WPA Mrs. Mary E. Burleson
Writer: Edith L. Crawford
[Carrizozo, N. Mex.?]
PIONEER STORY.
By - Mrs. Mary E. Burleson.
My husband Pete Burleson, came to
Cimarron, New Mexico in Colfax County
in the year of 1876, from the Big Bend country in Texas, which is located in
the Davis Mountains, he arrived in Colfax county with about (1500) hundred head of cattle, he settled on a
place on the Red River, built a two room log cabin and settled down to raising
cattle.
In 1877, my father O. K.
[Chittenden?] and Clay Allison brought Mr. Burleson, down to our house to try
and persuade him to run for sheriff of Colfax County, is how I first met him.
He first said he would not
consider making the race at all as he had his cattle and place to look after,
and how much better off he would of been if he had only staid with his first
decision as he realized very little out of his [ranche?] and cattle.
They kept after him until he made
the race and was elected by a large majority, this was in November, 1877, he
took office January 1, 1878, one of the first things he did after taking
office, was to run down a negro man by the name of Jack (is the only name I
ever heard him called,) he had killed Mr. Maxwell and his twelve year old boy,
they had just come to Colfax county
from Iowa, and had bought a Ranche and were living in a tent they had this
negro Jack hired to cut post for fencing the place, he killed Mr. Maxwell in
the tent, took one of his saddle horses and rode down the road and met the boy
coming in with a load of posts, he spoke to the boy and rode on by the [wagon?]
turned and shot the boy in the back watched him until he saw him fall from the
wagon.
The horses with the wagon went on
down the road until they came to the gate entering the Maxwell ranche, on
passing through the gate one of the front wheels caught on the gate post, and
held the wagon fast, the team stood there two days witho'ut food or water, one
of the neighboring ranchers was passing by and saw the team standing at the
gate, he stopped by to see what was the matter as the horses seemed to be so
restless, he went on up to the tent where he found Mr. Maxwell, dead shot
thro'ugh the head.
He went back to the horses
unhitched them fed and watered them, and then started out for help, he had only
gone a short distance from the gate when he found the boy face down in the
middle of the road.
He summoned help and started
looking for the negro but he was no where around the ranche, so they knew this
negro would know something about the killing, so the hunt for the negro started
and they found him at his home in
Mr. [Burleson?], brought him back
to Cimarron, New Mexico, to wait trial, but the feeling was so bitter against
the negro he was taken to [Taco?], New Mexico, for trial and was sentenced to
be hanged at Cimarron, New Mexico, Colfax County citizens still wanted to take the negro out and hang him,
but Mr. Burleson, appealed to those men as citizens of Colfax County to let the law take its course
and hang the negro, and this was the first hanging by law in the Territory of
New Mexico. It was in the month of May, 1878. My aunt and I went to see the
negro hang but upon seeing him on the gallows and hearing his confession that
he did not know why he killed Mr. Maxwell and his son" we did not stay to
see him hung, but lots of people did as it was a public hanging and the first
one in that part of the country.
Mr. Burleson and I were married in
Trinidad, Colorado, July 21, 1878, I was going with Mr. Burleson when he ran
for sheriff the first time, and did not want to marry him until his term
expired, he begged and promised me if I would marry him that year he would not
run for the second term, but there was so much pressure brought to bear that he
did run the second time and was elected by the largest majority that any
sheriff had ever been elected by, at that time, he ran against a man by the
name of Joe Hollbrook.
It was either the 29, or
thirtieth, of November 1879, that the Santa Fe Railroad crossed the line into
In July, 1881, Governor [Lew?]
Wallace, asked Mr. Burleson to organize a posse, and go to
While Mr. Burleson was sheriff and
also deputy sheriff he never went after a man but what he got him.
There was five children born to
this union, our oldest a boy was born in 1879, at Cimarron, New Mexico, the
second a girl at Springer, New Mexico, and the next a girl in [Socorro?] County and the last two boys in
Narrator: Mrs. Mary E. Burleson,
Age 78,
Pasted from <http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?wpa:27:./temp/~ammem_DBXg::>