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Excerpts from Abe Peña's  popular publications

All material used with the kind permission of the author, given to me personally.

from RANCHING

"Cecil Moore—He Loved the Zuni Mountains

Cecil Moore wore many hats in his lifetime. He was at one time or another a lumber man, a cowboy, a farmer, a rancher, a fiddler, a real estate agent, a poet, a cattle buyer, a storyteller, a father, a grandfather, but we knew him knew him with just one hat, a handsome open road cowboy hat. Cecil Moore was a colorful man in the west. He loved his mountains, especially the Zuni Mountains.

According to his granddaughter Connie, who wrote the preface to Hole in the Wall—A Collection of Cowboy Poetry written by Cecil Moore, compiled and edited by her sister Linda, “He was born on May 28, 1901 in White Oaks, Territory of New Mexico, in Lincoln County; it was gold-mining country. His father, Buck Moore, had a freight-hauling business. He hauled supplies in the area, as well as west across the Black Range to the mining towns of Mogollon and Silver City.”

when gold mining gave out, Buck and his wife Jane and the family left White Oaks and moved to the Zuni Mountains in west-central New Mexico. They first settled at Kettner Canyon, between Sawyer and McGaffey, where he resumed his hauling business, hauling logs and cutting timber for the old American Lumber Company.

The family grew to seven children—Jewel, Roy, Cecil, Buck, Jr., Toots, Marie, Bernice, and Laura. Stan Hayton says, “When Buck Moore first came from White Oaks to this country, he brought his oxen with him. Cecil, a fine storyteller, used to tell of the day Buck could not get the harnessed oxen into the tent barn for the night, and, in a rage, left them yoked to a log all night. The next morning, the tent was on the ground and the oxen were all tangled up!”

Young Cecil Moore met the pretty Elsie Hayton, the daughter of Joe and Ida Hayton, who were farming and ranching at Sawyer. In 1919, at age 18, Cecil proposed and, after a brief courtship, married Elsie. Stan Hayton, brother to Elsie, told me, “My father was kind of against the marriage, because he thought they were too young.”

Cecil and Elsie homesteaded in the Zunis, and raised a family of three boys—Orville, Lyle, and John. Orville is a rancher and livestock feeder in the Socorro area, and was a member of the Board of Directors of the First Bank in Grants.

Cecil Moore homesteaded in his Zuni Mountains and ran cattle and farmed. It was open range, and his herd grew. For pleasure, he wrote poetry...

“A Gift to Your Son”

“It came from your father
it was all he had to give,
So it's yours to use and cherish
as long as you live.

If you lose the watch he gave you,
it can always be replaced,
But a black mark on your name, son,
can never be erased.

It was clean the day you took it
and a worthy name to bear,
When I got it from my father
there was no dishonor there.

So make sure you guard it wisely
after all is said and done,
You'll be glad the name is spotless
when you give it to your son.”

Cecil bought and traded cattle in Old Mexico. He could speak good Spanish, and liked to speak it. He also learned a little Navajo along the way. He fit well in any crowd. Stan Hayton says, “One time, he was playing his fiddle at a dance in Grants. They had a lot of fun and drank a little too much. On the way to his ranch, he told his partner he was hungry, and the friend pulled out a head of lettuce, and Cecil ate it... and threw up, “That darn lettuce must have been bad!”

His granddaughter Connie wrote, “Cecil and his family left New Mexico in 1949 to pursue ranching in Colorado. Although he was away from New Mexico until the 1960s, his heart remained in New Mexico and the beloved Zuni Mountains of his childhood.”

Connie adds, “When Cecil and Elsie returned to New Mexico, they returned to the Zuni Mountains, to cattle ranching and real estate. Elsie passed away in 1980, but Cecil continued to live an active life. In addition to his poetry, he played the fiddle, traveled extensively, and spent a good deal of time on his ranch. He was an avid storyteller, and he never met a “stranger.”

In his travels, he met and married Eva Hearn from Houston, Texas. They lived together for two years, until Cecil passed away to his eternal rest in 1985.

The last poem in his book, believed to be the last poem he wrote, is dedicated to his brother-in-law Stan Hayton and his lovely wife Jackie on their 50th Wedding Anniversary, titled:

“Fifty Years of Married Life”

“How well do I remember the day
When Stan was very young,
His folks had the best little farm
That ever laid under the sun.

Stan, he milked the cows
plowed, and planted, you see
And they raised blue potatoes
they would have something to eat.

They always had a few cattle
So they raised grain and hay,
Because the cows had to eat
when they had cold winter days.

So one day Stan said to his mom
I'm getting tired of this life,
I am going to get out
and try and find me a wife.

When he left his home
He didn't know where he'd be,
But he went straight to the log camp
Jackie for to see.

He gave her a run-down of his life
Because he hadn't known her too long
But says if you'll be my wife
I'll sure take you along.

Now it's fifty long years
Come this eighteenth day,
and it's nice to have them around
I'll have this to say
Happy Anniversary and many more to come.”"