Wednesday, March 26th, 2008
The Town of Mesilla is hosting a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the J. Paul Taylor Visitor Center Thursday, April 24 at 5:30 p.m.
As part of the ribbon-cutting ceremony there will be Billy the Kid display inside the Visitor Center. The display will feature historical photos, information and artifacts pertaining to Mesilla’s past. The subject is the historic period of April 1881, when Billy the Kid was a prisoner in Mesilla and tried and convicted of murder. A team of volunteers has collected names and items for the display. One of the items is the barber chair – built c1870 – in which Billy the Kid had his hair cut before the trial. The chair was once in the Billy the Kid Museum, owned by Dr. George Griggs in the 1930s, which is now La Posta Restaurant. The chair is currently in a private collection. An open house of the museum display will take place from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
The visitor center is an extension of the current Mesilla Town Hall, located at 2231 Avenida de Mesilla.
For more information about the ceremony, call Kristie Medina at (575) 524-3262 ext. 116.
See also:
Billy the Kid’s Grave
Did Billy the Kid Stay at La Posta in Mesilla?
Mesilla Museum Display
Saving the Pat Garrett Marker
Billy’s DNA
Old Mesilla Courthouse
Billy the Kid
Friday, February 15th, 2008
Today appears to be the 130th anniversary of the incorporation of the town of Mesilla. Yet there is no celebration, no mention by the village government.
Perhaps this is explained by the fact the no one appears to know the correct date of incorporation. The history of Mesilla on the official Mesilla town site gives 1861 as the year of incorporation. Other dates are given by other sites.
I present here evidence of the official incorporation of Mesilla that appears to be definitive. This is the text of the official Act of the Territory of New Mexico that incorporates the Town of Mesilla, as printed in the Mesilla Valley Independent newspaper, dated May 4, 1878. The Act is given as passed by the Territorial Legislature on February 15, 1878. That makes today the 130th anniversary of that act.
If anyone knows differently, please post it as a comment.
An Act to Incorporate “The Incorporation of Mesilla”
Be it enacted by the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of New Mexico:
SECTION 1. All owners and holders of real estate situated within the limits of Mesilla Grant in Dona Ana county who are actual residents within said limits, be, and they are hereby created a body politic and corporate under the name and style of the Incorporation of Mesilla and by that name may sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded; may hold real estate and have a common seal.
SEC. 2. That the officers of said incorporation shall consist of three commissioners each one of whom shall be a qualified voter under this act. Said commissioners shall have authority to take control of all real estate held in common by said Incorporation, and shall make such rules for the government of the same as they may deem just and proper, and shall have the power to lease or rent, and with the consent of two thirds of the voters under this act to convey and dispose of such real estate, and to make deeds of conveyance therefore.
Sec. 3. The said commissioners shall be elected at an election to be held on the first Monday of January of each year. Each owner and holder of real estate within the limits of said incorporation who is an actual resident therein shall be entitled to one vote for each terreno of land he may own or hold within said limits, and one vote for each separate portion of terreno; the three persons receiving the highest number of votes cast shall be declared elected, and shall respectively hold office for one year, and until their successors are elected and qualified. The commissioners elect shall take the same oath that is required by justices of the peace.
SEC. 4. The commissioners shall elect one of their number as President, one as Secretary, and one as Treasurer. The President shall call meetings of the board whenever the business of the incorporation shall require, or whenever petitioned to do so by twenty qualified voters. Whenever the said commissioners shall deem it necessary or proper to sell or lease any real estate, belonging in common to said corporation they shall call a meeting of all the members of said corporation, by giving five days public notice of the same, and shall present the project fully to the meeting who shall take a vote theron, and if two thirds of the votes cast are in favor of the project, then the said commissioners shall have full power to sell or lease the lands voted on, and in case of an absolute sale, the signature of the president of said commissioners, attested by the signatures of the secretary and the seal of the incorporation, shall be sufficient to convey all the title of the said corporation to said land.
SEC. 5. That until the first election under this act, the Governor shall appoint three commissioners, who shall have all the powers that are by this act granted to commissioners elected under its provisions.
SEC 6. This act shall be in force and effect from and effect from and after its passage and approval.
Approved Feb’y 15th, 1878
Quoted in the Mesilla Valley Independent, May 4, 1878.
Not surprisingly, only land owners could vote. They received one vote for each “terreno” and each portion of a torreno, so, obviously, one person could have multiple votes.
But what is a “terreno?” I haven’t found any definition on the internet or elsewhere. It appears to mean “a block of land,” of any size.
The measurement unit used by all the property deeds in Mesilla, which derives from the original Mexican land grant, is the “Spanish vara.” One vara as used in Mesilla is equal to 32.9927 inches, according to The History of La Mesilla and Her Mesilleros by Lionel Cajen Frietze.
Tags: History, Mesilla, Territory of New Mexico, Mesilla Incorporation
Friday, November 30th, 2007
Who’s daydreaming now?
Tags: Misc Images
Saturday, June 9th, 2007
It seems there’s something about cacti that’s almost fetishistic.
Protected species are constantly being stolen* in the desert areas around Mesilla. They have a compelling attraction for many people.
Cacti vandalism** is also fairly common.
It may be something of a challenge to stomp a barrel cactus.
There is no challenge to stomping a spineless cactus.
As noted in this post, a stand of Burbank Spineless Cactus next to an old adobe in Doña Ana was recently vandalized. Here’s a photo of the damage:
The plant has begun to recover, as you can see here:
You can see the necrotic tissue here:
and here:
The new growth is producing blossoms:
*”Cactus rustling” — an euphemism for a criminal enterprise that yields millions of dollars according to some sources.
**Is there a psychoanalytic term for this? Cactiphobia? Cactiandry? Cactisogyny? Cactisadism?
Tags: Spineless Cactus, Luther Burbank
Wednesday, June 6th, 2007
The Mesilla Plaza is a smoke free zone.
Tags: Mesilla, Mesilla Plaza, News
Thursday, May 3rd, 2007
The normal state for a gate is closed. Here’s a gate doing its duty.
This gate is gate in memory only. Most of the adobe wall it once served is gone.
Tags: Adobe, Misc Images
Wednesday, April 25th, 2007
If you look around many of the older homes in the Mesilla Valley, you’ll see an odd-looking prickly pear. It’s thornless.
Alien mutation?
Nope — the non-prickly prickly pear is the creation of the eclectic Luther Burbank, “The Plant Wizard.”
Burbank was born in 1849 and had no schooling beyond 6th grade, but he did have an intense fascination with plant breeding. He is credited with creating over 800 strains and varieties of plants, including the “impossible” plumcot, which he called “a cross which man said could never be made.”
The 12 volumes of his 1914 magnum opus, “Luther Burbank: His Methods and Discoveries and Their Practical Application” is available online, includes wonderful color photos, and still makes interesting and enjoyable reading. His self-promotion, however, sometimes leads him to sound like a cross between a used car salesman and P. T. Barnum.
He began developing a spineless cactus in the late 1800s with the goal of producing a plant that could grow in the desert and serve as food for livestock.
He says of this effort, “the work through which this result was achieved constituted in some respects the most arduous and soul-testing experience that I have ever undergone.”
Here’s a picture from the book showing Burbank examining cactus seedlings:
It may look like a loving relationship, but…
“For five years or more the cactus blooming season was a period of torment to me both day and night. Time and again I have declared from the bottom of my heart that I wished I had never touched the cactus to attempt to remove its spines. Looking back on the experience now, I feel that I would not have courage to renew the experiments were it necessary to go through the same ordeal again.
Not only would the little spicules find lodgement everywhere in my skin, but my clothing became filled with them, and the little barbs would gradually work their way through the cloth and into my flesh, causing intense irritation.”
The spines on the prickly pear (and other cacti) evolved from leaves on its ancestral parent. These leaves, over time, became sharp spines and acquired the capacity to detach easily when touched, a very effective defense against being eaten.
What Burbank succeeded in doing with his selection and cross-breeding was to produce a plant that grew only rudimentary spines and then dropped them voluntarily. In this photo from his book you can see the vestigial leaves with the spines gone.
Burbank’s hopes for millions of acres of desert growing spineless cactus as animal feed was never realized, but for a while the un-prickly pear was quite popular as a landscape plant around homes in arid areas like Southern New Mexico.
Here’s a planting around an old Adobe home in Mesilla:
A planting in Las Cruces:
A planting in Organ:
A planting next to an abandoned, decaying Adobe in Doña Ana:
A cactus without spines is defenseless. The photo below was taken about 2 months after the one above:
Someone, in an act of pure vandalism, has stomped the plant.
Tags: Spineless Cactus, Luther Burbank, History, Adobe
Friday, April 6th, 2007
Mesilla’s sister city of Las Cruces is considering the incorporation and development of 6,480 acres of state land. This is a big increase in the area of Las Cruces — amounting to over 10 square miles. The local paper reports that this area could ultimately contain as many as 90,000+ homes.
It turns out that one of the proposed development blocks contains a concrete marker built by Pat Garrett’s son (Jarvis Garrett) on the location where his Dad was shot. This is a well-known and famous event in Las Cruces, but evidently the existence of the marker has been a secret known only by a very few up until now. I understand the reason for the secrecy was to prevent vandalism.
Now that the marker is in danger of being destroyed by the proposed development, a local organization called Friends of Pat Garrett has been formed to save the marker. Details about the campaign are available on the web site:
www.FriendsOfPatGarrett.com
Here’s a photo of the marker courtesy of the web site:
The marker was evidently put up by Jarvis Garrett between 1938 and 1940.
In this close-up you can see “Feb 1908” scratched in the concrete. Pat Garrett was shot Feb 28, 1908.
This is an excellent cause. Information on how you can contact the Las Cruces City Council to support saving this marker is on the Friends of Pat Garrett site.
See also:
Billy the Kid’s Grave
Did Billy the Kid Stay at La Posta in Mesilla?
Mesilla Museum Display
Billy the Kid Display – Mesilla
Billy’s DNA
Old Mesilla Courthouse
Billy the Kid
Thursday, March 1st, 2007
Part of preserving Mesilla history is restoring and maintaining its old adobe homes. This isn’t a cheap proposition and most home buyers won’t do it.
Here’s a wonderful example of a new home owner who’s willing to buy a neglected adobe and restore it:
This structure was built originally as a single room adobe in the 1860s, then added to over a period of 40 years. Here’s the original part of the house:
The lintels show the location of entrances, later closed in. Here’s a better view of the blocked doors:
Here’s a view of the living room and the corner where the fireplace was located and will be restored:
Another corner showing a blocked window and a restored wall:
In order to preserve this wall, it was necessary to add a new wall beside it:
Another example of repair:
This is one of the wonderful features of the structure, an arched door:
After the adobe walls are made structurally sound, they will be plastered inside and out, making an energy efficient home that will be naturally cool in the summer and warm in the winter.
Tags: Adobe, History, Mesilla, Restoration
Tuesday, February 27th, 2007
Just as soon as Bhut Jolokia is identified as the hottest chile in the world, someone steps forth to conquer it.
Guwahati, India – A woman from India’s north eastern state of Assam is hoping to set a world record by eating a maximum amount of chilies in the least time. If successful, Anandita Dutta Tamuly will also be the world’s first person to eat a massive quantity of the world’s hottest peppers.
Tamuly is extremely confident of besting the pepper, because she’s an experienced summiter already.
“I have created history on Indian television by munching 60 of the chilies in two minutes. I am more than confident of creating a record once I reach London.”
“I have been eating Bhut Jolokia since my childhood and never felt the hotness in my mouth. I can even break the chilli and splash it on my eyes. I tried this on TV and had no problems whatsoever.”
The Assam government will pay for her trip to set the record. The previous world record appears to be 8 jalapenos in a minute, a pretty small bump compared to 60 Bhut Jolokias and a little Bhut Jolokia eyewash.
One consequence of the chile’s new fame is its price is climbing.
“We never thought Bhut Jolokia was so hot until news came in that this is the world’s hottest chilli. Now we have hiked the prices by Rs.50 a kg and people are buying it like hot cakes,” said Nalini Ram Thakuria, a vegetable vendor in Guwahati.
Note: In New Mexico, it’s spelled “chile,” not “chili.”
Tags: Chile, Chili, Bhut Jolokia, Anandita Dutta Tamuly
