Daniel B Flores

Tales of Vaughn, The Early Days Daniel B Flores

Tales of Vaughn, The Early Days is written as a follow-up to the earlier It Happened In Vaughn: Stories About a New Mexico Railroad Town. The new Tales of Vaughn takes advantage of various sources, chiefly old newspaper articles, to tell the story of Vaughn's early days. The newspaper articles, all in chronological order, help tell the history of Vaughn's early days, from the early 1900s through the 1920s. Though there are two articles from the 1940s, there are none from the 1930s. There are also several period photographs that accompany some of the newspaper articles. The photographs are intended to provide a visual perspective to the newspaper stories. Many of the articles are from the Albuquerque Morning Journal, the forerunner of today's Albuquerque Journal. The Morning Journal used to carry a regular column about events and happenings in Vaughn. The column was titled, simply enough, VAUGHN. The column being published by one of the state's major newspapers is indicative of Vaughn's importance in earlier days. Many of the articles about some of the criminal actions committed in the Vaughn of yesteryear are accompanied by records from the Penitentiary of New Mexico which include mug shots of the persons convicted of the various crimes. Today's Vaughn is relatively calm and peaceful compared to its woollier days when crimes such as murders, arsons, assault and batteries, burglaries, thefts and other crimes were quite common. Other articles are about the Vaughn's two railroads and their role in creating jobs and opportunities for the growing Vaughn population. Many of the articles would seem rather mundane by today's standards, but there are important in helping understand the day-to-day life in Vaughn. Vaughn's quest for an ample water supply and the efforts being made to improve the educational system in Vaughn are also the subjects of several articles.