Tracy, Francis G. (Francis Gallatin), 1863-1951.

Carlsbad, N.M. pioneer and leader in the agricultural development of the Pecos Valley. Tracy was active in several irrigation projects, and served as the chairman of the State Board of Water Commissioners.

From the description of Francis G. Tracy papers, 1897-1943. (New Mexico State University). WorldCat record id: 37350598

Francis Gallatin Tracy was born February 6, 1863, in Bay Ridge, New York. Francis Tracy's father, U.T. Tracy, was rector of an Episcopal church in New York City, and his grandfather, Uriah Tracy had been a senator from Connecticut. Tracy attended the Cherbuliez' School for boys in New York and St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire. He was a member of the 1884 class of Columbia University.

Following a complete physical breakdown in 1883, he farmed on Long Island from 1884-1889. In 1890, he settled in New Mexico and became involved with the Pecos Irrigation and Improvement Company (P.I.I.C.). He was sent to Roswell by P.I.I.C. and worked there for two years. When Tracy returned to Carlsbad in 1893, he formed a partnership to sell real estate and insurance with Charles McLenathen. In 1895 he became a partner in a hardware store located in Carlsbad.

Although Tracy was active in other pursuits, he still maintained an interest in irrigation. The Pecos Irrigation and Improvement Company was reorganized as the Pecos Water Users Association in 1905, the year that New Mexico Territorial Legislation authorized the formation of water users association under the laws of incorporation. It was necessary to form such an association to be considered for loans available through the U.S. Reclamation Service, because water user groups were responsible for repayment of construction costs. In 1906, the Pecos Water Users Association entered into a contract with the Reclamation Service for rehabilitation of the Carlsbad project works. Tracy acted as the fiscal agent on the Pecos Water Users Association Carlsbad Project, was President of the Association during the 1920s and was Director of La Huerta District. At the state level, Tracy served as Chairman of the State Board of Water Commissioners.

Francis G. Tracy was also involved in agricultural development in the Pecos Valley. Tracy was credited with growing the first fruit crop of peaches in eastern New Mexico; in 1898 he shipped three carloads of peaches from the Pecos Valley. Tracy experimented with cotton, and claimed to be the first to attempt to grow cotton commercially in New Mexico. In 1902, he grew two acres of Egyptian cotton and introduced the Durango strain of cotton to the Pecos Valley.

Francis G. Tracy married Olive Clark on December 31, 1896, in Carlsbad, N.M. They had two children, Josephine and Francis Gallatin Tracy, Jr. Josephine married George G. Eddy, a colonel in the U. S. Army who was the commanding officer at White Sands Proving Ground.

Francis and Olive Tracy were very active in Carlsbad civic affairs. Francis Tracy was active in the Carlsbad Rotary Club, the Carlsbad Commercial Club (later the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce), and with his wife, became charter members of the Carlsbad Archaeological and Historical Society, organized in 1931. Olive Tracy and other women in the community formed in the Art Appreciation Class in 1924. The group participated in correspondence courses from the University of California.

Francis Gallatin Tracy died January 20, 1951.

From the guide to the Francis G. Tracy Papers, 1897-1943, (Archives and Special Collections, New Mexico State University Library)