Page 251 - Cooke's Peak - Pasaron Por Aqui

Up to this time, the value of the total production of the district was about $3 milion. The ASARCO holdings alone, consisting of the Desdemona, Othel- lo, and Monte Cristo, had produced two-thirds of this, the Graphic group at Hadley produced $450,000, the Summit group $350,000, and all the others combined, $200,000.68 There was little production after about 1911 until H. E. McCray of Deming reopened the area in 1951.
The World Wars’ Impact
Although fluorite mining a few miles west of Cooke’s Peak began prior to the First World War, the increased requirement for steel production had a significant impact on the industry. The low ridge west of the western entrance to Cooke’s Canyon produced the ore necessary for quality steel produc- tion in 1909. The production of the mines there helped keep the United States from depending on foreign imports.
flict over the use of the water between two ranchers and the railroad. In 1895, Walter H. Jones, the rancher at the spring, put down a well and installed a windmill. 72 When there was insufficient water for his cattle from this well he would put a portable pump in the spring house and used the water to the detriment of another rancher, James G. Kerr, and the railroad. To forestall Jones’ use of the spring, the railroad locked the door on the springhouse.
Unfortunately, this security measure required the military to go to Florida Station whenever they wanted to use the water at the spring, a round trip of 10 miles, and then return the key, another 10 miles. The government dispatched B. H. Gibbs of the General Land Office to straighten out the problem. Jones had long since departed for California having sold out to E. M. Pride, who was unaware of the impending problem with the government.
Gibbs made his inspection and several recommen- dations. As a result, the lock was removed from the spring house, the railroad was admonished to live up to its agreement to keep the spring cleaned, and both cattlemen were cautioned about using more than the
73 public’s share of the water.
When massive Camp Cody closed, Deming’s economy was devastated. The impact, although on a much larger scale, was similar to that which Samuel Lyons experienced at Cooke’s Spring when the rail- road was established and the soldiers left Fort Cummings.
Five years after Camp Cody closed, veterans who had fought the Indians in the Southwest were also bitterly disappointed. On May 3, 1924, President Calvin Coolidge vetoed the Indian Wars Pension Bill (the Bursum Bill), which would have provided these veterans with a small monthly income. The Senate, with 15 members absent^ failed to override the
7
President’s veto by 1 vote.
During the Second World War, Deming was again
the designated location for a training base. This time, the Deming Army Air Base was established east of town to train young airmen in the use of the secret Norden bombsight. The trainees were processed in groups of 500 every 6 weeks, and they flew their missions in the 150 AT-11 Beechcraft trainers, designated the Kansan, each armed with up to 10 practice bombs.
The missions were flown against 24 large simulated ground targets (Figure 71), some of which were located close to old Fort Cummings. The men
Prospecting for manganese was also conducted, but no economically viable deposits
were found nearer than the Florida Mountains.69 Also prior to the First World War, New Mexico finally achieved the status for which it had fought for so many years. On January 6, 1912, President Wil- liam Howard Taft proclaimed the admission of New Mexicoasastate. Arizonawastheonlystateofthe contiguous 48 to ascend to statehood following New
Mexico.
After the United States declared war on April 6,
1917, the government established 32 training camps. Deming was selected as one of the sites, and before long construction was initiated on the 2,000-acre facility. TheinstallationwasnamedCampCodyin honor of Buffalo Bill Cody, and soon National Guardsmen from Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, and North and South Dakota rode the trains to Deming. The 30,000 men who trained here were denoted as the Thirty-Fourth (or Sandstorm) Division. In their 1,200 mess halls they consumed 10,000 loaves of bread every day, and used 2 million gallons of
70
Deming’s excellent water in the same period.
Part of the Sandstorm Division’s training included marches across the desert and bivouacs at places such as Cooke’s Spring. And, when they were in the
71
This requirement probably led to another government inspection of Cooke’s Spring. There had been a three-way con-
field, the men needed water.
Chapter 8
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