Rare Books
Illustrated New Mexico
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Aztlan : the history, resources and attractions of New Mexico, embellished with maps and seventy-five characteristic illustrations
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William G. Ritch collection of studio portraits of New Mexico officials and residents
Visual Materials
A collection of 145 photographs, primarily cabinet card studio portraits, of notable figures in 19th-century territorial New Mexico. Compiled by William Gillet Ritch, territorial secretary of New Mexico from 1873 to 1885, the photographs were originally in three albums, each with an incomplete handwritten index of names. The individuals pictured include territorial governors and officials, bishops and clergymen, military officers and militiamen, merchants, newspaper editors, and some studio portraits of Native Americans and photographs of Mexican and native artifacts. Most of the photographs are signed in ink by the sitter, and some are inscribed to the New Mexico Historical Society, which was formed in 1880 with W. G. Ritch as its first president. There are a few photographs of paintings or etchings, such as four portraits of Charles Bent (1799-1847), first governor of New Mexico Territory. The studio photographs include portraits of President Rutherford B. Hayes and his wife, Lucy, and President James A. Garfield, which has printing on the mount: "Taken at Chicago, June 8, 1880, on the day he received the nomination for President." Figures of note in New Mexico include Manuel Garcia and Juan P. Romero, 1882 legislators; Jose Chaves y Castillo, acting governor in 1845; Robert Black, first mayor of Silver City, New Mexico; and Major Albert J. Fountain and Captain Francisco Salazar, posing with guns drawn and signed with "Campaigns against the Rustlers, 1883." Native Americans pictured are: Kiowa chief Big Bow with Santanoni and Tomion[?], a Mexican interpreter; two Isleta women; Wa-ja-to-ye, last governor of Pecos Pueblo; and Young Black Dog, Osage. There are 19 unidentified people, including one woman.
photCL 314
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New Mexico. Board of Commissioners... Letterbook. Jan. 19, 1853-Nov. 28, 1854
Manuscripts
The collection contains clippings, correspondence, manuscripts, documents, maps, and scrapbooks in both English and Spanish related to the history of early and territorial New Mexico collected by William G. Ritch. The very early portion of the collection (1539-1700) contains original manuscripts, contemporary copies, and later translations of official documents and journals of explorers, correspondence, papers of various governors, court records, church inventories, and passport lists of American traders. The papers for the years 1846-1873 cover the American military occupation, New Mexico politics and government, New Mexico during the US Civil War, and Indian affairs relating to the Navajo, Apache, Comanche, and Pecos tribes. Items after 1873 tend to be the personal papers of William G. Ritch, including biographical sketches of significant New Mexicans, drafts of articles, and notebooks of research materials (including the biography of Father Antonio Jose Martinez by Santiago Valdez).
mssRI 1-2270