"Our Heritage, Our People, Selections of the Mesilla Valley", a verbal history collected 
by the author Ella Banegas Curry and Shan Nichols, 1974, Library of Congress Catalog 
Card Number 74-18037

Selected Excerpts by permission of the authors
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DONA ANA
In 1839, the governor of Chihuahua, Mexico, issued a grant of land containing 35,399 
acres on the east bank of the Rio Grande River to don Jose Maria Costales and one 
hundred sixteen men.  The area was to be known as El Ancon de Dona Ana. (The City of 
Dona Ana).  The town as it stands today is located about ten miles north of Las Cruces 
(New Mexico).  It was once a resting place for those traveling north and south along the 
river.
	A legend says that a gracious lady named Ana lived and died there.  She was so 
beloved by all, a headstone was made to mark her grave and it was inscribed, simply 
"Dona Ana".  The tombstone became a landmark, and the area around it was described as 
"the place of Dona Ana".  No one seems to know where this stone is located, but the 
name of Dona Ana remains.  Many people believe this to be the way the town was 
named.  Others say the Mexican general, Santa Ana, named it in memory of his daughter, 
Ana.  Either version is very possible.
	Years before the land was officially granted to the settlers, men had come to Dona 
Ana from Mexico, seeking a life with greater freedom and increased prosperity.  Their 
fights with the Apache Indians were frequent, so the homes they build in the beginning 
were one-story adobe and were designed for protection.  None of the building in Dona 
Ana standing today are as they were built in the beginning.
	

SAN YSIDRO
As Dona Ana (the village of) became crowed, many of the people in the town moved to 
other areas- San Ysidro, Picacho, later to Las Cruces - to "get out of town", in a sense.  
San Ysidro lies south of Dona Ana and about two miles north of Las Cruces.  It is a small 
farming community that still retains the spirit of friendship of its first days.  
	The main building in San Ysidro is the church.  Built in 1922, about seventy-five 
years after the village was settled, it is symbolic today as it was "yesterday" because of 
the community effort that built and continues to maintain it.  The church was financed 
and built by the people themselves.  It is kept up in the same way today.
	The feast of San Ysidro is held on May 15.  San Ysidro is the patron saint of 
seeds and harvest.  On this day, all fields and even small gardens are blessed.  After a 
procession, the day is spent in celebration. (See photo of church under Web Page photo 
section)

CAROLINA BANEGAS 
The land for the church was donated by Estevan Banegas, Estevan Banegas' father, 
Manuel, had come from Mexico.  It is believed that along his way, he took in a boy he 
reared as his own.  The young boy's name is Ysabel. (See photo of Ysabel's grave site 
under Web Page photo section)
	Ysabel married a senorita named Virginia and eventually acquired a piece of land 
on which they built a home.  Life was very difficult for them and their children.  They 
built a fire on the floor in one corner of their one-room casa while cooking.  A hole in the 
roof opposite the fire was the only ventilation.  Although Ysabel worked hard, there were 
time when the family had very little to eat.  Often, the only food they had was uncooked 
peas.  It was customary for the children to sit in a circle on the room's dirt floor to share 
the meal, whatever it was.
	Since they had no furniture, everyone slept on animal skins on the bare floor.  The 
children had few clothes and almost went barefooted. Ysabel never owned a gun because 
he couldn't afford to buy one.  Game was abundant, but he could not hunt without a gun.  
Occasionally, however, he would manage to beat or stone small game - almost always 
rabbits - to provide the family with fresh meat.  If he had a good crop year, Ysabel would 
trade with a merchant in the village of Dona Ana for clothing and other supplies.
	The children of Ysabel and Virginia, therefore, never knew the care-free kind of 
existence that most children experience.  But they grew up to contribute to the welfare of 
the valley just the same as other children did.
	One of Ysabel's children, Carolina, still lives in San Ysidro.  Carolina was born in 
1882, and still remembers how poor her childhood was.  "Things changed when my three 
brothers and I were admitted to the New Mexico Indian School in Albuquerque.  It didn't 
take us long to discover that most of the other students were Indians who spoke no 
Spanish!  We finally learned to read and write in English the three years we attended the 
school.  When we returned to our home, we learned that our mother had died. (See photo 
of Carolina under Web Page photo section)
	"My sister Lena and I became midwives.  We brought quite a few friends and 
relatives into the world.  The only doctor in the area lived in Las Cruces.  He couldn't 
reach everyone who needed medical attention, so we helped when we could.  Many 
women died during childbirth in those days.  Procedures and equipment weren't as good 
as they are today."
	Children have always been important to Carolina.  The day we visited her, 
children of various ages dashed in and out of her small but comfortable home.  We asked 
her if the behavior of modern children is typical of the way she was trained.  "In my time, 
children were taught to respect older people so the children were all very well mannered.  
When we were in the presence of older people, it was expected that we would follow all 
their instructions.  When we finished, we stood with our arms crossed and waited for 
more instructions or to be dismissed.  Children aren't taught to do this anymore.

ELLA BANEGAS CURRY 
As San Ysidro became more populated, and there were more people to help, life became 
easier for all.  Ysabel's "adapted step-brother" Estevan, also lived in the San Ysidro area.  
Ysabel had been much older than Estevan.  By the time Estevan had been born, Manuel 
had acquired several acres of good land.  Estevan and his brother, Donicio, and his sister 
Ruperta, were reared under circumstances entirely different from those of Ysabel.  New 
prosperity replaced the hardships.  Manuel's land eventually divided among his sons and 
their families, as was the custom of the time.
	Estevan was known by all as "Mi Tio" (My Uncle).  He was well known for his 
kindness and generosity.  He took in many young boys to rear as his own.  Each received 
his own land when he married.  Estevan's family never went hungry.  He worked hard to 
become a good farmer, and even invented things to make his work easier to do in less 
time.  One of his daughters, Ella Banegas Curry, remembers one of the inventions:
	" I remember how my father designed plans to make a cultivator and then had a 
blacksmith build it according to his plans.  This cultivator, which was pulled by one 
horse, freed my father from this back-breaking chore.  The cultivator was lent to any 
neighboring farmer who wanted to use it.  Before the Elephant Butte Dam was built, my 
father irrigated our land with a windmill be bought from the Garrett family. (Sheriff Pat 
Garrett captured Billy the Kid).
	"Meat was always plentiful. My mother, Margarita, preserved the meat by storing 
it in jars.  My parents cured ham and bacon from pigs they butchered themselves.  Corn 
was dried in the sun and stored in a cool place for use later in the year.  Green chili and 
melons were kept in holes dug underground.  We could store watermelons for many 
months this way.  They even raised sugar cane and made molasses with the aid of a 
horse-drawn press.  We grew acres of wheat.  When it ripened, a reaper would be brought 
in to harvest and sack the wheat.  The wheat was then taken to the mill in Las Cruces to 
be ground into flour.  There was always some left over that we could not use.  My father 
would sell this surplus at a profit.
	"We were a very progressive family.  While other families used kerosene lamps 
for light, we used Carbudo(carbide) which some salesman talked my father into 
installing.  It produced a very soft light.  The company that sold it went out of business 
during the Depression so that was the last we saw of that!
	"The Depression caused many changes in our house.  The older children had been 
able to go to school in new cars; the younger ones had to walk or ride a horse the three or 
four miles to school.
	"When I was a child, we were expected to help out in the fields.  My father had 
made a planter that could be operated by only one person.  A tin can was nailed to a long 
board.  The bottom of the can was partially cut out and a long string was attached to it.  
The string ran the length of the board.  By pulling on the string, seeds could be dropped 
into the ground with minimal effort.  This made planting a lot easier than it had been.
	"We had many fruit trees and grape vines.  My father made the best wine around.  
Our home was always full of people because our family had so many friends.  My father 
loved to read and always had stores to tell.  In the days before the Depression my father 
build a dance hall next to our house.  He loved good music and hosted many dances and 
parties.  We were always happy.  Those were truly the good old days".
	Some of the tribulations of the past seem humorous in retrospect.  Ella remembers 
one such instance.  "We used to have a neighbor whose name was Don Fabian Cardon.  I 
remember once we were talking about days gone by.  He talked about how, when he had 
been a young man, his father had made him some shoes out of cowhide.  When Don 
Fabian went dancing, the girls would always step on his feet.  He got embarrassed 
because he left a trail of cowhide all across the dance floor." 
	Of the homes said to be haunted in the Mesilla Valley, the old homestead of the 
Banegas family has to be included.  One oak tree west of the house is said to be over one 
hundred years old and has been the scene of much history.  The house itself was once a 
resting place for stagecoaches.  The large room on the north side of the spacious hacienda 
was added later as a dancehall.  The winery was in the large room on the south side.  
When Ella Curry was a child, she slept in the room that had been a winery.  Her 
memories of hearing footsteps across the floor late at night when there was no evidence 
that anyone had been up walking are vivid.
	Other strange things have happened in this house.  "My father had step-brothers, 
he never was too close to them because all their interest were different.  He did visit with 
them when he could.  He learned that his step-brother Ysabel, had been sick for some 
time.  Finally, when the end was near, my mother and older sisters went to be near Tio 
Ysabel.  My father and I stayed at home.  My father always liked to read in the kitchen 
because it was the warmest place in the winter.  One evening while my mother, 
Margarita, was gone, we were in the kitchen as usual.  All of a sudden, we heard 
somebody open the door and slam it hard.  We could tell because it made the glass on the 
door rattle. We heard steps go all the way across the last rooms in the back of the house.  
They seemed to go back out again, slamming the door again real hard.  My father picked 
up the lamp and went out to investigate.  We saw no one.  The rest of the family returned 
home right after that to tell us the sad news that my uncle had just died.
	The old Banegas house still stands and is located north of Las Cruces near San 
Ysidro along Don Ana Road. (See photo of Banegas home under Web Page photo 
section)
	Estevan Banegas liked to tell his children stories and to talk about the incidents he 
had with the Indians.  His son, Pete, told me that the first houses in Dona Ana were built 
in a large circle, for better protection.  People gathered inside this circle to visit and to do 
their work.  Everyone tied their horse along a long rope that was strung inside the town.
	"One Sunday afternoon, everyone got together to celebrate the baptism of a child.  
The women were indoors fixing all the food.  The men liked to stay outside to pitch 
horseshoes and visit with each other.  This one afternoon, everything seemed peaceful 
and quit.  Everyone was happy and having a good time.
	"All of a sudden, the men heard a loud noise and turned to see a huge cloud of 
duct.  Out of "nowhere" came a raiding party of Indians!  The men scrambled to try to 
reach their guns, but the Indians were in the town before they could get to them and get 
them loaded.  The men were shocked because they weren't prepared to defend themselves 
and hadn't expected anything like this to happen.  The Indians came face-to-face with the 
men but did not hurt anyone.  They took eleven horses from the rope that day.  My father 
said this was one experience he would never forget.  He had never been that close to an 
Indian before.  Most of the men had been so alarmed, they just stood where they were, 
unable to move."



End of Selected Excerpts
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