George McJunkin 1851-1922 | George McJunkin first came to New Mexico in 1868. He was a foreman of an all white crew on the Thomas Owens' Pitchford Ranch, which later became the Crawford Ranch in Folsom, New Mexico. He became a legend because he discovered, at a dried up arroyo called Dead Horse Gulch, bleached extinct giant Bison bones and finely crafted flint points. McJunkin's discovery, now famous as Folsom Points, offered archaelological proof that man lived and hunted in North America during the Ice Age, dating back from at least 8,000 BC. McJunkin taught himself to read and write, speak Spanish, play the fiddle and guitar and more importantly to become an archaeologist and historian. George McJunkin is also known as the first man in the West to create barbed-wire-fenced pastures. | |
