Archive for the 'History' Category
Thursday, April 5th, 2007
Pat Garrett Marker
The city of Las Cruces is considering the approval of a 1,703.9 acre subdivision on the East Mesa south of Hwy 70 called “The Vistas at Presidio II.”
Unknown to virtually everyone in Las Cruces, this block contains a marker built by Jarvis Garrett to memorialize the spot where his Dad was shot. Jarvis Garrett is the youngest son of Pat Garrett. Pat Garrett is the lawman who is most famous for having shot Billy the Kid.
A local organization called Friends of Pat Garrett has been formed “to ensure that the site where the death occurred is set aside for a memorial to Pat, and that the marker set up by Jarvis is retained and protected.” Their web site is:
Here’s what the marker looks like:
Pat Garrett was shot February 28, 1908. You can see “Feb 1908″ carved in the marker in this closeup:
Photos courtesy of Friends of Pat Garrett.
Tags: Pat Garrett, Billy the Kid, Las Cruces
Friday, February 16th, 2007
Las Cruces’ Worst Mistake
The hands-down worst mistake in Las Cruces history was the destruction of Main Street under the guise of “urban renewal.”
“Urban renewal” was federal policy in the 60s, part of the big government social engineering mindset that began its rule then and is with us still. In the case of Las Cruces, the Federal Government was willing to pay two thirds of the cost of “renewing” the downtown area.
Here are a couple of post card images of Main Street, Las Cruces from the 1940s.
The justifications for the “renewal” of Main Street and surrounding area were the usual ones:
The businesses there were not doing that well,
The buildings were old and unattractive, some dating to the late 1800s,
And, of course, a wonderful urban utopia could be put in its place with businesses that would pay more taxes.
But the truth of “urban renewal” was never an urban utopia.
Instead, businesses that social planners didn’t like, but had historical and organic roots, were replaced by businesses they “favored” and were willing to subsidize. Whether the new businesses would make money was a gamble — the only firms that were certain to profit were those involved in the destruction of the “old” and the construction of the “new.”
The plan that was adopted involved closing 7 blocks of Main Street and turning it into a “shaded” walking mall. The blocks on both sides of the mall would be cleared of all buildings to make that space available for new construction. Businesses and home owners that did not voluntarily sell in the cleared areas, or agree to renovations in the walking mall, would be removed by eminent domain.
Implementation of the plan began in 1968 and was finished in 1974.
The “renewal” area contained 160 businesses. 38 agreed to make the required remodeling changes and were permitted to stay. 122 did not and moved or went out of business.
A total of 84 families and 52 individuals lived in the cleared area and were forced to relocate.
Here you can see the “urban renewal” area shortly after its completion. Main Street has been closed and the streets on both sides now loop around it. The extensive empty areas, including the swath to the right of the loop (east), are “cleared” areas.
Here’s a better view of the “front” (south end) of the mall:
As the photo makes clear, this was an extremely ugly design with very serious problems. There was absolutely nothing that was attractive to people driving by in cars. All you could see from the loop were the backs of the businesses, and in the walking mall itself, the low “shades” covered anything attractive in the buildings — not that there was much that was attactive left, because the forced renovations had resulted in the historical storefronts being destroyed or covered with “modern” facades.
The mall was and is a failure.
It destroyed Las Cruces’ historical downtown heritage and replaced it with an ugly public space that no one wanted to visit.
Here’s what the front entrance looks like today:
Here’s what the inside of the mall looks like:
Recognizing what a horrible mistake the project was, the city is now removing the mall and restoring Main Street. But it’s impossible to recover what was destroyed.
Tags: Las Cruces, Urban Renewal, Downtown Mall, Las Cruces History
Saturday, November 11th, 2006
La Entrada Moved
The La Entrada Monument is gone — moved to storage.
The removal of the monument is part of the renovation to restore Main Street and remove the Downtown Mall. This reverses the most disastrous public policy decision in Las Cruces history, which closed the historic old street and converted it to a semi-open mall.
La Entrada’s creator Anthony Pennock supervised the monument’s disassembly. A new location for the monument has not been selected.
Tags: La Entrada Monument
Friday, October 27th, 2006
Peter Wolf Toth
Las Cruces has one of Peter Wolf Toth’s Whispering Giants, as noted here.
Since yesterday was the 50th anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution, this is a good time to review his book on his sculptures and life, Indian Giver.
Indian Giver was published in 1980. It begins with his childhood in Hungary. He was born in 1947, the seventh child in a family that eventually numbered 11 kids.
Conditions under the communists were brutally harsh, and got even worse when what little property his father had was taken and given to a party member. They were left with a dirt-floored house in which the only furniture was a table and 13 chairs.
When the people of Hungary revolted against the Russians, it appeared at first they had succeeded. The Russians even agreed to negotiate — but it was a ruse. They returned with a huge force, mercilessly crushing all opposition. Mass arrests and executions followed.
Two of Toth’s brothers escaped to the West, and Toth’s parents decided they would follow. For a short period of time the Yugoslavian border was open because the United States was paying Yugoslavia a bounty for every Hungarian that was permitted to leave Hungary.
After a dangerous escape and two years in refugee camps in Europe, Toth and his family came to the United States as sponsored immigrants.
Following his account of his life, Toth describes how he carved his first sculpture in a rock cliff, motivated by a compelling image he saw in the stone. That was 1972.
After carving a second sculpture in wood, he decided he would carve one for each state in the country, taking nothing for his work.
The difficulties and rewards of the first 27 “Whispering Giants” are described, and pictured. These sculptures are not “works” created in a studio — they are his life, requiring months of travel searching for the appropriate tree and location, and months of carving.
In releasing the image he sees in each unique piece of wood, he satisfies something deep in himself. But he also makes it clear the work itself is a physical pleasure — the outdoors, the textures, the fragrances — even scrubbing pitch out of his hair.
This is a wonderful, exuberant book. It is no longer in print, so see if you can find a used copy.
Tags: Indian Giver, Peter Wolf Toth, Trail of the Whispering Giants
Tuesday, October 17th, 2006
The Whispering Giant
Apodaca Park at Solano and Madrid in Las Cruces has one of the 67 remarkable sculptures in “The Trail of the Whispering Giants.”
These monumental sculptures are the life work of Peter Wolf Toth.
Mr. Toth was born in Hungary and escaped to the United States during the 1956 Hungarian Revolution.
In 1972 at the age of 24, with no prior sculpting experience, he carved an American Indian sculpture at Wind and Sea Beach in La Jolla, California. Shortly thereafter, he decided to dedicate however long it took to create 50 such sculptures, one for each state.
He didn’t stop at 50 and has now created 67, one or more in each state and the rest in other countries, including Canada.
The sculptures honor Native Peoples and are called as a group The Trail of the Whispering Giants.
Each sculpture is a gift to its location. He accepts nothing for them. He supports himself with other work while doing the carving.
The sculpture given to New Mexico is called “Dineh” and was finished and mounted in the park in 1986.
“Dineh” is a native word for “human beings.”
Another view:
Here’s a partial index of the Giants.
Tags: Trail of the Whispering Giants, Dineh, Peter Wolf Toth, Apodaca Park, Las Cruces
