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Excerpts from Abe Peña's  Memories of Cibola

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

from The Village at Ojo del Gallo
"Ojo del Gallo, 'Eye of the Rooster,' is a rich watering hole, used by Indians long before the Spanish came to Cíbola. In 1862 the army decided to build a fort at Ojo del Gallo, to keep an eye on the Navajos. The fort was named Fort Wingate, after Capt. Benjamin Wingate, killed in the Civil War battle at Valverde, in Socorro County.


In 1863 the army arranged with Kit Carson to round up the Navajos and move them to Bosque Redondo, on the Pecos River, some 225 miles to the east. The purpose ostensibly was to improve the lot of the Navajos by making them farmers. But the noble Navajos were nomads and could not stay long in one place. They needed space to move and to roam--they were hunters and did not take to farming. Unfortunately thousands died in the 'Long Walk,' before the misguided orders were rescinded and the Navajos at Bosque Redondo returned home.


In 1868 the army decided to move the fort to Ojo del Oso, 'Spring of the Bear,' near Gallup, to be closer to the larger concentrations of Navajos farther west. Some of the Hispanics that had come from Seboyeta to provide materials for building Ft. Wingate at San Rafael [later] petitioned the president of the United States, Grover Cleveland, to grant them the site to build a village.

A patent was granted to them, which protected their land and water rights, and San Rafael was settled and started growing. It developed into a prosperous community that claimed several large sheepmen, with tens of thousands of sheep, a number of cantinas to wet the sheepherders' and cowboys' thirst, and a number of stores selling groceries and hardware. Some of those buildings are still standing, and many of the attractive homes of the ricos are still in use.


The village was named after Father José Rafael Chávez, a Franciscan priest, brother to Esquipula Chávez, one of the founders of San Rafael. The good friar was suspended from his priestly duties by Bishop Lamy and became a very successful businessman.


San Rafael, three miles south from Grants on Highway 53, is considered the gateway to the west side of El Malpais National Monument, the Ice Caves, Inscription Rock at El Morro, Zuni Pueblo, and to the most direct route from Albuquerque to Phoenix.

"Capt. Rafael Chacón arrived in October 1862 with a military troop to build a fort at Ojo del Gallo, today San Rafael, by orders of Lt. Col. José Francisco Chaves, assigned as post commander, and by General James Carleton, commander of forces in New Mexico. In his memoirs Capt. Chacón wrote, 'Upon receiving orders I used my wits to take my wife Juanita and my little daughter Gumecinda to the new fort... When we arrived we made an acequia from the spring, about two miles southward, and there established Fort Wingate. The soldiers and officers were in their respective tents. Four sentinels constantly walked around to safeguard the provisions and barrels in the open.'


Although the good captain does not mention the grim conditions they encountered, winter was fast approaching, and conditions must surely have been harsh and primitive, especially for young families.
In Legacy of Honor: The Life of Rafael Chacón, edited by Jacqueline Maketa, he says, 'Timber had to be cut, roads and a water supply system built, and buildings erected. Soldiers were employed as carpenters, millwrights, masons, timber cutters, road constructors, and adobe makers--all in additon to their myriad military duties. Some civilians were also hired and a contract for 350,000 adobe bricks was awarded.' General Carleton estimated the fort would cost $45,000 and that it would provide for two companies, one mounted.


Several individuals from Seboyeta, all veterans of the Civil War who had fought at Valverde and some at Glorieta, came to work and help build the fort, according to Josephine Barela in her book Ojo del Gallo. 'Among them were Mónico Mirabal, José León Téllez, and José Fermín Gallegos. They cut timber, harvested grass, made adobes and sold them to the fort.'
Vidal Mirabal of Grants, now in his eighties, says that 'They dug a 4 foot by 4 foot by 4 foot hole in the ground and cut meadow grass and packed and stamped it into bales and sold the hay to the fort to feed the horses.' A blessed and happy event happened in June 1863, when a boy, Luis Antonio, was born to Doña Juanita and Capt. Rafael Chacón, the first child born at Ft. Wingate. He was baptized by Father Rafael Chávez. A stagecoach line came from Santa Fe to Fort Wingate, passing through Peña Blanca, San Isidro, Cabezón, and San Mateo. It served the area until about 1882, when the railroad came through Grants.


According to Chacón, the fort was to be 'a permanent one surrounded by a stockade with walls 8 and 13 feet high, containing in addition to the officer and company quarters, a quartermaster storehouse, a magazine, corrals and stables, and a hospital.' Progress on the fort was slow, however, as the soldiers fought skirmishes with the Navajos. Then came the infamous order from General Carleton in 1863 to round up all the Navajos and move them to Ft. Sumner (Bosque Redondo), on the Pecos River. Col. Kit Carson was put in charge of the move. The misguided order was intended 'to give them a better livelihood as farmers.' Approximately twenty-five hundred were rounded up in the San Rafael area and another thirty-five hundred in San Isidro and taken on the 'Long Walk' to Ft. Sumner. Many died on the way. Orders were given to burn the Navajos' cornfields and destroy their hogans, to force the reluctant ones to move. Delgadito and Barboncito, Navajo leaders, fought desperately, but finally gave up.


Conditions at Fort Sumner were miserable, and the Navajos could not adapt to a farming life. Many more died, and some escaped and came back to their beloved sandstone country. By 1868 it was evident the order to move had failed, and the surviving Navajos were permitted to return to their homes in the piñon and juniper country of northwestern New Mexico and eastern Arizona. That same year the military decided to move Fort Wingate to Ojo del Oso, near Gallup, to be nearer the center of Navajo country and began the shutdown of Fort Wingate at San Rafael. By 1869 most of the soldiers were gone, and the government invited the settlers around the fort to stay and occupy the land. The settlers decided to name their village San Rafael, after former priest Rafael Chávez. A proclamation signed by 115 villagers was sent to President Grove Cleveland in 1884, stating, 'we have broken the ground, dug ditches, built homes and fences, establishing a town called San Rafael.' A patent was then granted to them, and their land rights were protected from that time on.
And so ends the story of Fort Wingate at San Rafael."