It has been a long time since I posted anything on this blog. Many things and interesting trips have happened since then and I think I will publish some of them on this or another blog.
Armand Ortega Sr., 86, savior of the historic El Rancho Hotel in Gallup, New Mexico,
when it faced the wrecking ball during the 1980s, died in July 2014.
An employee at the hotel said Ortega had been in failing
health for about a year. His funeral was today at Sacred Heart Cathedral in
Gallup, with burial at Sunset Cemetery.
I write this because I met Armand on my motorcycle trip across the US. He invited me to his El Rancho Hotel of which he was immensely proud. He also owned some of the best ethnic jewelry and crafts stores in NM.
Not bad for someone who started out as a shoeshine boy.
Ortega
Family Enterprises, based in Santa Fe, owns several concessions in national
parks, Native American-themed gift shops and restaurants in the Southwest, as
well as El Rancho.
But Ortega was especially fond of El Rancho, which was
opened in 1937 by R.E. “Griff” Griffith, brother of the famed movie director
D.W. Griffith. The Griffiths encouraged filmmakers to shoot movies in the
Gallup area, and the hotel benefited by having a bevy of stars — including John
Wayne, Ronald Reagan, Katherine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy, Errol Flynn, Kirk
Douglas, Gregory Peck and Humphrey Bogart — stay at the hotel during
productions up to the 1960s.
Ortega got his start in business selling newspapers and
leading a team of shoeshine boys at the age of 10. In his youth he worked for
his father at Indian Trails Trading Post in Lupton, Arizona. He graduated from
Holbrook High School in 1946, where he played basketball and the trumpet. In
1952, he opened his first store in Deming. He worked to promote Indian Jewelry
throughout the U.S. and he was the first Indian Arts and Crafts dealer to
market and distribute throughout the United States.
In his own words
When
you stay at the El Rancho Hotel, you will be giving yourself the
opportunity to live your own Southwest experience in one of the most
authentic places in the Region. You will give yourself the chance to
explore unforgettable National Parks, and feel the American Spirit.
