Otero County Stories

A Memorable Otero County Christmas - 1932  (Told to me by my father, Clif McDonald, Nov. 2018) My family moved to the Sacramento Mountains in Southern New Mexico during the Great Depression. We left our grandparents, aunts, uncles and numerous cousins in Junction, Texas - a town where the North Llano and the South Llano rivers join up to become the just plain old Llano River.  Daddy rented a farm in Avis, New Mexico, which was far away from our   home on the river's south fork . We loaded up our truck and we four boys, Mama and Daddy lined up to say our goodbyes. I t was like a funeral when we left; everybody was crying and hugging and telling us to be safe in "Mexico."  We set out on the Texas Pecos Trail, a couple of ruts set in dust, that would shake and rattle our teeth for the next 450 miles of our westward journey. We stopped each night before dark to set up camp; unrolled our bedrolls, found kindling, made a fire, and cooked out in the west Texas des...

Junction, Texas I was born in 1927 at San Angelo, Texas. My father was Clifford McDonald and my mother was Emma Evans McDonald. My older brother was Milton McDonald, known as Mack. My father was born at Roswell, New Mexico and my mother was born at Junction, Texas. My father died before I was a year old so I have no memory of him. My mother married Alvie Smith, who had a son named Sonny who was much older than me and I very much admired my older brother.         In Junction I also had my Grandma McDonald and my Grandpa and Grandma Evans, my mother, Emma; Uncle Delmer, Aunt Margarete and Lola Mae. Aunt Lola was a great favorite of mine, she was only five years older than me and she had a very sweet personality that everyone loved. Everyone loved my mother and Aunt Lola.         On the McDonald side, I had Aunt Allie and Uncle Aubrey Sanders who had lots of kids. These cousins were Herbert Lee, Emma Dell, Ode...