J. E. Bochtel Otero County, New Mexico

J. E. Bochtel is general manager of the Alamogordo Lumber Company and a prominent and enterprising business man, operating extensively in this industry. He entered the employ of the company in 1899, and his capability and readiness of business resources led to his promotion, from time to time, until, in July, 1904, he entered upon the duties of his present responsible position as manager.

The Alamogordo Lumber Company was founded in December, 1898, and was incorporated under the laws of the state of New Jersey. The first mill was completed in 1898 and the second in September, 1899. There are now two modern band mills, with a capacity of two hundred and thirty thousand feet of lumber per day. There is a modern timber preserving plant, and two cylinders with a capacity of sixty thousand ties a month, made by the Burnetlizing or Welhouse process. Thirty per cent of the raw material handled by the company is made into railroad ties, while the remainder is converted into yard stock. The market extends north and east to Chicago, Kansas and Nebraska, also to Colorado, El Paso and Arizona. Originally the company owned about forty-five thousand acres of timber land in the Sacramento Mountains, adjoining the Mescalero Indians reservation, and about ten thousand acres have been cut there, with four hundred thousand feet of lumber remaining. This company has carried on operations on a very extensive scale, having a splendidly equipped plant and manufacturing lumber according to modern processes, and its business has reached mammoth proportions.

Mr. Bochtel, in his connection as manager of the business, ranks among the prominent representatives of industrial interests in the Territory.

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Source: History of New Mexico, Its Resources and People, Volume II, Pacific States Publishing Co., 1907.