tradicion revista fall 2012 - LPD Press & Rio Grande Books

post. Although this incident may
have been an isolated one, it may
be indicative of problems that were
under the surface in the community.
Now labor could not be obtained
as cheaply by the ricos, and
local residents had to contend with
“outsiders” on an every day basis.
In addition, local residents at
times had other types of conflicts
with the military authorities, who
were exacting and unjust at times. 51
In 1864 Ventura Toledo was arrested
and put in the guardhouse for crossing
an acequia rather than coming
by the main road, and the Armijo
family had a dispute about ownership
of a mule. Even the powerful
Antonio José Otero, who owned
lands adjacent to the post, was rebuked
for allowing his acequias to
overflow. Otero was warned that
unless he took measures to drain
away the excess water and to prevent
overflows in the future, that the
post commander would “shut the
water off from [Otero’s] acequia and
not allow it to run through the post
any longer.” Although local people
may have resented the restrictive
measures, some steps were taken by
the military to protect the resources
of Los Pinos, including forbidding
citizens to take firewood from the
military reserve or to graze animals
on the property.
Despite all the social strains, the
area benefited tremendously from
the government contracts. Generally,
the Army tried to acquire as
many supplies as possible from local
sources. One military report
stated that “probably more wheat,
corn, and beans are produced within
a radius of 20 miles from this
post [Los Pinos] than in any other
portion of the upper valley of the
Rio Grande….” 52 Feed for animals,
like the mules on the post, were important
purchases that benefited the
local people because many small
contractors were used in addition
to the larger suppliers. Although the
bills for feed alone exceeded several
thousand dollars per month, many
of the suppliers were not identified
in the records. 53 The few who were
named were usually wealthy Hispanic
suppliers like Santiago Baca,
son-in-law of Salvador Armijo of
Albuquerque. 54
Another improvement during
this time that benefited the economy
of Peralta was the construction
of a ferry across the Rio Grande. 55
Peralta had always been considered
a good crossing place, but no ferry
had been ever been built. At first a
rope or flying ferry was attempted,
but the sand banks and the evershifting
channel made this type of
crossing impossible. Next, two flatbottomed
ferry boats were brought
in by Enos, the quartermaster at Los
Pinos. These government ferryboats
were used for the transport of supplies
across the river to replenish
the depleted storehouses of various
forts, and within a few weeks three
million pounds of supplies had
been transferred to the west bank.
In the summer of 1862, when
Carleton assumed command of
troops in New Mexico, a new chief
quartermaster, Captain John C. Mc-
Ferran, was appointed. As a conscientious
officer, McFerran, in an
effort to reduce government costs,
had Enos, now the assistant quartermaster
of the department, break
up the depot at Los Pinos and transport
most of the supplies to Fort
Craig, Albuquerque and Fort Wingate.
56 Shortly after Carleton had
assumed command of the department,
Connelly had left New Mexico
to seek medical attention, and
news of the change in the status of
Los Pinos apparently did not reach
him until after the depot had been
dismantled. 57 In mid-January of
1863 Connelly wrote Carleton from
St. Louis expressing his concern
about attempts “among interested
persons to change the Government
Depot [from Los Pinos] to Albuquerque.”
58 Carleton replied that the
governor’s letter was “the first intelligence
or hint of such a movement
which I have heard.” Less than reassuring,
Carleton went on to promise
that the government would not
abandon Connelly’s property before
Connelly could return to New
Mexico. Despite what he was writing
to Connelly, Carleton believed
that the rent being paid to Connelly
was exorbitant, and a short time later
Carleton wrote to Quartermaster
General Montgomery C. Meigs
questioning whether the contract
for Los Pinos should continue. Los
Pinos might have been returned at
this time to the Chavez/Connelly
family except now the Los Pinos
post acquired a new importance in
the Indian campaigns, causing Carleton
to drop the matter. 59
Receiving Center for
the Navajos
When the Confederates were
gone, Connelly addressed the longstanding
problem of Indian depredations
in New Mexico that had
increased while the military and
government had been preoccupied.
TRADICIÓN October 2012 89