Volume 1, Issue 49 NMHN

________________________________________________________________________ -Don Bullis, Editor
________________________________________________________________________
November 2, 2005 Volume 2, Issue 4

The purpose of this publication is to endeavor to provide readers with the most up-to-date information possible regarding the activities of New Mexico’s many historians, historical societies, museums and other groups interested in the state’s colorful and complex past. THE NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL NOTEBOOK will provide calendars of events, essays and monographs, book reviews, bibliographies, and interviews. It is revised and issued on Wednesday of each week. Submissions and comments from readers are encouraged. If you would like to have your name removed from this e-mail list, simply contact me at NMHN@donbullis.bizland.com and let me know.
________________________________________________________________________

DID YOU KNOW….

The Territorial Governor of New Mexico in 1906 and 1907 was Herbert James Hagerman (1871-1935). He was the son of J. J. Hagerman, one of the movers and shakers in the agricultural development of the Pecos Valley in southeastern New Mexico. Herbert was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and educated at Cornell University. He entered the diplomatic service and served as assistant secretary to the U. S. Ambassador to Russia. He left the State Department to accept appointment as governor of New Mexico, appointed by President Theodore Roosevelt. Hagerman was not well versed in territorial administrative matters and made the mistake of challenging Holm O. Bursum, the territory’s leading Republican. The result was the brevity of Hagerman’s administration. Roosevelt removed him from office allegedly for selling public lands without proper authority even though the charges were vague and politically motivated and even though his father and Roosevelt were personal friends. Herbert settled in Roswell where he led the “progressive” Republicans who contributed to the defeat of Bursum for Governor in 1911 by throwing their support to Democrat William C. McDonald.
______________________________________________________________________________

BOOK REPORT

Sheriff Harvey Whitehill, Silver City Stalwart
By Bob Alexander
High Lonesome Books
311 pages, $16.95 Soft cover

Pat Garrett is certainly New Mexico’s most famous lawman, but there were others who compare favorably with him in terms of actual deeds. Harvey Whitehill of Silver City is one of them. In an ironic twist, the two men, Garrett and Whitehill, actually faced each other in a political fight for the Ninth Council District (modern-day Senate) seat in 1882, a year after Garrett killed William H. Bonney, AKA Billy the Kid at Fort Sumner. Whitehill won. What makes it particularly ironic is that Whitehill was the first lawman to arrest Bonney, and Garrett was the last.
One of the most prolific historians of Old West lore writing today is Bob Alexander of Maypearl, Texas. He manages to turn out a book every year or so, and each one is as thoroughly researched and annotated as the last.
A thing Alexander does that this reviewer finds particularly engaging is to take on the frauds in history who undertook to make much of themselves by alleging acquaintance with the famous of the day. He cites one individual who claimed that he went to school with Billy, who was then known as Henry Antrim, in Silver City. Turns out the individual was born in 1872, and since Billy was born in 1859 it seems unlikely they would be schoolmates. Another “source” went so far as to offer a physical description of Billy as a child, and to discuss his reading habits. This time the creditability of the source becomes questionable when it is learned the he arrived in Silver City in 1876, a year after young Billy left the county. It is this kind of thoroughness that makes Alexander’s books so valuable.
No one with a serious interest in the 19th century history of New Mexico, or the Old West, can afford to be without Alexander’s books, and this one in particular.

______________________________________________________________________________

EVENTS/PLACES TO GO

The Events Calendar is maintained in cooperation with
The New Mexico Office of the State Historian (OSH).
The calendar can also be found at
http://www.newmexicohistory.org.

NOVEMBER

November 3-6, Thursday-Sunday. The Second Annual Tony Hillerman Writers Conference. Event will be held at the Albuquerque Hilton, 1901 University Blvd., in Albuquerque. Program features such notable writers as Judith Van Gieson, Sarah Lovett, Fred Harris, David Morrell, Michael McGarrity, and others. Historical Notebook editor Don Bullis will participate in a panel called, “Insights from Law Enforcement Pros” along with Santa Fe Police Chief Beverly Lennen, Private Investigator Patricia Caristo and Forensic Anthropologist Ann Palkovich. Bullis will also do a workshop on real-world law enforcement, entitled “Is there a place for Harry Callahan and Cordell Walker?” For complete information call Anne Hillerman or Jean Schaumberg at 505-471-1565 or go to wordharvest@yahoo.com.

November 5, Saturday at 2:00 p.m. The Sandia Ranger District, Cibola National Forest, presents Saturday Afternoon at Tijeras Pueblo, featuring Dr. Stafanie Beninato who make a presentation entitled, “Leadership in the Pueblo Revolt of 1680: Fact and Fantasy.” Although the Pueblo Revolt was one of the most successful rebellions against Spanish authority anywhere in the world, until recently historians have largely ignored its tactical aspects. This presentation focuses on the importance of socio-cultural viewpoints in determining the “truth” of an event. Call 281-3304 for complete information.

November 6, Sunday 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. The Miller Library at Western New Mexico University will host Los Alamos Revisited: A Workers History. Created by Peter Malmgren, of Chimayo, this is a photo exhibit which complements his cross-cultural oral history project consisting of interviews with 140 with Los Alamos National Laboratory workers. The photos will remain on display until December 9. For complete information call Theresa A. Strottman at 505-538-6355.

November 9, Wednesday from 7:00 to 10:00 p.m. Nasario García will sign copies of Old Las Vegas: Hispanic Memories from the New Mexico Meadowlands (Texas Tech University Press), at the National Hispanic Cultural Center, in Salón Ortega. A brief presentation will precede the book signing. Other recent titles will also be available. Admission is free. For further information call 246-2261, x 144.

November 12, Saturday 10:30-noon. The National Atomic Museum will host a Counter Intelligence presentation entitled “209 N. High Street Albuquerque and the Rosenberg Espionage Case.” Presentation will be made by Mr. Bruce Held who served for many years in the Central Intelligence Agency. The program is appropriate for age 15 years and above. For complete information call Phyllis Padilla Owens at 245-2137 X 112 or go to peowens@sandia.gov.

November 13, Sunday from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. The Miller Library at Western New Mexico University will host Remembering Lost Alamos: World War II. This is a documentary featuring interviews with Manhattan Project veterans, produced by Theresa Strottman. She will answer questions following the screening. For complete information call Theresa A. Strottman at 505-538-6355.

November 15, Tuesday 7:00 p.m. Bookworks on Rio Grande Blvd. NW in Albuquerque will host a slideshow and talk on the architecture of John Gaw Meem featuring author Chris Wilson and Photographer Robert Reck and their book, Facing Southwest: The Life and Houses of John Gaw Meem. Meem’s daugher, Nancy Meem Wirth, will also be present to answer questions. Call Allison at 344-8139 for complete information.

November 17, Thursday at 6:00 p.m. The Albuquerque Corral of Westerners International will present a lecture and book signing featuring Nasario García. His books include Tata: A Voice from the Río Puerco, Old Las Vegas: Hispanic Memories from the New Mexico Meadowlands and Albuquerque—!Feliz Cumpleaños¡ Three Hundred Years to Remember and others. Dr. García has delivered more than 150 lectures in the United States, Mexico, Canada, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica and Spain. Non-members are invited to attend this event (which will include a book sale and signing by New Mexico historians Joe Sando, Don Alberts, Don Bullis and Melody Groves). Dinner reservations are required ($12.00). Call Don Bullis at 892-9177 for complete information.

November 17-18, Thursday & Friday. American Indian Educators, Parents, and High School Students are invited to attend the Third Annual, Regional Indigenous Bilingual Education Conference: “The Year of the Indigenous Child: Going Back to Our Roots” at the Best Western Inn & Suites, 3009 West Highway 66 in Gallup, NM. For the general public ($5), a special “Canyons Concert” with native student performances and a special guest speaker is scheduled at El Morro Theater, 6:00 p.m. on November 17, 2005. For conference registration and the agenda, see website www.wnmu.org/ribec/ or call Molly at (505) 721-1033.

November 20, Sunday at 1:30 p.m. The Museum of Spanish Colonial Art Lecture Series will host “La Granada: The Pomegranate in New Spain” exhibit tour by curator Robin Farwell Gavin and Cooking with Suzie O’Neill, Dyeing with Pomegranates by Rita Padilla Haufman. The Museum is located at 750 Camino Lejo on Museum Hill in Santa Fe. Lecture is free with admission to the museum, $3.00 for New Mexico Residents, $6.00 for out of state visitors. Call 505-982-2226 for additional information.

November 20, Sunday at 2:00 at Bookworks on Rio Grande Blvd. NW in Albuquerque. Max Evans and Gene Peach will discuss and sign their book, Making a Hand: Growing Up Cowboy in New Mexico. Call Allison at 344-8139 for complete information.

November 20, Sunday at 3:00 p.m. Sandoval County Historical Society features a presentation by Stan Hordes who will discuss his new book, To the End of the Earth: A History of the Crypto-Jews of New Mexico, a history of the Crypto Jews in New Mexico. Meeting will be held at the Delavy House, U. S. Highway 550 in Bernalillo. Call Martha Liebert at 867-2755 for further information.

November 20, Sunday from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m., The Miller Library at Western New Mexico University will host a lecture by John Hunner, author of Inventing Los Alamos: The Growth of an Atomic Community. A discussion and a book signing will follow Hunner’s lecture. For complete information call Theresa A. Strottman at 505-538-6355.

November 20, Sunday. THE NEW MEXICO BOOK CO-OP will open its doors at the Cottonwood Mall, next to J. C. Penny’s on the lower level. Last year, the Co-op sold more than 3400 books, all by New Mexico authors and/or publishers. The store will remain open until New Years. Contact 505-344-9382 for complete information.

November 24, Thanksgiving Day. Christmas Light Parade at Zuñi Pueblo. Call 505-782-4403 for complete information.

DECEMBER

December 3, Saturday from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. There will be an open house at Casa San Ysidro in Corrales for the Corrales Holiday Event. Visitors are invited to enjoy some hot chocolate. Casa San Ysidro is located on Old Church Road, across the street from the Old San Ysidro Church. For complete information call Ouida at 898-3915.

December 4, Sunday, at 2:00 p.m. The Sandoval County Historical Society will hold its Annual Christmas Potluck. Members with last names beginning with letters “A” to “F” should bring salads; member with last names beginning “G” to “L” are assigned the delivery of vegetables; those with “M” to “R” names are responsible for deserts; and the “S” through “Z” folks are depended upon for breads and condiments. Drinks, plates and utensils will be provided. Frank and Helen Ortiz will provide Christmas guitar music with vocals in Spanish and English.

December 3 & 4. Eight Northern Pueblos Winter Arts & Crafts Fair & Jemez Pueblo Holiday Bazaar-Arts & Crafts Fair. Call 505-843-7270 for complete information.

December 11, 6:00 p.m. Night Dances at Pojoaque Pueblo: Vespers and procession. Call 505-455-3460 for information.

December 12, 10:00 a.m. Our Lady of Guadalupe Feast Day, Pojoaque Pueblo. Dances performed after mass. Call 505-455-3460 for information.
______________________________________________________________________________________

THE KIT JOY GANG BITES THE DUST

By Don Bullis
don.bullis@att.net

A headline and story in the Albuquerque Morning Journal for March 11, 1884
read:

WILL ROB NO MORE
————
The Whole Gang of Train Robbers Bite the Dust.
—————
Mitch Lee, Kit Joy, Frank Taggart
And Geo. Cleveland Gone Where
The Woodbine Twineth and
The Wicked Cease from
Troubling.

“Silver City, N. M., March 10—Four of the train robbers and Carlos Chavez, the murderer and Charles Spencer, the horse thief…broke jail this morning at 9 o’clock. A large posse of our citizens immediately followed them to the foothills of the Pinos Altos range which is some six miles north of town, where they overtook them, and in the desperate fight that ensued one of our most estimable citizens, J. W. Laffer1 was killed, as was also George W. Cleveland, the negro [sic] train robber, and Carlos Chavez, the murderer of the Chinaman at Fort Bayard, Mitch Lee was wounded and captured and Frank Taggart was also captured. Both of these men were hung one half mile from where they were captured by a party of determined citizens. Kit Joy, another of the train robbers, is still at large. He is the man who murdered Joseph W. Laffer…. A party of three started in pursuit of Joy, and it is believed that he was overtaken and killed as his pursuers are very reticent about the matter. In any event, he is badly wounded and his escape is simply impossible.
“John W. Laffer [sic] was one of our foremost and most enterprising businessmen, esteemed by all who knew him and that he should meet his death at the hands of such a gang seems almost unbearable.
“The negro Cleveland was captured by Sheriff Whitehill and brought here by Socorro county officers, he is the man who gave the officers a clue by which all the others have been arrested. Taggert is the man captured near St. John, [sic] Arizona, and brought back here via Albuquerque by Sheriff Whitehill and his son. Mitch Lee was taken in the American Valley country not a great while ago while Kit Joy has only been in custody a short time. This is the gang that threw the Southern Pacific train off the track at Deming, and then shot the engineer. This death for the desperadoes is a fitting one and nobody in the Territory will regret the fact that they are gone never to return. There seems to be no doubt, but what Kit Joy has gone beyond.”

Christopher “Kit” Joy may have been born in Texas about 1860, but his parents and a sister lived at Hillsboro, New Mexico in the middle 1880s. He is known to have spent some time around Tombstone, Arizona before he arrived in the Silver City, New Mexico area where he worked as a cowboy. One of his employers was none other than Sheriff Harvey Whitehill. One reporter said that Joy rode with Billy the Kid at one time, and while they would have been about the same age, sources consulted do not support the contention.
The train robbery mentioned above took place on November 24, 1883 at Gage, NM, about 15 miles west of Deming. The robbers were Kit Joy, Mitch Lee, Frank Taggart—all cowboys—and George Cleveland. Mitch Lee shot and killed Engineer Theopholus C. Webster after the train was derailed. Investigators located the bandit’s camp nearby. The outlaws had fled, but they left behind a recent edition of a California newspaper.2 The detectives located a Silver City saloonkeeper who hailed from California and subscribed to the paper. While he had no specific recollection of that particular issue, the officers became convinced the robbers were from Silver City.
Further investigation led officers to Frank Taggart, and he was known to associate with the other three men. Whitehill learned that Cleveland was in Socorro, and arrested him in a hotel there. By means of a ruse, he got Cleveland to confirm the identities of his companions. Kit Joy and Mitch Lee were captured by ranchers near Horse Springs, New Mexico in January 1884. Taggart was captured in Apache County, Arizona the same month. All were jailed at Silver City.
And they all escaped on March 10, taking Charlie Spencer and Carlos Chavez with them. One source reports that the posse overtook the outlaws about three miles north of Silver City, and a running gunfight developed from there, which covered some five miles. During this time, Cleveland and Chavez were killed. Some believe that the posse did not kill Cleveland, but that Kit Joy, or one of the other train robbers, did the deed in revenge for Cleveland’s cooperation with Sheriff Whitehill. One source, many years after the fact, indicates that the hanging of Frank Taggart was “unjust.”
So the tally for the day was one posseman, Joseph Laffer, dead; four outlaws dead, two shot (Chavez and Cleveland) and two hanged (Lee and Taggart); and one escapee (Kit Joy). Only Charlie Spencer was returned to jail that evening. And contrary to the wishful thinking displayed by the writer of the above news item, Kit Joy was not wounded or killed by his pursuers, or soon captured.
Joy managed to get to the Gila River country in northern Grant County where he stole food to survive. A group of local ranchers formed an ad hoc posse for the purpose of capturing the outlaw. On the morning of March 21, the searchers spotted Joy. Rancher Erichus “Rackety” Smith opened fire. His second shot took the outlaw in the left leg, just below the knee. The wound required amputation of the limb. Joy was tried at Hillsboro in November 1884 for the murder of railroad engineer, T. C. Webster. Convicted of second-degree murder, he was sentenced to life in prison. He was released some years later and retired to Bisbee, AZ. He was never tried for killing Joseph Laffer.
Harvey Whitehill was one of the better-known peace officers in Territorial New Mexico, but he was not Grant County sheriff when these events took place, even though he did participate in them.3 He was elected sheriff in 1874 and served until 1882 when he was elected to the territorial legislature. He served a final term as sheriff in 1889-90. He is probably best known for being the first lawman to arrest William H. Bonney, AKA Billy the Kid, for petty thievery, in 1875; but he was involved in many adventures as a peace officer. Sheriff Whitehill died at Deming in 1906 at the age of 69. He was buried at Silver City.

1 Another source identifies this citizen as Joseph N. Lafferr.
2 A second source claims the newspaper was from Kansas and the subscriber did remember who received the page from him.
3 James B. Woods was Grant County sheriff from 1883 to 1887. Woods was active in capturing the train robbers, but he was visiting in Arkansas when the jailbreak occurred.

Sources:
Albuquerque Morning Journal, Tuesday, March 11, 1884.
Bob Alexander. Sheriff Harvey Whitehill, High-Lonesome Books, 2005.
Larry D. Ball. Desert Lawmen, The High Sheriff’s of New Mexico and Arizona, 1846-1912. UNM Press.
Bryan, Howard. “The Gage Train Robbers.” Robbers, Rouges and Ruffians, Clear Light Publishers.
Dan L. Thrapp. Encyclopedia of Frontier Birgraphy. University of Nebraska Press.


	THE NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL NOTEBOOK© Don.Bullis@att.net 505-892-9177 –Don Bullis, Editor ________________________________________________________________________ -Don Bullis, Editor ________________________________________________________________________ November 2, 2005 Volume 2, Issue 4 The purpose of this publication is to endeavor to provide readers with the most up-to-date information possible regarding the activities of New Mexico’s many historians, historical societies, museums and other groups interested in the state’s colorful and complex past. THE NEW MEXICO HISTORICAL NOTEBOOK will provide calendars of events, essays and monographs, book reviews, bibliographies, and interviews. It is revised and issued on Wednesday of each week. Submissions and comments from readers are encouraged. If you would like to have your name removed from this e-mail list, simply contact me at NMHN@donbullis.bizland.com and let me know. ________________________________________________________________________ DID YOU KNOW…. The Territorial Governor of New Mexico in 1906 and 1907 was Herbert James Hagerman (1871-1935). He was the son of J. J. Hagerman, one of the movers and shakers in the agricultural development of the Pecos Valley in southeastern New Mexico. Herbert was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and educated at Cornell University. He entered the diplomatic service and served as assistant secretary to the U. S. Ambassador to Russia. He left the State Department to accept appointment as governor of New Mexico, appointed by President Theodore Roosevelt. Hagerman was not well versed in territorial administrative matters and made the mistake of challenging Holm O. Bursum, the territory’s leading Republican. The result was the brevity of Hagerman’s administration. Roosevelt removed him from office allegedly for selling public lands without proper authority even though the charges were vague and politically motivated and even though his father and Roosevelt were personal friends. Herbert settled in Roswell where he led the “progressive” Republicans who contributed to the defeat of Bursum for Governor in 1911 by throwing their support to Democrat William C. McDonald. ______________________________________________________________________________ BOOK REPORT Sheriff Harvey Whitehill, Silver City Stalwart By Bob Alexander High Lonesome Books 311 pages, $16.95 Soft cover Pat Garrett is certainly New Mexico’s most famous lawman, but there were others who compare favorably with him in terms of actual deeds. Harvey Whitehill of Silver City is one of them. In an ironic twist, the two men, Garrett and Whitehill, actually faced each other in a political fight for the Ninth Council District (modern-day Senate) seat in 1882, a year after Garrett killed William H. Bonney, AKA Billy the Kid at Fort Sumner. Whitehill won. What makes it particularly ironic is that Whitehill was the first lawman to arrest Bonney, and Garrett was the last. One of the most prolific historians of Old West lore writing today is Bob Alexander of Maypearl, Texas. He manages to turn out a book every year or so, and each one is as thoroughly researched and annotated as the last. A thing Alexander does that this reviewer finds particularly engaging is to take on the frauds in history who undertook to make much of themselves by alleging acquaintance with the famous of the day. He cites one individual who claimed that he went to school with Billy, who was then known as Henry Antrim, in Silver City. Turns out the individual was born in 1872, and since Billy was born in 1859 it seems unlikely they would be schoolmates. Another “source” went so far as to offer a physical description of Billy as a child, and to discuss his reading habits. This time the creditability of the source becomes questionable when it is learned the he arrived in Silver City in 1876, a year after young Billy left the county. It is this kind of thoroughness that makes Alexander’s books so valuable. No one with a serious interest in the 19th century history of New Mexico, or the Old West, can afford to be without Alexander’s books, and this one in particular. ______________________________________________________________________________ EVENTS/PLACES TO GO The Events Calendar is maintained in cooperation with The New Mexico Office of the State Historian (OSH). The calendar can also be found at http://www.newmexicohistory.org. NOVEMBER November 3-6, Thursday-Sunday. The Second Annual Tony Hillerman Writers Conference. Event will be held at the Albuquerque Hilton, 1901 University Blvd., in Albuquerque. Program features such notable writers as Judith Van Gieson, Sarah Lovett, Fred Harris, David Morrell, Michael McGarrity, and others. Historical Notebook editor Don Bullis will participate in a panel called, “Insights from Law Enforcement Pros” along with Santa Fe Police Chief Beverly Lennen, Private Investigator Patricia Caristo and Forensic Anthropologist Ann Palkovich. Bullis will also do a workshop on real-world law enforcement, entitled “Is there a place for Harry Callahan and Cordell Walker?” For complete information call Anne Hillerman or Jean Schaumberg at 505-471-1565 or go to wordharvest@yahoo.com. November 5, Saturday at 2:00 p.m. The Sandia Ranger District, Cibola National Forest, presents Saturday Afternoon at Tijeras Pueblo, featuring Dr. Stafanie Beninato who make a presentation entitled, “Leadership in the Pueblo Revolt of 1680: Fact and Fantasy.” Although the Pueblo Revolt was one of the most successful rebellions against Spanish authority anywhere in the world, until recently historians have largely ignored its tactical aspects. This presentation focuses on the importance of socio-cultural viewpoints in determining the “truth” of an event. Call 281-3304 for complete information. November 6, Sunday 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. The Miller Library at Western New Mexico University will host Los Alamos Revisited: A Workers History. Created by Peter Malmgren, of Chimayo, this is a photo exhibit which complements his cross-cultural oral history project consisting of interviews with 140 with Los Alamos National Laboratory workers. The photos will remain on display until December 9. For complete information call Theresa A. Strottman at 505-538-6355. November 9, Wednesday from 7:00 to 10:00 p.m. Nasario García will sign copies of Old Las Vegas: Hispanic Memories from the New Mexico Meadowlands (Texas Tech University Press), at the National Hispanic Cultural Center, in Salón Ortega. A brief presentation will precede the book signing. Other recent titles will also be available. Admission is free. For further information call 246-2261, x 144. November 12, Saturday 10:30-noon. The National Atomic Museum will host a Counter Intelligence presentation entitled “209 N. High Street Albuquerque and the Rosenberg Espionage Case.” Presentation will be made by Mr. Bruce Held who served for many years in the Central Intelligence Agency. The program is appropriate for age 15 years and above. For complete information call Phyllis Padilla Owens at 245-2137 X 112 or go to peowens@sandia.gov. November 13, Sunday from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. The Miller Library at Western New Mexico University will host Remembering Lost Alamos: World War II. This is a documentary featuring interviews with Manhattan Project veterans, produced by Theresa Strottman. She will answer questions following the screening. For complete information call Theresa A. Strottman at 505-538-6355. November 15, Tuesday 7:00 p.m. Bookworks on Rio Grande Blvd. NW in Albuquerque will host a slideshow and talk on the architecture of John Gaw Meem featuring author Chris Wilson and Photographer Robert Reck and their book, Facing Southwest: The Life and Houses of John Gaw Meem. Meem’s daugher, Nancy Meem Wirth, will also be present to answer questions. Call Allison at 344-8139 for complete information. November 17, Thursday at 6:00 p.m. The Albuquerque Corral of Westerners International will present a lecture and book signing featuring Nasario García. His books include Tata: A Voice from the Río Puerco, Old Las Vegas: Hispanic Memories from the New Mexico Meadowlands and Albuquerque—!Feliz Cumpleaños¡ Three Hundred Years to Remember and others. Dr. García has delivered more than 150 lectures in the United States, Mexico, Canada, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica and Spain. Non-members are invited to attend this event (which will include a book sale and signing by New Mexico historians Joe Sando, Don Alberts, Don Bullis and Melody Groves). Dinner reservations are required ($12.00). Call Don Bullis at 892-9177 for complete information. November 17-18, Thursday & Friday. American Indian Educators, Parents, and High School Students are invited to attend the Third Annual, Regional Indigenous Bilingual Education Conference: “The Year of the Indigenous Child: Going Back to Our Roots” at the Best Western Inn & Suites, 3009 West Highway 66 in Gallup, NM. For the general public ($5), a special “Canyons Concert” with native student performances and a special guest speaker is scheduled at El Morro Theater, 6:00 p.m. on November 17, 2005. For conference registration and the agenda, see website www.wnmu.org/ribec/ or call Molly at (505) 721-1033. November 20, Sunday at 1:30 p.m. The Museum of Spanish Colonial Art Lecture Series will host “La Granada: The Pomegranate in New Spain” exhibit tour by curator Robin Farwell Gavin and Cooking with Suzie O’Neill, Dyeing with Pomegranates by Rita Padilla Haufman. The Museum is located at 750 Camino Lejo on Museum Hill in Santa Fe. Lecture is free with admission to the museum, $3.00 for New Mexico Residents, $6.00 for out of state visitors. Call 505-982-2226 for additional information. November 20, Sunday at 2:00 at Bookworks on Rio Grande Blvd. NW in Albuquerque. Max Evans and Gene Peach will discuss and sign their book, Making a Hand: Growing Up Cowboy in New Mexico. Call Allison at 344-8139 for complete information. November 20, Sunday at 3:00 p.m. Sandoval County Historical Society features a presentation by Stan Hordes who will discuss his new book, To the End of the Earth: A History of the Crypto-Jews of New Mexico, a history of the Crypto Jews in New Mexico. Meeting will be held at the Delavy House, U. S. Highway 550 in Bernalillo. Call Martha Liebert at 867-2755 for further information. November 20, Sunday from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m., The Miller Library at Western New Mexico University will host a lecture by John Hunner, author of Inventing Los Alamos: The Growth of an Atomic Community. A discussion and a book signing will follow Hunner’s lecture. For complete information call Theresa A. Strottman at 505-538-6355. November 20, Sunday. THE NEW MEXICO BOOK CO-OP will open its doors at the Cottonwood Mall, next to J. C. Penny’s on the lower level. Last year, the Co-op sold more than 3400 books, all by New Mexico authors and/or publishers. The store will remain open until New Years. Contact 505-344-9382 for complete information. November 24, Thanksgiving Day. Christmas Light Parade at Zuñi Pueblo. Call 505-782-4403 for complete information. DECEMBER December 3, Saturday from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. There will be an open house at Casa San Ysidro in Corrales for the Corrales Holiday Event. Visitors are invited to enjoy some hot chocolate. Casa San Ysidro is located on Old Church Road, across the street from the Old San Ysidro Church. For complete information call Ouida at 898-3915. December 4, Sunday, at 2:00 p.m. The Sandoval County Historical Society will hold its Annual Christmas Potluck. Members with last names beginning with letters “A” to “F” should bring salads; member with last names beginning “G” to “L” are assigned the delivery of vegetables; those with “M” to “R” names are responsible for deserts; and the “S” through “Z” folks are depended upon for breads and condiments. Drinks, plates and utensils will be provided. Frank and Helen Ortiz will provide Christmas guitar music with vocals in Spanish and English. December 3 & 4. Eight Northern Pueblos Winter Arts & Crafts Fair & Jemez Pueblo Holiday Bazaar-Arts & Crafts Fair. Call 505-843-7270 for complete information. December 11, 6:00 p.m. Night Dances at Pojoaque Pueblo: Vespers and procession. Call 505-455-3460 for information. December 12, 10:00 a.m. Our Lady of Guadalupe Feast Day, Pojoaque Pueblo. Dances performed after mass. Call 505-455-3460 for information. ______________________________________________________________________________________ THE KIT JOY GANG BITES THE DUST By Don Bullis don.bullis@att.net A headline and story in the Albuquerque Morning Journal for March 11, 1884 read: WILL ROB NO MORE ———— The Whole Gang of Train Robbers Bite the Dust. ————— Mitch Lee, Kit Joy, Frank Taggart And Geo. Cleveland Gone Where The Woodbine Twineth and The Wicked Cease from Troubling. “Silver City, N. M., March 10—Four of the train robbers and Carlos Chavez, the murderer and Charles Spencer, the horse thief…broke jail this morning at 9 o’clock. A large posse of our citizens immediately followed them to the foothills of the Pinos Altos range which is some six miles north of town, where they overtook them, and in the desperate fight that ensued one of our most estimable citizens, J. W. Laffer1 was killed, as was also George W. Cleveland, the negro [sic] train robber, and Carlos Chavez, the murderer of the Chinaman at Fort Bayard, Mitch Lee was wounded and captured and Frank Taggart was also captured. Both of these men were hung one half mile from where they were captured by a party of determined citizens. Kit Joy, another of the train robbers, is still at large. He is the man who murdered Joseph W. Laffer…. A party of three started in pursuit of Joy, and it is believed that he was overtaken and killed as his pursuers are very reticent about the matter. In any event, he is badly wounded and his escape is simply impossible. “John W. Laffer [sic] was one of our foremost and most enterprising businessmen, esteemed by all who knew him and that he should meet his death at the hands of such a gang seems almost unbearable. “The negro Cleveland was captured by Sheriff Whitehill and brought here by Socorro county officers, he is the man who gave the officers a clue by which all the others have been arrested. Taggert is the man captured near St. John, [sic] Arizona, and brought back here via Albuquerque by Sheriff Whitehill and his son. Mitch Lee was taken in the American Valley country not a great while ago while Kit Joy has only been in custody a short time. This is the gang that threw the Southern Pacific train off the track at Deming, and then shot the engineer. This death for the desperadoes is a fitting one and nobody in the Territory will regret the fact that they are gone never to return. There seems to be no doubt, but what Kit Joy has gone beyond.” Christopher “Kit” Joy may have been born in Texas about 1860, but his parents and a sister lived at Hillsboro, New Mexico in the middle 1880s. He is known to have spent some time around Tombstone, Arizona before he arrived in the Silver City, New Mexico area where he worked as a cowboy. One of his employers was none other than Sheriff Harvey Whitehill. One reporter said that Joy rode with Billy the Kid at one time, and while they would have been about the same age, sources consulted do not support the contention. The train robbery mentioned above took place on November 24, 1883 at Gage, NM, about 15 miles west of Deming. The robbers were Kit Joy, Mitch Lee, Frank Taggart—all cowboys—and George Cleveland. Mitch Lee shot and killed Engineer Theopholus C. Webster after the train was derailed. Investigators located the bandit’s camp nearby. The outlaws had fled, but they left behind a recent edition of a California newspaper.2 The detectives located a Silver City saloonkeeper who hailed from California and subscribed to the paper. While he had no specific recollection of that particular issue, the officers became convinced the robbers were from Silver City. Further investigation led officers to Frank Taggart, and he was known to associate with the other three men. Whitehill learned that Cleveland was in Socorro, and arrested him in a hotel there. By means of a ruse, he got Cleveland to confirm the identities of his companions. Kit Joy and Mitch Lee were captured by ranchers near Horse Springs, New Mexico in January 1884. Taggart was captured in Apache County, Arizona the same month. All were jailed at Silver City. And they all escaped on March 10, taking Charlie Spencer and Carlos Chavez with them. One source reports that the posse overtook the outlaws about three miles north of Silver City, and a running gunfight developed from there, which covered some five miles. During this time, Cleveland and Chavez were killed. Some believe that the posse did not kill Cleveland, but that Kit Joy, or one of the other train robbers, did the deed in revenge for Cleveland’s cooperation with Sheriff Whitehill. One source, many years after the fact, indicates that the hanging of Frank Taggart was “unjust.” So the tally for the day was one posseman, Joseph Laffer, dead; four outlaws dead, two shot (Chavez and Cleveland) and two hanged (Lee and Taggart); and one escapee (Kit Joy). Only Charlie Spencer was returned to jail that evening. And contrary to the wishful thinking displayed by the writer of the above news item, Kit Joy was not wounded or killed by his pursuers, or soon captured. Joy managed to get to the Gila River country in northern Grant County where he stole food to survive. A group of local ranchers formed an ad hoc posse for the purpose of capturing the outlaw. On the morning of March 21, the searchers spotted Joy. Rancher Erichus “Rackety” Smith opened fire. His second shot took the outlaw in the left leg, just below the knee. The wound required amputation of the limb. Joy was tried at Hillsboro in November 1884 for the murder of railroad engineer, T. C. Webster. Convicted of second-degree murder, he was sentenced to life in prison. He was released some years later and retired to Bisbee, AZ. He was never tried for killing Joseph Laffer. Harvey Whitehill was one of the better-known peace officers in Territorial New Mexico, but he was not Grant County sheriff when these events took place, even though he did participate in them.3 He was elected sheriff in 1874 and served until 1882 when he was elected to the territorial legislature. He served a final term as sheriff in 1889-90. He is probably best known for being the first lawman to arrest William H. Bonney, AKA Billy the Kid, for petty thievery, in 1875; but he was involved in many adventures as a peace officer. Sheriff Whitehill died at Deming in 1906 at the age of 69. He was buried at Silver City. 1 Another source identifies this citizen as Joseph N. Lafferr. 2 A second source claims the newspaper was from Kansas and the subscriber did remember who received the page from him. 3 James B. Woods was Grant County sheriff from 1883 to 1887. Woods was active in capturing the train robbers, but he was visiting in Arkansas when the jailbreak occurred. Sources: Albuquerque Morning Journal, Tuesday, March 11, 1884. Bob Alexander. Sheriff Harvey Whitehill, High-Lonesome Books, 2005. Larry D. Ball. Desert Lawmen, The High Sheriff’s of New Mexico and Arizona, 1846-1912. UNM Press. Bryan, Howard. “The Gage Train Robbers.” Robbers, Rouges and Ruffians, Clear Light Publishers. Dan L. Thrapp. Encyclopedia of Frontier Birgraphy. University of Nebraska Press.

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