In 1892, as if by magic, in the northwest corner of the 69,000 acre Ortiz Mine Grant the coal mining settlement of Madrid appeared. This is the story of that peculiar town, its convoluted gestation
and its surprise birth. It is a tale rife with ‘land sharks’
and their
frauds and manipulations, and the corporate shenanigans,
often
purposeful, meant to confuse and conceal what was
done.
This is a
story, too, of ordinary people and their ordinary struggles.
There are few heroes in this story, least of all among
the wealthy
and powerful. The second
part of this book draws heavily on the memories
of those
who lived in Madrid and Cerrillos, and examines the world of
the miner in the twentieth century, during the administration
of
Superintendent Oscar Huber. William Baxter
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