Daniel Carabajal

Edith L. Crawford, 

Carrizozo, N. Mex. 

Date: January 20, 1939. 

Words: 481 

Topic: Pioneer Story. 

Source of Information: 

Daniel Carabajal, Lincoln, N. Mex. 

JAN 23 1939 

[??1939?] {Begin handwritten} 2nd {End handwritten} 

PIONEER STORY. 

I was born at Lincoln, New Mexico, December 12, 1872, and have lived in 
Lincoln County continuously since that time. 

My father, Jesus Sanchez Carabajel, was born at Tome, New Mexico, which was 
just across the Rio Grande river from [Belen?], New Mexico, in the year 1819. 
My mother, Dolorita Aguilar, was born in Belen, New Mexico, in the year 1807. 
My father and mother were married in Belen, Now Mexico. (I do not know the 
date.) 

My father joined the army about 1862 and served part of his time at Fort 
Stanton, New Mexico. While a soldier at Fort Stanton father moved his family 
from Belen, New Mexico, to Lincoln County in 1870. They lived at the Torres 
Ranch, which is about three miles southeast of Fort Stanton, New Mexico. 

I have heard my mother tell about the ox teams they drove from Belen to 
Lincoln County and how slow they traveled and were always on the lookout for 
Indians, as the Indians were pretty bad at that time. Soon after moving his 
family to Lincoln County my father was discharged from the army. He farmed on 
the Torres place and plowed his fields with ox teams and used a forked stick 
for a plow.

My father died about a month before I was born. I was the youngest of seven 
children, all of whom are dead except myself. My mother moved to Lincoln, New 
Mexico, soon after my father's death and I grew up there. I remember seeing 
Billy the Kid leave town the day he killed Bob 

{Begin page no. 2}

Ollinger and J. W. Bell, his guards at the old courthouse in Lincoln. We lived 
just below the old [Torreon?] in Lincoln at the time. I was up town playing 
with some boys just across the street when he killed the guards. We hid behind 
a picket fence and watched Billy ride out of town. We were too scared to go 
and see the two men that he had killed, we were afraid that he would come back 
and shoot us. All the people in Lincoln were afraid to come out for a long 
time after Billy the Kid rode away towards Fort Stanton. I wanted to go and 
see the men he had killed but I was afraid to go. 

I was married to Lugerdita Chaves, November 3, 1898, in Lincoln New Mexico, by 
Father Jose. There were eleven children born to this union, Juan, Juanita, 
Yaa, Aurora, Rufine, (Aurora and Rufina were twins,) [Leborio, Baldimar,?] 
Regina, Adelia, [Bonny?] and Manuel. All of our children were born in Lincoln, 
New Mexico. Seven of them are still living and all live in Lincoln New Mexico, 
except Bonny, who is in the C. C. Camp at Carrizozo, New Mexico. 

I have farmed, cut wood and herded sheep to make a living for my family. 

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

Lincoln