By Jesus L. Lopez The Romero brothers, from left: Hilario (1844-1903), Benigno (1849-1913), Trinidad (1835-1919), Margarito (1851-1917), and Eugenio (1837-1920).Buy this photo The Romero brothers, from left: Hilario (1844-1903), Benigno (1849-1913), Trinidad (1835-1919), Margarito (1851-1917), and Eugenio (1837-1920). Buy this photo In the first years of his freighting business, Miguel Romero and his five sons, and other family members, made the long journeys on the Santa Fe Trail themselves, from Las Vegas to St. Louis, Missouri and the great Mississippi River. Within a short time, however, Don Miguel was able to hire and provide for the many teamsters who would drive his wagons and caravans along the Trail, a journey of two months, as described in our previous column. It cannot be emphasized enough that at the time, the freight business along the Trail was the most lucrative and expansive business in the west. There was no way to move goods to and from New Mexico, except on the backs of mules, or by wagons drawn by mules or oxen. The absence of navigable rivers, and the railroad still in its infancy, made the Santa Fe Trail the exclusive highway for commerce, and Don Miguel’s wagons along the Trail were the equivalent of the eighteen-wheelers we see on the highway today. (As we will recount later, the railroad did not arrive in New Mexico until 1879.) Miguel and his wife Josefa soon became the leading citizens of Las Vegas, and it was on their property north of their home that our first government buildings were erected in about 1865, at the northwest corner of Valencia and North Gonzales Streets. The property was apparently donated by Don Miguel, and he also contributed to the construction of these first public buildings, which served as our courthouse and jail until his son Eugenio erected the court building on the south side of the Plaza in 1882, followed by the construction of our courthouse in 1885. Despite their wealth and prominence, it has always been reputed that both Miguel and Josefa were humble and caring souls, beloved by the entire community. Some years after her death, the Las Vegas Optic reported of Doña Josefa, that “often she was noticed entering the humblest of the adobe huts, or calling at the doors of the poorest log house, to administer advice, consolation and health to the erring or unfortunate poor or sick, or bread and medicine, which she always gave like an angel of mercy, without money and without price.” Don Miguel was also known for his good and courageous deeds. In an earlier column we related that in 1836 he led a group of early settlers who rescued two young boys kidnapped from Las Vegas by Navajo warriors, after an all-day battle near present day Wagon Mound. And it was Don Miguel who brought the famous hermit here. While leading one of his trade caravans in 1863, Miguel encountered Giovanni Maria Augustini in Council Grove, Kansas, and brought the solitary Italian to Las Vegas. Augustini would make his home in a cave atop El Cerro del Tecolote, which was later named Hermit’s Peak in his honor. (A later column will be devoted to the hermit and the legends surrounding him). Doña Josefa died in Las Vegas in 1877, at the age of 60, and Don Miguel was 81 when he died here in 1880. They had married in 1830 when Josefa was only fourteen, her young age and the age difference between them not uncommon at the time. These two humble, benevolent and amazingly successful Las Vegas pioneers had 10 children, five girls and five boys. The sisters were Aniceta (1833-1915), Manuela (1842-1913), Avelina (1847-1933), Josefa (1857-1917), and Juliana (1858-1937), and their story is told in a recently published monograph by local historian Doyle Daves. The 2011 booklet is aptly titled “The Remarkable Romeros of Las Vegas — the Almost Forgotten Sisters,” and recounts the life of each of the five female siblings who were for so long overshadowed by their brothers. (The booklet is available for purchase at the Citizens Committee for Historic Preservation.) The sisters married into Baca, López, Gonzales, Ulibarrí and Ortiz families, and many of their descendants continue to live in Las Vegas and throughout New Mexico, most bearing surnames other than Romero. Describing the “Elegant Romero Sisters,” Daves notes in his monograph that they were “socially-prominent, civic-minded women in the burgeoning community of Las Vegas, in its heyday when it was the transportation hub and most dynamic city of the Southwest.” As for Miguel and Josefa’s five sons, they would become titans in Las Vegas, and leading citizens of the territory and state. Trinidad, Eugenio, Hilario, Benigno and Margarito would be known throughout New Mexico as the Romero Brothers, and their stories follow in the next several columns. Jesus L. Lopez is a native of Las Vegas and a local historian. He may be reached at 425-3730. Comment Add new comment
Posted on: Tue, 05 Aug 2014 12:00:06 +0000