Today in New Mexico History:
July 1, 1751 — New Mexico landowner Sebastian Martin deeded a large chunk of land to Las Trampas colonists, northeast of Espanola. Las Trampas later became a springboard for settlement in Mora County and Colorado.
Today in New Mexico History:
July 1, 1887 — Outlaw gunslinger R.C. "Clay" Allison was accidentally killed, outside Pecos, Texas, when he fell off his buckboard and a rear wheel ran over him, breaking his neck. He was said to be highly intoxicated at the time.
Today in New Mexico History:
July 3, 1935 — Harrison Schmitt US astronaut and senator from New Mexico was born in Santa Rita.
Today in New Mexico History:
July 3, 1947 — The Santa Fe Opera presented its first performance in a new outdoor theater north of Santa Fe. The structure served its purpose for more than 50 years before it was demolished and replaced with a new semi-outdoor venue that protects theatergoers from the rain.
Today in New Mexico History:
July 4, 1879 — Two locomotives decorated with the U.S. and Mexican flags arrived in Las Vegas, opening rail service to what was then the largest city in the New Mexico territory.
Today in New Mexico History:
July 7, 1540 — Hawikuh Pueblo (old Zuni) attempted to repel Francisco Vazquez de Coronado's army, but the Indians were forced from their homes within five days. The Spanish confiscated provisions and continued their search for the fabled Seven Cities of Cibola.
Today in New Mexico History:
July 7, 1995 — The Delta Clipper, an experimental rocketship, made its eighth and final test flight at White Sands Missile Range, successfully demonstrating its feasibility.
Today in New Mexico History:
July 8, 1947 — Military officials announced the recovery of a crashed flying saucer near Roswell, but the Dallas-based 8th Army later rescinded the announcement, calling the find a metallic weather balloon. Many UFO enthusiasts today are skeptical about the Army's amended version.
Today in New Mexico History:
July 9, 1828 — Residents of Ysleta, Texas, descendents from those who fled Isleta Pueblo during the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, petitioned Mexican officials for a land grant in southern Otero County because their population had grown. The U.S. Private Land Claims Court rejected the Rancho de Ysleta grant.
Today in New Mexico History:
July 9, 1952 — In Albuquerque, Blake's Lotaburger (Blake Chanslor) opened their first hamburger stand.
Today in New Mexico History:
July 10, 1751 — Political chief Juan Jose Lobato allowed 12 families to take possession of the Las Trampas land grant. He assigned each family plots for homes, gardens and growing wheat. Las Trampas was a springboard for settlement of eastern New Mexico and Colorado.
Today in New Mexico History:
July 11, 1598 — Juan de Oñate and about 200 colonistas occupied San Juan Pueblo and established the first New Mexico capital, near the confluence of the Rio Grande and Rio Chama.
Today in New Mexico History:
July 14, 1881 — "Billy the Kid" was shot to death by Pat Garrett, the sheriff of Lincoln County, on at Pete Maxwell's ranch near Fort Sumner, New Mexico.
Today in New Mexico History:
July 14, 1934 — A state record of 116 degrees F (47 degrees C) was established in Orogrande, Otero County, which was not broken until June 27, 1994.
Today in New Mexico History:
July 15, 1751 — Don Tomas Velez Cachupin, governor of New Mexico, approved the land grant request for 12 families in Las Trampas.
Today in New Mexico History:
July 19, 1878 — Alexander McSween and others were killed by fire and bullets at McSween's home in Lincoln. Billy the Kid escaped, ending the Five-Day Battle of the Lincoln County War.
Today in New Mexico History:
July 20, 2004 — In Portales, two New Mexico State Police officers were struck by a lightning while helping motorists on a road flooded during a thunderstorm.
Today in New Mexico History:
July 22, 1854 — U.S. President Franklin Pierce signed the bill creating the office of Surveyor-General of New Mexico who was charged with investigating Spanish and Mexican land grants assumed by the United States through the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo.
Today in New Mexico History:
July 22, 1952 — UFO sighting by trained scientists in Los Alamos, New Mexico, stumped the Air Force, Project Bluebook #1538.
Today in New Mexico History:
July 25, 1861 — The town of La Mesilla was taken by Confederate Lt. Col. John R. Baylor without a shot being fired.
Today in New Mexico History:
July 26, 1861 — In the first Civil War clash in New Mexico, Confederates captured Fort Fillmore near Las Cruces. Lt. Col. John Baylor's Rebels captured 400 Bluecoats attempting to flee to Fort Stanton. Within a week, Baylor established the Confederate Territory of Arizona.
Today in New Mexico History:
July 27, 1590 — Lt. Govenor Castano de Sosa of Nuevo Leon, Mexico, departed from Alameda, but his expedition to settle New Mexico was declared illegal, and he returned in chains in 1591 to face charges of entering the area without a license.
Today in New Mexico History:
July 29, 1776 — Missionaries Silvestre Velez de Escalante and Atanasio Dominguez left Santa Fe with a few soldiers to explore the northern frontier, blazing the Spanish Trail, a trade route to California.
Today in New Mexico History:
July 30, 1875 — Samuel B. Axtell became New Mexico's governor. Federal agent Frank Angel later described Axtell's tenure as having more "corruption, fraud, mismanagement, plots and murder" than any other. Axtell was forced to resign and was replaced by Lew Wallace.
Socorro Public Library Archive 
