José Placido Romero

Inormation provided by Joseph H. Sanchez, 2nd great grandson

J. Placido Romero, a wealthy rancher of Peralta disappeared on May 12, 1893. The disappearance of Romero into the Rio Grande between Los Lunas and Peralta is one of those strange events that remain a mystery , one that haunts people even today, although it happened more than 100 years ago. A week before the death of Romero , his son had been acquitted of the murder of Adelita Jaramillo, she was the daughter of Telefor Jaramillo of the wealthy family of Los Lunas. She had previously rejected the son's proposal of marriage. Also in the weeks prior two other women had been murdered.

Don Jose Placido Romero had left early that morning for Los Lunas the Valencia County seat on the west side of the river for supplies and the mail. He had taken the buckboard, pulled by a matched pair of black spirited horses. Dona Felicitas Salazar de Romero was pacing back and forth the entire length of the portal of the Romero home as was her custom. But this evening she had a worried look as she kept glancing down the dirt road to the south. Although he was an excellent horseman and driver, she was concerned because he said he would be home early and now the sun was setting and no sign of him.

Vicente, an old family retainer and husband of the cook La Martina, walked down the road to where it took a curve to the west leading to Los Lunas. He was worried too because he was fond of his patron.The chapel bells across the road started pealing vespers and everyone stood up and the men removing their hats joining the women in evening prayers.

Suddenly a shout was heard from Vicente as they saw him start to run and they saw him return leading one horse pulling a driver less buckboard. It was covered in blood! The harness of the horse pulling the rig was intact but the other stall behind the crosstree was mutilated. It was obvious that it had been cut with a knife. All members of the Romero family were summoned and the rest of the men took torches and started searching the roadside to Los Lunas and back.

At dawn the riders found bloodstains on the planks of the bridge over the Rio Grande and blood on the side of the bridge itself and the body of the dead horse on the riverbank just below the bridge. Its harness cut in several places. It was difficult to tell weather the blood was human or belonged to the horse.

The blood was smeared over the seat of the buckboard and over the planks on the bridge over the Rio Grande and blood on the side of the bridge. It appeared that Placido Romero had been murdered and his body thrown over the side.

For three days with the help of the sheriff, his deputies, several Indians from Isleta, neighbors and friends the Salazar family and the Romero family covered every foot on both banks of the river as far as Casa Colorado with no results. It is significant that the search was conducted by the Romero family for two more weeks and 25 miles up and down the river, but thy finally gave up.

Finally, the newspaper reported that on June 11, 1883, three cowboys south of Jarales finally found the body on a sand bar. The body was badly decomposed but was identified by a watch, pocket book and other personal items. The body was taken to Tome, where services were held and the body was buried. Today there stands a large stone memorial over his grave.

This story from "Among the Cottonwoods : The Enduring Rio Abajo Villages of Los Pinos and Peralta before 1940" by Francelle Alexander.

He was born on the Sandia Pueblo in New Mexico and baptized at the Mission Church, Nuestra Senora De Los Dolores on Oct 11 1837.