March 16th at 6:30 p.m.
Datil Community Center
Program will be on the early ranching history of the Datil/San Augustin area. Contact Eric for more information or to become a member! 575-773-4152
Saturday, March 14, 2009
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2 comments:
I am interested in learning more about the history of the founding of the town and where the name comes from. Thank you.
Juan
Hello Juan!
Here is a little more information for you:
To the Spanish settlers the seedpods of the prevelant yucca resembled dates, and "datil" is the Spanish word for date.
Levi and Fred Baldwin established the first Datil store and post office in 1884 to serve the cattle ranching families.
One of the early settlers, Agnes Morley Cleaveland, described ranching in Datil in the 1880s in her well-known book, No Life for a Lady. A monument to her parents can be seen on U.S. 60 five miles west of Datil.
The hub of Datil is the Eagle Guest Ranch which dates from the 1920s when Agnes Morley Cleaveland's sister, Loraine, and her husband, Tom Reynolds, opened the small store. With a cafe, motel, general store, gas station, and RV park, the Eagle Guest Ranch today serves as a general meeting place for the 150 townsfolk and the surrounding community of ranchers.
The Datil Well Campground, south of town, commemorates the site of a cattle watering well on the historic stock driveway from Springerville to the railhead in Magdalena.
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