Friends of History Lecture Series Governor James Silas Calhoun and Early Territorial Politics in New Mexico

James Silas Calhoun, as New Mexico’s first territorial governor, played a critical role in New Mexico’s transition from Mexican to American possession. He worked hard to make Hispanic New Mexicans comfortable with their new status as American citizens. Calhoun was also New Mexico’s first Indian Agent, responsible for all the tribes in a 240,000-square mile area. Although he wasn’t in office a long time – ill health doomed his term – he had an outsized impact on New Mexico.

Sherry Robinson is a long-time New Mexico journalist and author. Her most recent book (2021) is James Silas Calhoun: First Governor of New Mexico Territory and First lndian Agent. Her book I Fought o Good Fight: A History of the Lipan Apaches won the Historical Society of New Mexico’s Fray Francisco Atanasio Dominguez Award in 2014.

Book Cover. Courtesy of UNM Press.

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