Amarillo Sunday News-Globe (Amarillo, Tex.), Vol. 13, No. 33, Ed. 1 Sunday, August 14, 1938 Page: 92 of 264
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AMARILLO SUNDAY NTTW8 AND GLOBE, AMARILLO. TEXAS.
OOLDEN ANNIVERSARY EDITION, 1938.
Ghostly Plazas Once Rang With Gay Songs of Shepherds
Old Sandoval Was Last
Herder To Quit Plains
By EDNA KAHLBAU
Carving1 the first three ancient highroads of the Llano
Estacado—the deep-rutted, grief-ridden comanchero trails
that crawled across the Panhandle from New Mexico
Territory—in some dim and unknown time came the first
c.iboleros and comancheros. Buffalo hunters and traders,
brown Mexicans all from the frontier villages—first the
ciboleros to butcher buffalo, then the comancheros to
barter with the Comanches. Down the wild course of
the Canadian River, along Trujillo and Tierra Blanea
Creeks, near Salinas Lake, and at Las Tecovas Springs,
those dusky rogues camped for months at a time, butch-
ering and drying buffalo meat, digging salt from Salinas
Lake, hobnobbing with Plains Indians, trading, at first
small trinkets, eventually building up the extensive co-
manchero traffic in stock stolen by the Comanches from
white settlers below the caprock.
Through the slow years
tales were carried back to
Anton Chico, Puerta de la
I.una, Santa Fe and Las
Vegas, of a wide sea of grass
to the east, its flowing
streams, pasture to flocks
without number. Gradually
there drifted in the earliest
still can be seen banks of large Ir-
rigation ditches by which the Mexi-
cans irrigated little garden plots
with water from Atascosa Creek. Im-
mediately to the east of Old Ta.scosa
was the plaza over which ruled old
Casimero Romero, a Mexican who
grew wealthy from spoils of the
comanchero trade.
Dotted at intervals over many
and Tecolote were large plazas al-
so.
• * •
There are no written records
about these plazas, and little Is
known of them. Settled at different
dates, possibly after 1836, they were
all deserted during the 80's. Pre-
| sumably, the Mexicans were for
the most part unable to write, and
they would have had little use for
the arU had they possessed them.
They lived without law except for
the teachings of the Catholic
Church. •
Although the histories and dates
of the plazas are lost in the maze
of Mexican and Indian traditions,
it is generally conceded that they
slowly grew up as outposts on the
old comanchero trading grounds and
along the old trade routes. A
great deal of their development
resulted from dealing in contraband
stock between the Mexicans and
Comanches, During the 70's and
80s, they were frequented by
soldiers, buffalo hunters, Indian
fighters, and drifters.
Life must have been for the most
part a placid, pastoral existence for
these early dons. Being on com-
paratively friendly terms with the
Indians, raids were few although
a few trades turned into battles
when Indians, feeling themselves
outsmarted, ran the Mexicans down
and repossessed the stock. In ad-
dition to a wealth of cattle and horses
fights added zest to their lives, but
c'.-arest of all to the Mexican heart
was the corrida de gailo, the rooster
race, a game of sufficient hazard,
speed and cruelty to appeal to their
elemental tastes. The players bur|ed
live roosters up to their necks in
was the direct result of personal
grudges. Generally, the differenc-
es were settled without hard feel-
ings. The main reason the Mexi-
cans deserted their plazas was be-
cause of the tax the state placed
on grass land. Old Sandoval, last
: .
■n-.v.-M.f.i .it-
JOAQUIN PLAZA, on the south side of the Canadian
in Oldham County, surmounted a lovely valley vista
that stretched many miles beyond what the eye could
take in. That was the range and headquarters of the
Mexican trader who occupied it.
sand, then riding by on their fast-
est horses, lraned from the saddle,
strove to snatch the birds by the
head from the ground.
Chavez Creek, Oldham
RUINS OF THE CHAVEZ PL.AZA, near the mouth
County. These relics of the faded glory that once was the Panhandle dons', are on
the north side of the Canadian River. It is estimated that 14 houses once com-
prised this plaza, and the remains of most of them are visible in this photo. Chavez
is one of the oldest well-known names of New Mexico and a reminder of the day
when that state was a part of Mexico, before General Kearney marched across it
in 1846 to take possession for the United States. Senator Dennis Chavez of New
Mexico is a member of this distinguished family.
When Americans first ventured
into the forbidding regions west
of the 100th meridian, they found
the Mexicans simple, fun - loving
people, living each day for itself, in
Latin-American complacency. The
Americans received hearty welcome
among them, but with their com-
ing, life lost its idyllic calm. Among
the first to come were hundr 's
of buffalo hunters. Soon the In-
dians were on the warpath, bitter
against the ruthless slaughter of
their staple food supply. Then,
as the soldiers corraled the In-
dians, cattlemen drifted huge herds
of longhorns onto the Plains. Big
ranches crowded the Mexicans from
their holdings.
Contrary to what might have
man In the command one or more
of them.
Some of the things found were
white women's clothing, children's
clothes, photographs, the hat of a
cavalry sergeant with letter and
cross-saber, cavalry saber and belt,
much dried meat, berries, etc.
By the time the village was
destroyed it was dark, and Car-
son's command must now find his
wagon train because it was most
urgent to find something to eat.
Besides, the officers reported that
the ammunition was almost ex-
hausted.
The command was nearly 250
miles from "the nearest habitation,
or hope of supplies, with the whr'"
C .ianche and Kiowa nations at
our heels. All combined to make it
anything but a pleasant situa-
tion."
They simply had to reach the
ammunition and supply train. But
after traveling about three hours
after destruction of the Indian vil-
lage and at about half past eight
o'clock, and after almost 30 hours
of marching and fighting with only
a few mouthfuls of hardtack and
salt pork or raw bacon, the train
was reached, encamped and ready
for action, and in sound of the
battle which had raged nearly all
day.
Quite naturally the troops were
exhausted. Even the Indian scouts
were so tired that they adjourned
the scalp dance which was th'ir
custom under such circumstances.
of Mexican sheepmen, remained at
his plaza until 1887.
Now little is left of the numerous
plazas which bore such musical
names as Tecolote, Chavez, Salinas,
Gallinas, Juan Domingo, Joaquin,
Ortega, Sandoval, Mariano Mon-
toya, Vaklez and Ventura. During
the early cattle ranching days, cow-
boys often camped in the lonely
and echoing scone houses. Before
many years the sod ronfs sifted
down to the floor; rabbits and
ground squirrels burrowed under
the foundations. Shifting sands of
streams, long years in sun and
wind have wrapped the plazas in
silence and ruin. Ironically, these
little towns, having been built and
occupied by sheepmen, were soon
enclosed in big cattle ranches.
Mast of the sites are :n almo/1
inaccessible places. Unexpectedly,
one encounters them, drowsing in
dust against some chalky canyon > Jj'"
half burled in sands of Trujil- ,
The command rested in camp
for a day, with the Indians hover-
ing around all of the time.
Carson finding it impracticable
to continue the fight, began the
return movement on the morning
of the twenty-seventh of November.
He reported one of his men killed
and 10 wounded. But the number
ter he had reached the vicinity of
Fort Bascom, Carson, having safely
extricated his column from the
dangerous region, wrote another dis-
patch in which he called for 700
additional mounted men, with two
six-pounder and two 12-pounder
guns, and supplies for four months
to go back after the Indians, stat-
ing that a column of not less than
1,000 men, well outfitted, should
be sent in after these Indians.
Brig. Gen. James H. Carleton,
Carson's commanding officer, wrote
thus to Carson: "This brilliant af-
fair adds another green leaf to
the laurels which you have so
nobly won in the scrvice of your
country."
The battle at Adobe Walls, while
it was not a decisive victory for
Carson, and while it dici not put
a stop altogether to the Indian
raids on the Santa Fe trail, ap-
pears to have had a sobering ef-
fect on the Indians.
The additional forces which Car-
son called for were never furnished,
and there appears not to have
again arisen the need for such
another punitive expedition, for
none was sent out at that time.
In the engagement described. Llt-
tle Mountain was head chief of the
Kiowas, One-Eyed Bear of the
Comanches, and Iron Shirt of the
Apaches.
The Ute chief Buckskin Charley
was with Carson.
-Carson in his report cites the
following officers under him that
day as being entitled to the high-
est praise: Ma.jor McCleave, Captai i
Suits in Glass
The Hub Clothiers of today 1* a
continuation of a pioneer Amarillo
clothing store established more than
31 years ago by O. M. Saylor and
Frederick Kendall.
The store, known at first as Saylor
and Kendall, was located at 414
Polk Street, and was noted among
early Amarilloans as the originator
of a new idea in clothing display
when it put all suits on hangers in
cabinets with glass doors. Thin
was a new thing in this section of
the country, since up to that time
the suits had merely been piled on
the counters.
Several years after the firm was
opened, it was Incorporated with
Saylor, Kendall, and W. O. Allen
as incorporators. The store con-
tinued to expand until it had built
up a Panhandle-wide business and
was forced to move to larger quar-
ters at 412 Polk Street. In lf)17
the firr of Saylor and Kendall
was dissolved when Allen and Saylor
sold their interests to Kendall. At
that time Z. O. Fine, who harl
worked in the store several year,',,
bought in with Kendall and the
name was changed to Kendall &
Fine Company.
In 1920. Mr. Allen returned t,o
Amarillo and purchased the firm
from Kendall, who in the mean-
time had bought out Fine. From
then on. the store was known a.'.
Allen's Store for Men and Boys.
In 1326, just at the beginning of
Fritz and Lieutenant P ath of the j the local oil boom, Allen's Store
First Cavalry, California Volun-
teers; Captains Dcus and Berney,
First Cavalry New Mexico Volun-
teers; Lieutenant Pettis, First In-
sold out to Schienburg-Quicksilver
& Company, which operated mens
and boys' stores at Wichita Falls,
Abilene, San Angelo and
fan try, California Volunteers; Lieu- ! Port worth in Texas; Ada
Enid,
of wounded was probably more, for | tenant Edgar. First Cavalry, New Okmulgee and Muskogee in Okla-
from other accounts it was 20. He | Mexico Volunteers, and Assistant
reported about 60 Indians killed Surgeon George C. Courtright,
homa and Fort Smith in Arkansas
Since 1927 the store has been called
The Hub.
The first manager of the store
and wounded but from other sourc- United States Volunteers.
es it was ascertained several years In Mar[.h 18g5 Carson was brevet-
later that the Indians lost nearly
100 killed and between 100 and j services in New Mexico, Ari-
150 wounded. | zona, and the Indian Territory," |
This latter information was trath- jc|-, was evidently in some de- j
ered several years afterwards by grpe jn recognition of his fight at i
Captain Pettis, who was in charge | Adobe Walls_ stale and territorial , , T,
of the two howitzers on the day of ljnrs that UmP were very ]iazy_ i managed by Howard Smith, who
the batlle, from two Mexican trad- jncjrrd. little attention was paid
ers who were in thr Comanche In- (Q ^lcm
dian village on the day of the bat- j
ed Brigadier General for "import- , was Emile Sauer but Sam Schjen.
burg was in active charge in 1D34
when the Hub was moved to its
present location at 604 Polk Street.
Since 1935 the Hub has been
wall, half
permanent Panhandle set-
tlers (exclusive of the an-
cient Pueblos), the simple
Mexican shepherds. Thus
were born at some lost date
the numerous Mexican
plazas whose ruins stand
miles of the broken land around
streams are to be seen the ruins
of these little villages. Valdez
Plaza, located on Pescado Creek,
was one of the larger settlements.
Most of its houses were built of
stone—the thin sandstone found in
Oldham County. The layers were
procured from Indians, there were
thousands of sheep, ranged on free
grass, watered at streams, and In
winter, sheltered in depths of can-
yons. Peon shepherds with their
dogs guarded the flocks from lo-
boes and coyotes, driving them in
been expected, there was compara- lo and Tierra Blanca, by the ever-
tively little friction between cattle- lasting flow of La.s Tecovas Springs,
men and sheepmen. The Mexicans i sflent, dead, and forgotten, they
had no legal claim to the land are in strange contrast to what
other than having occupied it for | they once were, places of life,
years. Some trouble developed be- laughter and gaiety, simple homes
tween cowboys and Mexicans which j of simple people.
FIRST BATTLE OF ADOBE WALLS
ft
m
;V. v;
BEFORE THE CATTLEMEN CAME a Panhandle don, one of the Mexican traders
and sheepmen, ruled an almost limitless domain from this plaza, the ruins of which
are pictured here, on Trujillo Creek in Oldham County. This plaza took its name
from the famous old stream, the farthest living water in the western Panhandle.
In the background an old corral and the creek bed may be glimpsed.
silent and blanketed in dust
on the Plains today.
Driving thousands of sheep, car-
rying their worldly goods in crude
carretas and on pack burros, the
sheepmen and their families drifted
along as their flocks grazed, settled
along streams and in sheltered coves,
establishing permanent homes.
Some of the plazas consisted of
t placed one on the other with me-
j ticulous care, and adobe mortar
j used. The roofs were of sod sup-
ported on Cottonwood logs. Traces
| of many old walls are visible, and
i some of the buildings are standing
J several feet high, roofs tumbled in
but door and window frames still
J intact, These frames were made
I of hand hewn boards held with
, at night to the protection of stone
J corrals.
When work was slack, when cara-
! vans of traders returned from An-
i ton Chico, from F.ndee, from cities
of far away Mexico, loaded with
(Continued From Page 2)
of the cavalrymen who were dis-
mounted were stationed to the
rear, on the right and on the
left; and in this manner Carson
commenced his march towald the
Indian village and in the / direc-
tion from which he had come that
morning.
Carson reported that the In-
dians, seeing his object, again ad-
vanced, with the evident intention
of saving, if possible, their village
and their property. They charged
repeatedly and with such despera-
tion that Carson was fearful for
the safety of his rear. However,
Captain Berney's command re-
ceived these charges so coolly and
with such a constant fire the In-
dians were forced to retire "with
sometimes considerable loss."
Finding it impossible to stop Car-
son's progress westward by their
repeated charges, the Indians be-
gan setting fire to the high grass
in Carson's rear and this burned
with rapidity before a favorable
wind.
Carson met this movement, by
having the grass fired in his front,
and then retired to some high
ground on his right flank where
the grass was short, while the fire
burned a way for him toward the
front.
The Indians now charged Carson
and his men "again under cover
of the fire and smoke from the
I burning grass which raged with
great fury," but the artillery was
wheeled into position and opened
I up a withering fire and repulsed [
the Indian charges, sometimes with
; "great slat ?hter."
Finally, the Indian village was
reached at about sundown, and
was found full of Indians who had
i to be charged and shelled a couple
of times before they retired to the |
far side of the village. Then the
destruction of the village com-
menced. About half of the com-
j mand was detailed io set fire to
the lodges, while the rest of the
troops were to hold the Indians in
check.
The , lodges were found to be full
of all manner of plunder, including
many hundreds of well finished buf-
falo robes, enough to furnish every
These were kept under arrest
by the Indians for several days af-
ter the battle, and to them the In-
dians avowed that if it had not
been for the howitzers at the battle
not a white man would have been
allowed to escape.
It would appear that, the walls of
the. old Adobe Fort had a beneficial
effect in protecting the horses of
the soldiers.
Captain Pettis quotes Carson as
saying that it was the howitzers
which saved him from annihila-
tion.
When he arrived at Camp Rito
Blanco, loo miles east of the ex
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Sources: Rebellion Records, Kit
Carson Days by Edwin I.. Sabin;
Historical Society of New Mexico,
The California Column; Vol. 5,
II and 12, "Kit < arson's Fight
with the Comanche and Kiowa In-
dians" by Captain Pettis.
joined the sales force In 1932. was
soon promoted to assistant manager
and then to manager.
"The Hub ranks near the top of
all S As Q stores, which do an an-
nual business of more than $1,500,-
000," Mr. Smith states.
Her c ill Boom
Jpp Todd. Canadian: "I have ask-
ed the old-timers here and they can- j magnet that drew Robert
not remember any robbers ever be-
ing around here. H. M. Wood, whose
father came in here with the first
buffalo hunters and settled over
on the Washita long before our folks
ever came here, says he don't know
j \ \ i i am
pedition and of the battle. This ! whv they named it but it was always
damp was, at, best this writer can j known as Robbers' Roost, Creek. It
locate it, situated in Potter County. | is just across the river from Tack's
Later, on December 16 and af- I Big Bull Ranch."
The building boom Amarillo ex-
perienced In 1925-26-27 was the
S. Her-
| rington, local real estate operator,
1 to the Panhandle.
Mr. Herrington moved here from
Wyoming on the advice of a friend.
For some time following his arrival
in 1926 he was associated with var-
ious real estate concerns, later op-
ening his own offices, which are
now in the Blackburn Building.
LjL , r tMp: UM
i mww:' ■ ... ....... «*..
ANOTHER VIEW OF TRUJILLO PLAZA reveals that
the famous old landmark, once used as an overnight
stage stop on the route from Dodge City to Tascosa to
New Mexico, may soon fall a victim of the stream's
caprice. Some stones from the ruins, on the south side
of the Canadian, already have fallen into the crock's
bed.
liquor and bright goods for the
Indians; when peones drove lumb-
ering old carretas in from Santa
Fe to Salinas Lake to dig salt,, big
bailes and fiestas were held at
which time wind-bitten hombres
drank, dined, and danced all night
with the senoritas of their choice.
Fishing, hunting, trapping and cock
LOCATION OF PLAZAS
Salinas Plaza, Section 66, Block B-7, Oldham County.
Trujillo Plaza, Section 13, Block B-5, Oldham County.
Valdez Plaza, Section 111, Block 47, Oldham County.
Ortega Plaza, Section 68. Block G-M5, Oldham County.
Charvez Plaza, Section 33. Block B-7, Oldham County.
Tecolote Plaza, Section (not known exactly, on .Matadors, near
New Mexico line).
Agripeta Sandoval, on Tierra Blanca Creek, Deaf Smith County,
exact section unknown.
Tecovas Springs Plaza, at Tecovas or Sanborn Springs, on Frying
Tan.
Juan Domingo Plaza, Srction f)3, Block 5, Oldham County.
Ventura Plaza, joining Juan Oomingo on west side.
Casimero Romero Plaza, on site of "llogtown," Tascosa (old lown)
sectinn east of original townsite.
Atascosa Plaza, on Atascosa Creek, exact location of later town
"Tascosa," Old Town.
There Is a plaza called Joaquin Plaza which Floyd Stlider believes
to be the same as Tecolote.
only a few houses while others, lo-
cated In the Indian trading grounds,
or along roads between forts, had
•tores, dance halls and saloons. The
villages were usually loosely pre-
sided over by some influential and
wealthy "grandee," Old Tascosa,
famous ghost cowtown of the Pan-
handle, was originally Atascosa, a
Mexican plaza and weil-known trad-
ing post. Around tills old townsite
'rude spikes. On many locations
are burial grounds, and around a
few of the villages old sheep cor-
rals, also built of sandstone, can
be seen in varied states of ruin. In
sone Instances there was a large
central building and patio, pos- J
sibly a sort of public assembly j
place, then in the vicinity were
I the residences. Trujillo, Tecovas, I
Since 1929
Miller Pharmacy
Free Fast Delivery
Sixth and Florida Telephone 6628
Amarillo s Modern Office Building
Centrally Located
l
The l isk /Yledical and Professional building
Owned and Operated by FISK INVESTMENT COMPANY
CHA5. A. FISK, Pres. G. RAY SMITH, Sec.-Treas.
POLK AT tIGHTH AMARILLO, TEXAS
-T _ — - -
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Amarillo Sunday News-Globe (Amarillo, Tex.), Vol. 13, No. 33, Ed. 1 Sunday, August 14, 1938, newspaper, August 14, 1938; Amarillo, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth299921/m1/92/: accessed April 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Hutchinson County Library, Borger Branch.