Grant, was operating a hotel and restaurant in Elizabethtown, they induced him to come to Cimarron. When the Land Grant Company discovered that Frenchman Henri Lambert, who was at one time, the personal chef to President Abraham Lincoln and General Ulysses S. The first issue appeared on September 22, 1870. Sullivan, a newspaperman in Santa Fe, with whom he drew up a contract for the publication of the Cimarron News and Press. John Collinson, president of the Maxwell Land Grant Company, sought out Alexander P. The Maxwell Land Grant Company was not at all impressed with the rowdyism of the town and sought to overcome it with the introduction of order and culture. Meanwhile, folks who had already settled on the grant were riled at the brisk way the new owners tried to collect rents. But they continued to wait, as faltering gold production and the threat of Indian attacks spooked potential buyers. The expectant developers opened a sales office at Maxwell’s mansion in Cimarron and waited for the customers to rush in. The new owners of the grant aggressively exploited the resources from the gold mines, lumber, land sales, and rents. Maxwell sold his interest in the grant and all his properties for $700,000 and moved to Fort Sumner, New Mexico. Fortifying their courage with drinks at every stop, they shot at lamps, lanterns, mirrors, and glasses and were said to have particularly enjoyed making newcomers “dance” as shots were fired at their feet. The cowboys punctuated their rebel yells with pops from their six-shooters as they made their rounds to area saloons, gambling halls, and dance halls. While the barkeeps, gamblers, and dance hall girls may have appreciated their business, the rest of the citizens of Cimarron hid in terror. When Clay Allison, a notorious gunslinger, landed in the Cimarron area in 1870, he and his cowboy friends made Cimarron a regular Saturday night party place. A thick notebook that Chase carried in his breast pocket received the bullet and saved his life. The angry Cosgrove assumed that Chase was the instigator and shot him in the chest. The owner, Charles Cosgrove, stepped outside to run off the party-goers when the newly appointed deputy sheriff, Mason Chase, came along to see what all the fuss was about. The burgeoning city also gained a reputation for lawlessness, with bullets flying freely.Īt one point, the Cosgrove House was hosting a “shivaree” for a newly married couple when the celebration got out of hand. Between the miners and the travelers along the Mountain Branch of the Santa Fe Trail, Cimarron quickly became a boomtown, boasting 16 saloons, four hotels, and numerous trading stores. In 1866, a year after the Civil War ended, gold was discovered on Baldy Peak, and the area was filled with miners searching for their fortunes. Maxwell operated the Aztec Mill until 1870. The mill, capable of grinding 15,000 pounds of wheat per day, supplied flour for Fort Union and distributed supplies to the area Indians, for which Maxwell was compensated by the federal government. In the same year, Maxwell hired an engineering firm from Boston to design a three-story grist mill that he called the Aztec Mill. Maxwell’s Aztec Mill in Cimarron, New Mexico, still stands today and serves as a museum by Kathy Alexander. Unfortunately, the mansion was destroyed by fire in 1922, and there are no remains.Ĭimarron was officially established in 1861 and was named for the Spanish word meaning “wild” and “unbroken.” The name was extremely fitting at the time, as Cimarron quickly attracted mountain men, outlaws, trappers, gold seekers, traders, and cowboys. There were some shooting escapades at the Maxwell House in the bar and gambling rooms, but the participants were quickly kicked out, as Maxwell would not tolerate these activities. Old registers included several prominent names, including Kit Carson, Clay Allison, Davy Crockett (the desperado and nephew of American frontiersman Davy Crockett), and Buffalo Bill Cody. His mansion was said to have had high, molded ceilings, deeply piled carpets, velvet drapes, paintings in gold frames, and four pianos - two for each floor. The Maxwell House was not only his home but a place of business that included a hotel, gambling rooms, a saloon, a dance hall, a billiard parlor, and a designated area for women of “special virtue.” In 1858, Maxwell built a mansion in Cimarron that was as large as a city block. Maxwell was a shrewd and lucky businessman, and in 1857, he bought Miranda’s interest in the grant and continued to develop the area. His work often brought him to the Beaubien-Miranda Ranch, where he met and married one of Beaubien’s six daughters – Luz, in 1842. Maxwell, a fur trapper from Illinois, came to the area, working as a guide. Established within an almost two million acre land grant, Cimarron, New Mexico, was built upon what was originally the Beaubien-Miranda Land Grant. In 1842 Lucien B.
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