SENATE MEMORIAL 30

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

INTRODUCED BY

Howie C. Morales

A MEMORIAL

DECLARING FEBRUARY 18, 2017 "SILVER CITY TERRITORIAL CHARTER DAY" IN THE SENATE.

     WHEREAS, on February 15, 1878, Governor Samuel Axtell signed the town of Silver City territorial charter; and

     WHEREAS, this is the one-hundred-thirty-ninth anniversary of the charter signing; and

     WHEREAS, Silver City is the oldest continuously incorporated municipality in New Mexico; and

     WHEREAS, Grant county was formed in 1868 from the western portion of Dona Ana county; and

     WHEREAS, after silver was discovered in 1870, the town site was laid out, and the name for the fledgling community was selected; and

     WHEREAS, in 1871, Silver City was designated as the Grant county seat and consisted of two hundred eighty-four dwellings, five smelting furnaces, two hotels, two printing offices, a livery stable, a jewelry shop, a watchmaker's shop, two shoemakers, six quartz mills, ten retail shops, three bakeries, three meat markets, a brewery, four carpenter shops, two blacksmiths, a lumber yard and a brickyard; and

     WHEREAS, in 1872, community leaders proposed a bill to the territorial legislature to authorize the incorporation of Silver City, but the bill failed to pass and a feeling of unrest began to grow in the community; and

     WHEREAS, community leaders felt that the needs of Silver City were not being recognized by the territorial legislature; and

     WHEREAS, to make matters worse, the territory's Republican administration had reduced the number of legislative representatives to the territorial government from four to two; and

     WHEREAS, Silver City leaders were feeling disenfranchised, and the seeds for a succession movement were sown; and

     WHEREAS, led by residents of Silver City who had a growing disenchantment with New Mexico, Grant county petitioned the federal government to become a part of the Arizona territory; and

     WHEREAS, Silver City leaders felt that Grant county was more economically, politically and culturally aligned with Arizona than with New Mexico; and

     WHEREAS, Grant county waited until 1876, the one hundredth anniversary of the founding of the United States, to propose legislation that would allow Grant county to secede from New Mexico; and

     WHEREAS, the Arizona territorial representative introduced a bill, but it died in committee and was never acted on; and

     WHEREAS, after the failure of secession efforts, Silver City leaders regrouped and obtained a sponsor for a bill authorizing a territorial charter for Silver City that was introduced to the New Mexico legislature on January 31, 1878; and

     WHEREAS, the bill passed unanimously and was signed into law on February 15, 1878; and

     WHEREAS, with the newly granted and hard-won territorial charter, Silver City residents could elect city officials and participate in self-governance; and

     WHEREAS, the charter allowed for taxes to be collected and used for public improvements, such as streets and sidewalks, and to provide for public safety; and

     WHEREAS, obtaining the territorial charter allowed the fledgling community to achieve even greater growth and prosperity;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that February 18, 2017 be declared "Silver City Territorial Charter Day" in the senate; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this memorial be transmitted to the mayor of Silver City. 

- 4 -