At the war’s end, with uncertainty about the future extent of government involvement in atomic energy, the question arose as to whether or not Los Alamos would continue to exist. This was decided in the affirmative by Congress in 1946. In March 1946, The Zia Company was incorporated for…
Tijerina was a dedicated defender of his people, someone who, despite the violence of the Courthouse Raid, was a sincere promoter of peace and equality for all. By Lorena Oropeza While seeking letters of recommendation last year, I explained to two senior colleagues in the field of Chicana/o History…
From February 1889 until the summer of 1891 a clandestine organization of night riders known as Las Gorras Blancas cut the fences and burned the barns of ranchers enclosing the Las Vegas Land Grant commons and destroyed railroad ties and burned bridges in a related effort to disrupt the…
This is a first-hand account of the 1901 trial for the murder of Colonel Fountaine and his young son Henry. This interview was taken by Frances E. Totty as part of the Federal Writers' Project. The Project was part of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) under the New Deal. Interviews with…
By Mark B. Thompson Which (future) New Mexican voted against the impeachment of President Andrew Johnson? No, it was not Edmund G. Ross, governor of New Mexico, 1885-89, famously portrayed by John F. Kennedy in “Profiles in Courage.” Ross, a senator from Kansas, voted with the majority against conviction…
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,…
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of Western History which has captured the imagination of the American people has been the problem of law enforcement. Seemingly, few aspects of this field remain to be covered. The colorful sheriffs and marshalls of Tombstone, Dodge City and Topeka have been duly enshrined…
In 1878, Lincoln County, New Mexico, was the scene of a ferocious war between the partisans of Lawrence C. Murphy, James J. Dolan and John H. Riley on one side and those of Alexander A. McSween and John S. Chisum on the other. New Mexico Historical Review July 1965,…
On June 2, 1924, President Calvin Coolidge signed into law a very brief act stating “that all non-citizen Indians born within the territorial limits of the United States be, and they are hereby, declared to be citizens of the United States: Provided, that the granting of such citizenship shall…
The Hatch Act of 1939, which regulated the political activities of Federal officials, has evoked considerable comment and controversy. Thirty‑three years later, in fact, a Federal Court questioned the constitutionality of the measure. Surprisingly, historians have not devoted entire works or many chapters to the original Hatch Act. New…
