The past 100 years

From The Santa Fe New Mexican:

Oct. 12, 1917: To increase local subscriptions to the new Liberty Loan, the First National Bank of Santa Fe announces that:

It will purchase from all Santa Fe citizens who subscribed for the first issue of three-and-ahalf per cent Liberty Bonds, all its present holdings of these bonds, at par, with interest accrued at three-and-a-half percent to date; provided that the sellers will each invest a like principal sum in the new issue of four per cent Liberty Bonds.

Oct. 12, 1967: The official report of the state fire marshal on the State Hospital fire at Las Vegas last month which took six lives appeared to indicate Wednesday the fire was started by someone, on purpose or unintentionally.

“There is a complete lack of an ignition source in the area of the point of origin of the fire,” the report by investigator Ted K. Hudson said. The report noted one of the patients questioned previously had been committed to the hospital for “fire setting tendencies and turning in false alarms.”

Oct. 12, 1992: To Santa Fe historian Marc Simmons and descendants of some of the original Spanish settlers in Northern New Mexico, Columbus Day 1992 should be the climax of one of the most uplifting watershed events in the modern history of the Western hemisphere. But it isn’t.

“It has been a big yawn,” Simmons said, echoing assessments of many others in Santa Fe. “It’s been shelved in a back room. I think it will have zero impact.”

Little impact, perhaps. But while most observers here say the local debate over the Columbus issue has been less intense than in other parts of the country, it does exist in Northern New Mexico, pitting contrasting versions of the last 500 years in the Americas and strong emotions about that history.

“It’s hard for me to make a blanket statement” about Indian sentiment on Columbus Day, said Mateo Romero, a 25-year-old Cochiti Indian activist and artist.

It’s kind of outrage and shock. It’s almost like the Indian Wars are still going on today. It’s almost like celebrating the beginning of slavery for blacks.”

… Some Hispanics said the debate has not been so promising for them. “This has been a year of Hispanic bashing,” said Tom Chavez, director of the Palace of the Governors and a 13th generation New Mexican. “I’m anxious to get beyond this year.”

… The Columbus debate has dampened enthusiasm for the 500th anniversary of the explorer’s arrival across the nation.