Chloride, New Mexico - Center of the Apache Mining District

NEW MEXICO LEGENDS

Chloride – Center of the Apache

Mining District

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About 40 miles northwest of Truth or Truth or Consequences, New Mexico is the former mining boom town of Chloride. When a mule skinner, freighter and veteran prospector, Harry Pye discovered silver float in the Black Range Mountains in 1879, it would spawn one of New Mexico's biggest mining rushes.

It was when Pye was delivering freight for the Army from Hillsboro to Camp Ojo Caliente that he discovered the silver in the canyon where Chloride would be born. When he had the sample assayed, he was thrilled to learn that it was high-grade "chloride of silver," a term for which the town would later take its name. After completing his freight contract, he returned to the canyon with a few other prospectors and found the “Mother Lode,” which was called the “Pye Lode.”

Though this false front building probably served various purposes in its lifetime, at one time it also held the post

office, February, 2008, Kathy Weiser.

This image available for photographic prints and

downloads HERE!

Immediately a tent city was born with the first log building completed in 1879. But for Harry Pye, he would not live to enjoy his new found fortune. The area was rife with Apaches, who were unhappy with prospectors and settlers invading their lands. Just a few months after Pye found the mother lode, he was confronted by the hostile Indians and when his pistol jammed as he tried to fend them off, he was killed.

By the following year, a tent city filled the entire canyon, the camp boasted seven businesses, including the Pioneer Store, and over 20 substantial houses. The mining camp was first called Pyetown, then Bromide before it took on its permanent name of Chloride.

More prospectors came to the area in January, 1881, setting up camp at the mouth of Chloride Gulch. These 18 prospectors; however, would soon also discover the wrath of the Apache when their camp was attacked, two of the men were killed and their horses and mules run off. The remaining 16 men fled for their lives, but would returned a few months later in March, this time armed to the teeth.

Soon, the men gathered, laid out an “official” town, and lots were distributed in a "lottery" by pulling tickets out of a hat. So starved were the men for the sight of women, they offered an enticement for a free lot to the first woman in the camp.

Though the camp was under constant threat of Indian attacks, which continued until as late as 1887, the new settlement continued to thrive. By June, 1881, Chloride had 8 saloons, 3 general stores, 3 restaurants, a lumberyard, 2 butcher shops, a boarding house, livery stable, post office, a Justice of the Peace, and the Pioneer Stage Line ran through town.

Chloride became the center of mining operations in the Apache Mining District and by 1883 was called home to some 3,000 people. The flourishing mining camp expanded to include a school, a newspaper called the Black Range, lawyers, doctors, a hotel, numerous saloons and at least one brothel over the next several years.

A number of mines were started including the Silver Monument, the largest and most productive mine, as well as the U. S. Treasury, the New Era, the White Mountain, the Wall Street, and several others.

A view above Chloride, David Alexander, February, 2008.

Unlike many mining camps of the American West, Chloride never took on the violent and lawless reputation of many other camps. For the most part, its citizens were quiet and peaceful, its worst threat being that of the fierce Apache. Chloride did; however, have a large tree they called the “Hangin’ Tree,” which continues to stand in the middle of Wall Street. Perhaps it was this “threat” that helped to keep people in line. No one was ever known to have been actually hanged from the tree, but it was often utilized when rowdy or drunken cowboys or miners got out of hand. In those cases, the disorderly man would be dunked in the stock tank and chained to the tree until he came to his senses.

One notable incident during Chloride’s heydays was when a number of town citizens began to receive letters maligning the reputations of several residents in 1886. Soon, a committee was formed to investigate the scandalous letters, which soon pointed to a 65 year-old physician by the name of James Reekie, who had been practicing in Chloride since 1881. Determined to be rid of the offender, a group of some 30 citizens soon dragged Dr. Reekie to the edge of town, where they tarred and feathered him and ordered him out of the camp.

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