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Has a picture over the saloon door that shows "Pinos Altos New Mexico Settled 1803"
The Buckhorn was closed in March 2009 when parts of the building began to crumble. "I was concerned about safety," said Dink Tatsch, who owns the restaurant with his daughter, Tenniel. "It needed a total remodel, so I shut it down." Now, a year later, the Buckhorn has been completely rebuilt from just behind the bar. New concrete slab. New walls. New insulation. New roof
It was about that same time, perhaps as early as 1870, that the Buckhorn was built. Susan Berry, director of the Silver City Museum, recalls documentation showing the owner in 1871 to be James Bullard, who with his brother, John, founded Silver City. It's possible that Bullard built the Buckhorn. Twenty years later the saloon apparently escaped destruction from the fire of Dec. 10, 1891.
In 1969 Dink's father designed and built the Opera House next door, using old materials, so it would fit in with the neighborhood and resemble buildings from Pinos Altos' early history. He had a thing about maintaining Pinos Altos as it might have looked in the late 19th century.
How do you address the "sign above the door " .? 1803 04-05-06 ? Ether way that's very early, I was surprised too.
Hats
My mistake or poor memory. The sign above says 1803. Just by coincidence, we (my wife & I with our 94 year old friend) recently had breakfast at a local cafe at a table next to the table of owner of the Buckhorn and 3 of his friends. We all had a friendly conversation even though having not met before.
We have taken weekend trips up to SC and always enjoy it. Stayed at that bed and breakfast that is sort of out of town that was run by an old lady. Great place to watch for birds. She served family style and it was really interesting to sit at the table with others. Then stayed at another B and B in town across from Grant County Courthouse. Sorry , forget the names. Always enjoyable. We liked the Cliff Dwellings and Pinos Altos as well. I would not consider it for retirement either as one poster mentioned as it is far from an airport. At least 3 hours to El Paso or Tucson. I also wonder about health care as you would be having to go to Las Cruces or ELP for specialists. It is beautiful , though. BTW, I think Blake's Lotaburger serves great food there.
How do you address the "sign above the door " .? 1803 04-05-06 ? Ether way that's very early, I was surprised too.
Hats
Here's the story, from Wikipedia:
Copper mining in the area began late in the Spanish colonial period, but it was not until 1803 that Franscisco Manuel Elguea, a Chihuahua banker and businessman, founded the town of Santa Rita. He named it Santa Rita del Cobre (Saint Rita of the Copper), after Saint Rita of Cascia and the existing mine. During the early 19th century the mine produced over 6 million pounds of copper annually.[1] The crudely smeltered ore was shipped to Chihuahua for further smelting and then sent to Mexico City on mule back.[1] The area was relatively peaceful, despite an occasional attack from the Warm Springs (Mimbres) band of the ChiricahuaApache, who lived nearby at the headwaters of the Gila and Mimbres rivers. In 1837, however, an American trader named John Johnson lured the Apaches to a gathering and then massacred them to sell their scalps for the bounty offer by the Mexican government. [2] This caused open warfare and almost all of the nearly 500 inhabitants of Santa Rita were killed in an attack on the town; only six managed to reach safety in Chihuahua.
This was at Santa Rita, which was located a ways to the south of Pinos Altos east of Silver City. I don't imagine anyone who wasn't an Apache would have spent much time up at Pinos Altos in 1803, as this area was the homeland of the Chiricahua Apache (think Geronimo, Cochise, etc.). Even Santa Rita must have been a pretty dicey place in the 1810s, 20s and 30s: after the Mexicans were driven out of Santa Rita, no one returned to the area for 10 years.
Copper mining in the area began late in the Spanish colonial period, but it was not until 1803 that Franscisco Manuel Elguea, a Chihuahua banker and businessman, founded the town of Santa Rita. He named it Santa Rita del Cobre (Saint Rita of the Copper), after Saint Rita of Cascia and the existing mine. During the early 19th century the mine produced over 6 million pounds of copper annually.[1] The crudely smeltered ore was shipped to Chihuahua for further smelting and then sent to Mexico City on mule back.[1] The area was relatively peaceful, despite an occasional attack from the Warm Springs (Mimbres) band of the ChiricahuaApache, who lived nearby at the headwaters of the Gila and Mimbres rivers. In 1837, however, an American trader named John Johnson lured the Apaches to a gathering and then massacred them to sell their scalps for the bounty offer by the Mexican government. [2] This caused open warfare and almost all of the nearly 500 inhabitants of Santa Rita were killed in an attack on the town; only six managed to reach safety in Chihuahua.
This was at Santa Rita, which was located a ways to the south of Pinos Altos east of Silver City. I don't imagine anyone who wasn't an Apache would have spent much time up at Pinos Altos in 1803, as this area was the homeland of the Chiricahua Apache (think Geronimo, Cochise, etc.). Even Santa Rita must have been a pretty dicey place in the 1810s, 20s and 30s: after the Mexicans were driven out of Santa Rita, no one returned to the area for 10 years.
And now we know the rest of the story ! What does come up though is how many Americans were around during this time.? I think of Texas and how so many came from all over the US. In all cases the area was claimed by Spain as was most of what is now New Mexico. Mexicans were different than Spanish? I always thought , and I see it today , Mexicans were Spanish/Indian half breeds for lack of a better word, and did settle into pockets estranged from Spanish rule. At lest this is how the story was told to me by land grant Spaniard descendants. They did not mix well with Mexicans, maybe more with the Indians and then maybe not considering Santa Rita.
Why almost everything you think you know about the gold-mining boomtown is wrong.
Wikipedia should never be considered factually correct. Anyone can post information to the Wikipedia pages and anyone else can change what is posted to suit their agenda for doing so. The quoted article goes on to explain why the published histories of Pino Alto/Pinos Altos are so varied and often so incorrect or at best unproven.
Anyone can post information to the Wikipedia pages and anyone else can change what is posted to suit their agenda for doing so. The quoted article goes on to explain why the published histories of Pino Alto/Pinos Altos are so varied and often so incorrect or at best unproven.
But references are provided, which for me is better than an "Intertneter" just flapping their jaws...
And now we know the rest of the story ! What does come up though is how many Americans were around during this time.? I think of Texas and how so many came from all over the US. In all cases the area was claimed by Spain as was most of what is now New Mexico. Mexicans were different than Spanish? I always thought , and I see it today , Mexicans were Spanish/Indian half breeds for lack of a better word, and did settle into pockets estranged from Spanish rule. At lest this is how the story was told to me by land grant Spaniard descendants. They did not mix well with Mexicans, maybe more with the Indians and then maybe not considering Santa Rita.
In this case I'm using the term Mexican to mean "citizen of Mexico." Mexico gained its independence from Spain in 1821 and ruled over New Mexico until the US took over in 1846, so the folks driven out of Santa Rita in 1837 were Mexican citizens. Since Silver City would have been much closer to settlements in modern-day Chihuahua like Janos or Casa Grandes than to the New Mexican colony proper (which at the time didn't extend much further south than Socorro), I think it's safe to say most of Santa Rita's residents probably came from Chihuahua originally as well. The fact that the mine was established by a Chihuahuan and had its primary clients in Chihuahua supports that as well.
As for the presence of US citizens in New Mexico during the Mexican period, during Spanish rule the colony's government distrusted outsiders (first the French and English, later Americans) and did its best to make sure New Mexicans were only trading or getting supplies from Mexico proper. There was even an embargo on blacksmithing and smelting within the New Mexico colony: the Spanish wanted to make sure New Mexicans were getting all their metal from points further south. (This is partially why the Spanish lost so many battles against the Comanche and other plains tribes: while New Mexicans had to wait for guns and other supplies to arrive on the looong wagon train from Mexico City, the plains tribes were getting modern guns from the French).
Once Mexico became independent the new government worked hard to change things, opening up the Santa Fe trail and encouraging trade back and forth with St Louis and other emerging US frontier settlements. As a result, American frontiersmen and traders quickly flocked to Santa Fe and throughout New Mexico. While the New Mexico economy did improve, the new trade plus Mexico's inability to adequately protect the colony helped break down ties between New Mexico and Mexico proper and is probably part of why the US was eventually able to take over New Mexico with so little fuss...
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