Histories

KILLED BY INNOVATION

BY BOBBY COCHENOUR
AND EULLA DAVIS

GRANDDAUGHTERS OF JOSEPH HENRY JAMES

Joseph Henry James moved to Mexico in 1885 with his three wives. He moved to Colonia Dublan, then to Casas Grandes and finally settled in the Sierra Madre mountains in Hop Valley near Pacheco, which became his home for as long as he lived. By this time he had 25 children and decided it was time each of his wives should have a home of her own. So, on the three banks of the river where it forked, he built a home for each wife, where, as he said, no matter where high water caught him he always had a home. ... He owned a sawmill and soon had a prosperous little family communtiy.
In 1908 he and his sons devised a shortcut to get logs from his sawmill at the top of the mountain to the valley by building a chute through which logs could pass. This would have saved many hours of travel over rough, hazardous roads. The plan was hailed with delight by some but with skepticism by others. There was enough interest in its outcome that many lumbermen were watching when the first log was ready to make its triumphant landing.
His son Hollister regulated the take-off of the logs at the top, and then Joseph James, with a couple of Mexican helpers, stood at the bottom to enjoy the safe landing and the successful outcome of his revolutionary idea. This expected thrill was short-lived, for that first log, coming with the speed of an express train, suddenly up-ended and jumped the chute. Joe James and his helpers, standing in the precise location to catch the full impact of the hurtling logs, were struck and killed instantly. The scheme that was to have made Joe James immortal died stillborn (from Stalwarts South of the Border, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, p. 321).