Friday, October 9, 2015

Another adventure

 

In September some new friends, Dillon, Jean, Wanda and I headed out to cooks peak for a ride. It was a beautiful ride but had a set back or 2…

First one of the ATV”s rolled over in to the top of a mine shaft…Very luckily the girl was not hurt..Winched the atv out and were ready to get back on the journey…But Dillons UTV would not start no matter what we did so decided to just tow it back to the trucks…But…..It’s lunch time, so took time out to enjoy or lunch before heading back down the hill…About 8 miles to trucks. All in all a great day…Here’s some pics. You can click on them to enlarge.

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The pictures with people in them were the old Cooks Town cemetery. Only a couple of the had markers..

The following was from a Deming Headlight Article:

The 1900 U.S. Census records 343 people living at Cooks Town. This sizeable population was in fact larger than that which was recorded for the more well-known town of Lake Valley. Over half of the population listed for Cooks Town in the census were either born in Mexico or born in the US to Mexican Nationals, not native born New Mexican Hispanics. The most common surnames were Rodrigues(z), Gardia, Delgado, Jaso, and Guttirez (Gutierrez). Hence, while the mine owners were primarily Anglo, the mining camps of the Cookes Peak Mining District were largely Mexican in their ethnic composition.

By all accounts life within these camps was particularly brutal. While there were seven brothels and as many as 25 saloons, there were no churches and only a single source of drinkable water. Cattle rustling was common, as was claim jumping. Disputes were settled without the aid of law enforcement, often with violent and horrific consequences. Blizzards could occur in winter and dust storms were not uncommon in the summer months. Making matters worse, there is circumstantial evidence that many of residents suffered from the effects of lead poisoning.

Today, the remnants of Cooks Town, Hadley Town, and Jose Town, as well as the thousands of mines which once operated in the Cookes Peak Mining District, are still visible upon the landscape. However, visitation to the range is strongly discouraged. Much of the land remains privately owned and the abandoned mines are extremely dangerous. Be that as it may, the landscape of the Cookes Range remains an important piece of history to Luna County.