HOUSE MEMORIAL 86

53rd legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2017

INTRODUCED BY

G. Andres Romero and Tomás E. Salazar

A MEMORIAL

COMMEMORATING GOVERNOR EZEQUIEL CABEZA DE BACA, NEW MEXICO'S FIRST HISPANIC GOVERNOR.

     WHEREAS, Ezequiel Cabeza de Baca was the first Hispanic elected to the office of governor of New Mexico; and

     WHEREAS, Ezequiel was born in west Las Vegas, New Mexico, on November 1, 1864; and

     WHEREAS, Ezequiel's great-grandfather, Luis Maria Cabeza de Baca, and his family were the first settlers on the Las Vegas land grant in 1821; and

     WHEREAS, Ezequiel Cabeza de Baca attended parochial elementary schools in his youth and later received a higher education at the Jesuit college of Las Vegas; and

     WHEREAS, Ezquiel was married to Margarita C. de Baca on December 14, 1889, at Peña Blanca, and the couple had thirteen children; and

     WHEREAS, Ezequiel was employed as a professional journalist on the editorial staff of La Voz del Pueblo, published by Félix Martinez, and for La Revista, both Las Vegas publications; and

     WHEREAS, Ezequiel's political views were shaped by organizations he belonged to, such as la sociedad literaria y de ayuda mutua — the Spanish library and mutual aid society; la sociedad por la protección de educación — the society for the protection of education; los caballeros de labor — the knights of labor; and la prensa asociada Hispano-Americana — the Spanish-American associated press; and

     WHEREAS, as a journalist, Ezequiel worked closely with his friend, attorney and future governor of New Mexico, Octaviano Ambrozio Larrazolo, in authoring and crafting most of the constitution of New Mexico; and

     WHEREAS, Ezequiel worked hard to protect and preserve the Spanish language by ensuring that English and Spanish were treated with perfect equality in schools, courts, businesses, institutions and other places; and

     WHEREAS, in 1912, Ezequiel was elected New Mexico's first Hispanic lieutenant governor and became the first state elected official to preside over the senate in the legislature; and

     WHEREAS, Lieutenant Governor Cabeza de Baca served in that capacity until December 31, 1916; and

     WHEREAS, Lieutenant Governor Cabeza de Baca's term as lieutenant governor was followed by his election as the second governor of New Mexico on November 7, 1916, followed by his inauguration on January 1, 1917; and

     WHEREAS, Governor Cabeza de Baca was a staunch supporter of free and open journalism, bilingual education, the public education system and ranchers' land rights; and

     WHEREAS, Governor Cabeza de Baca was a clarion voice of reason for the rural poor Hispano, preservation of the Spanish and Castilian languages, fairness in voting and protection rights, and he fought against unjust land-fencing laws; and

     WHEREAS, Governor Cabeza de Baca was very ill during most of his campaign for governor; and

     WHEREAS, on Sunday morning, February 18, 1917, surrounded by his family, Governor Cabeza De Baca died peacefully at the age of fifty-two, after serving forty-nine valiant days as New Mexico's second governor;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that Governor Ezequiel Cabeza de Baca be commemorated and remembered through history as the first Hispanic governor elected to the office of governor of any state in the United States of America; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the chairman of the Hispano round table of New Mexico, the governor, the mayor of Las Vegas, the executive director of the national association of Latino elected and appointed officials, the Democratic governors association, the Republican governors association and the president of the United States.

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