Dole had no experience with Indian issues. Despite the fact
that Lincoln had opposed the acquisition of the territory in
the first place, he wasted no time making politically-motivated
appointments at the Indian agencies in New Mexico. Along
with the pro-Lincoln territorial government, John S. Watts,
a Republican congressional delegate from New Mexico,
actively promoted specific individuals for appointments in
the territory, frequently writing to Lincoln with suggestions
for selections to the Indian agencies, the judicial system, and
the territorial government.3
However, Lincoln’s appointments of Diego Archuleta
(Utes, Jicarilla Apaches), Lorenzo Labadi (Mescalero
Apaches), Ramon Luna (Navajos), Jose Antonio Mansinares
(Utes), Toribio Romero (Pueblos), and Manuel Sabino
Salazar (assignment unknown) as Indian agents may have
been less political and more pragmatic. Although there were
hostilities between Hispanos and Indians, there had been
intermarriage and peaceful interaction between them.
Hispanos had also proven to be successful politicians in the
territory. The appointment of Hispano men in New Mexico
may have been part of an effort to appoint experienced agents
and to ease racial and cultural tensions. Historically, Hispanos
had had more contact with Indian groups in New Mexico
and were better acquainted with the complexities of the
territory’s demographic makeup.4
Diego Archuleta’s story is particularly interesting.
Born in 1814 in Nuevo México, then a Mexican province,
Archuleta’s life reflected the complicated cultural identity of
many native New Mexicans. Born into a wealthy family and
educated in Mexico City, Archuleta wavered in his political
allegiances. He served as a congressman for Nuevo México
in the Mexican government from 1843 to 1845 and
supported Mexico during its conflict with the United States.
After the Mexican War, however, he returned to New
Notes:
1 Charles Montgomery, The Spanish Redemption: Heritage, Power, and
Loss on New Mexico’s Upper Rio Grande (Berkeley: University of California,
2000), xi, 42-43; Andrés Reséndez, Changing National Identities at the
Frontier: Texas and New Mexico, 1800-1850 (New York: Cambridge
University Press, 2005).
2 F. Stanley, The Civil War in New Mexico (Denver: World Press, 1960),
229; Joint Resolutions of the Council and House of Representatives of the
New Mexico Territorial Legislature, January 1, 1862, Robert Todd Lincoln
Collection, Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
3 David A. Nichols, Lincoln and the Indians: Civil War Policy and Politics
(Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1978; reprint, Urbana: University
of Illinois Press, 2000), 5, 165-68; Mark E. Neely Jr., The Abraham Lincoln
Encyclopedia (New York: Da Capo, 1982), 83-84; David Herbert Donald,
Lincoln (NY: Simon & Schuster, 1995), 122; John S. Watts to Abraham
Lincoln, April 2, 1861, Robert Todd Lincoln Collection, Library of Congress,
Washington, DC.
4 Alvin R. Sunseri, Seeds of Discord: New Mexico in the Aftermath of the
American Conquest, 1846-1861 (Chicago: Nelson Hall, 1979), 37-38, 125-
26; Calvin Horn, New Mexico’s Troubled Years: The Story of the Early
Territorial Governors (Albuquerque, NM: Horn & Wallace, 1963), 100-
111; Appointment of Diego Archuleta as Indian Agent for New Mexico,
March 21, 1865, box 2, vol. 3, p. 89; Appointment of Manuel Sabino
Salazar as Agent for the Indians in New Mexico, March 21, 1865, box 2,
vol. 3, p. 90; Appointment of Toribio Romero as Indian Agent for New
Mexico Territory, March 21, 1865, box 2, vol. 3, p. 93, all in RG 48, Entry
39, all in National Archives, Washington, DC; Appointment of Lorenzo
Labadi as Indian Agent for New Mexico Territory, March 29, 1861, box 1,
vol. 2, p. 343; Appointment of Ramon Luna as Indian Agent for New
Mexico Territory, August 2, 1861, box 2, vol. 3, p. 115; Appointment of
Jose Antonio Mansinares as Indian Agent for New Mexico Territory, August
2, 1861, box 2, vol. 3, p. 114, all in RG 48, Entry 41, National Archives,
Washington, DC.
5 Nicholas E. Meyer, The Biographical Dictionary of Hispanic Americans
(NY: Facts on File, 1997), 14-15; Montgomery, The Spanish Redemption,
42.
1863 Survey of New Mexico Territory
Image courtesy of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library,
Springfield, Illinois.
Mexico, swearing allegiance to the American government.
He won election to the territory’s assembly and then won
appointment as an Indian agent in 1857.5
Just prior to the Civil War, Archuleta had expressed
support for the secessionist South, which made him unpopular
with Watts and other pro-Union colleagues. In April 1861,
Watts asked Lincoln to remove Archuleta as agent for the
Ute Indians and appoint Jose Antonio Mansinares in his place.
Lincoln obliged, and the Senate confirmed Mansinares in
July 1861. After the start of the war, Archuleta’s personal
loyalties changed again, and he enlisted in the New Mexico
militia, ultimately earning the rank of brigadier general.
Perhaps in recognition of his service to the Union, Lincoln
again appointed Archuleta as an Indian agent in March 1865.
Stacy Pratt McDermott, Assistant Editor
