Today in History: Hoover Dam

Today in History: Hoover Dam

Today in History–December 21–the Library of Congress features the Hoover Dam, which got its start when President Calvin Coolidge signed the Boulder Canyon Project Act on this date in 1928. Originally known as the Boulder Dam, this wonder of civil engineering distributes water from the Colorado River for use in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah,…

Today in History: José Manuel Gallegos

Today in History: José Manuel Gallegos

Today in History–October 30–the Library of Congress features New Mexican José Manuel Gallegos, born this date in 1815 in the town of Abiquiú. When Nuevo México became the U.S. Territory of New Mexico in 1848, Gallegos was elected to its first Territorial Council. He was then elected as a delegate to the U.S. Congress from the Territory…

Today in History: New Mexico

Today in History: New Mexico

Today in History–September 21–the Library of Congress features New Mexico. On this day in 1595, Don Juan de Oñate’s petition and contract for the conquest of New Mexico was presented to Luís de Velasco, the viceroy of Nueva Vizcaya. The petition was ultimately granted and Oñate’s expedition set out in 1598. A brutal leader, Oñate was later stripped…

Today in History: The Gadsden Purchase

Today in History: The Gadsden Purchase

Today in History–December 30–the Library of Congress features the Gadsden Purchase (treaty), signed on this day in 1853. U.S. Secretary of War Jefferson Davis influenced President Franklin Pierce to send U.S. Minister James Gadsden to negotiate the treaty in order to obtain land for construction of a southern transcontinental railroad. Under the treaty, the United States…