About Alamogordo news-advertiser. (Alamogordo, Otero County, N.M.) 1912-1914
Alamogordo, Otero County, N.M. (1912-1914)

The Alamogordo News and Alamogordo News-Advertiser

In 1895, a young boy named Carroll Woods accompanied railroad developer Charles B. Eddy to Alamo Spring, in Alamo Canyon, New Mexico. In Woods's recollection of the trip, he wrote, "We found a beautiful pool of water, eight feet in diameter and possibly four or five feet deep and three huge cottonwoods, whose branches spread shade over a space of about 150 feet in the form of a triangle." A board nailed to one of the trees said, "Ojo de Alamogordo," big cottonwood spring. Eddy purchased the spring from rancher Oliver M. Lee to furnish water for the railroad town he and his brother, John Arthur Eddy, were planning to build. The town site itself was purchased and laid out in 1898.

Alamogordo derived extensive revenue from the railroad, and as a result it flourished sooner than neighboring Carrizozo. Alamogordo lured many journalists, and between 1900 and 1912 four weeklies and a daily tabloid battled each other. The Alamogordo News originated in June 1899, succeeding the Sacramento Chief. Republican in its politics, the News was published every Thursday in English. Edward N. Buck, the editor, printed the paper at the Alamogordo Printing Company. Its weekly motto, "A newspaper representing the progressive interests of the new southwest," appeared below the masthead. An annual subscription to the Alamogordo News cost $1.50 and a six-month subscription $1. A single-column one-inch ad cost $2 per month while a double column one-inch ad $3. On December 7, 1912, the Alamogordo News merged with the Otero County Advertiser to form the Alamogordo News-Advertiser published by Charles Downs. The Alamogordo News was also known as the Alamogordo Daily News and Alamogordo Weekly News.

A wide range of local, territorial, national and international news appeared in the papers. One article in the News dated January 3, 1900, touted the local climate as "A remedial agent in the treatment and cure of consumption." It pointed to the low death rate for tuberculosis victims in New Mexico, which later led to a proposal for the construction of a large sanitarium in Alamogordo. The Alamogordo News also covered the 1899 trial of Oliver Lee and Jim B. Gilliland in the murder of Col. Albert Jennings Fountain and his 9-year old son. Witnesses included Gov. William Taylor Thornton, Antonio Garcia- Fountain's father-in-law, and Albert Fountain Jr, as well as a number of noted lawmen.

On March 4, 1905, W.S. Shepard, manager of the Alamogordo News, wrote an article complaining about "That Gag Libel Law," which he thought was an attempt to muzzle the press and shield guilty officials. The News reported on March 15, 1912, on the upcoming school elections in Alamogordo, noting that women in New Mexico were now allowed to vote. The paper commented that depending on the level of participation of women voters, a woman might even be elected to the office of school director.

After 1912, the Alamogordo News-Advertiser continued this tradition of broad news coverage. Stories included a local ordinance concerning vagrancy, Congressional efforts to restrict liquor shipments in "dry" regions, and criticisms of President Woodrow Wilson for his reluctance to divulge information to the press (his "mouth and tongue seem to be held together by a pad lock.")

Provided by: University of New Mexico