One day I took my small son down to the saloon to show him off to the boys. That did it. That was the abrupt end to my venture in the saloon business. My wife set up such a howl that in order to keep peace in the family I decided to give up the saloon. Her opinion was always best for the family anyway, and of course I was aware of the fact that this was not the most desirable environment in which to raise children.
So, what next? I had by this time acquired a few mules and thought I might be able to use them in some way. I learned that the Joyce Pruitt Company of Carlsbad was expanding its operations and was in need of additional help in doing some freighting.
I made a deal with them to do the necessary hauling and soon was quite busy.
One of the biggest of my expenses was for food for the teams, and I was anxious to cut down the feed bill as much as possible. As a result, at the end of each day I would take the mules out to pasture and let them rest and graze.
At this particular time I had the teams grazing near a place known as Donahue Springs, now known as Oak Creek Springs. Water from the springs was a necessity for the mules, and we used the water ourselves, as well.
While the mules were grazing there wasn't much for me to do and I used to explore the countryside wondering what else might lie in the vicinity. Others came to Donahue Springs for water since in that arid country water was not as plentiful as we wished it might be.
One day a man by the name of Sam Evans and a Mr. Brown and myself were exploring the countryside just to see what we might discover in the area. Hunters and miners in that section were always telling of some unusual find and anyone who went out of town kept their eyes open in search of something that might turn out to be valuable.
I suppose that is why Brown, Evans and myself were searching—just looking around to see what we might uncover.
At one spot there appeared to be a hole or cavity in the ground and I called to my buddies, "Hey, come over here. There seems to be a hole in the earth."
In that rugged country a hole in the ground isn't exactly unusual, but this one seemed to lead to quite a large empty space beneath it, and the tone of my voice must have told the others it was not just an ordinary hole, because they both came over to where I was right away.