Hudspeth County Herald and Dell Valley Review (Dell City, Tex.), Vol. 29, No. 19, Ed. 1 Friday, January 3, 1986 Page: 1 of 12
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hibHcation #8001-4000
OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF DELL VALLEY & HUDSPETH COUNTY
FRIDAY, JANUARY 3, 1986, DELL CITY, TEXAS 79837
254 PER COPy
'NUMBER 19
VOLUME 29
12 PAGES
DELL VALLEY,S WATER
PIONEER MARY NEELY HONORED
&
HIGH QUALITY ALFALFA
rws.
DAVE KANGAS OF GUA-
DALUPE MOUNTAINS
N. P. WINS SOUTHWEST
REGIONAL NPS SAFETY
AWARD
a
Hudspeth Coun
and DELL VALLEY REVIEW
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Dell City -CLINIC HOURS - WINTER SCHEDULE
9:00 AM - 12:00 PM
1:00 PM - 7:00 PM
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Dell Valley -One-ton bales are the most popular way of pack-
aging Dell Valley’s high-quality alfalfa. However, some of the
alfalfa is still cubed, and some baled into regular size bales. Al-
falfa, a major irrigated crop of Dell Valley, is marketed to local
dairy cattle feeders and shipped to all parts of the Southwest.
Austin -Governor Mark White proclaimed Saturday, Decem-
ber 28, as Mary Neely Day in Texas in honor of an outstand-
ing pioneer woman, Mary L. Neely of Hudspeth County.
Mary Neely was bom in 1880 in Comanche County to Frank
and Lucretia Holmsley. On December 28, 1985, she celebrated
her 105th birthday. Her father was a frontier doctor, and she
was his assistant during her girlhood. She used this early me-
dical training for the next several decades, ministering to the
needs of family and neighbors in isolated West Texas communi-
ties where there was no other medical help.
At age 22, she married Joe Holmes Neely. Their honeymoon
was a three-month trip in a covered wagon to New Mexico,
where several months later their first child, Joe, Jr., was bom.
They moved back to Texas to manage a ranch where Mrs. Nee-
ly faced rattlesnakes, panthers, and outlaws. She had to rope
wild cows to get milk for the family to drink.
In 1905, the Neelys moved to Dell City, Texas, where they
managed another ranch for ten years. Their second son Tom
was bom here. In a final move, the family bought several sec-
tions of land west of McNary, Texas, near the Rio Grande,and
about 75 miles down the river from El Paso. They made the
move in wagons and a Model T Ford, according to Mrs. Neely,
“driving cattle eight or ten miles a day, keeping them out of
bogs and arroyos, dodging flashfloods.”
At that time, the border was a haven for members of Pancho
Villa’s band and cattle rustlers, and the Neely’s newly acquired
house was full of bullet holes. Their ranch was a success,
providing them with the necessities, plus cattle, hogs, cotton,
Wherever she lived, Mrs. Neely used her medical training,
treating broken bones and wounds, and acting as midwife
for her neighbors on both sides of the border.
In addition to grueling work-heavy outdoor ranch work
and keeping a frontier household going-and acting as the on-
ly medical help within many miles, the 4’ 11” Mrs. Neely
found time to read aloud daily to the children. The family
valued education, and Mrs. Neely has continued her reading,
study, and intellectual correspondence throughout her life.
Her husband died in 1952, and for several years, Mrs. Nee-
ly -- known as “Grandma” - continued to run the ranch
by herself. She now has sold or leased portions of the ranch,
but she still lives in their original adobe ranch house with
her son Joe and his wife.
Mrs. Neely has combined rare qualities in her unusual life
that has spanned more than a century: fearlessness in the
face of frontier dangers, selflessness in caring for family and
neighbors, and lifetime pursuit of knowledge*.
Cont’d Page 2
David R. Kangas, head of
the maintenance division at
Guadalupe Mountains Na-
tional Park, has received the
Regional Director’s 1985 Safe-
ty Award for the Southwest
Region of the National Park
Service.
The award was presented
to Kangas in Santa Fe on
December 5, with Regional
Director Bob Kerr and Wil-
liam P. Mott, Director of
theNPS, Washington, D.C.,
jointly making the presenta-
tion.
Kangas had to compete with
nominees from 37 other parks
in six states for the award.
During the time Kangas has
served as the park’s safety of-
ficer, significant improvements
have been made in the area’s
safety program and accident
record. According to park of-
ficials, the accident frequency
rate was cut by 61 percent be-
tween 1983 and 1984, and re-
duced even further in 1985
which has been a near perfect
year with only two minor ac-
cidents reported.
Kangas was praised for his
enthusiasm and effectiveness
in promoting safety awareness
in all jobs among fellow wor-
kers and for his innovative i-
deas for safety improvements.
Among those ideas was a new
type of park safety awards
program which has been co-
pied by several other parks in
the Region.
t Kangas is a career employee
of the NPS and served at A-
postle Islands National Sea-
-XL » shore, Wisconsin; Assateague
j Island National Seashore,
Maryland; Isle Royale Na-
tional Park, Michigan, before
coming to Guadalupe Moun-
tains National Park.
In addition to his work
in the park, Mr. Kangas car-
ries his concern for safety
and people into the com-
al Park, he earned an Emer-
gency Medical Technician ra-
ting on his own time in Wis-
consin and worked with a
volunteer ambulance team.
At guadalupe Mountains, he
has maintained his EMT rat-
ing, is on the park’s volunteer
ambulance team, a volunteer
structural fire team, has be-
come a Cardio Pulmonary
Resuscitation instructor, and
has completed advanced EMT
courses.
II
&3L JR
-OliiSK
. ......
Miff- - '
fe
Dell Valley -Water wells in Dell valley run continuously through
the irrigation season - March through September - each year. ,
The wells are pumped with electricity or natural gas. Dell Valley’s
wells are some of the largest in Texas.
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Lynch, Mary Louise. Hudspeth County Herald and Dell Valley Review (Dell City, Tex.), Vol. 29, No. 19, Ed. 1 Friday, January 3, 1986, newspaper, January 3, 1986; Dell City, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1287436/m1/1/: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .