Do you have memories of wintertime in Avalos? Below you’ll find some Christmas photos shared by the Wildman Family, who lived in Avalos from 1946-1954 while their father, Horatio Wildman, Sr. was Superintendent of the Mill. During that time the Wildman’s lived in Casa #32. Included below are photos of my mom, Flossy Wilson, from the 1940s and 1950s. Finally, a video from the Wilson Family from about 1940 which gives a brief view of my Aunt Catina Wilson in front of Quinta #21 and the surrounding snowy area in the Colony.
From the Wilson family 1940’s home video, I believe this is George Zangwill getting a shave by his friends. Unfortunately, they didn’t do a very good job!
My thanks to Humberto “Tito” Gutierrez for these great photos, one of which includes my mother, Flossy Wilson. If you happen to recognize someone in these photos that I haven’t identified, please let me know!
Estela Avila, Carmela ?, Carmelita Prieto and Wendy Bradford
Henry Razor, Flossy Wilson, Raul Navarro, Martha Santa Cruz, Raul Apodaca and others
From the 1986 Avalos Reunion, this just goes to show you…once a kid, always a kid (especially at the smelter school slide). Gracing the metal in these photos are Catina Wilson, Flossy Wilson, Martha Santa Cruz and unknown.
More Colony photos from the Wildman family which include Horatio Wildman, Jr., Humberto (Tito) Gutierrez, Carolina Gutierrez, Carmen Wildman, Johnny Engleheart, Heather Seaver and caretaker Julieta. My thanks again to Yola (Wildman) Nugent and her husband, Al Nugent and Helen Wildman Bell for sharing these photos. They in turn thank the Gutierrez family for sharing their photos and for the opportunity to see their friends from long ago.
Horatio Wildman, Jr. and possibly Johnny Engleheart at Easter
Featuring, The Cowboy, Horatio Wildman, Jr., with friends
At left, Heather Seaver, Horatio Wildman, Jr. and caretaker, Julieta
From left to right: Horatio Wildman, Jr. and Tito Gutierrez
Carolina Gutierrez and Carmen Wildman with Tito Gutierrez and baby Horatio Wildman
These photos, courtesy of Coky Bohanon, show four men from the Avalos smelter but we’re unable to identify them. If you happen to know who they are, please comment below or e-mail me at avalos.blog at gmail dot com. Click on the photos for a larger view. Thanks for the photos, Coky!
My thanks to Tito Gutierrez for sharing the photos below. If you happen to recognize any of the unknown people in the photos, please drop me a line and let me know who they are! Thank you!
Henry Razor on July 4th
Juan Prieto, Frank Elder, Charlie Bradford, Keith Levitt, Alan Bradford, Tito (El Gordo) Gutierrez, Carlos Furber
This 1941 article from El Heraldo de Chihuahua details a fire that occurred on June 22, 1941 at the Governor’s Palace in Ciudad Chihuahua and the assistance given by los bomberos de la fundicion de Avalos. My thanks to Eduardo Uranga, Jr. for sharing this wonderful article! For the entire article: Incendio en el Palacio de Gobierno.
My thanks to Humberto (Tito) Gutierrez for the following excerpt from his story, Odds and Ends, which provides a glimpse into the childhood of his mother, Carolina Olivares de Herrera.
“Carolina was married in Chihuahua City, Mexico, when she twenty-two years old. She wed Dr. Humberto Gutierrez Elias, a prominent doctor. In a strange twist of fate, Carolina and Humberto lived for ten years in Avalos, Chihuahua, where the American Smelting and Refining Company operated a plant. Dr. Gutierrez was employed as a physician for this plant. Back in 1865, when he was thirty-six years old, General Luis Terrazas, Carolina’s great–grandfather, bought his first of many haciendas. It was named Rancho de Avalos which is the same property where Humberto and Carolina lived for ten years, and where Humberto was employed as the company’s physician. General Terrazas paid 4,200 pesos for this hacienda. It was strategically placed because the City of Chihuahua, which is just north, protected it from Indian invasions.”
“Carolina divorced in 1957, and moved to El Paso with her two children, Alicia Carolina (Nina) Gutierrrez Olivares, who now resides in Chihuahua City, and Jesus Humberto (Tito) Gutierrez Olivares, who lives in Pacifica, California. Carolina remarried in El Paso, Texas, the late Joseph (Joe) M. Herrera. She is deceased. She died on June twenty second, 2005 in El Paso, Texas.”
Tito also sent along two photos which include my mother, Flossy Wilson, Tito Gutierrez, Carlos Alvarado and Guillermo Santa Cruz. My mother said seeing these photos gave her goosebumps!
Flossy Wilson and Tito Gutierrez, 1958
Carlos Alvarado, Flossy Wilson, Guillermo Santa Cruz
