Introduction

SOUTH DAKOTA’S CLIMATE HAD PROVEN BRUTAL

Charles and Clara disliked the weather in South Dakota.

Spring storms had created tornadoes near the Link farm. Buildings were damaged, people had died. It was in this frame of mind that C.U. Link received word from the New Mexico Land and Immigration Company of Topeka, KS, about what he came to regard as a possible way out of their weather woes.

New Mexico Land and Immigration Company logo
Circle Bar Ranch Brand, an O with a Bar below.

Representation of what the Circle Bar brand may have looked like.Promotional materials from the New Mexico Land and Immigration Company depicted the brand as an O with a slash through it.

From a practical standpoint, it was too late to go back to Indiana. So a way through and forward was needed. Enticements arrived from the New Mexico Land and Immigration Company centered on a planned city in Quay County, NM, named Obar. It was named to take advantage of the adventure the local Circle Bar Ranch suggested. The Links hoped some of the last homesteading land might improve their situation.

 

5 Chapters

Featured
NEW MEXICO LAND AND IMMIGRATION COMPANY
NEW MEXICO LAND AND IMMIGRATION COMPANY

Dispite a prior decade of above-average rain, homesteaders who followed the promise of the town of Obar were disappointed by too little water.

A LAND BETTER SUITED FOR RANCHING
A LAND BETTER SUITED FOR RANCHING

Throughout the Southwest, the weather was uncharacteristically wet for most of the decade prior to the establishment of Obar. The climate otherwise was not well known by most potential homesteaders.

THE FAILED PROMISE OF A RAILROAD HUB
THE FAILED PROMISE OF A RAILROAD HUB

One of the reasons you have heard of Tucumcari, New Mexico, is that two railroads crossed there in the late 1800s created a hub. That potential was likely for Obar.

PUTTING FOOD ON THE TABLE WHEN FARMING FAILS
PUTTING FOOD ON THE TABLE WHEN FARMING FAILS

Not all land available to homesteading was capable of supporting a farm. The Links decided to find other ways of drawing in funds to support the family.

FOUNDATIONS FLEETING IN TIME
FOUNDATIONS FLEETING IN TIME

Like most history lost to time, once the physical evidence is gone and memories fade, if there is no record, that information is gone. In many ways, that is happening to the once lively town where the Links homesteaded from 1908-1914.