Story of History of Otero County

Monroe and Edith Brantley

1950

                       Early Otero County Settlers
                       Monroe and Edith Brantley
                           submitted by Virginia
Monroe Brantley's family came from Texas in the early 1800's and settled in one of the canyons near Mayhill with their livestock and farming equipment, April 30, 1889. Monroe was born in the family home. He was somewhere in the middle of a typical family group of around ten brothers and sisters.
Survivors of the era, in the place, pretty much came with the hair and horns on, very much able to take care of whatever came. The Mescalero Apaches had returned to their reservation ten miles to the north in 1878. Contact between the two cultures was edgy at best and violent at worst. Oliver Lee held sway in the Sacramento Mountains and out of the flats. Rumors of a railroad from El Paso to White Oaks were constantly coming and going.
Monroe Brantley managed to grow up without developing the rough and exterior or devious methods of dealing so common to the human race. He was firm, gentle, and fair in business and personal life.
Edith Allen was born in Crosby County, Texas, March 5, 1898. Her family came to New Mexico in 1901 and settled near Weed, N. M. in Allen canyon (named for them).
At this time education was secondary to survival. School attendance was sporadic, if there was a school building and money to pay a teacher. Few students went beyond the eighth grade. School buildings were usually built with donated  labor and material. They became the heart of community functions, from dances to elections. The teacher boarded with which ever family in the area had a spare room, and rode a horse to school as did the kids. Salary was $30.00 a month and board. The horse was usually furnished also.
In 1897, Charles Eddy started construction on the long rumored railroad from El Paso. In January 1898 it crossed the New Mexico line and completely depended the economy and hand to mouth existence of the locals. Land and water right sold in amounts beyond the owners wildest dreams. As usual politics and greed got both feet in the door and them as had got more and them as didn't get less or nothing. Otero County was created from parts of Dona Ana and Lincoln Counties in 1899. As part of the enticement to become a new county, it was named for the governor, Miguel Otero.
Monroe and Edith were married April 15, 1915 in the bride's home in Allen Canyon. Their wedding trip was by horse drawn buggy through Weed and Mayhill to the Forest Service Lookout Tower where he was a fire lookout. Edith's sparkplug personality was turned to make wherever they lived as comfortable, and lively a place with good food and laughter. She could run down, catch, dress, and fry a chicken, make potato salad and a pan of brownies and be the first one out the door for a picnic. (Picture of Brantley homestead)
In 1920 Monroe and Edith became owners of property in Mayhill. This consisted of a store building and furnishings, land and stock. They bought it from J. E. C. Bell and Charles Bell. Monroe was appointed post master and a portion of the building was sectioned off to be the post office. As business demands made if feasible they added a gas station, cafe, hotel and a small tourist court.
Monroe constantly labored to make and improve roads throughout the mountains. Mail delivery was one point of leverage. Local businesses needed passable roads to get to market. Logging truck farming and hauling livestock were the majority of the local businesses. Tourism was beginning to become a source of income. Many people from Roswell, Artesia, Carlsbad and El Paso came to the mountains to escape summer heat.  The locals needed passable roads for medical emergencies, to free them from forced patronage at the company store and to widen their horizons in general. Getting out in the morning before the road thawed and waiting until it froze again before coming home didn't leave much room for independence.
 A railroad had been built from Alamogordo to Cloudcroft and back to the log camps at Marcia and the Sacramento River. Basically it accommodated the logging industry but, depending on the engineer's mood, others could hitch a ride. Mayhill people usually went to Artesia, Carlsbad, and Roswell to trade. Those from the upper mountains and Cloudcroft went to Alamogordo. Reliable roads were essential.
In the early 1930's the original wooden building of the Brantley's was torn down and replaced with the current building of river rock, ranging from a grapefruit to a bowling ball size. (See pictures below) They were hauled to the site by horse and wagons and by trucks. This was during the depression and many local people worked on it. The rock mason was John Wake and the finish carpenter was Will Buckner.
During the 1920's the Brantley family had grown by three daughters--Perrene, Hazel, and Lylah (Billye). A portion of the new building was the family residence. The weddings of Perrine and Hazel were held there in the living room.
Electricity had not arrived in rural New Mexico. Gasoline lanterns and coal oil lamps furnished light, sort of ,wood furnished heat and the wind furnished cooling. All community doin's were held at the school house, from church to fund raisers such as box suppers and pie suppers and school programs. the lamps and lanterns were kept at Brantley's store where they were cleaned and wicks trimmed and filled with fuel. When an activity was coming up, the Brantley's and neighbors gathered up the lighting and headed for the school house. No one ever missed a community gathering unless they were critically ill or too far away to get there and back home before daylight. The lanterns were brightest when pumped up as they operated on pressure. During the evening, they would sputter and dim and someone would pump them up again. Sometimes several times a night.
The hotel and store had their own Delco electric plant. This made it possible to have a refrigerator and lights in the main building. For people used to coal oil lamps, the light was blinding.
Around 1938, Monroe and son-in-law Roy Kemper designed ,assembled and installed a hydroelectric plant in the Penasco River near the Posey house. It furnished electricity to the Brantley buildings. What an adventure. People would be checking in to the hotel or eating in the restaurant and the lights would dim or go out completely. A family member would grab the car and keys and sprint for the door. Arriving at the turbine, the lucky member would wade  in and start cleaning the trash and debris from the screens to allow free flowing water to keep the turbine turning. Depending on the season this might have to be done every few hours.
In 1940's brought the R. E. A. Rural Electric Association.  What a prize. Men bought welders and lots of man things, women got irons, freezers, sewing machines, hair dryers, refrigerators and many more luxuries they had never seen before, the sky was the limit. In 1944 Monroe and Edith sold their Mayhill holdings and moved back to the land. They  had a farm/ranch operation at Hope, New Mexico and later a fruit orchard and livestock farm over on the Rio Hondo near Ruidoso, New Mexico and Glencoe, New Mexico.
In 1953 Monroe died. Edith moved to Carlsbad and continued the business, operating a tourist court The Camino Courts in Carlsbad. In 1982 she retired and moved to Lake View 'retirement Center in Carlsbad, New Mexico. She continued her active life in oil painting and ceramics and other crafts. She was a member of the Lake View Church of Christ,  and Historical Society in Cloudcroft. She was honored in 1985 as a pioneer. She died March 4, 1991 and is buried beside Monroe in Mayhill cemetery on top  of the hill. So ends an era. From horses to jets. From wood stoves to microwaves. They saw it all.
 
Addition to story: This is my Aunt and Uncle and I can remember lots of stories about them and the mountain people will tell you that had it not been for The Monroe Brantley's they would probably have starved.  They were very caring people and would trade you anything or work you to see that you had food on the table. I hunted with them lots of times and Uncle Monroe always killed a deer. Lots of memories here for me, and my family and especially my Mother and Dad. Raymond and Thelma Samford.
 
Submitted by Virginia Stanbrough and retyped from story by Billye Brantley their daughter.

Here are pictures of the Mayhill Store:

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