Samuel R. Cooper was an early resident of Lea County. He was born near Salina, Kansas in 1874. When he was six years old, his family moved to Erring Springs, in the Chickasaw Nation, Oklahoma Territory, now known as Oklahoma. As a young adult around the age of 21, Mr. Cooper left his family and … Continue reading Samuel Rose Cooper, Early Settler
history
Mescalero Ridge
Mescalero Ridge is a name given to the geological feature that is part of the larger Caprock Escarpment. It begins in eastern Chaves County in New Mexico and runs for fifty miles roughly parallel to the county line of Lea County. Its name comes from the Mescalero Apache tribe who once resided and hunted in … Continue reading Mescalero Ridge
Arkansas Junction
Arkansas Junction is a name given to the intersection of New Mexico highway 483 and US 62-180 (the Hobbs-Carlsbad highway). The location never really rose to the level of a settlement or community, like some others in the county, but most of the time has had businesses there, such as a gas station and a … Continue reading Arkansas Junction
The Joseph Hall Graham Family
Joseph Hall Graham was born May 18, 1848 to Spencer Corp Graham and Nancy Venters Graham in Denton County, Texas. Both of his parents died in the mid to late 1860s. Joseph married Marianne (or Marian) Elizabeth Johnson of Tarrant County, Texas in 1879. The census in 1880 shows them to be living in Young … Continue reading The Joseph Hall Graham Family
The Causey Brothers
The Causey brothers were formerly buffalo hunters. The big lumbering buffalo were hunted in the southwest to the point where they declined from a peak of over 100 million animals to near extinction in only a few decades during the late 1800s. Likely the best known Causey brother went by George Causey, though his given … Continue reading The Causey Brothers
William Rufus Shafter and the Monument
Colonel William R. Shafter (1835-1906) was a United States Army officer in command of so called Buffalo Soldiers of the 24th United States Infantry Regiment in West Texas and the New Mexico Territory. He led troops during the Civil War as a first lieutenant in the 7th Michigan Volunteer Infantry Regiment and for his actions … Continue reading William Rufus Shafter and the Monument
Addison “Add” Jones, Well Known Black Cowboy
Addison "Add" Jones was born a slave in Texas. Much of what we understand about his early life was told by his wife Rosa when she furnished information for his death certificate after he died. He is thought to have been born in Gonzalez County in 1845. Jones worked for many years for George Washington … Continue reading Addison “Add” Jones, Well Known Black Cowboy
J. T. Easley and Lorena Lee Anderson
When this couple married in Post, Texas in the 1920s, the wedding united two families who were early settlers in the area that became Lea County. John Thomas Easley was one of eight children born to Robert Henry Easley (1864 -1928) and Rosa Belle Jones Easley (1873 - 1962). The other children included Minnie, Levie, … Continue reading J. T. Easley and Lorena Lee Anderson
Fire at the Buckeye Gasoline Plant
The Lovington Daily Leader carried this headline in its August 27, 1959 issue, "Intense Blaze Burns Heater at Phillips Buckeye Refinery." We remember being awakened early that morning and told we needed to evacuate the area because the gasoline plant across the road was on fire. Some event had ignited a fire at the Lee … Continue reading Fire at the Buckeye Gasoline Plant
McDonald
McDonald was the name given to the community located about thirteen miles north of Lovington. It was founded around 1912 and given the name of the first state governor of New Mexico, William C. McDonald of Lincoln County, who served in that capacity from 1912 to 1917. It had its own post office from 1912 … Continue reading McDonald
Old Lea County, N.M. 