The History of Deming, New Mexico

Deming, New Mexico; a small city in the upper part of the Chihuahuan Desert, Mimbres Valley area,
Luna County, southern New Mexico, and the home of many who are reading this very Deming Broadcaster article. So, in the spirit of the new year, why don’t we have a look back at our beloved city, Deming, New Mexico? 1881 was when Deming was founded, not as a town or city, but as a service point for the junction of the Santa Fe and Southern Pacific railways; it was originally called Mimbres Junction. A railroad service point is a point where locomotives, more commonly known as the front and/or back ends of a train, are repaired and refueled. The settlement was incorporated into a town in the year of 1902 and was renamed Deming after Mary Ann Deming, the wife of the principal builder of the Southern Pacific railway, Charles Crocker. The land on which Deming is built as part of the Gadsden Purchase, also known as the Treaty of Mesilla, an agreement between the United States and Mexico. This agreement stated that the United States would pay the country of Mexico $10 million dollars for an estimated 29,670 square mile portion of Mexico’s land of what would later become southern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico, though it was originally a 45,000 square mile portion for $15 million dollars, changes were later made to the treaty. The treaty took effect on June 8th, 1854, and the land was used for parts of the two railways previously mentioned. The Gadsden Purchase was first drafted by James Gadsden, US ambassador to Mexico at the time, and Antonio López de Santa Anna, president of Mexico at the time, on December 30th, 1853, and was signed by 14th US president Franklin Pierce with the approval of Mexico for the finalization of the treaty. While called one, the “city” of Deming is technically a town since a small city is defined as having a population of 25,000 to 50,000 residents living in the area while Deming has an estimated 14,700 residents as of the start of 2023; though in many government papers, it is referred to as a city. Deming has a large agricultural community that grows pecans, wine grapes, cotton, onions, and, of course, chiles of many kinds. Deming has a mayor-council government system with mayor Benny Jasso, police chief Clint Hogan, fire and MES (Medical Emergency Services) chief Raul Mercado, and other very important people. Seaman Field was the first mayor of Deming for an unknown amount of time and was a Collector of Customs under the presidency terms of Grover Cleveland. The Seaman Field House on Silver Avenue was not only one of the earliest houses to be made in the settlement and home of Field and his family but was also once a United States Customs House for the US-Mexico border. Deming is around 24 years older than the famous city of Las Vegas, Nevada, and was incorporated around 9 years earlier as a settlement in Las Vegas began in 1905 and was incorporated in 1911. The oldest building in Deming is believed to be the (J.A.) Mahoney Building on the Gold-Spruce Street way which finished construction in 1912 and is the oldest building in Luna County. Just because Deming is a small, secluded city doesn’t mean that a few famous people aren’t from, haven’t been, or haven’t met their end here. Three of these famous persons include:

o Wade Allen Blasingame-A former American professional baseball player who played baseball from
1963 to 1972 and appeared in 222 games. Born on November 22, 1943, and still kicking it at 79 years
old at the start of 2023, this left-handed pitcher played for the Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves (1963-1967),
Houston Astros (1967-1972), and the New York Yankees (1972) for a 46-51 win-loss ratio. Blasingame
now lives in Anchorage, Alaska with his wife Deane.

o Nacio Herb Brown-Ignacio “Nacio” Herb Brown may have died some 58 years ago, but his legacy still lives on. Born on February 22nd, 1896, and unfortunately died on September 28, 1964, this musical composer helped with the creation of some 29 songs with many appearing in Broadway musicals, the most popular being the Singin’ in the Rain musical based off the 1952 musical romantic comedy of the same name. Brown was said to have been married at least 5 times, divorcing each wife usually two years later. Ruby Porter, a composer like Nacio Herb Brown himself, birthed his first known son Nacio Herb Brown Jr., and got a divorce in 1931. Jeanne Borlini Lockhart was wedded to Brown in 1932 and that is all I was able to find on the woman; it is unknown when they separated. Anita Page (Maiden name Anita Evelyn Pomares) was an American film actress who married Brown in 1934. The next wife was Elizabeth Maud “Beffie” Lippincott Kellogg (Like the cereal company, though there is no evidence she was related to the Kellogg brothers, and is most likely just a coincidence, they were alive during the same time period) and they were wedded in 1939 then divorced in 1941. I could not find much about Lippincott as she was a seemingly normal woman. The last known wife of Brown was Georgeann Morris who married Brown in 1943 and divorced in 1945. She had two children named Nacio Jan Brown and Candace Brown.
o George Scarborough-A famous and controversial cowboy and lawman from the wild times of the Wild West. George Scarborough was born in Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana on October 2nd, 1859, and was killed on a debated day in 1900, at the age of 40 in Deming, New Mexico. Technically the settlement wasn’t “Deming” yet and was still Mimbres Junction, but the point still stands. Scarborough was appointed as the Jones County sheriff in 1885 at the age of 27 and later worked as a Deputy US Marshal in and around the El Paso, Texas area before moving to Deming, New Mexico, and working for the Grant County Cattlemen's Association as a gunman. George Scarborough tracked, captured, and/or killed many outlaws with the help of El Paso police chief Jeff Milton. Some of these people include Martin M’Rose (Mroz), John Wesley Hardin, John Selman, William E. "Bronco Bill" Walters, Jack Dunlop (John/Jess Dunlop/Patterson, and Three Fingered Jack), and many of the members of the Burt Alvord gang. Martin M’Rose’s wife was killed by John Wesley Hardin, George Scarborough’s friend Bass Outlaw (It is unknown if this was his true name or a simple nickname) was killed by John Selman, Selman killed John Wesley Hardin, and Scarborough killed both M'Rose and Selman; creating a connection between all the men involved. There are many tales of how George Scarborough died, but two are widely accepted. Number 1 is that George Scarborough was involved in a shootout on April 1st, 1900, with outlaws George Stevenson and James Brook, with one of them shooting Scarborough in the leg before or after the other outlaw was gunned down. Scarborough had his shot leg amputated, reportedly dying 4 days later; six years after the death of his close friend Bass Outlaw. The other stated that Scarborough and Walter Birchfield were tracking an outlaw nicknamed Kid Curry (Real name Harvey Logan) in the Sam Simon, Arizona area, a shootout commencing after the two lawmen trapped Kid Curry near the Triangle Canyon, killing George Scarborough. The former is more highly believed. And that ends our small look back at Deming, New Mexico. There is still much more history behind us to remember and a future ahead of us to explore.
May Deming, New Mexico stand strong until the very end.