The Boston Bottle Works In New Mexico
by Chris Buys
Reprinted from "INSULATORS - Crown Jewels of the Wire", February 1972, page 15
People who collect insulators do so for a variety of reasons. There may well be
as many reasons for collecting insulators--from monetary to aesthetic--as there
are people who collect them. Having stumbled upon my first insulator in the
abandoned mining town of Magnolia, Colorado, my particular interest in
collecting insulators has always centered around the insulators' role in the
white man's invasion of Colorado, Wyoming, and New Mexico.
This interest has not manifested itself in a strictly academic manner. I would
rather spend my time walking old telegraph routes, than gathering precise
documentary information relating to these routes. For some reason walking along
old Western telegraph routes, be it near the U.P.R.R. grade in Wyoming, near the
gold fields of Central City, Colorado, or near long deserted forts in New
Mexico, seems to allow one a brief and no doubt overly romantic glimpse into
white man's recent history. There's something thrilling about plucking an old
and weathered insulator from beneath a bush near a long forgotten pole stump
standing as a silent witness to a bygone era. Why the thrill? One could mention
thoughts of rugged individuals who constructed the line, messages the insulators
helped send, or important historical events which occurred in the area; but
words cannot capture this feeling. For some people the thrill is there; for
others it seems absurd: It's that simple.
Since white man's recent history in the West has not been particularly laudable
(when one recalls the varied Indian cultures which once occupied these lands) ,
it is fortunate that insulator hikes offer me another valued opportunity: a look
at some unpeopled earth. There just aren't that many regions left in the U.S.A.
where a person can observe antelope, coyotes, bobcats, deer, and prairie dogs
existing in regions largely (can't seem to get away from the ubiquitous power
line) unblemished by the advance of human technology.
In light of the preceding reasons for my interest in insulators, it shouldn't be
hard to imagine my feelings when I ran across a line of Boston Bottle Works and
threadless Brookfields in New Mexico. Before anyone gets too excited, let me
quickly say that to date I have found only one whole Boston Bottle Works and
about two-thirds of one smashed threadless Brookfield. Since I have been
following this line for over a year, it is an understatement to suggest I may
not be flooding the market, except with insulator pieces.
Perhaps the following account of searching for Bostons and threadless
Brookfields in New Mexico will show that classic old insulator routes are where
one finds them, not where people say "there is no hope", "someone
told me that line could never be "followed", or "the Signal Corps
confiscated that glass 90 years ago".
This story begins in the spring of 1970 when the Armbrusts and Buys of Boulder,
Colorado, had ventured near Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, in quest of, what
else, insulators. To our amazement two very nice people, Mr. and Mrs. Hall (of
Hall's Bottle Shop), had about one fourth of a Boston perched on an insulator
shelf. They very kindly directed us to the approximate location where they had
found the piece; but, as expected, we had zero luck: there's a lot of desert,
and it all looks alike in New Mexico.
Outside of some hopeful daydreaming, little else was done concerning the Boston
found in the New Mexico desert until the Buys moved to Socorro, New Mexico,
which is located approximately seventy-five miles north of T or C. Even then,
several trips to the T or C area yielded absolutely nothing. Then, during
December of 1970, with the Boston little more than a fading memory, the Buys,
having received a metal detector from Grandfather Buys, took an expedition to
the now off-limits Ft. Craig, to search for mint-balls, or any other metal
memento lying immediately beneath the desert floor. We found it hard to believe
when Beth looked at some glass chips discovered by myself that it was a piece of
Boston Bottle Works (all are Patent Applied For variety)! After considerable
scraping around we came up with several more pieces of the Boston, in addition
to finding the base of a decaying pole (Little did we realize how rare this pole
was to be--we have found only one other pole base in 15 miles of line.)
Needless to say, we did a great deal of speculating and research during the next
few weeks. Since Ft. Craig is located some forty miles south of Socorro, it was
obvious that there was a good possibility that a line of Boston Bottle Works
extended at least as far south as T or C. Forty miles of untouched Boston Bottle
Works, now that's a mind boggler. However, a few local historians and insulator
collectors assured us that the many thousands of people (mostly artifact
hunters) who had combed the Ft. Craig area would have picked up every piece of
glass many years hence.
Fortunately, paying little attention to the experts, we decided to search the
area directly south of the Fort. To make a long story short, after considerable
searching, I found some more broken pieces of Bostons approximately one quarter
mile from the Fort. Since then, although losing the line for weeks at a time, we
have somehow managed to follow the line over some 15 miles through shifting
desert sands, ancient lava flows, and parched river beds. It has been one of the
most exciting, yet frustrating, experiences we have ever had. After all,
figuring a minimum of twenty poles per mile (The poles are located about 240
feet apart.
There have been times when I have paced off 80 steps, dug, and actually found
pieces! ) , that's a good three hundred insulators, of which we have only one in
good condition. Furthermore, since Ft. Craig was established in 1851, it
shouldn't have come as a surprise to us that threadless insulators were also
used. Although we have found only five pieces of threadless Brookfields, we
still hold hopes of finding a whole one.
At this point I must emphasize how difficult it has been to keep on this line;
even now I have lost it and may well never find it again. It is not unusual to
find a mile where nothing remains, not even a piece, which makes the desert seem
awfully big. In fact, the only whole Boston I found happened by mere chance.
After having looked unsuccessfully for some seven hours where I felt the line
should have been running, I found my dog had wandered off. In my search for her
(Tai) I followed her tracks a good half mile from where I felt the line was
running. As I wearily trekked over another hill I could hardly believe my eyes
when I spied a nice Boston Bottle Works lying entirely exposed near the base of
a small bush. (I then found my dog, and she got a big hug. )
This was just two months ago. My wife and I went back the next weekend with what
we felt were legitimate hopes of having finally hit that one stretch of unbroken
glass. No such luck--we haven't found a piece since. I'll go back in a couple of
weeks, but this is the longest we have ever lost the old line.
One thing has puzzled us a great deal: why all the smashed insulators, and I
mean pulverized. Here it might be better to list our hypotheses concerning the
breakage:
1. Abrupt changes in climatic conditions. (Not likely, since Wyoming, which
yields many threadless insulators, experiences changes in weather even more
severe than New Mexico. )
2. Smashed on the ground. (Not likely, since a large portion of the 15 miles we
have hunted is shifting sand--ideal for non-breakage and, unfortunately, burial.
)
3. People smashing them by shooting, etc. (This no doubt accounts for some of
the breakage, but probably has occurred at random over the years on every line.
In addition, since this area has few game animals and minimal Indian artifacts,
not many people frequent this section of the desert. )
4. Civil War sabotage. (A remote possibility, as a Civil War battle, Val Verde,
was fought near Ft. Craig In 1862. At the time it was customary to cut lines,
but I doubt if they would bust all the Insulators. )
5. Indians. (Some Indians utilized Insulators for points and bead material,
but this, too, seems an unlikely explanation for the high percentage of broken
insulators. )
6. Other Insulator collectors. (I have no doubt that curious ranchers and
artifact hunters have a few Bostons and threadless Brookfields sitting on some
forgotten shelf; however, I doubt that any Insulator collector would leave
twenty to thirty large pieces of Bostons and threadless Brookfields, many of
which can be glued together. )
7. Use of telegraph poles. (This probably accounts for many of the broken and
missing insulators. The scarcity of wood in the area has undoubtedly spurred
ranchers to utilize telegraph poles in and around their dwelling units, much as
they use railroad ties. )
8. Army Signal Corps. (The Signal Corps, which probably constructed this line,
did at times re-use insulators from abandoned lines. Obviously, they did not
take these insulators --there are too many pieces left.
There are other possibilities, but I feel strongly that all eight of the above
possibilities contributed to the scarcity of these 100 year old insulators. This
line may well be 100-115 years old, since the line appears to be heading
directly toward another fort of early 1850 vintage. There would also be good
reason to suspect that this may be one of the oldest, if not the oldest,
telegraph line In New Mexico.
Finally, another factor which puzzles me centers on the conspicuous absence of
ramshorns, a popular and somewhat more practical insulator on the Western
frontier. I have no explanation for this peculiarity.
Boston Bottle Works and threadless Brookfields in New Mexico? Who would have
believed it. A good way to end this article might be to tell of a new search
about to begin. A fellow artifact hunter, familiar with the Boston line, just
brought me a piece of a Boston Bottle Works which he has found some 15 miles
north and east of Ft.Craig. Looks like the line also extended north of Ft.
Craig. That's over 75 miles of line! In fact, that's only 30 miles from my
house. I better get going
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