Chapter 20

Thursday morning dawned sunny, with a crisp chill in the air. Tom and I carried the last of our things out and loaded everything in the wagons or coach as appropriate. We joined everyone else in the restaurant and were surprised to find Lucien sitting at the table.

I sat down in the empty chair next to Anna, as she handed me a cup of coffee. Glancing around the table I greeted everyone and suddenly realized that Hiram, Lucien, and the Judge were all sitting together across the table from me.

I raised a questioning eyebrow in their general direction, and Lucien began talking, being very careful to not give away any specifics.

“Paul, we’ve all agreed to your request and have come up with a plan to get what you talked about. I’ll start working that plan while these other two reprobates are down south, relaxing in your warm weather. They’ll pitch in and start working their parts of the plan when they get back. Between us, we should have what you want, ready to turn over to you at the stated average price, by late spring of next year.”

I gave a small smile to all three of the men. “Thank you, gentlemen. I wish you the best of luck. Your success will ensure the success of our phase two plans. Lucien, I wouldn’t worry too much about Hiram and the Judge. They’ll be kept plenty busy during their visit. I doubt they’ll even notice the warmer climate.”

We were enjoying our last cup of coffee after breakfast when Rodrigo stuck his head just inside the door and gave me a quick nod before backing out into the lobby. I let everyone know we would be leaving as soon as we were done with the coffee.

I took my last sip and reminded Lucien that he was invited to the Estancia anytime he wanted to visit. I knew he was concerned his family was too big to be comfortable on the Estancia, so I didn’t push it. Instead, I suggested he talk to Hiram and the Judge when they returned, and make any future decisions based on their recommendations.

Our cavalcade rode out of town a half-hour later, preceded by the two scout teams who left five minutes before we did.

As we rode out Tom nodded with his chin at a building we were passing.

“Remind me the next time we’re here. I want to visit that place. It looks mighty interesting.”

I gave him a quick glance to see if he was serious. “Okay, Tom but I’m not sure what TJ’s Haberdashery and Millenary Emporium could have that would interest you so much.”

Yolanda gave a small giggle from her horse on the other side of Tom and said, “Anna, Beth, and I bought some hats and other accessories there the other day, Tom. You should have come with us. Most of the store is women’s hats and accessories, but there are a few men’s hats.”

Tom snorted and reiterated that it just looked interesting.

Our trip home was much like our trip up to Santa Fe, only with more ladies and babies. All the ladies except Helen took turns riding horseback. The Judge and Hiram were also taking turns riding horseback or on the wagons, when the babies were feeding at mid-morning and mid-afternoon. Just as on the trip up, Rodrigo was responsible for managing the lunch and evening stops.

Our last night on the road, the Judge walked up rubbing his rump.

“Paul how much further is this Estancia of yours?” he asked as Hiram came walking up to join us.

With a smile, I said, “We’re about fifteen miles away from the Estancia and twenty miles from the Hacienda.”

“This is the last time I visit you until the railroad is running. I’m too old for this kind of travel,” he groaned.

Hiram nodded his head in agreement. “It’s not age that’s my problem, it’s the fact I don’t ride much, but I agree with the Judge. You did try to warn us, Paul, but the reality is very different than the expectation.”

We came to the northern boundary of the Estancia early the afternoon of the next day. Once we hit the paved section of road, we picked up speed, no longer having to worry about wagon ruts or holes in the road. Less than two hours later we rolled over the bridge, and our escorts waved as they turned for either the village or the ranch, taking the wagons with them.

We let the coach pull up outside the courtyard door, and we pulled up behind it. There were ten of the older boys waiting to help unload the coach and individual horses, before taking everyone’s horses and the coach away. Right behind them, came everyone else from the Hacienda. We all greeted one another, and quick introductions were made.

Kit, Josefa, the Judge, Hiram, and Helen looked around in wonder. We all knew that they would get the full effect tomorrow, after taking a ride to the village and ranch, but for now, they just stared.

Anna led the ladies inside with the men following carrying the trunks and baggage. She led the procession through the Hacienda and pointed at rooms giving the name of the person assigned to that room. She waited for the trunks and luggage to be placed inside before moving on to the next room.

When that was done, she asked Steve to show the five new visitors the bathroom, and explain how everything worked, while the rest of us took our trunks and luggage to our rooms.

We were all on the terrace less than ten minutes later, enjoying fresh coffee and biscochitos as we waited for Steve to finish explaining how things worked in the bathroom and lead the other five up to the terrace.

Anna and I were standing quietly at the railing with our arms around each other, looking out over the Estancia as Steve finally led the others out on the terrace. They all walked over and joined us standing quietly looking around.

After a few moments, Anna turned to them with a smile.

“Welcome to Estancia Dos Santos and to our Hacienda. We’ll take a ride to the village and ranch tomorrow, but from here you can see most of the Estancia. It runs four miles north and south of here and extends from the other side of the Doña Ana Mountains you see in front of you to the backside of the Robledo Mountains behind us.”

Kit gave a low whistle. “I still don’t understand what you need all that land for, Paul.”

I waved my hand out over the Estancia. “Most of the land from the road east is for cattle, Kit,” I turned towards the table. “Hector, what’s the latest cattle estimate?” I asked.

Hector came over to the railing. “Roughly 16,000 head Paul, and by the end of next summer probably over 20,000 head at the rate it’s going.”

I shook my head, wondering out loud how we were going to keep that many cattle fed without overgrazing before turning back to Kit. “Does that answer your question?” I asked.

“Why haven’t you sold any?” Kit asked in a perplexed voice.

I gave a snort, while Hector barked a short laugh. “We’ve sold over 10,000 head the last three years Kit,” Hector replied.

“Well, hell, Paul. I don’t know what cows go for around here, but I’ll take all you can deliver to Taos, at fifteen dollars a head,” Kit said in a firm, no-nonsense voice.

“What in the world would you do with that many cows, Kit? You’ve got buffalo if you need meat and Lucien’s herd is a lot closer to you than we are,” I said in disbelief.

Kit shook his head at me. “Paul, buffalo are migratory, and they never seem to be around when we need them. Lucien owns a lot of land, but he doesn’t have that many cattle. You know I’m the agent for the Jicarilla Apache and the Ute’s. I could have really used your beef last October. As it stands now, you’ll probably have to wait until March to start driving them up to Taos, so you don’t arrive before enough snow has melted to get through.”

“Hector, get with Kit after the meeting Monday morning and work everything out with him. Make sure Steve is with you so he can write up a contract with the terms you two come up with,” I said with a smile at Kit.

Anna chose that moment to ask, “Kit, whatever happened to those sheep you were going to look at for us? I sure would like to have some on the Estancia.”

“Well, I keep looking Anna, but I haven’t been able to find the combination of sheep and herders you talked about. Just before we left Taos to meet you in Santa Fe, I got word that a flock of 1,000 sheep had arrived with five families of herders but the man who hired them and brought them over from Spain, died before they arrived. I heard that they were looking to sell the sheep, and their services to someone, but I don’t know that for sure,” Kit replied.

I groaned inwardly, knowing what was coming, I quickly turned to Hector. “You better plan on taking at least six teams when you deliver the cattle, Hector. You’ll need at least that many to escort all those sheep back, if they are still there.”

I turned back to Kit and said, “If they are still available when you get back, Kit I would appreciate it if you would let them know we’re coming and will buy the sheep and their services. Hector knows the standard rates we pay our men and will discuss that with them, but I’ll ask you to negotiate the price of the sheep please.”

Kit nodded and said he would be happy to do that, as Anna beamed one of her smiles.

“Now, no more business talk until Monday morning,” I said forcefully. “Hiram, Helen, we are expecting Levi and your parents to arrive sometime between tomorrow afternoon, and the following afternoon.”

At their smiles, I continued, including everyone on the terrace. “Tomorrow morning we’ll take a ride to the village and the ranch, so you can get your bearings. Most of us will ride horses, but we’ll also take a wagon so that those of you who don’t or can’t ride can go. I’m told the village has arranged a welcome home fiesta in the plaza starting at noon on Saturday that we’ll all be expected to attend.”

I looked around the terrace and saw smiles and nods. “The sun is getting ready to set behind the Robledo Mountains, and it will go from chilly to downright cold when that happens. So, let’s start moving downstairs to the living room.”

We had just settled in with fresh coffee, when we were invaded by a herd of excited yammering kids, returning from the village. Helen and Josefa looked on in amusement while Hiram, the Judge, and Kit watched in amazement as the kids rotated among the adults, giving greetings and welcome home hugs all while continuing to throw out questions in four different languages, to whichever adult they were with at the time.

Anna finally got them all quieted down and introduced the new visitors before telling the kids that all their questions would be answered at supper. The kids all trooped upstairs, followed by Anna, Yolanda, Josefa, and Beth, who wanted to check on the babies.

“How in the world do you ever get any work done, with all that noise?” the Judge asked giving his ears a rub.

With a shrug, Tom replied. “They’re just excited to have us back is all. Most of the time they are either in school or outside so it’s pretty quiet. Mealtimes, on the other hand, are a different story, as you’re about to experience.”

Tom’s words were prophetic, as supper was the usual riot of conversations in multiple languages on different subjects, all being held amid the sounds of normal dining clatter. All of them were now realizing that we hadn’t been exaggerating when we said everyone on the Estancia was at least trilingual, and that most of the kids at supper were knowledgeable in Italian and German as well.

We did learn from a beaming Celia, that she and George had finally set their wedding for February 22^nd. This was very welcome news and sent Anna, Yolanda, Josefa, and Beth into their own conversation with Celia and Cristina.

When supper was over, we all retired back to the living room, where Anna asked me to play the piano. She joined me for the first few songs which included “Endless Love” at Yolanda’s request. When we were done Anna left to sit on the couch and hold the baby.

Once she was seated comfortably, I played a string of songs for Anna starting with “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” which I knew she loved hearing. From there I continued the romantic theme with “Carrying Your Love With Me”, “Deeper Than a Holler”, “Lady”, and “The Rose”, before finally ending the set with “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me”.

We’d all been talking for an hour when Anna asked for a few more songs before we all went to bed. I agreed, of course, since it was Anna asking. Looking at Tom while I settled on the piano bench I played “Wandering Star” for him which he appreciated.

Thinking about the songs I’d been practicing I picked a very special one that I particularly liked. If the reaction of those in the room were any indication, “Land of Enchantment” was a hit, and I’d be playing it often.

I ended the night with my standard tribute to our way of life, and to Anna.

Our ride the next morning was a hit with both the guests and the kids, as we accompanied them in their school wagon to the village. After a tour of the village and operations center, we all rode over to the ranch where they were given another tour of the apartments and the Ranch’s operations center. We were on the porch in front of the ranch operations area getting ready to leave after enjoying a cup of coffee in the courtyard when a flash from Robledo Mountain caught my eye.

I stopped and watched the mountain, waiting for the message to be sent. Anna, Tom, and Yolanda saw me staring at the mountain and turned to watch just as the message started. The others were talking quietly a few yards away but stopped when they noticed our strange behavior. Kit started to ask what we were doing but stopped when I held up a hand towards him, as I continued to read the signal. As a group, they all turned and watched with confusion as the message completed and was restarted for the second time.

Smiling, I turned to the group. “Well, it looks like lunch and supper will be a little later than normal today. Hiram, your brother and parents are about seven miles out and should be here about one.”

Hiram and Helen smiled with excitement in their eyes. It was easy to tell that they were close to Levi as well as the senior Greenburg’s. We all knew that it had been almost ten years since they had last seen each other, so this reunion was very special to them.

Kit looked over at us, with a hint of confusion still on his face. “You got all that from those flashes of light?” he asked.

“It’s Morse code, Kit, and yes, that was the message that was sent. It’s the same way that everyone on the Estancia knew that we were arriving. It’s our way of communicating with everyone around the Estancia, no matter where they are. We’ll explain it all in more detail Monday, after the business meeting,” I explained

Back at the Hacienda, we were all sitting on the terrace. Anna, Yolanda, Tom, and I all answered the various questions we were being asked about what our guests had seen. The ice house raised the most questions and we took them downstairs to show them the ice boxes in the kitchen.

While we were in the kitchen, Helen saw the fresh produce that was being prepared as part of our lunch and asked where it came from. Anna’s explanation required a visit to the greenhouses, and a look around the upper plateau, before returning to the terrace.

A short time later, as my stomach growled in complaint, I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. I turned to see the coach and escorts coming up the road from Las Cruces. I stood up pointing.

“Perfect timing. The last of our guests and lunch will both be arriving, soon.”

The others joined me at the railing as we watched the procession come up the road. As the coach crossed the bridge, Anna and I started down to the courtyard followed by our own little procession. We all waited just outside the courtyard door, as the coach came up the slope and pulled to a stop in front of us.

Hiram and Helen rushed to the coach door as it opened to greet the rest of their family, while the rest of the men joined me in unloading the luggage from the boot. There wasn’t much, and we carried it inside following the gaggle, as Anna led the way to the two rooms Levi and his parents would be using.

Lunch and the rest of the afternoon were relatively quiet, as the Greenburgs unpacked and caught up with each other. Anna did warn the three new arrivals that things would get a little noisier when the kids all came in from school but, as usual on the Estancia, their expectations were exceeded by reality.

The usual noise of the kid’s arrival was compounded when the six babies and the toddlers, Rose and William, all woke up from their naps as Izabella herded the kids inside. Anna and I simply looked at each other with laughter in our eyes, acknowledging that, to us, this was what a family was.

Levi and his parents received their first experience of our multilingual table conversations at supper. As usual, they didn’t know which was more interesting, the food or the conversation. Especially among the kids, who switched back and forth between languages depending on who they were talking to and what the subject was.

Mrs. Greenburg seemed fascinated by the conversations and soon had Mike, who was sitting next to her, providing her a running commentary of who was talking to talking who, what language they were using, and what the subject was.

The next afternoon we all rode over to the village, where we spent the afternoon and evening enjoying the fiesta. The hit of the evening was a desert of crushed ice, covered in various syrups. I never did find out who came up with the idea, or who had spent all the time required to crush up all that ice but I was not only glad they did, I also made a mental note to add that to the list of things to introduce as a possible business when the ice plants were going in Las Cruces and Mesilla, as well as points north.

Of course, Anna managed to surprise me once again when the fiesta was nearing its end. She leaned over and told me the kids were getting tired, and they were getting impatient for the lion song.

When I reminded her that I didn’t have my guitar she giggled. “Mi amor, you should know very well by now that no fiesta on the Estancia is complete without the lion song at the end.” She gave a head nod to someone behind me. “I made sure your guitar was in the wagon before we loaded, and here it is. So, get up and go play. Make the kids happy,” she finished as Yolanda handed me the guitar.

Laughing I took the guitar, grabbed Anna’s hand, and told Yolanda and Tom to come with us. The crowd in the plaza grew quiet as they noticed me carrying the guitar to where the musicians had been playing earlier. By the time we arrived and turned to face the crowd, you could have heard a pin drop. I noticed Mike whispering to the Greenburgs trying to explain what was happening.

“Well folks, it’s been a great afternoon and evening. We’d like to thank everyone for the fiesta and especially the ladies for the food, but most especially whoever it was who came up with the ice cones. Those were a great treat.” I waited for the applause to die down. “All good things must come to an end, though, and it’s nearly time to end the fiesta, as the kids are tiring quickly. Of course, so are most of the parents,” I said with a smile to a chorus of no’s and boos from the kids. “I think we have time for one more song, so what should I play?”

Anna hadn’t been kidding. The kids had been waiting for this moment, and responded with an almost deafening roar of, “The lion song!”

I played with them a little, asking twice if they were sure, really sure, they wanted to hear the lion song? When they had responded with another loud roar, I asked them if they remembered what to do. With another loud roar, they assured me they did indeed remember.

When they’d quieted down, I started playing and after a few bars nodded to Anna, Tom, and Yolanda who started singing and were soon joined by the kids and most of the parents. I started singing “The Lion Sleeps Tonight”. The kids were flawless as we sang it through the usual two times.

Thanking everyone again we loaded up the wagons, mounted the horses and started the short ride to the Hacienda. As we rode Anna asked me to sing “Impossible Dream” which I did just to see one of her great huge super megawatt Anna smiles gleaming in the night.

Once inside the Hacienda, we bade everyone good night and went up to our room where we crawled into bed ourselves. Our nightly pillow talk was about the strange looks Mr. Greenburg gave me when we got back to the Hacienda and were saying our goodnights. Anna had noticed the look too but neither of us could figure out what it meant. It was kind of like a cross between confusion, anger, hope, and regret, all rolled into one.

Anna and I drifted off to sleep with Laura’s soft sweet voice whispering to us. “Yes, it’s a concern, but don’t worry about it for now. I don’t believe there is any danger in whatever is going on with Mr. Greenburg.”

Anna, Yolanda, Tom, and I locked ourselves into the study Sunday afternoon after church. We spent a short time reviewing the November Estancia reports, which contained no surprises. The bulk of the afternoon was spent reviewing our plans for Monday’s meeting which I privately referred to as the big reveal.

Monday morning, right after breakfast, I invited everyone left at the table after the kids left for school, to move to the living room where we started the meeting. I looked around the living room as we started and found every adult currently living in the Hacienda present, including all the guests.

I hadn’t really expected Josefa, Helen, or Mrs. Greenburg to attend, but was pleased they were here. Along with them were the usual Monday meeting participants, with the addition of Heinrich and Maco. We moved thru each area and even with the addition of the ice plant operations and landscaping activities and plans, it still only took forty-five minutes to review the current status and upcoming plans. From the looks on the faces of our guests, they were clearly surprised at the level of activity we reviewed, and the coordination of resources they heard.

When we were done with the normal meeting, we took a break and reconvened in the dining room ten minutes later with a short speech from me.

“Most of you know that I passionately believe that Statehood is not only in the best interest of the people of this Territory but needs to happen as soon as possible. I also believe that before we achieve Statehood, New Mexico Territory will be split into two Territories.

“We can’t do much about the Western Territory at this point, so we are focusing on the Eastern one. The Rio Grande River and the Mesilla Valley will play an important role in achieving Statehood, as that’s where the people are and that’s where we’re concentrating our efforts. To achieve Statehood, we need many things. Among them are a functioning educational system, thriving communities, established businesses, and a better transportation system than we have now.

“Before we give you any details of what we’re doing, I’m going to ask the Judge to briefly describe the legal aspects of one of our most important tools, Trusts. He’ll cover Public Trusts, Private Trusts, and Charitable Trusts. Steve will then cover the Public Trusts we’ve established and give us the current status of each one. From there, we’ll talk about the Charitable Trusts before turning to the issue of business and transportation.”

I looked over at the Judge and motioned to him. The Judge stood and gave a brief and impromptu summary of what a trust was, specifically covering the three types I’d asked him to address. When he was done, Steve took the floor and described the Salt Flat Trust, and what we’d done to assure that salt would be available to everyone in the area as it had been under the Spanish and Mexican governments. Anna took over at that point and provided the current status of the Community Trust and Yolanda did the same for the Education Trust.

Seeing the glazed look in the eyes of most of the people in the room, I called for another break to refresh ourselves and our coffee.

I asked for questions on what we’d covered so far once everyone was back and ready to start. Oddly, most of the questions came from Mr. Greenburg, and concerned motives more than anything else.

“No, Sir, what we’re doing in Las Cruces and Mesilla isn’t altruism. At least not completely. There is a little of that, along with the Statehood angle, to be sure. But the primary reason is simple human nature and economics. Building and maintaining the roads, libraries, schools, and parks will all require people. Those people will live in one of the two communities, and they will get paid.

“Once people get used to paved streets, schools, libraries, and parks they aren’t going to want to do without them, and will, therefore, pay to maintain them, thus keeping local people employed. When they have money, they will buy more or better things. Food in particular. The Estancia is in the food production business, so this is one of the ways we’re using to create and maintain a steady market now and, in the future,” I replied in response to his first question.

The rest of the questions were in a similar vein and addressed the Salt Flats, Estancia pay, how the village was run, the Estancia store, and local politics. I couldn’t figure out where he was going with his questions. There was a definite pattern, but I couldn’t figure out what he was trying to get to. Nevertheless, I answered them or had Jesus answer them as completely as possible.

“The Estancia needs salt just like everyone else. Because of our cattle herd, we need a lot more than anyone else in the valley at the moment. We created the trust to ensure we had continued uninterrupted access to that salt. Creating the trust was the simplest and cheapest way we could come up with to do that. It’s as simple as that,” I replied to his question.

I had Jesus answer the rest of his questions. Most of the guests were surprised at the answers, especially how much the men were paid, their families right to their house or apartment, the elections, the store prices, and complete lack of involvement in local politics at this point.

When Jesus had finished answering the last of Mr. Greenburg’s questions, he gave me a small nod which I took to mean he had no other questions. I launched into the next part of the reveal.

“Las Cruces and Mesilla have a lot of small businesses to serve their needs and the needs of the Estancia and other farms and ranches in the valley. Once the people start getting paid for the jobs the two trusts are funding, there is going to be more money available in the towns. I’m sure that the merchants, like Mrs. Amador, will start adding a few more luxury items to their inventory, as will the butcher, the baker, and the restaurants.

“There are two luxury items, however, above all others, that the towns will have access to, and they will have it by the beginning of the summer. The first is ice!” I stopped and waved my hands indicating Anna, Yolanda, Tom, and I. “Dos Santos Enterprises will be building ice plants in both Las Cruces and Mesilla. These plants will not only provide ice at a fair price to anyone in town who wants it, they will also sell iceboxes made here on the Estancia. Over the next few years, we will expand the ice business up to Santa Fe, Albuquerque, and Socorro before heading West to Tucson and Colorado City.

“The second item will be cooling systems for buildings, that will provide cool air inside homes and businesses in the heat of summer. Just like the ice business, we will start here in the valley before expanding out to Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Socorro, and then westwards. We are still working on the system and testing various options, but we already have a working prototype.” I stopped and waited for the questions I knew were coming.

Most of the questions dealt with how much the ice and cooling systems would cost, or how the customers would get the ice. I waited for all those types of questions before replying that the infrastructure requirements and business models were still being developed, but we were looking at less than a nickel a block delivered to the customer on a set schedule.

Just as I suspected, Mr. Greenburg hit the meat of the issue with his questions. I took a few moments to collect my thoughts, so as to answer all of his questions at once.

“There are a lot of reasons to start these particular businesses, Sir. The first is Statehood. Every single person who comes here from back East, remarks on the heat, lack of comfort, and yes, the dust. Within three years, at least here in the valley, they won’t have those things to complain about. They will find that each town on the Rio Grande is, in varying degrees, an oasis.

“The second reason is brand recognition. Dos Santos Enterprises includes the Estancia and all the other businesses we will start and operate but the Estancia will always be the most important. Within three years most people in towns along the Rio Grande from here to Santa Fe will be eating Dos Santos beef and Dos Santos produce in a cool pleasant environment provided by Dos Santos Cooling and sipping drinks from sweating glasses made cold using Dos Santos Ice.

“We have no interest in ever being the biggest landowners, having the largest herds, the most land under cultivation, or even the largest business. What we do want, is for the Dos Santos name to be associated with the highest quality.