It was still dark outside when 48 year old Max Koch opened his eyes ,seeing the glow from the kerosene lamp his 36 year old wife Alice e was using in the kitchen getting breakfast ready. Today was Saturday June 18, 1898. Home in White Oaks New Mexico. Max slept in light cotton long John’s in the summer , Alice in a light cotton smock or sleeping foundation wear. Max picked up his clothes from on top of his trunk , tweed brown cuffed trousers with belt loops, light wool gray socks, lace up leather shoes (these were new , made by Capuano in town). There were 5 steamer style trunks at home ,one for him, one for the wife , one for the two kids , one for linens, towels and such and one for kitchenware and lamps. So, when you had to move it all fit in one wagon. Just like when max moved from chloride New Mexico to White Oaks. A light wool button shirt, gray , no collar , long sleeve, a hop sack style jacket.
Entering , the kitchen his coffee cup is full. Steaming, two biscuits with pineapple cactus jelly were on the beige, porcelain plate with a brown rurakscape ring imprinted. Coal was usually used to heat and cook since it was plentiful and required far less attention during the day. The house was 25 feet wide by 30 feet long. A single peaked roof sloped both front and back with an overhead covering the front and back porches. Built on a rock foundation, since up here in the winter you did not want the house on bare frozen ground. Up 4 stairs to the front porch to the front door. A window on either side. Enter to the left in an open room is the stove and table with 6 chairs a window on that wall. A stone fireplace is on the opposite wall a small window on either side. No ceiling, the rafters were exposed.
A hall led to the master bedroom to the left and the kids, daughters Alma age 7 and Merle age 4 shared room across the hall. Then a back door to the porch, a lattice face some privacy on the back porch for Saturday night baths , it also was where laundry was done. One pot belly stove was fired in the winter and the bedroom doors left open. Outside facing construction was 10 inch wide 1 inch thick by 8 foot rough sawed ,planed planking, vertical, the flooring and porches were the same , bought from Gumm lumber. The box nails were made by Biggs the blacksmith as were the door hinges. Max being a carpenter had finished the inside walls and covered with wall paper, which he also sold to townspeople. The paper gave some insulation as well. The porches had plank half rail borders the front yard had a white picket fence Alice always wanted.
No goats , chickens , hogs etc were raised as they took lots of effort and food was plentiful downtown. Alice did have a small garden out back but mostly it fed the local wild life. The family dog “petey” spent his time wandering town with his dog friends or snoozing on one of the porches depending on where the sun was, he slept inside during winter , in front of the fireplace. The house faced east on pinion street south of Harrison ,every adjacent lot had a house. It was a fine warm clear day so max was walking to his office. Turning left on pinion, two blocks North to White Oaks Ave then a right to his beloved photograph studio next door to Dr. Paden drug store. He knew most of the people he came across on his walk. Most people knew most people actually. They were isolated and to a point interdependent on each other. One a buyer of another’s goods or services.
A sense of community, brother hood and togetherness was evident in most parts of town. It was different after 1900 and became more of a save yourself first situation. A few photo sittings a little carpentry , finish up the new coffin awaits its owner. Max traded a few cabinets to Dr. Paden for a sack of fresh fish from the Dr.s’ pond, picked up a pound of coffee beans .20 a pond, five pounds of flour ,15 cents from John Brown grocery. Visited Ziegler and Taliaferro stores , went by Mayer stables to check on his horse boarded there. Strolled back home, waved hello to several neighbors he came across. The wife, kids and dog greeting him on the porch. A small smile came across his face and he thought to himself this is perfect.
In 1900 max seeing the end of town coming. Just like in Chloride years ago. Sold his photograph equipment and moved to survival mode. By 1903 he was a fulltime funeral parlor operator in tucumcari, happy days in white oaks all but forgotten.
