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THE RECORD O F SAM HUDELSON AM HUDELSON presented to the Museum in May a valn-

S able collection of well over two-hundred photographs, including pictures of Chaeo Canyon, Acoma, Laguna, the Jemez camp school, Gran Quivira, Santa F e and vicinity, and the Palace of the Governors. I n acknowledging this gif t i t seems appropriate to record a few facts about Mr. Hudelson, faithful employee of the School and Museum for thirty years, who was retired on pension July 1, 1941.

Sam Hudelson was born in 1874 on ranch land tha t now falls within the city limits of Dallas, Texas, His father sold his ranch in 1889 and went to Oklahoma, where a p a r t of the Indian Territory was beina opened for settle- ment. They took up farming in Oklahoma County. When Sam was a younEster, he made a t r ip to Arizona and New Mexico with a n older brother, and liked the country very much. He earned his first wages from the Indian service in 1893 in Oklahoma, where he taught in a day school held in a tent. Sam liked the Indians from the beginning. From Oklahoma he was transferred to the San Carlos Apache school a t Rice, Arizona. Later he was transferred again to the Paiute reservation a t For t McDermitt, Nevada, near the Oregon line. From For t MeDermitt he was moved to Tohatchi, New Mexico, an the Navaho reser- vation. A t most of these places he taught industrial arts. While at Tohatchi he resigned from the Indian service, and soon found himself in Santa Fe. Here he helped to build the Masonic Temple and Elk’s Club House.

About a year a f te r he came to Santa Fe, Sam became a n employee of the Museum of New Mexico. This was in 1912. He did cabinet work in the Old Palace, and assisted with the remodeling of the portal of this building. He worked with Director Hewett, Lansing Bloom, and Wes- ley Bradfield, spending more time in field work for the institution than has any other person with the exception of Dr. Hewett. For €our or five seasons he was at Gran

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Quivira; fo r three seasons a t Jemez; for two seasons at Puye; and for several seasons at Chaco Canyon. He super- vised repair of the churches a t Gran Quivira, Quarai, Jemez (Giusewa), and Pecos, and spent two or three months repairing the roof of the church at Acoma.

H e made many minor improvements in the Palace, and when the A r t Gallery was built in 1916-17, he did the ornamental woodwork, such as carving beams and corbels. H e has been credited with inaugurating the local renais- sance of hand-made and hand-decorated furniture. From 1918 until his retirement, he was custodian of buildings and grounds. In 1930 he directed the construction of the library. He considers the installation of the MeNary pipe orpan in St. Francis auditorium, in 1936, as his most satis- factory handiwork in the institution itself, since he succeeded in blending harmoniously the colors of pine and walnut. Director Hewett always said, “Tell Sam wha t you want done, then keep out of his way.”

In an official statement concerning Sam‘s retirement, Dr. Hewett said:

“The School of Research inaupurated summer sessions at Quarai, Jemez, and Gran Quivira. The director and staff members, some lecturers from other institutions, and classes of students camped at the ruins for periods of a few weeks a t a time, working on the archaeology, ethnolow and history of the Southwest; excavatinp, trying au t field methods and uccumulatinp archaeological material f o r the State Museum. This gave opportunity every year to do some work on t.he mission ruins. Repair work to prevent further collapse of massive walls, to hold loosened stones in place, t o stabilize what remained, was the work of Sam Hudplson, for twenty-five years in charge of buildings and grounds a t the State Museum. What this capable workman (artist a s well a s master mechanic) aecom- plished, assisted by a few unskilled laborers, was beyond praise. So artistically were his repairs made tha t his

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handiwork could hardly he discovered, and so substantial tha t a quarter of a century of New Mexico weather has left i t unimpaired. Hudelson carried out the repair of ruined walls to a f a r greater extent in our work at Chaeo Canyon, especially on the great ruin of Chetro Ketl. Gov- ernment work of the same and earlier periods on similar ruins has had to be torn out and done over at enormous cast. Not so the work of Sam Hudelson. Not a cubic yard of his work has had to he replaced. His methods have influenced the work of about all of us who have had to do with the preservation of ruins during this generation. I n his line he has been the teacher of a lot of Ph.D's. Hats off to this master craftsman, now on the retired list."

Sam made a deep impression upon the students who par- ticipated in the field work of the School and Museum. One, Miss Anna 0. Shepard, of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, says of him:

" . . . . For several summers beginning in 1923 a San Diego friend and I roomed at the Hudelson's; we took our breakfasts with them and often spent the even- ings there as well. Occasionally Sam would fall into a reminiscent mood, telling fascinating tales of his early experiences, accounts of his youth on the frontier, and of life an the reservation when he was in the Indian Service. It was the richness of these experiences tha t made me feel tha t they should he preserved. . . I was goina to write a biography of Sam, hut he always Rot reticent when tha t was mentioned, which together with my lack of facility in writing resulted in :=tal postponement.

" . . . , How periectly his qualities typlified those of our ideal frontiersman: keen perception, complete alert- ness, and quick observation, all well concealed hekind a n impassive exterior, a great fund of natural lore and Indian lore, tharouxh understanding of human nature, and a kindly, patriarchal disposition, complete independence and poise under every circumstance, and a fine sense of justice.

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Sam’s almost unmatched skill in restoration rested on accurate observation, and we always consulted him first for interpretation of architectural details. What delighted us most was his complete awareness of all t ha t transpired while he was seemingly wholly preoccupied in the stern fulfillment of duty; he could tell you all about any stranger who came into camp even though he had not taken his eyes irom the wall he was restoring. He would appear totally oblivious to the comical blunders the students about him would make; then, when a few of us gathered at his campfire at night, he would recount the incident with tha t characteristic kindly chuckle of his.

“ W e depended upon him for advice in all ventures because of his knowledge of nature. I well remember chafing because he was adamant when I wanted to cross the Valle Grande on foot from Frijoles to Jemez Springs. He said there were still timber wolves in the Valle, and i t was a two-day trip which would have necessitated sleep- ing out one night. Later, in Chaeo, when a ratt ler turned up near my bed roll on the talus above camp, I had a hankerinp to sleep on my cot in the tent, but I wanted Sam to give me advice that would cover my cowardice. To my chagrin he only laughed a t the suggestion of dan- ger, so I had to sleep on the talus for the remainder of the season, feeling my way up in the dark a s I had mis- placed my flashlight.

“Sam rather fancied the role of chaperon in those days, and was proud when Mrs. Hewett was content to leave several undergraduates at Gran Quivira in his charge.

. . . We were always eager to ride with Sam in the old model T Ford truck which seemed like the one-horse shay. Sum, with a red scarf about his head, sitting very erect, and yielding the road to no one, seemed the very essence of independence. . . . . “Once he was left to complete work at Gran Quivira

af ter we returned to Santa Fe. The diggers were a tough,

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hot-tempered lot, and hut recently a murder had been committed in a family feud. Consequently we were con- cerned when we learned tha t through some difficulty Sam did not get money for the pay roll when i t was due, and the men were in an ugly mood. Sam sent post haste to me for snuff, which probably pleased the men, hut I am sure i t was their faith in him which kept the work in promess without mishap.

“As I search my memory, I am dismayed to find no incident t ha t really illustrates adequatdy the fine qualities t ha t \vc all knew and rememher so well. . . . One of the particular reasons why I wanted to write an account 0 ” Sam’s life was because of his experiences with ihe Indians. What opportunities he had, and what a fund of knowledge he had gleaned compared with the run-of-the- mill ethnologist! Rut of course much of what he had learned had been told in confidence and nothing would d rag i t from him. Would tha t some of our ethnologists could have had Sam fa r x Sunday school teacher!”

n. R. H.

ANNUAL BOARD MEETING

H E ANNUAL joint meeting of the Board of Regents of Tthe Muscum of New Mexico and the Board of Managers of the School of American Research will be held on Thurs- day, September 2, a t 10 A. M. in the Ar t Museum.

Members of the new Board of Regents of the Museum are Governor John J. Dempsey, ex-officio, Daniel T. Kelly, Paul A. F. Walter, Gilbert Espinosa, James F. Zimmer- man, and Jennie M. Avery. Mrs. Albert G. Simms was re- appointed to serve on the hoard, but a s she was unable to accept, Miss Avery was appointed in her place by the governor. A t a meeting the board was reorganized, with Mr. Kelly as president, Mr. Walter treasurer, and Wayne Mauzy secretary.