Recycling in Rowe New Mexixo circa 1950 - 1960

You could recycle almost everything in Rowe, New Mexico in the 50's and very early 60's. Pig iron, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pig_iron, brown paper bags, pop bottles, tin cans, copper, lead etc. Even newsprint was recycled! As was the old Montgomery Ward and Sears catalogs. They ended up as kindling for the wood stoves or in the outhouse as toilet paper. Everything seemed to have a second and even a third and fourth life as something other than its intended purpose when the item was manufactured.

Paper bags could be sold at the Midway Bar and Groc. for a penny a piece.

Folks there would actually use the tins of sardines and hook them together with wire or string to make toy trains.... At least that is what my grandfather told me my string of sardine cans was. My grandmother had jars of every description painted blue and filled with everything. It depended on the size of the jar. But the paint was always blue..... The color you still see around a lot.

Base balls were made of tightly rolled up string of every size and then taped with black cloth tape. Baseball bats were mended and taped until the bat was useless. Old baseball mitts were sewn again and again.

My padrino, Telesfor Archuleta, made me a wheel barrow out of an old metal wheel and some leftover lumber he had been saving. It was not a toy, it was a working wheel borrow.

I still have an old hoe that used to belong to my grandfather, Roman Benavidez, it had been repaired many times. Sometimes he did it himself and sometimes they were sent to Mr. Polinar Encinias, who had a blacksmith shop and who would do repairs on most anything made of metal.

Everyone had an old inner tube to make sling shots or rubber bands. Old tires were some of our favorite toys. Everyone had his or her favorite tire. New soles and heels  for shoes were made from old tires. Cut up and made to resemble a flower were favorite planters.

The First "Onate" Colonist to Die In New Mexico

This is a picture I found on the internet of someone wearing a Spanish helmet. It is not a picture of anyone I know.

The 1st Pedro Robledo the my 11th great grandfather.

He died at Paraje de Robledo (now Radium Springs), Nuevo Mexico, he was a member of the 1598 Onate expedition and was the first person of that expedition to die in New Mexico. Parage de Robledo was named after him. He migrated to Nueva Espana (Mexico) about 1576.

Reference "The Last Conquistador" by Marc Simmons, in reference to the Onate colonists, it states on page 96 "Pioneering in colonial New Spain was decidedly a young mans activity. The sixty year old officer Pedro Robledo, gone entirely grey, was a conspicuous exception. When the frailties of age prevented him from carrying his own weight on the march, he had four stalwart, red headed sons, the eldest twenty seven and the youngest eighteen, who amply compensated".

Here is a web sit with some very interesting information of an interesting individual in New Mexico history.

http://cybergata.com/roots/4693.htm

His descendants in New Mexico now number in the 10's of thousands.

The trip up the Camino Real had to be brutal in those days.

Rowe, New Mexico

This is a picture of Rowe, New Mexico. You can see the Santa Fe RR tracks heading towards Santa Fe on the far left, the next line is the current frontage road. That frontage road (U.S. 85) used to be the main drag through the area for many years before I-25 was built. The next 2 lines are I-25.

I did not take this photo, but it was taken just as you get to the top of Rowe Mesa. Click on it to get a really neat view. The area you see here was pretty much my back yard back in the 1950'5 and very early 1960,s when I grew up.

There was not a single street light in Rowe back then, not one trailer house. The schoolhouse was just in front of the church. Mrs. Isabel Gutierrez was one of the school teachers, as was Mrs. Trinidad Varela and a Mr. Lujan and Mr Martinez taught the 7th and 8th grades. There were four stores in Rowe back then. The old Lucky 7 as you first came into town from Santa Fe, then E.T. Padilla store, then the old Trader Horn, or "la Tienda Grande" and at the other end was the Midway Bar and Groc. owned by Abel Benavidez. The Lucky 7 used to rent cabins. And the Trader Horn was where we would wait for the bus on the porch, sitting on the rail and messing with the Greyhound Bus flag.

In this photo Pecos is at the upper portion and slightly to the right, Glorieta is at the top and slightly to the left of center. The highest point in the picture is Pecos Baldy! At least I think it is..

Catholic Church at Sapello, New Mexico

This is the Catholic Church at Sapello, New Mexico. The cemetery is to the left of the church. My Great Grandfather, Juan Cristoval Martin(ez) is buried here as is my Great Grandmother Josefa Rafaela Valdez. They were buried here, but lived, in La Junta de los Rios, now Watrous, New Mexico.

They were both was born In Abiquiu in the province of New Mexico in Nueva Espana, he lived in the same area when it was part of Mexico and died when the area was a United States Territory.

History just over ran them several times. Juan Cristoval was born a Martin and died a Martinez. The history of a family over the generations is very interesting and makes a person wonder what his/her ancestors were like.

Catholic Church at Watrous (La Junta), New Mexico

This is the Catholic Church at Watrous (formally La Junta), New Mexico. A sleepy little town N. of Las Veagas on I-25. But it was a humming town back before the railroad came thru late in the 1800's. My father and his father before him were born here and baptized in this church. My Great Grand Father moved here in 1859 from San Geronimo, New Mexico

Church at Rowe, New Mexico

This is a pretty nice painting of the La Sagrda Familia Catholic Church in Rowe, New Mexico. I was the Mayordomo there once along with my mother.

The rock wall (tapia) was originally about 5 feet tall and pretty much like it is depicted there, only 5 feet tall. Then someone contracted with Mr. Tranquilino Garcia of Rowe to pare it down and add cedar posts and a woven wire. This was in the mid to late 1950's. What you see here is the remnants of that wall.

Also the little room seen here as the entrance is new since the 1950's when I used to attend church here. My Grandfather, Grandmother and mother are buried here in the back part of the cemetery.