When presidents visited Colorado a detail of county
sheriffs were provided as security. They hunted, fished, and had a great time.
Manuel was part of that security. Manuel's brother was state senator from Taos, New
Mexico. His brother-in-law was state senator from Walsenberg, Colorado. He was
active in the state Republican party. Teddy and Manuel had politics, the
military, and hunting in common. They became friends.
My grandmother saw Teddy three times. Once in San Luis on
Main Street, when Teddy walked around smiling and shaking hands. The second time Teddy came in to
Manuel's store in San Pablo when she was there. The third time Teddy came to lunch with the Pacheco family
as described in this post.
Manuel displayed photos of just himself with Teddy
Roosevelt and also with President Taft in his general store in San Pablo. Manuel owned the general store, a
couple of farms there, and a ranch on the ventero, or windy place up towards
the mountains. He owned big tracts of forest land, he was sheriff, he was the
county supervisor, he chartered a bank and established a farmer's co-op. Manuel never had a day of schooling and taught
himself to read while was working as a cowboy on Texas to Montana and back
cattle drives. In WWII Manuel fought in the front line trenches in France.
My grandmother told my father that Manuel came to her in her dreams when he started to record her stories on tape several years ago in order to preserve family history. He
said - "I understand you're writing a book about me. I'm a politician-
don't write anything bad about me". Issabella said that she wouldn't. He said ,"Not like
some others, huh?"
Manuel was an avid reader even though he had never
set foot in a school. He'd
take Bela with him to Alamosa with a list of subjects and have the bookstore
select books for him on them.
Manuel was an avid horseman and played an Indian
game much like polo called Chueco. He broke his nose
playing it.
Manuel was respected in the valley, and envied. No one else in Costilla County was a
friend to presidents. No one else
had two relatives who were state senators. No one else owned farms, ranches, forests, chartered banks,
was so active in politics. Why
could Manuel do it and they could not? He was truly envied. The people in Costilla County had nicknames for each
other. The Pacheco’s were called
the aristocrats.
The morally flawed (according to family history) Vigil family for instance were
called “las hotas” - initially for the letter J, then changed to the letter h –
“las hotas”. Hota is a dirty word
in Spanish. The Vigil family, from
the old man down, schemed to get Manuel in some way. Although the Vigil children went to school with the Pacheco
children and were friends with them, Manuel used to say that the best policy
towards the Vigil’s was simply not
have anything to do with them.
Mr. Vigil's daughter Helen lied that she was
pregnant to get Manuel's son Augustino to marry her.
His son Jack married Manuel's granddaughter Bonnie. She supported him through medical school. Then on the day he graduated he punched
her in the face and moved out.
When Manuel's granddaughter Bela went back from
California to visit San Luis, old man Vigil's daughter Helen took mom out to a
little adobe shack and pointedly showed her where Bela's father Virgil, Manuel’s
son Virgil, had died. Mom did not
bat an eye at that. She understood
Helen, and all the chemistry that had gotten them to that point.
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