45th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2002

REQUESTING THE STATE ARMORY BOARD TO NAME THE ARMORY COMPLEX IN SPRINGER THE J. LESLIE DAVIS ARMORY COMPLEX AND THE ARMORY BUILDING THE MICHAEL ARELLANO ARMORY.

WHEREAS, J. Leslie Davis, who oversaw the CS ranch for four decades died recently after a long illness stemming partly from World War II battle injuries; and

WHEREAS, Les was an institution in northeastern New Mexico, said novelist Max Evans, author of books set in northeastern New Mexico; and

WHEREAS, he was the son of Warren Davis, a professor of surgery at Jefferson medical school in Philadelphia, and the grandson of Charles Springer, who was the president and general counsel for the Maxwell land grant; and

WHEREAS, he was born October 24, 1919 and came west after graduating from Dartmouth college in the spring of 1941 to visit the family-owned ranch; and

WHEREAS, he did not intend to stay but having fallen in love with the ranch, spent six months working on the CS before going off to war; and

WHEREAS, he crossed Europe with the 4th armored division, having had a tank or two shot out from under him, and in the process received a bronze star, three purple hearts and a presidential unit citation; and

WHEREAS, he returned to the ranch after the war to assume management responsibilities upon the death of his uncle, Ed Springer; and

WHEREAS, he became general manager in 1946, expanding the ranch and building it up in numerous ways during his tenure and becoming the president of CS Cattle company in 1964; and

WHEREAS, he married Linda Mitchell, daughter of Albert K. Mitchell, owner of the Tequesquite ranch in eastern New Mexico; and

WHEREAS, together, the Davises raised six children, Warren, Julia, Randy, Kirk, Bruce and Kim, all of whom returned to the ranch after college to take up their parents' livelihoods, and they and seven grandchildren remain closely involved in CS interests; and

WHEREAS, Les Davis was active in the community, serving on the Cimarron board of education for 18 years and was president of the New Mexico cattle grower's association and vice-president of the national cattlemen's association, a member of the board of Sunwest financial services, Sunwest bank of Raton and Sunwest bank of Albuquerque, a trustee of Lovelace medical foundation, a director of La Mesa race track in Raton, a member of the New Mexico racing commission and district chairman of the Boy Scouts of America; and

WHEREAS, he was an artist, musician, magician, horseman, opera aficionado, businessman, sportsman, sculptor, patriot and author, but mostly a man of his family; and

WHEREAS, "We were a lucky family to have a father like him," his son Kirk Davis said, "Just a joy, it was."; and

WHEREAS, he donated several parcels of land to the Springer community, including the land the national guard armory sits on;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the state armory board of the department of military affairs be requested to name the Springer armory complex in honor of J. Leslie Davis and the armory building in honor of Michael Arellano; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the state armory board.