Having served as the last Chief Justice of the territorial Supreme Court and the first federal judge after New Mexico achieved statehood, William H. Pope has a unique place in New Mexico history. By Mark B. Thompson Having served as the last Chief Justice of the territorial Supreme Court…
This is a WPA interview with C.D. Bonney. Bonney was one of the first settlers in the Pecos Valley; traveling from Mississippi in 1881. C. D. Bonney- Roswell Old Timer by Georgia B. Redfield. When this investigator on Writers' Project District 2, asked C. D. Bonney, old timer of…
A WPA interview. Marie Carter Anthony, New Mexico Interview 1,100 words Old Timers Dictionary In Detail Cecelia Richards Alvarez The day was Sunday. I recall it quite well. Because the neighbor's little girl woke me up to tell me that my cat had had kittens in her barn. Just…
In 1887 one of the disgruntled colonists sued, seeking money damages for wrongs committed by the leaders. Jessie Ellis alleged that John Newbrough and A.M. Howland had knowingly and falsely asserted: (1) that the property of the colony would be held in common; (2) that the community would be…
Quo Warranto? Is it possible to be appointed as a district attorney by the governor, not once but twice; be told by the courts that the appointment was a nullity, not once but twice; to “successfully” prosecute a capital murder case while apparently holding the office; and, for all…
The Historical Society of New Mexico, the oldest organization of its kind west of the Mississippi River, was formally organized on December 26, 1859 when a number of New Mexicans, both Hispano and Anglo, including many officers, territorial officials, judges, lawyers, churchmen, politicians and merchants, signed the necessary corporation…
In the Christmas Day pardon of Macario Leyba in 1907, Territorial New Mexico’s Governor George Curry explained that the custom of granting what he called “Holiday Pardons” to deserving inmates of the Territorial Penitentiary in Santa Fe had been found to have “excellent moral effect in that institution.” Gender,…
This is a WPA interview. Sr. Vicente Romero of Cordova tells of his various dealings with the Kiowa and Comanches during his trading expeditions. LOS COMANCHES Brown, L.B. April 6. 1937 "LOS COMANCHES" "Si Senor, if my daughter had not put iodine in my eye in place of the…
Likening the newspapers of the day to the bombastic extravagance of the carnival barker, historian Frederick Lewis Allen named the period of time just before the stock market crash of 1929 “the ballyhoo years.” “When something happened which promised an appeal to the popular mind,” Allen wrote, “one had…
By Mark Thompson The next time you are heading up U.S. 84 to Chromo, Colorado, stop at the state line and with your trusty GPS instrument see what it says for the degree of latitude north of the Equator. Then compare that with the “legal description” in Article I…
