Bill Kimmick Memoir – Growing Up
April 26, 2008 – 4:18 pmMy Memories
By Bill Kimmick
I am writing this so my children and grandchildren and great grandchildren willknow how it was to grow up seventy-five years ago on our ranch in New Mexico.
I would like to thank my daughter-in-law, Bonney Kimmick, for being able to readmy writing, correcting the spelling and putting this together for me. Also, mybrother, Bob, and sisters, Mary and Betty who helped me remember some things.Their information helped me a lot.
Bill Kimmick
November, 1998
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Some of my very early memories until I left the ranch in 1938:
WhenI was probably about 4 years old, it seems like we lived in a home close to therailroad tracks in Deming, New Mexico, with a big fence around it. I was toldlater that my Dad worked for Rio Grande Oil Co. and that they fired him becausehe would not join the Ku Klux Klan (hearsay).
Thenext that I remember was when we were living with my Granddaddy Davis. Iremember my Mother giving me a bath in a wash tub. The water pump was outsideso water had to be brought in and heated on the stove. It either didn’t happenoften or I liked to take a bath.
Thenext that I remember is my Dad (Bob Kimmick) waking my sister, Mary, and me upand taking us into the bedroom where Mother was and telling me that during thenight she had passed away and that we would not be seeing my Mother (WinnieDavis Kimmick) any more. I do remember them coming and picking my Mother up atthe house and I think it was probably a Baptist minister that did the service.I only remember the grave yard and all the people around. My Mother is buriedat Deming, New Mexico.
Thenext I remember is being back on the ranch on the Membres River with Mary andEdward. We were living with our Grandmother and Granddad Kimmick.
Informationonly – when my Dad and Aunt Ida were growing up, my Granddad Kimmick rented ahouse and barn or sheds across the street from where my mother, Winnie Davis,lived so they could live there and go to school in the winter time and he had aplace to bring the fruit off the ranch to sell. I know my Mother was a teacherand taught school at Dwyer, New Mexico, about 8 miles from where we lived. Shewas a good friend of Maude (I do not know her last name), also a teacher whomarried Grover McSherry. All I know is we called them Aunt Maude and UncleGrover, no relation. It was to take away the Mr. and Mrs. And to show respect.
Backto the ranch – I do not remember too much except my Granddad was quite old andthere was a Model T truck that my Dad drove to take produce to market. By thistime, we had lots of rhubarb and asparagus and would take it to El Paso, Texas. I think the price was 10 cents a pound and the load was probably over aton, which would be over $200. People were getting about $1.00 a day to work.
In1927, my Dad bought a new Chevrolet car. Mary and Edward and I lived on theranch with our Grandparents.
My Dad married Elizabeth Bennett in 1927. Mary and I lived with them and Edward with my Grandparents (Kimmick). From here on, I will refer to my step-mother as Mother since she was the one that raised us and gave us the training that we needed to know to get through life. Mother was also a teacher and was teaching in San Juan, New Mexico, 10 miles from where we lived. There was a place close to school that one of the ranchers rented to the teachers. They added another room so the four of us could stay. It must have been the winter of 1927 that we were in school in San Juan. It was a two room school with probably 50 or 60 kids, all were Mexican. Maybe ten of us were white or half-breeds. One thing I do remember about the school was that it snowed and I threw a snow ball and it hit a girl in the head and she told the teacher. Since my Mother was the principal, I was taken in there. I kept saying I didn’t throw the snow ball, until they took the window prop out and started tanning my rear and it didn’t take long for me to remember I threw the snow ball. I had to stay in a few recesses for that.
1928was the first time I remember Easter. Mother had made quite a thing about it. Somewhere I have a picture of the Easter Bunny coming. My sister, Mary, and I really enjoyed it.
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When school was out, we went back to the ranch for the summer and my sister, Betty ,was born on my birthday, June 22. My Dad’s sister, Aunt Ida, was also born on June 22. Betty was born at Membres Hot Springs, about 10 miles from us.
On the ranch there were two places to live: a two-room house for us and a ranch house where my Grandparents lived. It was a three room adobe with porches added. One of the porches was divided into a bedroom for my Granddad where he had bookshelves and lots of books.
My Aunt Ida, my Dad, myself and my sister, Mary, were born in this house, probably the same room. I had to have Ruth Eby, the lady that helped with delivery, fill out some paperwork so I could get a birth certificate in 1941. All that was on my record was boy Kimmick. Mary had to do the same.
We always came to the ranch every summer. There was lots to do on the ranch for fun. We could go all over the farm was probably over 200 acres. The ranch itself was 640 acres that was fenced. There were also pigs and chickens. Almost everything had to be fed twice a day and the cows milked. There were lots of things for kids to do. All the water had to be brought into the houses in buckets from the well or from the Membres River which was about one half mile away. All the cooking and heat in the winter was wood which had to be brought in every day. Some of the things that were different were that we bought sugar by the 100 lbs, also flour.
We were close to the Davis side of the family. When we took stuff from the ranch to sell, we seemed to stay all night. Uncle Lee had three children, Tom, Flossie Jane and Morgan. Aunt Hattie had seven children. Aunt Hattie died a year or so after my mother. Uncle Dick was married to Aunt Ina. There were living in the Davis home place. Mary and I were left there while my Dad was selling produce and my Mother would visit her Mother, Grandmother Bennett, who also lived in Deming, New Mexico.
I remember I climberd up on a building that I wasn’t supposed to and Aunt Ina gave me a spanking. She was also the Aunt that we took a box of cherries to and she made a cherry pie. I remember when we started to eat the pie, it tasted good but she had left the pits in. Very hard on the teeth.
In 1929, the Model T truck was traded in on a new Rugby truck. I do not remember seeing one like it in New Mexico. It was bought in El Paso, Texas. It seemed like we were one of the few to have a truck and it seemed like my Dad was always hauling things for other people, so he must have been paid.
During one school year, Mary and I think that Mother taught us on the ranch up in Granddad Kimmick’s room.
In1929, my brother, Bob, was born in Deming, New Mexico. I know Mother stayed with Grandmother Bennett.
Mary and I lived on a farm with Aunt Flossie and Uncle Lee about 6 miles East of Deming. We had to walk ¾ to 1 mile to catch the bus to go to school. In Deming,the grade schools were divided, I think, into Spanish and White, but I’m not sure. I know a Chinese boy was going. I remember Morgan wanted to bring the Chinese boy home overnight or stay with him and Aunt Flossie said “No, we don’t do that.” Morgan asked, “Why?”
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I seemed to get into trouble every once in a while just by accident. While waiting for the bus there were two boys fighting. One was quite a bit bigger than the other. I thought if I helped the little guy, it would be an even fight. I stepped in and the little guy got loose and ran off and I was taking a beating until someone yelled, “Here comes the Principal!” Everybody ran, I went through the bushes and over to the high school where I caught the bus that day. Aunt Flossie had one big lunch box and we took turns carrying it. There was Mary, Flossie Jane, myself, and I think, Morgan. We all had to meet in the lunch room. It was Flossie Jane’s turn. I didn’t want to go to the lunch room the next day thinking the teacher would find me, but Flossie Jane wouldn’t give me my part outside so I did without lunch until I figured it was safe to go in.
Another time I remember well, I was playing with the kids across the street from the school and missed the bus. When I figured out what happened, I became a little bit excited. But the Mother of the boy was real nice. She said, “You can eat supper with us and if no one comes to get you, you can stay all night.” It was about dark when Uncle Lee drove into town to get me. I would have liked it to have been Aunt Flossie. But all he said was, “I do not plan on doing this again. You had better not miss the bus again”…and I didn’t. (for Don, this was Tom Davis’ Dad).
There seemed to be lots going on and I remember I was having a little disagreement with someone at the bus stop when the bus pulled up. I remember a high school girl that lived on the ranch next to us got off, collared me and put me on the bus. Kind of embarrassing to have a girl have to take up for you. After that I seemed to get along just fine. I remember when we were playing marbles, some big kids walked by and said “Keeps” (which they took and kept the marbles). We told one of the teachers and I saw him take the big boys into the office and they were whipped with a belt. That seemed to take care of the marble problem.
At Thanksgiving time, Aunt Mary and Uncle Leonard and Leo, came to visit from California. Mary and I went with them to up to the ranch. I remember all the leaves were off the trees and seemed to be five or six inches deep. We had a good time playing. I’m not sure if we stayed all night or went back to Aunt Flossie’s the same day.
At Aunt Flossie’s every Sunday we all had to shine our shoes and get ready for Sunday School and Church. One Sunday morning, Morgan did something to Mary during our shoe shine party and made her cry. Uncle Lee came out of the house and Morgan leaned back against the tree like he was asleep. Uncle Lee picked him up, stuck him between his knees with just Morgan’s bottom sticking out. He picked up a little light tin coal shovel and said, “I saw what happened and this will wake you up”. We sure didn’t dare to laugh for you could be next.
Sometime this year a circus came to town. Uncle Lee had a Model T Touring car. Aunt Flossie loaded us and the neighbors kids from the ranch next to us. We got there early so we got a good parking place to watch the parade. I remember a clown came up to the car and said to Aunt Flossie, “Did you bring them all in, Ma?” She said, “No, I left one at home”.
Springtime came and it was time to get the fields all ready to plant.
One Saturday, Morgan and I had the job of closing the spaces to make beds so the ground could be flooded. Uncle Lee was a short ways away planting potatoes and one of the horses wasn’t doing right so he sent Tom up to harness another horse. We could see him up there just taking his time and Uncle Lee getting madder by the minute.
Morgan and I were visiting and not working too hard when we saw Uncle Lee start for the barn. He had to walk right by us so you know we were working when he went by. It didn’t take Tom too long to get things done after Uncle Lee got his attention and we were busy working when he came back to start planting again.
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Therewas a big water tank that would be filled up so there would be plenty of water to irrigate with. At times we were allowed to play and swim. It seems lots of the cousins and Uncle Dick and Aunt Ina and son, Norman, and my family would be down. Seemed like we brought the fruit and stuff that we raised and that Uncle Lee didn’t have.
Back at the ranch again. My Dad had added a couple of rooms that were about the same size as the first, making two bedrooms added.
It seems to me that Grandmother Bennett came to live on the ranch so that she could watch Betty and Bobby. Mother started teaching, I think, this fall, in Dwyer, New Mexico. This was probably 1932 or ’33. So our life changed some again. We rented a place from Eby about ¼ to ½ mile from school. It was a two room school and Mother was the principal and taught grades 5, 6, 7 and 8. The school was about 50 or 60 kids. There about three or four white families that lived in this area so may have been about 1/5 white. We did have some problems I know for awhile. Since we had to go down the same road, they would let the white or the Mexican kids go 10 minutes early to keep us from fighting. That didn’t work out too well because the ones that got out early (we or they) just waited over the hill. No one seemed to get hurt too bad. I remember getting caught straddle of a barbed wire fence and was having a problem until I got some help. Another time, I was wrestling with a kid in the middle of the road and his sister came up and hit me in the head with a lunch bucket, and that ended that. After about a couple of weeks, everything got straightened out and things seemed to go fine.
One of the most embarrassing times of my life was in the 5th grade. I was so busy playing that I didn’t go to the bathroom, thinking when I got into class I would ask to be excused to go. Well, the answer was “No” and I was called on to stand up and read. I was having a hard time tryng to read. Finally, I stopped. I just couldn’t wait any longer, and, you guessed it, standing up reading, I started leaking, and then a stream, and then a little river started running down the wood floor toward the teacher, which was my Mother. When she saw what was happening she said, “You may be excused”. Too late, but I went out. It took a lot of time for me to get up the nerve to go back, but after being gone for a little bit to go back into that class room. I never got into that fix again. I did make time for a potty stop after that.
Seemed like we would visit with the McSherrys or Eby some during the week.
It was here at Eby’s where we lived that Mary backed up against the stove and caught her dress on fire. Mother’s quick action took care of that.
As I have been writing, I remember now that Edward was brought down to visit with us sometimes and stay over night at Dwyer.
Back to the ranch. Every weekend and in the summer when school was out, Mother started teaching at Swartz, in 1934, I think. It was a one room school. She had from the 1st to 8th grades there.
This was a new thing for us because we lived at home and were only three or four miles away. Swartz was a small two room school with a small yard. At first, toplay we went through the fence to play ball. Then, the school yard was made about four times as big. I remember on some recesses the fifty or more feet that was added was on a hillside and we would pick up rocks and throw them over the fence. It didn’t take too long to get the rocks out and make a good playground. There was an irrigation ditch that ran through the school yard between the road and the front of the school. This is where we got our drinking water. Also where we washed our hands and face, maybe.
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There were two out houses up on the hill or back part of the school yard. Girls onthe south end, boys on the north end. Probably 150 feet apart.
It seemed things went well through my 6, 7 and 8th grades. I do not remember it bothering us that we were the only three white kids in school. The others were Spanish or Mexican and this is what helped me learn Spanish. Everyone in school carried lunches and in the winter some of the larger families did like we did when we lived with Aunt Flossie in Deming. In the winter time, it was cold enough to freeze water and one time one of the families put their beans on the wood stove in the classroom to warm, but forgot to loosen the lid on the bucket. Mother didn’t see it either and when the beans got hot, it blew the lid off and they lost part of their beans.
I remember Mother asked a little girl that lived about 50 feet from the school if her little brother shouldn’t be in school. Her answer was he has the years but he doesn’t have the shoes.
I can remember at Christmas time, some of the schools got together for a program. I know it was Swartz and San Juan and San Lorenzo. The teachers worked it out and they had a Christmas play and we sang Christmas songs. It was quite an outing and all the little kids got a small candy cane.
Another thing I remember is that we saluted the American flag each morning. There were only two of us in the 8th grade, myself and Susie Carrillo.
I know I had to go to the County Seat, which was Silver City, New Mexico, and take an all county test. Not sure how I did, but I started to high school the next year.
When I first started high school, my Dad and some of the other parents took turns taking us to Acklin Store, where the school bus started. That only lasted a short time and they got a bus that started picking up kids at Dwyer, then Swartz and San Juan, then to Acklin Store.
For me, I had to get up about 6:00 a.m. to eat and get my lunch, then walk about1-1/2 miles to catch the bus. In the winter time, it was dark and I had to cross the river on a foot log and rocks. Sometimes I would slip and fall in.When it was real cold, my wet clothes would freeze. The bus would come by and it was really good to get in out of the wind. From where I caught the bus, we had 9 or 10 miles to get Acklin Store where the other bus was waiting. From there, it was 27 to 30 miles to high school. By that time, I was dry. It seemed like we went to school from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. with one hour for lunch. Just reverse the way we came and I got home about 6:00 p.m. We did have lots of fun on the buses. For some of us while in grade school, during the winter, we only got to go to town two or three times a year.
Now I’m going to go back and write about the things we did. I tried at the beginning to do this year by year, but that was not working out. From here, I will write as I remember things that happened, but not the time or year that it happened.
When Mary, Edward and I first went to the ranch, there was a man named Clarence who worked for my grandparents. Not sure when he left to go to California. It was his sister or brother in El Paso where we stayed when we went to El Paso. Their name was Harrison and they had two or three children. One daughter was about my age and was named June. Her Dad worked for the railroad so they had passes to use. I remember one summer she came to the ranch to visit for a week or two, then we took her back to Deming and she went on to California to see her uncle. Her older brother and one of his friends also came to the ranch at times during their summer vacation. This is how we came to know them. Sometimes Daddy, my Mother and the four of us went to El Paso. It was really a treat. We could get ice cream and go to the show and do different kinds of things. It was a treat for us because at the ranch we lived at the end of the road.
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Sometimes it would be mostly people coming to buy things from the ranch. We could hear them coming from fifteen minutes or so before they got there. Sometimes we would run up on the hill to see if we knew who was coming.
The holidays that we celebrated big was Christmas, Thanksgiving and the 4thof July.
While my Grandmother Kimmick was living, my Dad’s sister, Aunt Ida, Uncle Harry, Dave, Mary Helen and Harry or Buster came and stayed a day or so. Mother and my Grandmother were busy making fudge and other candy and all kinds of pies andcakes. It was winter so it was cold enough to butcher, so we had plenty of beef to eat. We had to hang the meat up each night after dark and let it freeze,then take it down early in the morning. On the ranch there was no electricity so no refridgerator to use. We had to use what Mother Nature gave us.
One Christmas I remember well, Buster and I both got B.B. guns. Santa always came on Christmas Eve. We had to go to my Grandmother’s house and not peek out any windows. After it got good and dark and we heard a sleigh bell or two, one of my parents would come up and say Santa had been there and it was okay to come to our house.
The Christmas Buster and I both got the B.B. guns we were playing sheriff and bad guys. Buster was the bad guy and we were using a wagon for a jail to put him in. We said, “You are all locked up and you can’t get out.” Buster said, “I’m going to break out” and I said, “I’m standing guard and if you do, I’ll shoot you.” He jumped out of the wagon, I shot him and that was the end of the gun for awhile. He had a heavy coat on. I know it didn’t hurt him but he sure cried up a storm. Another thing I remember that we did one year for Christmas. We must not have had much money. This was the Depression and each one of us was to pick out three things that we would like for around $2.00. Then our parents would listen to us talk and look at a catalog and on Christmas day, we found what we would get. One year I picked a chain to keep my paint donkey that Rocky Dominguez gave me. It seemed like I spent more time trying to catch my donkey to ride than I did riding. Looking back, I cannot remember ever having a disappointing Christmas. We always looked forward to it.
The 4th of July was another one of our big holidays. One day on the 3rdof July, my Dad and I and I think Grover McSherry, went to Deming to get stuff for the 4th. I know we took some big tarps and waited until just before the ice plant closed and got a 100 lb. block of ice and left it at McSherry’s.
On the 4th of July, our two Grandmothers and the rest of the family, went to McSherry’s with all of our goodies. What a treat, we had home made ice cream. Their ranch also had an apple orchard and some cattle. There was no electricity anywhere on the Membres River at that time.
Another 4th I remember that we packed lunches or dinner and went to watch the boat races at Elephant Butte Dam. At that time, it was called Hot Spring, New Mexico. In the 1950’s the name was changed to Truth or Consequences. This was done when someone hit a golf ball from from California to Hot Springs, New Mexico. Years later, when we were coming back from New Mexico with the kids, Don, Randy and probably Deb, on what would be Highway 8 now, we had to pull over and wait till the ball was hit by us. Later we found out why. This was probably 75 to 100 miles from where we lived. We went over the Black Range highway which was first a dirt road. There was very few paved roads, just some of the main streets in town.
Anyway, on the way back, we lost a drive shaft. About 9:00 or 10:00 p.m. Not many cars on the road at that time. We pushed and pushed to get it up the hill so we could coast down the hill as far as it would go up hill. Finally, we couldn’t push any further. Someone came by and we left the
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truck and they took us home. The next day, we had to go back and tow our truck back to Carrillo store. There it sat until we could get to Silver and get parts.
Another 4th of July trip was up out of Silver City to a campground or picnic called Cherry Creek. Everyone was having a good time eating and shooting off firecrackers, putting them under tin cans. For some reason Bobby, not too old, lit a firecracker and dropped it in a pop bottle. People were not too happy about the flying glass. We packed up and left earlier than planned. That was all the excitement for that trip.
I know we always did things every 4th. Those three stand out. I’m not sure but we must have spent some with aunts and uncles and cousins around Deming, but nothing stands out to me.
Thanksgiving was a time I remember from about the 6th grade. Mother taught at Swartz and Mrs. Biebble taught at San Juan. Biebbles only had oxen to haul and horses for transportation.
I remember we would go in the truck to San Juan. I would ride Mr. or Mrs.Biebbles’ horse and Marcel and Walter and I would ride back to the ranch. They took their daughter and probably Mary with them to go to Silver City to shop for the month and Mother and Mrs. Biebble would plan something special for Thanksgiving dinner like olives, celery or cranberry sauces. We raised potatoes, both Irish and sweet. We had all kinds of rhubarb for pies. Biebbles had turkeys so with all combined, it made a real good dinner. There were 5 or 6 kids to play with. Sometimes we stayed all night, but that must have been in the summer because the boys slept outside on the ground.
The first time I ever heard a radio was up on the Dolittle Ranch. It was owned nowby Tom Eby. We were there for something. I know it was dark and we had to put on earphones to hear the music. This ranch was up the canyon three or four miles from the Eby home place where we lived when we went to school at Dwyer.
There was another McSherry we visited with some. Dan McSherry was Grover’s brother and they lived five or six miles from us. They also lived on a farm. Dan seemed to help my Dad haul stuff with our truck.
The first movie that I ever saw was in Hurley, New Mexico. We were visiting Aunt Ida and Uncle Harry. It was a silent movie and you had to read what was being said at the bottom of the screen. Things sure have changed in the last 65 or 70 years. We did stay all night also. Uncle Harry was an electrician for the Mill and Smelter there.
Things that happen back on the ranch. We all had our stick horses that we rode all around since it was just the five of us most of the time. I can remember playing make believe families. One of us would come back to the spot or place we called the ranch and one of the questions we would ask was “Who did you see while you were out riding?” The answer would be that we saw the Kilburn brothers. I do not know why we used that name, but it worked real well.
I must have been about 14 years old when it was time to clean the irrigation ditch, which was a project everyone that used the ditch had to help with. The N.A.N. Ranch had a wagon and they had a four-horse team where you had two horses by the wagon tung and the other team would be out in front, and their foreman would let me drive the teams sometime. Boy, did I ever feel grown up. Since I felt so big, I asked to handle the scrapper. It looks like a great big shovel about three feet wide and about one foot deep in back. It had two handles, one on each side and a way to hook up a horse in front to pull. It really took some doing to keep the scrapper aimed so you would only take a few inches of dirt at a time when full because it was hard to keep it from digging
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in until you got out of the ditch. On one of the trips in the ditch, I hit a root which made the scrapper dump and I didn’t turn loose soon enough and I landed under the horses feet. It was lucky I didn’t get kicked but that ended my scrapper days until I learned a little more.
After ditch work was completed, we had to build a small dam in the river to make the water go into the ditch. This was a never-ending job. If the floods came and washed everything away and you had to start over again as the river got lower, you had to stop up more holes to get the water in the ditch. At the end of our ditch system, the water that was not used went back into the river. That’s the way farmers up and down the Membres got water for their crops. The Membres River in summertime goes underground but during the rainy season it sometimes goes into old Mexico.
My Dad had a sister that died in Texas when she was a young girl and he also had a brother named Jess who was born in Texas in 1881. Every once in a while he would come to the ranch, but he never stayed long. Once, I remember, he was riding a horse and when his visit was over, he left the same way. He seemed to be involved in mining. I do know that he had been in some kind of trouble for he always carried a pistol that was in a holster under his shirt. When he slept, it was on the bed nearby and he never went anywhere without his gun. We kids got along fine with him. I remember the family talking about a gold mine he had, but it ran out. He seemed to have some money, but I don’t know if he worked for anybody. While at the ranch, he seemed to help with whatever was going on. Then he would be gone. My Dad seemed to know where he was and I remember once we stopped at a place where there was an oil derrick. He and a man by the name of Bill were doing something there. They came to the ranch, but in a car or truck probably to get some fruit or something. That is about all I remember of Uncle Jess. I know he died after I was working for the City of Los Angeles. My brother, Bob, said he and Dad went to see Uncle Jess where he was mining (Tungsten) near Cooks Peak close to Deming.
Mother seemed to go to summer school every year. They had cabins that could be rented at the college. It seemed like the bathrooms and showers were separate from the cabin and I believe this is the first place I had ever taken a shower. It seemed like I only stayed a day or so, but I must have stayed in the shower an hour. Just think, hot and cold water and you didn’t have to carry it.
Grandmother Bennett, Betty, Bobby and Mary seemed to go most of the time. It must have been for about six weeks. Then everyone went back to the ranch. I remember Mother canning tomatoes in quart jars and some other stuff. When the fruits were ripe, Mother canned pears, peaches, apples, potatoes, Irish and sweet, and put them in the cellar to keep. We had pinto beans that we raised – kept what we needed, sold the rest.
We had one of the nicest Granddads in Granddaddy Davis. In his younger life, he helped raise three or four families besides his own. I think it was my Grandmother’s sister’s husband that left her with two children. My Davis grandparents took them in. He also had his Mother, my Great Grandmother, and step-sister that he helped raise. Then when his brother (Gramma, Mother Ada Hursch, father, and Don, Rand and Deb’s Grandmother) in Panama died, he had always told his wife if anything ever happened to him to get in touch with his brother, Morgan, and he would help them. They had to go through Ellis Island to come back to the states. Ada Hursh’s Mother brought her four girls to live for awhile. Then Adas Mother remarried and they came to California in a covered wagon. Note: He wasto run a boarding house while they were building the Panama Canal.
His oldest son died and left his wife with four little kids and he took them in until my Aunt May remarried. I do not know why we were living in Deming, New Mexico when my Mother died, but we were.
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One of the things Grandaddy Davis did for his grandkids was to bring us to California for a week or so to visit Aunt Mary and Uncle Leonard. Sometimes he brought two and sometimes one. When I came out, it was only me. I remember he packed a big lunch basket so we could eat. The train had drinking water and a bathroom. I do not remember too much about California except us going on a battleship. I thought this must be the life. I think this might have been the reason I joined the Navy, but not battleship.
Granddaddy Davis brought my sister, Mary, out also. The last time Granddaddy came out, he came alone and took sick and died. He was brought back and buried in Deming, New Mexico. From looking back on my Granddaddy Davis’ life, I only hope I can try to help people as he did. He was one giant of a man. To me it seemed like all of the Davis side of the family was always helping some part of their families.
Back on the ranch, one of the things that helped me to learn Spanish was that a lot of the people who came to the ranch to buy fruits or whatever spoke Spanish so I had to learn to weigh the fruit in Spanish and count the money since we sold by the pound. I got along on the ranch and every day Spanish, but the school part was different. When I got to high school, a lot of us from off the river were used to Spanish speaking so the white kids were paired with us to learn how to talk. I made an A on the final test, a state test, but failed because I didn’t get all the verbs or what was needed for good grammar.
Things happened that couldn’t tell my parents about. We used to ride the calves which was probably all right, but one time I picked a milk cow which had big horns (dromedary) to ride. She threw her head back and hit me about the belt and went clear past my shoulder blade. Didn’t bleed too much, but hurt. I know I had to be careful not to take my shirt off where anyone could see my back. I think that stopped my milk cow riding. A lot of things I did was not what I was supposed to do. When I knew my Dad was going to be somewhere, I always made sure I was doing something away from the house because he seemed to have a lot of don’ts. He hadn’t been gone too long when the horse started coming in for water. There was one that was a little over a year old that I wanted to ride. I finally got him into a corral by himself. He kept throwing the saddle off as quick as I put it on him. After an hour or so, I finally got the saddle on him, led him around the corral for awhile, then I got up and rode him for awhile.That’s when I got off and opened the gate into the yard and the farm. I got back on a couple of rounds around the corral then out the gate. As soon as my Grandmother Kimmick saw me, she said “You know, you are not to do that.” I said, “It’s okay. My Dad didn’t say I couldn’t.” So I kept on riding down through the orchards. Boy, did I feel great. I came back out of the field and started down toward the N.A.N Ranch when a bunch of horses came up on the pasture side and started running and playing. That’s when my trouble started. He lowered his head and the rodeo was on, for a short ways until I ended up on the ground.
The bad part was he ran under all the clothes lines and tore them down before I could catch him and get the saddle off. It took awhile but I finally got the job done.
One of the times when everyone was away at summer school, I was left to take care of things. I rode this horse up to a cow camp to visit and have supper, probably six or so miles in the hills. This was the man that had given me the paint donkey. I do not know if I told my Dad or not. I had several things happen with this horse that was all I could handle, but I was never thrown off again.
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Mysister, Mary, made a cake for one of my birthdays somewhere around 14 or 15 andthe Biebble boys, Walter and Marcel, came down and Marcel said to Mary, “Ithink we are going to need an ax to cut the ice.” We also had my paint donkeyand would put a saddle and not cinch it up and make the donkey run to see howfar you could ride before the saddle came off with you on it.
MyDad, besides hauling our stuff, hauled for other ranchers. I was in the 7thor 8th grade when this happened. Mr. Biebble rode out to the road onhorseback and tied his horse up and my Dad picked him up and they went toDeming for a load of feed for Mr. Biebble. They got back to Swartz school houseand picked us up. We went up to San Juan where Mrs. Biebble taught. They allgot in the truck to go on to the ranch. Marcel, Walter and I had to go back 4miles to get Mr. Biebble’s horse. I rode Mrs. Biebble’s horse and we were tolead their sister’s horse, which we did until we saw the truck go up into thehills. We turned this horse loose ahead of us so we could ride along and talk.That went fine until there came a place in the road that doubled back. Since wewere going away from the ranch, the horse turned and started back under alittle hill. To try and stop him we all went down a steep little hill. I didnot get my horse turned in time and I hit a five-wire barbed wire fence. One ofthe boys caught the horse. My horse was cut clear across the front. You couldsee inside, but it didn’t seem to be bleeding too bad. As for me, I tore up mynew school pants and had a four or five inch cut on my right leg. We goteverything back together and we did lead the horse the rest of the way. Wenever did tell anyone what happened. Our story was that a car had come by realfast and the horse I was riding jumped into a fence. It was dark by the time wegot to the ranch. They had to take five or six stitches to sew the horse up.
Igot the standard treatment – cleaned it up and put iodine on me. Boy, did itburn. Then wrapped a clean cloth around it. It took me a long time to get well.I still have a hole in my shin where a barb got me and a scar as long as it wasfrom the start. The truck was unloaded and we had supper and came back to theranch.
Ido remember a few times we rode horse from our place to the Biebble ranch. Theydid the same since they only had horses.
Onetime, I went with my Dad to a round up cow camp where the fall round up wastaking place. There was the chuck wagon and the cook did the cooking out on theopen fire. It was not run like you see in the movies. My Dad was a Justice ofthe Peace. I’m not sure if that was why we were there. There was a cowboy thathad been killed when a horse fell on him. I don’t think they knew where he camefrom but he was buried at the cow camp.
Whilemy Dad was Justice of the Peace, he used the front porch to hold court. Iremember he married one couple.
Therewas another trial where one Mexican had stolen a car jack. At this trial,Grover McSherry was the interpreter. My Dad probably spoke Spanish as good asGrover, but that’s the way it was. I’m not sure how it came out. I know we kidsstood outside and listened to the loud talk.
Hereare some of the things that had to be done. Everything had to be watered and thattook quite a bit of time. All the manure from the cows and horses from thestable had been piled up so at the right time of year, it had to be loaded andput out in the fields. Just another unpleasant job that had to be done. It tooklots of loads, but it made the rhubarb and asparagus grow. This was plantedbetween the fruits. This was out about the drip line so the fruit trees didgood from this after we flooded it. There was quite a lot of ground to beplowed for corn, potatoes, all kinds of garden stuff. We also had a field of alfalfa for feed.
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I do not remember plowing the ground, but I used the double shovel that was pulled by one horse. Anyway, it had two blades – one just a little behind the other to take the weeds out of the center of the rows. That way there wasn’t as much to hoe. When it came time to pick apples, the truck we had held 20 bushel baskets and they were brought up to the apple house where they were stored in bins according to the size of the apples. We also had a cider press to make apple cider. We must have sold it for we made a lot and I think it turned to vinegar.
In 1934, my Dad bid on a mail route from Faywood to Sherman. He received the contract for four years for six days a week. I usually helped on it in the summertime. One of the highlights was on my 16th birthday. I was sworn in as a mail carrier. Since we carried money at all times, it allowed me to drive and carry a pistol. Boy, did I feel big. My Dad was taking Mother to a state teacher’s meeting in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He borrowed a big 8 passenger Studebaker from Jack Upton and Mary and I carried the mail. One time during a bad storm, we couldn’t get the truck across the river. I’m not sure how we got across the river, but the foreman for the N.A.N. ranch had left thecompany car on the road side of the river and loaned it to my Dad. We got just past Swartz school and couldn’t go any further. We turned around and came backto Carrillo store and farm.
I borrowed a horse and went on up to Sherman Post Office. This is where the mailroute started. I picked up the mail bag and picked up any mail that was on the route. It was dry enough to get through when we came back.
Faywood Hot Springs was a resort-type hotel and a place to take hot baths. Mr. and Mrs.McDermott ran that part. They had hot water bath houses. It had a big dining hall and dance hall. Clarence McDermott ran the ranch and Charlote McDermott ran the Post Office.
They had to move some cattle from one pasture to another. Clarence asked me to help so I brought my saddle down. In the movies, it took four or five to do the same job. I stayed at the Hotel and ate in the dining room. Some experience. White table cloths and being served. I ended up by myself. I took 30 or 40 head of cattle from one place to another. It seemed like it was to a corral near Hot Springs so they could be sold.
I do not remember when, but my brother, Edward, took sick. It was while we were carrying the mail. Edward was taken to Faywood to see if that would help him. The baths seemed to help, but he had a big knot or tumor that come up on one side and it finally broke. From there, we took Edward to the Cary Tingley Hospital (now Truth or Consequences). I’m not sure how long Edward was there, but when my folks moved to Silver in 1939 or’40, Edward was there. Whatever he had caused him to lose one lung. While Istill lived on the ranch, we all used to go over and see Edward. It was an all day trip.
It was either in my freshman or sophomore year that “Jew” Upton asked me to work for him. His wife’s brother had been hurt real bad when a butane tank blew up in a restaurant in Texas and she went down to help take care of him. Jew was a small rancher. Where he lived was probably two sections. A section is 640 acres or a square mile. Then he had a lease from someone for 7 or 8 sections aways from the ranch. He also had one section of his brother-in-law’s and one from his mother-in-law. Then, several miles away, he had a lease on 15 sections of forest land. There was a two room cabin on this land. While working for him, I used to ride 30 or 40 miles a day. I worked from about day break until 8:00 or so at night for a dollar a day and board.
We ate the same thing three times a day: fried salt pork, biscuits, beans and sorghum syrup, and coffee. He said he had stomach trouble and that was what he could eat. At least, we never went hungry and it was filling and was not bad.
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One other thing that happened that meant a lot to us was that Mother got the Saturday Evening Post. There was a story that would be continued from week to week. It seemed like it was Friday night when all chores were done that we would listen to Mother read. This seems strange now, but there was not any radio or TV, not even electricity.
My Dad played the fiddle. At times, different people would come with their guitars. There was an old fellow by the name of Felipe Montenegro. He also cut hair. He and my Dad would play for a long time.
There was a man by the name of Henry Wallace. He lived on the McKin place, about three miles from us. He was about my Grandparent’s age.
One of the things we did in the evening was play cards. The game we played was Pitch. You had to bid, it seems like, five or six points. That was the most you could make. Mary and I used to beat them about two to one. They thought we had signs to know what to play. We took a few chances that they wouldn’t. It was really fun to beat my Dad and Henry Wallace.
About 1936, there was a telephone line put in. It was a party line. I’m not sure but I think there were probably seven or eight people on our line. When the phone rang, it rang in every home. The way you knew if it was yours was the number of rings, which was done by a crank on each phone.
Our number might have been two long rings and one short. Every one of the families on our line knew when you got a phone call so they could pick up the phone and listen. One of my Aunts tells the story of a butcher in Deming who rang the longest ring on the line. When the person answered, he talked a minute then he said, “Folks, I butchered a pig.” My Aunt said someone on the line cut in and said “How much is it a pound?” I don’t know how she knew, maybe she was listening in.
The man that gave me the donkey wanted to use our phone. When he finished, he hung up the phone upside down. Mary and I thought it was funny and started to laugh, but Mother got our eye and we knew that we shouldn’t laugh.
One more thing I know that we always did was brand the first bull calf that we got so the brand would be old by the time to butcher. It was against the law to butcher a calf with a fresh brand. The reason was you had to have the calf four to six months. The story that went around was when you went to another ranch,you wondered if you were eating your own beef.
Since we lived on the east side of the Membres River, during the rainy season it was quite a challenge for us. We spent several night sitting on the river bank waiting for it to go down. The first time what we would do is mark the waterline with rocks at the edge to see if it was getting higher or starting to go down. By doing this, we could tell how long it might be if going down. If raising, time to go see where to get something to eat. Then came the task to try and figure out if there were any holes washed out. The way we tested was by throwing rocks in at different locations to see how it splashed. After getting this scientific data, we were able to decide whether or not to cross.
Then there was a certain time of the year that the water was just high. We had to stop, take the fan belt loose, then take a tarp and pack it all around the entire engine so water could not get on the spark plugs. We could then start the truck. It only took two or three minutes to get across, stop, take out the tarp and put the thing back together.
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Uncle Lee and Aunt Flossie had moved to Hurley and lived in a company house like Aunt Ida and Uncle Harry. We used to go there quite a lot and stay the night. For some reason, we needed an extra car, probably for the mail route, when my Mother had to be at a teacher’s meeting.
This car was a Model A Ford and I got to drive it home. I can’t remember if we did the tarp routine, but the water came through the floor boards. You can seethere was a lot to think about at times.
There was a man that had worked for us. He had asked my Dad if he could put his whiskey still by a springs that was on the ranch. Dad said “No”, but he did it anyway and Dad asked him to leave, which he did.
One time when Mother was out in the orchard she heard a funny noise and went through a fence and found Page Wilson’s still. One morning about 6:00 a.m., abunch of sheriffs’ cars went through our yard. After a while they came back and stopped. They were loaded down with the still, and sacks of sugar and corn and fruit or whatever it took. I do not know if my Dad turned him in or not.
After my Grandfather died, we would stay with Grandmother Kimmick if my folks would be gone. When the fruits were ripe, sometimes people would help themselves during the night. When the dogs would run down in the apple orchard barking, my Grandmother would take a 12-gauge shotgun and shoot down into the fields from the front porch. After that she would take the rifle and shoot a few times. You could hear it hit the hill on the other side of the river. One time she must have came close because someone gave out a yell.
When I got older, one of the jobs I had was to take a bed roll and go sleep in the orchard. One night it started raining real hard and the water came down where I was sleeping and ran into my bed. I packed up and went back to the house and got in a dry bed. When I got older, I used to sleep on the front porch at the main house, but I always ate with my family. Edward and Grandmother Kimmick lived in the main house. In the winter time, Grandmother Kimmick would bank the fire in the fireplace so in the morning, I would take a shovel full of burning coals to the cook stove to start the fire. This saved matches and got a firegoing quicker.
One other time, my Dad and I had taken a load somewhere and were coming back home.There was quite a steep hill a few miles from us on the main road. We always shifted down to keep from wearing out the brakes. When my Dad started to shift into 2nd gear, the truck went into neutral and the gear shift broke right at the top of the gear box. What a ride we had down the hill. When we finally got to the bottom and rolled to a stop, we had to figure out what to do. We finally took the top off the transmission and looked at the level hooked on the lower part that we took off and pushed the gears to where we thought it should be, and put it back together and started the truck. It was in low gear but the same thing happened again. I’m not sure how many times we did this before we could drive it in high gear. We did have a two-speed or gear shift so we could go from low high to high high. This meant you had to be careful how you parked, because we could only go forward. My Dad got it welded back together and it lasted as long as we had the truck.
In a good year, we got three good crops of alfalfa. This had to be mowed, then left to lay a day or so. We had a one-horse hay rake. This was fun. It was a two-wheel about 10 or 12 feet wide with a seat in the middle. This would pick up loose hay and when raked and full, you would dump it about every 40 feet. This would happen going and coming down the field. After it stayed that way a short time, you went along with a pitch fork and put in shocks or small piles so it could be thrown up on the wagon which had a hay rack on it so you could haul a big load. One person was in the wagon to stack hay so it would not fall off. One or two people threw the hay up.
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There were snakes on the ranch and one time there was one in one of the shocks being thrown up. It didn’t take long for us to lose the guy on top, for when he saw the snake coming toward him, he went off the other side. I do not remember what happened to the snake, but we took the hay and put it in the barn. I had kind of wondered as a kid why our barns and stable were a little different than some of the other ranches. I think it was 1978 when I got to go to Germany to where my Granddad Kimmick was born and their barns looked very much the same – so about 60 years later I found out why.
When my Grandmother Kimmick got very sick and was hurting real bad, it was getting dark. I’m not sure who went to take her to Hurley to Aunt Ida so we could get a doctor. I know that I had to ride in the back of the truck and it was sure cold. Probably Mary and Grandmother were in the cab with my Dad.
The doctor came. I’m not sure what he did. I know each one of us took turns sitting by her bed and talking to her. I was sitting by the bed talking to her when she just took a deep breath, closed her eyes and went to sleep. We went back to the ranch and my Grandmother was taken to Deming. On the day of the funeral, the river was flooding and I took a horse and rode up and down looking for a place where we could cross the river. I’m not sure what team of horses and wagons we took, but they hooked up to the truck and we went on an angle with the water.The river was probably 60 feet wide and on the angle it was probably 400 feetor more. Then the wagon went up to get back on our side to put everyone in thewagon, for my Dad was the only one in the truck. When the wagon got us all across, someone took the wagon and horse back and we were on our way to Deming.
The service was at a Baptist church. Mother told me one of the songs that was sung was “Abide With Me”. I’m sure we must have stayed somewhere after the funeral because of the high water in the river.
My Granddad Kimmick was born in Germany. My Grandmother (Shaw) Kimmick was born in Houston, Texas and married there. Aunt Bertha and Uncle Jess were born in Houston. My Granddad had a plant nursery-type business, but he sold it because the weather was making him sick. He bought a team and a covered wagon and helped build the railroad from Houston going to El Paso. He left that work and went to New Mexico in the late 1880’s, looked around, and then went over to Arizona and hauled freight. My Grandmother told me where they lived in Arizona was on the road that they brought Geronimo back on. They came back in to New Mexico and he bought the ranch in the early 1890’s.
After my Grandmother died in 1937, the ranch was sold. In the summer of 1938, I left the ranch and went to work for Mr. Stephens. This was when I kind of went on my own. I worked morning and nights and Saturdays to pay for my keep while I finished high school. When our ranch was sold, my family moved to Silver City, New Mexico. Since the Stephens Ranch was about five miles out of town, I saw all of my family often. I even used the cars or pick up trucks at times. Mybrother, Edward, got out of the hospital and lived in Silver with my father and family.
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Here is some information:
My Granddad was born 18 January 1842 and died 17 January 1929. I do not remember anything. Mary and I may have been going to school in Deming.
Grandmother Julieann (Shaw) Kimmick was born 3 January 1860 and died 16 February 1937.
My Mother, Winnie (Davis) Kimmick was born 8 December 190_, and died 1 September,1925.
My brother, Edward, was born 20 August 1924 and died March 16, 1941.
My Dad, Robert Kimmick, born 30 August 1897 and died in 1974.
Some day I may try to finish writing down my memories from 1941 on. This may help mygrandkids to see how life was lived then.
Looking back, we enjoyed it, but from this you can see the good old days they talk about were a lot different than now. Both have plusses and minuses and we all seemed to handle whatever came.
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