Not long ago, J.T. Warren of Arvada, Colo., sent a real treasure trove to this woman from Ima and also to the museum. He included a brief history of the Fisher family who homesteaded in the Plain, Puerto, Norton area in 1906, a family tree, and 227 photographs, most of which were identified in the accompanying log.
We had met earlier in the summer when he and a number of his family members came to visit the museum and to place flowers at Plain Cemetery. We conversed about family members I had known and talked much about the area. He explained that some of the photos were from glass plate negatives and that most showed the history of the area, as well as the family members who lived there in the early days.
The pictures are of particular interest because they portray the life of the homesteaders and especially the history of farming during those days. Just viewing the farm equipment lets us know about the changes which have occurred during these hundred years. We see people at work, at play, and dressed for special occasions. Although I knew approximately where Plain was, I hadn't seen a picture of the settlement until the pictures arrived. Now, when I pass that way, I can feel very comfortable with the past and can appreciate our history even more.
Emma Evelyn Fisher began writing her story in 1964 at age 66 and told of her life in Illinois and Missouri before coming to New Mexico with her parents, Thomas and Susannah Alice Ambrose Edwards in 1908. Her graphic descriptions of life in Quay County take the reader into the past to see the good and bad times the families had. She names many of the people in the area and talks about a number of the communities, the building of schools, the digging of dugouts, and life in general.
She met Pirl Fisher in 1914 and mentioned she had known of the Fishers, who homesteaded in 1906 and who lived only four miles north of her family but under the caprock. That showed even more that our small communities had boundaries and that people might know their closest neighbors only but not know people from nearby communities. At any rate, she and Pirl were married in 1915. She devotes quite a bit of space to the Dr. William Lancaster family and their life on the plains before moving to Clovis.
Because Mrs. Lancaster was afraid to stay alone with her children, "she had a standing arrangement with Mother that when she saw a white rag hanging in a certain spot, it meant the doctor was off on one of his long trips, so Mother would send me up to stay with her." Such wonderful vignettes appear throughout the story and keep the reader enthralled with our history, as well as with her story.
If only more people from our area had taken the time to write their stories, we could have a more complete history of our county, but we can still capture much of it if we will but take the time to write our own memories of our lives in these parts. Also, if we have pictures of the past, we should think of sharing them in order to fill in more of our history. Quite a few of us are older than Mrs. Fisher was when she began her project and could provide many details about the post-homestead days. Words and pictures are priceless!