David V. Whiting
4 1 1827 By Rick Hendricks David Virdin Whiting was born in Caracas, Venezuela, on 1 April 1827 to Joseph P. Whiting and Sarah C. Virdin. He is best known…
Lafayette Head
1825 The Politician Who Bridged the 37th Parallel By Mark Thompson New Mexicans who use U.S. 285, Colorado 17 and U.S. 24 to get to the Vail Valley of Colorado, or maybe just use La Veta Pass as an alternative to Raton Pass when heading to Denver, know instinctively…
Diego Dionisio de Peñalosa Briceño y Berdugo
by Richard Flint and Shirley Cushing Flint Diego Dionisio de Peñalosa Briceño y Berdugo, formerly Spanish provincial governor of New Mexico, ended his days in France, far from his one-time jurisdiction where he offered to lead an armed force to seize New Mexico and all of northern New Spain…
John A. Clark
1841 By John B. Ramsay John A. Clark was the Surveyor General for the Territory of New Mexico from 1861 until 1868. In addition to his official records as Surveyor General he maintained a daily diary covering this period. The collection was given to the Angélico Chavez History Library…
Jose Francisco Chaves
6 27 1833 Who Killed Jose Francisco Chaves? By Mark Thompson Only two members of the New Mexico Bar have been honored by the naming of a New Mexico county—Thomas B. Catron in 1921, just four months before his death, and Jose Francisco Chaves, for whom the county was…
Donaciano Vigil
9 6 1802 Arms, Indians, and the Mismanagement of New Mexico: Donaciano Vigil By David J. Weber Donaciano Vigil was born in Santa Fe on 6 September 1802. He received an unusually good education for a frontiersman–his father, Juan Cristóbal Vigil, reportedly educated his sons at home. As one…
Hernando de Ugarte y la Concha, testamento
1 Testamento del Gobernador Hernando de Ugarte y la Concha En el nombre de dios todo / Poderosso amen = Sepasse Por esta / carta como yo El general Hernando /de ugartte Y La concha Vezino desta / ciudad de mexico de la…
Hernando de Ugarte y la Concha, will
Will of Governor Hernando de Ugarte y la Concha In the name of God almighty amen. Be it known by this letter that I, General Hernando de Ugarte y la Concha, citizen of this city of Mexico in New Spain, legitimate son of…
Rescuing Amado Chaves from the Footnotes of History
1851 By Patricia Trujillo In a footnote in Marc Simmons, Little Lion of the Southwest: A Life of Manuel Antonio Chaves, the author writes, “It should be noted that historian Twitchell in writing of Manuel relied heavily on information supplied by Amado” (226). Indeed, Simmons credits Chaves with compiling…
Juan de Zaldívar
1514 By Richard Flint and Shirley Cushing Flint In early Spanish colonial New Mexico there were three prominent figures who bore the surname Zaldívar. Although their activities in New Mexico were separated by almost 60 years, it is significant that they were close relatives. The first of the three…
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