Rhodes, Eugene Manlove

Eugene Manlove Rhodes was born in Tecumseh, Nebraska, on January 19, 1869 to Colonel Hinman Rhodes and Julia Manlove Rhodes. He had a brother, Clarence Edgar Rhodes and a sister, Helen Mabel Rhodes. His boyhood was spent in Kansas, his formal education ending at age ten. His mother's home instruction provided him with a foundation for his literary knowledge. In 1881, Eugene and his father moved to establish a homestead in Engle, New Mexico. Rhodes referred to his arrival by stating, "I came to New Mexico the year that Billy the Kid was killed." In 1882, after building a cabin and corrals the rest of the family joined them. Eugene's early jobs in New Mexico included stints as a horse wrangler, a well- digger, a miner, an army scout, a freighter, and a cowboy. Above all, Rhodes loved books and he is said to have read even on horseback. In 1883, Rhodes went to work for the Bar Cross Ranch and this experience would provide a lasting inspiration for his stories and books. From 1888 to 1890 Rhodes attended the College of the Pacific. However, because of financial pressures he was unable to complete his education. When he returned to New Mexico in 1890 he taught school briefly, then built a ranch of about eighty acres with cattle and horses close to his family's original homestead near Rhodes Pass in the San Andres Mountains. He developed a wide circle of friends and acquaintances. Everybody seemed to know and have a story to tell about him and these friendships provided characters for his stories that endured for many years. Rhodes, inspired by his work as a cowhand and in ranching began to write about his experiences. From about 1896 to 1902, Rhodes was involved in a long distance courtship with May Davidson Purple from Apalachin, New York. The tale of their meeting and subsequent marriage is recounted in W.H. Hutchinson's book, A Bar Cross Man . The two were married on August 9, 1899. Rhodes returned to New Mexico to earn enough money to bring his family west. The family lived in Tularosa, New Mexico for two years where a son, Alan was born on June 12, 1901. May traveled home to Apalachin in 1902 to visit her parents and decided to remain, leaving Rhodes by himself from 1902 to 1906. During these lonely years he wrote at least ten stories. He visited friends, wrote, and read books. In 1904, a flood destroyed his ranch and corrals and by April of 1906 he had decided to join his family in New York. For the next twenty years Rhodes lived and wrote in New York. This period is often referred to as his "years of exile." It was in New York that he reconstructed his beloved New Mexico in fictional tales and essays. His work was published in the Saturday Evening Post, in Out West, and in other magazines. He would also publish six books during this period. During this time, his young daughter, Barbara, only twenty months old, died. It was her death that inspired the story, "The Brave Adventure." By 1926, Rhodes' health had deteriorated and he longed to return to New Mexico. In September of 1917, Gene and May moved to New Mexico. They settled in Alamogordo where they were joined by their son, Alan. Soon after, a long time friend, Albert Fall, allowed them to live in the "Rock House" on his ranch until 1929. Failing health necessitated another move to a different climate. The Rhodes family moved to California in 1931 where they lived near the ocean between La Jolla and San Diego. Here Rhodes wrote, corresponded with old friends, played baseball, and enjoyed his later years. He died on June 27, 1934 and at his request was buried in New Mexico close to his original ranch headquarters at Rhodes Pass in the San Andres Mountains.