Today in New Mexico History:
September 1, 1821 — William Becknell left Arrow Rock, Mo., headed toward the Rocky Mountains to trade with Indians. He encountered a Mexican cavalry unit that took him into custody and escorted him into Santa Fe, where his goods were quickly traded. Realizing potential profits, Becknell planned other trips and opened the Santa Fe Trail.
Today in New Mexico History:
September 3, 1972 — Four people are killed and over 500 evacuated from Hillsboro over Labor Day weekend as the rain-swollen Perchas River overflowed and flooded the town. President Nixon declared it a federal disaster area.
Today in New Mexico History:
September 4, 1886 — Apache war chief Geronimo and his band of Chiricahua renegades surrendered to U.S. Army forces at Skeleton Canyon in southwestern New Mexico, on the border with Arizona. Some historians claim that Geronimo's warriors were the last group of Indians to roam freely in the United States.
Today in New Mexico History:
September 6, 1853 — José Manuel Gallegos, an Albuquerque priest, defeated Governor William Carr Lane in a hotly contested congressional election. Gallegos became the first Hispanic delegate to the U.S. Congress from New Mexico.
Today in New Mexico History:
September 9, 1850 — New Mexico became a US territory, when President Millard Fillmore signed into law the Organic Act, 9 Statutes at Large 446, Chapter 49.
Today in New Mexico History:
September 11, 1821 — Mexico won independence from Spain in the spring of 1821, but the news did not reach Santa Fe until this date. All local government officials pledged their allegiance to the independent Mexican government.
Today in New Mexico History:
September 12, 1848 — On a bet, Francis X. Aubry left Santa Fe on horseback en route to Independence, Mo., a 900-mile journey that took him five days and 16 hours. He won the $1,000 wager.
Today in New Mexico History:
September 13, 1692 — Don Diego de Vargas entered to Santa Fe taking back the casas reales (now the Palace of the Governors) from the Pueblo Indians who were still in revolt. De Vargas had royal orders from the Spanish crown to reconquer New Mexico. This was the first of several bloodless ceremonial reconquests, including many at other northern pueblos. Vargas revisited the same areas a year later to complete the reconquest and some of the encounters proved to be violent.
Today in New Mexico History:
September 13, 1813 — The Spanish Cortes decreed that Indian missions, existing for over a hundred years, should be secularized allowing assimilation of Indians into mainstream society and opening their lands for private appropriation. However, the secularization of the New Mexican missions did not take place until after Mexican independence eight years later.
Today in New Mexico History:
September 13, 1948 — The first TV station in New Mexico began operations as KOB in Albuquerque. The first commercial broadcast was November 29th that year.
Today in New Mexico History:
September 14, 1875 — Methodist minister F.J. Tolby was killed by operatives of the "Santa Fe Ring," a group of lawyers and businessmen who aggressively and unscrupulously had sought control of Spanish land grants. The death sparked violence and led to Governor Samuel B. Axtell's resignation.
Today in New Mexico History:
September 14, 1989 — In New Mexico's coldest September ever, Raton's morning temperature dropped to 30°F (-1.1°C) the record low temperature for the date.
Today in New Mexico History:
September 16, 1712 — Governor Marques de la Penuela issued an order obliging Santa Feans to celebrate a fiesta each September to honor the spiritual and ceremonial reconquest of New Mexico by Don Diego de Vargas. It's now the oldest continuous celebration in the United States.
Today in New Mexico History:
September 18, 1692 — Gov. Don Diego de Vargas assigned the Los Cerrillos Land Grant southwest of Santa Fe to Alfonso Rael de Aguilar.
Today in New Mexico History:
September 19, 1888 — Patrick Carmody, Desideria Jogala and Romaldo Gonzales, three prisoners under sentence of death for murder, escaped from the Socorro county jail. They were awaiting a ruling from the Supreme Court on their appeal. There were allegations of complicity of the sheriff’s office in the escape.
Today in New Mexico History:
September 21, 1595 — Don Juan de Oñate entered into an agreement in Mexico City that entitled him to lead the colonization of New Mexico. Because of a series of bureaucratic and political maneuverings compounded by funding problems due to the delay, his expedition took several years to finally leave Mexico.
Today in New Mexico History:
September 22, 1846 — General Stephen W. Kearny appointed Charles Bent the first governor of New Mexico under the newly established American regime government. Bent was assassinated at his Taos home the following January, and Kearny traveled on to conquer Mexican-controlled California by 1848.
Today in New Mexico History:
September 25, 1927 — After his historic solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean, Charles Lindbergh visited Santa Fe, with his famous airplane, the Spirit of St. Louis.
Today in New Mexico History:
September 25, 1948 — President Truman delivered campaign speaches in Lordsburg and Deming on a whistlestop from San Diego, California.
Today in New Mexico History:
September 25, 2006 — At the first launch from the New Mexico Spaceport in Sierra County, the rocket, launched by UP Aerospace, veered off course shortly after lift-off.
Today in New Mexico History:
September 28, 1835 — New Mexico Governor Albino Perez ordered the mayor of Las Trampas, Manuel Sanchez, to establish a land grant in the fertile Mora Valley and distribute parcels of land to 75 families willing to settle. The settlement occurred that same Fall.
Today in New Mexico History:
September 28, 1893 — Albuquerque had the heaviest downpour ever with 2.25 inches (57 mm) of rain which established the 24 hour record.
Today in New Mexico History:
September 28, 1953 — KOAT TV channel 7 in Albuquerque, NM (ABC) began broadcasting.
Today in New Mexico History:
September 30, 1878 — General Lew Wallace was sworn in as governor and inherited the problems of armed conflicts in Colfax and Lincoln counties. Although he completed his epic book, "Ben Hur," in the Plaza Hotel in Socorro and the Palace of the Governors in Santa Fe, he is probably more renowned in New Mexico for his relationship with Billy the Kid.
Socorro Public Library Archive 
