Alamodoso Magazine December 2020

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Alamodoso

The Otero and Lincoln County, New Mexico Magazine Cover photo, National Solar Observatory, Sunspot, NM

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PRAYING FOR SOME QUILTING INSPIRATION

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December 2020 monthly horoscope

Aries (March 21st – April 20th) Plenty of raw energy is available this December 2020, but it will be up to you to refine it and define how it affects you and those around you.

Aries, you might not even believe yourself how your philosophical outlook in life is changing in a much more effective and beneficial way for you; especially connected to your personal roots. You are going through a period of learning experiences that are coming to you at a very fast pace.

Lessons that you have been learning in regards to your personal income and values continue and they seem to be getting better, but there would be some misjudged approach for lack of seeing clearly some of these issues that are presented to you. You could be experiencing some worries and concerns in regard to this matter.

Taurus (April 20th – May 21st) Your areas of shared and outside Read past issues at issuu.com/alamodosomagaine

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9 sources of income are in the spotlight this month. Fortunate circumstances seem to be surrounding this sector of your life and some gains could come for you and your partner or mate.

Your work area seems to be intensifying as unexpected work could be falling into your lap. Approaching this as a good experience could be very enriching to you in the long run.

Your life continues to have an up-beat mode in spite of apparent setbacks. These set backs are only for the better and they could work out in your favor.

Gemini (May 21st – June 21st) The horoscope of the year 2020 for all the 12 signs – from Aries to Pisces Your marriage and partnership area is in the limelight this December.

There could be some gains in your mutual relationship. Quick learning will be necessary in your area of investments and speculation in order to reap some gain but watch out for obstacles that could come your way.

There are many worries and concerns that could be bothering you in regard to your shared resources of income as your sense of responsibility seems to be very much enhancing right now.

Your sense of optimism accompanied by some daydreaming could be very helpful in balancing these feelings.

Story Continues next page

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Cancer (June 21st – July 23rd) The next several months will involve personal inventory taking to decide which beliefs and patterns are ‘keepers’ and which are not. Don’t hesitate to dream, but ‘a day at a time’ is what you need to focus upon.

Your houses of romance and relationship are highlighted this month.

There is some uncertainty or confusion that needs to be sorted out. Is someone not being straightforward about their needs or acting ‘needy?’

There is passion there, but let it be used for blissful experiences rather than ‘crabbiness.’ The 12th to 14th may be the toughest days in this regard. As Christmas approaches home life – your favorite area – and relationships are positively supported. You likely to meet interesting new friends or contacts before month’s end.

Leo (July 23rd – August 23rd) Some of you Leos might be able to meet someone special at a social setting Read past issues at issuu.com/alamodosomagaine

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11 this December 2020. This could be an individual that will come into your life in a very rapid fashion and could be a fast talker and communicator.

Many differences could surface that could bring some tension but talking things out could smooth the way.

Preoccupation concerning your work area could surface as you could be reliving some unpleasant past experience, but this time the table could be turning on your favor so be optimistic.

Virgo (August 23rd – Sept. 23rd) Your home life is very much in the spotlight this month. Your aims toward your future seem to be bringing some advantage to your life.

Unexpected developments connected to a friend throughout the area of work will be teaching you a thing or two, but good fortune should come from this experience that could bring you extra personal income.

There are certain issues connecting the past and future that need to be negotiated in order to find a fair solution. A very rosy opportunity of an investment nature could come your way that could cause you some concerns as you wish to look at this in a very mature approach and understanding.

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Discover Alamogordo Libra (Sept. 23rd – October 22nd) This will be a month for you to have communication and many exchanges of ideas related to your future gains of monetary value and future endeavors.

You could be having a very conservative approach to all this as there are certain worries and concerns at your home base that are keeping you on guard from changes especially when they are presented to you in a very grandiose manner. Quick adjustments concerning your future could also be present so reorientation will be necessary.

Established 1898

On or after the 15th you could be making up your mind about all these issues, as you will be listening more to your feelings.

Scorpio (Oct. 22nd – Nov. 21st) Luck will be with you on a matter concerning expenditure for your home base. Your bottled up energy is full of confusion by many changes in this area.

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13 You could be having some disagreement concerning this but everything should be worked out in a very harmonious way.

There are some worries concerning your mate or partner due to much rigidity on your part; dreaming a little will not hurt you, so try to weigh practicality with some of this dreaming.

Communicating your hopes for the future with your mate or partner could come in a very quick and friendly manner and this will be in regards to your shared and personal resources.

There will be lots of learning on this area. Whether you celebrate Hanukkah, Christmas, or Kwanza with your tribe, it will be a very special time for you.

Sagittarius (Nov. 21st – Dec, 21st) Happy Birthday to visionary, fun loving Sagittarius! Jupiter, the ruler of your Sun, is now arriving at the midpoint of your house of friends.

This is your time to mix and mingle and inspire others with your ‘big picture’ view of life. This December you could be feeling the desire to focus in your joint personal resources and gain that could come from this area.

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Questions could be asked in reference to this matter that could be presented in a too quick manner. A friendly approach could be taken in order to iron out differences with your mate or partner.

Work opportunities could be present in a very vague way and this could cause some agitation on your part in regards to alamodoso@gmail.com

14 your personal income and comforts that you enjoy.

Awareness of your personal shortcomings at your work place will hit you and you could be keeping this to yourself. Hard work and learning will rebound in a very beneficial way.

Capricorn (December 21st – January 19th) The spotlight for you this month surrounds a very private matter concerning roadblocks regarding children. Some of you could have your dream come true in regards to having children; there are many possibilities for some of you to be on the family way.

You will have to make many adjustments in a very quick manner concerning this area. Many worries and concerns will be bothering you but this will be unfounded and will pass. Many of you will also be taking an initiative in regards of letting go from your past and facing a much better future.

Aquarius (Jan 19th – Febr 19th) Read past issues at issuu.com/alamodosomagaine

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15 New talents and interests are beginning to percolate now to be revealed and will be revealed in their fullness over time. Your 6th house‌ health and healing as well as job and life direction‌ is highlighted this month. You might have to open your home this month to a friend that could be the cause of some adjustments there. This friend could be coming from a far distance and you could have much beneficial communication coming from this visit in regards to your work area. Changing your residence could be one of the things that could be in a dream stage and this looks very tempting to you. Doubts and insecurities could be bothering you but you will be keeping this to yourself. An older person could be of help to you in sorting things out.

Pisces (Feb. 19th – March 21st) According to your horoscope, this month of December 2020 you might be focusing on your career and aims in life. Your decision on this matter could bring gains toward your future undertakings in the matter of investment and speculation.

You could be trying to reconcile all this by taking into consideration your area of shared resources. Past and future are on the balance and there could be some differences of opinion that will have to be worked out. Open communication with loved ones should take place in a harmonious way so you can clarify all your worries and concerns.

Monthly horoscope courtesy of! https://www.yearlyhoroscope.org/december-monthlyhoroscope/ Read past issues at issuu.com/alamodosomagaine

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DECEMBER BIRTHSTONE: TURQUOISE Admired since ancient times, turquoise is known for its distinct color, which ranges from powdery blue to greenish robin egg blue. It’s one of few minerals to lend its name to anything that resembles its striking color.

The word “turquoise” dates back to the 13th century, drawing from the French expression pierre tourques, which referenced the “Turkish stone” brought to Europe from Turkey.

Ancient Persia (now Iran) was the traditional source for sky blue turquoise gemstones. This color is often called “Persian blue” today, regardless of its origin. The Sinai Peninsula in Egypt was also an important historical source of turquoise gems.

The U.S. is now the world’s largest turquoise supplier. Nevada, New Mexico, California, and Colorado have produced turquoise, but Arizona leads in production by value, as well as quality.

The stone’s popularity here makes it a staple in Native American jewelry.

Turquoise is found in arid regions where rainwater dissolves copper in the soil, forming colorful nodular deposits Read past issues at issuu.com/alamodosomagaine

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17 when it combines with aluminum and phosphorus. Copper contributes blue hues, while iron and chrome add a hint of green.

Some turquoise contains pieces of host rock, called matrix, which appear as dark webs or patches in the material. This can lower the stone’s value, although the uniform “spiderweb” pattern of Southwestern turquoise is attractive.

Turquoise is sensitive to direct sunlight and solvents like makeup, perfume, and natural oils. The hardest turquoise only measures 6 on the Mohs scale, which made this soft gemstone popular in carved talismans throughout history.

Highly esteemed for its striking namesake color and its ancient history, turquoise's popularity remains timeless.

Turquoise has a long history of use as a talisman or amulet. The ancient Egyptians, Mesoamericans, Native Americans and Tibetans have believed in the special powers of turquoise for centuries. Some believed that turquoise can protect its wearer from harm, whilst others thought that it brought good luck or longevity. Moreover, some cultures accredited turquoise with the ability to reflect the health of the wearer; its color fading when worn by those in ill health and becoming deeper and more vivid when worn by a healthy person.

Nowadays, turquoise is believed to offer protection and to be helpful for careers and travel. It is thought to facilitate leadership and clear communication.

Physically, turquoise is thought to alleviate migraines and benefit the brain, eyes, ears, neck, lungs and throat.

Turquoise is related to feelings of peace and balance, especially the balance of male and female. In traditional Hindu belief systems, turquoise is associated with clearing Ajna, or the third eye chakra and Vishuddha, or the throat chakra. Ajna is connected with the pineal gland, the pituitary gland, intuition and the intellect. Vishuddha is linked to purification, wisdom, verbal communication, the ears, neck and throat.

Turquoise is the traditional birthstone for December and a zodiacal stone for Sagittarians. In feng shui, turquoise carries water energy.

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Healthier Chocolate Pudding Ingredients: ● 3 Tbsps Arrowroot powder, or cornstarch ● 1/3 cup cacao powder ● a pinch of sea salt ● 2 cups milk of choice, such as unsweetened coconut milk, cashew milk ● 2 Tbsps ghee, clarified butter, or unrefined coconut oil ● 1/3 cup raw honey, or pure maple syrup ● 1 tsp vanilla extract, or almond extract ● 1/4 cup dark chocolate chips

To Garnish: ● dark chocolate Read past issues at issuu.com/alamodosomagaine

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19 ● whipped coconut cream or plain Greek yogurt

Instructions: ● In a saucepan whisk to combine; Arrowroot powder, cacao powder, and salt. ● Add 1/3 cup of milk and whisk until smooth. Stir in the remaining milk, together with the ghee or clarified butter, honey and vanilla. ● Place your pot on the stove over low heat. ● Cook the pudding on low heat while gently whisking the ingredients together. ● Make sure to stir continuously, scraping the sides of the pan, until the liquid begins to thicken and bubble. ● Allow your pudding to simmer for about 1 minute. ● Remove from the heat and stir in your chocolate chips. ● Whisk until chocolate is melted, and mixture becomes super smooth with no visible lumps. ● Divide pudding among pudding bowls. ● Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or until set and cool. ● Garnish with a dollop of yogurt, or coconut cream, and grated dark chocolate. ● Enjoy!

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Spiced Rum Fruitcake It just wouldn’t be christmas Without a fruitcake in the house Ingredients ● 3/4 cup all-purpose flour ● 1/2 teaspoon baking powder ● 1/4 teaspoon salt ● 2 cups chopped walnuts ● 1 package (8 ounces) pitted dates, chopped ● 1 cup maraschino cherries, halved ● 1/2 cup dried mangoes, chopped ● 3 large eggs, room temperature ● 3/4 cup packed brown sugar ● 1 cup spiced rum, divided!

Directions ● Preheat oven to 300°. Line a 9x5-in. loaf pan with parchment, letting ends extend up sides of pan; grease and set aside. ● In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the walnuts, dates, cherries and mangoes; toss to coat. In a small bowl, whisk the Read past issues at issuu.com/alamodosomagaine

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21 eggs, brown sugar and 1/2 cup rum until blended; stir into fruit mixture.

Transfer to prepared pan. ● Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 1-1/4 to 11/2 hours. Cool in pan on a wire rack 20 minutes. Slowly pour remaining rum over cake. Cool completely.

Wrap tightly and store in a cool, dry place overnight. Cut with a serrated knife.

Classic Eggnog INGREDIENTS ● 2 c. milk ● 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon, plus more for garnish ● 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg ● 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract ● 6 large egg yolks ● 1/2 c. granulated sugar ● 1 c. heavy cream ● 1 c. bourbon or rum (optional) ● Whipped cream, for serving

DIRECTIONS ● In a small saucepan over low heat, combine milk, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla and slowly bring mixture to a low boil. ● Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk egg yolks with sugar until yolks are pale in color. Slowly add hot milk mixture to egg yolks in batches to temper the eggs and whisk until combined. ● Return mixture to saucepan and cook over medium heat until slightly thick (and coats the back of a spoon) but does not boil. (If using a candy thermometer, mixture should reach 160º.) ● Remove from heat and stir in heavy cream and, if using, bourbon.

Refrigerate until chilled.

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Some “facts” about Billy the Kid

● Billy the Kid had a crush on his Silver City grade school teacher Miss Mary Richards. ● As a child in Silver City, the Kid loved to play pirates with his friends.

He actually fancied the idea that he was a descendent to Anne Bonney, the infamous woman pirate.

Anne Bonny was born in the Kingdom of Ireland around 1700 and moved to London and then to the Province of Carolina when she was about 10 years old. She then married around 1715 and moved to Nassau in the Bahamas, a sanctuary for pirates. It was there that she met Calico Jack Rackham and became his pirate partner and lover. She was captured alongside Rackham and Mary Read in October 1720. All three were sentenced to death, but Bonny and Read had their executions stayed because both of them were pregnant. Read died of a fever in jail in April 1721 (likely due to complications from the pregnancy), but Bonny's fate is unknown. ● His second favorite childhood game was horse racing. The Kid and his friends would pretend to be horses and challenge each other to a foot race and place bets on one another.

Apparently, this would care on to adulthood. When Billy wasn't gambling at cards, he was gambling and participating in horse racing. ● About the age of 14-15, the Kid's first criminal offense was stealing several pounds of butter from a rancher, which he sold to a local merchant. After a tongue-lashing from the town sheriff, which did little good, the Kid along with the Read past issues at issuu.com/alamodosomagaine

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23 town troublemaker, Sombrero Jack, got involved in stealing laundry.

This time the sheriff locked the young teenager up. ● Billy the Kid loved to sing. How good was he? Both George Coe and Mary Ealy (wife of Dr. Taylor Ealy) remarked that Billy the Kid had a beautiful tenor voice. ● Billy the Kid would attend Sunday school in Lincoln. There wasn’t a church or preacher in Lincoln, but the locals did get together for Bible study and to sing hymns. ● Billy the Kid owned a beautiful racing bay mare that he was very proud of. She was known for her speed, stamina, and beauty. The Kid purchased -yes, I said purchased, not stolen- the mare from a Texas stockman and undoubting she was his most valuable and prize possession. Unfortunately, her name under the Kid's ownership is unknown. ● Billy the Kid’s favorite bay mare was confiscated by Sheriff Garrett at the time of his capture in Stinking Springs. Garret then gave the mare to one of his deputies, Frank Stewart. A week later, he gave the mare as a Christmas gift to Mrs. Minnie Moore (wife of a friend Scott Moore). She named the mare “Kid Stewart Moore." Three years later, the mare kicked a ranch hand in the face and fractured his skull when he tried to catch her in a pasture. Apparently, she had a sour disposition.

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● When Governor Lew Wallace set out to bring law & order to Lincoln, he made out a list of men he wanted arrested and out of the 36 names Billy the Kid was 15th on the list. At the top of the list was leader of the Rustlers John Selman, who was a cold-blooded murderer, a large-scale rustler, and brutal rapist. If any man deserved to have gotten what Billy the Kid got it should've been this man. Yet Selman continued his ruthless outlaw ways for ten years until he was made a lawman in El Paso, Texas. In 1892, he would kill gunfighter John Wesley Hardin and be killed himself a year later by fellow lawman George W. alamodoso@gmail.com

24 Scarborough (who would be killed four years later by Harvey Logan alias Kid Curry of the Wild Bunch). ● Supposedly Billy the Kid gambled with Doc Holiday, had dinner with Jesse James, and was in a target shooting contest along with Bat Masterson. ● It is said that Billy the Kid feared only one man and that was his own gang-member, Dave Rudabaugh and rightfully so! Before joining up with Billy the Kid (it was said he forced himself into the gang), Rudabaugh already had a tough reputation as a harden criminal and killer. He was bad tempered, had a rotten disposition, and was an all-around loose cannon. He would turn on a friend in a heart beat without thinking twice. Anyone who socialized themselves with Dave Rudabaugh had to walk on egg shells. ● Judge Bristol sentenced Billy the Kid to be hanged on May 13th, which happened to be on a “Friday the 13th.” Did he do it deliberately for a morbid touch or for bad luck? Like maybe the Kid’s head would ripe off? ● Billy the Kid's close friend, John Meadows, said that Billy the Kid was planning to poison himself if he failed to escape his hanging.

Somehow the Kid obtained strychnine, which he kept in a piece of folded up paper and hid it in his boot. The day the Kid escaped from Lincoln, he stood out on the balcony of the courthouse and warned a crowd of people not to interfere with his escape. Before he turned away, the Kid reached into his boot and pulled out the piece of paper with the poison and threw it on the ground and said, "I don't think I need that now." ● Billy the Kid's stepfather, William Antrim, rode to Lincoln on April 29, 1881 to see his stepson before he was hung. Unfortunately, he just missed him...the day before (28th) the Kid escaped. The two had not seen each other since 1875 when Antrim told his stepson (who was Read past issues at issuu.com/alamodosomagaine

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25 barely fourteen years old) to get lost when the Kid went to him for help after he got in trouble in Silver City. ● The titled of Pat Garrett’s biography on Billy the Kid is the longest than any other: “The Authentic Life of Billy the Kid: The Noted Desperado of the Southwest, Whose Deeds of Daring and Blood Have Made His Name a Terror in New Mexico, Arizona, and Northern New Mexico

by Pat F. Garrett, Sheriff of Lincoln County, N. Mex. By whom He was Finally Hunted Down and Captured

by Killing Him.” ● Pat Garrett killed Billy the Kid with the very gun that he confiscated from Billy Wilson, one of the Kid's gang members, when they surrendered at Sticking Springs. ● The newspaper publications that dragged Billy the Kid's name through the mud the worse, was from his own home town of Silver City.

One stated that Billy the Kid was a disgrace to the town of Silver City and a “vulgar low life cutthroat.”

Another who wrote an obituary on Billy the Kid added some flavor by writing, “Billy the Kid , the terror of New Mexico, lay as a gasping and quivering corpse, while his blood dyed the dirt floor of Pete Maxwell's adobe hut. Eleven ghost (Billy the Kid's victims) stood waiting to escort him to eternal darkness.” Some unsympathetic residents wanted to tear the Kid's childhood home down and make a walking cane out of the scrap wood and present it to Pat Garrett in a show of gratitude for killing Billy the Kid. ● It was rumored that after Billy the Kid was killed, the Kid's brother Joe Antrim swore to kill Pat Garrett on sight. When the two did meet, they had a long private conversation and parted on friendly terms. Afterwards, Joe Antrim stated to a reporter that he never made threats against Garrett and after talking with him he now had a better understanding of Garrett's predicament when he shot and killed his brother.

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Dave Rudabaugh The Only Man

Feared by Billy the Kid

David Rudabaugh was born in Fulton County, Illinois in July 1854. However, his family moved to Eureka, Kansas in 1870. Later he lived in Greenwood County, Kansas before following the cattle trail west into Colorado. Little is known about his life until he joined the “outlaw trail.”

Nicknamed “Dirty Dave” because he rarely bathed and wore filthy clothes, he came to notoriety in the 1870s as the head of a gang of thieves and rustlers in Texas. But Rudabaugh didn’t limit his thieving to the Lone Star State. When he and his gang robbed a Santa Fe Railroad construction camp in Kansas in November 1877, Wyatt Earp was issued an acting commission as a U.S. Deputy Marshal to pursue the outlaw out of the state.

Following Rudabaugh’s trail for 400 miles to Fort Griffin, Texas, Wyatt Earp visited the Shanssey’s Saloon, asking about Rudabaugh. Owner John Shanssey said that Rudabaugh had been there earlier in the week, but didn’t know where he was bound.

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27 He then directed Wyatt to Doc Holliday who had played cards with Rudabaugh. Wyatt was skeptical about talking to Holliday, as it was well known that Doc hated lawmen. However, when Wyatt found him that evening at Shanssey’s, he was surprised at Holliday’s willingness to talk.

Doc told Wyatt that he thought that Rudabaugh had back-trailed to Kansas. It was this first meeting between Earp and Holliday that would form their lifetime friendship. Wyatt wired this information to Bat Masterson and the news was instrumental in apprehending Rudabaugh.

Trying to stay one step ahead of Wyatt, Rudabaugh had in fact returned to Kansas but would rob yet another train before being caught. On January 27, 1878, Rudabaugh, along with five other men, unsuccessfully attempted to hold up a train in Kinsley, Kansas. He and his accomplice Edgar West were caught within days by Sheriff Bat Masterson and his posse, which included John Joshua Webb (J.J.).

When Rudabaugh went for his gun, Webb stopped him and forced him to surrender. The other four accomplices were arrested later. Rudabaugh then informed on his cohorts and promised to go “straight.” Rudabaugh’s accomplices were sent to prison, but Dirty Dave was soon released, drifting to New Mexico and returning to thievery once again.

In 1879 he reunited with some of his acquaintances from Kansas and for the next six months they terrorized Las Vegas, New Mexico, committing train and stagecoach robberies as the “Dodge City Gang.” Members of the gang included “Mysterious Dave Mather,” Joe Carson, “Hoodoo Brown,” the Justice of the Peace; and City Marshal John Joshua Webb, Rudabaugh’s former enemy in Dodge City.

On October 14, 1879, a train was robbed in the Las Vegas area by masked men. The robbers made off with $2,085, three pistols, and all the lanterns on the train. Two years later, when Rudabaugh was finally arrested, he would confess to participating in the robbery.

On January 22, 1880, T.J. House, James West, John Dorsey, and William Read past issues at issuu.com/alamodosomagaine

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28 Randall were parading about town sneering, laughing, and looking for trouble. When they entered the Close & Patterson Variety Hall, Marshal Joe Carson asked them to check their guns, and they refused. A wild gunfight ensued and Carson was killed immediately, while Deputy “Mysterious” Dave Mather killed Randall and dropped West.

John Dorsey, though wounded, and T.J. House managed to escape. On February 5th the Dodge City Gang learned that Dorsey and House were hiding out at the home of Juan Antonio Dominguez in Buena Vista, thirty miles north of Las Vegas. A posse comprised of J.J. Webb, Dave Rudabaugh, and five other men, surrounded the House and called for the men to surrender.

Dorsey and House complied after assurance of protection from the citizens of Las Vegas was given. However, the assurance would be hollow, as, within hours of the men being placed in the Old Town Jail, vigilantes relieved the jailers of the prisoners. Taking them to the windmill on the Plaza to hang, Mrs. Carson opened fire on the men before the vigilantes had a chance to hang them.

Escaping justice for this murder, Rudabaugh and the rest of the gang continued to rob and rustle until J.J. Webb was arrested for the murder of Mike Kelliher on March 2, 1880. A lynch mob formed but were held off by the Dodge City Gang with “Dirty Dave” at the helm.

On April 30th, Rudabaugh, along with a man named John Allen burst through the Sheriff’s office to free Webb. Though the jailbreak was unsuccessful, Rudabaugh murdered jailer Antonio Lino in the process. Webb’s sentence was appealed and commuted to life in prison.

Rudabaugh, along with Dodge City Gang member, Tom Pickett fled to Fort Sumner and joined forces with Billy the Kid. According to some sources, Billy the Kid was afraid of only one man and that man was Dave Rudabaugh.

On November 30, 1880, Billy the Kid, David Anderson (aka Billy Wilson,) and Rudabaugh rode into White Oaks, New Mexico and ran into Deputy Sheriff James Redman. Taking shots at the deputy, Redman hid behind a saloon as Read past issues at issuu.com/alamodosomagaine

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29 several local citizens ran into the street, chasing the fugitives out of town.

As a posse gave chase, the outlaws hid out at the ranch of a man named Jim Greathouse, who they held hostage.

Accosted at dawn by a posse, they traded their hostage, Jim Greathouse, for Deputy Sheriff James Carlyle who was volunteered to negotiate with the outlaws in an attempt to give themselves up.

Continuing to surround the house, the posse waited for hours. Around midnight, the posse called out that they were going to storm the house. Just then a crash came through a window and a man came tumbling out. Shots ripped through the air and Carlyle lay dead. The bullet could have come from either the outlaws or the posse, but many suspect that the posse killed their own man. With this accident, the posse abandoned the siege and the outlaws escaped. Later, Billy the Kid would be blamed for killing Carlyle.

Trailed by the resolute Pat Garrett; Billy the Kid, Billy Wilson, Dave Rudabaugh, Tom O’Folliard, Charlie Bowdre, and Tom Pickett rode wearily into Fort Sumner, New Mexico on December 19, 1880, and were confronted

by Garrett’s posse which had been hiding in an old post hospital building. Lon Chambers and several others leaped from cover as Garrett ordered the outlaws to halt. However, several of the posse members didn’t wait for the outlaws to respond to Garrett’s demand, instead, opening fire on Pickett and O’Folliard, who were riding in front. Pickett and O’Folliard were shot from their saddles, Rudabaugh’s horse caught a bullet and collapsed. Rudabaugh managed to jump onto Wilson’s horse and he and the other outlaws escaped, holing up in an abandoned cabin near Stinking Springs, New Mexico.

Soon, the determined and his posse tracked the outlaws down to Stinking Springs, New Mexico and surrounded the hideout. Inside of the house were Billy, Charlie Bowdre, Rudabaugh, Tom Pickett and Billy Wilson.

When Bowdre passed before an open window, he was shot in the chest. The siege continued until the next day when Rudabaugh finally waved a white flag and the bandits surrendered. Billy the Kid and his gang were captured on December Read past issues at issuu.com/alamodosomagaine

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30 23, 1880, and taken to Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Rudabaugh was then taken to Las Vegas to stand trial. In February 1881, he attempted to avoid being charged with a capital offense, by pleading guilty to the Las Vegas train robbery in October 1879.

However, his attempt was unsuccessful and he was sentenced to hang for murder.

He was then taken to the Las Vegas Old Town Jail to await his execution, where J.J. Webb was continuing to serve his time.

In the meantime, Billy the Kid was jailed at Lincoln, New Mexico where he escaped on April 28, 1881. However, he was soon tracked down and killed by Pat Garrett on July 14, 1881.

Rudabaugh, Webb, and two other men by the names of Thomas Duffy and H.S. Wilson tried unsuccessfully to shoot their way out of jail on September 19, 1881.

Duffy was mortally wounded and their attempt was unsuccessful. However, Webb, facing life in prison, and Rudabaugh the threat of hanging, were determined.

Two months later, Webb and Rudabaugh, along with five other men, chipped a stone out of the jail wall and escaped out of a 7″x19″ hole. Rudabaugh and Webb raced to Texas and then to Mexico where Webb disappeared. Later Webb returned to Kansas, where he took the name “Samuel King,” and worked as a teamster. He died of smallpox in 1882 in Arkansas.

On February 18, 1886, Rudabaugh was involved in a cantina card game in Parral, Chihuahua, Mexico which broke up after accusations of cheating.

Rudabaugh and a Mexican man faced off and Rudabaugh shot him through the head. When another player drew and fired Rudabaugh put a bullet into his heart. Unable to find his horse, Rudabaugh returned to the cantina, which was now in total darkness.

On entering Rudabaugh was jumped and decapitated. For the next several days, his killers were said to have paraded through town with his head on a pole.

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Thomas Christopher “Kip� McKinney Frontier peace officer. He was a New Mexico lawman who was in Sheriff Pat Garrett's posse when Garrett shot and killed Billy the Kid in Fort Sumner.

In the mid to late 1870s, Kip and his father drove a herd of cattle from Palo Duro, Texas to Seven Rivers, New Mexico. There Kip hooked up with the cattle rustling gang known as the Seven Rivers Warriors, but apparently left the gang and returned to Texas before the Lincoln County War erupted.

In the late 1870s or early 1880s, he became a Texas Ranger, as well as a deputy U. S. marshal. With this authority, he tracked rustlers throughout Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona.

In the spring of 1881, Sheriff Pat Garrett of Lincoln County, NM, appointed Kip a deputy as well. Later, he traveled to Arizona on the trail of horse thief Buck Edwards, who was a former member of Billy the Kid's gang of outlaws. Accompanied by a posse, Kip tracked Edwards back to the outlaw's dugout at Rattlesnake Springs, New Mexico on May 8, 1881.

A gunfight erupted, with Kip killing Edwards. Kip then traveled to Roswell, where in mid-July, he was picked up by Garrett and fellow deputy, John Poe. The three men rode to Fort Sumner, for the Read past issues at issuu.com/alamodosomagaine

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32 purpose of investigating rumors of Billy the Kid's presence.

On July 14, Garrett allegedly shot and killed the Kid in Pete Maxwell's bedroom. While Garrett and Poe later recited their versions of the night's events, Kip preferred to not discuss it.

He did allegedly tell three different versions though, to a friend and family members. The first was that he, Garrett, and McKinney tied up Billy's girlfriend to bait Billy, then Garrett shot him from ambush.

The second was that Kip himself shot someone, only that it was the wrong man.

The final story was that Garrett killed the wrong man on the porch of Pete Maxwell's house, and that the real Kid escaped.

On July 24, 1882, Kip married Letitia T. Smith and was soon after hired by the U. S. Army to serve as a scout for wagon trains. By 1891, he was working at Fort Huachuca and later served in the Spanish-American War as a guide. Later still, he drifted along the southwest as a miner. He died of lung cancer on Sept.

21, 1915. Kip was portrayed by the veteran character actor Richard Jaeckel in Sam Peckinpah's 1973 film Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid.

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The Sacramento prickly poppy that grows on the western slope of the Sacramento Mountains near Alamogordo, New Mexico.

It was designated as endangered in 1989 when about 1,250 plants were known to exist.

Most of the plants grow on the Lincoln National Forest.

Sacramento prickly poppies are herbaceous perennials that can live 10-15 years. A healthy plant will produce thousands of seeds each year.

The number of prickly poppies has decreased dramatically in recent years from drought, a new fungal disease, and various other impacts. These declines have created pressure to modify or curtail some forestland uses that have the potential to affect adversely the poppy.

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By Junior Thurman of Artesia

"WINTER BLUES" Dang, winter, already, I wasn't through with summer yet. I was still enjoying wearing shorts, a tee shirt and cap. I guess it could be worse, I'm retired, don't have to work in the cold, but, I always hate for summer to end and look forward to the spring, when all turns green again.

Ain't froze here yet, but, colder temps, a warning from Mother Nature, it will, gotta start winterizing, preparing for the worst. Makes me glad I live in Southeastern NM, normally mild winters, compared to places up north. How in the world can people stand to live in places like, say, Alaska, once it snows, you gotta wade around in it for months. It would drive me crazy, and drive my wife a little crazier than she already is........

The first hint of winter, my wife goes nuts, "Oh my God, we (meaning me) gotta bring in those plants off the back porch, need to wrap some pipes out back, have you checked the anti-freeze in the cars lately? It may freeze tonite, better drain and antifreeze your camper. Where you going?"

"I'm going to the lodge, see you in a while."

And, oh yeah, the fight over the settings on the thermostat, not something to look forward to. "It's freezing in here, turn up the heater!"

"I just turned it up, give it a minute. Good grief!�

Truthfully, I'm still mystified as to how my wife and I joined up, we're exact Read past issues at issuu.com/alamodosomagaine

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41 opposites. It’s too hot for her, too cold for me. As we age, seems we agree on nothing, heat settings, tv volumes, tv shows, who’s turn it is to carry out the trash, taste in food, humor, cleaning fish in the kitchen sink, accidentally shooting holes in the ceiling while cleaning the .22 rifle, time between naps, "dang you just had a nap.", I tell you it's a rough life.

Now, with it turning a little colder, I've noticed some people absolutely refuse to give up their summer wardrobe.

At Wallyworld, you'll see em wearing shorts and sneakers, no socks, sandals, ......sandals? Dang! With a heavy coat and the hood up, their hands warm wearing a pair of gloves, talk about stubborn, or is it, nuts? Maybe they didn't wash clothes this week, and ran out of long pants and socks to wear in the cold???

Which reminds me, did you ever run outside on a cold, frosty, Sunday morning to grab the paper wearing only what you could grab for a quick trip, perhaps your wife’s pink coat with the pearl buttons, covering a pair of briefs, quickly slipping on a pair of your wife’s slippers conveniently lying near the door.

Hey, don’t laugh, in my neighborhood, nobody’s awake early on Sunday morning. It’s just a quick trip, a quick dash. Just don’t slip and fall, or heaven forbid, break any bones......

“My God, Mabel, you should have seen the way he was dressed when the ambulance arrived and they picked him up and loaded him on the gurney! All these years, we thought we knew him!”

Yep old man winters coming, dang it, hate to see the leaves turning brown again, but, along with winter, Halloweens coming, we can buy a ton of candy for the little beggars, along with our grandkids.

I remember years ago, in my old neighborhood, a cantankerous old man down the street rigged up a water hose on top of his house, and on Halloween, would spray the kids with water.

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Now those were the good ole days, I've thought about riggin up a water hose on my house, sorta relive the "good ole days", but my wife won't let me........like I said, don't know how we got together, we're exact opposites...... alamodoso@gmail.com

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WHITE SANDS PUPFISH It may seem strange to associate fish with a desert environment, but long ago, a large salt lake now known as Lake Otero once filled the Tularosa Basin.

While there is speculation as to whether other aquatic life lived here all that time ago, one thing is certain—the only fish to survive the hydrologic and climatic changes over the last 12,000 years is the White Sands pupfish (Cyprinodon tularosa). Found nowhere else in the world and listed as a threatened species by the New Mexico State Game Commission, the White Sands pupfish is truly a unique little fish.

There are only four populations of White Sands pupfish throughout the Tularosa Basin. On White Sands Missile Range, they are found in Malpais Spring, Mound Spring, and Salt Creek. The last population is in Lost River, which begins on Holloman Air Force Base and terminates just inside the northeast boundary of White Sands National Park.

Each site is a microhabitat all its own, ranging from deep spring-fed ponds to calm streams. A variety of plants such as salt grass, salt cedar, pondweed, bulrush, cattail, and sedges grow along their edges. Water salinity varies from location to location, ranging from fresh water all the way to being saltier than seawater.

Despite these drastically different environmental conditions, the White Sands pupfish is capable of not only thriving in their native habitat but also quickly adapting should they find Read past issues at issuu.com/alamodosomagaine

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45 themselves displaced from one microhabitat to another.

As one might imagine, the pupfish is small. In fact, it ranges in size from 1.75 to 2.5 inches and is somewhat short and chunky-looking. In general, both males and females have light brownish-grey scales with silvery-white bellies. This coloration allows them to blend in quite well with their surroundings. On close inspection, however, adult males can be distinguished from females by an iridescent blue sheen on their bodies and a dusky band on the outer edge of their tail fin. Adult females, on the other hand, have a dark spot at the base of their dorsal fin and a vertical stripe pattern on their sides. They feed on plants, detritus, and small organisms such as mosquito larvae.

Mating season for the White Sands pupfish begins in early April and lasts through the month of October. During this time, both males and females shift into bright color displays to attract potential mates. In males, what was a shimmering hint of blue iridescence along their body runs a bright metallic blue while their fins and tail turn yelloworange. Their belly shifts from silverwhite to pale orange. Females put on a similar display, turning bright greenishyellow with butter-colored fins.

When breeding, males establish territories for themselves, chasing off any other males who wander across their borders. They usually mate with several females over the course of a season.

Females will lay several clutches of 1215 eggs each during a single season.

After hatching, the young fish grow rapidly, reaching a size of 1.75 inches within their first year and slowly increasing in size as they reach adulthood. The average lifespan of a White Sands pupfish is two years.

Story courtesy National Park Service

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36,000,000 years ago, the Organ Mountains were the site of one of Earth’s largest volcanic eruptions, resulting in a collapsed crater called a caldera nearly ten miles in diameter.

Local ash fall deposits from the eruption are as much as 4,900 feet in depth, It has been estimated that nearly 120 cubic miles of ash and rock were ejected from the eruption. This compares to less than a mile of ash and rock thrown up by the Mount Saint Helens eruption in Washington State.

The Organ Volcano has long since eroded away, and what we now now as the Organ Needles at Saint Augustine Pass are what was the volcano’s internal magma chamber originally deep underground, now 8,990 feet above sea level.

During the same time period that the Organ Caldera was formed, Sierra Blanca volcano was forming and continued to erupt from 38 million to 26 million years ago, The volcano may have been originally on the order of 3000 ft above the surrounding terrain, 20 miles in diameter and contained about 185 cubic miles of volcanic material.

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THE TRACKS OF TIME Footprints are a common theme at White Sands. Every day, people from all over the world visit and leave traces of their comings and goings. The white dunes of the Tularosa Basin are just a recent blip on the geological timeline.

During the ice age tens of thousands of years ago, a giant body of water called Lake Otero existed. The climate was wetter, and the vegetation was abundant.

One could have seen grasslands stretching for miles that would have looked more like the prairies of Nebraska than New Mexico’s deserts.

This paradise of lush green life naturally captured the attention of the larger animals of the ice age. Plant eaters of all kinds came to Lake Otero to feast on the grasses and trees of the Tularosa Basin. Large plant-eaters attracted fearsome predators of the ice age, such as dire wolves and the American lion.

Throughout the ice age, these animals left their footprints along the wetlands of Lake Otero.

Around 12,000 years ago, the earth’s climate began to show signs of change.

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50 Areas once green and lush started transforming into the desert landscape we see today. Rainfall in the Tularosa Basin became rare, and the great Lake Otero began to dry. The once large body of freshwater became only pools of water scattered along the former lakebed. As the waters of Lake Otero dried, crystals began to form from the gypsum left behind by the evaporating lake water.

The constant blowing of the wind broke down those large crystals into smaller crystals. This eventually formed the white sand dunes that gave this park its name.

Today we find fossil footprints of the animals that once lived here at White Sands more than 10,000 years ago.

Scattered along the now dried lakebed are trackways and trample grounds of ancient camels and Columbian Mammoths.

These fossilized footprints appear to gather around what may be ancient pools of water.

For 80 years, only a small collection of fossil footprints were known.

However, a group of scientists noticed dark spots dotting the expanse of the lakebed that appeared to be footprints.

Their curiosities lead them to dig up these odd dark spots.

This led to the discovery of both Harlan’s Ground Sloth and Paleo-Human footprints. During the 2010s, footprints of a dire wolf were discovered. These footprints were located next to ancient seeds. Scientists dated these seeds to more than 18,000 years ago.

The people, who once lived in the Tularosa Basin, left very little proof they lived here. Throughout the basin, pieces of stone flakes from toolmaking, arrowheads, and spear points have been found. However, these appear to be related to peoples who lived after the ice age. This is in contrast to the surrounding areas that are filled with items left behind from ancient peoples. The lakebed of Lake Otero seems to be almost devoid of a single artifact that dates to before the Spanish exploration in the 1500s, let alone the ice age At White Sands, we find many remarkable tracks scattered across the lakebed. This includes a long track of human footprints that extends for long Read past issues at issuu.com/alamodosomagaine

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51 distances. While these footprints are ancient, scientists are still uncovering new evidence of past life. In 2018, researchers discovered what they believe to be the footprints of a female. They tell a story that may seem familiar today her footprints show her walking for almost a mile, with a toddler’s footprints occasionally showing up beside hers. The footprints broadened and slipped in the mud with additional weight. This suggests that she carried the child, shifting them from side to side and setting them down as they walked.

Footprints across White Sands have been found coexisting and interacting with extinct ice age animals.

One set of footprints shows what appears to be humans stalking a giant sloth. This is shown by human footprints being found inside the footprints of the sloth as they were tracked. Currently, there is no evidence of a fruitful hunt, but this is not surprising. Most ice age hunts were not successful, with only one out of three hunts ending with a kill.

The ice age ended because of changes in the earth’s climate. Environments once rich in lush green life began to disappear.

The reason for the disappearance of the great beasts of the ice age is still debated among scientists.

More than likely, it was the combination of both the changes in climate and the overhunting by skilled people. The fossilized footprints of White Sands are probably the most important resources in the Americas to the understanding of the interaction of humans and extinct animals from the ice age.

These fossilized footprints, among other natural and cultural features found in the dunefield, further propelled the movement to re-designate White Sands National Monument into White Sands National Park. As a massive landscape filled with history that stretches beyond points on our planet’s geologic timeline, White Sands continually proves itself to be more than just a sandbox.

Story courtesy of National Park Service

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Alamogordo Newspaper history

I

n 1895, a young boy named Carroll Woods accompanied railroad developer Charles B. Eddy to Alamo Spring, in Alamo Canyon, New Mexico.

In Woods's recollection of the trip, he wrote, "We found a beautiful pool of water, eight feet in diameter and possibly four or five feet deep and three huge cottonwoods, whose branches spread shade over a space of about 150 feet in the form of a triangle."

A board nailed to one of the trees said, "Ojo de Alamogordo," big cottonwood spring.

Eddy purchased the spring from rancher Oliver M. Lee to furnish water for the railroad town he and his brother, John Arthur Eddy, were planning to build. The town site itself was purchased and laid out in 1898.

Alamogordo derived extensive revenue from the railroad, and as a

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result it flourished sooner than neighboring Carrizozo.

Alamogordo lured many journalists, and between 1900 and 1912 four weeklies and a daily tabloid battled each other.

The Alamogordo News originated in June 1899, succeeding the Sacramento Chief.

Republican in its politics, the News was published every Thursday in English. Edward N. Buck, the editor, printed the paper at the Alamogordo Printing Company. Its weekly motto, "A newspaper representing the progressive interests of the new southwest," appeared below the masthead.

An annual subscription to the Alamogordo News cost $1.50 and a six-month subscription $1.

A single-column one-inch ad cost $2 per month while a double column one-inch ad $3.

(Publisher’s note: $3 in 1900 had the buying power of $84 today, so a 2 column wide, 1 inch tall ad published for 12 month would set you back the equivalent of $1,000) On December 7, 1912, the Alamogordo News merged with the Otero County Advertiser to form the Alamogordo NewsAdvertiser published by Charles Downs. The Alamogordo News was also known as the Alamogordo Daily News and Alamogordo Weekly News.

A wide range of local, territorial, national and international news appeared in the papers. One article in the News dated January 3, 1900, touted the local climate as "A remedial agent in the treatment and cure of consumption." It

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pointed to the low death rate for tuberculosis victims in New Mexico, which later led to a proposal for the construction of a large sanitarium in Alamogordo.

The Alamogordo News also covered the 1899 trial of Oliver Lee and Jim B. Gilliland in the murder of Col. Albert Jennings Fountain and his 9-year old son.

Witnesses included Gov. William Taylor Thornton, Antonio GarciaFountain's father-in-law, and Albert Fountain Jr, as well as a number of noted lawmen.

On March 4, 1905, W.S. Shepard, manager of the Alamogordo News, wrote an article complaining about "That Gag Libel Law," which he thought was an attempt to muzzle the press and shield guilty officials.

The News reported on March 15, 1912, on the upcoming school elections in Alamogordo, noting that women in New Mexico were now allowed to vote.

The paper commented that depending on the level of participation of women voters, a woman might even be elected to the office of school director.

After 1912, the Alamogordo News-Advertiser continued this tradition of broad news coverage.

Stories included a local ordinance concerning vagrancy, Congressional efforts to restrict liquor shipments in "dry" regions, and criticisms of President Woodrow Wilson for his reluctance to divulge information to the press (his "mouth and tongue seem to be held together by a pad lock.")

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T

he Citizens National Bank Of Alamogordo in New Mexico printed $125,400 dollars worth of national currency. That is a small output.

National bank notes from here should be scarce. This national bank opened in 1906 and stopped printing money in 1912, which equals a 7 year printing period.

That is obviously a very short period of time. During its life, The Citizens National Bank Of Alamogordo issued 6 different types and denominations of national currency.

The Citizens National Bank Of Alamogordo in New Mexico printed 450 sheets of $5 1902 territorial red seal national bank notes, 460 sheets of $10 1902 territorial red seal national bank notes, 460 sheets of $20 1902 Read past issues at issuu.com/alamodosomagaine

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territorial red seal national bank notes. That of course equals the number of sheets printed for the ten dollar denomination. A total of 259 national banks in the country issued $20 territorial red seals.

There are currently only about 30 of them known to exist The Citizens National Bank Of Alamogordo also printed 1,675 sheets of $5 1902 territorial blue seal national bank notes, 1,198 sheets of $10 1902 territorial blue seal national bank notes. Each note of course has the portrait of William McKinley on the left hand side.

The Citizens National Bank Of Alamogordo also printed 1,198 sheets of $20 1902 territorial blue seal national bank notes. these also have a picture of Hugh McCulloch on the front of themthere are about a dozen 1902 $20 territorial blue seals known to exist from all banks in the country

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UNIR1

I A

f you see these simple words or hear them in a song, I hope you understand the message that you and I belong to some great vision much wiser than our own. s we go on upon our path like seeds that have been blown and scattered wide about the Earth to settle and take hold to make your space within the realm, so petals do unfold and add their beauty to this Earth by warmth sown from the sun.

A

ll that lived and breathed and died since the time Time was begun, had their place upon our world,

s

o you and I are one.

original thoughts

by Gloria Marie

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A DREADFUL LANGUAGE I take it you already know of tough and bough and cough and dough?

Others may stumble, but not you, on hiccough, thorough, laugh and through.

Well done! And now you wish, perhaps to learn of less familiar traps?

Beware of heard, a dreadful word, that looks like beard and sounds like bird!

And dead-it's said like bed not beadand for goodness' sake don't call it deed!

Watch out for meat and great and threat They rhyme with suite and straight and debt.

A moth is not the moth in mother Nor both in bother.

And here is not a match for there, nor dear and fear for bear and pear.

And then there's dose and rose and lose. Just look them up; and goose and choose, and cork and work and card and ward And font and front and work and sword, And do and go and thwart and cart.

Come , come! I've hardly made a start.

A dreadful language? Man alive! I mastered it when I was 5!

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Launch Complex 33, a National Historical Landmark and a state of New Mexico Historical Monument - - where it all began! Soon after White Sands Proving Ground was established, work began on a launch complex for testing the rocket and missile technology being developed.

On September 26, 1945, a Tiny Tim booster was fired at the complex. This marked the first "hot firing" on the proving ground. On October 11 a Tiny Tim boosted a WAC Corporal rocket from a launch tower at the complex.

The WAC Corporal rocket motor then took the second stage to a record altitude of 43.5 miles.

Later this launch complex was the focal point for V-2 firings and developmental testing for such missiles as Nike Ajax, Nike Hercules, Viking, Corporal, Redstone, Lance, Multiple Launch Rocket System, and Army TACMS. The complex is still in use today for initial firings of many of the new missiles under development.

Courtesy White Sands Missile Range Museum

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Baked Spaghetti Squash NGREDIENTS ● 2 spaghetti squash, about 2 pounds each ● 2 tablespoons olive oil ● 1 teaspoon salt ● 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper ● 1 onion, diced ● 3 cloves garlic, minced ● 2 tablespoons fresh thyme, chopped ● 1 tablespoon dried oregano ● 1 tablespoon dried basil ● 1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes, with juices ● 1 can (24 ounces) spaghetti sauce Read past issues at issuu.com/alamodosomagaine

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● 1 cup ricotta cheese ● 1 cup Parmesan cheese ● 1 egg, lightly beaten ● 3 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

DIRECTIONS ● Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Cut spaghetti squash in half (it doesn't matter if you do it lengthwise or horizontally). Rub olive oil all over each side of the squash and sprinkle it (inside and out) with salt and pepper. ● Place spaghetti squash skin side down on a baking sheet. Roast for about 45 minutes, until squash can easily be scooped out with a fork or spoon. Keep the oven on, as the spaghetti squash is about to go back in. ● While squash is cooking, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. When hot, add onion and garlic and saute just until the onion is soft and translucent. Add the dried basil, oregano and fresh thyme, and stir. Remove to a large bowl. ● When spaghetti squash is finished roasting, scoop the spaghetti-like strands into the same bowl as the onion and herbs. To the bowl add diced tomatoes, spaghetti sauce, ricotta cheese, egg and half of the Parmesan cheese. Season with a bit of salt and pepper. ● Combine all ingredients in the bowl thoroughly before pouring into a greased 9-by-13-inch casserole dish.

Top with the remaining Parmesan cheese, cover with foil and place back in the oven for 30 minutes. ● Remove baked spaghetti squash from the oven, remove foil and let cook for another 10 minutes, until cheese on top is melted and bubbling.

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● Remove from oven and sprinkle with chopped parsley just before serving. alamodoso@gmail.com

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Peanut Butter Christmas Mice Ingredients ● 1 cup creamy peanut butter ● 1/2 cup butter, softened ● 1/2 cup sugar ● 1/2 cup packed brown sugar ● 1 large egg ● 1 teaspoon vanilla extract ● 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour ● 1/2 teaspoon baking soda DECORATIONS: ● Peanuts, split in half ● Brown M&M's minis ● Miniature semisweet chocolate chips Read past issues at issuu.com/alamodosomagaine

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● Black shoestring licorice, cut into 2-inch pieces

Directions ● Beat peanut butter, butter and sugars until well blended. Beat in egg and vanilla. In another bowl, whisk together flour and baking soda; gradually beat into peanut butter mixture (dough will be soft).

Refrigerate until firm enough to shape, about 1 hour. ● Preheat oven to 350°. Shape dough into 1-in. balls; taper one side to resemble a mouse. Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Add peanuts for ears, M&M's for noses and chocolate chips for eyes. ● Bake until set, 8-10 minutes.

Immediately insert licorice pieces into warm cookies for tails.

Remove from pan to wire racks to cool.

Frosty Peppermint Popcorn Ingredients ● 8 ounces white candy coating, melted ● 3-1/2 quarts popped popcorn ● 1/3 cup crushed peppermint candies

Directions ● Drizzle candy coating over popcorn; sprinkle with candies and toss. Immediately spread onto waxed paper; let stand until set. ● Break into pieces. Store in airtight containers.

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Discover Tularosa

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CHRISTMAS TAMALES New Mexico Red Chile Sauce Ingredients ● 1 pound (16 ounces) dried red chile pods ● 3 tablespoons garlic powder or freshly minced garlic ● 3 tablespoons cumin ● 2 tablespoons onion powder ● 2 tablespoons dried oregano ● 2-3 teaspoons salt Instructions ● Using gloves to protect from the burning sensation of working with chile pods...remove the stems by either cutting or breaking off with your hands and discard.

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● Add the red chile pods to a large pot of boiling water, and reduce heat to medium. Simmer the chiles for about 30 minutes or until soft and brighter red ● At this point you can cool the pods for a bit or put them directly into your blender, but be careful and don't put too many in at one time....about half way up the sides of your blender. ● Add the boiling liquid from the chiles....about 1-2 cups (save the remainder of the liquid) and add the garlic and onion powder, cumin, oregano, and salt. ● Pulse and Blend until ingredients are thoroughly mixed and then blend until smooth, about 3-5 minutes ● Strain the sauce through a strainer and this will separate any of the extra "peels" to remain in the strainer....sometimes there are very little peels and sometimes there are a lot depending on your chiles. ● Add the remainder of your chiles to the blender until you have processed all the chiles. Mix all the chiles together and you should have about 6-7 cups of *Red Chile Sauce.

Pork Roast Filling for Tamales Ingredients ● 2 pounds of fully cooked pork roast (or beef roast/brisket, or roasted chicken ● 2 teaspoons chili powder ● 2 tablespoons onion powder ● 2 teaspoons oregano ● 2 tablespoons garlic powder ● 2 tablespoons cumin ● salt and fresh ground black pepper Read past issues at issuu.com/alamodosomagaine

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Instructions ● Mix all the spices and use as a dry rub on the meat of your choice....in this case pork roast. Save some back to add to the shredded meat when cooked. ● Brown in a little olive oil before putting in slow cooker or oven. ● Bake low and slow in slow cooker for 6-8 hours or on high for about 4 hours. Just make sure your meat is nice and tender.....hence the low and slow. ● When done, cool a bit and shred the meat and add the remaining spices.

You may put the meat through a food processor if you want more of a paste for your filling. ● Fill tamales with about 1 tablespoon of the meat filling and 1 teaspoon of Red Chile Sauce if desired.

Tamale Masa Ingredients ● 2 cups Lard (or you can use Crisco shortening) ● 1 1/2 tablespoons salt ● 4 cups Masa Harina ● 1 1/2 cups of broth ...Broth depends on the meat you are using for your filling. ie: vegetable (or chicken) broth for pork, beef broth for beef, chicken broth for chicken ● The broth is added gradually and you may need more as the amount of liquid needed will vary

Instructions ● Mix the room temperature lard and salt until light and fluffy, I use my stand mixer ● Slowly add the Masa Harina, beating until well mixed (this will look very stiff and like cookie dough) ● Slowly add the broth a little at a time. You want the dough to be of spreading consistency...like very thick frosting Read past issues at issuu.com/alamodosomagaine

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78 ● Test the dough with the water test....place a small ball of dough in a cup of cold water...if the ball floats, the dough is good to go....if the ball sinks, add more liquid to the mix. ● Place bowl of tamale dough covered with plastic wrap and place in the fridge overnight or at least for 3-4 hours. ● Remove from fridge and stir or beat again to assure spreadability (Perform the float test again to ensure spreadability of dough) ● After soaking corn husks for at least 30 minutes to an hour....drain and blot dry with paper towel ● Spread the Masa dough in a rectangular shape onto the corn husk, leaving the bottom free of dough so you may fold over ● Add about a tablespoon of your filling of choice and a teaspoon of Red Chile Sauce if desired ● Fold the edge of the corn husk towards the center and bring the other side over the top of that, then fold up the bottom. ● At this point you may tie with twine or a piece of corn husk or leave as is and place with the folded bottom towards the bottom of a large steamer or pot that has about an inch of water *Be sure to place the tamale upright, open ends up ● Cover and steam for about 45 minutes to one hour (The water in the pasta pot should be simmering as you place the tamales in the pot....be very careful to not burn yourself) ● Steam for about 45 minutes (you can check for doneness at this point and steam for additional few minutes if the tamale is still a bit raw) ● Serve with the Red Chile Sauce or you can make it a complete meal using Pico de Gallo, chile con queso, Mexican rice and refried beans

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Biscochitos Traditional New Mexican Christmas Cookie Recipe Ingredients ● 2 Cups Lard ● 1 Cup Sugar ● 1 tsp Anise Seed ● 2 Eggs ● 6 Cups Flour ● 3 tsp Baking Powder ● 1 tsp Salt ● 1/4 Cup Brandy You can substitute with Rum, White Wine, or Whiskey ● Cinnamon and Sugar for topping Read past issues at issuu.com/alamodosomagaine

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Instructions ● Cream together lard, sugar and anise seed. ● Beat in the eggs and blend until fluffy. ● Add alcohol, flour, baking powder, salt and knead until well mixed ● Roll 1/2 inch thick and use a cookie cutter to cut into shapes or rounds. ● Sprinkle top of each cookie with cinnamon sugar mixture

Biscochitos are New Mexico’s State Cookies.

It’s true! New Mexicans love Biscochitos so much that they made it official in 1989. It’s not Christmas here without them!

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12 Days of Christmas to cost nearly $40,000 Story courtesy of Pittsburg Tribune

Plan to spend about $40,000 on Christmas gifts this year if you’re using the 12 Days of Christmas as your shopping list.

This year, PNC is reporting a total cost of $38,993.59 to buy all 12 gifts — including five golden rings, a bunch of drummers drumming and a lot of birds.

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There’s nearly no increase over 2018 but a 95% increase since the first index in 1984. Thirty-five years ago, the total cost of the 12 Days of Christmas was $20,023.57.

While the cost stayed mostly flat, so did wages. This is especially evident when looking at the human items on the list.

The eight maids-a-milking haven’t seen a pay raise in a decade.

The maids-a-milking are priced based on the federal minimum wage level, which has remained at $7.25 since July 2009. The PNC Index estimates the cost of hiring eight maids for one hour of milking.

Gold seems to be at a high in time for the holidays, as five golden rings will cost around $825, 10% more than in 2018.

The six geese-a-laying experienced the second-largest price increase in 2019. This is likely because of a growing interest in backyard farming.

The bird aisle also saw the year’s greatest price decrease — the two turtle doves. The supply of turtle doves in the United States has superseded the market’s need, resulting in a 20% price drop from 2018.

PNC also calculates the cost of the items via online shopping. The grand total through this method is $42,258.91 — over $3,000 more than buying instore.

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Discover Carrizozo Along with White Oaks, Ancho & Corona

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WOVEN COPPER Suzanne Donazetti Through the refractive lens of weaving, I try to capture brief moments of light in the natural environment.

My work creates complex, nuanced pieces that will engage an emotional response and an opportunity for meditation.

I live near the Valley of Fires, in the high desert, surrounded by mountains, where each day the sky presents new moments of light and color. It is a very inspiring place.

Over thirty years ago, while learning metalsmithing, I began experimenting with painting on copper. First I applied chemical patinas to the copper but the colors achieved were not rich enough. So I experimented with different materials until I discovered a combination of Read past issues at issuu.com/alamodosomagaine

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metallic leaf, transparent inks, water and wax. Once I was familiar with this method, it allowed me to truly express myself.

The design and fabrication process is complex and labor intensive, with many layers. The results are random and often surprising. I begin with 36 gauge tooling copper on which metallic leaf is applied.

After sanding I paint two layers – the warps and wefts – with transparent inks, liquid acrylics and metallic pigments mixed with water. The colors are mixed directly on the metal. Then I wax the pieces, score and cut them into curves and weave them together.

For the past ten years, I have been teaching my grandson, Matt Rilling, the process of painting and weaving copper. Although he is trained as an aerospace engineer, I am hoping he will continue my art after I am gone.

Matt lives in Seattle and I live in the desert. So we are inspired by different places on the earth (and in the universe). Despite the distance, we get together several times a year to collaborate.

You may see my art in such places as Bradley International Airport, Windsor Locks, CT; The Alaska Supreme Court, Anchorage, AK; The New Mexico Emergency Management Center, Santa Fe, NM; Time Inc. Conference Center, New York, NY; as well as hotels, hospitals and residential spaces. My art is represented by Mark White Fine Art in Santa Fe, NM and Gallery 408 in Carrizozo, NM. Read past issues at issuu.com/alamodosomagaine

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Carrizozo Was Born With T he Dawn OF the 20th Century Before the railroad tracks reached the site of present day Carrizozo in August 1899, as far as the eye could see there were few signs of human habitation at the upper end of the Tularosa Basin.

There were just a few scattered cattle ranches established in the 1870's and a lonely state stagecoach road that crossed the landscape from the booming goldmining town of White Oaks 12 miles to the northeast.

As Carrizozo began to flourish, White Oaks began to decline.

Many of its former residents moved their homes and businesses (some quite literally) to the new town as railroad employees moved in and the land surrounding Carrizozo quickly opened for homesteading.

Carrizozo, like the new century, had grand dreams for its future. Its buildings and homes were built well and meant to last, thanks in part to Frank English whose legacy is everywhere here.

Between 1908 and 1925, Mr. English built approximately 30 houses and commercial buildings, many of which are still in use today. They are solid, durable and comfortable and several are included on this tour.

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The Old Lutz House This house was built for Henry Lutz, the first mayor of Carrizozo.

Architects Issac & William Rapp of Trinidad, CO also built the Lutz Building down the street. The Lutz's owned the house until 1949 when it was bought by Will Ed Harris. In 1962 the famous Prehm brothers bought it as their city house - the Stearn's brick house on E Avenue was their country house. Local residents bought it in 2012 and completely restored it to its former glory.

The Frank English Home Frank and Mae English made this house their home and raised their children here. It contains typical English touches - wood striping on the outside; built-in bookcases and cabinets and hardwood floors inside. It was restored to its original state in 2016 by a couple who fell in love and renovated it but also kept as much of the old style as possible. Still a private residence.

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'40s. In 1948, James E. Thornton, who owned a grocery store, purchased it. The current owners made it their home in the late 1980s and lovingly restored it to its original condition.

hospital. The old garage was the nurses' quarters and the private outhouse still stand behind the garage. Now a private residence.

The Petty-Ziegler Home The only home built by Frank English but designed by another architect was finished in 1916 and is Carrizozo's only example of Mediterranean style architecture (said to mark the positive progress of Carrizozo's residential district).

The building has changed very little since built and has had only two owners: Albert Ziegler, for whom it was built, a prosperous merchant of a dry goods store in White Oaks and one of those who moved his business and home to Carrizozo when the railroad came; and Vernon Petty, a merchant and former mayor of Carrizozo, who bought the home in the 1940s. In the late 2000s, his son moved back and restored it. Now a private residence.

Campbell-Snow House This two story adobe was built in 1911 for Major Henry Samuel Campbell who ran a saloon here.

Later owners were Albert and Clara Snow. She became president of the Carrizozo Woman's Club, which helped get the Valley of Fires designated as a State Park in 1966. Now a private residence.

The Baptist Church This structure is believed to be one of Frank English's built in 1910. The original frame construction was stuccoed and additions to the rear were made as the membership grew. Services and community events are still very much a part of the building's use. The congregation's 100th year anniversary was celebrated in 2008 and the pastor and his family celebrated 25 years' service here in 2014.

The Old Hospital Tiffany-Thornton Home One of Carrizozo's oldest buildings (circa 1905), this frame Victorian style house is the only one of its style in Carrizozo. It was originally owned by Dan and Anna Tiffany until the 1930s or

This first residence built by Frank English established the comfortable "English style" seen all over Carrizozo. Built in 1911 for District Attorney H. B. Hamilton, it was purchased by Dr. Frank Johnson during the depression and turned into a

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Old Movie House, Downtown Carrizozo Read past issues at issuu.com/alamodosomagaine

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Discover The Sacramento Mountains

Cloudcroft High Rolls Sun Spot Timberon

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The History Of Fort Stanton Story courtesy of fortstanton.org

Named for Captain Henry W. Stanton, who was killed in a skirmish with the Apaches, Fort Stanton was built in 1855 by soldiers of the 1st Dragoon and the 3rd and 8th Infantry Regiments to serve as a base of operations against the Mescalero Apache Indians.

It served as a military fortification through 1896. Built of local stone, the sturdy 1855 buildings have lasted to this day.

Fort Stanton soldier reading to his wife 1886

The Fort was named for Captain Henry W. Stanton, killed fighting the Apaches in 1855 near present day Mayhill. Troops marched out from the Fort to search for and fight the Mescalero Indians during numerous campaigns from 1855 until the 1880’s.

The Fort was seized by Confederate forces in 1861. During the occupation, three Rebels were killed by Kiowa Indians while on patrol 50 miles north.

After all supplies were moved to Mesilla, the Confederates abandoned the Fort, burning it as they left.

In 1896, with the Mescalero Apache settled on the nearby reservation and Read past issues at issuu.com/alamodosomagaine

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the surrounding area bustling with new communities, the Fort was abandoned by the Army and closed. In 1899, however, the US Public Health Service acquired the Fort as a tuberculosis hospital for the Merchant Marine.

Selected for its healthful climate, it served some 5,000 sailor patients between 1899 and 1953, 1,500 of whom are buried in the Maritime Cemetery on a hillside overlooking the Fort. The patients lived in specially constructed tents, for fresh air and sunshine were the only known cures for tuberculosis.

Brevet Lieut Col EMIL FRITZ, 1st California Cavalry, Post Commander of Ft Stanton 1865-66 During this time, many new buildings were constructed including a hospital, stables, new living quarters for the families stationed at Fort Stanton, and literally hundreds of tenthouses for the patients.

The hospital was fairly selfsufficient, establishing a large farm on the nearby grounds with patients serving in the fields, as well as recreational activities like a golf course for the doctors, baseball fields and a theatre for the resident workers. The nearby cemetery grew to include veterans of other services as well as Merchant Marines, making it a place Story continues next page Read past issues at issuu.com/alamodosomagaine

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for current visitors to the site to engage in contemplative visitation.

During the Great Depression, Fort Stanton was home to a CCC work camp, which later served as the internment site for German merchant seamen from the German luxury liner, S.S. Columbus, which was scuttled outside of New York to prevent its capture by the British.

The German internees built a camp that included such amenities as gardens for fresh produce, a recreation hall, and a swimming pool in which “miniOlympic� competitions were held with the local population.

Brevet Major LAWRENCE GUSTAVE MURPHY, 1st New Mexico Cavalry, Post Commander of Ft Stanton 1866 After war was declared with Germany and Japan, the Internment camp housed some German prisoners of war as well as a few Japanese internees. It was used during early WWII for several months as a refuge for a group of Japanese-American families threatened by mobs in their hometowns.

In 1953, the Fort was given to the State of New Mexico and used first as a tubercular hospital and then, from the

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1960’s until 1995, as the State Hospital for the Developmentally Handicapped.

For a short time it was a low security women’s prison and has housed several juvenile, drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs.

When the State moved to dispose of the property, Fort Stanton, Inc., a nonprofit corporation (501-c-3), was created in 1997 to save this national treasure and seek its adaptive reconstruction as a living history center. It succeeded in mobilizing public opinion and convincing the State Legislature to preserve the Fort and appropriate the first funds for its renovation. Fort Stanton Inc., also won substantial grants to begin reconstruction of the historic buildings.

On August 9, 2007, Lieutenant Governor Diane Denish proclaimed the establishment of the Fort Stanton State Monument. To present, the Fort Stanton Historic Site is managed by the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs Fort Stanton has partnered with the Bureau of Land Management which oversees thousands of acres surrounding Fort Stanton.

Visitors are invited to enjoy the nearly 100 miles of trails for biking, hiking and horseback riding with a camping area operated by BLM within the Fort Stanton-Snowy River Cave National Conservation Area. .

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A Christmas StoryTo Remember Story courtesy of Joanne Humphreys

It was Christmas Eve 1881. I was fifteen years old and feeling like the world had caved in on me because there just hadn't been enough money to buy me the rifle that I'd wanted for Christmas.

We did the chores early that night for some reason. I just figured Pa wanted a little extra time so we could read in the Bible.

After supper was over I took my boots off and stretched out in front of the fireplace and waited for Pa to get down the old Bible.

I was still feeling sorry for myself and, to be honest, I wasn't in much of a mood to read Read past issues at issuu.com/alamodosomagaine

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Scriptures. But Pa didn't get the Bible instead he bundled up again and went outside. I couldn't figure it out because we had already done all the chores. I didn't worry about it long though I was too busy wallowing in self-pity.

Soon Pa came back in. It was a cold clear night out and there was ice in his beard.

"Come on, Matt," he said.

"Bundle up good, it's cold out tonight."

I was really upset then. Not only wasn't I getting the rifle for Christmas, now Pa was dragging me out in the cold, and for no earthly reason that I could see.

We'd already done all the chores, and I couldn't think of anything else that needed doing, especially not on a night like this.

But I knew Pa was not very patient at one dragging one's feet when he'd told them to do something, so I got up and put my boots back on and got my cap, coat, and mittens.

Ma gave me a mysterious smile as I opened the door to leave the house. Something was up, but I didn't know what..

Outside, I became even more dismayed. There in front of the house was the work team, already hitched to the big sled. Whatever it was we were going to do wasn't going to be a short, quick, little job. I could tell.

We never hitched up this sled unless we were going to haul a big load. Pa was already up on the seat, reins in hand. I reluctantly climbed up beside him. The cold Story continues page 101 Read past issues at issuu.com/alamodosomagaine

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The Lincoln County Gift Guide

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was already biting at me. I wasn't happy. When I was on, Pa pulled the sled around the house and stopped in front of the woodshed.

He got off and I followed.

"I think we'll put on the high sideboards," he said. "Here, help me."

The high sideboards! It had been a bigger job than I wanted to do with just the low sideboards on, but whatever it was we were going to do would be a lot bigger with the high side boards on.

After we had exchanged the sideboards, Pa went into the woodshed and came out with an armload of wood - the wood I'd spent all summer hauling down from the mountain, and then all Fall sawing into blocks and splitting. What was he doing?

Finally I said something.

"Pa," I asked, "what are you doing?"

You been by the Widow Jensen's lately?" he asked.

The Widow Jensen lived about two miles down the road. Her husband had died a year or so before and left her with three children, the oldest being eight.

Sure, I'd been by, but so what?

Yeah," I said, "Why?" "I rode by just today," Pa said.

"Little Jakey was out digging around in the woodpile trying to find a few chips. They're out of wood, Matt."

That was all he said and then he turned and went back into the Story continues page 104 Read past issues at issuu.com/alamodosomagaine

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woodshed for another armload of wood. I followed him. We loaded the sled so high that I began to wonder if the horses would be able to pull it.

Finally, Pa called a halt to our loading then we went to the smoke house and Pa took down a big ham and a side of bacon. He handed them to me and told me to put them in the sled and wait. When he returned he was carrying a sack of flour over his right shoulder and a smaller sack of something in his left hand.

"What's in the little sack?" I asked. Shoes, they're out of shoes.

Little Jakey just had gunny sacks wrapped around his feet when he was out in the woodpile this morning. I got the children a little candy too. It just wouldn't be Christmas without a little candy."

We rode the two miles to Widow Jensen's pretty much in silence. I tried to think through what Pa was doing. We didn't have much by worldly standards.

Of course, we did have a big woodpile, though most of what was left now was still in the form of logs that I would have to saw into blocks and split before we could use it.

We also had meat and flour, so we could spare that, but I knew we didn't have any money, so why was Pa buying them shoes and candy? Really, why was he doing any of this? Widow Jensen had closer neighbors than us; it shouldn't have been our concern.

We came in from the blind side of the Jensen house and unloaded the wood as quietly as possible then we took the meat and flour and shoes to the door. We Read past issues at issuu.com/alamodosomagaine

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knocked. The door opened a crack and a timid voice said, "Who is it?"

"Lucas Miles, Ma'am, and my son, Matt, could we come in for a bit?"

Widow Jensen opened the door and let us in. She had a blanket wrapped around her shoulders.

The children were wrapped in another and were sitting in front of the fireplace by a very small fire that hardly gave off any heat at all.

Widow Jensen fumbled with a match and finally lit the lamp.

"We brought you a few things, Ma'am," Pa said and set down the sack of flour. I put the meat on the table. Then Pa handed her the sack that had the shoes in it.

She opened it hesitantly and took the shoes out one pair at a time. There was a pair for her and one for each of the children sturdy shoes, the best, shoes that would last. I watched her carefully.

She bit her lower lip to keep it from trembling and then tears filled her eyes and started running down her cheeks. She looked up at Pa like she wanted to say something, but it wouldn't come out.

"We brought a load of wood too, Ma'am," Pa said. He turned to me and said, "Matt, go bring in enough to last awhile. Let's get that fire up to size and heat this place up."

I wasn't the same person when I went back out to bring in the wood. I had a big lump in my throat and as much as I hate to admit it, there were tears in my Read past issues at issuu.com/alamodosomagaine

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eyes too. In my mind I kept seeing those three kids huddled around the fireplace and their mother standing there with tears running down her cheeks with so much gratitude in her heart that she couldn't speak.

My heart swelled within me and a joy that I'd never known before filled my soul. I had given at Christmas many times before, but never when it had made so much difference. I could see we were literally saving the lives of these people.

I soon had the fire blazing and everyone's spirits soared. The kids started giggling when Pa handed them each a piece of candy and Widow Jensen looked on with a smile that probably hadn't crossed her face for a long time.

She finally turned to us. "God bless you," she said. "I know the Lord has sent you. The children and I have been praying that he would send one of his angels to spare us."

In spite of myself, the lump returned to my throat and the tears welled up in my eyes again. I'd never thought of Pa in those exact terms before, but after Widow Jensen mentioned it I could see that it was probably true.

I was sure that a better man than Pa had never walked the earth. I started remembering all the times he had gone out of his way for Ma and me, and many others. The list seemed endless as I thought on it.

Pa insisted that everyone try on the shoes before we left. I was amazed when they all fit and I wondered how he had known what Read past issues at issuu.com/alamodosomagaine

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sizes to get. Then I guessed that if he was on an errand for the Lord that the Lord would make sure he got the right sizes.

Tears were running down Widow Jensen's face again when we stood up to leave. Pa took each of the kids in his big arms and gave them a hug. They clung to him and didn't want us to go. I could see that they missed their Pa and I was glad that I still had mine.

At the door Pa turned to Widow Jensen and said, "The Mrs. wanted me to invite you and the children over for Christmas dinner tomorrow. The turkey will be more than the three of us can eat, and a man can get cantankerous if he has to eat turkey for too many meals. We'll be by to get you about eleven. It'll be nice to have some little ones around again. Matt, here, hasn't been little for quite a spell."

I was the youngest. My two brothers and two sisters had all married and had moved away.

Widow Jensen nodded and said, "Thank you, Brother Miles. I don't have to say, May the Lord bless you, I know for certain that He will."

Out on the sled I felt a warmth that came from deep within and I didn't even notice the cold. When we had gone a ways, Pa turned to me and said, "Matt, I want you to know something. Your ma and me have been tucking a little money away Story continues page 110 Read past issues at issuu.com/alamodosomagaine

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here and there all year so we could buy that rifle for you, but we didn't have quite enough.

Then yesterday a man who owed me a little money from years back came by to make things square.

Your ma and me were real excited, thinking that now we could get you that rifle, and I started into town this morning to do just that, but on the way I saw little Jakey out scratching in the woodpile with his feet wrapped in those gunny sacks and I knew what I had to do.

Son, I spent the money for shoes and a little candy for those children. I hope you understand."

I understood, and my eyes became wet with tears again. I understood very well, and I was so glad Pa had done it.

Now the rifle seemed very low on my list of priorities. Pa had given me a lot more.

He had given me the look on Widow Jensen's face and the radiant smiles of her three children. For the rest of my life, Whenever I saw any of the Jensens, or split a block of wood, I remembered, and remembering brought back that same joy I felt riding home beside Pa that night.

Pa had given me much more than a rifle that night, he had given me the best Christmas of my life.

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Discover Ruidoso

Afternoon at Alto Lake

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White Sands Missile Range Missile Dogs Courtesy White Sands Missile Range Museum

Dingo, a Weimaraner, and Count, a German Shorthair, were the famous Missile Dogs of White Sands, working with John and Cynthia Guzevich, owners of JohCyn Kennels in Las Cruces.

Small missile parts needed to be recovered after firing in order to analyze reasons for success or failure. Before the Range Instrumentation Development Division began the dog program in 1961, ground-recovery crews spent countless hours searching the desert for a rocket part, which had often buried itself in the sand upon impact.

For up to a year before firing, important components of a missile were sprayed with squalene, a shark-liver oil that the dogs could smell from hundreds of feet away.

After a missile firing, radar pinpointed the general impact area and the dog team was sent out for Read past issues at issuu.com/alamodosomagaine

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recovery. Dingo and Count were trained to search out the scent object and to stay on course until it was tracked down, without being distracted by desert wildlife.

The Guzevich team worked with the dogs everyday, in all types of weather: intense heat, snow or wind. Cynthia Guzevich created special terrycloth jackets for the dogs, with pockets to hold ice cubes and cool the dogs during the summer.

With a 96% recovery rate, the program was so successful that other military and scientific agencies requested their services.

Dingo and Count recovered several test devices for the Atomic Energy Commission near Albuquerque and in Tonopah, Nevada.

The program was discontinued in 1965. There had been eight dogs in the program, but Dingo and Count were the first and the best of the Missile Dogs at White Sands Missile Range Ă˘â‚Źâ€œ one of the most interesting sidelights in missile development and testing done at the range.

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‎Courtesy of Old West Legends

James Albert "Ab" Saunders: Two Original Tintype Photos of this Lincoln County, New Mexico Character. Born in Iowa in 1851, Saunders arrived in New Mexico Territory in the 1870s and owned a Lincoln County ranch together with his cousin, Frank Coe. He appears to have had some connection to the Regulators and was said to have taken part in several posses and lynchings.

On April 29, 1878, Ab, Coe, and Frank McNab ran afoul of a posse on its way to pursue Regulators accused of murder, including Billy the Kid. Reputedly the posse included several members of the Seven Rivers Warriors and the Jesse Evans Gang. Shooting first and asking questions later, they killed McNab and shot Ab in the left ankle and hip, leaving him with wound from which he would never fully recover. He died in San Francisco in 1883.

It is generally a dangerous practice to identify alleged photos of Western personalities purely on resemblance, and regrettably no provenance accompanied these two images.

However, they were reputedly found together in New Mexico, and bear an unmistakable resemblance to the one known photo of Saunders often reproduced in books and online. While there are no guarantees, it is our belief that these two photos depict Ab Saunders.

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Discover Mayhill Downtown Mayhill 1945

WATCH FOR OUR GRAND OPENING

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Beond beautiful How plants improve mental & phsical wellness

Flowers and plants are staples in many American homes, adding to the style and aesthetic of virtually any space.

While the visual benefits of plants are widely embraced, many people are unaware of the ways plants can support mental and physical well-being, too.

"Plants offer countless benefits beyond beauty," explains Alfred Palomares, vice president of merchandising at 1-800-Flowers.com.

"From improving air quality to having calming and healing benefits, plants are such an important component to keep in your home."

Palomares lends insight into the top benefits of plants and which species you should consider placing in your favorite spaces: Stress reduction Have you ever noticed that when you visit a garden or park, you instantly feel at ease? Greenery has the innate ability to calm and reduce stress. The sights and smells promote calm and a feeling of Read past issues at issuu.com/alamodosomagaine

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120 escape, which is particularly important during times of stress.

Work is a top source of stress for many people, so it makes sense that plants are a smart addition to workspaces.

The study "The positive effects of office plants" by Nursery Papers Technical researched plants in the workplace and found employees had many beneficial experiences, including: * Depression/dejection reduced by 58% * Anger/hostility reduced by 44% * Tension/anxiety reduced by 37% * Confusion reduced by 30% Because many people are now working from home and children are attending school remotely, add plants to office and study spaces to reduce stress and make the space more welcoming.

Plant to consider: Lavender has delicate purple buds that offer a splash of color to the space and a scent that fills a room with its calm-invoking characteristics.

A home office that nurtures For your home office in particular, choose furnishings and decor that improve your comfort, functionality and focus. Make sure your chair is ergonomic and adjusted at the right height for your desk, and that the space has adequate lighting and ventilation.

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121 Plants suitable for a home office should be easy to maintain, and will not take over the space. For example, a hanging plant that won't use up valuable desk space can add a welcome touch of green.

Plant to consider: English Ivy can beautifully spruce up your work area.

Improve air quality

Plants can improve air quality by decreasing the levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the air by up to 89%, according to a report by the NASA Stennis Space Center.

VOCs are commonly found in household items and paints, and include Read past issues at issuu.com/alamodosomagaine

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123 formaldehyde, benzene and trichlorethylene, among others.

Many houseplants have the ability to: * Reduce carbon dioxide in a home

* Control humidity levels * Reduce indoor pollution levels * Reduce airborne dust levels * Add oxygen to the air Plant to consider: Peace Lily can remove pollutants and absorb harmful substances like ammonia and xylene that may be present in your home, plus has a pleasant scent when in bloom.

Healing and health-promoting Plants are believed to calm and promote healing in people of all ages. In fact, just looking at pictures of plants can have a positive impact.

A Journal of Alternative Complementary Medicine article found that patients recovering from surgery with plants and flowers in their room have experienced: * Lower blood pressure and heart rate * Lower pain, anxiety and fatigue * Fewer intakes of pain medication

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Plant to consider: Aloe Vera is an ancient natural remedy that not only adds visual appeal, but the clear gel from the plant's leaves also soothes the skin. alamodoso@gmail.com

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Waiting for the harvest Read past issues at issuu.com/alamodosomagaine

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