In 1879 Harry Pye knew that his contract for freighting supplies to
U. S. Army outposts meant daily danger. Bad Apaches lurked
over all southwest New Mexico. That's why there were troops at
numerous forts in the Black Range- -Fort Bayard, Fort
Cummings, Fort Grant, Fort Seldon, Fort Wingate and Ojo
Caliente.
Pye had piloted his packtrain up Cuchillo Creek, headed for
Ojo Caliente Army post. He had over 20 miles to go when the sun
went down. It would be safer to swing off the greasewood flat and
camp in a canyon mouth where pine, pinon and cedar promised
good cover.
The next morning Pye's sharp eyes caught the glint of silver in
an outcrop. Without letting his packers see, he examined the
vein. Yes, silver! Lots of it. But not right now.
Pye worked out his freighting contract with the army, then he
came back with a few trusted friends. The stuff was richer than
he'd ever imagined. They staked claims.
That was the birth of another big mining camp in New Mexico,
Chloride. Who cared about Apaches now? Miners poured in.
Tents straggled everywhere. Then log and adobe cabins began
to go up. The mines prospered still more. Chloride people started
building good houses. Pointed gables took on gingerbread trims.
Paint and shingles, brick and hewn stones made Chloride look
like a permanent little city.
Pye was getting rich. And careless. Those lurking Apaches
picked him off one day from ambush.
But Chloride kept going strong through the silver boom of 1882 .
It was still prosperous in 1896. There was a limit, though, to the
silver ore. That realization started residents moving away in that
slow-death desertion that comes when the dream bubble bursts.
Now, 50 years later, a few people still live in Chloride. It's a
pretty little place in an attractive canyon setting. Those here are
likely to depend on sawmills, ranching or retirement income. But
maybe--just maybe--mining will come back again.
Nine miles north of Truth or Consequences turn off U. S. High-
way 85 onto State Road 52. Chloride is about 33 miles away, via
picturesque Cuchillo and Winston.