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Miguel Antonio Otero
| Name: Miguel
Antonio Otero |
| Aliases: None |
| Date of Birth:
June 21, 1829 |
| Location of
Birth: Valencia County, New Mexico |
| Occupation: Governor
of New Mexico |
| Relationships:
Miguel
Antonio Otero Jr. (son) |
| Affiliations:
Unknown |
| Date of Death:
May 30, 1882 |
| Cause of
Death: Unknown |
| Location of
Death: New Mexico |
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Miguel Antonio Otero
(II), was born October 17, 1859 in the New Mexico Territory. Otero was the
son of the noted New Mexico businessman and politician of the same name,
Miguel Otero.
The younger Otero
attended St. Louis University and the University of Notre Dame before
returning to Las Vegas, New Mexico in 1880 to work for his father’s
bank. He would soon follow his father’s lead by pursuing a career in
politics.
Sometime during 1880,
Otero became familiar with William Bonney – more famously known as Billy
the Kid. Otero rode with the Kid while transporting the outlaw from Las
Vegas to Santa Fe. The two men developed a brief friendship as a result.
Otero went on to write a book about Billy the Kid.
In 1892, Otero
represented the New Mexico Territory as a delegate to the Republican
National Convention. While attending the convention, Otero struck
friendship with William McKinley, then a senator from Ohio. As president,
McKinley would appoint Otero as Governor of the New Mexico Territory.
Otero served as
governor until 1906 when President Theodore Roosevelt replaced him in
office.
Before his dismissal,
Governor Otero pardoned Wild Bunch member Elzy Lay (at the time Lay was
using the alias William McGinnis) on January 10, 1906. There are a couple
theories regarding the reasons for Lay’s pardon. The most common
explanation is that the governor pardoned the outlaw after Lay’s
participation quelling a prison riot. In his autobiography, The
Last of the
Bandit Riders, Matt Warner tells another story, claiming he was the
catalyst behind Lay's release. Warner went to Santa Fe and told the prison
warden that Lay was the only person who knew of the location of a mine
rich in asphaltum. After Warner left New Mexico, a deal was struck where
Lay would give up the location of the mine in exchange for his freedom.
After leaving the
governor’s mansion, Otero returned to the banking life before serving as
state treasurer from 1909 to 1911. After New Mexico became a state on
January 6, 1912, Otero attempted to make a political comeback by running
for governor. He was unsuccessful.
In his later years,
Otero went on to write several more books, including My Life on the
Frontier 1864-1882, My Life on the Frontier 1892-1897 and My Nine Years
as Governor of the Territory of New Mexico 1897-1906.
Miguel Antonio Otero
died August 7, 1944. Otero County, New Mexico is named in his family's honor.
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