Conversation with Matthew Hoyle
Early 1891, half hour before sunrise finds Rob beginning to stir. Sitting up he sees he is in a ditch of some sort, he notices planking above and now knows he is under the bridge leading to Kempton’s addition South of where the school would be built in a few more years. He is a tad fuzzy headed , but it slowly becomes clear why he finds himself like this. The dang gentleman’s billiard tournament at Little Casino last night and some of this morning. Well that explains it just fine. Thinking to himself he is pretty dang proud of making it this far. Rob shakes off the dust and heads home to the Coopers’ house for breakfast. 
Mattie is standing in the kitchen at the coal fired iron stove frying thick slabs of bacon just rendered yesterday, plenty of sizzling bacon fat which in the cast iron frying pan is added home grown, thick sliced potatoes, skin on and thick rings of home grown onions cut into rings. Strong camp style coffee is in the pot and rob gets a tin cup , adds sugar and fills the up. Mattie has a white apron on trimmed in a blue floral pattern. Her hair is up in a bun. She has a long sleeve blouse , beige with dark brown trimming and a pleated dark green skirt trimmed in dark red, lace up brown shoes. As rob takes the smell and sight in sitting at the table covered with a blue tablecloth trimmed in silver He knows this is contentment even in his somewhat disheveled current state.
James a Sri enters , sits across from Rob Slender, Texas Calvary man in Civil war from Texas. A serious fellow all the way around most think he is stern and unfriendly, not true ,has lots of friends here and is respected . One soft spot is his love of animals, I’ve seen him on the porch talking to sammy his red coonhound dog about every evening. His sheep herds are immaculately ran so to his hog farm. Rob holds him in high regard , so do most people. The kids and dog arrive in the kitchen and breakfast is served. There is not a single pause in the conversation, everyone adding their bit. Smiles, nods all around rob thinks this is all just wonderful and the same scene is playing out in just about every house in town. Rob thinks maybe he will give this family thing a go but realizes it’s just too much work and effort for a fella that sleeps in ditches under bridges. Finish up with vittles , and family talk everyone heads out , some to school some to the ranch some for house chores , Rob mounts Pete and saunters over to main street and pull up at the Little Casino, its about 10 am Rob supposes. The tournament is still going on it’s the semi finals Steve against Gumm and Mayer against Queen.
This is gonna go on for some time Rob decides. So back on pete he rides down a few blocks and is waved over by Matthew Hoyle standing at his property watching the initial found to be kind ation works being done on what would be later called the Hoyle house. Rob dismounts and stands with Hoyle. He is pretty tall say 5′ 11″ about 180 lbs he talks slow and has a fuzzy look in his eyes. Some people think he is touched in the head. Rob has always found him kind , ethical, and honest not a big thinker but no dunce either. Matt asks Rob well what do you think looking at the construction . “Its huge” is rob reply. That’s the idea Matt starts in the exploration. It’s going to be the finest home in this here town and then everyone here can see for a fact that I’m a man of tastes and style. This is what I want and by God I’m going to have it. All the best parties and social events will be here with me standing on top of the stairs. Rob says should be real easy to get a wife with this here structure. Matt says I don’t want no g d wife. I see how my brother gets along with his and I want no part of that crap! I bet I have 50 letters from women all over wanting to lasso me. Some even with pictures. I have a couple side girlfriends in town anyway so hell no I’m done with that nonsense
Just wait until its finished, best woodworking, Best masonry and tile work. Best roof and brick work. Rob is looking at the dirt , kicking a pebble as Hoyle goes on and on. Rob tells Matt well I hope this brings you everything you want from it , mounts Pete and mosey on East glancing back Hoyle is pointing at the project and making hand gestures. Hey Rob got a minute? Its William Watson on his porch , Rob dismounts and joins Watson.
William is about 5′ 7″ 135 lbs piercing blue eyes Black hair pale skin. Always in a dark suit that needs a cleaning and a brimmed Black hat. Usually a few days beard and seems to need a bath. He is known as a fair but hard man looking out for himself first , one that can be trusted , educated and diligent, stays to himself mostly, watching. What did Matt have to say? All about his plans for the house. Did you try to stop him? No I wished him well and left it at that. I have tried to tell him that thing is going to ruin him so many times I’m sick of it, he won’t listen to me Watson explains. Well its his dream , we all have them so who’s to say,? Watson explains look both homestake mines are about tapped dry , Abe has maybe 5 more years of production. We have to find another lode while we have the mill in place the mining expert from Delaware will spend thus year examining all thr claims around here and prospecting for a claim close to Old Abe before he leaves to run a mine in South America. If we can find it this town will survive with or without a railway, if we cant ,well you know the outcome. Watson continues Hoyle is my partner, I don’t want to see him destroy himself with that damn house but I cant stop him. He is full grown man after all. Rob tells Watson I wish all of you the very best in the future and mounts Pete, heading for the pool tournament.
William is about 5′ 7″ 135 lbs piercing blue eyes Black hair pale skin. Always in a dark suit that needs a cleaning and a brimmed Black hat. Usually a few days beard and seems to need a bath. He is known as a fair but hard man looking out for himself first , one that can be trusted , educated and diligent, stays to himself mostly, watching. What did Matt have to say? All about his plans for the house. Did you try to stop him? No I wished him well and left it at that. I have tried to tell him that thing is going to ruin him so many times I’m sick of it, he won’t listen to me Watson explains. Well its his dream , we all have them so who’s to say,? Watson explains look both homestake mines are about tapped dry , Abe has maybe 5 more years of production. We have to find another lode while we have the mill in place the mining expert from Delaware will spend thus year examining all thr claims around here and prospecting for a claim close to Old Abe before he leaves to run a mine in South America. If we can find it this town will survive with or without a railway, if we cant ,well you know the outcome. Watson continues Hoyle is my partner, I don’t want to see him destroy himself with that damn house but I cant stop him. He is full grown man after all. Rob tells Watson I wish all of you the very best in the future and mounts Pete, heading for the pool tournament. Steve had lost to Gumm , so I sat across from him and related the conversations. A slow shake of the head was his reply. Wish we could change things for these people but we cant. Those are the rules we agreed to to allow us to go back here. Well Hoyle never finished the house, had one grand parties.
Ran out if money before he even hot it finished. Had to borrow $1,500 from his friends at the exchange bank to get out of town , pledged his gold tipped walking stick. The bank foreclosed soon after Hoyle left for Colorado then New York city.
The Hoyle house stands to thus day. Dear kind reader, The authors hope this story will provide more insight into previously reported explanations on the Hoyle house and the towns leaders thoughts and plans. While the story is from the authors imagination, it is well researched. We do trust it can add depth to the kind of day to day living in White Oaks.
Birth 23 Apr 1867
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.
This ship was not a steamship , But a sail ship. On one of his trips Capt. John discovered a small Island which he named after himself, Lee’s Island. Capt. John Sailed his Yankee Clipper to the Pacific Islands in the late 1800″s Trading with the natives for copra (dried coconut meat) and hemp which he then sold in Sidney, Australia. In his routes, he visited many ports of the Samoan Islands of Upolu, Savai’i and Tutuila and the important port of Pago Pago.
