Adventure 725: Lyons and Campbell Ranch Headquarters/Post C

We woke up this morning too tough to care about the frigid twenty knot wind howling in from the Southwest. We donned our warm fuzzies and headed out into the New Mexico wilderness on our bikes. We rode about fifteen miles total, and would have gone further but the last little bit ended in a box canyon where the pavement turned to a dusty, dirt road. We found out most of the grazing land around here is owned by one mega corporation. I don't know the name of it, but it's easy to see how attractive this valley has been to ranchers over the years. The Gila River never runs dry, and there's good grazing for as far as the eye can see. After our ride we spent a couple of hours with our host, Alex. He regaled us with a plethora of historical tidbits that showed both his expertise and his practiced delivery. His family has owned this property since 1961, and beyond that his whole family has been avid antique collectors. When they purchased the ranch headquarters, it had been abandoned and was functionally derelict. Several of the building roofs had collapsed. In the ensuing years, they've rebuilt much of the existing structures well enough to house their vast collection of antiques, trinkets, and debris. It's hard for my untrained eye to discern what is valuable and what's not. Regardless, Alex's obvious pride in his family enterprise beamed in every tidbit he shared. It was a fun tour. One project his family undertook was to convert a failed ice making factory into a theater space. Sometime this week, we'll enjoy "movie" night in front of his twenty foot screen. Like I said in an earlier post, diversity is good, and so is life, especially today.

Alex rebuilt the back bar, and he and his brother did the work refurbishing and replacing the tin ceiling. The saloon was built by Lyons and Campbell in an effort to keep the cowboys around. Normally, they'd get their pay, head to Silver City, and never be seen again. L&C thought if they could provide some down time relaxation, they may keep a few cowboys around. The headquarters was also built to entertain the ranch's investors. Lyons had many connections, a board of regents, and these Eastern dudes liked to come West to play cowboy and have a good time. Happy to oblige, partner.

I think this is Campbell, but I don't really know. His photo was on the right, and since every thing has been Lyons and Campbell (LC), I'm just guessing.

Legend has it that Lyons and Campbell even brought in some female companionship for the cowboys to dance with. 

And of course there was all types of gambling.

Lyons made quite a go of the ranch after Campbell died of liver disease. Things went along swimmingly until Lyons was murdered. His widow was taken in by swindlers and eventually the bank foreclosed on the ranch. Who knows who picked up the pieces? So it went in the wild, wild West.

Though the photo doesn't show it very well, the keys on this 1917 American made piano are made of Mother of Pearl.

The family dining room.

And of course, the saloon has a pool table.

It really was quite cold.

This old juke box is in the saloon, but it's really part of the family antique collection.

Many a cowboy sidled up to the bar, and the jail was right next door for those who needed to sleep one off.

 As part of our unspeakable history (CRT as it were), this piano was reclaimed from a basement in the old Fort Baird, which was established in the late eighteen hundreds to deal with the "Indian problem." By dealing with the Indians, the mining operations in Silver City could proceed without interruption. After all, the area needed to be civilized.