Rumalda Luna was born into the influential Jaramillo family in Taos, New Mexico Territory, in 1831. Taos was then a northern outpost of Mexico and newly independent from Spain. Although Santa Fe was the political capital of the province, Taos was an important trade center. Rumalda’s family was well known to traders and business people in the area. Her maternal grandfather, Francisco Jaramillo, was a popular merchant on the Santa Fe Trail. Her maternal grandmother was Maria Apolonia Vigil, whose brother was Cornelio Vigil, the alcalde (mayor) of Taos and co-owner of the four-million acre Vigil and St. Vrain land grant. His partner, Ceran St. Vrain, was Rumalda’s godfather. Her paternal grandfather, Rafael Luna, was the head of the customs house in Taos and her aunt, Josefa Jaramillo, was married to Kit Carson.
Rumalda’s father, also called Rafael Luna, died soon after her birth. While Rumalda was still a small child, her mother, Ignacia Jaramillo, married Charles Bent, the successful merchant and partner in Bent, St. Vrain & Company, the builders of Bent’s Fort.
As a young teen, Rumalda caught the eye of a handsome trader, Thomas Boggs. An accomplished merchant and close family friend, Boggs worked for William Bent at Bent’s New Fort and was a frequent visitor to the Bent family home. He was enchanted with the dark-haired beauty and they were married on May 22, 1846.
In 1858, Rumalda’s husband partnered with cattle baron, Lucien Maxwell. In summers, he drove their shared livestock north to graze and he fell in love with the Purgatoire River valley. The couple approached Rumalda’s powerful family and were given title to the 2,040 acres of land that would become the future site of Boggsville. Thomas built a small house on the property in 1862 and pastured livestock there. In 1866, he built a large adobe house and moved his family there.
Rumalda was a devoted mother and active member of the burgeoning community. She and Thomas would have five children, three of whom lived to adulthood. Her husband was the first sheriff of the newly formed Bent County and he served in the territorial legislature in 1871. Rumalda donated part of her land grant to what would become the Bent County Las Animas Cemetery in Las Animas, Colorado.
Rumalda was very close to her aunt, Josefa Jaramillo Carson – wife of Kit Carson – just three years her senior. When they were young, the two were considered the belles of Taos and were well known for their dancing, beauty and vivaciousness. They would remain devoted friends throughout their lives, and when Kit and Josefa Carson died within a month of each other, Rumalda and Thomas raised the five youngest Carson children as their own.
Both women were present in the Bent home the fateful night of February 19, 1847, when the citizens of Taos rose in revolt against the Americans. Rumalda’s stepfather, Charles Bent, then the first territorial governor of New Mexico, was killed. Much later in life, Rumalda recalled the horrible night in an interview published in the Santa Fe New Mexican in 1909. You can read her interview in the article “The Assassination of Charles Bent”.
The Boggs family remained in Boggsville until 1877, when they sold the ranch and moved to Clayton, New Mexico. They would live in Clayton the rest of their lives. Rumalda’s obituary, published in the Clayton CitizenJune 16, 1906, called Rumalda one of New Mexico’s most respected women. She and her husband were buried in an old prairie cemetery near Clayton. Untended for years, the graves are now lost to the prairie sands.