April 15, 1920 “Will Drill at Blackdom”

“This is a chronicle of the life of a black woman-child in America.”

Elaine Brown, A Taste of Power

Mittie Moore Wilson was an infamous madam who ran her empire from 201 S. Virginia Ave in Roswell, New Mexico. Mittie used her influence, money, and land to buy herself Blackdomite status. Mittie’s original entrance into Blackdom’s business may have begun in 1909 with the 40-acre land acquisition for the Townsite. Nothing about the land acquisition was clear. By 1915, in the middle of a New Mexico Supreme Court case, Mittie fully invested in #TheAfrōFrontier® when she began her first of two 320 acre land patents. Nevertheless, as a woman of ill repute, #MittieMoore was in the margins of Blackdomite society.

Mittie was an independent woman but needed 4 Blackdomites to sign affidavits testifying to her integrity in the completion of her homestead claim. Lucky for her, in the summer of 1919, Blackdomites were in talks to pool their land to create and incorporate the Blackdom Oil Company. Before the official launch, Joe Blue, Clinton Ragsdale, Henry Smith, and #ErastusHerron agreed and signed off on Mittie’s homestead patent. Coincidentally, within a year, Blackdomites sold the church, reassembled the townsite’s business operation to Roswell, and Frank Boyer left Chaves County.

Roswell Daily Record: Thursday, April 15, 1920 [Pg2]

Mittie’s money and land proved her worthy by enhancing the size of Blackdom Oil’s land holdings. The dirty business of oil extraction often left the environment unfarmable. Oil exploration began in 1920, and Blackdom’s existence as a functioning town went virtual once more. The town physically existed on occasions. For example, Blackdomites celebrated Juneteenth with a grand feast and invited neighbors from nearby towns to play baseball. The rest of the time, Blackdom was quiet, except for wildcatters. The homestead-class remained and more so interacted with Rosewell.

Mittie’s participation in Blackdom was a sketchy development for the Roswell Daily Record and they memorialized the moment. During this time, speculating on oil exploration and extraction was risky, lucre, full of shady characters, and associating Blackdom Oil Company with a gun-toting bootlegging negress could discredit the whole operation, in infancy. 

For 31 days, the Roswell Daily Record unprecedentedly reprinted Mittie’s Notice for Publication. Homestead land patents were reported as a “Notice for Publication,” and the Department of the Interior used to document land ownership. The U.S. Land Office at Roswell, New Mexico reported and the Roswell Daily Record reprinted the notice every day through September to October of 1919.

On New Year’s Eve of 1919, the Roswell Daily Record reported that Blackdomites “Will Pool Acreage.”  They made arrangements to pool about 10,000 acres. The land was put in an account at a Roswell bank and kept there until a drilling company came to lease land plots to begin exploration. Word on the street, The National Exploration Co. out of New York, months earlier, had secured land in Orchard Park between Blackdom and Roswell.  

Mittie led a contentious life in Chaves County. Must have felt good to open the daily newspaper on April 15, 1920, and read, “Will Drill at Blackdom.”

by Dr. Timothy E. Nelson ©

Tuesday, April 20, 1920 “Will Drill at Blackdom”

The Ragsdale family was an early Blackdomite dynasty to help establish #TheAfrōFrontier; successful in all the ways that mattered. Moses, the patriarch, and Clinton, his son, was the visionary who migrated from Mississippi to Chaves County, New Mexico. In 1906, Clinton in his mid-30s lived with the Boyer family until 1907. In the freedom of the Borderlands, Clinton was eager to build and often pitched a tent to spend star-filled nights on his land.

The Ragsdale family epitomized Blackdomite society as #AfrōFrontierists®️ when Clinton signed in partnership with the infamous #MittieMoore. Her land added a whole square mile to Blackdom commons. In 1919, her story was the antithesis of Blackdomite society and she added to Blackdom’s greatest triumph. Mittie’s addition brought higher royalty when leasing to oil companies and wildcats. 

Blackdom Oil Company was on the horizon of Clinton’s vision and it included Mittie. The more land Blackdomites had in the pool, the greater the royalty. 

#NoteToTheReader: One can not overstate the inherent tension that came as a result of the interaction between the deeply intellectual, rural, religious Black people in opposition to Black people associated with sinful commercial vice.

Shortly after building a home, Clinton brought his wife, Molly, in her early 30s. The family came together on the homestead with son Ezell. Molly’s mother Jennie was in her 60s when she joined them along with all four Ragsdale children. The whole family was able to read and write. By the 1930s, the Ragsdale family homesteaded (3)Sq miles in Blackdom—Clinton (1913,1920, and 1926), Ezell (1917, 1920 and 1921).

Roswell Daily Record: Tuesday, April 20, 1920 [Pg2]

The Ragsdale family structure was the business of intergenerational wealth. Ezell completed a homestead before he was conscripted into military service during World War I. When he returned from military service, Ezell began a second homestead that he completed in partnership with the Blackdom Oil Company.

Early in Blackdom’s revival (1909-1919), the masonic vision manifested into grand meetings of substance. Clinton Ragsdale, along with all other family patriarchs of Blackdom were accountable to one another and responsible to research, consume and enlighten others of certain knowledge. At Blackdom’s annual Thanksgiving Galas, with Frank Boyer as Toastmaster; Monroe Collins was responsible for reporting on all processes related to homesteading. George Wilson was functionally a veterinarian, which required him to acquire knowledge about livestock. Clinton was responsible for pumping and windmills. 

In 1919, Clinton Ragsdale, Joe Blue, Henry Smith, and #ErastusHerron of Blackdom were signatories for the infamous #MittieMoore’s final homestead proof adding 320 acres and later another 320 acres. Clinton’s expertise in pumping was a rare commodity that made him one of the elites among Blackdomites. Blackdom was moving toward oil exploration and pumping could produce endless amounts of money. Clinton’s knowledge, skills, and abilities could solidify royalties for generations.

Imagine Clinton Ragsdale, Mittie Moore, and Erastus Herron on Tuesday, April 20, 1920, opening the Roswell Daily Record and reading, “Will Drill at Blackdom.”

by Dr. Timothy E. Nelson ©