NEW MEXICO TERRITORY

John Waldrip was in Roswell, New mexico at a time when the town had seven saloons and one general store. He herded sheep near Santa Rosa during the time of Billy the Kid and the Lincoln County War. He was always convinced that he found the Carlsbad Caverns before Jim White did. He was herding sheep in the area west of Carlsbad and observed clouds of bats coming out of an opening in a hill. He and another herder went into the hole a short distance where they came to a vertical drop off. They brought a dead dry sotol to the edge of the drop, set it on fire and pushed it over the edge. John said it just fell and fell until it finally went out of sight. His description of the cave appears to be that of the walk-in entrance used by visitors today. Who knows?

In those days everyone had to work in order to feed the large families. As a consequence, it was common practice for boys between eight and twelve years of age to herd sheep in very remote areas. John was camped with some other boys when they decided to put up a swing. They put it under a large tree and suspended a rope from a limb which was almost over their campfire. The sheep were bedded down and the boys were taking turns swinging when someone shot into the campfire scattering coals and ashes all around. The boys ran away and hid in the nearby bushes while trying to locate the assailant. Finally they figured it out. Since their swing was almost over their fire and they were going as high as they could, they were upside down over the fire. Each boy had a supply of cartridges in his pockets and in the inverted position over the fire some of those cartridges dropped into the fire and exploded. No Indians after all the fuss! Shucks!