Carthage Reflections - White Oaks New Mexico Goldrush

Click clack, all in cattle car again heading due North. Boys look like they are having a great adventure. Just like we both feel. Doors open wide on the car scrub desert in all directions as far as you can see ,sharp bright blue sky a few wispy clouds way up there. Mulling over the el Paso visit one thing stood out the Asarco smelter.

White oaks in 1885 was the biggest thing in Lincoln county , their view and rightfully so was the ore timber coal and granite in white oaks would be of great desirability to El Paso. After seeing Asarco first hand, it was obvious they did not give a hoot about what some piss ant town up the road was doing and actually probably refining the ore from white oaks was a hindrance to their copper processing. That difference in viewpoint did not bode well for our kin folk up in White Oaks. Given we are not in the changing history business we just keep these kind of thoughts between us two and the boys. We keep no secrets from Petey and Sheba.

Carthage City of Dust, photographer unknown

175 odd miles later and at dawn or so the day after we left El Paso has us exiting the car with the boys in the railroad company town of Carthage New Mexico the whole idea here was to mine the coal the railroad required and load out the coal, period. Sure freight handing for the public was done it just was not a priority. Ore handing was also second priority the men in that town were first to work the coal and they were paid on that basis. Everything in that town was owned and operated by the railroad, the café, store, hotel (more like a bunkhouse,) everything.

The was no saloon , bawdy house not even a church. The company preferred to be paid with script as it doubled their profits if someone paid in gold the price of service or merchandise was about 50% higher. Obviously, not our kind a place. Our shopping spree items were unloaded on the platform. Fortunately the ice was under a tin roof most of the rest out in the sun. Nothing else was unloaded and no passengers got off. A Teamster pulls up in a two horse rig and asks us if we need his services, he knows we are headed to White Oaks since he does not know us and there is no other destination around. It’s a tad over 73 miles to White Oaks if you use the trail cross country that is used to haul ore from White Oaks to this here rail head. Loaded wagons cover 17 miles a day and there are three line shack camps on the way from Carthage to white oaks each camp has water ,feed and a post corral and line shack.

One never knows whom they may be bunking with on this trail. The Teamster tells us its $5 a hundred weight if it’s a deadhead trip $2.50 if he has a return load. Let’s figure ok $5 a hundred weight deadhead. We have say 4,000 pounds 40 hundred weight that’s $200 ($5,600) in today’s money. The Teamster adds it’s a take it or leave it deal. Steve responded “looks like you have been drinking your bath water, friend” Thus ends our conversation. We would Rather give all our goods to the Indians (except the tea set) than get bred without even a kiss.

Steve sets up shop on the platform to look over our things basically because no one in their right mind is gonna bother him, Steve keeps the sawed off , I take the telescope. Me and Petey head out east on the ore trail by ourselves hoping to come across an incoming, friendly ore wagon from White Oaks. In 2019, I bet there are maybe 1 in ten thousand people that would take off alone , in the desert , in the middle of nowhere, on a horse ,no cell phone, internet, no call 911 (help me, help me) No police, no map, no GPS. No trail mix ,no energy drink, no first aide kit ,no EMS, and not knowing how far you are going or whom you may come across. By 2019, the average man has become a girly girl sissy , consumed by concerns that don’t mean a damn ,afraid ,actually of being a man.

I don’t give a thought about any of that crap as I head out just me and Petey, heading straight into God knows where ,its simply what needs to be done. The trail is rutted down 6 inches into the caliche. Lush vegetation is on both sides owing to the fertilizer left by the teams pulling ore wagons from both Homestake mines for 6 years . You can still see this trail on google earth today. After a while I stop. Stroke Petey mane tell him he is a good boy , take out the telescope for a look around 360 in this situation it’s best to know what or whom is around you . I see not a thing ,nudge Pete and continue. Most people think a lone rider out here is easy prey but if that rider knew what he was doing ,best to stay clear of him .I’m not telling whoppers I know what I’m doing.

Pete and I keep on chugging along till it’s about dusk made about 17 miles I figure ,we come across the line shack camp. Its deserted, dark silent ,there is a chill in the air , it’s like that out here, hot as hell in the day chilly at night. Water Petey , unload him, affix his oat bag and bring him inside the line shack with me. I Start a coal fire, light the lantern ,biscuits and jerky, bust head, cigs then asleep on the dirt floor, Petey is already asleep over in the corner.

Back in Carthage Steve stays near the platform. Pretty much doing the same thing as me, just not riding. By 8 o’clock, the town is dark not a light anywhere ,not a sound even though he is in a town might as well be out here with me. Sometime later Steve (sleeping with one eye open) feels the presence of some body or something near him.
Pulls back both hammers on the sawed off and sees two fellas scurrying off into the darkness. Dear reader, would you rather be in my situation that night or Steve’s? Probably neither if truth were known.

At dawn Petey and me mount up, take a look around with the telescope (still nothing) and continue East . About 7 miles out I see a dust trail up ahead. Through the telescope it’s an ore team but is it another Teamster from Carthage or friends from white oaks? I fire a shot from my .44 model 73 into the air to make the ore team aware I’m out here Petey does not flinch he has heard that sound many times I hear their return fire . Petey and I sit there on the side of the trail until the ore train gets to us. It’s a ten horse rig pulling two ore wagons loaded. Three men riding on the seat of the first wagon three more riding on the seat of the second wagon . It’s a Mayer team from White Oaks, I don’t know who 5 of them are but I recognize Edward Queen one of Steve’s kin even though I have not seen him for 5 years.

Rob, he yells ,we knew you would come where is Uncle Steve? He’s back yonder ,sitting up I imagine. It’s all handshakes and smiles the decision is made to push on the 25 miles or so to Carthage and forget the last line camp. My pocket watch shows we arrive back in the totality dark town of Carthage at 11:45pm.

Steve had heard someone coming and was standing on the platform, the sawed off in his left hand pointing down . Once everyone can see in the moonlight whom everyone is , then it’s all shakes. Smiles and non stop yacking. They have to meet with the railroad people to load the ore and go over the paperwork in the morning otherwise we would have loaded our stuff and left right now ,god forsaken dang place

Lots of miles traveled today so we just shut it down and wait for the morning ,everyone falls asleep around the platform straight away. Biscuit jerky and coffee passed around our group as the sun comes up. Ore wagons are pulled next to the rail car, doors opened and the 8 of us begin the transfer of 11,000 pounds of ore concentrate in tagged 50 pound burlap bags. An inventory of tag numbers is created by the conductor that will accompany the ore to Asarco smelter in El Paso. Assay reports, payment instructions and yield estimates are given to the conductor in a mail pouch.

Listening to the conversations this is an important shipment. The Homestake mine purchased 80,000 pounds of new processing equipment a roll crusher, a classifier. Tables for using quick silver to form a gold concentration. Loosing 40% of gold by simply running through a stamp mill was not acceptable. The newspaper reported all of the above. If it all is successful the finished gold will cost less to ship and smelter as well as extraction improvements. The expectation for this load is a yield if 10 oz per 50 lbs bag. $190 a bag $41,800 total $1,174,400 in today’s money.

If confirmed by the smelter all ore will be processed in this manner and a load like this will be shipped once a month. Too bad I figure they ran the old method for 5 years a pity actually. Transit insurance is provided by wells Fargo and they have an armed guard travelling In the locked rail car. All our things are quickly loaded into the empty ore wagons and head East. Carthage and all their coal obsessions fade from sight. On the fourth day of our trip we will be in White Oaks.

Carthage, New Mexico was a once-thriving coal mining town that has since become a ghost town. According to the search results:

Carthage was the site of the first coal mine in New Mexico, established in the early 1860s by the U.S. Army.3 The Carthage Coal Company later operated mines in the area.2
In 1918, a coal dust explosion struck Carthage, causing significant damage.1 Over time, the town’s mines and structures were abandoned and Carthage became a ghost town.1 2
Today, little remains of Carthage besides scattered stone foundations, sealed mine entrances, and piles of broken glass.1 The exact location where Carthage once stood is now difficult to pinpoint.1
Nearby towns like Tokay and Frailey, which were also involved in the coal mining industry, have suffered a similar fate and are now largely abandoned as well.1
The Carthage coal field produced around 2.23 million tons of coal between 1897 and 1944, despite its limited geographic extent and complex geology.2 The coal’s quality and proximity to rail transportation and markets allowed for its development.2

In summary, Carthage was an important early coal mining town in New Mexico that ultimately succumbed to abandonment, leaving behind only scattered remnants of its former existence.1 2 3

Here are all the website links provided in the search results: