Manuel Armijo

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Pastel portrait of Manuel Armijo by Alfred S. Waugh, ca. 1840
Pastel portrait of Manuel Armijo by Alfred S. Waugh, ca. 1840

Manuel Armijo (c. 1793–1853) was a New Mexican soldier and statesman who served three times as governor of New Mexico. He was instrumental in putting down the Revolt of 1837, he led the force that captured the Texan Santa Fe Expedition, and he surrendered to the United States in the Mexican-American War.

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[edit] Early life and first governorship

He was born in Alburquerque, New Mexico, and apparently made himself wealthy and prominent. He may have been born in Casa de Armijo, which is now a restaurant in Old Town Albuquerque. According to George Wilkins Kendall, he accomplished this by working for a sheep rancher and stealing and selling the sheep, often to his own employer, but Kendall was writing about his experience as Armijo's prisoner in 1841 and his biographical sketch of Armijo is scurrilous.[1] The historian Marc Simmons ascribes the story of sheep theft to "tradition".[2] Armijo became the alcalde (mayor) of Albuquerque and militia lieutenant in 1822 and 1824. In 1827 he was appointed governor of New Mexico, but in 1828 he returned from Santa Fe to Albuquerque as a wealthy merchant in sheep and wool blankets, acting as alcalde again.[3] Some have it that he left the governorship to avoid a Federal investigation.[4]

In 1836 Armijo was appointed subcomisario, or collector of customs, of New Mexico, a fund-raising position that involved work in Santa Fe. However, for health reasons he spent most of his time in Albuquerque, so he was a "failure" at the job and was replaced.[5]

[edit] Revolt of 1837

In August 1837, disaffected residents of the northern part of New Mexico assassinated governor Albino Pérez and took over the state (the Revolt of 1837). Many people in the southern part opposed the new government, but several prominent people refused to lead a counterrevolution. Mariano Chávez, a wealthy young relative of Armijo's, proposed him for the position and Armijo accepted. He marched to Santa Fe and declared himself governor, a position that the Mexican government also gave him when the news of the rebellion reached them (and not when Armijo's letter announcing his self-appointment reached them later, contrary to Kendall's account).[5] Armijo wrote to the government requesting federal troops, and trained soldiers under Lt. Col. Cayetano Justiniani of the Veracruz dragoons arrived in early January 1838. Later that month the rebellion flared up again, and Armijo led the force that defeated the rebels at Pojoaque. According to Armijo's letters to the Mexican historian Carlos María Bustamante, he was nominally in command but his forces were really led by Justiniani.[5]

Beginning with Kendall, some American authors have accused Armijo of starting the rebellion that he later put down.[1], [2] The trader and writer Josiah Gregg said Armijo's brother "intimated" to Gregg that Armijo had ridden from Albuquerque to Santa Fe expecting the rebels to elect him governor, but as he had had taken no personal part in the insurrection, they "would not acknowledge his claim to their suffrages," so he returned to Albuquerque to plot the counterrevolution.[6] The historian Janet Lecompte doubts this story and notes that there is no documentary evidence of any involvement of Armijo in the Revolt of 1837.[5]

[edit] Second term

In 1841, Armijo successfully repelled the Texan Santa Fe Expedition. He evidently authorized false promises of safe conduct, but instead took the Texan merchants and soldiers into custody and sent them further south in Mexico as prisoners.[2]

Also during this period, he eagerly approved land grants to Americans, selling 9.7 million acres in some of the largest land grants ever made.[7] For example, in January 1841 Charles Beaubien and Guadalupe Miranda petitioned Armijo for a grant of 1,741,764 acres of land east of the Sangre de Cristo range. Charles Bent was given part of that land, even though he was not a Mexican citizen. When Padre Martinez of Taos learned of the grant, he raised such a strong objection that Armijo withdrew the grant that summer. Armijo later reinstated the grant when Beaubien died, giving it to his son-in-law, Lucien Maxwell.[8]

In 1843, the Republic of Texas sent another force into New Mexico to retaliate for the capture of the Texan Santa Fe Expedition and Mexican attacks on Texas. This force, with something over 200 men, defeated a New Mexican advance party. Armijo, camped 140 miles away with 500 men, "fled in terror" on hearing the news.[9] He then resigned his position as military commander, and in the following year, the governorship,[3] "claiming ill health".[2]

[edit] Third term and Mexican-American War

Nevertheless, he was appointed to his third governorship in 1845. The following year, the Mexican-American War started and General Stephen Kearny brought about 1,700 soldiers to conquer New Mexico. Armijo heard of the plan in late June from an American business partner who arrived with a caravan on the Santa Fe Trail. Armijo sold his interest in their business to his partner and began liquidating his many other assets.[2] He also received a large amount of ammunition and supplies from a caravan out of Independence, Missouri. On August 4, as Kearny crossed what is now the border between Colorado and New Mexico, Armijo signed a power of attorney so that an associate could take care of his affairs after he left. On August 8, however, he issued a proclamation to the people of New Mexico exhorting them to prepare to repel the invasion.[10]

On about August 9, Armijo called a meeting with a number of respected New Mexicans. He did not want to fight, but the priests present did, as did the young regular-army commander, Diego Archuleta, and the young militia officers Manuel Chaves and Miguel Pino. According to a refugee from the war, Armijo would have done nothing toward defense if the latter two had not threatened to shoot him.[2] Then on Aug. 12 or 13 he received an American named James Magoffin, the husband of a relative of his, who later claimed to have convinced Armijo and Archuleta not to fight.[10] An unverified story says that Magoffin bribed them.[9] Around this same time, some Santa Feans talked of killing the American traders in the town, but Armijo put a stop to the plan. In any case, at the Battle of Santa Fe, Armijo set up a position in Apache Canyon, a narrow pass about 10 miles southeast of the city,[11] but decided not to fight before the American army was even in sight. When Pino, Chaves, and some of the militiamen insisted, Armijo ordered the cannon pointed at them.[2] All of the New Mexican army retreated to Santa Fe, and Armijo fled to Chihuahua, while Kearny and his force entered Santa Fe and claimed New Mexico for the United States without a shot fired.

Armijo was tried in Mexico City for cowardice and desertion in the face of the enemy, but he was acquitted of the charges. While in Mexico City, he interceded on behalf of Magoffin, who had been arrested as a spy in Chihuahua.[10] Armijo later returned to Lemitar, New Mexico[12] and lived the rest of his life there.[3]

Preceded by
José Antonio Vizcarra		 Governor of New Mexico
1827 – 1829		 Succeeded by
José Antonio Chávez
Preceded by
Albino Pérez		 Governor of New Mexico
1838 – April 1844		 Succeeded by
Mariano Martínez de Lejarza
Preceded by
Mariano Martínez de Lejarza		 Governor of New Mexico
March 1845 – August 1846		 Succeeded by
Juan Bautista Vigil y Alarid

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b The Santa Fé Expedition - Kendall Account 3 from Sons of DeWitt Colony Texas, published in 1844, accessed 19 June, 2006.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Simmons, Marc (1973). The Little Lion of the Southwest: a life of Manuel Antonio Chaves. Chicago: The Swallow Press. ISBN 0-8040-0633-4. 
  3. ^ a b c Manuel Armijo from The Latina/o History Project, accessed 19 June, 2006
  4. ^ Bloom, Lansing Bartlett (1912). "New Mexico under Mexican Administration, 1822–1846". Old Santa Fe 1: p. 266. , cited by Simmons
  5. ^ a b c d Lecompte, Janet (1985). Rebellion in Río Arriba, 1837. University of New Mexico Press. ISBN 0826308007. 
  6. ^ Gregg, Josiah (1844). Commerce of the Prairies. republished by the University of Oklahoma Press, 1954. 
  7. ^ Spanish-Mexican Land Grants from the Colorado State Archives, accessed 19 June, 2006
  8. ^ Broadhead, Edward (1982). Ceran St. Vrain 1802–1870. Pueblo, Colorado: Pueblo County Historical Society. ISBN 0-915617-03-X. 
  9. ^ a b Beck, Warren A. (1962). New Mexico: A History of Four Centuries. University of Oklahoma Press. 
  10. ^ a b c Keleher, William A. (1952). Turmoil in New Mexico 1846–1848. University of New Mexico Press. ISBN 0-8263-0631-4. 
  11. ^ New Mexico Historic Markers: Canoncito at Apache Canyon. Retrieved on 2007-04-15. Includes a link to a map.
  12. ^ Census Place: Limitar, Valencia, New Mexico Territory; Roll: M432_470; Page: 331; Image: 252
  • Twitchell, Ralph Emerson (1909). The History of the Military Occupation of the Territory of New Mexico from 1846 to 1851. Denver, Colorado: The Smith-Brooks Company Publishers. ISBN 0-405-09528-7 (1973 reprint). 

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