BRIGHT SPOT
Former archbishop lends his name to many New Mexico locations
Editor’s note: The Journal continues “What’s in a Name?,” a twice a month column in which staff writer Elaine Briseño will give a short history of how places in New Mexico got their names.
Religion is a major character in the story of New Mexico. From Spanish missionaries, to religious traditions and tribal ceremonies, to the beautiful cathedrals and chapels that remain the center of many communities, New Mexico is as much a reflection of faith, as it is a tale about striking out to build a new life in the wilds of the West.
There are plenty of cities, buildings and roads in New Mexico bearing names that reflect our devotion to the spiritual world. One of the state’s most prominent historical, religious figures was French native Jean Baptiste Lamy. The proper French pronunciation of his name is lah-MEE but it has become LAY-mee in New Mexico. He was the Archdiocese of Santa Fe’s first archbishop and he came to the region to provide guidance to a group of priests and bishops some believed had become corrupt or strayed too far from the teachings of the church. One of the allegations was that the clergy were engaging in intimate relationships with the locals. Wild New Mexico, indeed.
Lamy was a controversial figure but there is no denying that he left his mark on our history. His name appears all around New Mexico. There’s a road in Santa Fe, a lodge and most prominently a small northern New Mexico town, known for its train station and legendary Legal Tender Saloon.
The village of Lamy is located approximately 18 miles southeast of Santa Fe along U.S. 285.
The Santa Fe Railroad passes through Lamy and its depot is a stop along the Amtrak Southwest Chief’s Los Angeles to Chicago route. The track is like the last pulsing vein of a bygone era when the railroad infused life into small communities around the country. There has been some effort recently to revive the stop to make it a tourist
destination for New Mexicans and those visiting the state.
In May of 2020, novelist and screenwriter George R.R. Martin; Violet Crown Cinema co-owner Bill Banowsky; and Catherine Oppenheimer, co-founder of New Mexico School for the Arts, announced they had purchased the Santa Fe Southern Railway Inc. in hopes of reintroducing excursion trips along the 18-mile spur between Lamy and Santa Fe. Their goal is to have the service operating by 2022.
The railroad bypassed Santa Fe when it was being built in the late 1800s because of the challenging terrain. But local leaders, including Lamy, banded together to raise enough funds to build 18 miles of additional track that would connect Lamy with Santa Fe.
Lamy, one of 11 children born to Jean and Marie Dié Lamy in Lempdes in Auvergne, France, undertook a harrowing journey to New Mexico from Ohio and arrived here in 1851, just a year after New Mexico became a territory of the United States.
Before his arrival, the priests in New Mexico existed with little supervision from their boss, aka bishop, because he was all the way south in Durango, Mexico. Lamy initially received a warm welcome, but that wore off pretty quickly. A 1974 piece in the Santa Fe New Mexican written by Clifford Stevens, recalled Lamy’s arrival.
“… the ecclesiastical situation in the new territory was critical. There were few priests, little clerical discipline and many of the priests were acutely sensitive to the changing political atmosphere. Many of the clergy resented the change of government and looked upon the new bishop as the political arm of the United States.”
One of his most vocal critics was Taos priest Father Antonio José Martínez, who had successfully abolished tithing in New Mexico, arguing that the population was too poor to give the required 10% to the church. Not only did Lamy reinstate tithing, he punished those who did not tithe by denying them the sacraments.
He then went on to take action against a well-liked Albuquerque priest and former student of Martínez. According to a piece by William H. Wroth on newmexicohistory.org, which is maintained by the Office of the State Historian, that did not go over well.
“He also suspended the popular New Mexico-born priest Father José Manuel Gallegos who was the pastor of the San Felipe Nerí Church in Albuquerque and a former seminary student of Father Martínez. Gallegos was accused … of living a too worldly life. Lamy’s action produced a powerful backlash; not only did Martínez come unsuccessfully to Gallegos’s defense, but over 900 citizens signed a petition in support of him.”
The conflict even played out in the pages of the Santa Fe Weekly Post, with those in support of Lamy or Gallegos arguing their side with long letters. Gallegos would go on to have a successful career in politics, even becoming New Mexico’s first Hispanic delegate elected to the U.S. Congress.
Lamy also set out to disband the Penitente Brotherhood, who had fallen out of favor with the Catholic Church. He did not achieve this goal, but he did force the order underground.
Despite these controversies, Lamy remained in good standing with the pope and the Catholic Church. When it created the Archdiocese of Santa Fe in 1875, Lamy was named its first archbishop.
Lamy is also responsible for the construction of the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi, also known as Saint Francis Cathedral, in Santa Fe. The cathedral is a favorite subject of local artists and a popular stop for tourists. A bronze statue of Lamy stands in front of the church.
Lamy retired in 1885 and died three years later in 1888 at the Bishop’s Lodge, which sat on land he had purchased and is now home to a luxurious resort. According to newspaper reports on his death, 6,000 “sorrowing people” and a 50-person choir attended his service at the Saint Francis Cathedral. He is buried there in a crypt beneath the cathedral floor.