Current Issue: May 2008

This Month in New Mexico History

May 1, 1958 — White Sands Proving Grounds, secretly established by the military in 1945, officially becomes White Sands Missile Range. Many ranchers in the area felt that the U.S. Government unfairly seized their land.

May 3, 1837 — American John Langham complains to New Mexico Gov. Albino Perez saying he had leased the Cienega of Santa Fe but the town council had failed to fence the area as promised. Langham paid 127 pesos to lease the swamp for the spring and summer and finally fenced part of the area at his own expense.

May 4, 1909 — Wayne Brazil was acquitted even after he confessed to killing former Lincoln County Sheriff Pat Garrett, who historians believe was shot in the back near Las Cruces while urinating.

May 5, 1903 — President Theodore Roosevelt visits Santa Fe and is given a rousing welcome, large parade and is entertained by Gov. Miguel A. Otero. He visited the state several times after many New Mexico "Rough Riders" enlisted in 1898.

May 6, 1942 — Corregidor Island surrenders to Japan, ending a five-month Philippines defense by many New Mexico National Guardsmen of the 200th and 515th coastal artillery units. Many died in the Bataan Death March and three years of inhumane captivity.

May 7, 1935 — The Pueblo ruins of Kuaua and Puaray along the Rio Grande north of Albuquerque are opened to the public as Coronado State Monument. Historians believe that Francisco Vazquez de Coronado encountered these villages during his epic explorations.

May 9, 1950 — A fire crew fighting the Capitan Gap fire in Lincoln National Forest rescues a bear cub clinging to a tree. The burned animal later became known as Smokey Bear and the cub grew into a national symbol for the prevention of forest fires. The bear lived on and later died of natural causes and his body was returned from Washington, D.C., to be buried in the same area of the Lincoln fire.

May 12, 1892 — The New Mexico territorial capitol building in Santa Fe is mysteriously destroyed by fire. Some documents are lost, but the "ancient Santa Fe Archives" are saved. The cause of the fire is still unknown but some people report seeing some dark figures running from the building shortly before the building is consumed in flames.

May 15, 1912 — The New Mexico Supreme Court rules in "New Mexico vs. Davenport" that playing baseball on Sunday is not a crime as earlier interpreted from the legal code of 1897.

May 17, 1912 — Sam Bean's Saloon and adjoining Majestic Cafe in downtown Las Cruces is leveled by a nitroglycerin blast allegedly set by Spaniard Conselo Llexia. Other buildings suffer minor damage.

May 18, 1822 — Augustine Iturbide proclaims himself emperor of Mexico, but is not given absolute power and is later removed by the Congress. His reign ended the next year and he was executed months later. New Mexicans heard of the events months after they occurred but most were more interested in new influx of Santa Fe Trail merchandise.

May 19, 1893 — Clandestine leader Vicente Silva kills his wife north of Las Vegas and hires five henchmen to dispose of her body. Dissatisfied with the paltry $10 payment each, they also rob and kill Silva. Two years pass until the Silva deaths are known. Silva ran a prosperous business by day and at night he was the leader of a feared outlaw gang.

May 21, 1598 — Pedro Robledo was the first of Juan de Oñate's colonistas to die in New Mexico. He was buried in Robledo, a Dona Ana County village that now bears his name.

May 23, 1868 — Christopher "Kit" Carson, explorer, soldier and Indian campaigner who led Navajo captives on "The Long Walk," dies of hemorrhage. Although he began his military career as an Indian fighter, he changed his philosophy later in life to be sympathetic toward Native Americans.

May 25, 1850 — The New Mexico Assembly completes the first constitution, establishing a U.S.-style government and repudiating slavery. This was New Mexico's first attempt at gaining statehood.

May 26, 1834 — After a short effort to prohibit Americans from entering and owning land in New Mexico, Texas and California, the Mexican Congress reverses the policy, but centralist factions in Mexico City would soon revive the policy because of the growing number of American immigrants.

May 30, 1881 — Gov. Lew Wallace leaves Santa Fe, serving since Sept. 1878. The "Las Vegas Optic" calls him "best executive New Mexico has had for many years."