Silver Out West

     Growing up I was told stories of family members who went west during the boom years never to be seen again. The lure may have been Gold & Silver and jobs on the railroad which drew families to leave the farms in Canada in hopes of a better future.  But these young boys became businessmen, and went on to tame The Wild West.
     When I think of the old west, I think of Cowboys & Indians and gunslingers holding up and robbing the Wells Fargo Wagon.
After many years of genealogical research I have not been disappointed. The folk stories, while lacking in detail turned out to be true.  The stories fill novels, to many to account here.
     So this story begins with my third Great Grandfather James Howie (1789-1880).  He was born in Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Scotland.  He immigrated to Montreal, Quebec, Canada in 1818 when he was 29 years old.  Two years later he married Jean B. Ross on December 25, 1820 at Saint Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Montreal.  Their ceremony was officiated by Reverend Robert Easton who was the leader of that Church from 1804 to 1824.
     Now since this is not a story about James Howie I will move on.  From what I have been able to find so far, they had six sons, and two daughters.  Thomas Howie being the fifth son.

Above is a brief genealogy for Thomas Howie, and the story of the HOWIE farm following William Robert Howie line who was his fourth of five children.  Grand children Ross & Jean, and Great Grand children Douglas and Carold, and Great Great Grand children Danielle are still living at the time of this writing.  

     The McMillen family I find has had many connections with the Howie family line over the past century.  In the photo above is Jane Frances McMillen (1840-1922).  A couple of her siblings, and two of her daughters headed out to the wild west with other family following later. In the 1880's & 90's McMillen Bros. and Howie Bros. helped to form Leadville, in Lake County Colorado.  These two business worked closely together.  McMillen Bros. was grocery and banking business, and Howie Bros. was wagon transit.  Shipping and receiving all the goods, furniture, and mining equipment into the area.

Courtesy of Silver City Museum c. 1892

     In the late 1880's, early 1890's Thomas and Jane's two eldest daughters are married, and living in Silver City New Mexico.  Mary Jane Ross Howie (1860-1930) the eldest daughter also married a McMillen, a cousin to the family.  His name, Daniel Curry McMillen (1851-1929), he had a twin brother who died shortly after birth.  Daniel was the proprietor of the D C McMillen Meat Market in Silver City New Mexico.  To the right you will see a photo of the D C McMillen Meat Market Wagon, which was on the corner of Broadway and Texas Street, known as the Uhli Block.  The meat market and mercantile was all apart of the Uhli Block which still stands today. Texas street at the time was known for being the Red Light district of Silver City.  Daniel and his older brother John had set out to prospect for silver in Colorado in the 1870's with other Howie's and McMillens, but made their way to Silver City by 1880.
     Just as the Howie & McMillen brothers were working closely together in Leadville Colorado, The spouses of the two Howie daughters were doing so in Silver City New Mexico.  Unfortunately, Mary Jane suffered from mental illness, and was institutionalized in a sanitarium.  Here sister Suzanna came down to Silver City to take care of her sister Mary, and her two nephews in 1893.
Daniel's older brother John McMillen was shot in the head on Christmas day December 25, 1900 by a thief looking to steal his silver.
     The other sister who moved to Silver City New Mexico was Suzanna Elizabeth Howie (1865-1954).  She married Stefan Uhli (1863-1903), in 1897. He was an entrepreneur who owned the well-known Cave Saloon, which was built around 1887.  Stefan Uhli immigrated from Forchheim, Emmendingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany on November 26, 1879.  He was just sixteen years old.  He quickly made his way out west, arriving in Sacramento California, the center of the Gold Rush.  He was working in a hotel there in 1880.  I assume this was where he got the business idea to begin his own saloon in the Red Light district of Silver City New Mexico.

c. 1889 Cave Saloon Uhli Block

 I also learned from the Silver City Museum that most of the adobe buildings of the 1870's were replaced with the much better Uhli bricks.  Stefan & Suzanna Uhli home still stands today.  It is made out of Uhli bricks.  The home is on the corner of Market Street & Pinos Altos Streets in Silver City.

Uhli Home corner of Market and Pinos Altos Streets in Silver City 

     Mary Jane Ross Howie & Daniel Curry McMillen had two boys. The second, John Thomas McMillen (1891-1975) married Lucy Oueida McCauley.  Prospecting, and mining for Silver & Gold brought the Howie's, Ross, and McMillen families west to Colorado.  They became businessmen, and later went into ranching, and then back into dairy farming.
     This brings me to the McCauley family, and the large ranch in New Mexico. I will leave you with a story about James R. McCauley.  He was born 100 years ago on November 09, 1913 to James Lafayette McCauley and Nancy Lee Morton.  This article was written before his death on January 25, 2010.  Written in the winter of 2006. I want to give special thanks to: staff writer Brett Ferneau,  Silver City Life Magazine, and to Zia Publishing for special permission to repost the following article.

Silver City Life is published bi-annually by:

 Zia Publishng Corp.

611 N Hudson Street

Silver City, NM 88061

www.ziapublishing.com

Special thanks also to the volunteers at the Silver City Museum, for the stories, and the photos.

www.silvercitymuseum.org

If you would like to read more about Silver City New Mexico, and gunslingers like Billy The Kid.  An interesting book to read about the early days of Silver City is "Six Guns and Single Jacks" by Bob Alexander. I did not obtain permission to use the cover of his book, so just head to your local library, or over to Amazon.com to purchase a copy.