex­ican Publishing Corporation. 1925) p 59.translated the depth of the well as fortyvaras. a physical impossibility given thedepth to ground water in the area.

10. Spanish Archives of New Mexico II.no. 307. State Records Center and Ar­chives. Roll 5. Frames 1004 - 1015.

11. SANM II: 307.

12. SANM II: 307.

13. SANM II: 307. The reference to thehouse Mogollon built while he was gover-

nor is tantalizing. Is it possible at leastsome of the colonial governors used thePalace only for civil purposes while oc­cupying their private residences? Gov.Felix Martinez is known to have built ahouse on the northwest corner of theplaza which. because he had no heirs .reverted to the Crown at his death . Ban­do . Gerasio Cruzat y Gongora. March 9.1733. SANM 1: 1105. Several years later thehouse was described as in ruins. However.at one time it was composed of elevenrooms with 105 carved vigas. 212corbels.In addition it had two zequens. SANM1:521.

14. Proceedtncs in the residencie offormer governor Domingo deBustamante. Pinart Collection. BancroftLibrary. Roll 5 (P.E. 45).

15. Proceedincs in the residencia offormer lJovernor Gervasio Cruzat yGongora. SANM 1:420.

16. Eleanor B. Adams and Fray AncelicoChavez. The Missions of New Mexico.1776. (Albuquerque. University of NewMexico Press. 1975). p 40.

17. Josiah Gregg. Commerce of thePrairies. edited by Max Moorhead. (Nor­man and London. University ofOklahoma Press. 1990). W. W H. Davis.£1 Gringo: New Mexico and Her PeopleLincoln and London. University ofNebraska Press. 1982).

18. Amended House Bill No. 100. An Actto Establish a Museum for the Territoryof New Mexico. Bruce T. EllisCollection.History Library. Palace of the Governors.Box 389. Folder 9.

19. Jesse Nusbaum to Edgar Lee Hewett,October 1. 1909. December 18. 1910. May11. 1910. Hewett Collection. HistoryLibrary.Palace of the Governors. Box 23.

20. Ralph Emerson Twitchell to Gover­nor Prince. Las Vegas. May 23. 1910.Prince Papers . Historical Notes #20. StateRecords Center and Archives. While Twit­chell professed to recoqnize theseriousness of the matter of reconstruc­tion of the Palace. he stated he did notknow how to stop it.

21 . William H. H. Allison to L. BradfordPrince. Albuquerque. February 12. 1913.Ellis Collection. History Library. Palace ofthe Governors. Box 389. Folder 6.

22. Ralph Emerson Twitchell to EdgarLee Hewett. East Las Vegas. January 3.1912. Hewett Collection. History Library.Palace of the Governors. Box 23. Folder4. The document to which Twitchell refer­red can be found in the Spanish Archivesof New Mexico. II. no. 142. Actually thegovernor in 1708 was not Francisco Cuer­vo y Valdez. but Jose Chacon MedinaSalaza y Villasenor. the Marques de lasPenuelas. It appears. furthermore. thatthe document was. in fact, a royal orderto demolish the Palace. Given the historyof the Palace it is not inconceivable thegovernor carried ou t the order.

Historical Societyof New Mexico

Votes Gift TowardsPurchase of

The Cross of the Martyrsin santa Fe

At its meeting on February 6. 1993. theBoard of Directors of the HistoricalSocie­ty of New Mexico voted to pledoe$500.00 towards the purchase of the OldCross of the Martyrs in Santa Fe. TheHistorical Society of New Mexico was in­volved in the establishment of this sitein 1920. so it seems appropriate that itnow participates in preserving it.

The Historic Santa Fe Fouondation isendeavoring to acquire the Cross whichmarks the site from which Don DielJodeVargas marched into Santa Fe to reclaimit for the King of Spain in 1693. 0

BOOKS:The Hispano Homeland

by Richard L. NostrandPublished in 1992 by

University of Oklahom a Press. NormanPha toerept». maps, charts, notes. appendix.

index. x iv. 28 1 peqesReviewed by Robert 1. Torrez

It may be ironic that two recentlypublished books on New Mexico havebeen authored by geographers. First. Bowl­inlJ Green State University Professor ofGeography. Alvar W. Carlson. presentedhis "revisionist" The Spanish-AmericanHomeland (John Hopkins Ilnivesity Press.1990). Now. University of Oklahoma Pro­fessor of Geography Richard L. Nostrand.provides us with another geographicalperspective of essentially the same peopleand place .

Nostrand's presentation is primarily ananalysis of the settlement, expansion.and micration patterns of the peoplewho came to New Mexico's Rio GrandeValley after the Reconquista of 1693.Nostrand identifies the descendants ofthese people as Hispano (while Carlsoncalls them Spanish-Americans). anddescribes how these Hispanos are dif­ferent culturally. from the larger. andmore recent. immigrant Mexican­American population which came to theUnited States after the turn of thecentury. several early chapters describethe manner in which these peopleinteracted with New Mexico's aboriginalpopulation. the environment. and theAnclo newcomers. during the ensuingcenturies.

Readers of the New Mexico HistoricalReview will be familiar with some of thematerial presented here. as portions ofchapters have appeared in it. as well asother publications. The subject of familiarmaterial sometimes makes me wonderif historians should be reviewing historybooks. Books about New Mexico andother southwest subjects. are generallywritten for a wider audience than onlythe professional historian or seriousamateur. We consequently often findourselves wading throuqh severalchapters of introductory background.wondering when they will lJet to thegood stuff.

Unfortunately. this leaves the Informedreader with too much time to knit - pick

Santa Fe TrailIn New Mexico

A Teacher Institute

"The Santa Fe Trail in New Mexico: AnInstitute for Teachers" will be held June13- 18. 1993 on the campus of New Mex­ico Highlands University. Las Vegas.Registration fee of $150 will include fieldtrips. institute materials. room and board.Registration is limited to 75 participants.For further information. contact RuleenLazzell. Post Office Box 942. Mesilla. NewMexico 88046. (505) 524-1029. 0

• • •

Donations Sought ForHSNM Book Auction

A regular feature at each annualmembership meeting and conference ofthe Historical Society of New Mexico is thelate afternoon bOOR. and sometimesobject-d'art auction. The auctioneers.Qenerally John Conron and SpencerWilson. along with their hard-workingteam. are always in need of books. objects.memorabilia or whatever for offering toconference goers. If our readers wish todonate such items to the Society for sale.please send or deliver to John Conron'soffice at Santa Fe. NM 87501 or. if moreconvenient. bring them to the conferenceat the La Posada Hotel in Albuquerque.April 23 - 25. 1993. fPC

and mumble about minor items. such aswhey the author labels Nuestra senora deGuadalupe a saint: or insists in spellingchile with an "i": or translates cebolla as"wild flower" (p. 70). Nostrand also makespuzzling generalizations about the"nominal" Catholicismof the Pueblos. andminimizes. ifnot totally discounts. their in­teractions with Hispano neighbors . Thisreader was also left wondering aboutNostrand's basis for concludinq that "most[Hispanos] take umbrage at being called'Mexican Americans' (p. 13)," Carlson atleast quoted the noted authority. formerNew Mexico Governor Toney Anaya asthe source for a similar statement.

Once the reader gets through thefamiliar material. and finally becomescomfortable with a profusion of un ­familiar terms . (such as "formative col­onization. " "peripheral attraction." "arealgrowth. " " m o rpholo gy." and"geographical interdigitation"). there is asense of accomplishment when one getsthrough. and actually understands.sentences such as "Born in the contextof peripheral attraction. yet having all thecharacteristics of villages spawned fromconticuous 'expansion. San Salvador[California] constituted a distantHomeland outlier (p. 136)."

This means. of course. that despite itsshortcomings in presenting newhistorical material. The HisperioHomeland does provide the reader witha meaningful. and throuqh its many~raphs and charts. a well illustratedanalysis of the movements of a peoplethrough time and place. For example.one groans at the prospect of being sub­jected to yet another analysis of thedepopulation of New Mexico's moststudied village - EICerro. Yet, ProfessorNostrand succeeds in not only updatincthe EI Cerro story. but uses it as a vividexample of many of the precepts in thisattractive volume.

While this book added little that is newto my knowledge of New Mexico history.it did. as in the example noted above.cause me to pause and realize. that over­all. it did provide an excellent descriptionand analysis of many things Iknew aboutthat history - thlncs that are not con­veniently located within the covers of abook we can place on a nearby shelf.within easy reach for future reference.

RfT

'Ihe 'Cf'ulton <9oUection"Maurice G. Fulton

1877 . 1955

When Maurice Fulton moved toRoswell. New Mexico in 1922 andbecame a professor at the New MexicoMilitary Institute. his interest in thehistory of New Mexico grew from a hob­by to almost an obsession.

He concentrated much of his efforts onsoutheastern New Mexico. primarily thePecos Valley and Lincoln County andtraveled extensively throuqhout southernNew Mexico and Arizona obtaininq oralhistory interviews. documents and lettersand to photograph areas of historicalinterest to him .

This collection. containing personal in­terviews with actual survivors and par­ticipants of the Lincoln County War.photographs. newspaper articles and raremaps. is on the Lincoln County war. Bil­ly the Kid and New Mexicana.

In addition to the 17rolls of the FultonCollection. SW Micropublishing has on asinqle aditional reel the two survivingledgers from L.G. Murphy & Co. (May 1.1871 thru Dec. 31. 1872; Jan. 1. 1875 -Jan.1. 1876) and the survivinq Daybook (May1873 thru Jan. 28. 1874). Price for it isanother $52. plus shipiplnc,

For more information write toSouthwest Micropublishing. Inc. 2627 E.Yandell. El Paso. Texas. 79903. 0

3

TO:

FROM:La Cronica de Nuevo Mexico No. 35

HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF NEW MEXICOPost Office Box 1912santa Fe, New Mexico 87504

II • ..

NOTES1. Albuquerque Tribune. January 4.

1993.

2. For a detailed description of the Albu­querque Depot, see Kathleen A. Brooker."Railroad Depots in New Mexico:Southwestern Styles and the MasonryTradition." unpublished Masterof Architec­ture Thesis. University of New Mexico.1981. pp. 59 - 64.

3. In 1912 a fire caused considerabledamage to the depot. Ori~inally there wasa three-tiered tower which matched thetowers of the adjoining Alvarado Hotel.After this early fire. the tower was loweredto two tiers and was once aQain remodel­ed in 1944 at which time the tower waschanged to two telescoped blanle tierswithno balconets or arched windows. For fur­ther information. see Brooker. p . 61.

4. Albuquerque Tribune. January 4. 1993.February 8. 1993.

5. Albuquerque Tribune. January 4.1993.

6. Albuquerque Tribune. January 6. 1993.February 8. 1993 and interview with ArtWeber. general manager at AlbuquerqueAmtrak office. February 17. 1993.

Carleen Lazzell is an American StudiesPhD Candidate at University of New Mex­ico. Albuquerque.

"The Challenge ofLivable Communities"

NATIONALPRESERVATIONCONFERENCE

Non -Profit Organization

U.S. POSTAGE PAIDSanta Fe, New Mexico

87501Permit No. 95

St. Louis. MissouriSeptember 29 - October 3, 1993

The 47th National Preservation Con­ference to be held in S1. Louis. Missouri.will focus on how historic preservationcan make our communities more livableand how preservation fits into thebroader context of education. jobs. crimeand societal change.

From September 29 - October 3. hun­dreds of preservationists will participatein over 40 educational session. discussiongroups. mobile workshops and tours ofthe St. Louis area. Groups will study avariety of topics. includinq commercialand residential revitalization. affordablehousing. transportation. economic incen­tives. heritaqe tourism and heritageeducation. Special sessions will concen­trate on property rights. growth menace­ment. open space and landscapes andcertified local government issues.

For more information or to register forthe conference, please contact Preserva­tion Conferences. National Trust forHistoric Preservation. 1785 MassachusettsAvenue. N.W.. WashinQton . D.C. 20036.1-800-YES-NTHP. 0

* * * * *

If you are interested in knowing moreabout the Alvarado Hotel and the Albu­querque Depot, consult the followingpublications: Brooker. Kathleen A.."Railroad Depots in New Mexico:Southwestern Styles and the MasonryTradition." unpublished Master ofArchitecture Thesis. University of NewMexico. 1981; Gebhard. David. "Architec­ture and the Fred Harvey Houses: TheAlvarado and La Fonda." New Mexico Ar­chitecture. 6 Ganuary IFebruary 1964): 18-25; Grattan. Virginia.Mmy Colter: BuilderUpon the Red Earth. (flagstaff: NorthlandPress). 1980 and Johnson. Byron A. andRobert K Dauner. eds.Early Albuquerque:A Photographic History 1870 - 1918 (Albu­querque: Albuquerque Journal and Albu­querque Museum). 1981.

Marsh voiced little confidence that thedepot michr be rebuilt from the ruins.And. a few days later. he and severalothers aQreed that "there is nothing left torebuild from." 4

Presently. two trains arrive and departfrom Albuquerque - one from Chicagoand one from Los Anqeies. Ben Casados.ticket clerk and baggage supervisor for thepast twenty years. was quoted in the Albu­querque Tribune on the day of the fire. "It'snot just a loss for us. but it's a loss for thecity."5 The Santa Fe Railway Depot andthe companion. Alvarado Hotel. served asthe hub of Albuquerque society from 1901until the 1950S. The decade of the sixtiesand the Urban Renewal movement chano­ed the face of downtown Albuquerque.butldinqs. other than the Alvarado. thatwere destroyed byt he wrecking ball werethe Franciscan Hotel and the N.T. ArmijoBuilding plus several others .

What happens now? Some city plannersare advocatinq a central transportationcenter in the general vicinity of thedestroyed depot. Such a facility would ac­commodate trains. taxis. city buses. intrastate buses and even connections to theairport. A spokesperson for the City Plan­ning Office stated that they favored an ar­chitectural design that would relate to theold Alvarado Hotel lDepot and hoped thatthey could come up with something bythe Fall of 1993. Amtrak. during its lastfiscal year. carried 51.000 passengersthrouqh Albuquerque. therefore. theymust make some expedient decisions. Forabout ten days after the fire. trainpassengers and bawage handlers used theGreyhound Bus Terminal lobby and Am­tral< service was not interruped. Amtrak isnow using the old Curios Building at 214First Street, SW for the ticket sales and awaiting room.

Durinq the next several months.Amtrak officials. city planners and varioustransportation officials will determine whatcourse of action should be taken toreplace the Albuquerque depotfacilities.

more. Lucille Ball. Clark Gable. VanJohnson. Rudolph Valentino. Bob Hope.Spencer Tracy. Douclas Fairbanbs andMary Pickford. to name only a few.

Shortly before 3:30 a.m. on the coldMonday morning of January -ith. the Albu­querque FireDepartment received a reportof smoke in the vicinity of FirstStreet andSilverAvenue. By the time they arrived atthe scene. flames could be seen comingfrom the Amtrak depot. A full dispatchwas initiated and approximately twenty­two units responded to the call. The RedCross was there offering assistance andboth PublicService Company and the GasCompany of New Mexico crews werehelping to control the fire. By dawn. theblaze had been brought under control.although several firefighters remained atthe scene and continued to spray the char­red ruins for several more hours.

Accordinq to early reports from theAlbuquerque Fire Department District FireChief. the fire apparently started on thesouth side of the buildinq and then spreadinto the attic where it smoldered. The at­tic location made it difficult for thefirefighters to reach it. Initially. arson wassuspected. but after an intensive incestica­tion by both the Albuquerque Fire Depart­ment's Arson and Fire Investigation Unitand the federal office of Alcohol. Tobac­co and Firearms. no evidence of arsoncould be found. Albuquerque televisionstation. Channel 4 (NBC). reported on thelate news. Thursday. January 21. 1993. thatinvestigators "have ruled out arson in theJanuary -ith fire that destroyed the depot. "Their justification for this determinationwas that "the fire did not travel through'the building liRe one that had been inten­tinally set." 3

The depot was owned by the CatellusDevelopment Corporation and Amtrakwas the only tenant in the building. Theproject manager for Catellus. Bryan MarshIII. said that a dollar amount for the losswas not available. At the time of the fire.

This new spaper is pub lished by

HISTORICAL SOCIETYOF

NEW MEXICOP.O. Boll 1912

Santa Fe. New Mexico 87504

EDITORJ ohn P. Co nron

OFFICERSRobert R. Wh ile - President

John W . G rassh arn - 1Sl Vice-Pr esidentDarl is A. M iller - 2 nd Vice Preside nt

Andres J . Segura - Secreta rySpen cer W ilson - T reasurer

Co l. M .M . Bloom . J r. - Asst . T reasurer

DIR ECTORSSusa n Berr y

Th om as E. ChavezJ ohn Co nro n

Rich a rd N. EllisElv is E . Flemi ng

M yra Ellen Jenk insW illiam J . Lock

Riley ParkerAgn esa Reeve

Alben H . SchroederCa rl D. Sheppa rdRob ert J . Torrez

David H . TownsendJoh n P. WIlson

Th e opi nions ex pressed in signed a rticles ~ <]

ar e nOI necessa rily th ose of the H isto rica lSOClelY of New M exico . Ment ion of a pro­

D! !) dUCI. ser vice o r pr o fession al in th ese col - ~ <]

umns IS nor 10 be co nsidered an end o rse­ment o f th at product . ser vice or pr ofe ssion alby the H rvrori cal Society of New Mexico .

Trackside view of the Albuquerque AT&SF Depot as it appeared a few weeksbefore the fatal fire. Photo courtesy The Albuquerque Museum. 1992.

Photographer: Paul H. Carlson.

AT - SF DEPOT (continued)

With its terminus in California. a stringof California Mission Revival Styledepots perhaps made sense to theAT&SF and to the associated Harveyofficials. Depots. tollowinq this style.were built in several other railroadtowns in not only New Mexico. butalso in Arizona and California. SomeNew Mexico examples are Las Ve~as.

Raton. Belen. Santa Fe and Las Cruces.With the loss of the AlbuquerqueDepot. these other depots becomeeven more important as architecturalartifacts preserved from the ..gloryyears" of rail travel. These depots evok­ed an imace of the historic culture ofthe Southwestern United States andwere intended to encourage tourists totravel in the West.

The depot, and the Alvarado Hotel. in­corporated arched doorways and arcades.red tile roofs. curvilinear parapets. towersand rough-textured gray stucco into their"romantic" and "picturesque" design. Eventhough the California Mission Style is amasonry tradition. the Alvarado Hotel andthe connecting depot were actually woodframe and stucco construction.

The Alvarado Hotel IDepot was thescene of "star-watching" activity from thetime it was constructed at the tum of thecentury until the 19505. when automobiles(and later airplanes) began to usurp therailroad passenger service. When the trainsarrived. locals would be on hand to seewhich celebrities would be on the train.The roster of famous names included suchdignitaries as presidents TheodoreRoosevelt. William Taft . DwightEisenhower and Fran1<lin D. Roosevelt andthe rich and lor famous . for example.Albert Einstein. William Randolph Hearstand Charles Lindberqh. However. thosewho received the most attention were theHollywood stars: Ronald Reagon (beforehe was President). Mae West, John Barry-

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