by Janie Furman
for the Daily News

    Here is a story for those who enjoy exploring our part of the country and sometimes walk upon something which piques your curosity in an out of the way place. The imagination can create a story to go with the find, but here is a bit of fact revealed.

    Paul Haughey, of Irish decent, lived near an open pit copper mine about four miles south of High Rolls, off West Side Road. It is not recorded how he came to be there, but he left three mining claims with all improvements when he passed away due to heart trouble on Jan. 18, 1931, at the age of 77.

    He also left tools, machinery, his cabin and all material in a hand written will to someone with the initials J.E.C., and to Mr. Charles Bell. He had no known relatives at that time.

    Bell paid Leadinhouse Funeral Home $50 for a coffin and friends pulled the coffin on a sled, towed by a horse, four miles up West Side Road. The trip took all day since the road did not look like it does today and was probably covered with ice and snow.  Haughey was buried where he asked to be laid to rest. After expenses there was no money left, and his will was filed at the Otero County Courthouse.

    The grave was dug just east of his home at the foot of a pinon tree on a knoll. From there one can look across the Fresnal Canyon at the mountains and see "Old Baldy" with its snow capped peak. What a beautiful spot!

    In October 1932, someone in this area received a letter from a Mr. James F. Haughey of New York, stating he was a nephew and wanting information about his uncle. Apparently the letter was answered and the nephew satisfied with the outcome.

    Russell Friesen, Mike Jones, Randy Ryan, and Renetta Friesen located the grave site in 1992 very near the small open pit Courtney Mines in the Lincoln Nation Forest. As they looked about them they understood why the man had wanted his grave in this spot. New Mexico's lofty peaks and shimmering basin, the best of both worlds, were visible at a neck's turning.

     Friends had put a fence around the grave, but it was lying on the ground and the posts had either fallen over or rotted away.

     If you decide to explore Haughey's landscape you will have to walk about a fourth of a mile off the road to the left. I understand there was a large metal gate across the path at one time. This also leads to a water hole locals call "the pig tank." My husband and I tried to find the grave, as I wanted a picture to accompany this article. We didn't find the exact spot, but we climbed enough knolls to appreciate the view. you will want a zoom lens on your camera.

    My thanks to Mrs. Friesen for this story and an armload of historical documents she allowed me to borrow. You can find lots of information such as this at the Tularosa Basin Historical Museum on White Sands Boulevard Monday through Friday, after 10 a.m. Bring your out-of-towners and show off our past.

["Alamogordo Daily News", Saturday, October 28, 2001, page 5A - Submitted by Virginia Stanbrough]

---

BACK -- HOME


Copyright © Genealogy Trails