New Mexico Changed Through the Years

     Life in New Mexico changed after independence from Spain in many ways. First trade was more open and the traders could travel more freely from place to place. They also had a change in Government much different from Mexico. The trade was quote ''Mexico's independence ushered in a new era of commerce along the Santa Fe Trail''.  

 New Mexicans reacted to U.S. occupation in a very well way. The Spanish tried to insert in 1836 their own type of Governor but the native people didn't really like the idea of a new type of person in office.On May 13, 1846, the United States Congress declared war with Mexico. On September 22, 1846, General Kearney  declared that New Mexico had to be Governed.

 

This article, by New Mexico State Historian Robert J. Torrez, appeared in the Official New Mexico Blue Book, Cuarto Centennial Edition, 1598-1998. It has been reprinted here with permission of the author. The New Mexico Blue Book is free, published by the Office of the New Mexico