Cuentos del Cuervo: Tales of a Guadalupe County Village
Flores, Daniel B.
Synopsis "Cuentos del Cuervo: Tales of a Guadalupe County Village"
Cuentos del Cuervo tells the story of the rich and colorful past of a Guadalupe county village, Cuervo. Cuentos is a series of vignettes that begins with how the village came into existence. Cuervo is a Spanish word meaning "crow." The exact reason for its name has been lost to time. However, it is believed it derives its name from either the nearby Cuervo Hill, located nine miles northwest of the settlement, or from the closer Cuervo Peak located one mile to the northwest. Although the area had been known as Cuervo in the last half of the 19th century, and there were scattered ranches in the area, the village didn't come into existence until 1901 when the Rock Island railroad came into the vicinity on its way to Santa Rosa where it would connect with the El Paso & Northeastern in early 1902. Trains began using the new route in 1902 to transport freight and passengers. Cuervo became a shipping point for some of the large sheep ranches in the area. A new community, complete with hotels, doctor's offices, mercantile stores, saloons, and a newspaper sprang up almost overnight. The community even had its own telephone company. A post office was established to meet the area needs in 1902. Cuervo had its own elementary school and at one time even had a high school. The high school was for freshmen and sophomores. Juniors and seniors were transported into Santa Rosa. Ranchers continue to have herds grazing the land, though the sheep have been replaced by cattle. The Santo Niño de Atocha Catholic church has Sunday services once a month. An effort is currently underway to restore the small church building. The small church was constructed of red sandstone quarried from nearby mesas. Many of the vignettes in Cuentos have been culled from old newspaper articles. Some of the old articles were from Spanish language newspapers. The stories from those newspapers provide a time capsule view of life in Cuervo in years past. They range from very tragic articles to articles about newsworthy events. Some have been written in a very folksy method of reporting. All help convey the story of the rich and sometimes colorful area history. They also assist in preserving the lore of the people that once earned their livelihood in Cuervo. Wherever possible, I have also made an effort to incorporate period photographs. I am a firm believer that one picture is indeed worth a thousand words.
