Chapter 1

I, James York, was the son of one of the richest, most aristocratic families in England in 1874. Unfortunately for me, I was the second son, and, under the rules of primogeniture, only the first born son could inherit the family estates. On the other hand, I was fortunate that I was well loved, both by parents and siblings, and, since there was plenty of money to go around, I never lacked for any advantage of the high-born of England at that time.

I married well to Catherine Smythe, a younger daughter of a family nearly as wealthy. Catherine was very beautiful and devoted to me. To her, I could easily walk on water any time I wished, and she would have tried to do the same at my merest suggestion—I did not have to order!

My only real problem was my ambition. I could not stand to be a member of the idle rich whose only ambition was to be invited to the next royal soiree. I wanted to make something of myself and to be important to society, not just "high society." I was afflicted with intelligence and drive, neither one of which was doing me any good in my present position.

Catherine and I discussed this at length, so many times that we finally reached the mutual conclusion that the only solution was for us to move far away and start life anew. The question was where? I contacted my many friends with overseas connections and finally reduced the choice to three places: Africa, America, or Australia. India was rejected out of hand, and Africa would mean being part of the colonial establishment, which neither Catherine or I found attractive. Australia was rejected by Catherine, because she couldn't face Christmas in the middle of the summer; admittedly a quirk, but there you were. That left America.

Neither of us wanted Canada because of its reputation for harsh winters, so that left the United States. Many Englishmen of our class were moving to "ranches" in western states or territories, so this sounded attractive. I obtained further information and found that a place called New Mexico Territory had the climate and landscape we were looking for. At this time, much of New Mexico was covered with grassland, with some majestic, snow covered mountains for scenery. Admittedly, there was a native population which was somewhat restive, at times, but the US Army was in control of that situation.

As it happened, there was a large ranch for sale in a place called Otero county, wherever that was, in southern New Mexico. The ranch was developed, with a manor house, housing for the workers, and had numerous cattle and land under cultivation. This sounded ideal for our needs, particularly after the agent for the property made a hard sales effort. Catherine and I, for I always included Catherine in any major decision, decided to purchase this property and move there.

Since I was an avid hunter, and Catherine went on occasion just to be with me, we went in to a famous gun dealer in London to purchase hunting weapons. I bought for myself the usual array of double-barrel shotguns in 10 and 12 gauge, and Catherine was fitted with several single-barrel shotguns in 12, 16 and 20 gauge. It was suggested that we wait until reaching America before buying rifles and pistols, since the sales personnel did not know what to recommend.

We were warned to take plenty of riding clothes, since there were few good roads and it was necessary to go most places by horseback. This thrilled Catherine since she loved horses and riding; I often joked with her that she would never get off her horse except to come to bed, if she had her choice.

We packed carefully, everything including my beloved books. There was so much to cull and so much to pack that it took us months. Finally, we were ready to leave. Both families, en mass, came with us to the dock to see us off, knowing that they would probably never see us again.

It was an arduous, even though first-class, trip across the ocean and then across the United States. The final leg of the journey was, indeed, made on horseback, since Catherine insisted that, at this stage, her pregnancy did not warrant riding in a carriage.

We were both thrilled and impressed when we first saw what was now the York ranch. We had spent the previous night in the hotel in the small (to be generous) town of Julesburg, in order to be fresh when we reached our new home. It had taken most of the morning to make the trip from Julesburg, because the route was winding and nowhere straight, and we were both so enthralled by the sights and smells and sounds of our new home, that we continually had to stop to investigate something new.

Catherine, particularly, was much take with the manor house. It was mostly two-story adobe faced with stucco and had a terracotta roof; a typical Spanish-American style structure. The building had so many rooms that she wondered if she would ever get enough furniture for all of them, forgetting that the house was already furnished with the previous owner's effects.

We had hardly arrived when we were met by a stable-boy who came to look after our horses. When we told him who we were, he let out a loud call which brought the ranch foreman and the housekeeper on the run; Sam Hudson and Juanita Alvarez were introduced. Juanita took us on a tour of the house and Sam went back to the corral where they were training some horses.

Juanita gave us a very thorough tour, which took nearly two hours. We finally retired to the breakfast room where we sat at the table and were served coffee. Catherine and I suddenly realized that we would have to get used to coffee; we were going to have trouble getting tea.

I told Juanita that the wagons with our articles from England would arrive this afternoon and I would leave it to her to find places for them. I said that as far as Catherine and I were concerned, Juanita ran the house, we just lived there. Juanita was relieved to hear that; she had been afraid that she would lose her management responsibilities, which she cherished. I left to find Sam while Catherine and Juanita got to know each other.

I found Sam at the corral and inquired what was going on.

Sam said, "Well, Mr. York, we are training our latest crop of young horses for riding. The previous owners found that raising horses was much more profitable than raising cattle, though we still run some of them because it's expected of a ranch."

I replied, "First of all, Sam, please call me James. 'Mr. York' makes me look around for my father. I know nothing about ranching or raising either horses or cattle. I must depend on you to teach me everything you can, so we can keep the York ranch a going concern."

"OK, James, I'll try to remember." Sam said with a grin. "If you like, I will continue to run the ranch as I have, lately, until you are ready to take over. One thing you do have to decide on is will you change the brand? Right now, we use the Circle L brand, but we can easily register a change, if you want to. I would suggest changing to Circle Y; if you wish, I could have new branding irons made up quickly."

"Ah, Sam, I like the sound of Circle Y. Let's make the change as soon as you can. I assume we can still sell the animals branded Circle L without trouble; can't we."

"Yeah, no problem!"

"On another topic. I understand that some of the ranch is under cultivation. Who is responsible for that?"

"I am ultimately responsible, since I am foreman, but Jesus Alvarez, Jaunita's husband, actually supervises that phase of the ranch. At the moment, that is not a very big part of the ranch operation, but it could easily be increased, since horses don't need nearly the range that cattle do."

"I'll find Jesus later. At the moment, if you are not too pressingly involved in something else, could you start my education in being a ranch owner?"

My first meeting in my new office: "Ah, Jesus, I am pleased to meet you."

"Buenas dias, Mr. York. It is my pleasure to serve you. What can I do for you, now?"

"Well, the first thing is to call me James. Whenever I hear 'Mr. York, ' I look around for my father. Other that that, if you have time, I'd like for you to tell me about your activities and plans with the cultivation here on the ranch."

"Yes, Mr... uh James, I will try to remember. I have time to discuss this with you, now.

"We have a few acres planted in alfalfa and oats for the horses. Other than that, we have nothing but Juanita's large garden for food for the house and the workers. Of course, we can make changes in that to anything you would like."

I said, "I would like to diversify into a full range of food crops which I hope to sell. We could start off with local sales, but, once we have the railroad, we could sell anywhere.

"I think the first thing I need to know is which crops would grow well on our ranch."

Jesus replied, "We have a very sandy soil with a virtually waterproof hardpan close to the surface over most of the ranch. This makes the ground hold the water well when there is a covering crop. We have plenty of water in most places, but I have noticed that it is getting scarce in places that once had plentiful water. I think that we could grow almost anything that you wanted to. The real problem is deciding which to try first."

"In that case, let us make a list of the crops that you could most easily manage on a commercial basis. From that list, we can select one or more to try."

That evening, we had supper in the "breakfast room," really an informal dining room. Catherine and I were joined by Sam, Mary, and Bill Hudson and by Jesus, Juanita, and Carmelita Alvarez. The purpose of this meeting was for us to get to know them and to form real friendships. So far, so good; the supper went well and everyone, including the children, appeared to have an enjoyable time. If the others continue to find it agreeable, Catherine and I hope to make this a regular affair. Catherine and I need to find good friends or we will both go mad; we are both used to a lot of social contact.