“Because he was in the free air:” The Gomez Family and the AT&SF

Posted on by hchm-curator

by Kristine Schmucker, HCHM Curator

Note:    For the month of May we are focusing on the people behind the trails, rails and buildings that form the foundation of our community. For this post, I am indebted the Newton Public Library oral history project from 1977. On May 3, 1977, A. W. Holt interviewed Antonio Gomez about  his experiences as a child in Mexico, the trip to Kansas and what it was like for his father working on the railroad and later for Antonio himself.  Antonio was 10 when his family came to Kansas as one of the first Mexican American families to settle permanently in Newton, Ks. The transcript for the interview, along with several others, is available at the Newton Public Library, Newton, Ks.
As much as possible, I let Antonio tell his story.

Coming to Newton

In 1905, 10 year old Antonio Gomez boarded a train with his family and started the long journey that would change his life. To get to Walton Kansas, from Villa Obergon in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, the family first went by “three cars and the express in a small engine.” At El Paso, TX, they boarded the train that would take them to Kansas. Antonio later recalled the journey noting, “I came here with my father and my stepmother in 1905.”

Antonio described his impressions of Newton.

 “There was not any pavement when I came here on Main Street, and I remember how . . . when they passed the track, those horses, cars of horses and horses left much mud, all that. Then they brought a man with a little car cleaning all that the horses had thrown, the earth and all in that.”  He also recalled that the buildings were “littler . . .and then some  . . . were completely redone . . renovated from little to bigger.”

The Gomez family was comfortable in Villa Obergon, where the elder Gomez was a butcher and Antonio was able to attend six months of school. Antonio’s mother, Nicolasa (Varrientos) Gomez died, and his father remarried. Mostly life was normal.  Despite this, Margarito must have felt there were more opportunities for his young family in the United States.

Unlike many other Mexican men that worked for the Santa Fe Railroad in the early 1900s, Margarito did not want to work seasonally. Traditionally, the laborers would go to the US to work for the railroad during the summer months to earn money and return to Mexico for the winter.   Margarito, however,  was of the mind that if he was going to go work in the United States, the family would go with him and stay. The family, which included Margarito, his 2nd wife, Antonio and a sister, came to Kansas.

“Because He was in the Free Air”: Margarieto Gomez

Margarieto found work with the railroad that summer, but, because he wanted to stay past the summer season,  he was forced to move to Wichita to find construction work. The family moved to Wichita.  They lived in a tent all winter and a very cold March. In a 1908 report, March 1906 was recorded as the coldest March in the middle Plains in 40 years.  In May, they returned to Newton.

Section Crew, ca 1900.

Gomez recalled one other time the family had to move for his father’s work. They spent eight months in Herrington, Ks, while Margarieto worked for the railroad.  Ultimately, Margarieto found regular year round work with the Santa Fe Railroad in Newton at the roundhouse and the Gomez family able to put down roots. At that time, he was paid ten cents for ten hours of work.  Eventually, the elder Gomez changed to section track work, which he enjoyed more “because he was in the free air.” 

Unidentified Section Workers

Track men or section workers lived along and maintained a six to eight mile section of the railroad.  Most of their responsibilities included reinforcing weak railbeds, tapping down loose pins, and clearing debris from the track and the area around it. They worked six days a week for ten hours. Typical pay was  $1.10 to $1.25 a day.

Marshall, photos. Section workers on the job. Photo is not taken in Kansas, but illustrates the type of labor these men did.

Margarieto also kept in contact with his family in Mexico. His name frequently appears in the newspaper under the section “Advertised Letters” indicating he had mail to pick up.

Margarieto Gomez, husband, father, adventurer, dedicated employee worked until December 1915 when he died at the age of  49 years old.

Evening Kansan Republican, December 1, 1915

Margarieto’s second wife died from influenza in 1918, and 23 year old Antonio remained with the recently orphaned children “two little girls (chamaquitas) and two boys (chamacos), they were four.  One year later, their grandparents in Mexico sent for the children to live with them.

Beginning a family: Antonio and Yrene Gomez

Shortly after the children went back to live with their grandparents, Antonio married Yrene (also spelled Irene) Pedrosa. The couple had six sons and two daughters.

Evening Kansan Republican, 23 May 1919

“I began to work about the age of sixteen:” Antonio Gomez

Antonio Gomez  went to work for the AT&SF at the age of sixteen. He recalled that they did not want to give him a job, “but, always my father signed, and they gave me work.” Antonio worked in the roundhouse and described his responsibilities.

“The roundhouse had thirty-seven housings where they enter the engines. . . and extinguish the fire. Then there was one [person] that changed the water and washed  and flushed them. I worked there when I was very young. Then, one put all the flushers in, return position and we filled them with water and then there was a  man who started the fire and then they began to have steam and leave, with the steam on the outside.

I began to work releasing the steam from the engines, filled on return with water. . . .that was my first work I did there. Then I was working with the boilers for six month and stoked the boilers to give steam for the roundhouse and to the depot. . . from there I changed to the coal chute. There was in the coal chute . . . sand and coal for the machines. . . well I remained working all those years from ’15 to ’64.”

“It was not necessary to amputate the leg”

The railroad was a dangerous place to work. Although Dioniso Gomez may or may not be connected to the Antonio Gomez family,  his story illustrates the dangers faced daily by these men. Due to a mishap with some of the cars, his leg was crushed. The brief announcement in the paper concluded with “It was not necessary to amputate the leg as some supposed.”

Evening Kansan Republican, 28 March 1910.

Luckily, Antonio Gomez seems to have escaped serious injuries in his work. The loss of fingers from coupling cars or any other dangers working with the big engines was a constant concern.

“I worked continuously”

Antonio Gomez worked for the railroad from 1915 to 1964 or as he put it “I worked continuously without leaving . . . thirty-four years.” He was one of the first Mexican American children to come and live permanently in Newton, Ks. With only six months of school, he did not know how to read and write, but he learned. Largely self taught, he did recall a man who him taught the basics of reading and writing. The rest he learned by reading newspapers and books.

Antonio B. Gomez died April 11, 1983.  He is buried in St. Mary’s Cemetery.

 

Marshall, photos.

Sources:

  • Gomez, Antonio interviewed by A.W. Holt, 3 May 1977. Newton Public Library, Newton, Ks. Call Number K K687.292
  • The Yearbook of Agriculture. U.S. Government Printing Office, 1909. Google Books.
  • Ducker, James H. Men of the Steel Rails: Workers on the Atchinson, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad 1869-1900. University of Nebraska Press, 1983.
  • Marshall, James. Santa Fe: the Railroad that Built and Empire. New York: Random House, 1948.

One of His Most Notable Achievements: The Black Beaver/Col. W.H. Emory Trail

Posted on by hchm-curator

by Kristine Schmucker. HCHM Curator

We continue with our focus on Historic Preservation and the people who established the trails, built the buildings, laid the railroad tracks and were pioneers in health care.

The Black Beaver/Col. W.H. Emory Trail

When asked to name a trail in Harvey County, most people immediately think of the Chisholm Trail. However, even the Chisholm Trail followed an older trail through Harvey County, the Black Beaver/Col. Emory Trail. The story behind the trail is part of  Kansas’ story at the very start of the Civil War. In 1861,  out of necessity a trail was created by two men, Black Beaver and Col. William Emory through the heart of what would become Harvey County.

Trail Blazers

Black Beaver: “Guide & Interpreter” 

Black Beaver, born in Belleville, Ill, 1806.

Black Beaver, the son of a Delaware chief known as Capt Patterson, was an experienced guide in 1861. Described as an unassuming man with a “roving disposition,” Black Beaver was frequently used as an interpreter and guide. In 1840,  Black Beaver served as a guide for an expedition organized by famed naturalist John Audubon. Throughout the 1830s, 40s and 50s, he worked for the American Fur Company as a scout and guide. He spoke eight Native American languages and was fluent in sign language in  addition to English, French, and Spanish.

One expedition led by Black Beaver as guide and interpreter included his friend Jesse Chisholm. The two men were guides for Col. Henry Dodge to the main village of the Wichita on North Fork of the Red River in the summer of 1834. During the Mexican/American war, “Captain Black Beaver” led a group of Indian scouts and American expeditionary forces.

Black Beaver was well respected and known for his truthfulness and honest dealings with everyone he met from military officers to the “wild Indians of the plains.”

Col. William H. Emory “Map Maker”

Called “Bold Emory” by his West Point 1831 graduating class, William H. Emory was born in Anne’s City, Maryland.  Although he was involved in the military in many ways, Col. Emory was best known for his mapmaking skills.  Early in his career, he surveyed harbors and the Delaware River. He was commissioned as a surveyor by the president to establish the Gadsden Purchase boundaries. By the start of the Civil War, due to his mapmaking skills with attention to detail and accuracy, Col. Emory was considered the authority of the trans-Mississippi west.

The Challenge – April 1861

In 1861, Col. William H. Emory was in a vulnerable position.  Tensions were high between southerners or secessionists and the Union north. Stationed at Fort Washita in Indian Territory, Emory, a Federal officer, was surrounded by secessionist states. In April 1861, he was forced to evacuate his troops after receiving reports of the advance of Confederate troops from Arkansas and Texas.  At Fort Cobb, Emory was able to move against a Confederate advance guard  under the leadership of William W. Averell. Emory was successful in part due to an advance warning from a Delaware scout, trader and rancher, Black Beaver. With the information provided by Black Beaver,  Emory was able to capture the first prisoners of the Civil War.

Following the battle, Col. Emory was responsible for “the largest concentration of federal troops in Indian Territory” which included:

“eleven companies, 750 fighting men, 150 women, children, teamsters and other non-combatants. . . about eighty wagons with about six hundred horses and mules.”

The challenge? To get to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas safely with his troops and the captured prisoners.  He needed to navigate through miles of open, uncharted prairie and territory occupied by Confederates and Indians.

Emory needed a knowledgeable guide. He turned to his friend, Black Beaver.

The Trail: “Without Map or Chart”

At the opening of the Civil War, Black Beaver, now in his 50s, was focused on ranching. However, Col.  Emory “appealed to Black Beaver as a guide in an effort to extricate . . . the garrisons.”  Black Beaver was reluctant to leave his successful farm with “considerable stock” a few miles from Ft Cobb. He feared without his presence, the farm would “fall into the hands of the enemy and be lost to him.” Emory promised “the government would fully recompense him for any losses.” So, he agreed.

Years later Black Beaver would note that

“one of his most notable achievements was that of piloting the garrisons of abandoned federal military posts in the Indian Territory out of the country to Fort Leavenworth, Ks at the outbreak of the Civil War.” 

They traveled over “300 miles, more than two thrids (sic) of which was a trackless wilderness, but Black Beaver was not at a loss.  . . .Without map or chart, straight as the crow flies, he laid his course and men still travel the route.” to Ft Leavenworth, Kansas.

Upon arriving at Leavenworth, Col. Emory noted everyone was in “good condition, not a man, an animal, an arm, or wagon . . .lost except two deserters.”

Black Beaver’s trail goes directly through present day Newton and Harvey County.

Where did the Trail go?

Ancient Native American Trails have been discovered all over the city of Newton. One runs just west of Main from 1st street to 10th street where it joins another trail leading to a spot near Sand Creek where several trails come together.  Other trails meet at a spot where the Ash Street Bridge is located today. Most of these trails remain unnamed or indicated on maps a “Indian Trail.”

The Black Beaver/Col. Emory Trail was a significant  north/south route through Sedgwick, Harvey and Marion Counties and pre-dates the Chisholm Trail. In fact, Black Beaver would later suggest this route to his friend Jesse Chisholm.

The Route In Harvey County

The trail enters Harvey County on S. Anderson Rd. Brian Stucky discovered a unique trail pattern while researching.  He identified seven pairs of wagon tracks sandwiched between two sets of Indian trails suggesting military wagons and equipment.

Detail of Black Beaver Trail through Newton, Ks. Courtesy Brian Stucky.

The main branch enters Newton south of the Newton Medical Center and crosses Walmart parking lot and interstate going north. There is a slight turn east near the Newton Country Club and continues north  past St. Mary’s and Greenwood Cemetery and Chisholm Middle School, continues north along Duncan street over 12th street  to Centennial Park.

The trail exits Harvey County at Spencer Rd and the Marion County line. This matches the historic documentation of the Black Beaver/Col Emory Trail.

Black Beaver/Col. Emory Trail through Harvey County

After the successful venture each man went on with their lives. Col. William Emory devoted 45 years to the military of the United States and died on December 1, 1887, in Washington, D.C.

Black Beaver returned to his ranch and discovered his fears had come true. “Turned His Face Toward Home” tells the rest of Black Beaver’s story.

A previous version of this post, “A Roving Disposition: Black Beaver” was published on December 20, 2019.

Sources

  • Thank you to Brian Stucky for the Pioneer Trails in the Newton Area Maps, 2013 and the related written guide. The maps, created by Brian Stucky, of the trails in Harvey County are available to study at the HCHM Archives, Newton, Ks.
  • Wichita Daily Eagle 17 September 1922. Written by Joseph B. Thoburn.
  • Pioneer & Indian Trails Map, Brian Stucky, HCHM Archives
  • Thoburn, Joseph Bradfield. A Standard History of Oklahoma: An Authentic Narrative of Its …, Volume 1.  The American Historical Society, 1916. Accessed via google books, p. 278-279.
  • Warde, Mary Jane. When the Wolf Came: The Civil War and the Indian Territory. University of Arkansas Press, 2013. Accessed via google books, p. 50-51.

Fred Harvey Farm

Posted on by hchm-curator

May is Historic Preservation Month! Our focus this month is the stories of of the people behind the buildings.  The demolition of the Fred Harvey Building on West First reminded me of my own family’s connection to the building – my great uncle was one of the many people from the Newton community that spent his working life in that building.

“Building to the left: Fred Harvey Produce and Carbonating Plant. Open area between the two buildings once contained the warehouse and refrigeration plant. Building to the right (south): Fred Harvey Dairy. – Mike Hurley.”

The Fred Harvey Building – North

Thanks to the meticulous research of L.M. ‘Mike’ Hurley, we know details that otherwise may have been lost about the operations of the Fred Harvey Farm.  In 1905, Fred Harvey moved his operations from Kansas City, Mo. to the east bank of Sand Creek, Newton, Ks. The three story building, known as the north building, was built in 1918. The whole area was the Fred Harvey Farm, complete with a dairy, poultry, produce and processing plants, provided food for the Fred Harvey restaurants and dining on the Santa Fe cars.

North Building, built in 1918. Photo taken in 1922.

Hurley described the layout of the north building. The third floor housed the poultry.  The many windows allowed for ventilation and sunshine.

3rd floor Interior, 1922

According to Hurley, the first floor was used only for killing the poultry with the only entrance on the west.

The second floor of the building was divided into two sections. The north section dealt with the processing of the poultry and divided into offices on the north and the south, where the poultry was dressed and chilled before packing.

“Inside Fred Harvey Produce Building, Newton, Kansas. John Howard, buyer for Fred Harvey, inspecting and grading a rack of fowl in the chill room. Santa Fe Magazine. September 1954.”

Fred Harvey Coca-Cola

The south section of the second floor contained the carbonating plant, both the offices and the bottling, for the Fred Harvey brand of cola, root beer, club soda, ginger ale and fruit-flavored soft drinks.  In 1914, the Coca-Cola Company allowed Fred Harvey to bottle Coca-Cola. Newton, Ks was on of the few  places where Coca-Cola was bottled  under a franchised issued by the company.

Fred Harvey Coca-Cola bottled in Newton, Ks.

The Coke bottled at the Fred Harvey carbonating plant held high standards. Coca-Cola ran ran tests every six months to insure that standards were maintained.  Everything produced at the Fred Harvey Farm was served exclusively at Fred Harvey dining facilities, news stands and aboard Santa Fe dining cars.

“Inside Carbonating Plant,”  Santa Fe Magazine, September 1954.

My great Uncle Ted Reimer worked for many years for Fred Harvey Enterprises in the carbonating plant.   In 1954, he was the assistant manager, and pictured above on the right.  Warren Boese  is on the left. By the time, I got to know Uncle Ted, he was retired and all about fishing and teaching the great nieces and nephews to play pool.  One thing was clear though, he had a sense of pride for his work for Fred Harvey Enterprises.

He was one of many who worked to insure that excellence was associated with the Fred Harvey name.

The Fred Harvey Farm was discontinued in 1960. Grover C. ‘Tex’ Owen was the last manager in charge of the farm.

Source

  • Hurley, L.M. ‘Mike’. Newton, Kansas #1 Santa Fe Rail Hub 1871-1971. North Newton: Mennonite Press, 1985. Pages 137-139 specifically describe the Fred Harvey Farm. Information about the physical layout of the interior of the building is possible because of Mike’s research.