Syndication News Column:
Heroes

This is a photograph of Santa Rita del Colbe in Grant County, New Mexico, on February 17, 2013.
(The photograph was provided by Mr. Steve Douglas through Flickr.)

While you likely have never heard the names of “Matilde Robledo,” “Teodoro Rios,” and “Simon Sias,” you should know the story of these men who worked in Grant County, New Mexico, 95 years ago.

The word “hero” is used frequently these days.

Part of the reason is that there are several definitions used for that same word.  Definitions that have completely different meanings.  As such, many individuals use the word “hero” to define various situations.

One of the main definitions is as follows:

A hero is “a person who, in the opinion of others, has special achievements, abilities, or personal qualities and is regarded as a role model or ideal,” according to Dictionary.com.  This digital dictionary is based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary.

In today’s world, many people consider this definition to be the definition of a “hero.”  In some cases, this word is applied to people who do their job when others would shy away from certain work.  In other situations, individuals use the word “hero” to highlight those who are held up as examples for other to emulate.

Another definition, though, has been one that has been used through generations.  A definition that applies to very few among us.

A hero is “a person noted for courageous acts or nobility of character,” according to Dictionary.com.

It is this second definition that more accurately describes several men who worked in the copper mine at Santa Rita in southwestern New Mexico in 1925.

Men who brought great pride to New Mexico and Texas for their unselfish efforts to save another man.

The acts of heroism by two of the three men were noted by the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission in 1928.  This Commission recognizes “persons who perform acts of heroism in civilian life in the United States and Canada”;  the Commission was created by Mr. Andrew Carnegie in 1904.

According to the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission, Mr. Matilde Robledo and Mr. Teodoro Rios “helped to save Alfonso Sias [27 years of age] from an explosion [at] Santa Rita, New Mexico, [on] September 26, 1925.”  These three men and a fourth man “were igniting the fuses of charges of dynamite on masses of copper ore on a mountainside at night when [Alfonso] Sias got his foot caught beneath a large rock. About 25 charges that were scattered nearby had been lighted.”

Mr. Robledo ran 25 feet up the sloping face of the ore to Mr. Sias, and Mr. Rios ran 25 feet down the sloping face of ore to Mr. Sias, according to the Commission;  both Mr. Robledo and Mr. Rios attempted to move the rock and free Mr. Sias.  “A brother [Simon Sias] of Mr. Sias joined them, but the efforts of the three to move the rock were futile,” noted the Commission.  “Then they began to throw away the sticks of dynamite to which the lighted fuses were attached. When the men had covered an area about 15 feet around Mr. Sias and had thrown away 12 to 15 sticks of dynamite, the first charge exploded. [It was noted by the Commission that Mr. Rios threw four or five sticks of the dynamite as far as he could, and the last stick he threw exploded in the air.]  The men were thrown to the ground, and in darkness they crawled 35 feet and got beneath a steamshovel. In the meantime other charges exploded, one of which moved the rock that held Mr. Sias and thus freed him. Mr. Sias then crawled to the steamshovel. None was injured.”

A description of the events that night is noted somewhat differently in a book, Santa Rita del Cobre: A Copper Mining Community in New Mexico, that was written by Mr. Christopher Huggard and Mr. Terrence Humble and published in 2012.  You can view a previous news article about this book in the Grant County Beat by clicking here.

Mr. Humble was able to provide the source of the information used in the book to detail this event – an original document from the Ray Consolidated Copper Company dated September 28, 1925.  The letter detailed the events during the 11 PM shift on the night of September 25, 1925 (and continued through the early morning of September 26, 1925).  This letter was written by Mr. H. A. Thorne, Superintendent of Mines, and was addressed to Mr. J. M. Sully, General Manager.  In the letter, the spelling of “Sias” is sometimes listed as “Sais.”

Mr. Thorne explained that the men had lit approximately twenty-five “dobies” to remove boulders ahead of a shovel.  (A “dobie”, Mr. Humble explained, was the combination of a rock or mud pile placed on top of a dynamite stick.)  Upon completion, the men “were preparing to leave for a safe place, when a boulder rolled from the bank above and caught Alfonso Sias, pinning one leg against another rock, and he was unable to move.”

The heroism of the men cited by the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission was even more pronounced as detailed in this letter.

Mr. Thorne confirmed that both Mr. Robledo and Mr. Rios went to aid Alfonso Sias.  At the same time, Simon Sias “began pulling the primers from the ‘dobies.’  Robledo and Rios had not succeeded in moving the rock nor had [Simon] Sias removed all the primers, before the blasts began exploding.”

“The first shot knocked the boulder from [Alfonso] Sias’ leg,” the letter continued, “and all ran to the shovel for safety, they report twelve ‘dobies’ as exploding before they reached the shovel.”

Image dynamite sticks exploding around you and rocks flying through the air.

In the darkness.

“No one was hurt,” reported Mr. Thorne, “the only damage having been the loss of a hat by Simon Sias, which was shot off his head.”

Mr. Thorne stated that “The remarkable part of these mens’ actions were that none left until they were satisfied [Alfonso] Sias could take care of himself.”

At the time of the accident, Matilde Robledo was 46 years of age, and Teodoro Rios was 30 years of age.  Both men were awarded a Bronze Medal by the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission.  The brother of Alfonso Sias, Simon Sias, who was likewise a hero, was deemed ineligible to be honored by the Commission.

You may wonder why Simon Sias – given his heroism to remove the primers from the dobies – was not honored by the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission.  The reason is detailed in who the Commission honors and which individuals do not qualify.

Under the section entitled “Responsibility” that details the “Requirements for A Carnegie Medal,” the Commission explains that “The act of rescue must be one in which no full measure of responsibility exists between the rescuer and the rescued. Persons not eligible for awards are: Those whose duties in following their regular vocations require them to perform such acts, unless the rescues are clearly beyond the line of duty, and members of the immediate family, except in cases of outstanding heroism where the rescuer loses his or her life or is severely injured. Members of the armed services and children considered by the Commission to be too young to comprehend the risks involved are also ineligible for consideration.”

Because Simon Sias was related by family relationship to Alfonso Sias and because Simon Sias was not severely injured or died, he did not qualify for this honor.

Regardless, three men were heroes that night in 1925 – not just two men.

Four newspapers in Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas highlighted the awards from the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission in 1928.

The Albuquerque Journal included the following headline – at the top of its front page of its second section on April 28, 1928:  “Santa Rita Man Is A Hero, Says Carnegie Board.”  A sub-headline detailed that “Teodoro Rios One of Group of Men Who Saved Alfonso Sias From Exploding Dynamite.”

On its front page on the same date, The Arizona Republic noted the heroic actions of Mr. Robledo.

The El Paso Evening Post reported in a news article dated April 28, 1928, that “Robledo and Rios threw the dynamite sticks with the lighted fuses attached away from the man who was caught.  The last stick thrown exploded in the air.”  This newspaper noted that Mr. Robledo, his wife, and his mother all lived in El Paso.

According to a news article dated the same date, in the El Paso Herald, Mr. Robledo came to the United States at the age of 18 years from Durango, Mexico.  He first lived in Arizona, the newspaper reported, and worked in the mines in that state for nine years.  As of 1928, the El Paso Herald indicated that Mr. Robledo had lived in El Paso for nineteen years.  The newspaper explained that “he started to work in the Santa Rita copper mine as a powder boy.  He is now foreman of all blasting activities in the mine.”

“To celebrate its centennial year in 2004, the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission produced a series of 90-second broadcasts, each recounting a remarkable act of everyday courage drawn from the fund’s archives,” noted the organization.  “Spanning a century of heroism and representing a broad range of individuals, these real-life accounts of selfless acts of courage are uplifting evocations of exceptional human behavior.”

Among those specifically acknowledged as part of this “Century Of Heroes” were the men in Santa Rita in 1925.  You can hear an audio recording with additional details of these men by clicking here.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette noted the heroic acts of these three men in a news article on February 25, 2006.

In 2020, ninety-five years after the explosions, we recognize these three men as heroes.  They ran towards danger and engaged in acts of heroism to save a man in imminent danger.

Matilde Robledo.

Teodoro Rios.

Simon Sias.

The heroic actions that night likely led to long lifetimes for at least three of the four men involved.

According to the Social Security Death Index, “Alfonso Sias” appears to have died at the age of 81 years; an obituary report indicated that he “was a native of Ascencion, Mexico, and…[had] been a resident of Grant County for 72 years.”  His brother, “Simon Sias,” according to the Social Security Death Index, appears to have died at the age of 77 years.  “Teodoro Rios,” according to the Social Security Death Index, appears to have died at the age of 93 years.  No records could be found at this time that indicate the life span of “Matilde Robledo.”

The leadership shown by each of these men is something that we all should consider today when we use the word “hero.”

The Carnegie Hero Fund Commission awards medals to honor those “who voluntarily risks his or her life
to an extraordinary degree while saving or attempting to save the life of another person.”  Two workers were
honored in 1928 for their efforts to save a co-worker at the copper mine in Santa Rita, New Mexico, in 1925.
(The photograph was provided courtesy of the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission.)

© 2020 Richard McDonough