Tales from the Morgue

1957: Circus Gives Tiger to EP Zoo

11/07/1957

Washington Park Zoo Wednesday had a new tenant.

It was a 10-year-old female Royal Bengal tiger, a gift from the Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey Circus which is giving performances at the El Paso Coliseum. Final shows are set for Thursday afternoon and night.

Bryce Lammert, superintendent of city parks, made the arrangements with the circus which led to the gift.

“We wanted a tiger for the new lion and tiger grotto we are building at Washington Park, I thought first I might be able to buy one from the circus but they were extremely kind and offered to donate one to the City of El Paso,” Lammert said.

Unusual circumstances surround the gift of the tiger whose name is “Lee.” It has an injured tail, the result of a celebrated tiger fight in New York City’s Madison Square Garden last spring. Johnny, still in the big tiger act with the circus, turned on a female tiger, Ila, while the big cats were going through a performance. Before attendants could stop the fight, Ila was killed and lee suffered a badly clawed tail.

“We have had to keep the tiger out of the act until the tail heals. It has been three months since the accident and Lee was getting a little fidgety. When we heard that the El Paso zoo had no tiger we felt the animal would be a nice way to show our appreciation for the fine way we have been treated here.” Ken Mayo, circus public relations director, said.

Lammert said the tiger is conservatively valued at $3,000. It was brought to the United States from Germany in 1947 as a cub by Rudolf Mathis, then an animal trainer with Ringling Circus.

Actual presentation of the tiger Wednesday was made by famed veterinarian, Dr. J. Y. Henderson, the “doctor” for Ringling’s animals. Henderson, a graduate of Texas A&M, has achieved international fame for his book, “Circus Doctor” which has been translated into 14 languages.

“I’m sorry to see Lee go. He was the best trainer in the tiger act. His tail will heal up before long and you’ll have a first-class tiger,” Henderson said.

Aiding circus and city employs in making the transfer to the Washington Park zoo was Joe Horwath, currently the tiger trainer with the circus. On hand for the presentation was Ernest Craigo, alderman in charge of parks.

1975: His Face Is Pushed In And His Ears ‘Point’

Carter Pope, 13, of La Salle, TX. believes he may have shot a chupacabra. Here is a link to the article:

WOAI: Texas teen believes he has killed a chupacabra

Following are a few articles I pulled out of the archive on local chupacabra sightings.

September 19, 1975

By Bill Moore

Many residents of Horizon City cast a leery eye towards the surrounding desert these days. Some say there is a strange creature lurking about.

During the past week, numerous teenagers have reported seeing the creature on the Horizon City golf course and the area south of there. Footprints have reportedly been found, shots have been fired and one youngster says he got a good look at the face.

“His face was all pushed in and flat like a bulldog’s. And he had this big nose that stuck out,” said Bill York, 15, who said he got a good look at the creature on the golf course driving range. “His eyes were sunk in deep and his jaw jutted out.”

Other descriptions given of the creature by various teens report it as being about 8 feet tall, 3 1/2 feet wide and leaving footprints 14 inches long and 8 inches wide.

Some say it is hairy and has pointed ears.

One boy reportedly got close enough to shoot at the creature with a rifle. He says he hit it at least six times at close range. No blood was ever found.

The creature was reportedly first cited last Saturday when Bill Fuller, 14, and Kathy Ellis, 15, thought they saw something walking on the golf course.

Officer Bill Rutherford of the sheriff’s department came driving by. The youngsters flagged him down. He reportedly flashed a light in the direction of the movement and reported he saw nothing. The teens, though, said it was the first time they saw the creature.

“It ducked down to the ground and just took off,” said Miss Ellis, “We know we saw it, but Mr. Rutherford says he never did. I think he said that just so people would not start getting scared.”

An adult has yet to be found who can support a claim of sighting the creature.

“We think some adults have see it, too. But we don’t have their names,” said one of the teens. “In fact, there was a lady who nearly hit it with her car. But I don’t know who she was.”

All the creature’s tracks have also reportedly been destroyed by vehicles and persons out searching for it.

Rutherford, who reported to Sheriff Mike Sullivan that he saw a strange track, said it appeared to have been dug. The two tracks he reports seeing led away from the golf course in the southerly direction and were about 20 feet apart. They were the only tracks to be found in the soft, desert sand in the area.

Creature hunters from throughout the El Paso area converged on Horizon City Thursday night and combed the nearby desert for nearly five hours without results.

“Those guys were out there in the dark shooting at anything that moved,” said one teen-aged girl. “I’m more afraid of them than I am of the creature.”

Rutherford also reported that two anthropologist from the University of Southern California showed up to study the situation. But after they were told of the prints and description, Rutherford said they went back and got on the first plane black to California.

“I know a lot of people around here don’t believe we saw anything,” said Miss Ellis “But there was something out there. And it really scared us bad.”

Here is a link to a 2003 article by Adriana Chavez

Horizon City's monster

This is a 2010 article by Jay Koester

Chicken deaths spark talk of Chupacabras

1979: Curious shuttle out to Biggs Field

03/21/1979

By Karen Gorham
Times staff writer

Hundreds of El Pasoans flocked to Biggs Field Tuesday to view the space shuttle Columbia that arrived in El Paso shortly before 5 p.m. riding piggy-back on a jumbo jet.

The shuttle is not scheduled to leave until at least 8 a.m. Wednesday.

Local residents had only about two hours notice that the shuttle was coming, as did personnel at Biggs Field and Fort Bliss.

The Columbia, en route from Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. To Cape Canaveral, Fla., was expected to stop here two weeks ago but mechanical problems caused a delay.

Tuesday morning, after tests, NASA officials determined that the jumbojet carrying the space shuttle could make it all the way to Kelly Air Force Base in San Antonio without refueling in El Paso, pilot Fitzhugh Fulton Jr. said. Word was sent to Fort Bliss and El Paso that the space shuttle wasn’t coming at all.

Rain delayed departure from California and bad weather altered flight plans over Arizona, and there were reports of thunderstorms over Kelly Air Force Base.

Fulton said he knew he was coming to El Paso about 45 minutes before he actually landed the 747 and its enormous cargo.

He said he made one swoop over the El Paso International Airport area to test currents and survey the scene.

He laughed when asked if he had purposely put on a show for the town.

The tiles that had been part of the technical problems delaying the trip two weeks ago “look like they have held up very well,” Fulton said after NAA officials surveyed the shuttle carefully with binoculars and from a cage atop a crane.

The jumbojet took on 4,743 gallons of fuel, said Ernest Ortega, supervisor of the military transit terminal at El Paso International Airport.

To Ortega and his crew, seeing the 75-ton Columbia was “exciting … magnificent … a thrilling spectacle … a good example of tax dollars at work.”

But to other eyes, the shuttle looked like a patchwork quilt of green, white and black metal resembling an old car made out of a door from one wrecking yard and a fender from another auto surplus shop, all gerrymandered together.

The patchwork effect exist in part because the shuttle isn’t complete. More tiles will be put in place at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The shuttle now lacks its three main engines and three fuel cells which produce electrical power. The equipment and associated systems also will be installed at Kennedy Space Center.

The tail that’s now attached to the shuttle is only a device to counteract wind resistance on the trip to Florida. The tail El Pasoans see will not be there when the Columbia is carrying satellites into orbit or zooming out for maintenance work on these orbiting satellites.

The tiles attached to the Columbia are wonders in themselves, explained Jim Kubowski, NASA Public Affairs Officer who flew in on an escort plane with the shuttle.

About 34,000 thermal protection system tiles are attached to the shuttle but only some are the real space tiles and about 10,000 are dummies of foam.

Two weeks ago when there was a test flight, some of these foam tiles fell off in the Mojave desert. To make sure that each remaining foam tile stayed in place, four corners were drilled from each of about 10,000 tiles, a special reinforcing adhesive was sprayed into each hole and the corner plugs were replaced, Kubowski said.

After a brief press conference, he and the NASA crew left to be bussed to a local hotel and Military Police were alone for a solitary night of constant guard duty.

Night was falling but streams of cars still flooded into Biggs Field to be directed to public parking by MP’s stationed at about every block along the route. Once parked, the visitors walked about half a mile to a wire fence through which they were able to view the shuttle at a distance of several thousand feet. The shuttle and jet were scheduled to remain in the open, on the field, overnight.

Leon Metz: Some people will even fight over salt

03/11/2002

By Leon Metz

I've reached the age where I read health columns, and I've come to realize that if you have high-blood pressure, salt can kill. Well, I have high-blood pressure, so salt for me is a no-no. Still, it didn't take high- blood pressure to realize that salt can be dangerous. Back in El Paso's mid-1800s, the need for salt probably led to more untimely deaths than any other product. And none of the funerals had anything to do with high-blood pressure.

Salt is one of the world's most necessary products. It seasons food, and back in the old days it helped distill silver out of dirt and rock, separating it from other elements. A gigantic silver trail extended out of Mexico into the El Paso region, forking off to the salt lakes on the present White Sands Missile Range as well the salt beds 70 miles east of El Paso on the Carlsbad Highway.

In 1854, a group of El Pasoans, incensed that New Mexicans from Doña Ana were stealing "our" salt, borrowed a howitzer from Fort Bliss and encountered the enemy near the present-day entry point to White Sands Missile Range off Highway 70.

The cannon went "boom," other shots were fired, and both sides scattered. No one was killed, but indictments for theft and intent to murder were handed down. It was years before several El Pasoans could re-enter New Mexico without being arrested.

Most local residents thereafter took their seasoning from the commonly called Salt Flats. Wagons, especially from San Elizario, made the trip into the middle of the shallow beds.

However, an El Paso Salt Ring was formed, composed of the community's staunchest leaders. It included Charles Howard, an attorney who laid claim to the land, forcing salt gatherers to pay a fee for every bushel removed. The ring members then had a falling out, a disruption leading to the anti-salt ring.

On Dec. 7, 1870, a street fight in front of today's Paso del Norte Hilton Hotel left two politicians dead and one wounded. The El Paso Salt War had commenced.

Down in San Elizario, Louis Cardis argued for the right to dig for and sell salt. The village priest, Father Antonio Borajo, supported him. Charles Howard then killed Cardis with a shotgun where the Downtown Museum of Art stands today.

Bishop Salpointe hurried over from Tucson and tried to mediate the dispute. Borajo called him a Protestant. Borajo was transferred to a church on the south bank of the Rio Grande.

The salt controversy shifted to San Elizario. The Texas Rangers arrived, and El Pasoan John Tays took command. But being insufficient in numbers, they signed on a group of civilian thugs from Silver City.

In December 1877, several men were murdered in San Elizario. A drunken mob executed Charles Howard by firing squad, although they had to reload and do it twice. The Texas Rangers surrendered, the only such incident in a proud history.

Except for a few murders, rapes and general assaults in the aftermath, plus a lot of U.S. citizens fleeing to Mexico, the Salt War, as El Paso historian C. L. Sonnichsen expressed it, proved only that good men can sometimes die bravely for a bad cause.

Fire damages building that housed Wigwam Saloon, John Wesley Hardin was part owner

In this note to the people of El Paso Hardin announces that he bought an interest in the Wigwam Saloon.

05/04/1895

John Wesley Hardin's Say

To the people of El Paso and to everyone to whom it may concern: I have noticed several articles in the TIMES and Tribune reflecting my character as a man. I wish to announce right now that in the past my only ambition has been to be a man and you bet I draw my own idea, and while I have not always come up to my standard, yet I have no kick to make against myself for default. My present and my future ambition is no higher than it has been in the past and I wish to say right now that whether in a gambling house or a saloon, and El Paso seems to be crowded with these places, my only aim is to acquit myself manly and bravely. And as to the Acme jack pot, I would not stand a hold out and got the pot without even threatening violence of drawing a gun. As to the Gem hold-up on craps, after I had lost a considerable sum I was grossly insulted by the dealer in a hurrah manner, hence I told him he could not win my money and hurrah me too, and that as he had undertook to hurrah me he could deliver me the money I had played and you bet he did it. And when he had counted out the $95 I said that is all I want, just my money and no more. He said all right Mr. Hardin, and when I left the room and had gotten half way down the stairs I returned, hearing words of condemnation of my play. I said to everyone in the house and connected with the play, I understand from the reflective remarks that some of you disapprove my play. Now if this be so be men and get in line and show your manhood, to which no one made any reply, but others nodded that I was right and that they approved my play. Now someone has asked for my pedigree.Well, he is to gross too notice, but I wish to say right here, once and for all, that I admire pluck, push and virtue wherever found. Yet I contempt and despise a coward and assassin of character, whether he be a reporter, a journalist or a gambler. And while I came to El Paso to prosecute Bud Frazier and did do it on as high a plane as possible, I am here now to stay. I have bought an interest in the Wigwam saloon and you, who, whether in El Paso or elsewhere, that admire pluck, that desire fairplay, are cordially invited to call at the Wigwam where you will have everything done to make it pleasant for you. All are especially invited to our blowout on the evening of the 4th.

Now I have no apology to make to anyone for my acts over a jackpot or a crap game, but solicit everybody’s custom and guarantee fair play.

JOHN W. HARDIN

The Wigwam later became the State Theater.

2002: Landmark Gardner Hotel to celebrate 80th anniversary

03/29/2002

By Erica Molina
El Paso Times

Stepping inside the lobby of the Gardner Hotel and El Paso International Hostel, guests are transported from busy Downtown streets to a place that is reminiscent of another era.

Its marble staircase leads to rooms that have seen countless guests.

"It reminded me of those 'Twilight Zone' episodes. You're wondering who has stayed here before," said Terence White, a Boston resident who stayed at the hostel on Monday. He stopped in El Paso as part of a bicycling trip from San Diego to Key West, Fla.

"It was a very pleasant experience," he said.

The Gardner Hotel, 311 E. Franklin, is celebrating its 80th anniversary this May and claims to be the place where notorious gangster John Dillinger stayed shortly before being captured in 1934 in Tucson.

"We do have our place ... and we are a significant part of El Paso history," Joe Nebhan, manager of the Gardner, said.

The hotel was opened in 1922 by Preston E. Gardner, a Ku Klux Klan member and lawyer who in 1923 ran for mayor of El Paso and lost to Richard M. Dudley, after whom Dudley Field is named.

The Gardner Hotel was originally intended to be a five-story 100-room hotel, but when construction costs went $50,000 over budget and only three floors had been completed, Gardner stopped building.

Because of fears of fire in the 1920s, the Gardner was constructed entirely of steel. Nebhan said the building is fireproof.

On Jan. 9, 1934, bank robber John Dillinger and two members of his gang checked into the Gardner Hotel. Dillinger signed the name John D. Ball on the registry and stayed in room 221.

Nebhan said that years later, Chris Fox, a former El Paso sheriff, told him, "We knew when (Dillinger) got to El Paso, but he didn't break any laws so we didn't do anything about it."

Dillinger checked out a few days later. He was captured Jan. 25, 1934, in Tucson after being recognized by firefighters who had saved his heavy luggage from a burning hotel there.

Gardner sold the hotel to William McMurray in the 1930s.

"Mr. McMurray had gotten up in years and hired people who were shady," Nebhan said.

In 1948, the hotel was sold to Joseph George Nebhan, Joe Nebhan's grandfather, who leased the property back to McMurray.

The Gardner was modernized in the 1950s. A new front desk was installed and the windows and skylights were blocked. It all got a new coat of paint.

"In 1962 (McMurray) had violated the terms of the lease and my grandfather threw him out," Nebhan said.

The hotel was given to his father, John Nebhan.

"My father came in and cleaned house," Nebhan said.

All but six guests were thrown out and all but a maid, a janitor and a clerk were fired.

"He struggled to make it into a reputable hotel," Nebhan said.

Though he hasn't been there in years, John Nebhan, 86, still owns the Gardner. He ran it as a retirement hotel from 1962-1983.

Joe Nebhan, now 47, began working odd jobs around the hotel when he was 8. He took over management of the hotel in 1981.

He soon realized that the Gardner could not continue operating as a retirement hotel and it began operating as a hostel on Feb. 9, 1984.

Hostels offer dormitory-style rooms at reasonable prices and are primarily used by young and international travelers. Members of Hostels of America can stay for as little as $12.50 plus tax per night.

"We created our niche. There's no way we can compete with Motel 6 and the Marriott. We would be fools to do it," Nebhan said.

Instead, the Gardner still operates as a hotel in half of its rooms. The other half operates as El Paso International Hostel, with up to four bunk beds per room and a shared bath. Men stay on the second floor and women on the third.

"I can't think of anywhere that you can stay for $20 a night," White said.

Naoki Shikada, 19, stayed at the hostel for five nights this month. The student from Japan stopped in El Paso as part of a month-long trip around the United States.

"This hostel is very good. I like (it)," he said. "(The people) are very kind and it's a good bed. Many people at this hostel are kind (to) me and tourists."

Nebhan said most of his customer base is from Japan. Over the years he has learned some Japanese, Korean, German, Spanish and Chinese. He is the vice president of Hostels of America.

The Gardner is the only hostel in El Paso and one of about 10 hostels in Texas.

It was rated in 1996 by American Youth Hostels as the best in the country.

In the early 1990s, Nebhan made a striking discovery.

"I was cleaning the opalescent glass in front ... and there was a glint of copper," Nebhan said.

After a thorough cleaning, copper trimming was revealed. Nebhan decided to take things further and found that oak was hiding beneath eight layers of paint at the building's entrance.

"I said, 'We can't stop now. Let's go all the way,'" Nebhan said.

The front desk was replaced by a style that would have been used in the 1920s. The skylights were uncovered and the blocked windows were replaced with stained glass. A 1932 telephone switchboard now is on display in the hotel's lobby. He tried to restore the hotel to its original appearance as much as possible.

The oldest public phone in the area sits against the wall and 1920s-era artwork adorns the wall. The hotel's original elevator with a collapsible door still runs guests to the upper floors. The Gardner Hotel is the oldest continually operating hotel in the city.

When the basement was cleaned more than a decade ago, Nebhan found hotel treasures.

Among them were an old revolver and a note that read, "With love to you and all our friends. With love, Leo Tolstoy."

These are on display in the hotel's lobby.

Because few people attended the hotel's 75th anniversary, Nebhan is not sure if there will be a party this year.

The hotel will, however, get a face lift. It will be painted, get new screens and new air conditioning.

Nebhan has purchased a 1930 Model A Ford, and he hopes to display it on the curb in front of the hotel if the city agrees.

To those zooming past the hotel at 311 E. Franklin as they enter Interstate 10, the Gardner Hotel is not much more than another old building that lines the road.

To Joe Nebhan, it's history.

Unknowns swirl around Billy the Kid's life and death

09/13/2010

By Leon Metz
Special to the Times

In the Aug. 22 El Paso Times, an article appeared on Page 7B, the headline reading: "To pardon a killer," the reference being to Billy the Kid, the New Mexico gunman who, by age 21, had allegedly slain 21 men, all in New Mexico.

During this period, the Kid was also known as Henry "Kid" Antrim, and/or William Bonney.

The Kid was born Henry Antrim in New York City (no date established), his mother apparently unmarried. His father has never been identified. Sometime during his youth, the Kid and his mother arrived in New Mexico.

We now jump to 1974, when the University of Oklahoma Press published a 328-page book of mine titled, "Pat Garrett: The story of a Western lawman" (still in print in soft-cover).

I chose to write about Pat Garrett because little at that time had been written about him, and Garrett was my way of also digging through the life and death of Billy the Kid. It was lawman Garrett who spent months tracking down the Kid, and shooting him dead at midnight inside a Fort Sumner, N.M. bedroom on July 14, 1881.

This killing happened when the Alabama-born Garrett entered Pete Maxwell's home after Maxwell had gone to bed, but was still awake.

Bonney abruptly entered the house, strolled past a deputy who failed to recognize him, and then stepped into the Maxwell bedroom. Startled, the Kid asked, "Pete, who is that guy at the front door?"

At that time, he also spotted Garrett, sitting near the bed. but due to the darkness, the Kid did not recognize him. Instead, he hoarsely voiced, Quien es?, meaning, "Who are you?"

And Garrett, knowing this was a bad time to say, "It's me, Billy! Old Pat! I've come to take you back to hang," simply pulled the trigger and fired. The Kid fell dead.

Garrett was exonerated, although financial troubles commenced plaguing him.

Shortly afterward, Pat Garrett, while driving a buckboard, commenced arguing about cattle with his ranching neighbor, Wayne Brazel. During this period, Garrett paused to urinate.

He stopped the buggy, stepped to the rear, and was in the usual position when Wayne Brazel shot him in the back of the head. Brazel was subsequently acquitted in a New Mexico court on grounds of self-defense.

Returning now to the Kid's death at midnight July 14, the subsequent coroner's report stated that Billy was buried alongside two of his friends. But all grave records are foggy. Therefore, I question the Kid's grave location. Granted, there exists a stone marking Billy's alleged resting place, his two outlaw friends Tom O'Folliard and Charles Bowdre beside him.

Meanwhile, the original coroner's report has disappeared. So as matters now stand, Billy the Kid is not "legally" dead.

I also searched the 1880 Fort Sumner census reports, and here's what I found: An 1880 Fort Sumner census listed a William Bonney as 25 years old and being born in Missouri. It also mentions his given name as Henry McCarty.

Two children are listed, but without names or ages. Also mentioned is a brother referred to only as Joe, and Billy did have a brother named Joe.

Anyway, in my judgment, the Kid did not come anywhere near the fabled killing of 21 men. My own evaluations and research places the figure at somewhere around 10 or 11.

But who knows?

1931: Billy the Kid’s Compadre Here

1934: Pistol That Killed Billy The Kid Will Be Returned to Garrett's Widow

1937: Court House Where "The Kid's'” Guns Flamed Death Will Be Preserved To Carry On Memories Of Old West

1943: Billy The Kid Killed 62 Years Ago

1987: Billy the Kid made 1st escape from Silver City jail

2004: A keeping of records

2009: Straight shooter; Old West historian separates myth, fact

2010: 2010: Counterfeit bank note rewrites chapter of Billy the Kid

1936: 105-YEAR-OLD INDIAN FIGHTER ASKS PENSION

05/09/1936

Jose Gallegos. 105-year-old veteran Indian fighter, is the oldest applicant for a pension to visit the Old-Age Assistance Commission district office in El Paso.

Mr. Gallegos asked friends to bring him from his Fort Hancock home to make the pension application. "And if I get It," he said, "I'm going to eat better food and fix up my house."

Mr. Gallegos hobbled into the office on a cane, still spry for his age. His trousers were patched at the seat und knees.

Life Tiresome

The aged Indian fighter moved to Fort Hancock 70 years ago and expects "to die there."

"Life," he said, "is tiresome at my age. I can't work any more, and I get tired just sitting around. I feel a little like I'm in the way."

Mr. Gallegos was born at Tome, N. M., five years before Texas won her Independence from Mexico in 1836. He is the only living survivor of the Round Mountain Indian fight. He helped to build forts to protect settlers against the marauding Apaches and trailed a band of 160 that massacred the 18 drivers of a wagon train in 1880.

Heavy Smoker

He has herded sheep and attributes his longevity to his active outdoor life. He smokes two packages of tobacco in his pipe every three days, and “one glass of beer will last me for three or four days,” he said.

"I started chewing tobacco when I was a boy," he said, "but my father made me stop. I started smoking then, and have been smoking since.''

Mr. Gallegos has been married three times. His third wife was his last, he said.

"What would I want to get married again for?" he asked. "So my wife could bury me?"

1976: President Ford Swoops Through El Paso

April 11, 1976

President Ford swooped into El Paso and out again Saturday afternoon on a quick campaign visit that saw three speeches delivered and a few hundred hands shaken and perhaps, if the President succeeded, a measurable number of new believers in his candidacy and the Republican party.

Ford was cheered by almost all of those who turned out on a warm Saturday afternoon to see a President and see him dedicated a war memorial to 203 American servicemen from El Paso who died in Vietnam. The crowd was estimated at 8,000 to 10,000 by the Secret Service and at 5,000 to 6,000 by the El Paso Police Department.

The President placed a wreath of red roses on the memorial, a project of the El Paso Chapter of the American Gold Star Mothers, in City Hall Park, a small patch of grass and marble on the corner of Kansas and San Antonio near the Federal Courthouse.

City Hall Park had never looked so good.

The grass was painted a rich, dark green.

Red chairs from the Civic Enter were set in net rows to be filled with invited guest whose red badges got them past the Secret Service and police cordons.

The quasi-Corinthian columns of the Federal Courthouse hadn’t looked so clean in years, but maybe it was just the hot, bright blueness of the day and the easy breeze. Or maybe it was the rich blue banner draped over the side of the building, commemorating the bicentennial.

U.S. Rep. Richard C. White, who addressed the crowd a few minutes before the President arrived, said the war memorial dedication was “one of the most moving incidents in the history of El Paso,” and “the culmination of the efforts of men and women of good will and great patriotism.”

Ford’s speech was greeted with overwhelming enthusiasm – even the screams of teenage girls – but also present were isolated indicators of dissent. Two red, white and blue signs shot up the instant Ford stepped to the podium, reading “Jobs Now!” and “Veto Ford.”

Evidently the presidential visit put Mayor Don Henderson in a pleasant frame of mind. “This is truly a historic day for all the people of El Paso,” the mayor said.

“I was telling the president how warm and how gracious the people of the city are – how they really are,” Henderson said. “He can go all over the United States of America, but there’s no place that ‘mi casa es su casa’ means more than it does here,” the mayor said.

“Mi casa es su casa” is a Spanish phrase “my house is your house.”

Henderson presented Ford the key to the city and said it “comes from the hearts of the warmest people and the friendliest people in the U.S.” The mayor also gave the President the Conquistador Award, a framed scroll described as “the highest award given by the City of El Paso.”

Earlier, Henderson gave Ford two other gifts. At a 11:30 p.m. reception in the Civic Center for about 650 campaign volunteers and invited dignitaries, the mayor gave the President a cowboy hat (he called it “a real ten-gallon hat”) and a pair of Cowboy boots, made in El Paso. Henderson said the boots were “hand made by Tony Lama” and that they were “about five hundred and some odd dollar boots, how ‘bout that.” The mayor told the President, “We’re gonna make you a cowboy.”

Ford reached into the hat and pulled out a slip of paper containing a statement which he read aloud. “Like hell it’s yours!” The note said. “Put it back.”

Ford jokingly referred to Henderson then as an “Indian giver.”

Gil Rendon, leader of a mariachi band that played at the reception, serenaded the President personally, singing a popular Mexican tune, “Cielito Lindo,” and then shaking the President’s hand.

Ford told the campaign volunteers he is counting on them to deliver four delegates pledged to him from the 16the Congressional District in the May 1 Republican primary.

“I know that you can, with the effort that can come out of this group, elect those four delegates to the national convention in Kansas City,” Ford said.

“I’m going to be watching you,” the President said, “and I’m going to count on you, and we won’t let you down.”

The reception crowd kept shouting “Viva” and “Ole.”

U.S. Sen. John G. Tower, a Texas Republican accompanying Ford, praised Ford’s El Paso campaign workers as “probably the most spirited volunteers you have in America,” then rephrased it to say “the most spirited volunteers … in quality and energy and intellect and dedication. I can promise,” Tower said, for Ford delegates from this District.

Ford said he is the underdog in Texas but said, “We’re going to win.”

He told the volunteers he has some “conversation points” they can use to persuade voters to vote for him. These were listed as a reduction in inflation from 12 per cent when he took office to 6 per cent now and an increase in employment of more than 2.6 million jobs.

Ford’s El Paso trip was kicked off with a brief press conference for local news media at the Transit Terminal of El Paso International Airport. Then the president addressed a convention of the Texas Grain and Feed Association in the Civic Center Theater and went directly from there to the reception.

In the hour or so between the time Ford left the reception and showed up at the war memorial dedication, the President was in a private room in the Civic Center, on what a press aide termed “staff time.” The President, the aide said, probably used the time to “freshen up.”

 

1982: Broken melody: Bobby Fuller, resurrection of his music

06/08/1982

By Edna Gundersen
Times staff writer

Bobby Fuller, 23, barely had a toehold in the fickle rock ‘n’ roll business when he died under a cloud of controversy July 18, 1966. Some thought he was destined to be America’s next superstar recording artist. Bobby’s death shattered the lives of many people close to him. With hesitation, they agreed to share their memories of Bobby with The Times. Among those interviewed were Bobby’s mother, Loraine Fuller, who agreed to talk after avoiding the press for 16 years. She explained, “It hurts to remember the past, but I feel I owe it to Bobby.” The segment, on the resurgence of his music, ends this three-part series.

The “I Fought the Law” album, released a few months before Bobby Fuller died in 1966, has been out of print nearly 16 years. It sells for a king’s ransom.

Bobby Fuller, a singing sensation who blossomed in El Paso, has been resurrected as a national cult hero:

-It’s almost impossible to find a rock anthology that doesn’t include the Bobby Fuller Four’s only smash single, “I Fought the Law.”

-The infectious tune Bobby made famous has been adopted as covers for contemporary supergroups The Clash and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, as well as Hank Williams Jr.

-Bobby’s first album, “KRLA King of the Wheels,” is being traded among collectors for $100 and up.

-Rising star Phil Seymour released a version of Bobby’s bubbly “Let Her Dance.”

-No oldie band is worth its salt without a Bobby Fuller composition in its repertoire.

-At KRTH, a big Los Angeles radio station, “I Fought the Law” and “Let Her Dance” are permanent items on the list of top oldies.

-And nationwide, the kinky Drink to the Death club toasts Bobby’s memory with an elaborate gala every July 18, the anniversary of the rock ‘n’ roller’s untimely death.

One enduring Fuller Four fan recently noted, “You can’t tune into an L.A. station on the weekend without hearing Bobby Fuller. There’s a revival going on. I love it.”

Even in the El Paso area, where audiences sometimes snubbed the musician, Bobby Fuller is revered. Among the local performers who include Bobby’s music in their acts are Bill Welsh, the Sixth Column and Moonpie Dance Band, which includes former Bobby Fuller Four drummer Dalton Powell.

Steve Crosno, a longtime El Paso disc jockey now spinning platters at KSET, said Bobby is a hot potato on the oldie charts. “I Fought the Law” is consistently on our Top 13 of oldies. Lately, I’ve noticed a resurgence of interest in Bobby Fuller. It doesn’t surprise me. He was really original. He sounded unique.”

An epidemic of Bobby Fuller fever seems imminent.

Last October, Rhino Records in Los Angeles released an album of Bobby Fuller hits. Another record company, Bomp, is preparing a package of mostly unreleased material to go public this fall.

Gary Stewart, head marketing at Rhino Records, said the album project began in January 1979. “I wanted to let people know Bobby Fuller had more than one good song,” he said. The LP, which includes “I’m a Lucky Guy,” an unreleased track and one of Bobby’s last recorded efforts, has sold briskly in New York and Texas. Nearly 10,000 copies have been sold, impressive statistics for an oldie compilation. In El Paso, the album is available at Nostalgia Place, 4665-A Montana.

The record itself fueled the Bobby fuller revival, spurring many California bands to add the El Pason’s material to their play list. Stewart said, “His music is very interesting,” he added. “He tried to blend Buddy Holly with the British Invasion sound. The result is a new hybrid which even today sounds very contemporary.”

Perhaps more significant than record sales are the critical notices the album has garnered. Traditionally music reviewers give passing yawns to repackaged oldies or ignore them completely. The Bobby Fuller LP is drawing raves. One magazine termed it “14 exhilarating rock ‘n’ roll vignettes from El Paso’ ill-fated answer to the British Invasion.”

A critic wrote: “This collection is culled from the semi-precious LP the group made, various singles and even a few unreleased tunes. Since the original LP is expensive and the Japanese reissue 13 or 14 bucks, this is a steal, because Fuller combined the grace and expertise of Buddy Holly with rambunctious Tex-Mex (a la Eddie Cochran) rhythms, the strength of R&B, the loneliness and soul of country and his own careful and meticulous sense of song structure and embellishment. ‘Let Her Dance’ is an absolute tour de force.”

Another claimed the songs “show that this quartet was on the brink of making it bit” and that The Bobby Fuller Four “succeeded in creating a distinct signature sound that features a surprisingly progressive (for the time) rock feel.”

One critic described the sound as “advanced melodic garage band rock” and added, “the music on this album sounds technologically advanced for 1981, much less 1965. … It’s a boisterous bunch of music that has maintained its freshness.”

A New York music writer, reviewing the Bobby Fuller Four LP along with a Ritchie Valens disc on the same label, noted, “Rhino Records has just done the world an incredible service by releasing from the vaults of Del-Fi Records the works of two of the greatest rock ‘n’ rollers that ever lived, both of whom had the potential to be twice as great – had they lived.”

An upcoming Bomp Records collection promises to be an ambitious undertaking. Greg Shaw, a former rock history writer who packaged 50 LPs of vintage material for other labels before founding Bomp, was first challenged by the idea of a definitive Bobby Fuller tribute album when a local journalist introduced him to a woman who possessed copies of original unreleased works by the Bobby Fuller Four.

“Some of the songs were not too exciting, but others were amazing.” Shaw said. Intrigued, Shaw researched the Bobby Fuller story and, through coincidence, was contacted by Rick Stone, bobby’s former road manger, who told him dozens of original tapes of unreleased songs were available.

“The tapes overwhelm Bobby Fullers’ two or three hits,” Shaw said. “Only the tip of the iceberg was ever released.

Shaw envisions a double LP released in four to six months, possibly followed by other records, including perhaps a live album. He hopes to compile a biographical booklet to accompany the record and maybe inspire a full-length book or television movie based on the musician’s life. By using Bomp’s distribution agreement with Elektra/Asylum Records, Shaw believes the package can find a broader audience than the cult market, which probably will account for sales of 10,000 copies.

“Maybe we’ll get a hit single, too,” he said. “That might be unlikely, but you never know. It could happen.”

Shaw also predicts the album will sell briskly in England, where music consumers are mesmerized by early U.S. rockers and tend to be more accepting than Americans of off-the-beaten-path releases.

In preparing for the Bomp project, Rick Stone and Ron Evans, manager and chief engineer, at El Adobe Recoding, spent about 40 hours listening to reels of Bobby Fuller’s music.

Evans, who was hired by Bomp to polish the rough tracks, culled about four hours of tunes from the batch, including the earliest version of hits, some live performances and even an El Paso radio spot Bobby taped to promote a weekend dance at Eastwood High School.

“I enjoyed the Fuller music so much. I just wanted to get involved.” Evans said. “Listening to those tapes blew me away completely. He sang so well. Bobby’s voice always sounded like a million bucks, always on pitch, very expressive. He was so accomplished for his time. This music floored me.

“Bobby used some revolutionary techniques in his studio, a garage studio. He had a greater insight for what would be popular. He was always innovation. Bobby liked to experiment, and the results were usually tasteful.”

The cuts being proposed to Bomp feature strong vocals, crisp instrumentation, and spunky uncluttered melodies. The batch is extremely diverse touting such seemingly incongruous songs as “Greensleeves,” “Nervous Breakdown” and a peculiar medley of “Miserlou,” “”Havah Nagilah” and “Pipeline.” Some rock numbers flaunt decidedly atypical arrangements that rely on subtle use of tambourine, piano, acoustic guitar and clinking beer bottles. Finger cymbals were used in “Don’t Ever Let Me Know.”

If the resurrected tunes reveal anything it is Bobby Fuller’s immense untapped potential.

“If Bobby Fuller had lived,” Rick Stone said, “He would have been a big star, a cross between Neil Diamond and Kenny Rogers. He was doing something original, something creative, something worthwhile. … Some people never got the chance to find out what a great talent he was.”

Rod Crosby, a longtime E Paso musician whose band once rivaled the Bobby Fuller Four, said Bobby’s death disrupted a skyward climb.

“I believed he might have been the next Neil Diamond or B.J. Thomas, some kind of a popular stand-up act in Las Vegas. I don’t think he was a genius by any measure, but he was dedicated and determined and he always overshadowed everyone around him.”

Bobby’s death not only was a tragic loss for his friends and family, but was a dismal turning point in musical history.

“Bobby was the typical all-American boy, attractive, talented, wholesome and bright,” Rod said. “When he started, rock was a healthy entity, and he had it whipped with everything form rowdy rock songs to love ballads. In some ways, his death stared a decline. Rock became more and more ugly. It lost is positive direction. Today, a lot of popular bands are rooted in hopelessness and desperation.”