Living a Pioneer Childhood
I think my mother, Arminta Gordon met my dad, Ether Wellington Richins, in Red Rock, New Mexico. They may actually have met in Virden, New Mexico, because I remember my mother talking about traveling to Virden for a church meeting and I believe her mother, my grandmother, Alice Gordon was going to a church meeting (probably Baptist) in Red Rock. The river was up so high she couldn’t cross it, so she went to the Mormon church with my Grandpa Horace Gordon and my mom. Grandma Alice Gordon converted soon thereafter, and joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Ether and Arminta were married in Thatcher, Arizona February 26, 1924. (I think they were married by President Spencer W. Kimball’s father.) I believe they were sealed in the Mesa Arizona Temple in May 1928. They had three children: Ether Wellington, Jr. (Billy), born February 3, 1925; Alice Orene, born November 26, 1928; and me, Rachel Lorraine, September 16, 1930. From the three children were born 21 grandchildren.
My father told us about some of his childhood. He was the next to youngest of Orson Oriel & Rachel Richins. He was was born in Colonia Diaz, Chihuahua, Mexico on October 14, 1902. They were run out of Mexico in 1912 by the “Red Flaggers” (Mexican revolutionaries that were associated with Pancho Villa) when he was about 9 years old. His family fled to the United States, entering at the Corner Ranch in southwestern New Mexico.
He got his early start as a pioneer when the family started a homestead in the Hatchet Valley south of Hachita, New Mexico after fleeing the Red Flaggers. The homestead was about three miles west of the Mexican border. Father said he always carried a rifle when he was sent out to do chores, or travel on horseback or in a wagon . The bandits were always a threat. Shortly after their arrival in the United States, my dad climbed a small hill behind a ranch house and found some pretty flowers he wanted to pick for his mother. They were the cactus blossoms. He gathered them into his shirt and carried them down the hill to give to his mother. He said there were many mothers assisting Grandma Richins in removing all the cactus thorns from him.
Father was sent to school on the Corner Ranch and traveled there by wagon or horseback. The school was right on the international border. There were 17 pupils in classes from the first through the eighth grades. He later was boarded with the teacher, Elmer Johnson, and his wife and two children. He spent one year in that school before his mother, and the children, moved to Hachita, New Mexico. Grandpa Richins (Orson Oriel), and his oldest son Orson remained on the farm.
Grandpa & Grandma Richins (Rachel) were very devout Mormons, and they took the family to church every Sunday. This required a trip of about 20 miles each way. It took 2½ to 3 hours to drive the distance in a light wagon. They had a cover for the wagon for stormy weather. Church began at 10:00 A.M., which required them to leave their home by 7 A.M. They later bought a Model T Ford and could get there in an hour. They did not have a spare tire so they carried a hand pump and patching material in case of a flat.
A drought finally drove the family from the farm. Grandpa Richins sold out to the Hatchet Cattle Company. They moved to Virden and bought a farm where water was available from the Gila River. Many of their friends from Mexico had already settled in the Virden valley.
Ether was always interested in mechanics. He was also very curious. Aunt Ena Mitchel told us about the time he found a watch (either belonging to a guest or his big brother, Orson) on the dresser and he literally wanted to see what made it tick. He took it apart and put it back together again. I think he was in big trouble. Aunt Ena was really worried for her brother, because I think she was his lookout. She kept telling him he was really going to get into trouble. I do not know if there were any consequences.
Depression & World War II
My father was very mechanical. He could build, rebuild, or repair anything. Aunt Ena would take her car to him and ask him to put his hand on it because it wasn’t running right. He later had his own mechanic shop in Lordsburg in the early 1930’s, and for another period of time after WWII in the 1940’s. Daddy, Uncle Babe Bowers, and O.J. Richins (Uncle Orson’s oldest) were involved in this venture . It was very successful. When this partnership ended, Daddy and his brother, Orson and his son, Darrow partnered in yet another undertaking— opening up the Animas Valley for farming. This was my dad’s “heart’s desire” – he seemed to be driven to pioneer & develop the land.
I think my parents lived a few years in Virden, New Mexico early in their marriage, and owned the house next door to Grandma Richins. This would be in the late 1920’s. Later they moved to Lordsburg, New mexico where Daddy built the house we lived in for many years on Shakespeare Street. I recall that he ran the projection machine at the theater in Lordsburg (probably a second job) while he had his mechanic shop. That was during the depression era.
I believe we lived in Silver City, New Mexico for a brief time in 1934. We lived in a place called Cottage Sands, and later in Silver City proper. I think Aunt Mae & Uncle Babe Bower may have been living there as well. I suppose Daddy was in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), but I don’t really remember. We returned to Lordsburg and lived there until we moved to El Paso around 1936. I remember being baptized in El Paso in 1938, so we were there about 4 years. My dad and Uncle Babe were in the Motor Vehicle maintenance at Ft. Bliss (CCC). I think it was around 1939 or 1940 when we moved back to Lordsburg.
World War II
WWII broke out in 1941, and the Department of Defense built an installation about three miles out of Lordsburg for holding prisoners of war (POWs) and housing a complement of military personnel. The installation needed barracks for the soldiers with a commissary, PX, and a theatre. They needed electricians, plumbers, and carpenters to build the camp. Daddy applied for a job as an electrician, but did not have an electrician’s license. No problem for him—he went to Las Cruces and took the electrician’s test and got his license. He worked there until the jobs played out.
Sometime during his employment at the POW camp, my dad and Uncle Charlie Walters (Aunt Ena’s husband) went into the mining business. With the war going on, the ore that was mined at the Walrich mine (“Wal” for Walters & “rich” for Richins) was vital to the war effort. They built a small mill that processed the ore before shipping it to El Paso. It was really an interesting process. The ore was first crushed by a large ball mill (which was bought in the Silver City mining area and hauled down to the mine). Once they got the ball mill set into place, I remember Aunt Ena, Uncle Charlie, Mother and Daddy inside this huge (ball mill) rock crusher, chipping out all the pieces of gold embedded in it. They removed enough gold from it to pay for the ball mill.
After being crushed, the ore was filtered through several processes of floatation machines and classifiers to separate the different ores: lead, copper, zinc, silver, gold, etc. As little kids it was a neat place to go and see all the different procedures. During this time my brother Billy was in the Army Air Corps, as were all the young men at that time. The mine contributed to the war effort, whih allowed them to receive a “C” ration for gasoline, a commodity that was rationed. Most people received an “A” sticker on their vehicle. I don’t remember how much gas you were entitled to, but it was not very much. However, I remember that with the 3 large trucks that the mine owned, and the amount of gas we were allotted, we seemed to fare better than most. There were many things that were rationed, and everyone had to be very conservative during the war. Some restricted items I remember, other than gas, were shoes, sugar, tires, and meat. You couldn’t even buy cars at that time.
Farming in Animas and Rodeo, NM
Uncle Charlie died of a heart attack, and the mine was leased out in 1946. In 1947 Daddy, Uncle Orson and Darrow, Uncle Orson’s son, went into a new farming venture at Animas, New Mexico. I had left for school at Brigham Young University, and Daddy was living in Lordsburg. I learned about his new venture while I was at school. It was somewhat of a surprise to me, but then again it wasn’t really, as we all knew Daddy had a strong urge to pioneer and develop land—always trying new ventures. They bought some old barracks from the now deserted POW camp east of Lordsburg, and made their houses out of them.
I know that a well for irrigation was drilled that had a good supply of water (2,200 gallons a minute), which was pretty awesome. It was the first irrigation well in that area and this started a new booming farming development. The Richins had about 900 acres in farmland and five sections of Taylor grazing land. Western Cotton Oil came into the valley, erected a gin, and before the 1948 season was over there were over 9,000 acres of cotton in the valley, with more farmers moving in.
Daddy sold his interest in the farm to Uncle Orson & Darrow and moved on west about 15 miles. That was the first of the three valleys he developed and pioneered. He later bought undeveloped land in the Rodeo area of the San Simon Valley (Cienega area), about 12 miles north of Rodeo, New Mexico, and put down three wells where all three of his kids and their spouses and children built homes. We farmed and helped develop the land also. I guess he felt his kids should share that “good ‘ole pioneer spirit” like he did. This opened up the area, and other farmers moved in. Eventually 10,000 acres on the eastern slope of the Chiricuahua Mountains were developed for cotton, milo-maize, corn and alfalfa. When that property was sold four years later, he turned his attention to developing land about 14 miles southeast of Lordsburg in the Muir Ranch area. He drilled two wells and developed about 200 acres. Farming in that area spread to 12,000 acres as more farmers moved in.
An Example To Us All
My father served faithfully in may leadership positions in the church. He also served two terms as a Hidalgo County Commissioner, and later served as a Municipal Judge. While serving as County Commissioner, on one of his trips to Santa Fe, he found land east of Lordsburg (what is now called the Pyramid Valley) that could be homesteaded. He was instrumental in developing that valley.
Daddy was a hard worker, as were all his brothers and sisters. A work ethic was certainly instilled by their parents and grandparents. He was a loving husband, father, and grandfather and a righteous man. He and Mother taught us honesty, integrity, a love of God and our Country, and like him, a good work ethic. He led us in our daily prayers and taught us to respect and love our church leaders. His grandchildren adored him and he was always a great example for them. He was a busy, hard working man, but he always had time for teaching moments in daily life and in spiritual needs.
He had a tremendous influence on those he came in contact with and he and my mother were instrumental in many of their friends’ conversion to the church. We always had company drop in and they were always invited to dinner and spend the night. They gave up their bed, after changing the sheets, and they would retire to another bed, sometimes the sofa. That always amazed me that they insisted giving up their bed. The same with the meals, regardless of how much we had or didn’t have, they were always fed a good meal.
Near the close of Father’s sojourn on earth, Aunt Ena and Mother rushed him to El Paso to the hospital. He had severe heart problems. After he was admitted, Aunt Ena & Mother came to our home in El Paso and Aunt Ena said, “We will never bring him home.” That was rather distressing to us because we certainly didn’t want to lose him. Aunt Ena told us the reason he wasn’t coming home: while waiting in the hospital room, my dad said to her “Ireta is here with us, she is sitting in that chair.” Of course this bothered Aunt Ena, because Ireta died many years ago, and Aunt Ena knew she was there to take him home.
Ether Wellington Richins died in El Paso, Texas January 21, 1973. He lived a long and fruitful life, leaving a great and fascinating legacy. It would take a giant of a man to follow his footsteps.