Ben Stimmel

Edith L. Crawford, 

[Carrizozo?], N. Mex. 

Words-496 

PIONEER STORY 		[Ben Stimmel]

I was born in Ohio, September 25, 1857. I left Ohio in 1877 and went to Kansas 
City Missouri. In 1881 a young fellow by the name of Wesley Lewis and I came 
by train to Las Vegas, New Mexico to work on the Santa Fe Railroad. On our way 
out to Las Vegas we heard of the rich gold strike at White Oaks, New Mexico 
and instead of going to work for the railroad we decided to go to the gold 
fields. We started out to walk to White Oaks and walked for two days and a 
half without food or water. On the morning of the third day we overtook a oxen 
train hauling freight to Fort Stanton, New Mexico. They gave us food and water 
and a ride to Jerry [Hoecradle's?] place at Pines Wells, New Mexico, in the 
Gallinas Mountains. He gave us directions how to get to White Oaks so we 
started out again on foot. I do not remember how long it took us to get to 
White Oaks but it was pouring rain when we got there. We came to a house made 
of pickets and mud. We went inside and found it was a small store run by 
Robinson, Bogard and Dick Young. We bought something to eat and while eating 
our lunch in the store Mr. Bogard asked us if we were rock masons. Wesley 
Lewis spoke up and said he was. Mr. Bogard told us that he had a job for us at 
three dollars a day and our board if we could qualify. We went to work on a 
building which was to be a hotel and assay office, the first to be built in 
White Oaks. This was in the year 1881 and this building still stands in White 
Oaks today. It is built of rocks.

After finishing that job I went to work as a miner in the Little Mack gold 
mine and later became foreman of the mine. I married Miss Anne Mackel in 
January, 1886. We lived in White Oaks until September 1889, when we set out in 
a covered wagon drawn by four horses, to go to Oklahoma to buy a farm. We had 
two children and two hound pups. I found a place I liked in

{Begin page}

Hennessy, Oklahoma, where we built up a real nice farm and lived for twenty 
five years. 

On April 20, 1912, a cyclone hit our farm. It took the roof off of our house, 
and destroyed our barn and all out buildings. We had a hundred Indian Runner 
ducks and after the storm we found them about half a mile from the house in a 
mud swamp, all dead. The family saw the cyclone coming and all got in the 
storm cellar. After the storm I salvaged what I could from the farm and left 
Oklahoma for Lincoln County, New Mexico, where they don't have cyclones. I 
have lived here ever since. 

NARRATOR: Ben L. Stimmel, Aged 81 years, Carrizozo, New Mexico. 

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

San Miguel, Socorro, Lincoln

**********************************************************************************
USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any 
format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or 
organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of 
the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the 
listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given 
permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access.
**********************************************************************************