Special Collections is
ABC Library’s local history library.
A favorite research tool is a collection of
City Clerk and
City Manager Scrapbooks, a treasure trove of information about Albuquerque politics and
projects. I also work daily with
NewspaperARCHIVE, a searchable full-text
database of New Mexico newspapers that includes the
Albuquerque Journal from
1882 to 1977 and the
Albuquerque Tribune from 1951 to 1977. Thoroughly
researching a question can mean going back and forth between the scrapbooks and
the database. For instance, I met Peaches the Mountain Lion in volume twelve of
the 1937 City Clerk Scrapbooks, but I needed NewspaperARCHIVE to round out his
story.
The scrapbooks contain newspaper clippings that the City
Clerk or Manager identified as pertaining to city business. Arrest records,
articles about visiting dignitaries, and updates on public works projects fill
eighty seven volumes. Locating specific information requires an approximate
date, and the scrapbooks have to be used in the library.
Customers can use their library card and pin number to
connect to NewspaperARCHIVE from any computer with an Internet connection.
NewspaperARCHIVE uses optical character recognition to match search terms to
items in the newspapers. It’s helpful to use more than one search term and to
limit searches by date and location. NewspaperARCHIVE doesn’t put search terms
in context: a search on “peaches” brings up grocery store ads, recipes,
articles about fruit, and a few articles about the misadventures of an
Albuquerque mountain lion.
It’s impossible to use the scrapbooks without stopping to
scan articles unrelated to the question I’m supposed to be researching. Parking
meters were not as interesting as Peaches. His narrative arc is Escape;
Recapture; Rejection; Re-escape; Re-recapture; Exploitation by Stunt Pilot.
Here’s what I found under the headlines:
“Albuquerque Man to Hunt Mountain Lion Under His House
Sometime Today”: in which Mr. Valentine will endeavor to get his pet mountain
lion cub, Peaches, out from under the porch at the Valentine family home.
[Albuquerque Journal, February 28, 1937]
“’Peaches’ Falls Victim to Mrs. Valentine’s Safari”: in
which Mrs. Valentine uses liver to lure Peaches into a crate and then blocks
him in with an ironing board. [Albuquerque Tribune, March 1, 1937]
“Horses Scarce and Meat is High So Pet Mountain Lion Gets Go
By”: in which City Manager Charles E. Wells refuses to accept Peaches for the
city zoo because feeding the four mountain lions the zoo already owns is too
expensive. [Albuquerque Tribune, March 2, 1937]
“Cub Lion Makes a Break; Now at Large in the City” and
“Peaches Dangerous at Large, Expert Declares”: in which Peaches escapes a
second time. Parents are warned to keep their children indoors while the police
department hunts for him. [Albuquerque Journal and Albuquerque Tribune,
respectively, March 3, 1937]
The article that tells of Peaches’s re-recapture (Mrs.
Valentine wins again) isn’t included in the scrapbooks, but I found it in
NewspaperARCHIVE: “Runaway Lion is Recaptured: Puma Submits Second Time to
Woman’s Wiles.” [Albuquerque Journal, March 5, 1937]
Knowing Peaches had been recaptured filled a gap in the
scrapbook narrative, which continues with: “City Will Protect Peaches the
Lion”, “Flyer to Dive with ‘Peaches’ Despite Ban” and “To Crash or Not to Crash is ‘Peaches’ New
Problem.” These articles reveal that Peaches has been sold to a stunt pilot,
“Reckless Rex” Murphy. Murphy proposes to have Peaches accompany him on a stunt
flight that entails crashing the plane, the pilot, and the mountain lion into a
frame house for the edification of members of the Carlisle post of the American
Legion. Consternation and protests ensue. [Albuquerque Tribune, March 9, 1937;
Albuquerque Journal, March 11 and 12, 1937]
At this point, Peaches fades from the scrapbook pages.
Another search of NewspaperARCHIVE turns up “Peaches Going to Court: Seeks
Right to Fly”: in which the stunt pilot promises to seek an injunction allowing
him to crash his lion in his plane without interference from the Sheriff. [Albuquerque
Journal, March 21, 1937]
I infer that the flight never happened, because I know that
it would have made headlines. If it had made headlines, I would have found
them. I have the tools.
