Pinos Altos (N.M.) -- History; Pinos Altos (N.M.) -- Social life and customs
When Bell and Stephens had announced the sale of their property to the
Hearst Interests there was great excitement. The Hearsts represented
money and money could do great things, but at the same time, they were
sorry to see the Bell and Stephens families depart. The property had
been turned over when Mr. Daniel B. Jillette, Jr., representing the
Hearst Interests, presented Mrs. Bell a farewell gift, the last ingot
from the Bell and Stephens Mill. This gold has been used only for
wedding rings and from the amount remaining today it will furnish
wedding rings to the Bell family for many, many generations.
The 1900’s
There must have been doctors here before the ’80’s but they left no
records. Dr. Lewis B. Robinson came to take charge of the drug store and
to care for the ill and injured. He was a character, crude in his
methods but a family physician of the old school, ready day or night to
go where ever needed. He would go to a home just to see the folks, have
the children stick out their tongues, sometimes leaving pills or asking
them to go by the drug store for a powder. There was a “pest house”
where victims of small pox were quarantined. Once the case was confined
there was improving and had gone outside to sit in the sun, when he went
inside he found that his bedding had disappeared. When “Doc” was
informed he said, “Well never mind, we’ll know who took the blankets in
a few days.” Sure enough, Joe Acosta came down with the small pox and
was marked for the rest of his life. Other doctors came and went and for
a time there was a dentist with his own office and equipment, but
usually the inhabitants depended on the semi-annual visits of Dr. W. H.
White of Silver City to have dental care.
The climate attracted health seekers, particularly those with
tuberculosis. Most followed a rest cure, others tried to work, some went
out to ranches. It is recalled that one young man would go to a
slaughter house whenever a beef was to be killed and drink a cup of warm
blood. Some went home to die, others were shipped East, but there were
others, like Russell Davidson who came from Nova Scotia and was taken
from the train on a stretcher, who lived a long and active life. William
Sweikert was a health seeker (1908-1911) who was interested in the
native population. He was Justice of Peace and as such, came in contact
with some quite often. He was shocked to learn that many families had
not been married so he rounded up the men and women involved and
persuaded them to get licenses and he would perform the civil
ceremonies. When that had been done, the next step was to have the
marriages blessed by a priest. All friends and relatives gathered,
children dressed in new white dresses or blue jeans formed a procession
to the church. “Un Gran’ Baile” was held and the bridegrooms broke
“carones” over the heads of the gray-haired brides with as much ardor as
much younger gay caballeros would have done.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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