Today in New Mexico History:
May 1, 1958 — White Sands Proving Grounds, secretly established by the military in 1945, officially became White Sands Missile Range. Many ranchers in the area felt that the U.S. Government had unfairly seized their land.
Today in New Mexico History:
May 3, 1837 — American John Langham complained to New Mexico Governor 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.
Today in New Mexico History:
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.
Today in New Mexico History:
May 4, 2000 — With high winds expected, and tinder-dry conditions, the US Forest service started the "controlled burn" that became the Cerro Grande Fire, which eventually burned 48,000 acres in the Jemez, and over 400 homes, including 235 homes in Los Alamos.
Today in New Mexico History:
May 5, 1903 — President Theodore Roosevelt visited Santa Fe and was given a rousing welcome, large parade and entertained by Governor Miguel A. Otero. He visited the state several times because many New Mexico Rough Riders had enlisted in 1898.
Today in New Mexico History:
May 5, 1958 — The first National Educational Television (now PBS) station in New Mexico, KNME TV channel 5, began broadcasting in Albuquerque.
Today in New Mexico History:
May 6, 1942 — Corregidor Island surrendered 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 the following three years of inhumane captivity.
Today in New Mexico History:
May 6, 1951 — A USAF B-36 crashed in New Mexico killing all 23 aboard.
Today in New Mexico History:
May 7, 1935 — The Pueblo ruins of Kuaua and Puaray along the Rio Grande north of Albuquerque were opened to the public as Coronado State Monument. Historians believe that Francisco Vazquez de Coronado encountered these villages during his epic explorations.
Today in New Mexico History:
May 9, 1950 — A fire crew fighting the Capitan Gap fire in Lincoln National Forest rescued 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 in the Washington, D.C., Zoo and later died of natural causes. His body was returned and buried in the same area where the fire occurred.
Today in New Mexico History:
May 10, 1946 — At 12:01 AM at the State Penitentiary at Santa Fe, Pedro Talamante was electrocuted for the murder of his wife, although by later standards he was insane at the time, as he suffered from extreme schizophrenia.
Today in New Mexico History:
May 10, 2000 — The Cerro Grande Fire, set deliberately by the Forest Service to clear brush and prevent wildfires, forced the evacuation of the 11,000 residents of Los Alamos; it burned some 48,000-acres and over 400 homes. The total cost of the fire was over a billion dollars.
Today in New Mexico History:
May 12, 1892 — The New Mexico territorial capitol building in Santa Fe was mysteriously destroyed by fire. Some documents are lost, but the most ancient Spanish Archives were saved. The cause of the fire is still unproved but witnesses reported seeing "dark figures" running from the building shortly before the building was engulfed in flames, and the system supplying water to the hydrants had been disabled. The documentation for some Spanish landgrants were destroyed while others, stored beside them, were miraculously unharmed.
Today in New Mexico History:
May 13, 1846 — The United States formally declared war on Mexico, which resulted in the occupation and then purchase of New Mexico.
Today in New Mexico History:
May 15, 1912 — The New Mexico Supreme Court ruled in New Mexico v. Davenport, 17 N.M. 214, that playing baseball on Sunday was not a crime as had been earlier interpreted based on the legal code of 1897.
Today in New Mexico History:
May 17, 1912 — Sam Bean's Saloon and the adjoining Majestic Cafe in downtown Las Cruces were leveled by a nitroglycerin blast allegedly set by Spaniard Conselo Llexia. Other buildings suffered minor damage.
Today in New Mexico History:
May 18, 1822 — Augustine Iturbide proclaimed himself emperor of Mexico, but is not given absolute power and is later removed by the Congress. His reign ended the following year and he was executed months later. New Mexicans heard of these events months after they occurred, but most were more interested in new influx of Santa Fe Trail merchandise.
Today in New Mexico History:
May 18, 1918 — An intensity VIII (Mercalli) earthquake near Cerrillos, Santa Fe County, threw people from their feet and dropped plaster ceilings.
Today in New Mexico History:
May 18, 1955 — A state record for 24 hour rainfall was set when 11.3 inches (28.7 cm) of rain fell at Lake Maloya, Colfax County.
Today in New Mexico History:
May 19, 1893 — Outlaw leader Vicente Silva killed his wife north of Las Vegas and hired five henchmen to dispose of her body. Dissatisfied with the paltry $10 payment each, they also robbed and killed Silva. Two years passed before the Silva deaths were known. Silva had run a prosperous mercantile business by day and by night he was the leader of a feared outlaw gang.
Today in New Mexico History:
May 20, 1935 — Dennis Chavez was sworn in as Senator from New Mexico, succeeding the late Bronson Cutting who had been killed in an airplane crash while returning from New Mexico on a trip concerned with the election contest filed against him by Dennis Chavez.
Today in New Mexico History:
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.
Today in New Mexico History:
May 22, 1957 — A B-36 ferrying a Mark-17 hydrogen bomb from Biggs Air Force Base, Texas to Kirtland accidentally dropped it in the desert on the outskirts of Albuquerque. The high explosive material detonated, completely destroying the weapon and making a crater approximately 25 ft in diameter and 12 ft deep. Radiological survey of the area disclosed no radioactivity beyond the lip of the crater at which point the level was 0.5 milliroentgens.
Today in New Mexico History:
May 23, 1868 — Christopher "Kit" Carson, explorer, soldier and Indian campaigner who led Navajo captives on "The Long Walk," died of hemorrhage. Although he began his military career as an Indian fighter, his philosophy changed as he matured, and he became sympathetic toward Native Americans.
Today in New Mexico History:
May 23, 1877 — Dan Dugan and Dave Stitzel discovered gold bearing ore on the banks of Percha Creek, and the foundation of Hillsboro was assured.
Today in New Mexico History:
May 25, 1850 — The New Mexico Assembly completed the first constitution, establishing a U.S.-style government and repudiating slavery. This was New Mexico's first attempt at gaining statehood.
Today in New Mexico History:
May 26, 1834 — After a short effort to prohibit Americans from entering and owning land in New Mexico, Texas and California, the Mexican Congress reversed its policy, but centralist factions in Mexico City would soon revived the exclusionist policy due to fear of the growing number of American immigrants.
Today in New Mexico History:
May 30, 1848 — Mexico ratified the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo formally selling New Mexico to the United States.
Today in New Mexico History:
May 30, 1881 — Governor Lew Wallace left Santa Fe, having served since September 1878. The Las Vegas Optic called him "best executive New Mexico has had for many years."
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