Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities

Pages past — May 19

May 19

On this date ...

1975: Funeral services were being planned for Horace Large, 77, of Clovis who drowned in Ute Lake.

Officials said a boat carrying three men capsized in strong winds on May 17.

Sgt. H.C. Dixon of Cannon Air Force Base and Horace Sutton of Clovis managed to reach shore safely.

Large’s body was recovered on May 18.

1955: Melrose was recovering from a tornado that struck about noon the day before, scattering debris from a broomcorn storage warehouse over two miles.

Witnesses in Growdon’s Cafe, about 50 yards away, reported seeing the tornado lift the warehouse about 20 feet off the ground before tearing it to splinters.

1950: A truck loaded with 2,400 gallons of ice cream mix and condensed milk overturned in Poker Flat, just west of Portales.

The driver was not hurt.

Walter Jentgen, manager of Price’s Creamery, said he didn’t know how much of the load was lost, but milk was running into the ditch.

Transitions ...

1903: Famed buffalo hunter George Causey, suffering from chronic pain after being thrown by a mustang a year earlier, shot himself in the head with a pistol at his home near Kenna.

The Handbook of Texas reports Causey was responsible for killing 40,000 buffalo from 1874 to 1882, including the last herd on the Llano Estacado, near Seminole, Texas.

The village of Causey in Roosevelt County is named for brothers George and John Causey because their lives “influenced and symbolized American exploration and settlement of the Llano Estacado,” according to “The Place Names of New Mexico.”

Pages Past is compiled by Editor David Stevens. For more regional history, check out his weblog at:

www.highplainsyesterdays.com