Doc45 Publications
When New Mexico Was Young – Harry H Bailey His Autobiography
When New Mexico Was Young: His Autobiography
By Harry. H. Bailey (Author), Homer E. Gruver (Editor)
This is the autobiography of Harry H. Bailey (1868-1954) Mr. Bailey was a pioneer New Mexican who took a major role in the development of the Mesilla Valley. He started the first nursery in the Valley and sold the first trees that were planted at New Mexico State College (now NMSU). In 1900, he built the “Natatorium,” the first public swimming pool in El Paso, Texas. Three years later, he built the Angelus Hotel. In 1906, part of the Angelus Hotel building became the Crawford Theatre. After leaving El Paso and returning to New Mexico, he helped develop Radium Springs as a health resort and built the hotel and baths there.
His autobiography contains many stories about the early-day Mesilla Valley settlers who were his companions. Among the individuals he knew were Sheriff Pat Garrett, Colonel Albert J. Fountain, Attorney Albert B. Fall, Oliver Milton Lee, Sheriff Mariano Barela, Demetrio Chavez, Humbolt Casad, and George Griggs. He was a close friend of Western author Eugene Manlove Rhodes. For few months, he lived in the courthouse building in Mesilla where Billy the Kid was tried and convicted to hang.
Radium-Springs-Hotel-Radium-Springs-New-Mexico-1931
186 pages, 10 images.
Reprint of 1946 Edition.
Paperback ISBN: 978-1952580017
Buy When New Mexico Was Young: His Autobiography.
Dave Rudabaugh Border Ruffian
“Dave Rudabaugh, Border Ruffian
By F. Stanley
Dave Rudabaugh, one of the most intriguing characters of the American Wild West, is known today primarily for his association with Billy the Kid. He and Billy were apprehended on December 23, 1880, by Deputy Sheriff Pat Garrett. Rudabaugh was wanted by the law at the time for the killing of Antonio Valdez, a jailer in Las Vegas, New Mexico.
In this book, Stanley Francis Louis Crocchiola, writing under the pen name F. Stanley, recounts Rudabaugh’s life from his birth in Illinois in 1854 to his brutal death in Parral, Mexico, on February 18, 1886.
The event that first brought Rudabaugh to the attention of the public was a spectacular train robbery. On January 27, 1878, Rudabaugh with five armed companions held up the train at Kinsley, Kansas. Train robbing then was still a rare and shocking crime. The “sensational” Kinsley Train Robbery, as it was reported in the newspapers, was a fiasco – the robbery was so badly carried out that the “take” was nothing.
After he was caught, Rudabaugh confessed and turned “state’s evidence.” His testimony at the ensuing trial earned him his freedom and his fellow robbers jail sentences.
Asked to leave Kansas after the trial, Rudabaugh travelled to Las Vegas, New Mexico, and became a city policeman. His commitment to the enforcement side of the law lasted only 18 months. On August 14, 1879, Rudabaugh with two other Las Vegas policemen robbed the Tecolote stage four miles south of Las Vegas. Three innocent men were convicted of their crime.
On April 2, 1880, Rudabaugh and John J. Allen were visiting a friend in the Las Vegas jail when Allen shot and killed jailer Antonio Valdez. Both men fled after the shooting and were not caught by the posse that vigorously pursued them.
It was while on the run from that killing that Rudabaugh joined up with Billy the Kid.
Stanley details what happened to Rudabaugh after he was captured with Billy; his trial, conviction, and sentencing to death for Valdez’s killing; and his fortuitous escape. He also describes the events that led to Rudabaugh’s death and gristly beheading in Parral. The book includes two pictures of Rudabaugh’s severed head.
This is an updated, annotated edition of Stanley’s original publication with much added information, three new Appendices, and an Index.
174 Pages, 6 Images
Reprint of 1961 Edition.
Paperback ISBN: 978-1-952580-12-3
Hardback ISBN: 978-1-952580-13-0
