1859 By Mark Thompson Charles Lummis was born in Lynn, Mass., in 1859. His mother died when he was two. He claimed to have a vivid memory of her on her deathbed, a moment that he recalled years later in a poem called Page One. Taught at home by…
1 John M. Washington was born in Fredericksburg, Virginia, and was a remote relative of President George Washington. He graduated from West Point in 1817, and fought in Florida against the Seminole and Creek people. He served with distinction in the Mexican–American War of 1846-1848 under Brigadier General John…
1 1 1953 Gary E. Johnson was born in Minot, North Dakota. He received a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of New Mexico in 1975.In 1974 he began seeking construction and remodeling jobs, which, in 1976, led him to found a successful construction company. He was…
By Robert Torrez For nearly fifty years following the expedition of Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, New Mexico was forgotten. Coronado had found none of the treasures promised by the stories of Cabeza de Vaca and Fray Marcos de Niza. As the sixteenth century progressed, Spanish settlement advanced slowly but…
By Virginia A. Taylor John W. Newberry arrived in the Las Cruces region in c. 1912, and by 1917 started a farm that would later be instrumental in the early promotion of pecan culture in the Mesilla Valley. Born John Wesley Newberry in July 4, 1879, in Greene County,…
Since the 1860s, African Americans have been a significant presence in our state. The 1850 U.S. Census lists 61,525 Anglos and just 22 blacks in the New Mexico Territory. Near the end of the Civil War, four black regiments–the famous Buffalo Soldiers–were sent to the area to protect settlers….
By Brenda Wilkinson Socorro Field Office Archeologist George McJunkin was born a slave near Midway, Texas in 1851. George was freed at the age of 14 after the Civil War ended. He was already fluent in Spanish, experienced with horses, and used to helping his father in his blacksmith…
Tertulia Historica Lecture Series Presentation: Rob Martinez, State Historian, will present on "A History of the Catholic Church in Late Spanish Colonial New Mexico." July 17, 2019 at 12:00 noon Yucca Room of the State Records Center and Archive. Join us! *** Office of the State Historian–History Scholars' Program New Grant Cycle Will…
The stereotypical cowboy most people think of today actually began with Spanish traditions, and before that, the Moors. During the 16th century, the Conquistadors and other Spanish settlers brought their cattle-raising traditions as well as both horses and domesticated cattle to the Americas, starting with their arrival in what…
Clara Belle Drisdale WIlliams; Clara Belle Drisdale Williams along with her family, was an early settler in southern New Mexico. She became the first African American to graduate from New Mexico State University in 1937. After a career of teaching others, she was honored with an honorary law degree…
