In Search of a World Where She Could Be at Home: Mabel Ganson Evans Dodge Stern Luhan - Part Two

The more I read about the Southwest Woman in the late 1800’s through the early 1900’s the more I realize that women of that time had a lot more freedom than even today’s woman. They were freer because they didn’t need to prove to themselves and the world that they could do it all. They just did it!

Mabel Dodge Luhan was seeking a “reconciling symbol” that would allow her to reconcile her desire to act and shape her life. She was in search of a world where she could be at home.

And while she fell in love with Taos, she also fell passionately in love with Antonio (Tony) Lujan (Luhan), a full-blooded Pueblo Indian that mesmerized her with his Indian rituals and his haunting eyes.

Tony Luhan, she said, “awakened a heart that was asleep since childhood”. She loved the Pueblo culture, a culture that she felt was a model of steadiness and stability. A complete mixing of work, play, community, and environment. Luhan became, in 1923, her fourth and final husband. In addition to her great love for him, she believed that their marriage would be a bridge between the Anglo and Native American Cultures.

Since Tony was married when Mabel first met him, there have been various rumors as to how they got together and eventually married. One of the more gossipy rumors is that Mabel paid Tony’s wife some money and she disappeared. However, only the participants really know the truth.

On the advice of Tony, Mabel purchased some 12 acres of land and set about building a large multi-storied adobe home with many rooms, blending Pueblo Spanish Colonial and Tuscan designs. This was the home where she and Tony welcomed guests who wished to honor their creative urges in an unspoiled rural mountain setting.

Mabel set about to create a “true” art colony in Taos. She wanted it to be a “city upon a hill”. She believed that the American Southwest was destined to become a source of social and psychic renewal – a place where the dying, decadent, and disillusioned could come to rest and rejuvenate themselves.

Some of the “great souls” that came to visit Mabel in Taos, and helped her spread her belief in the rejuvenation of America, were D. H. Lawrence and his wife, Frieda Weekley (nee von Richthofen); Robinson Jeffers; Willa Cather; John Collier; Thomas Wolfe; Edna Ferber; Leopold Stowkowski; and Mary Austin - just a few names out of the many that came and went. Lawrence and his wife even settled in the area for several years. Mabel wrote of her thoughts and feelings about Lawrence in her book “Lorenzo in Taos (1932)”.

One of the more famous names that came to visit, and later stayed, was Georgia O’Keefe.(The topic of a future Southwest Woman article). While visiting Mabel, O’Keefe went on many excursions alone. She found herself falling in love with the beauty of Taos and Santa Fe – and, well that’s another story.

Mabel did accomplish what she set out to do. An Art and Literary Colony was established – a colony which has evolved, grown and thrived since her days. Her home has been designated a National Historic Landmark and is a historic inn and conference center. The writer, Natalie Goldberg frequently teaches at the center – AND Dennis Hopper wrote the script for “Easy Rider” while staying there.

Mabel Dodge Luhan died at her home in Taos in 1962 and was buried in the Kit Carson Cemetery. Kit Carson, his wife, (both died in 1868), their son, and grandson are all buried in this cemetery which was renamed after Carson’s death and burial.

In Search of a World Where She Could Be at Home: Mabel Ganson Evans Dodge Sterne Luhan - Part One

I first came across the name of Mabel Dodge Luhan while reading the very excellent autobiography “Of Time and Change” by Frank Waters. In his book Waters spoke fondly of his very good friend Mabel Luhan and spent several chapters writing about her, her Taos home, and her friends.

And then, several years ago, my husband and I stopped in Taos for the night and spent some time visiting the home of Luhan, which is now a Historic Inn. It was more beautiful than I ever imagined and as I walked through the rooms I could almost feel the ghostly presence of those literary figures who had stayed with Luhan, and whose careers Luhan helped to build.

Mabel Ganson Evans Doge Stern Luhan was born on February 26, 1879 to a very wealthy family in New York. Her first marriage was to Karl Evans, the son of a steamship owner. They had one son and two years later Evans was killed in a hunting accident leaving Luhan a widow at the young age of 23. Her second husband was Edwin Dodge, a wealthy architect.

During the early years of her marriage the couple, with her young son, lived in Florence, Italy where she entertained artists and writers such as Gertrude Stein, Alice B. Toklas, and Andre Gide. In 1912 the family returned to America and Luhan set herself up as a patron of the arts holding weekly salons at her home in Greenwich Village. The salon attracted many important figures of the day.

But Luhan found herself becoming restless. Her marriage to Evans had ended and she was now involved with John Reed, who eventually proposed marriage to her in January of 1916. She rejected him and later that same year married the artist, Maurice Sterne.

Sterne, searching for new scenes to paint and sculpt traveled to Santa Fe, New Mexico. He wrote Mabel of the beauty he found there and urged her to come and see it. In her memoir “Edge of Taos Desert” Mabel writes, “I was going to the Southwest, a little known neighborhood, for perhaps a fortnight, because I wanted to see what Maurice was doing, for his letters had intrigued me. I had always heard of people going to Florida or California, and more occasionally to the West, but no one ever went to the Southwest. Hardly anyone had ever heard of Santa Fe.”

She arrived in Santa Fe in the evening of December, 1917. Sterne met her at the train station and together they went to his very small pueblo. It was nighttime and Mabel found it difficult to see exactly where they were going. She wrote that she was “left standing on a dark street in front of a mud hovel that I had to enter and sleep in. I could hardly believe it was true. So this was the Southwest!”

The next morning the Santa Fe sun flooded the three little rooms. “From the very first day I found out that the sunshine in New Mexico could do almost anything with one; make one well if one felt ill, or change a dark mood and lighten it. It entered into one’s deepest places and melted the thick, slow densities. It made me feel good. That is, alive”.

But Santa Fe was too busy for Mabel. She wanted something more peaceful and she had heard of a place called Taos and wanted to visit there. She was already falling in love with Santa Fe. “Let us try and make a nice life out here, Maurice. It seems to me we could if we would be more alone and you would work. There is something so real about this country. It makes people seem trivial and false. We’ve always had too many people around”

Taos was about 75 miles from Santa Fe, but it was a long 75 miles. Mabel and Tony hired a local man to drive them to Taos. Mabel thought going 75 miles would not take too long, but it did, in fact it took almost all day. The roads were dirt and full of holes and traveling them was not an easy task.

Finally arriving at night, everything was dark and the streets were empty. Luhan and her husband Maurice booked a room at The Columbian Hotel, and ate a small supper. She asked if there were any houses to rent, but was told they didn’t rent them out, but that Dr. Martin may know of something. Luhan could not wait, she had to see Dr. Martin immediately.

“I have decided, Maurice. You must just trust me. This place has a feel to it that is just right. I know my hunch was a good one – wait and see. There is something wonderful here.”

Mable Dodge Luhan had found her home.

Part Two to follow.

Continuing the Saga of Helen Stewart, "The First Lady of Las Vegas" - Part Two

"Dare to do right,
Dare to be true,
Dare to do good
Everything will come right for you."

In 1880 Archibald Stewart purchased a 960 acres ranch which had belonged to Octvius Decatur Gass. He planned to move Helen and the children to the ranch which was located in Las Vegas, Nevada. Helen was pregnant with another child and she did not want to move to the desolate area of Las Vegas. But Stewart persuaded her by telling her there would only be there for a short time and then would move on.

The Stewart’s trek in 1882 took nearly a week. Shortly after arriving at the ranch Helen gave birth to her second daughter, Evaline La Vega, named after the place of her birth.

The ranch became a resting place for heat-weary miners from Eldorado Canyon. It had a cool creek and huge, shady cottonwood trees. The ranch had many grape vines which could, in a good year, produce as much as 600 gallons of acceptable wine, wine that the Stewarts were able to sell at a good price.

Just a few short years later, Archilbald Stewart was killed in a gunfight at the Kiel Ranch, and Helen was left a widow with four minor children and another one on the way. Travelers kept arriving each day in the need of food, water and rest. There was no time for rest or heavy grieving. Life had to go on. Helen had only agreed to move to the Las Vegas Ranch because her husband had promised it would be only a temporary stop. She would spend the next 20 years running the ranch, improving it, and constructing what would become the heart of a great Western City.

In 1889 word began to circulate that there were plans to build a railroad in the Las Vegas Valley. Helen began to buy land – with her father and sisters doing the same – along the muddy River. She made a deal with her father and brother-in-law to loan them 100 head of cattle.

The first teacher in the new Las Vegas School District in Lincoln County was a gentleman by the name of Ross Megarrible who had agreed to tutor Helen’s children. He had found a permanent home at the Stewart’s Ranch.

In 1886 another stranger found a home there. His name was Frank Stewart, no relation to Archibald Stewart, who had arrived from Sandy Valley. He became a very valuable ranch hand for Helen and was also good company and a welcoming host. He welcomed visitors and entertained with his wit.

A close relationship developed between Helen and Frank and eventually, in 1903, they were married.

Because of its location, Helen’s Las Vegas Ranch had become a message center for the region. In June of 1893 Helen was named Postmaster of the “Los Vegas” Post Office. Authorities had insisted on changing the name of the area so as not to confuse it with Las Vegas, New Mexico.

In 1902 Helen Stewart signed a contract that became the de factor birth certificate for the City of Las Vegas. The contract spelled out the terms of the sale of the Stewart Ranch to the San Pedro, Los Angeles, and Salt Lake Railroad. The price was $55,000 but did not include the :Four Acres” that had been set aside for the family cemetery. It also did not include an allotment of water from the Las Vegas Creek. Though no longer a rancher, Helen still saw the value of Las Vegas land and quickly bought up another 924 acres, including a 40 acre plot adjacent to the “Four Acres”, where she lived for the rest of her life.

In 1905 the railroad auctioned 1,200 lots which created the downtown core of Las Vegas – which included a Stewart Street.

In 1911 the federal government established an Indian Reservation. It was Helen Stewart, who always had a place for Native People on the Stewart Ranch, that provided the site for today’s Las Vegas Pauite Indian Colony on North Main Street.

In 1915 Helen became the first woman elected to the Clark County School Board.
In 1916 she became the first woman to sit on a jury.

In 1925 the then Governor, James Scrugham, asked if Helen if she would allow a display of her basket collection at the 1926 State Exposition in Reno, Nevada. She agreed and took her collection to the Exposition and then made arrangements to donate the collection to the State of Nevada. But before those plans could be finalized, Helen Stewart died of cancer on March 6, 1926. Unfortunately the executors of her estate sold the treasured basket collection at auction in 1927.

Helen Stewart’s funeral was one of the largest the City of Las Vegas had ever seen. People from all over the state came to pay their respects to this legendary lady who had survived so much and yet prevailed. She was interned in a special vault made out of caliche on her “Four Acres”.

The remains of Archibald and Helen Stewart, as well as their sons Hiram and Will, are now in the Bunker’s Eden Vale Mausoleum, just a short distance from the site of the old Las Vegas Ranch.

Southwest Woman - Part One

There are many women who were instrumental in helping to develop the Southwest. And there have been many women who have chosen to make the Southwest their home. The interesting part of this is that these women seem to have lived very productive and interesting lives, along with living to a ripe old age.

I was born in Wisconsin but fortunately, through my parents, I became a citizen of the Southwest as a very young child when my parents, my brother and I moved to Los Angeles. Growing up in this mystical area, I found myself loving everything about Los Angeles, everything about the beach, and everything about the mountains that surrounded us. I have written extensively about my love for mountains, and now I am going to spend time writing about my love for the Southwest.

Throughout my life I have spent time in, and/or lived in, many different areas of the United States, but I have always returned to the Southwest. Currently I live in Las Vegas, Nevada and this is probably where I will finish my days. Why? Because of the beauty and the mystical nature of the area.

Of course, the entire State of Nevada has its own mystic feeling. That could be because the Native American Indians were the original settlers of this area, but also because anyone moving to Nevada has to have a strong determination to become part of this land. The same thing is true of Arizona and New Mexico. That may be why so many notable women have made the Southwest their final home. As our current Las Vegas Mayor, Oscar Goodman, has said so often – “I love Las Vegas and I’m the happiest Mayor in the universe.”

Of course those of you reading this will probably think “What, Las Vegas? – Why that’s Sin City!: How can it be a mystical place?” Ah, but it is. And the women who have helped to build the State of Nevada can attest to that by the legacy they have left behind.

The First Lady of Las Vegas

Helen Jane Wiser, who became known as “The First Lady of Las Vegas”, was born on April 16, 1854 in Springfield, Illinois. When she was 9 years old her parents moved West, stopping for a short time in the Carson Valley,the Northwest part of Nevada, before moving on to Sacramento. On April 6, 1873, when she was 18, she married Archibald Stewart in Stockton, California. Although Archibald, who was 38 at the time of their marriage, was born in Dublin, Ireland, he was of Scottish descent. At first they lived in Lincoln County where Stewart had business interests. But in 1876 the family, now with 2 young sons, moved to a ranch Stewart owned in Pioche, Nevada where he raised cattle and vegetables. And in 1879 Stewart purchased another local ranch and made a loan which would change the course of Nevada history.