02/13/2010
An Oct. 26, 1975, article by C.R. Giles tells the story of Vado and the Boyer family.
In the late 1890s, Francis Marion Boyer was incensed by the slaying of a black barber and the subsequent trial, in which the barber's killer, a white patron, was acquitted by an all-white jury that took less than 10 minutes to decide the case.
Boyer recalled stories of a valley out West told to him by his father, who had served as a civilian wagoner with the U.S. Army during the Mexican-American War in 1847.
Henry brought supplies to soldiers stationed in the Southwest. He told his son about an area south of Las Cruces that had head-high grass and was filled with antelope, buffalo and whitetail deer.
The article says, "In 1899, Francis Boyer and a man by the name of Dan Keyes set out on foot for the promised land. It took them a year to walk the 2,000 miles across the southern United States. When they stopped, the place was Roswell, N.M. For Boyer, it was home. Keyes continued to walk on down the road into historical obscurity, relays fourth-born child of Francis M.
Boyer, Hobart Boyer, 76, another enduring relative of the pioneer."
In 1900, Francis Boyer, a college graduate, took his first job in the Southwest. He worked as a cook on a chuck wagon for about three months. His next job was as a ranch hand on the Chisolm "spread."
"It was almost a year before he sent for his family and settled them near Roswell in a place now known as Blackdom," the article says. "The town still stands, but like Vado, began to decline after its promising start.
"Francis and Ella Boyer had by now seven of the 10 children they would have. They homesteaded on 16 acres in the Pecos Valley for the next 21 years.
"It was 1921 when they finally moved over into the Rio Grande Valley, into what is now Vado, ccording to Hobart Boyer.
"As Hobart recalls, 'We were the first coloreds to move into this area and the first to farm in Dona Ana County. My dad was renting about 250 acres when he came across the Barite Land and Development Co.
"A man in the company asked him if he would like to buy some land. My dad said, 'I don't have the money to buy land.'
" 'The man replied, "I didn't ask you about no money." My dad listened,' Hobart said. 'The man went on to make a deal that if my dad would buy the land in 10-, 20- and 40- acre tracts "in the rough," he could pay for it as it was convenient for him.'
"The settling by blacks continued. The cotton had lured the people to the valley, and with the gentle yet powerful persuasion of Francis Boyer, they had been convinced this would be a good place to settle."
Boyer busied himself establishing the Valley Grove Masonic Lodge No. 9, a Prince Hall affiliate, the Auto-Literary Society and a church.
In 1924 a branch of the NAACP was formed in the Las Cruces area. The small chapter fought the School Proposition that "subscribed to the separate-but-equal doctrine."
"Although Francis Boyer didn't live to see the results of his efforts in the civil rights struggle," the article said, "the chapter was hailed in 1969 by the national office as the branch that had the strongest influence on desegregation throughout the nation."
In 1925 the Paul Lawrence Dunbar School was built in Vado. The school had four large rooms and housed 175 children.
"The Ku Klux Klan was a rather watered-down affair in the valley, and response to organize any sizable kleagle was unsuccessful in 1925," the article said. "A large part of the unsuccessful campaign could be attributed to the dense Mexican population in this area.
"Another reason the Klan was not able to wage a full-scale campaign was a New Mexico state law enacted in 1929 that forbade the wearing of '... masks, hoods and robes on public streets, alleys, highways or thoroughfares. ...
"Francis Marion Boyer had tried five times to settle towns. Four of those times, for varied reasons, the dreams he had for the town were stymied. These places were Afro, Fla.; Camps, Ala.; Ham City, Ga.; and Blackdom, N.M. It almost came to completion for him in Vado.
"When asked how his father stood the disappointment, Hobart replied, 'Well he settled four towns in the past, so he knew what he was getting into.' "
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