At 1:35 p.m. on Saturday, January 6, 1912, President William H. Taft signed the proclamation making New Mexico the 47th state. Present were Territorial Delegate W.H. Andrews, Congressmen-elect George Curry and H.B. Fergusson, four members of the President’s Cabinet and several prominent New Mexicans. Upon fixing his signature to the proclamation, President Taft turned to Delegate Andrews and said, "I am glad to give you life, I hope that you will be healthy.”
Three decades prior
to New Mexico becoming a state, Peter Shelley, his wife Emily and their four
children arrived at what was to become their home on Mogollon Creek after a long
trip from Bell County, Texas.
A year prior to the
Shelley’s arrival, on the road from Silver City to Lordsburg, Judge Hamilton
Calhoun McComas (known as H.C.) and his wife Juniata were slaughtered by a band
of Apaches led by Chato. Their six-year-old son Charlie, who was with them, was
never found. A year after the Shelley’s arrival came the uprising on the San
Carlos Indian Reservation. Geronimo and other Apache leaders made their escape
and began raiding settlers in the region, including an incident that involved
the Shelley family.
On that day in 1884
when Peter Shelley and his family arrived on Mogollon Creek, they had with them
80 head of cattle with the 916 brand on their left side. Shelley would
eventually establish an enterprise that included 5,000 head of cattle known as
The 916 Ranch. This book is the story of Peter Shelley and his descendants as
they endeavored to survive and prosper in some of the roughest country in the
southwest.
Terrell Shelley, the
great grandson of Peter Shelley, is the primary provider of source materials
for this volume. He has provided diaries and other written materials, newspaper
and magazine articles, a vast collection of historical photos, family stories
passed on by oral tradition, and his own personal remembrances and stories.
The recipient of
these materials is the award-winning author Ed Ashurst. Ashurst is the author
of nine books, including Charlie
Gould Memories of a Cowboy, Real
Cowboys Grand Canyon to Mexico, The
Life and Times of Warner Glenn, Wagon
Boss a True Cowboy Story, and Mavericks.
Just as important, in my opinion, is that Ed Ashurst is a third generation
cowboy, has worked on large cow outfits
in four states and has managed a ranching operation in Apache, Arizona for
twenty-two years.
Place this provider and writer
together and you get a fascinating kaleidoscope of cowboys, cattle and
critters. There are stories of the pioneers and the hardships endured and risks
taken. There are stories of gathering wild cattle, of firefighting, of rodeos and
of horses, mules and wildlife. Given the type of country and the different eras
represented, there naturally flows many great hunting stories. As Ashurst
explains, “…and expertise
about the hunting craft began to spread through families, most of whom were cattle
ranchers who grazed their herds in the rough mountains. The flatlanders did not
have the problems with the lions and bears that the rough country boys did so
the rough country cowboys naturally became the best hunters.”
Herein you will find the story of the legendary lion hunter
Ben Lilly and his relationship with various members of the Shelley family. You
will also read of Terrell Shelley guiding Dale Earnhardt on his last hunting
trip just weeks before his untimely death on the racetrack.
And make no mistake the current day descendants of Peter
Shelley have the same knack of bringing excitement to whatever events they
encounter. For instance, there is Tissy Shelley (Miss Rodeo America, 1963 and
World Champion Barrel Racer, 1970) who beat the hell out of a rent-a-cop at a
rodeo in Las Vegas, Nevada who refused to let her enter the contestants section
and in the process had knocked a tooth out of the mouth of her three year-old
son. Then there is Terrell himself, who slipped on some ice and slid right in
between his pack of dogs and the lion they had treed, with the lion promptly
biting down on his leggings. Ashurst has the talent to place you right there
staring into the face of that lion.
My advice is to put your foot in the stirrup, swing up in
the saddle, enjoy your ride into the history of the Shelley family and
experience the Real West as told by a master storyteller.
Frank DuBois
served as the New Mexico Secretary of Agriculture for sixteen years, held a
senior position in the U.S. Dept. of Interior during the Reagan administration
and is a former legislative assistant to U.S. Senator Pete V. Domenici. DuBois
writes a monthly column published in the NM Stockman and the Livestock Market
Digest, and is the author of a blog on western issues titled The Westerner
(www.thewesterner.blogspot.com).
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