PROPOSING TO HONOR AND COMMEMORATE THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PADRE ANTONIO JOSE MARTINEZ AND HIS NUMEROUS CONTRIBUTIONS TO NEW MEXICO HISTORY.

WHEREAS, the life of Padre Antonio Jose Martinez was marked by many accomplishments in his roles as clergyman, rancher, educator, journalist, publisher and politician; and

WHEREAS, Padre Martinez was the founder of a seminary that he later transformed into a law school, institutions that deeply influenced the history of New Mexico; and

WHEREAS, the people of Taos, and a wide range of people from and beyond New Mexico came to know Padre Martinez as the Cura de Taos; and

WHEREAS, Padre Martinez served the people of Taos for forty-two years of his life; and

WHEREAS, Padre Martinez's life traversed three major eras of this state's history: New Mexico as a colony of Spain, as a part of the Republic of Mexico and as a territory of the United States; and

WHEREAS, Padre Martinez was a pioneer legislator and exceptional statesman who, upon his death, was remembered by the territorial legislature as "la honra de su pais" (the honor of his homeland);

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that it honor and commemorate the life and times of Padre Antonio Jose Martinez and his numerous contributions to New Mexico history.