Page 33 - 2019 Las Vegas & San Miguel Co. Visitors Guide
P. 33

   from Wildest of the WILD WesT by Howard Bryan
Murderers, robbers, thieves, swindlers, gamblers, and just plain tramps, accompanied by the usual assortment of dance-hall girls and “soiled doves,” they advanced into New Mexico as the railroad advanced, a few steps behind the construction crews and a few steps ahead of the law, lured onward by the promise of refuge, excitement, and
easy money at the end of the line.
   160 Bridge Street ~ Las Vegas, NM
505-425-6113 • cell 505-617-6113 email: unikat@spinn.net
from Wildest of the WILD WesT by Howard Bryan
Ilfeld was employed by adolph Letcher at a store in Taos in 1867 when the two decided that Las Vegas offered greater opportunities. In the spring of that year they loaded their merchandise on the backs of 100 burros and guided the awkward caravan over the mountains and south through the Mora Valley to Las Vegas, where they opened a store on the plaza. Ilfeld, who slept under the counter of the store to protect it from thieves, bought Letcher’s interest in 1874, and the Charles Ilfeld Co. eventually became the largest mercantile firm in New Mexico.
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