José Guadalupe Gallegos (April 13, 1828 – May 18, 1867) was a Hispano New Mexican military leader, county sheriff, rancher and politician. In 1854 he served as brigadier general in the volunteer Mounted Militia of New Mexico (Territory) formed for the purpose of protecting communities against Native American attacks. Prior to the Battle of Glorieta Pass, he was a Union field and staff Colonel in the Civil War, serving as commander of the 3rd New Mexico Volunteer Infantry and as commander of the Hatch's Ranch military post. He represented San Miguel County in four of the six Assemblies of the Territorial Legislature between 1855-1861 and served as House Speaker and as Council President. José was one of the founding members of the Historical Society of New Mexico and was a founding associate in the incorporation of the Montezuma Copper Mining Company of Santa Fé, New Mexico the New Mexican Railway Company p.110 and the New Mexico Wool Manufacturing Company.id. New Mexican Printing Company. Chpt.26. Local and Special Laws of NM..., pp.804-808
Early years Gallegos was born April 13, 1828, in San José (San Miguel County), First Mexican Republic (by the time of his death, the New Mexico Territory of the United States). He was the son of José Fernando de Jesus Gallegos and Maria Juliana Padilla. He was raised in an area known as the San Miguel del Vado Land Grant. The land was originally applied for in 1794 as one of the genízaros community grants being established on frontiers for the purpose of buffering larger towns, such as Santa Fé, against raids. Twenty-five percent of the original applicants were genízaros. Following a period of about 20 years of development to meet the grant requirements, individual parcels of land were allotted by don Pedro Bautista Pino in the name of Governor Fernando Chacón's verbal order of March 12, 1803. This vicinity of the Pecos River valley was a long time meeting place for trade between the Plains and Pueblo tribes, a passage through the Sangre de Cristo Mountains for the Pueblo Indians of the Rio Grande valley to access the plains for buffalo hunting, as well as passage for the later Spanish explorers, frontier traders, buffalo hunters, Indian fighters, the Santa Fe Trail, Civil War armies, and later still for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway portion of a southern route of a transcontinental railroad system.Herbert E. Bolton. Coronado: Knight of the Pueblos and Plains. Kessinger Publishing, LLC 2008 The traditional Mexican buffalo hunters of the area were known as ciboleros. San Miguel del Vado was an early frontier outpost serving to protect larger cities such as Santa Fé from marauding Plains Indians. A customs house and soldiers stationed in the area also served to prevent smuggling and tax evasion related to trade along the Santa Fé Trail. San Miguel del Vado soldiers also served to protect expansion into northeastern New Mexico, and the establishment of later Spanish land grants in that area, such as the Las Vegas Land Grant, due in part to population pressures in San Miguel del Vado. San Miguel del Vado had become the administrative headquarters for the northeastern plains region of New Mexico early. These environmental influences contributed to José's decision to join the military and participate in New Mexico Territorial politics.
Gallegos was married to Josefa Gutierres, at an age four months shy of his 16th birthday, on November 18, 1843, at San Miguel del Bado Church by the Father José Francisco Leyba. Area censuses indicate that they had six children. The 1860 Census for San Miguel County indicates a family of four children at that date: Ladislado, Bernabe, Maria Viviana and Juan de Dios. The 1870 Colonias de San Jose Census indicates two additional children, Silviano and Guadalupe.
Political career
At age 23, Gallegos was elected and served as sheriff of San Miguel County, New Mexico from September 1851 through September 1853.Larry D. Ball, Desert Lawmen: The High Sheriffs of New Mexico and Arizona Territories, 1846-1912 The Sheriff's office was located in Las Vegas, New Mexico. Eleven years after Jose Guadalupe's death, railway work crews struggled to build the line between La Junta and Raton, and the first Santa Fe train entered New Mexico December 7, 1878. According to Ralph Twitchell, "without exception, in the days of construction of the Santa Fe railway into the Southwest, there was no town which harbored a more disreputable gang of gamblers, desperadoes, and outlaws than did Las Vegas. They controlled, for a while, the local police officers, and the dance halls, and public resorts were the scenes of many shooting affrays and robberies. In the new town, in the immediate vicinity and in front of the present Castenada hotel, were located some of the most disreputable saloons, dance-halls, and resorts ever in frontier days. The gambling houses never closed and the gambling fraternity did about as they pleased. It finally became necessary to organize a committee of one hundred for the safety of the better classes and visitors to the place. Several desperadoes were summarily dealt with, taken from the jail or from their resorts and hung. Notice was served upon every 'undesirable' to leave forthwith and in this manner the town was rid of as desperate a gang of cutthroats and "bad men" as ever congregated in one place in the Southwest." At the time that Gallegos held the sheriff's office, San Miguel County included the present Guadalupe County, which was created from the southern portion of San Miguel County February 26, 1891, by an act of the New Mexico Territorial Legislature.
José Guadalupe ran for the council (Senate) of the 3rd NM Territorial Assembly in 1853,The Santa Fe Weekly Gazette, August 20, 1853 p. 2 (English) & p.3 (Spanish) from Library of Congress, Chronicling America (accessed 07–07–2015) but was not elected. In that race he was on the ticket for the county of Santa Fe, presented by the friends of Governor William Carr Lane, who ran against the Democrat, Padre José Manuel Gallegos, as Territorial delegate to the U.S. Congress, on the same ticket."Next Legislature," The Santa Fe Weekly Gazette September 03, 1853 p. 2 (accessed 07–07–2015) José Guadalupe was later elected, and served in four of the six Assemblies of the Territorial Legislature between 1855 and 1861. A large majority of the members of council and house were naturally native New Mexicans. About 20 family names include a very large majority of the membership for the whole period, and a few wealthy and influential families in each county controlled the election of representatives and all other matters of the territorial government, with only the slightest interest of the masses. Yet the legislators were as a rule intelligent and patriotic men, rarely accused of corruption and probably superior in respect to representatives of later years. All proceedings were carried out in the Spanish language and also in English translations. Gallegos represented San Miguel County in the 5th (1855-6), 8th (1858-9), 9th (1859–60), and 10th (1860-1) Assemblies. He served as the House speaker in the 8th Assembly and as Council president in the 9th and 10th Assemblies. While in the legislature, he incorporated with like-minded individuals of notoriety, the Historical Society of New Mexico (Dec. 15, 1859), the New Mexican Railway Company (Feb 2, 1860), the Montezuma Copper Mining Company of Santa Fé, New Mexico (Jan. 26, 1861), and the New Mexico Wool Manufacturing Company (Jan. 30, 1861).
Historical Society of New Mexico The Historical Society of New Mexico was initiated on December 15, 1859. A committee of five was appointed for the purpose of framing a Constitution and By Laws for the intended society. The committee members were Charles P. Clever, United States Marshal in Santa Fe; Facundo Pino, the brother of Nicolas Pino; W.J. Howard; José Guadalupe Gallegos; and Merrill Ashurst, Clever's sometime law partner. They were to report back with their recommendations a week later. On December 22 the report was read and adopted as amended. However, after protracted debates and on several articles, a new committee was appointed to reframe the Constitution. The second committee consisted of Col. John B. Grayson, Major J. L. Donaldson, Hon. K. Benedict, Dr. W. J. Sloan and C. P. Clever Esq. Clever was the only member from the previous committee that was retained.
The new committee submitted its report December 26, 1859, endeavoring to "form an instrument, as plain, simple and comprehensible as possible, and in which every member of the committee concurs. At the same time, it acknowledges its indebtedness to the labors of the previous Committee, several of whose ideas it has adopted. ...Although the subject of the By Laws was not referred to the Committee, it has drawn up a number, to facilitate the organization of the Society which are herewith submitted and unanimously recommended." The report was adopted and the society now had a constitution.New Mexico Historical Review Vol.18, January 1943, "Historical Society Minutes, 1859-1863" University of New Mexico It remained for the society to legally incorporate within the state, which it did with the help of Gallegos. The Act to Incorporate the Historical Society of New Mexico was passed February 2, 1860, and signed by José G. Gallegos as Territorial Legislature Council President. In the Fourth Regular Meeting, April 30, 1860 J. G. Gallegos was appointed to Section lst—History, along with on. K. Benedict, Hon. S. M. Baird, Donaciano Vigil, Bishop Lamy, Serafin Ramirez, Charles P. Clever, A. De Marle and Major J. L. Donaldson. Other members were appointed to sections Geography, Indian Races, Geology and Mineralogy, Antiquities and Collections, Natural History, Agriculture, Statistics, Botany, Biography, Meteorology and Climatology. The Society suspended it activities in 1863 due to the Civil War.
American Civil War Following the outbreak of the Civil War on April 12, 1861, and Lincoln's call for a volunteer army from each state, Governor Henry Connelly issued a bilingual proclamation of August 9, 1861, calling for volunteers as follows. "Citizens of New Mexico, your Territory has been invaded; the integrity of your soil has been attacked, the property of peaceful and industrious citizens has been destroyed or converted to the use of the invaders, and the enemy is already at your doors. You cannot, you must not, hesitate to take up arms in defense of your homes, firesides and families. Your manhood calls upon you to be on the alert and to be vigilant in the protection of the soil of your birth, where repose the sacred remains of your ancestors and which was left by them as a rich heritage to you, if you have the valor to defend it. I feel that I appeal not in vain to those who love the land of their fathers; a land that has been the scene of heroic acts, and deeds of noble daring in wars no more patriotic than that for which preparations are now being made..." Five regiments of volunteers, a regiment of militia, a battalion of militia, and three independent cavalry companies were raised, averaging 97% Hispanics.