Myers, Lee C.

Lee C. Myers, historian from Carlsbad, New Mexico, is a former military man, writer, and researcher.

Las Cruces, New Mexico, author and amateur historian.

Born in Kansas in 1902, Myers came to New Mexico in the 1920s, to work in the mining industry. He served in the military during both World Wars and the Korean War. Myers's research interests were wide-ranging, and included mining and frontier military forts of New Mexico. He authored over a hundred articles and booklets, including The Pearl of the Pecos, a history of Carlsbad.

Lee C. Myers was born in Chanute, Kansas on June 28, 1902. During World War I, at age sixteen, he joined the Kansas National Guard. In the 1920s Myers continued his military service in the United States Army.

Myers came to the southwest and worked as a machinist in the late 1920s and early 1930s, employed by the Kennecott Copper Corporation. He lived in Hurley, New Mexico, for nine years while working for the mines. In 1928, Myers married Daisy Fooshee of Hurley. The Myers had three children: Ted Lee Myers, Karen Pomroy, and Jackie Forsyth. Daisy Myers died in 1976.

Myers served in the Navy during World War II and the Korean War. He and his son Ted served together in ship repair shops in Asia during the Korean War.

In 1940, Myers moved to Carlsbad, New Mexico, where he worked as a machinist for United States Potash Company until his retirement in 1967. He also opened his own business, The Carlsbad Grinding Works, which he operated until 1957.

Myers moved to Las Cruces, New Mexico, in 1977. By this time Myers's history research had become a full-time pursuit. He started researching New Mexican history in the 1950s by conducting oral histories of the old-timers from the mines. He researched local history and frontier military forts. He authored more than a hundred articles and booklets. In 1974, Myers compiled a six year project about the creation of Eddy, New Mexico (now Carlsbad), entitled "The Pearl of the Pecos."

Myers was involved in several area historical societies, including the Historical Society of New Mexico, Southwestern New Mexico Historical Society, and the Rio Grande Department of the Council on Abandoned Military Posts. Myers was also a charter member of the Council on America's Military Past and received its award for outstanding service in historic journalism in 1976. In 1989, Myers was inducted into Doa Ana County Historical Society's Hall of Fame.

Myers married Christine Buder of Las Cruces, New Mexico, in 1982. He died on November 8, 1994, in Las Cruces after a long illness. He was 92 years old.