Today we woke up to
26 degrees the coldest night so far on this trip. The wind had stopped though
and we knew that the day would warm up quickly. Yesterday the wind blew at a
sustained 35 to 40 miles an hour with wind gusts between 55 and 60 mph. Today the high was 63 degrees with no wind
and beautiful sunshine.
We decided to take a ride to Chloride, New Mexico. It’s a ghost
town with about 22 permanent residents besides some interesting old buildings,
the town is best known for the Pioneer Store that was built by Mr. Dalglish in 1880.
He operated the store through the silver boom years of 1880 through1897. A post
office was opened at the front of the store and in 1882 the area newspaper, the
Black Range, was published in the upstairs. In 1908 the James family bought the
store and operated it until 1923. The family had six children three boys and
three girls; Chloride was rumored to be the next boom town because of the mining
in the area. Mr. James became the owner of one of the mines in the area, he was
killed in a mining accident a few years after coming to Chloride and at the age
of 14 the eldest son became the man of the family. In the coming years the
daughters would own a millinery store and
an alteration shop and the boys went on to become mine owners ranchers and loggers, they also owned two
stage lines one a passenger line the other a supply line. They also owned
stores in nearby towns and the supply company that provided the supplies to the
stores. The ranch land included everything east of Chloride all the way to
Truth and Consequences and the logging property was west into the Gila Forest
needless to say they were very successful and very wealthy. The town went bust
after about 20 years but the James family had such an investment in the area
that they stayed until 1923 using the store for a commissary for their mining, ranching,
and logging employees and for the few remaining townspeople. In 1923 the last
of the remaining family walked out of the store locking the doors for good,
leaving everything intact. The thought was that after the young James son,
Edward Jr. received his education he would have a business to step into,
instead he became a scientist and worked for a time out east than at Los Alamos
and finally at the Livermore Labs in California. So in 1989 he sold the store
to a retired couple who restored the general store and opened it as a museum.
We toured the store and met the daughter of the current owners. Everything you
will see in the photos was left in the store the day it was closed by the James
family.
On the way to Chloride we passed the Ladder Ranch and later
found out that the owner is Ted Turner. The Ladder Ranch is a 156,439 acre
property and has some of the greatest wildlife diversity of any Turner ranch.
Nearby is another one of Tuners ranches this one a 362,885 acre. Ted Turner owns a total of fourteen ranches in the United States and is the second largest private land owner.
Elephant Butte Lake State Park
Elephant Butte Lake State Park
Elephant Butte Lake State Park
Elephant Butte Lake State Park
Elephant Butte Lake State Park
Main Street Chloride New Mexico
Saloon
Bank
Notice in the Saloons window
Saloon and Dance Hall
Original Pioneer Store now the Museum
The following photos are of the original inventory of the store when purchased in 1989
Post office in the front corner of the store
Who said the pioneers weren't tuff, look at these dental tools and chair.
This little store stocked everything one needed to maintain a homestead.
