Separ is an
unincorporated Unincorporated may refer to:
* Unincorporated area, land not governed by a local municipality
* Unincorporated entity, a type of organization
* Unincorporated territories of the United States, territories under U.S. jurisdiction, to which Congress ...
desert
hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
in
Grant County Grant County may refer to:
Places
;Australia
* County of Grant, Victoria
;United States
*Grant County, Arkansas
*Grant County, Indiana
* Grant County, Kansas
*Grant County, Kentucky
*Grant County, Minnesota
*Grant County, Nebraska
*Grant C ...
in the ''bootheel'' of southwestern
New Mexico
)
, population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano)
, seat = Santa Fe
, LargestCity = Albuquerque
, LargestMetro = Tiguex
, OfficialLang = None
, Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...
, in the southwestern United States. Although it is called a
ghost town
Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to:
* Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned
Film and television
* ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser
* ''Ghost Town'' (1956 film), an American Western film by All ...
by some on the internet, it currently has a small population.
[Julyan, Robert (1998) "Separ" ''The Place Names of New Mexico'' (revised edition) University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, New Mexico, page 331, ] Separ lies in the
endorheic
An endorheic basin (; also spelled endoreic basin or endorreic basin) is a drainage basin that normally retains water and allows no outflow to other external bodies of water, such as rivers or oceans, but drainage converges instead into lakes ...
Guzmán Basin; as a result the
continental divide passes both to the west and east of it. Located alongside the tracks of the
Union Pacific
The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pac ...
, it flourished in the late 19th and early 20th century as a watering station and livestock transfer point. Separ is located alongside
Interstate 10, about 20 miles southeast of
Lordsburg
Lordsburg is a city in and the county seat of Hidalgo County, New Mexico, United States. Hidalgo County includes the southern "bootheel" of New Mexico, along the Arizona border. The population was 2,797 at the 2010 census, down from 3,379 in 20 ...
and 48 miles west of
Deming. Today it is a "service point for truck and car traffic."
History
Separ was a watering and overnight stop on the
Janos Trail, that conveyed copper ore south to smelters in
Chihuahua and mining equipment and trade goods north to the copper mines.
It was originally called Sepas.
[Pearce, T. M. (1965) "Separ" ''New Mexico place names; a geographical dictionary'' University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, New Mexico, page 153, ] When the railroad came through in the 1880s, it became a loading station for cattle.
At about 8:00 pm, on July 20, 1896, the
outlaw Black Jack Christian and his High Five Gang robbed a
general store in Separ belonging to John D. Weems. Bob Hayes and Bob Christian probably waited outside to watch the horses and keep a lookout while Black Jack, George Musgrave and Code Young went in with masks over their faces. The bandits took about
$250 dollars in cash and merchandise, including a large
Navajo blanket
The Navajo (; British English: Navaho; nv, Diné or ') are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American people of the Southwestern United States.
With more than 399,494 enrolled tribal members , the Navajo Nation is the largest fe ...
, six wool blankets, three boxes of
cigars, and some whiskey. They also robbed the Post Office next door. A couple of months later, deputies eventually found the Navajo blanket at a residence in the foothills of the
Chiricahua Mountains
The Chiricahua Mountains massif is a large mountain range in southeastern Arizona which is part of the Basin and Range province of the west and southwestern United States and northwest Mexico; the range is part of the Coronado National Forest. ...
. It had been given away by Code Young.
In March 1905, George and Edwin Gates, two infamous outlaws, were killed in Separ.
[Burton, Jeffrey (2009) ''The deadliest outlaws: the Ketchum gang and the Wild Bunch'' (second edition) University of North Texas Press, Denton, Texas]
page 450
Notes
External links
{{authority control
Unincorporated communities in New Mexico
Ghost towns in New Mexico
Unincorporated communities in Grant County, New Mexico