PULASKI CO, AR - Mrs Ed Pennington - WPA Life History

age 84 

by Frances E. Tetty 

Aug. 1. 1938 

Early Days around Deming 

In the spring of 1883 we left Little Rock, Arkansas and came to Las
Vegas where we only stayed a short time. [?] husband came to Las Vegas
in January and when he sent for me in the spring he wrote and said [?]
God sake bring some table clothes, for all they know out here is oil
cloth and I had rather run my hand over a snake then feel, of them.
brought only a few pieces of silver and dishes and these table cloths.

We had been in Las Vegas only a short time, and decided that the
climate was not going to do us any good as wee were both [lugers?] , my
[?] husband decided to come to Deming, and as he was a newspaper man he
bought [?] the Headlight, and later the Deming Tribune and Headlight
Democrat and combined them all three into one paper..

The Indians under Geronime had been causing the settlers a lot of
trouble stealing horses and killing people that were not around town.
The people of Deming united and began to drill [te wi e?] out the
indians as they were tired of the deperdations and raids. General Cooke
never did have a chance to catch the Indians as his men rode large
cavalry horses and the small pintos of the Indians soon left the
soldiers behind, and if they were pushed to hard the warriors took to
the hill [afect?].

The people had been training and drilling for around ten months when
they decided it was time to take thing in their hand and wipe out the
Indians word reached Washington of their preparations, and General
Cooke was called to Washington and General Miles sent out to take his
place. General Miles had [Geranime?] in less then two months. It took
several special guards besides the soldiers to keep the people from
mobbing the Apaches as they were being taken to Fort Sill.

When my husband came to Deming he said that he though Las Vegas was the
end of civilization, but Gold help this country.

When we arrived here he had rented us a room with a [lesants?] for
thirty dollars a month, and we had to carry water three blocks.

I have some pictures taken of the Indians on the war path with their
bodies panted and the trousers that the government had [gi?] given
them, cut off, above the knees. In the day time we would watch them on
the mountains with the field glasses and at night could see t their
fires.

When my husband left the house he always locked me and the children and
told us to not get out. It wasn't only the Indians that he was afraid
of, but as there were always fights on the street he was always afraid
that we could be hurt. One night the people in town became [t?] tired
of the crowd that was always shooting up the town and killed seven and
left them lying on the steps of the station.

By the year of 1885 it was for a woman to go anywhere. I have ridden
the range more than one day hunting cattle and our horse. I owned one
of the two Arabian horses in this country, and was not [?] afraid to go
any where. I had a friend that I rode with a lot and we would go to
anyones ranch and stop, and take a meal and go on our way.

People were living in all kind of make shift houses when we came in
here. One family up on the hill was living under a piece of oil cloth
stretched over twopoles with a hole cut in the oil cloth to put the
stoves pipe through. This family lived in this place for over a year.


Credit: Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, WPA Federal Writers' Project 
Collection.

Pulaski

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