tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7921005.post8720945960305610532..comments2024-03-26T10:17:21.693-05:00Comments on CITY OF DUST: The Bridal Chamber: Lake Valley, New Mexicojmhousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07470407787311078380noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7921005.post-42793238134753328632018-10-20T23:49:28.295-05:002018-10-20T23:49:28.295-05:00Thank you for the kind words, Tom Scanlan, and for...Thank you for the kind words, Tom Scanlan, and for contributing some family history regarding Lake Valley. I'm very happy to have that posted here. Life could get a little rough back then! But it can get a little rough now, too.<br /><br />Also, I was glad to hear that Harley Shaw is a good friend of yours. I spent a little time with Harley and his wife a few years ago while staying in Hillsboro at the Miller House. I was very impressed with their hospitality and book collection and further impressed when Harley's wife guessed I have some Huguenot in my background just by looking at me. I'll never forget that. She said she could do the same thing with horses!<br /><br />Anyway, thanks again for stopping by and please feel free to send more information this way if you're so inclined. I can always attach it to the main post, as I've done for places like <a href="http://cityofdust.blogspot.com/2012/01/whiskey-and-devil-taiban-new-mexico.html" rel="nofollow">Taiban</a>.<br /><br />Best, JMjmhousehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07470407787311078380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7921005.post-9242941367936485952018-10-18T13:26:37.141-05:002018-10-18T13:26:37.141-05:00This is one of the best overall descriptions that ...This is one of the best overall descriptions that I've read about Lake Valley. My grandfather,Tom Irvin, was born there in January 1880, according to local tax records. His newly married parents had moved their herd to LV from Llano, TX to sell their beef at much higher prices than west Texas was paying. They survived at least four documented Apache raids between 1879-1883. His grandfather PB Irvin, and PB's brother, Absolom Irvin, discovered some silver north of Lake Valley that made the local papers. I'm working on a narrative history of the pioneering Irvin family and have discovered a great deal about this area. I knew my great grandmother (a Farmington, NM resident until her death at age 95 in 1956), and I attended New Mexico Tech in Socorro from 1955-57. I've visited Lake Valley twice, have a good friend in Hillsboro, Harley Shaw, who edits the town's historical newsletter and originally put me on to Lake Valley by showing me a story in his newsletter about one of the Apache raids involving the Irvins.tscanlanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03599206210717968192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7921005.post-14100285170885725122018-08-05T20:26:19.025-05:002018-08-05T20:26:19.025-05:00I absolutely LOVE reading this blog. Being a dieha...I absolutely LOVE reading this blog. Being a diehard Mainer all my life, getting to see places i've always dreamed of going to, but never could is like heaven to me. I thank you SO much for the work you put into this with photos and stories. <br />SuzannahAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06577986065163538071noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7921005.post-60569699654247951012017-07-15T10:55:05.113-05:002017-07-15T10:55:05.113-05:00Anonymous, thanks very much for your comment! That...Anonymous, thanks very much for your comment! That's great that your great-grandparents lived in Silver City and Georgetown! However, I should mention that Georgetown didn't move toward Lake Valley; Georgetown is where George Lufkin and Chris Watson first heard that there might be silver--and lots of it--near what would become Lake Valley: "It was 1878 when George W. Lufkin, a Union Army soldier, and his partner Chris Watson went looking for silver not far from Hillsboro. A Chinese man had told Lufkin and Watson in a Georgetown, NM saloon of how he’d ended up lost on the way to Silver City and come across a piece of silver chloride, or horn silver, a very pure, soft form of the mineral, yet could never find where it came from again." However, Lake Valley did move around a little bit.<br /><br />I have never visited the site of Georgetown, oddly enough, although my understanding is that nothing remains there except, I believe, the cemetery. Robert Julyan, in <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Place-Names-New-Mexico/dp/0826316891" rel="nofollow">"The Place Names of New Mexico,"</a> states that Georgetown had a peak population of about 1,200 around 1888, but with the silver crash of 1893 was "doomed" and has since "vanished." But I'm pretty sure you can wander the old town site, overgrown as it is, and I'd like to do that myself!<br /><br />I'm thrilled to hear that you plan to take a trip to trace your great-grandparents footsteps and have a look around the area. It's a fascinating and beautiful part of NM and you will be able to feel the history, both regional and, I'd be willing to bet, personal, as well.<br /><br />Best of luck! JMjmhousehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07470407787311078380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7921005.post-25356470071035808682017-06-24T23:02:19.599-05:002017-06-24T23:02:19.599-05:00I plan to visit soon. My Great Grandparents lived...I plan to visit soon. My Great Grandparents lived in Silver City and Georgetown NM. I believe this article said something about Georgetown having moved to Lake Valley to be closer to the silver mine. I didn't know this. Great article. This little bit of information helped me decide where to investigate my Great-grandparent's whereabouts in those times. Thank youAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7921005.post-66700384237865633222015-09-28T16:26:29.854-05:002015-09-28T16:26:29.854-05:00Glad you enjoyed the piece, Unknown! Thanks for sh...Glad you enjoyed the piece, Unknown! Thanks for sharing your recollections. The Lake Valley area is still quite a place. JMjmhousehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07470407787311078380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7921005.post-70011077785941188672015-09-26T15:51:13.588-05:002015-09-26T15:51:13.588-05:00This was a delightul read. 40 years ago there were...This was a delightul read. 40 years ago there were western dances in the old school house. A lot of folks from Las Cruces would go there for the once a month dances. A number of friends from the old Southwestern Mountaineers rock climbing went every month<br />eedReed and Elaine's Travel Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06743399326405092907noreply@blogger.com