The Gila Catwalk; A scenic walk through history

 

Last month, I went with a couple of friends and my husband to do some exploring in Southern New Mexico. One of the places we visited is called "The Catwalk.” This place may be a popular tourist attraction now, but 120 years ago, it was all business, and that business was mining.

The Catwalk National Recreation Trail is located within the Gila National Forest. It is situated near the small town of Glenwood, approximately 65 miles northwest of Silver City. To get there, turn east off U.S. Highway 180 onto NM-174, which is also called Catwalk Road, and drive roughly 5 miles to the trailhead parking lot. Catwalk road crosses the stream, and while the water was very low when we went, it may be flooded and impassable during heavy rain or spring runoff.

The Catwalk goes into Whitewater Canyon, which contained a large number of very productive mines, including the Confidence. Because of the cost of moving the heavy ore, it was preferable to process gold and silver ores as close to the mines as possible. However, Whitewater Canyon was too narrow to permit processing.

In 1893, John T. Graham established an ore-processing facility at the entrance to Whitewater Canyon to help serve those mines. A small town grew up around the mill. Sometimes it is known as Graham after its founder, and sometimes it is called Whitewater after its location. The town quickly grew to have 200 residents, one of which, William Antrim, the town blacksmith, was Billy the Kid’s stepfather. Whitewater Canyon was a favorite hideout of Butch Cassidy’s Wild Bunch, and of Apaches, including Geronimo.


However, the mill’s steam generators needed a good, steady supply of water. A water pipe, four inches in diameter, was constructed between Graham and the high mountain waters to make sure the generators and the town would be supplied. The pipe was encased in a wooden sheathe that was packed in sawdust to prevent freezing. By 1897, the town and mill’s needs had increased so much that an eighteen-inch pipe was constructed parallel to the original, four-inch line. In what was considered quite an engineering feat for the time, holes were drilled into the canyon walls to help brace the pipes, which ran some twenty feet above the canyon floor, and because the whole line needed monitoring and repair, a catwalk—a narrow walkway—ran the whole length of the pipe.

Beleaguered by profitability, water issues, and flooding, the mill never made the huge profits that Graham had hoped for. By 1904, the population had dropped low enough that the post office closed. The mill itself closed in 1913, and the town faded away

soon after that. All that remains of the mill now are some foundations and a few walls that blend into the canyon just above the parking lot. Rusted old pipes and a few wires and braces from the original waterline appear along the trail.

The town may have died, but the Catwalk itself has stayed vital. In the mid-1930's the Civilian Conservation Corps, the work program developed by F.D. Roosevelt to combat the rampant unemployment of the Great Depression rebuilt the Catwalk as a tourist attraction.  In 2012, the Whitewater-Baldy Fire destroyed much of the vegetation upstream, leading to massive flooding that washed away the work that the CCC had done. The bridge system was rebuilt and is now open for approximately .5 miles from the parking lot. This is a very accessible area and easily hiked by all ages and abilities, including wheelchairs. After the bridge system, the trail has been cleared for another .5 - .75 miles. Beyond that, backpackers can follow a much more rugged trail.

 Today the area is managed by the Gila National Forest  as a day-use area. It has picnic tables and restrooms.

James C. Cooney and the Alma Massacre

 

Gold and silver were first discovered in the Mogollon Mountains of New Mexico by James C. Cooney, who was born in 1840 and came to the U.S. from Ireland to escape the potato famine. He joined the Army and was a sergeant in the 8th U.S. Cavalry when he was posted to Fort Bayard, near Silver City, New Mexico in 1870. He was scouting in the Mogollon Mountain’s Mineral Creek Canyon, north of Mogollon and east of Alma, when he discovered rich gold and silver deposits. Cooney kept his discovery a secret until his military discharge in 1875. A year later, he began working the claim, called the Silver Bar Mine, with his partner Harry McAllister. The mine proved itself to be the richest claim in the new district, and Cooney’s little mining camp became a town. Although it was no more than a handful of tents, log cabins and rough wooden buildings, it, and but it and Cooney Peak, rising up in the distance, must have made the ex-cavalry sergeant very proud as well as rich.

Cooney wouldn’t live long enough to enjoy his prosperity. In the early evening of April 28, 1880, Chiricahua Apache
warriors led by Victorio struck Cooney’s silver mine, killing two miners and wounding a third. After dark, Cooney and another man, William Chick, rode down the canyon to warn local settlers of the danger. The next morning, believing the raiders had moved on, Chick and Cooney decided to ride back to the mine. A couple of miles up the canyon, the Apaches caught and killed them both. The warriors then spread out, targeting shepherds and their families. According to The Weekly New Mexican, "one hundred thousand head of sheep...were scattered or killed," and at least 41 people were murdered in what came to be known as the Alma Massacre. The violence continued until U.S. Army troops from Fort Bayard, forced Victorio and his warriors to withdraw from the area.

Cooney’s older brother, Captain Michael Cooney, collaborated with fellow miners to create a tomb near the site where the miner was massacred. They used black powder explosives, drills, and hand chisels to create a cavity large enough to accommodate Cooney's coffin in a large boulder. The miners then sealed the entrance with a mixture of cement and local ore sourced from Cooney's own silver claims, protecting him from scavengers, floods, and further raids. Located north of Alma along Forest Road 701, the tomb is now a historical landmark, protected by barriers and marked by a plaque.  It is a testament to practical frontier ingenuity and group solidarity among prospectors operating in lawless terrain.

The Alma Massacre remains one of the deadliest single raids in the Apache Wars, illustrating the brutal reality of frontier conflict where civilians bore the heaviest casualties. However, the threat of violence was not enough to keep miners from the area. By 1887, the Mogollon/Cooney district had become the largest producer of gold and silver in New Mexico, yielding somewhere between $5 and $7 million in gold and silver over the next decade. By 1889 the town of Cooney had grown to 600 residents, a school, a church, and two hotels. But silver prices collapsed in the 1890s, and the town’s population began to dwindle. A disastrous flood that scoured the canyon in 1911 finally put an end to the town.

Gutierrez Hubbell House: An historical gem in Albuquerque's South Valley

By John Phelan - Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10535924

Last weekend I gave another of my lectures on the Civil War on Route 66. This time, the venue was the Gutierrez Hubbell House. My only regret is that I didn't go there much sooner. 

The Gutiérrez Hubbell House is a historic, territorial-style hacienda in Albuquerque's South Valley, in the village of Pajarito. Although there was a house on the site that dated back to the 1820s, when the property was part of a 40,000 acre estate owned by Clemente and Josefa Gutiérrez, most of the existing structure was built in the 1850s and 1860s, after  James Lawrence Hubbell married their great-granddaughter and heir, Julianita.

Hubbell came to New Mexico in 1846 as part of the American Expedition into Mexican territory led by General Stephen Watts Kearny. The twenty-two year old captain was born in Connecticut to an Anglo father and a Hispanic mother. Evidently, he liked the country and its inhabitants, for he resigned his commission and married Julianita Gutiérrez in 1849, when she was just sixteen years old.

Julianita came from a prominent ranching and trading family. The Gutiérrezes were related to the Baca family and the Chaves clan, both powerhouses in New Mexico politics. Her paternal grandfather was among the first governors to serve New Mexico when it was still under Mexican rule. 

Santiago may have resigned his commission after the Mexican American War ended, but he rejoined during the Civil War, when Confederates threatened the territory. He organized and commanded a company of New Mexico Mounted Volunteers, called "Hubbell's Cavalry Company" or Company B of the 5th New Mexico Infantry Volunteers. As their Captain, Hubbell led his men in the front lines at the Battle of Valverde, defending the McRae Battery when it  suffered a frontal attack. From a company of seventy-four men, thirty-nine (53% of the total company) were killed, wounded, or missing in action. The Confederates were able to overrun the battery and take possession of six guns.  After the battle, Captain P.W.L. Plymptom, a US Regular Army officer, sent in a report explaining that his battalion had failed to save the guns from the Confederate charge because New Mexican Volunteers had broken from their position. Hubbell contested this report and was unhappy with how his volunteers were treated by regular army. 

After the war, Santiago and Julianita continued to build onto their house with the help of their twelve children. Located along the El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro,the oldest continuously used European roadway in North America, which runs north from Mexico City to Ohkay Owingeh (San Juan Pueblo), north of Santa Fe, the house was a natural stop for travelers and became one of the  important parajes, or camp locations, along the trail. It was used as a stagecoach stop, a trading post, and a post office in addition to being a private home. Trading must have become second nature to the Hubbells . The third of Santiago and Julianita's children, Don (John) Lorenzo Hubbell, established the famous Hubbell Trading Post located on the Navajo Indian Reservation in Ganado, Arizona.

The house, which has existed under three national flags, (Spain, Mexico and the United States) is listed on the State of New Mexico Register of Cultural Properties as a symbol of the blending of Spanish, Native American and Anglo cultures and traditions, and is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is managed by the National Park Service and offers a traditional garden and a heritage garden as well as walking trails along the acequia madre (mother ditch) and around the property, and cultivated farm plots for visitors to enjoy. I was charmed by the displays within the house, which included a room with an extensive timeline, the room where the young sons slept, a room that served as a general store, and the main living room. The thickness of the walls, the vigas in the ceilings, and the territorial trim around the windows was impressive. 

Click here to download a pdf of the guide to this historical site.

Click here to download a self-guided tour of the veterans interred in Fairview Cemetery.
click here to see trails in the south valley area. 

Dark Treason: Great Historical Fiction for Young Patriots

Dark Treason: An American Revolution Spy Thriller is the fourth book in Robert J. Skead’s American Revolutionary War Adventures, a middle grade historical fiction series intended for readers between the age of 8 and 12.

The series begins with Patriots, Redcoats & Spies, set in 1777, when twin boys John and Ambrose Clark are 14 years old. After their father is shot by British soldiers, the boys discover their father is part of the Culper Spy Ring. They decide to fulfill their father’s mission of getting a secret message to General George Washington, a trip filled with danger and intrigue. The series continues into 1778 with Submarines, Secrets & A Daring Rescue, in which the twins help transport gunpowder to the patriots, man one of the first submarines, and attempt to rescue one of their older brothers from prison. In book 3, Links to Liberty, John and Ambrose help defend the Great Chain that stretched across the Hudson River at West Point, blocking British war ships in 1779.

Now it is 1780, and John and Ambrose are seventeen-year-olds. Ambrose is training to join the dragoons,
while John is studying at Yale to become a preacher. Both become involved when Benedict Arnold, the hero who captured Fort Ticonderoga in 1775 and was wounded in the 1777 Battle of Saratoga, traitorously tries to give his present command post, West Point, to the British through their master spy, Major John André.

Skead has done an excellent job of integrating his fictitious characters among a host of historical ones that young readers should know.  Especially now, when the nation is celebrating its 250^th year, this series helps readers understand both the tragedy and triumph events that shaped America. Well grounded in real events and peopled with real people, including Patriots George Washington and Benjamin Tallmadge, and those on the other side, including Major John Andre, Benedict Arnold and his young wife, Peggy, young readers are encouraged to enhance their understanding through the historical letters and biographical information in the back of the book. There are also discussion questions and a glossary. Additional teacher materials are available on his website.

The book ends with hints that a fifth book will further explore the role of the Culper Spy Ring, especially Agent 355, a mysterious woman who lived in New York and may have played a significant role in gathering information for the Patriots.  

Robert Skead lives in Wyckoff, NJ, and frequently visits classrooms to visit with his readers. You can learn more about him and his books at his website. 

Depression Era Books and Giveaways!

 

Last October I published Perspective, a middle grade novel set in Duluth and Isle Royale during the Great Depression.

It's the story of a twelve year old girl who wants to grow up to be an artist. Genevieve lives a comfortable and quiet life with her mother, a high school English teacher. Their Duluth apartment isn't fancy, but it has all the modern comforts made possible by electrification and indoor plumbing.

When Genevieve's mother dies of lung cancer, her whole world comes apart. She is sent to live with her Aunt Gertrude, Uncle Edwin, and their two spoiled sons, and in spite the fact that Uncle Edwin drives a fine DeSoto and Aunt Gertrude wears a mink coat, they announce that they simply cannot keep Genevieve once they discover that they will not be able to put their fingers on her money. Aunt Gertrude buys her niece a one way ticket to Isle Royale, where she is to live with the father she's never known.

Genevieve must adapt to a much more rustic way of life. She learns to appreciate the beauty of the island even if she finds its seclusion difficult at times. But just as she's finally beginning to understand what destroyed her parent's relationship, she discovers that she may have to leave Isle Royale.
Genevieve must learn that perspective is not just a theory in art, but a way of seeing the world through the lens of forgiveness and patience.

Once Perspective was published, I intended to give away some related books. Some were resources I used while writing my own books. Others are books I came across and set aside because I thought they were similar to mine and would be of interest to my readers. 

But I forgot. Don't ask me how. Just recently I looked at one of my bookshelves and there were the books I'd intended to give away.

So here I am, months later, offering books related to the Great Depression and Isle Royale. Leave a note in the comments if you'd like me to send you one of them. And if you'd like a copy of Perspective, I can offer that, too!

Not Lucille by Mike Steele (published by Creative James Media, June 24, 2025, EAN/UPC 9781965648070) 

Ten-year-old Lucy Contento can't seem to control her impulsive behavior, blurting out in the classroom and doing things without thinking. When she's assigned to the rigid disciplinarian Miss Gillingham's Fifth Grade Class, it seems she's destined to spend every afternoon in after school detention, sitting with the teacher who insists on calling her Lucille and making her write with her right hand even though she's a Leftie. One afternoon she sneaks onto the campus of the Deefies, what the neighborhood kids disparagingly call a nearby school for the Deaf, and makes a friend of Florence, a profoundly deaf girl who doesn't mind Lucy's flaws. From there, the story of friendship and acceptance blooms. Lucy learns to advocate for both herself and for Florence as she comes to terms with the quirks that everyone has, even the straight-laced Miss Gillingham and her grumpy neighbor Mrs. Ricci. This is a sweet and empowering book that will melt your heart and give you hope. The author provides an afterword that helps today’s readers understand how very different the world was in the 1930s. The Wind Called My Name by Mary Louise Sanchez (published by Tu Books, October 30, 2018, EAN/UPC 9781620147801) Ten-year-old Margaríta Sandoval's family leaves New Mexico, where they have deep and traditional roots, to move to Fort Steele, Wyoming when her father finds a job with the railroad. She misses living among Hispanics, especially her beloved Abuelita, and feels so rootless that she fears the wind might blow her away. Margaríta meets Evangeline and is pleased to have a friend her own age, but soon encounters prejudice and misunderstanding. Things get really tense when the Sandovals learn that Abuelita might lose her land and the family's ancestral home unless they can pay off her tax bill. This lovely, gentle story is sprinkled with Spanish dichos, wise sayings that will ring true in any language. It teaches about a culture that few understand was here and thriving for centuries, and continues today. Diaries of an Isle Royale Fisherman by Elling Seglem (Published by Isle Royale Natural History Association, November 15, 2002, ISBN-13: 978-0935289138) Elling Seglem was a Norwegian immigrant, who lived in Chicago, where he worked as a photographer during the winter. He had a summer home on Isle Royale and each summer between 1920 and 1932 he fished the waters of Lake Superior. This book has reproductions of his journals, in which he tells of the hard work and simple pleasures of island living. It also includes his correspondence, much of it in newspaper-format letters sent home to his family in Chicago. Seglem's sense of humor and attention to detail make his writing a delight to read, and the drawings, cartoons and historic photographs really add to our understanding of what life was like for him and the other people who lived on the island. Diaries of an Isle Royale School Teacher by Dorothy Simonson (Published by Book Concern Printers, December 1996, ISBN: 0-9352289-02) In 1932, Dorothy Simonson got a job teaching the six children of the Johnsons, a family who lived on Isle Royale. Her students were between 18 and 5, and she taught them in the school house in which she and her young son, Bob, also lived. This book is the transcribed diary of heer eight months on the Island, and in it she shows how she faced both the joys and the hardships of an isolated winter with honesty and humor. A lot of the details in Perspective—things like the name of the boat on which my character travels and how long it took, what people ate and what they missed from the mainland—come from this book.  Island Folk: The People of Isle Royale by Peter Oikarinen (Published by University of Minnesota Press, 2008, ISBN: 978-0816653362) This book is a collection of stories and photographs about the people who made a life on Isle Royale, both before it became a National Park and after. These interviews share the voice and recalled memories of the people who've lived and worked in a beautiful and sometimes deadly environment.

Sheet Pan Eggs

 Often my husband and I don't have time to make breakfast, but we want a good, filling, high protein meal without all the additives that come with prepackaged food. For instance, we usually start Tuesdays with a swim. The public pool opens at 6 am, and it takes 45 minutes to drive there. We don't eat before we leave, and when we return home, we are famished and want food immediately. 

That's when meals like Sheet Pan Eggs come in very handy. I make up a batch the night before and store it in the refrigerator. When I want to eat, a short wait as it microwaves is all it takes to have a hot, healthy meal.

Sheet Pan Eggs are great to make if you're serving brunch for a crowd, or it's a good way to stock up your freezer with healthy breakfasts. Plus, the recipe is adaptable so you'll be able to vary it to your own tastes, provide variety to your meals, or use up leftovers. 

Sheet Pan Eggs

Preheat oven to 350° Grease a large rimmed baking sheet.

The Winding Road to Wallace and other Clean Romance ARCs Available