In 1880 Visit White Oaks N.M., after leaving Judge Beans place , we wander out West. By per chance we ride up to a town called Roswell New Mexico. It’s sitting out in the sparce desert, flat from horizon to horizon, mesquite bushes and various kinds of cactus seems to be all that can survive , a few tufts of prairie grass are scattered about. We hear tell of a new town springing up , West , in the mountains, due to a gold strike. Steve and Rob don’t give a hoot about gold mining, it’s too much work and at best all you have gained is money. and we don’t care much about that, and you can work yourself into a everlasting hole or worse, get stoved up. Adventure however, has a strong pull on us both so we decide to head over and give some town called White Oaks a look. Arrived from the East after several days riding through a real forest, in small mountains, first time we had seen this type ground in many years. Over time Rob and Steve had adapted to the desert life , about as good as a roadrunner bird or a coyote, so this land here was a welcome change.
Sitting on the boys , looking to the East , in a gentle wide valley we spy White Oaks, or more exactly the start of White Oaks. One dirt road comes off the trail we are on, and heads west to who knows where both sides of the road have wood plank. Log , adobe or canvas structures scattered about to the South are scattered dwellings, bunk houses and the like all of not permanent construction. To the North , smoke and steam drift into the clear blue sky , indicating the mining operations going on there. People are about , see no fancy rigs , few wagons, mules and horses rule. No carriages. Rob checks his watch , at 1 37 pm Monday June 14, 1880 , we ride down to white oaks proper for the first time. We set up shop in a tent amongst the miners and the visit begins.
Over the next few days we come across the Taliaferro, Watson. Hewitt, Lacey. Dr lane, Starr, Sweet, Redman, Slack, Lyman, Tillotson, Longmont, Wells, Helphingstine, Hargrave, and Tomlinson bunches, all it turns out staved till the end of the town. Cohen ,the first merchant came and went , but at that time he indeed was a brave man. All told about 300 or so souls resided there, mostly looking for their fortune. Its told , last year two wandering prospectors Baxter and winters discovered a gold vein outcropping, filed claims, sold out and left the area. The core people had plans to construct a right proper. Civilized town here and turns out that is exactly what they did do.
Captain John Lee had been writing to family in the States he was planning to sell his coconut plantations, sailing ship and move his family over to the mid West via San Francisco Port to allow his kids to get a better education than could be obtained in Samoa. Steve’s group. The Queens up in Colorado also were looking for a new place to settle down long term in , Robs bunch. The Coopers in Fannin tx also had been writing looking to head West to start a cattle ranch. After a week or so of investigation, Steve and Rob send out letters to them all , recommending White Oaks as a possible new place. Within 5 years all three families did in fact move to White Oaks, more than 30 all told, they stayed till the end and beyond.
The cemetery in White Oaks is full of these three family groups and their descendants. Whenever the authors and the boys check out , somehow they will all on June end up there as well. Around the end of June 1880 Rob and Steve continue wandering West and end up a few hundred miles further West in Pines Alto’s And the Buckhorn