José Chávez y Chávez is probably one of the most interesting characters of New Mexico's wild and wooly days. He was active in both the Pecos River area of New Mexico and the Rio Grande. His haunts ranged from Lincoln to Las Vegas. He eventually wound up in the western Guadalupe county village of Milagro where he lived out his life. He was a contemporary and friends with two of New Mexico's most notorious outlaws---Billy the Kid and Vicente Silva. He was also known to Pat Garrett and Elfego Baca, two of New Mexico's most famous lawmen. He probably also met and worked with Bob Ford, who had gained his notoriety as the slayer of Jesse James. Chávez y Chávez straddled the line between being an outlaw and being a lawman. His activities caught the attention of several governors of the territory of New Mexico beginning with Lew Wallace. Chávez y Chávez was a Lincoln county Regulator during the time period the former Civil War general was New Mexico's territorial governor. Governor Miguel Otero refused to sign a death order for him and instead commuted his sentence to life in prison. He was paroled by Governor George Curry in 1909. Born in the early days of the Territory of New Mexico, he died of natural causes in 1923 eleven years after New Mexico became a state. His death was completely unlike the deaths of most other Wild West desperadoes who died with their boots on. He is buried in an unmarked grave in an obscure and forgotten cemetery in the extreme western part of Guadalupe County, just south of Interstate 40. His unusual repetitive surname was a result of his taking both his father's and his mother's surnames. It was a common practice in New Mexico's territorial times to do that to differentiate from others who may have had the same first name and surname. In his case, both José and Chávez are quite common Hispanic, Spanish or Mexican, surnames (very similar to a John Smith with the non-Hispanic culture). Having the surname Chávez y Chávez distinguished him from the countless other Nuevo Mexicanos named José Chávez.
About the Author: Daniel B. Flores was born in Puerto de Luna, New Mexico in 1946, in the home of his paternal grandfather, Cipriano Flores. That is the same house where Billy the Kid ate his last Christmas dinner in 1880. In 1880 the house belonged to his maternal great-grandfather, Alexander Grzelachowski. Grzelachowski built the house in 1870. Grzelachowski's estate served as a combination residence and mercantile store. A large warehouse was also connected to the rear of the store, complete with a cellar. At the age of three, while living in Puerto de Luna, he was stricken with infantile paralysis, polio. He spent several weeks at the Carrie Tingley Hospital in Hot Springs (now known as Truth or Consequences). He eventually recovered and returned home to his parents in Puerto de Luna. After graduating from Santa Rosa High School in 1964, he enrolled at the University of New Mexico. He received a BA degree from the University of New Mexico in 1969 and an MA degree in Educational Administration from New Mexico Highlands University in 1984. He returned to Santa Rosa after graduating from UNM in 1969 and was employed by the Santa Rosa Consolidated Schools for over forty years. After working as a teacher for fifteen years, he spent the last twenty-five years of his educational career as an administrator. He served as middle school principal for two years and then was high school principal for seven years. He retired from the school system in July 2009 after working his last sixteen years as the school district's superintendent. He was inducted into the New Mexico Activities Association Hall of Fame in 2002. He was named the New Mexico School Superintendent of the Year in 2007 by the New Mexico School Superintendent's Association. He married his wife, the former Lupita Campos, in 1966. He credits her for helping him complete his college education. They are the parents of Daniel, Jr., Steve and Stephanie. Daniel and Lupita are also the proud grandparents of Marcus and Hannah, the children of Steve and his wife, Tina. The Flores family also welcomed a new grandchild in November 2013, Henry Augustus Flores Boyd, the son of daughter, Stephanie, and Alex Boyd.