Alma is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

and census-designated place in

Catron County, New Mexico Catron County is a county in the U.S. state of New Mexico. As of the 2010 census, the population was 3,725, making it New Mexico's third-least populous county. Its county seat is Reserve. Catron County is New Mexico's largest county by area. H ...

, United States, north of Glenwood and south of

Reserve Reserve or reserves may refer to: Places * Reserve, Kansas, a US city * Reserve, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish * Reserve, Montana, a census-designated place in Sheridan County * Reserve, New Mexico, a US vi ...

Demographics

History

Sergeant James C. Cooney laid out a town on site of Alma in the early 1870s, but left it undeveloped. The town was bought by a Captain Birney, who named it "Alma" for his mother. In 1882 the

U.S. Post Office The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the Federal government of the Uni ...

opened in Alma, lasting until 1931. The town was home of

Butch Cassidy Robert LeRoy Parker (April 13, 1866 – November 7, 1908), better known as Butch Cassidy, was an American train and bank robber and the leader of a gang of criminal outlaws known as the "Wild Bunch" in the Old West. Parker engaged in crimina ...

and the Sundance Kid's infamous

Wild Bunch The Wild Bunch, also known as the Doolin–Dalton Gang, or the Oklahombres, were a gang of American outlaws based in the Indian Territory in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They were active in Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma Terr ...

gang for a short period. They worked at the nearby WS ranch. Reportedly, the foreman and ranch manager were very happy with the Wild Bunch's work since the rustling stopped while they were employed at the ranch.

Tom Ketchum Thomas Edward Ketchum (known as Black Jack; October 31, 1863 – April 26, 1901) was an American cowboy who later became an outlaw. He was executed in 1901 for attempted train robbery. The execution by hanging was botched; he was decapitate ...

Harvey Logan (Known month and day) (known month) (known year) --> , birth_place = Iowa, United States , death_date = , death_place = Parachute, Colorado, United States , resting_place = Linwood Cemetery, G ...

and William Antrim,

Billy the Kid Billy the Kid (born Henry McCarty; September 17 or November 23, 1859July 14, 1881), also known by the pseudonym William H. Bonney, was an outlaw and gunfighter of the American Old West, who killed eight men before he was shot and killed at t ...

's stepfather, also lived in Alma at some point. Artist Olaf Wieghorst once worked on the Cunningham Ranch near Alma.

Charlie Siringo Charles Angelo Siringo (February 7, 1855 – October 18, 1928) was an American lawman, detective, bounty hunter, and agent for the Pinkerton National Detective Agency during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Early life Siringo was born on ...

wrote that Butch Cassidy "ran a saloon there under the name of Jim Lowe." Alma is the site of a

Boot Hill Boot Hill, or Boothill, is the given name of many cemeteries, chiefly in the Western United States. During the 19th and early 20th century it was a common name for the burial grounds of gunfighters, or those who " died with their boots on" (i.e ...

cemetery, which is located about two miles north of the town.

Alma Massacre

The "Alma Massacre" involved a raid on United States settlers' homes around Alma in 1880. As many as 41 people were killed during and immediately after the event. There were two memorials erected to commemorate these events.

Present

Today, Alma is labeled as a "ghost town" by the

New Mexico Tourism Department The New Mexico Tourism Department is a state agency of New Mexico, headquartered in the Lamy Building in Santa Fe.U.S. Route 180 U.S. Route 180 is an east–west United States highway. Like many three-digit routes, US 180 no longer meets its "parent", US 80. US 80 was decommissioned west of Mesquite, Texas, and was replaced in Texas by Interstate 20 and Interstate 1 ...

, the town has a restaurant and a small store, as well as a few dozen scattered homes. There is a cemetery with more than 100 burials dating from the 1880s to present. The well-kept grounds are marked with a hand-crafted sign. There are several other cemeteries in Alma's proximity, as well, including the WS Ranch Cemetery and

Cooney's Tomb Cooney's Tomb is a historic location near Alma, Catron County, New Mexico. Marked by a large boulder on the side of a roadway, it is the site where former Army Sergeant James C. Cooney was interred in 1880 after being killed by a group of Apache ...

. The town is in the middle of the Blue Range Wilderness, which is part of New Mexico's

Gila National Forest The Gila National Forest is a protected national forest in New Mexico in the southwestern part of the United States established in 1905. It covers approximately of public land, making it the sixth largest National Forest in the continental U ...

and the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest in Arizona. In the 1998 the

United States Fish and Wildlife Service The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS or FWS) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats. The mission of the agency is "working with othe ...

reintroduced Species reintroduction is the deliberate release of a species into the wild, from captivity or other areas where the organism is capable of survival. The goal of species reintroduction is to establish a healthy, genetically diverse, self-sustainin ...

the

Mexican gray wolf The Mexican wolf (''Canis lupus baileyi''), also known as the lobo,; nah, Cuetlāchcoyōtl is a subspecies of gray wolf native to southeastern Arizona and southern New Mexico in the United States, and northern Mexico; it also previously ranged ...

to its historic range, including the area surrounding Alma. Ranchers in the area have expressed concerns about the impact of the wolf on the local cattle population while environmentalists contend that ranchers are not managing their herds properly.Valdez, L. (May 22, 2008
"Wolf country: Ranchers fighting comeback of a predator that's good for the land"
The ''

Arizona Republic ''The Arizona Republic'' is an American daily newspaper published in Phoenix. Circulated throughout Arizona, it is the state's largest newspaper. Since 2000, it has been owned by the Gannett newspaper chain. Copies are sold at $2 daily or at $3 ...

''.Holmes, S.M., June 27, 2007
"Wolf program remains hot issue"
''Mail Tribune''. In 2000 a local newspaper reported a number of wolf sightings and wolf attacks on cattle. Meanwhile, environmentalists in the area contend that the federal government is acting in the favor of the ranchers, with forty-nine percent of all reintroduced wolves "captured or killed because of conflicts with ranchers." The wolf reintroduction program remains a "hot issue", and there are environmentalists, ranchers, law enforcement, and a variety of others involved.

Education

It is in the

Reserve Independent School District The Reserve Independent School District is a school district headquartered in Reserve, New Mexico. It includes the southern portion of Catron County. Communities in the district include, in addition to Reserve: Alma, Apache Creek, Aragon, Cru ...

References

Bibliography

* Stanley, F. (1960) ''The Alma Story''. * Reed, O. (2005
"In a remote cemetery, far from home, lie the soldiers killed in a Christmastime skirmish with Apaches,"
''Albuquerque Tribune.'' 12/22/05.

External links

Olaf Wieghorst Museum
website.

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Catron County, New Mexico American frontier History of United States expansionism Boot Hill cemeteries Unincorporated communities in New Mexico