Focus on Lea County Spring 2017

SPRING 2017

The

CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION issue

Our Past, Present & Future.

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! s n o i t a l u t a Congr

inside this issue SPRING 2017

ON A SUCCESSFUL

100 YEARS! FROM THE LEA COUNTY CLERK’S OFFICE

Lea County

Treasurer’s Office

04 06

FROM THE EDITOR

08

JACKSON JOINS COUNTY COMMISSION

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STEPHEN ERNEST BEST LEA’S FIRST SHERIFF

13

FROM THE CITY TO THE COUNTY

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LEA COUNTY CITY SLICKER

16

LEA’S GRAND HISTORIC HOSTELRY

18

T.J. PARKS TEACHER FEATURE

20 21 22

TIDBITS AND TRIVIA

LEA COUNTY CELEBRATING HISTORY

06

10

RECIPES CALENDAR OF EVENTS Focus on Lea County is a 100% PrintReleaf™ Certified Publication Learn more at:

FocusNM.com/PrintReleaf

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ABOUT THE COVER

Congratulates Lea County on it’s

100 Year Birthday

& Looks Forward to 100 More!

(TOP) Lea County Courthouse 1950s; (BOTTOM LEFT) the courthouse as it appears today; (BOTTOM RIGHT) rendering of the new courthouse that is to be built; (TOP LEFT) centennial commemorative coin available for purchase Adrian Martinez, Editorial Director, Advertising Photography by Various Photographers - Submitted for Use in Focus on Lea County Special Contributors: Jim Harris, Kyle Marksteiner, Lyn Edwards, Andrew Akufo, Jonathan Sena, Dean Jackson, David L. Minton FOCUS ON LEA COUNTY IS PUBLISHED QUARTERLY BY AD VENTURE MARKETING

Ad Venture Marketing, Ltd. Co. • 866.207.0821 • ad-venturemarketing.com All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part without permission of the publisher is prohibited.

Every effort was made to ensure accuracy of the information provided.

The publisher assumes no responsibility or liability for errors, changes or omissions.

SPRING 2017 | A COMMUNITY MAGAZINE

3

from the editor

Forever

Frontier

LYN EDWARDS Guest Editor

FOCUS ON LEA CO.

As Lea County Centennial Committee members discussed celebrating the 100th anniversary of Lea County’s formation as a separate county, they explored the heritage of the southeast corner of New Mexico. On March 17, 1917 the New Mexico Legislature formed Lea County from the eastern halves of Chaves and Eddy Counties.

In reflecting on the past, the committee chose the theme of “The Spirit of the Pioneer” to honor all of the diverse pioneer experiences in ranching and farming, oil and gas exploration, a military air base training field and present development of alternative energy sources. Lea County has produced several notable trail-blazers in all these areas since becoming a county in 1917.

Before Native Americans passed through this region, giant mammoths and other prehistoric animals left their imprints on the land grazing through the grasslands of the Llano Estacado.

Searching for food and water, Native Americans migrated and hunted throughout the same vast land.

Open range cowboys drove their great herds of horses and cattle to market. The Homestead Acts of the 1900s brought ranchers, farmers and settlers who made dugout homes

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FOCUS ON LEA COUNTY | SPRING 2017

and clung to the land throughout the good and bad times. There were 174 original land patents originating in 1917 with small communities dotting the county. The names and number of communities rose and fell leaving the present remaining five towns: Tatum, Lovington, Hobbs, Eunice and Jal. In 1926 boom towns and tent cities grew up overnight with hundreds moving here to drill for black gold.

The oil and gas industry development resembled a wild roller coaster ride from the 1900s to the present. In 2017 Lea County was honored for pumping more oil than any other area in the Permian Basin in 2016 by producing more than 700 million barrels of oil. New oil field discoveries and new methods of recovering oil have increased the level of production.

In addition, Lea County’s nickname, the “Energy Plex,” relates to the

development of alternative sources of energy including solar fields, wind turbines and nuclear enrichment.

Quality of life initiatives are exhibited with the schools, museums, artists, colleges and expansion of new facilities to serve the public. I hope you enjoy reading this keepsake Centennial Celebration issue of Focus on Lea County and remember the pioneers who passed before us as we honor our diverse history.

Best regards, Lyn Edwards

Members Dean Jackson, District 1; Jonathan Sena, District 4; Vice Chair Rebecca Long, District 2; Chair Ron Black, District 3; Don Jones, District 5.

The Lea County Board of County Commissioners cordially invite residents to attend the Lea County Centennial Celebrations throughout the year.

Lea County was formed by the New Mexico Legislature on March 17, 1917. The eastern parts of Chaves County and Eddy County were combined to form Lea County.

The theme of the celebration is “Spirit of the Pioneer� honoring the brave settlers, farmers and ranchers who tamed this forever frontier.

The Centennial Celebration includes a Pony Express Ride traveling throughout the county. Riders will start March 9 south of Jal, ride March 10 into Eunice and stop March 11 at the Western Heritage Museum & Cowboy Hall of Fame for a day of family fun.

The next week the Pony Express Rides through the northern part of the county March 15-17. The trail ends at the Lea County Courthouse in Lovington the afternoon of Friday, March 17. A reception will follow at the Lea County Museum.

The Centennial Ranch Rodeo is slated at the Lea County Fairgrounds on March 31 and April 1. This is not a typical rodeo so come enjoy the cowboy antics of the 20 ranch teams.

Centennial merchandise including cookbooks and coins are on sale at leacounty.net throughout 2017. Centennial quilts will be raffled with the drawing held during the 82nd Lea County Fair & Rodeo at the Lea County booth.

LEA RESIDENTS HAVE DURING THIS

CENTENNIAL YEAR 2017

by Jim Harris

Lea County residents have much to be thankful for after one hundred years of prosperity, positive growth, and, for the most part, a history book with few blemishes.

That’s not to say there are no skeletons in the closet.

There certainly have been some less-thanhappy times, such as financial depressions, year-long droughts and winter blizzards. In the 40 years I have been here, I’ve heard more than one businessman or woman say, “I’ve been down so long it seems like up to me.”

However, as a whole, things have been much more up than down, much more positive than negative, for those who have lived here in the county.

If you look at the development of the oil and gas industry, for instance, you could make a case for Lea being just about the luckiest county in New Mexico.

In the extreme southeast corner of the Land of Enchantment, Lea is part of the predominantly West Texas Permian Basin, the most important oil producing region in America. Billions of barrels of oil and billions of cubic feet of natural gas have been pumped from deep beneath Lea soil for the last ninety years.

That has meant jobs for those living here, and it has meant tax revenues for local

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FOCUS ON LEA COUNTY | SPRING 2017

and state essentials, such as New Mexico education and infrastructure.

Then, over the years and through the planning of many insightful community leaders, Lea has blossomed into a community of towns offering a quality of life that the original creators and inhabitants of the county could not have imagined.

Lea came into existence in 1917 through the incredibly hard work of many men and women, Lovington’s Robert Florence Love and Pascal Eaves being the two most important of them.

Lea was an unlikely entity, being carved out of the eastern sides of Eddy and Chaves Counties. If the people of those two counties could have known of all the oil and gas wealth below Lea’s surface, the county would never have been born, and part of today’s residents would have a courthouse in Carlsbad and the other part in Roswell.

Lea came into existence at the end of an American western movement that has become a symbol of the nation. That’s why Lea historian Gil Hinshaw, who passed away last year, titled his important book Lea, New Mexico’s Last Frontier.

It was not long from the county’s founding, though, before Lea said goodbye to its frontier appearance.

Within a decade, oil was discovered and American commercial and cultural ambassadors came by

the thousands to change the ranch and farm region forever.

The history of the county can be divided many ways, but there are six distinct eras in the last 100 years. First, from 1917 to 1929 might be thought of as the period in which the county moved from a place that looked to the past to a place looking at the present and to the future.

The second era in the history of Lea is approximately the decade of the 1930s when the nation was experiencing the Great Depression.

The third era covered two decades, the ‘40s and ‘50s, when America fought in World War II and the Korean War and prospered much in the aftermath of the two. The residents of Lea also prospered from the positive national economy of those years.

The Hobbs Army Air Field had a long-term impact on county life.

During the next three eras in Lea—19601990, 1990-2000 and 2000-present— residents here moved closer and closer to the mainstream of American life. New communication and transportation technologies were the primary motivators for those changes.

Throughout the history of the county, residents have gone through a series of major changes. Here is how Hinshaw described Lea’s first big change in life following the early ranch and town life:

“As the 20th Century broke on the Llano PHOTO: West side of the Lovington town square circa 1915

Estacado of future Lea County the ascendancy of the great ranches was nearing its end.

Within a dozen years they would be dismantled, or whittled down to compact confines, and within 17 years the settlers would demand and obtain county status for the Southeastern New Mexico Llano, chopping it away from the eastern ends of Chaves and Eddy Counties.”

Ranching is still an important part of Lea life today, but it impacts us much more culturally than it does financially.

The first ranch in Lea County was established by a former buffalo hunter named George Causey.

The first town in Lea was Monument, built in 1900 near a spring located ten miles southwest of present-day Hobbs.

The first man to drill into Lea’s soil—for water rather than oil—was Causey.

The first successful oil well was drilled in 1926 on Lea’s western edge at Maljamar.

Lea’s first courthouse was a wood structure built in 1917. The first brick courthouse was built in the 1930s, and it had a major addition to it in the 1950s. Soon there will be another courthouse just east of the older one.

Lea County’s new Judicial Complex which will be the home for New Mexico’s Fifth Judicial Court, looks like it is from the 21st or 22nd century, not the 19th or 20th centuries.

Lea’s first train tracks were built in 1930. Unfortunately, the line never ran all the way through the county. It stretches from Kermit, Texas, to its end in Lovington.

Lea County has come a long way since its birth in 1917. Its rugged first residents suffered under many brutal conditions. For instance, soon after the county was born, America entered World War I. In addition, the region was in the middle of a severe drought in 1917.

That drought was followed by a disastrous blizzard that killed thousands of cattle.

Finally, if all of that wasn’t enough to give residents pause to think about their future, Lea and the rest of the world experienced a flu pandemic that killed millions of people around the world.

Among those locally who died from the flu was a prominent rancher.

His story is one of those that tell us how different we are now from those who came before. Math Sewalt, who had ranches on both sides of the new county seat in Lovington, was one of five Lea men who built the Commercial Hotel in 1917 on the southeast corner of the town square.

Sewalt never got to see his hotel flourish with visitors, dying in a St. Louis hospital from the flu the following year.

He had traveled to Missouri to look after cattle he had shipped to northern plains pastures, which were in much better shape than local pastures following the drought experienced in Lea.

Sewalt’s hotel still stands, though it now belongs to the Lea County Museum, and the new courthouse will soon go up just across the street.

Lea County was born during some sad times for those who lived here in 1917, but it does not take much traveling in the county today to know how much we have to be thankful for.

We need to express much thanks to those who were responsible for the county’s formation and those thousands of residents who worked to make it a better place in which to live.

The many celebrations taking place this year in Lea will provide us with plenty of good times. I will be going to them as an expression of thankfulness for the men and women of the last century who made this the good place it is.

PHOTOS ABOVE (TOP TO BOTTOM): Hobbs family picnic, circa 1915; the Weir brothers,

Knowles, 1907; south side of the courthouse square, circa 1914

SPRING 2017 | A COMMUNITY MAGAZINE

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JOINING THE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS DURING LEA’S CENTENNIAL YEAR

by Dean Jackson

Being a lifelong Lea County resident with deep roots in both the oilfield and the ranching industry, I believe I have a unique perspective on Lea County.

After serving on the Lea County Fair board for eight years, I was approached to run for the District 1 County Commissioner position. After careful consideration I declared my intention to run for the position in November, 2015.

Lea County is the jewel of New Mexico, and being in a leadership role is truly an honor. From a dusty little ranching county into a true metropolis of ranching, farming and energy independence, it is a testament to the fortitude of our founders.

I hope and pray that I may be able to help the county grow and prosper during my time serving the citizens of Lea County. Too often in recent history politicians have forgotten who they work for, locally and nationally. It is my intention to actually serve the citizens of Lea County. As I stated during my campaign, my cell number is 575-441-6031; call me anytime with your concerns, and together we will make Lea County great for all residents.

All residents of this great county should be concerned about our water situation, because without water there will not be a 200-year or even a 150-year celebration of Lea County.

The founders of Lea County knew this, and I believe if they saw what was being done to preserve this commodity they would be proud. I hope we will be able to come together as we always have for the benefit of our chosen home, the Staked Plains.

Regardless of whether your place on the timetable is 1917 or 2017, we can all agree that Lea County is a gem in the desert.

PHOTO: Dean Jackson speaking at an event

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FOCUS ON LEA COUNTY | SPRING 2017

Happy

Birthday

B irthday Lea County

Hap p y

To

ea County Assessor’s Office

LEA COUNTY

From the Lea County Assessor’s Office Lea County Probate Judge

From: Lea County Assessor’s Office

Artesia General Hospital is proud to announce a new team.

Shahriar Anoushfar, DO, FACS, FACOS Terah Maupin Sexton, PA-C GENERAL SURGERY

AND

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Appointments Available in Carlsbad and Artesia

The Honorable Sandra K. Goad would like to congratulate the county on their Centennial Anniversary.

Here’s to another 100 successful years!

The Honorable Sandra K. Goad Lea County Probate Judge

I would like the ad to just congratulate the county on the

Centennial Anniversary and wish for a 100 more successful years.

(Adrian said I should just send the information for what I want

and that she would have your ad department create the ad for me.)

Congratulations!

575.748.8526

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FOCUS ON LEA COUNTY | SPRING 2017

STEPHEN ERNEST BEST LEA’S FIRST SHERIFF

by David L. Minton

Lea County’s first sheriff was appointed to the office by Governor Washington E. Lindsey in June of 1917 and served until 1921.

That man was Stephen Ernest Best, Jr., a Democrat who was better known simply as Ernest Best. He must have really not cared for his first name; of all the different writings where I have seen his name, the only place that I saw his full name of Stephen Ernest Best was on his death certificate. Well, he was also a junior, and he didn’t let anyone know that either.

Ernest Best was born to Stephen Ernest and Mary L. (Malone) Best on December 30, 1881 at Albany, Texas in Shackelford County. He attended school at Albany and later attended Christian College at Buffalo Gap, Texas. The early 1900s brought him and his family-his parents and siblings Maude, Isaac and Willie—to Roswell.

It didn’t take long for some sweet little gal from Artesia to catch his eye, and before he knew it, he found himself standing in front of the Reverend Ebenezer E. Mathes saying “I do” to Zola Mae Kissinger on October 30, 1907.

The couple eventually had four children: Ernest, Catherine, William L. and Charles.

He earned a living for his family at Roswell as the proprietor of a livery barn.

Best first wore a badge for the Chaves County Sheriff’s Office under Sheriff Charles Ballard but then went to work for the New Mexico Cattle Sanitary Board in 1911, continuing in that capacity for about six years.

In the first election after his appointment to sheriff of Lea County, Ernest Best ran to keep his job and was successful in the November 1918 election, with his opponent D.R. Cousineau getting only two votes to Best’s 359. However, Sheriff Best didn’t do so well in the 1920 election when he was challenged by Robert F. Love; Love received 878 votes while Best got only a single vote…..Hmmm, I wonder who cast that lone vote.

After this pretty solid defeat, Best went back to work for the New Mexico Cattle Sanitary Board in 1921 and served until sometime in 1924. At that time, he resigned and moved back to Texas to join the Border Patrol, where he gave them two years while headquartered in El Paso.

At the age of 52 in 1934, he joined the Texas Rangers where he made sergeant in 1939 and then captain two years later.

He was well known in New Mexico and Texas for his excellent horsemanship as well as being a pretty fair peacemaker.

While stationed down on the TexasMexico border, things would often get a little heated during election time, and Best would be called upon to quell the brewing trouble. He was known to be respected along the border by whichever factions were having a dispute. After 11

years as a Texas Ranger, he retired in 1947.

Now you would think that a career like that would be plenty, but not for Ernest Best. He moved to Austin, Texas and became the 31st sheriff of Travis County when elected to office in 1948, serving two terms. A large portrait of Best now hangs in the training center of the Travis County Sheriff’s Department.

He and his wife spent their final years in Austin. Lea County’s first sheriff passed away while visiting Mr. and Mrs. J. Pat King in Lubbock, Texas on August 15, 1953. His body was returned to Austin for burial in Austin Memorial Park Cemetery.

Zola, his wife of almost 46 years, died just 4 months and 22 days later and is buried at his side.

PHOTO (OPPOSITE PAGE): Lea Counties First Sheriff 1917.

PHOTO (RIGHT): Earnest Best later in life.

SPRING 2017 | A COMMUNITY MAGAZINE

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FROMCOUNTY THE CITY

he Plaza: -17th

TO THE

by Jim Harris

One of the new Lea County Commissioners is Jonathan Sena, a youthful but experienced man from Hobbs. Keeping in mind that he is coming eet Concert on board during the county’s centennial, I asked him to answer a few questions about this historic time in the history of Lea. :-August

The Plaza: 31st cert

The Plaza: za: ber

Harris: How long have you lived in Lea? Sena: I have lived in Lea County since 1986.

Harris: When did you decide you would like to serve as a county commissioner?

even more, Lea County’s legacy of family, faith, hard work and freedom.

Harris: Many Americans seem disgruntled about how our local and national governments have been operating in recent years. What can you do to make citizens value and appreciate your service to the community as an elected commissioner?

Sena: I think that public service on many levels has a bad reputation. Sometimes people become disheartened and eventually disengaged from connecting with the voting process (and government as a whole) for Sena: I had many reasons. Many times this lack of trust is previously run for county commissioner in rooted in politicians making big promises to n Lodgers’ Tax.2010. Since losing that election, I was not get votes and get elected. Also, constituents sure that I would ever get the opportunity oftentimes only see their elected leader when to serve as a county commissioner. I he or she is running for office. This can send continued to work hard as a youth director a message that the leader doesn’t care. As and city commissioner, and I even went first a city commissioner and now a county back to school to work on myLovington MBA (Master of Business Administration), which I’m Corp. commissioner, I have tried to learn from MainStreet good Democratic and Republican leaders currently still working on. Then, in 2016 I how to engage the community. People was asked to run for county commissioner. I like Congressman Steve Pearce and City ran, and thanks to the people of District 4, I LVTMAINSTREET Commissioner Joe Calderon taught me to et.org am now serving on the county commission. knock on doors to visit families, to be willing to listen to positive criticism and to never g Harris: How do you feel about Lea being forget where I come from. Former New 100 years old this year? @LVTMAINSTREET Mexico Speaker of the House Don Tripp also Lovington taught me to do my best to under-promise Sena: I am excited about the extraordinary and over deliver. Over the last eight years, I history and longevity of our county. Over the Corp.

Board MainStreet of Directors: have tried to be close to my constituents, to last 100 years so many incredible leaders have listen and to do my best to stand up for them.

Lea County what it is today.

People of Medellin ♥made Secretary/Treasurer Mara Alcantar

so many cultures and diverse backgrounds LVTMAINSTREET ♥ Carol Ann Hogue have worked hard to create the amazing Harris: Do you feel you can make a opportunities we enjoy throughout Lea difference in the quality of life of Lea’s man ♥ Star Mckee County today. residents in a four-year term?

a:

@LVTMAINSTREET Harris: What does it mean to you to be

elected to serve as a county commissioner during the centennial year of celebration?

y/Treasurer Mara Alcantar Sena: It humbles me to no end to serve as a

ue

county commissioner during the centennial year of celebration. While I have lived in Lea County for 30 years, my family on my father’s side has been in New Mexico for about 400 years. It is a blessing to be able to continue my family’s legacy of community service and,

Sena: I believe I can make a difference in the quality of life of Lea’s residents, but not by myself. The only way to make a positive impact for the people of District 4 and for Lea County as a whole is for elected officials throughout Lea County to work together with each other and with the respective communities. I believe that by working together we can leverage our resources, ideas and creative energy to add more jobs to the economy, support the energy industry,

continue to enhance our infrastructure and make neighborhoods safe for families.

Harris: Are there specific changes you have in mind during your term in office?

Sena: As a county commissioner my number one goal is to continue to learn the needs of my constituents and then work to engage those issues to the best of my ability.

Harris: Do you have a vision of what Lea will be or should be like economically in 10 years?

Sena: In 10 to 25 years, my vision for Lea County is to be a place with a massively diversified economy where jobs are readily available and where family-friendly businesses can continue to come to thrive and grow.

Harris: If you could speak to the first county officials who served in 1917 when Lea became a county, what would you ask them?

Sena: I think if I could speak to the first county officials who served in 1917, I would first thank them for all they did to make the communities of Lea County possible.

I cannot imagine how difficult their work must have been. Second, since I love history and the time period in and around World War I, I would ask them many questions about the details of what they did to begin our government here along with questions about what life was like during the Wilson Administration.

Harris: Of those first county officials, what would you tell them about how we are alike or different today?

Sena: I would tell them that we still work hard. That we still value family and a good work ethic. I would also enjoy explaining the advancement of the oil and nuclear industry in Lea County. On a side note, it might be interesting to try to explain to them the internet, Facebook, and iPhones.

PHOTO: Jonathan Sena

SPRING 2017 | A COMMUNITY MAGAZINE

13

s ’ y t n u o C a e L City Slicker

by Andrew Akufo

I moved from Oklahoma City to Lea County during the summer of 2013 to take the executive director’s position at the Lea County Center for the Arts. During that time the oil and gas industry was at its peak. I remember reading time after time in the Hobbs NewsSun about Hobbs and other cities within the county continuously setting and then breaking new gross receipt tax records.

As a result of the energy boom, I was warned by my board of directors prior to moving to Lea County that there were more people within the county than there were places to live, housing rates were sky-high and finding a place to live would be my biggest challenge.

I soon believed the part about prices being sky-high. I had to book a hotel room during the first two trips I made to Hobbs, and the hotel rates were ridiculously high compared to where I was coming from. I was looking at hotel rooms in Hobbs for $100 per night that would have been $65 back in Oklahoma. To me, that just meant I needed to find an apartment or house as quickly as I could without having to waste any more time or money staying in a hotel while searching.

I still figured it would not be very difficult to find a place to live in Hobbs as long I was proactive and diligent

14

about it. Boy was I wrong. I called the offices of apartment after apartment only to find each one booked with waiting lists. It took an act of God for me to finally find a place in Lea County and relocate during the month of June in 2013.

I have now lived in Lea County for three and a half years. It’s amazing how quickly time has flown and how much change has taken place during my time here. It has been especially amazing to see how many new businesses and people have moved into town compared to when I first arrived. At that time, the Baymont Inn in Hobbs was just preparing to open, and the TownePlace Suites was still under construction. Now, the county is preparing to build a new courthouse in Lovington, and a new recreational facility will soon go up thanks to the cooperative efforts of the City

FOCUS ON LEA COUNTY | SPRING 2017

of Hobbs, Lea County, New Mexico Junior College, Hobbs Municipal Schools, the Maddox Foundation and University of the Southwest. It’s amazing how quick things can change in Lea County.

Of course, most recently, we have seen a downturn in the oil and gas industry, but despite difficult times I have seen a resilient community come together and people step up to really support each other. In my position, I have been blessed to meet and work with so many people within Lea County, from its different school systems to law enforcement, business owners, nonprofit organizations, church leaders, city and county leaders, to just your regular “9-5” workers—or in Lea County’s case, “5-9” workers.

If there is one thing that I’ve learned about Lea County, it’s that the people are truly what make this county a great

place to live. I can’t recall how many times I have been invited to different people’s houses or treated to dinner or lunch within our community, just because people were interested in getting to know me without wanting anything back in return. That is simply a testament to the caring nature and heart of the citizens in Lea County.

Many people would think that because I am a “city slicker” from Oklahoma City, moving to Lea County would be a difficult transition because of the cultural differences and a lesser variety of things to do. On the contrary, Oklahoma City and Lea County are quite similar to a certain extent. Both communities are founded on a cowboy and Western heritage. Lea County has the celebrated Lea County Fair and Rodeo in Lovington as well as the Western Heritage Museum and Lea County Cowboy Hall of Fame in Hobbs.

Oklahoma remains big on rodeo with events at the Oklahoma State Fair as well as PBR (Professional Bull Riders) events at the Lazy E Arena in Guthrie.

Oklahoma City is also home to the National Western Heritage Museum and Cowboy Hall of Fame, where I actually painted a mural while in college. In short, there are not as many differences as people would think.

For those citizens born and raised in Lea County, with ancestors that helped found this county we call home, I’d bet these past 100 years have been a thrill ride. From the pioneer days of wagons and the Pony Express on the Llano Estacado to Lea County being one of the fastest growing counties in the state and a premier destination for tourism, I think it’s safe to say that this 100-year centennial celebration is ultimately a celebration of Lea County’s development and a sign of the direction the county will continue in the future.

PHOTO: Andrew Akufo stands in front of his painting Cactus Corner at the IAO Gallery in Oklahoma City.

LEA’S Grand Historic The Commercial Hotel Continuously Occupied Through Lea’s Life f

by Jim Harris

They started constructing the building a century ago this year.

It was first occupied 99 years ago.

It sits stately with two-story white walls and a red roof just a few yards southeast of the county courthouse.

It is told that Lea’s first flush toilets were installed in it, and they were so unique that farmers and ranchers made trips into Lovington just to marvel at the device with a tank high on the wall and a chain hanging down to just above your head.

You could take a room for $1.00 per night with a meal costing from 35¢ to 50¢.

The hotel had its own garden, and cows were kept out back for milk, butter and meat. Hotel fowl provided eggs for breakfast and fried chicken for dinner.

f

It is 112 feet long by 37 feet wide. Its two stories comprise 8,288 square feet.

Its outside walls are hand-poured concrete 12 inches thick, and if you look on its south side you can see where the 14inch wide forms that held the liquid concrete went up one at a time.

It must have taken many hundreds of man hours to build it.

Its downstairs ceiling is 12 feet tall, the front desk of the lobby placed next to a stairway, the walls decorated with the stuffed heads of buffalo, antelope and elk as they might have been in the West’s frontier times.

This is Lovington’s Commercial Hotel, the first hotel of its size and quality in this corner of New Mexico; since 1969, it has been the primary building of the Lea County Museum.

Visitors entering the lobby often ask if the hotel has a ghost.

They get to hear about the time one of the hotel’s occupants spent a night listening to some unusual sounds below the first floor, which turned out to be a couple of cats that had snuck into the basement. They can also hear the story of the man who caught fire and died on the second floor. But as far as anyone knows, the only spirit in the Commercial Hotel is the spirit of frontier times and of this neck of the Southern Plains.

The Commercial Hotel was built by four Lovington businessmen and ranchers: John D. Graham; Dolph Lusk, Sr.; Mathew Sewalt and Seth Alston.

Things did not start out well for them. Sewalt died the same year the hotel opened, 1918, and Lusk died the next year.

Over time the hotel had several different owners, and during those years several families and individuals were employed to operate and live in it.

PHOTO LEFT: Hotel Love in the 1930s

16

FOCUS ON LEA COUNTY | SPRING 2017

Hosterlry: For example, the Fairweather family owned and operated it twice, once in the 1920s and again in the 1930s.

The hotel had three different names: the Commercial Hotel, the Love Hotel and the Plaza Hotel. Jokes are still told about the second name, such as, “When it was the Love Hotel, you had to be 18 years of age to stay the night.” Love was the name of a family from Pecos, Texas, who owned it for a

while. They were not related to the Love family who founded the town of Lovington, however.

The Commercial Hotel provided visitors with the best accommodations in the region, and for Lovington and area residents it was the place for a formal meal. Many good times were had visiting with friends and strangers in the hotel lobby.

occupied commercial building.

The county is celebrating its own centennial this year. Next year the Commercial Hotel will be celebrating its centennial, and there is no reason that the building can’t still be standing where it is in another hundred years.

It’s that strong and sturdy.

Try to imagine residents of Lea celebrating the hotel’s second centennial in 2117.

PHOTOS (ABOVE LEFT TO RIGHT): Plaza Hotel, circa

1950s; Commercial Hotel circa 1919 one year after the opening. PHOTO BELOW: Today’s Lea County Museum as it’s seen after a recent rain.

It’s Lea’s longest continuously-

SPRING 2017 | A COMMUNITY MAGAZINE

17

teacher feature

TJ PARKS

Last February, T.J. Parks, superintendent of Hobbs Municipal Schools, was honored as the New Mexico Superintendent of the Year. That makes for a very good reason to select Parks as the subject of the first “Teacher Feature” for Focus on Lea County.

by Kyle Marksteiner

A 31-year resident of Lea County, Parks began his teaching career at Tatum Municipal Schools in 1982. He had a fiveyear stint in Texas but spent a grand total of 21 years in Tatum.

Parks taught seventh and eighth grade science and coached in Tatum for five years before moving to Friona, Texas, where he taught biology and coached varsity basketball for two years. He accepted a middle school assistant principal position in Dimmitt, Texas, in 1988. He then returned to Tatum as a principal, later becoming the superintendent.

creative, smart and fun to be around. The pride of being an Eagle is visible in all we do.”

He added that the school district emphasizes culture, data, instruction and leadership.

Working as an administrator has taught Parks to look at problems more systematically, because one decision can have a ripple effect for many people. “I enjoy collaborating with colleagues and trying to solve problems through open and honest conversations,” he noted. “If we stop and listen to the teachers (and students), we can make tremendous academic gains as well as avoid some pitfalls.”

In 2007, Hobbs had an opening for director of operations, so he applied for the spot. “(Then-superintendent) Cliff Burch and I have been friends for 25-plus years,” he reflected. “Once my children graduated, I felt I was ready for another challenge.”

He became superintendent of Hobbs Municipal Schools in 2010. Naturally, he praised the district’s staff and students.

“The staff makes Hobbs Municipal Schools special!” he shared. “They are a very caring, hard working group of professionals that truly care about every child. Our students are amazing. They are

of the strain of being on your feet all day, but mentally you are exhausted trying to motivate and teach students,” he observed. “Today’s accountability and testing add another component I did not have to deal with during my classroom days. I have all the respect in the world for teachers.”

This “Hobbs Way” drives 90-day plans.

A 21st Century Grant, meanwhile, has enabled the school district to provide quality after school programs for elementary and middle school students.

Teaching is the most difficult job he has ever held. “It is not only taxing because

He also provides many of the Twitter feeds for Hobbs schools. He enjoys writing monthly articles for the newspaper and is always pleasantly surprised by the comments he receives on his articles.

When hiring teachers, Parks looks for men and women who care about students and try to create meaningful relationships.

Good administrators are not building managers, they are instructional leaders.

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Parks declared that he wants Hobbs Municipal Schools to be the gold standard for education. He would like to partner with the community of Hobbs to make reading a priority for children and adults. He would also like to see a school-based Hobbs Municipal Schools health clinic where students and staff members can receive care.

“Immediate health care would reduce absenteeism and improve quality of life,” he maintained. “A vital component of any school-based health clinic is the behavioral component. We have numerous students who need social emotional assistance.”

Finally, education should be an on-demand resource, meaning that the availability of technology should provide students access to their education 24/7 rather than just when school is in session.

Technology has certainly changed education quite a bit over the past 20 years. Parks recalled his first computer, an Apple IIe with no hard drive. “We used 5½-inch floppy discs,” he remembered.

“We were constantly inserting and removing the discs to perform simple functions. During the early days of the internet, we connected using a modem, which sounded like an alarm going off.”

“We have two wonderful children,” he continued. “Wade and his wife, Gwen, live in Houston, where Wade is a civil engineer for KIT specializing in wastewater management. Gwen is a child life specialist. Amanda Bellows and her husband, Trevor, live here in Hobbs. Amanda is a speech language pathologist for Hobbs schools and Trevor is a firefighter for the City of Lovington.”

Parks enjoys team sports and running, and he most recently began cycling with the Southeast New Mexico Cycling Club.

The group rides 40-60 miles on Saturdays and 20-25 miles on Sundays. He also works out at a local gym several times each week. “I am a firm believer that exercise can relieve negative stress,” he concluded.

Being a superintendent may be a stressful job at times, but T.J. Parks has the right crew and the right students to make it very worthwhile.

“Thomas Friedman says technology doubles every year, and he sees no end in sight,” Parks pronounced, noting that today’s cell phones have 1,000 times the capacity of those old computers.

“I don’t think technology will ever replace a teacher, but we must embrace and allow students and teachers flexibility to use resources to enhance the experience,” he insisted. “I believe the sharing of resources on the internet will continue to expand. The internet has not only created a ‘flat world’ but also a ‘connected world.’”

Parks revealed he has been married to his best friend, Teresa Turner Parks, for 35 years. She is a vocational teacher in Tatum.

PHOTO: T.J. Parks

LEA COUNTY:

HISTORICAL FACT or HYSTERICAL RUMOR? You decide what is FACT and what is FICTION. Answers at the end.

1.

The first honky tonk in Lea County was built in Monument after it became a town in 1900. At some point it became known as the Pepperbox because inebriated cowboys had shot so many holes in its walls.

2.

There is a rise in the Lea land that is known as Soldier Hill because it was where a number of Confederate Soldiers fought a Civil War battle and were killed on the spot.

3. There are several pioneer families in Lea who believe

that certain of their ancestors were the first individuals

to drill a water well in the county.

4.

5.

6.

7.

The first ranch house to be built in Lea County was built at Ranger Lake.

Ranger Lake was given its name because a group of Texas Rangers fought a decisive battle with Indians at the location north of present day Tatum.

The Indian statue located at the town of Monument is named Geronimo because Geronimo and his family camped at Monument Spring several times during his life.

Monument Spring is named for a tall stack of rocks that Indians erected so they could find their way to the spring.

8.

9.

The town of Jal was named by an early rancher who had three children whose names were James, Alice, and Louise. He combined the first letters of each name to form the name of the town.

Lea County was named for Joseph Lea, who owned two ranches in the land that would become Lea in 1917.

10. In 1935 a group of men from Hobbs came up

to Lovington with their tools with plans to tear down

the courthouse and rebuild it in Hobbs. The people of

Lovington had already torn it down and hidden the

county documents.

11. Eddy and Chaves counties were once part of Lincoln County.

12. The first flush toilets in Lea were installed in the

Harden Hotel in Hobbs.

13. The first houses in Lea were built by settlers to the

region who came in the late 1800s.

14. Lea is part of the Llano Estacado.

15. The first man to build a windmill in Lea was George

Causey, who put it up six miles south of present day

Lovington.

Answer 1 • Historical Fact 2 • Hysterical Rumor: There were no Civil War battles in Lea. 3 • Historical Fact 4 • Historical Fact 5 • Hysterical Rumor: No Texas Rangers ever fought a battle at Ranger Lake. 6 • Hysterical Rumor: The Indian statue in Monument was erected by a townsite developer in the late 1920s. 7 • Hysterical Rumor: The pile of rocks near Monument Spring was erected by U.S. soldiers under the command of Col. William Shafter, who was the first person to map the southeast corner of New Mexico. 8 • Hysterical Rumor: The name for the town of Jal came from a cattle brand, JAL. 9 • Hysterical Rumor: Joseph Lea was a mayor of Roswell who had been a Captain in the Civil War. 10 • Hysterical Rumor: No men came from Hobbs with saws and hammers in an attempt to steal the courthouse, though many people in Hobbs in the 1930s did, in fact, think the county seat should be in Hobbs. Also, a group of people in Lovington did tear down the courthouse and built a new one, but that was because they thought building a new courthouse would discourage county authorities from deciding to move the courthouse to Hobbs just after a new one had been built. 11 • Historical Fact 12 • Hysterical Rumor: The first flush toilets were in Lovington’s Commercial Hotel in 1918.

13 • Hysterical Rumor: The first houses in Lea were dugouts, or pit houses, built by Native Americans. 14 • Historical Fact 15 • Hysterical Rumor: Although Causey did build the first windmill, it was in the northern part of the county. Information provided by Jim Harris, director of the Lea County Museum.

PHOTOS ABOVE (LEFT): Lea County residents Frances and Martin Sanchez, 1938; (RIGHT) Lea County’s first ranch house was built on this site at Ranger

Lake in 1883.

Dutch Oven Camp Cooking Apple Crisp

Treasurer Cookies Chocolate

Submitted By David Jiron

Ingredients:

Directions:

• 12 med. Granny Smith apples, sliced 1. Using a large mixing bowl, mix apples, sugar, lemon • Juice from 1 lg. lemon juice and raisins. 2. Spray a Dutch oven with non-stick • 1½ c. sugar cooking spray, then add the apple mix. 3. In another mixing bowl, add brown sugar and ½ c. butter • ½ c. golden raisins to the oats. 4. Fold in flour, then pour dry mixtur • 1¼ c. flour e over apples. Top dry mixture with pats of the remain ing cup • 1½ c. brown sugar of butter or slice 2 sticks of butter over the top.

5. Set • 1½ c. butter, softened (divided) the Dutch oven directly on top of the hot fire coals, then place coals on the lid of the Dutch oven.

• 1½ c. quick oats This will make it bake more evenly. Bake prox. 30 to 40 • Pinch of nutmeg minutes.

(If using a conventional oven, bake at 350°) • Pinch of cinnamon

s

n Edward Submitted By Ly

Ingredients:

chips • 1 6-oz. bag chocolate • 1 stick butter densed milk • 1 can sweetened con

ng • ¾ tsp. vanilla flavori • 1 c. flour ch as pecans) • 2 c. chopped nuts (su

Directions:

colate chips and 1. Mix together the cho r vanilla. 3. Stir in flou butter. 2. Add milk and an o ont teaspoonfuls and nuts. 4. Drop by s et. 5. Bake for 8 minute she ungreased cookie at 350°.

6

’ 197 back of Earlene Roberts This recipe was on the er. nty treasur campaign card for cou

Meat Loaf

Submitted By Edwards Bryans

Ingredients: • 2½ lbs. lean ground round • 3 lg. eggs, lightly beaten • ¾ c. diced onion • ¾ c. diced celery • ½ c. diced green pepper • 2/3 c. tomato juice • 1/3 c. evaporated milk • 1 tsp. pepper • ½ tsp. garlic powder • ½ tsp. salt

Directions: 1. Heat oven to 350°. 2. Lightly greas e a large, shallow baking pan. 3. In a large bowl combine all ingredients. Mix well. 4. In the bakin g pan, firmly shape the meat mixture into a 7” x 3½” x 3½” loaf. 5. Cover loosely with foil. Bake 1 hour.

6. Remove foil and continue baking 5 minutes.

Serves 8.

Walter Beverly’'s Sourdough Biscuits Submitted By Jim Beverly

Ingredients: • ½ pkg. dry yeast (approx. 1 tsp.)

• ¼ c. warm water (110°) • 3 c. unbleached bread flour (KA is best) • 1½ Tbsp. sugar • ½ tsp. salt • ½ Tbsp. baking powder • ½ tsp. baking soda • 2 Tbsp. melted butter • 1 c. active, replenished sourdough starter • 1 c. buttermilk

Directions:

for 5 minutes until ready 1. Dissolve the yeast in warm water and set aside mix the dry ingredients bowl, large a In 2. e. mixtur to add to the buttermilk a pastry cutter, fork with ning shorte or butter together. 3. Cut in the cold 4. In a separate eal. cornm bles resem e mixtur or your clean hands until ilk, then add the butterm the and starter ugh bowl, mix together the sourdo Add this to the 5. well. this stir to sure Be mix. dissolved yeast and water the sides from loose turns dough until ghly flour mixture, mixing thorou hands. 6. the to sticky be will It . texture good a of the bowl easily and has out to roll and e surfac floured lightly a on dough Place desired amount of in place and s biscuit out cut size, in 2½” least at ½” thick. 7. With a cutter 425° ted prehea a in Bake butter. melted with greased pan. 8. Brush tops oven for 14-18 minutes or until brown on top. and will yield (32) 2½” This recipe has been halved from the original recipe use. future for rated refrige be can s biscuits. Unused portion

nty.net to get a For more recipes from around Lea County, visit leacou ook.

Cookb nial Centen y Count Lea the of copy

SPRING 2017 | A COMMUNITY MAGAZINE

21

The Bulletin Board

2017 EVERY FIRST FRIDAY OF THE MONTH

First Friday Downtown Market Downtown Roswell Every First Friday of the Month 5 p.m.-8 p.m.

Free Admission www.mainstreetroswell.org/ first-downtown-market/

EVERY FRIDAY

Carlsbad Community Focus IHOP 2529 S. Canal St. Every Friday 7 a.m. • Speaker begins at 8 a.m.

EVERY WEDNESDAY Stand Up Comedy Live Inn of the Mountain Gods 287 Carrizo Canyon Road Mescalero Every Wednesday 6:30 p.m.

575-464-7089

JAN 3 - APRIL 1

Vintage Wedding Dress Display Artesia Historical Museum & Art Center 505 W. Richardson Ave. Tue-Fri: 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

Sat: 1 p.m.-5 p.m. www.artesianm.gov

JAN 26 - MAY 14

Dinosaur Discoveries: Ancient Fossils, New Ideas Western Heritage Museum 1 Thunderbird Circle Hobbs Tue-Sat: 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

Sun: 1 p.m.-5 p.m. www.nmjc.edu/museum

Calendar of Events FEBRUARY 20

President's Day Celebration Guadalupe Mountains and Carlsbad Caverns National Parks Free Admission All Day

FEBRUARY 22

City Rock Fest Estelle Yates Auditorium Bulldog Blvd.

5:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m.

575-746-4212

FEBRUARY 25

Johnny Counterfeit Ocotillo Performing Arts Center 310 W. Main St. 2 p.m. & 7 p.m.

575-746-4212

MARCH 4

Rock Concert Center for the Arts 122 W. Broadway Hobbs 6:30 p.m.-9:30 p.m.

575-397-2787

MARCH 10

Southwest Symphony Crosswinds Church 1701 N. Jefferson St. Hobbs 7 p.m. www.southwestsymphony.com

MARCH 10

Dragon Trouble Ocotillo Performing Arts Center 310 W. Main St. 6 p.m.

575-746-4212

HEY YOU! DO YOU SEE THIS? SO WILL YOUR CUSTOMERS! THIS SPACE IS AVAILABLE FOR ADVERTISING!

CALL RACHEL TODAY TO SEE HOW YOU CAN SPONSOR THE BULLENTIN BOARD!

TO BE INCLUDED IN THE FOCUS CALENDAR, PLEASE EMAIL YOUR ITEM TO EVENTS@FOCUSNM.COM MARCH 11

Pony Express Ride Celebration Western Heritage Museum 1 Thunderbird Circle Hobbs All Day Activities

MARCH 14

Pi Day Celebration Lea County Event Center 5101 N. Lovington Highway Hobbs 4 p.m.-7 p.m. www.nmjc.edu/museum

MARCH 27

Hamlet Presented by The National Players Ocotillo Performing Arts Center 310 W. Main St. 6 p.m.

575-746-4212

MARCH 28

MARCH 17

The Grapes of Wrath Presented by The National Players Ocotillo Performing Arts Center 310 W. Main St. 7 p.m.

575-746-4212

The Giver Presented by The National Players Ocotillo Performing Arts Center 310 W. Main St. 7 p.m.

575-746-4212

Pony Express Ride Celebration Lea County Courthouse 100 North Main St. Lovington Afternoon: Reception to follow at Lea County Museum

MARCH 18

NMJC Art Faculty Exhibition & Student Art Show Center for the Arts 122 W. Broadway Hobbs 7 p.m. www.lccanm.org

MARCH 18-19

Mountain Living Home & Garden Show Ruidoso Convention Center 111 Sierra Blanca Dr. Ruidoso 18th: 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

19th: 11 a.m.-4 p.m.

575-808-0655

MARCH 29

MARCH 31 & APRIL 1 20th Annual Main Event Show & Cruise Heritage Plaza Downtown Artesia 1 p.m.-6 p.m.

Cruise Down Main Street: 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

Car Show: TBD

waterpark@cityofcarlsbadnm.com

MARCH 31 & APRIL 1

Centennial Ranch Rodeo Lea County Fairgrounds 101 S Commercial St. Lovington leacounty.net

Adrian Martinez MA R KE TI N G CO N SU LTANT & A D VE RTI SI N G SA LES AD VENTURE MARKETING

Call Adrian at 806.891.1982 email: sales@ad-venturemarketing.com

DATE COLOR CODE INDICATES EVENT LOCATION CARLSBAD AREA APRIL 1

Gentri in Concert Spencer Theater 108 Spencer Dr. Alto 7 p.m. http://purchase.tickets. com/buy/TicketPurchase?orgid=47409&pid=8306950

APRIL 1

Wild Things Truck Show Tokay Beaded Art 1407 W. 2nd St. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. http://www.beadedfinger.com/

APRIL 1-2

Western Frontier Gun Show Roswell Covention & Civic Center 912 N. Main St. 1st: 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

2nd: 9 a.m.-3 p.m.

575-430-8681

APRIL 7

That 70's Dance/Roswell Refuge Roswell Covention & Civic Center 912 N Main St. 6 p.m.-10 p.m. $ 25 each or $150 for table 575-624-3222

APRIL 18

Jack Maddox Distinguished Lecture Series Malcolm Gladwell Tydings Auditorium 800 N. Jefferson Hobbs 7 p.m.

575-492-2108 or www.tickets@usw.edu

APRIL 23

Southwest Symphony First United Methodist Church 200 E. Snyder Hobbs 3 p.m. www.southwestsymphony.com

ARTESIA AREA

LEA CO. AREA

APRIL 27

Free Enterprise Dinner & Auction Lea County Event Center 5101 N. Lovington Highway Hobbs 6 p.m.

575-392-6561 or usw.edu

APRIL 29

Big Brothers Big Sisters Bowl for Kids Fundraiser Center City Lanes 3905 SE Main 11 a.m.-7 p.m. http://www.bbbsserum.org/ #chaves-county-bfks/vslna

ROSWELL AREA

RUIDOSO AREA

MAY 27

Carlsbad Water Park Opening Carlsbad Beach Area 708 Park Drive TBD waterpark@cityofcarlsbadnm.com

Please visit

FocusNM.com for additional events and up-to-date info.

APRIL 29

11th Annual Celebrate the Arts Day Roswell Covention & Civic Center 912 N Main St. 10 a.m.-3 p.m.

Free Admission 575-637-3301

MAY 5

Relay for Life Carlsbad Carlsbad Beach Area Starts at 6 a.m.

505-262-6022

MAY 19-22

AspenCash Motorcycle Rally Inn of the Mountain Gods 287 Carrizo Canyon Road Mescalero Patric Pearson: 575-973-4977

MAY 26

Ruidoso Downs Opening Weekend 26225 U.S. Highway 70 East Ruidoso Downs 12 p.m.

“One of the best books I’ve ever read on ranch life” John Erickson “Johnson’s book is a gold mine for historians of ranching in the West” Max Evans “What ranching in New Mexico was like from about 1932 until today.”

Jane Lambert “Johnson’s book is full of dust, sweat, and dirty saddleblankets...a book not for dudes with a faint heart but a must read for a person who revels in reality.”

Ed Ashurst

Lea County Museum Press • Lovington, New Mexico Inquires & Orders:

Lea County Museum

email: leacomuseum@leaco.net www.leacomuseum.org 103 S. Love ~ Lovington, NM 88260 For more information call 575-396-4805