Miss Lillian's Postcards: A Postcard from Father

Sender: HM (Henry Maguire, Lillian's father)
Addressee: Lill Maguire, 1902 G Terry Ave, Seattle, Washington
Postmark: Albuquerque, New Mexico
Date: November 20, 1909
Image: Old Spanish Convent, N.M.

The text for this postcard states "The town of Lamy, between Las Vegas and Albuquerque, was named for the good Archbishop who founded nearby a convent, the wall of which are still standing, and who also once taught the Indians in a little adobe school house. At the time of the founding of this convent he was a missionary priest, but afterwards became Archbishop Lamy of Santa Fe."

I could find no record of this structure on the internet, and Lamy is a tiny town of about 200 people, mostly a train station stop.

Message:

Still going

Country looks bum

HM

This brief postcard from Lillian's father is so very interesting. He is traveling from St Louis, Missouri to California. Clearly this stop in New Mexico did not impress him. "Bum" he called the countryside! New Mexico is surely much drier than Missouri, so I suppose we cannot fault him for his perception. But New Mexico is an amazing state with much beauty.

In 1909, the fastest way to get from St Louis to the west coast would be train, a long trip of several days. We do not know the reason Henry Maguire is traveling, but at least he found time to drop a short postcard to his daughter at this stage in his journey. He must have written this in a hurry, for the penmanship is not neat or tidy, and seems hurried.

It is rather fun to see how direct and to the point Lillian's father is. I look forward to his next postcard!