Alto
Aileen Lindamood
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"Alto" is Spanish for high and Alto it is--perched 7,318 feet above the sea on the mountainside. When the office was established May 2, 1901 William H. Walker was the postmaster and he built the present post office building and the log cabin which stands near it. The office has been moved from time to time through the years but never very far away. It has been moved from the present building to the log cabin, from the cabin across the creek, then back again several times depending on the whim of the Postmaster.

Alto has always been, as it is now, a community of ranching families with cattle, gardens and orchards. When there was abundant rainfall the rancher raised his own feed for stock. When drier years came the cattle were summered on the National forest under government permit and were wintered in the valley on land owned  by the ranchers. The vegetable gardens and fruit trees bring green beauty to the hillsides in spring, summer and fall and snow blankets the earth much of the winter.

Alto has long been a favorite haunt for tourists because of its picturesque setting. Two chinchilla farms are now operating nearby and the Sierra Blanca Ski Area Development has brought more activity. A new motel has been built near the Post Office and tourists  come in larger numbers these days. Former residents often drop by to reminisce. Mr. and Mrs. Tom High of Walters, Oklahoma stopped in so he could show her where he mailed her love letters back in 1904. She was Lucy Jane Wilder then, of Capitan. They married August 1905 and left for Walters by covered wagon to make their home. He worked for Elga Peebles on the Little Creek Ranch and the Peebles family still live at Alto. Five generations of the Peebles family have received their mail in alto.

Mrs. W. N. Hightower has been a patron of the office since she moved to the community in 1900. She lives alone at her home in eagle Creek Canyon except during the winter months. William P Walker, who lives in Roswell, is the son of the first postmaster and drops around now and then to see the house in which he was born in 1895.

Before the post office was established the famous author Eugene Manlove Rhodes was a teacher in the community in 1891-1892. According to this son Alan H. Rhodes of Vestal, New York, this is the story of his first day at school: 

"This school had the reputation of being quite a tough one, the big boys were nearly in manhood estate, and had already run off several teachers who had gone there to teach.
When Gene Rhodes showed up one morning to teach the school, the boys began to grin at each other, probably thinking how much fun they were going to have running this new teacher off the place. Even the girls were giggling among themselves at the prospect of the approaching hilarity.
When the pupils were all inside the school, Gene drew his six-shooter out of the waistband of his pants and rapped right smartly on the desk. Very clearly he said, School will now come to order. It sure came to order promptly and continued that way al the rest of the term."

The Grandfather of the present postmaster was Frank Lesnett who came through Alto with his wife is a Studebaker hack, drawn y two horses. They were on their way to Ruidoso where he opened a store and became Ruidoso's fist postmaster in 1882. Lesnett's son-in-law, John A. Haley, was the father of the present postmaster. Haley was a newspaper publisher at Carrizozo and served as a postmaster at Carrizozo. So Aileen Lindamood who presides as the postmaster at Alto today is a third generation of her family to serve Lincoln County in that capacity. She and her husband operate a store in connection with the office much the same as the first postmaster did in 1901.

Due to the growth of the Alto area, the office was advanced to Third Class on July 1, 1968. this growth necessitated a larger building for the Post Office, which was built in a unique setting, with a lake on one side and the beautiful pine trees o the other. On December 20, 1972, the move was made and in 1972 the old County Store was closed. Marie F. Burns became the clerk, and held that position until Aileen W. Lindamood retired as Postmaster July 31, 1975. On October 24, 1975, Marie F. Burns received the appointment as Postmaster.

These have been postmasters at Alto:

William H. Walker May 2, 1901 Arthur L. McMillion July 21, 1916
John W. Stephensen Apr. 12, 1906 James A. Easley Oct. 31, 1917
Williston H. Lane May 26, 1909 Barney A. Luck Apr. 1, 1922
John W. Stuart July 6, 1911 Rebecca Luck Jan. 8, 1941
Oscar N. West Jan. 20, 1914 Aileen Lindamood June 15, 1954
William H. Marr Sept. 22, 1915

Transcribed by C. W. Barnum ©2005