The second Hispanic from New Mexico to serve as a voting representative in the U.S. House, Néstor Montoya entered politics with a different perspective from that of his nonvoting predecessors. The editor of a prominent newspaper for over 20 years, Montoya used his role as a journalist to advocate fair treatment of his fellow nuevomexicanos, in print, on the street, and in politics. Although Montoya served only one term in Congress, his public life spanned almost 40 years. Like his contemporary Octaviano Larrazolo, Montoya had a political career that differed from those of his predecessors because he was an early surrogate representative for nuevomexicano interests. Reflecting on his career in public service, Montoya noted, “Activity, constancy, tact, and insistency are necessary qualifications to make your contributions and obtain results. Many times you have to wait for the … moment and not miss it … among so many that are doing the same thing.”1
Néstor Montoya was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to Teodosio and Encarnación (Cervantes) Montoya, on April 14, 1862. He attended public schools in Albuquerque and graduated in 1881 from St. Michael’s, a college preparatory academy in Santa Fe, after which he worked in a merchandising business for an uncle. Beginning in 1884, Montoya’s bilingualism enabled him to find a variety of federal positions. He worked as a clerk for the U.S. Postal Service for four years and for the U.S. Treasury in Santa Fe. He also worked as an interpreter for the First, Second, and Fourth Judicial Districts. In 1886 Montoya, then a loyal Democrat, traveled to New Mexico with Territorial Delegate Antonio Joseph, speaking in support of Joseph’s re-election to the House. Montoya and his wife, Florence, had six children: Néstor, Jr.; Paul; Theodore; Frances; Aurelia; and Estefanita.2
Montoya’s dual career in journalism and politics began in Las Vegas, which served as the county seat for San Miguel County. Located at the end of the Santa Fe Trail in the northeast section of the territory, Las Vegas was the first New Mexican city many Easterners encountered. Founded in 1835, it grew rapidly during the next 40 years. The expansion of the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad, with Las Vegas as its hub, brought large numbers of Anglo-Americans to the county, drastically altering the city’s cultural and economic composition. Moreover, the explosive growth in farming and ranching that resulted from Anglo settlement led to large land purchases, severely disrupting the lifestyles of local nuevomexicano farmers. Many rural families had lived and worked on communal plots for years, and sometimes for generations. By 1889 active nuevomexicano resistance emerged when a group of vigilante farmers called Las Gorras Blancas (the White Caps) took arms, rode through the county, and “cut fences, burned crops and buildings, tore up railroad tracks … and terrorized unsympathetic landowners.”3 At the same time Las Gorras Blancas emerged, Montoya and E. H. Salazar founded La voz del pueblo, a Spanish-language newspaper that voiced the grievances of displaced farmers and other nuevomexicanos whose livelihoods had been destroyed by these socioeconomic changes. The newspaper, a four-page weekly that Montoya owned and edited for a year before selling it to a colleague, served as an outlet for the venting of local unrest while providing news of interest to nuevomexicanos.4 Montoya’s journalistic ventures supplemented his political activism, thus giving him an influential voice in New Mexican politics for his entire career in public service.
As a result of the civil unrest, some of San Miguel County’s disaffected citizens formed El Partido Popular (the Popular Party) in 1890 to protest the rampant takeover of land and the displacement of nuevomexicano farmers. The party, which Montoya joined, was a combination of Anglo and Hispano elites who were dissatisfied with Republican rule, along with working-class and Socialist dissidents who sympathized with the political insurgents. The party’s effectiveness at the polls boosted third-party candidates to major victories in the 1890 and 1892 territorial elections. Although he was a Democrat, Montoya also was one of the movement’s beneficiaries. In 1889 Montoya was elected to the 29th legislative assembly (1890–1892), representing San Miguel County in the territorial house of representatives. After his first term in the legislature, Montoya moved to Albuquerque in 1895. In 1900 he founded another newspaper, La bandera americana, which he edited and managed for the rest of his life.5 Montoya also started a Spanish-language press association and served as its president. This association merged with newspaper editors in eastern New Mexico to form a state press association in 1912. Montoya served as its president until his death.6
Montoya’s political career progressed steadily in the 1900s. In 1902 he was elected to the 35th legislative assembly, (1903–1905) representing Bernalillo County, and served as speaker of the territorial house. Montoya was re-elected to serve as a member of the territorial council during the 36th legislative assembly (1905–1907).7
In 1910 he was a delegate to the New Mexico state constitutional convention and chaired its elective franchise committee.8 He was part of an Hispano Republican coalition that secured constitutional provisions for protecting civil rights such as voting and education. During the 1910s, Montoya served on a number of boards, including the University of New Mexico’s Board of Regents and, during World War I, on the Bernalillo County draft board. He also served as secretary of the Republican central committee of Bernalillo County for eight years.9
In 1920 Montoya was nominated by the Republican Party to run for New Mexico’s At-Large seat in the U.S. House. His opponent was Antonio J. Lucero, a prominent Democrat. Lucero was a journalist and assistant editor of the La voz del pueblo, the newspaper which Montoya had founded decades earlier in Las Vegas. He also served as chief clerk of the territorial council in the 31st legislative assembly (1894–1896) and as New Mexico’s first secretary of state for two terms (1912–1917).10
Montoya’s campaign reflected the Republicans’ 1920 platform, which called for women’s suffrage, infrastructure improvements, tax reform, and fair wages. He crisscrossed the state discussing a variety of local and national issues while promoting Republican candidates at the state level.11 Lucero, on the other hand, was an aggressive campaigner who affiliated himself with Richard Hanna, the Democratic nominee for governor. Lucero ran on a platform that advocated U.S. entry into the League of Nations and supported the Volstead Act, which provided the statutory framework for the newly adopted 18th Amendment (Prohibition) to the U.S. Constitution. He also pledged to support legislation for World War I veterans.12
During the election, Montoya fought for control of his newspaper against Frank Hubbell, a prominent entrepreneur who served in the territorial legislature and had run against Thomas Catron for U.S. Senator in 1916.13 Hubbell was president of the newspaper’s publishing company, while Montoya and his 21-year-old daughter, Frances, who served as treasurer, managed its day-to-day affairs. In September 1920, Hubbell, acting as majority shareholder, convinced the board of directors to remove Montoya as editor. The next month Hubbell forcibly evicted Frances and two other staffers from the newspaper’s offices. When Frances resisted, Hubbell called the sheriff to escort her off the premises. The sheriff arrived to find that the “girl was struggling with him” and arrested Hubbell for assault. Frances “fell in a faint” and “was delirious when [bystanders] put her in a taxicab.” Upon hearing the news, Montoya stopped campaigning and rushed back to Albuquerque.14La bandera americana lambasted Hubbell and, regarding Montoya, noted “The machines, paper or press would not matter at all to him personally if they had been taken by force, but it is an indignity and humiliation that this assault was committed … against an innocent girl, the sight of which terrorized the entire community.”15
The conflict between Montoya and Hubbell also involved a political dimension; Montoya, who ran as a Republican, treated the newspaper as a Republican organ, but Hubbell supported the Democratic ticket. Montoya secured an injunction to destroy issues that had been published under Hubbell’s watch, noting they “did not conform to my political policy.” Also, Montoya argued that he had been ousted without due authority and requested an injunction for the maintenance of the status quo until a final decision was rendered.16 According to media coverage, the court awarded Montoya a permanent injunction, enabling him to remain editor of La bandera americana, agreeing that Hubbell and his son had conspired to wrest the newspaper from Montoya “for the purpose of influencing voters not to support Montoya … [but instead] to support his opponent, A. Lucero.”17 Despite the controversy, Montoya beat Lucero with 52 to 47 percent of the vote; A. J. McDonald, a third-party candidate, received the remainder of the vote.18
Elected to the 67th Congress (1921–1923), Montoya won spots on the House Committees on Indian Affairs and the Public Lands. Such assignments were important to representatives from Western states with sprawling tracts of federal land and numerous American Indian reservations.19 During his term, Montoya submitted petitions for constituents’ pensions and petitions for public works projects in New Mexico.20 One of the bills Montoya supported, H.R. 10874, was designed to increase compensation for World War I veterans. A father whose three sons served in the war, Montoya told his colleagues, “It is our duty … to recognize, approve, and exalt said qualities by national recognition and pride.… In casting my vote for the bill I do so not as a partisan or in a partisan spirit, but as an American, as Representative of my state, New Mexico, performing a duty to the best part of our citizenship—the American soldier.”21 Although the bill passed the House and the Senate, it was vetoed by President Warren Harding. The House then overrode the President’s veto, but the Senate did not.22
At the end of the first session, Montoya wrote a public letter to his constituents about his activities as their Representative. Montoya listed his efforts to secure numerous public works appropriations for the state, including an “allocation of $150,000 for a site and new federal building in Silver City” and an “allocation of $18,000 to pave the streets around the federal building in Santa Fe.” Both measures (H.R. 2900 and H.R. 2901) were submitted for consideration to the appropriate committees, where they died. Montoya also sought protections and exemptions for Indian reservations; H.R. 2904 requested a commission to “ascertain and determine the rights of persons occupying Pueblo Indian lands in the State of New Mexico,” but this proposal also died in committee.23 During the 1921 summer recess, Montoya campaigned throughout New Mexico for Holm Bursum, a prominent Republican who was appointed to the Senate in March 1921 and elected to a full term that September.24
Montoya announced his renomination bid in July 1922. His platform consisted not only of promoting national legislation, but also of “actively helping in the passage of the Smith–McNary reclamation bill,” which allowed states to provide land and employment to military and naval veterans. Montoya also reminded voters of his service: “In the year and a half that I have served constantly as your member of congress I have attended to hundreds of matters confided to me by my constituents … I have attended to many land matters before the interior department, general land office … Indian matters, immigration matters, claims, pensions, post office matters, mail routes and rural carriers, by the hundreds.”25 One local newspaper endorsed Montoya because of his ability to acquire “things of great benefit for the working people of this state, in addition to always keeping an eye on the appointments that have to be made to fill federal offices in this state, which are by his recommendations.”26 However, Montoya entered the race with a divided political base. He acknowledged that Independents could vote against the Republican ticket throughout the state and within his home county of Bernalillo. He also cited the 1920 Hubbell controversy, noting that Hubbell “was one of the most active workers … and fought the whole republican ticket.” One weapon Montoya wielded was control over the selection of the state’s postmasters. In the words of an observer, “Representatives control the appointment of all postmasters … a prerogative in which the senators do not interfere … New Mexico has a great many postmasters, and Montoya has recommended the appointment of all of them.”27
However, larger changes caused problems for Montoya. After the 19th Amendment, guaranteeing women’s suffrage, passed in 1919, New Mexico ratified it in February 1920. In 1921 the state amended its constitution to permit women to hold public office, despite opposition from many Hispano men. Many Republican women threw their support for the At-Large Representative seat to Adelina “Nina” Otero-Warren, a suffrage advocate from Santa Fe who served in a number of public appointed positions. Many Santa Feans rallied to support Otero-Warren’s candidacy, and as a result, Montoya received only marginal support in the state capital, even though he actively supported women’s suffrage. Montoya’s supporters began a disinformation campaign questioning whether Otero-Warren’s campaign should be taken seriously. At the nominating convention, delegates elected Otero-Warren with 446½ to Montoya’s 99½ votes.28 Despite his crushing loss, Montoya stumped for Otero-Warren, calling her “my successor in the Congress of the United States.” “It is going to be my mission … to inform the people of this state what a woman can do in Congress,” he told an audience. However, Otero-Warren lost to John Morrow, a prominent Democratic politician.29Alice Robertson, the first woman from Oklahoma elected to Congress, said when Montoya “came back and told me about [his nomination defeat], he did so in the most beautiful, most chivalrous, and most courteous way, speaking in highest terms of the lady and his hopes for her election.”30
Montoya returned to the House for the two remaining sessions. Two months before the end of his term, Montoya died in his Washington home, on January 13, 1923. As was customary, the House adjourned for one day and reserved another to honor Montoya’s memory. An escort of five Representatives and one Senator traveled to New Mexico to attend his funeral.31 Ten Members submitted memorial addresses to honor Montoya.
Montoya’s predecessor and friend, Benigno Cárdenas Hernández, wrote two obituaries, one for the Congressional Record and the other appeared for La bandera americana. In the latter, Hernández said Montoya was “one of the favorite sons of this state, and [an] exemplary citizen … who reflected the honor and credit to our Spanish-speaking people. He was always a faithful defender of the Hispanic-American people, which today sheds its tears of true sorrow as a tribute to his remembrance.”32 The House also agreed to H. Res. 494, which authorized the payment of one month’s salary to Frances and Néstor Montoya, Jr., who had served as their late father’s congressional aides.33
1Néstor Montoya, “Nestor Montoya Is a Candidate for House Seat,” 5 July 1922, Albuquerque Morning Journal: 7.
2Fourteenth Census of the United States, 1920: Old Albuquerque, Bernalillo, New Mexico, Roll T625_1074, page 14B, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., http://search.ancestrylibrary.com (accessed 18 January 2012); Thirteenth Census of the United States, 1910: Old Albuquerque, Bernalillo, New Mexico, Roll T624_913, page 18A, http://search.ancestrylibrary.com (accessed 18 January 2012); Helen Haines, History of New Mexico from the Spanish Conquest to the Present Time, 1530–1890 (New York: New Mexico Historical Publishing Co., 1891): 424–427; “Nestor Montoya,” in Maurilio E. Vigil, Los Patrones: Profiles of Hispanic Political Leaders in New Mexico History (Washington, D.C.: University Press of America, 1980): 146–148; “Montoya Suddenly Dies in Washington,” 13 January 1923, Santa Fe New Mexican: 1; “Nestor Montoya, State’s Representative in House, Dies at Washington Home,” 14 January 1923, Albuquerque Morning Journal: 1; B.C. Hernández, “Obito por el Hon. B. C. Hernández,” 19 January 1923, La bandera americana: 1. Translated as “Obituary by the Hon B.C. Hernández” by Translations International, Inc. (July 2009). One obituary notes that Montoya’s mother was “a direct descendant of the famous Spanish author Cervantes.”
3Doris L. Meyer, Speaking for Themselves: Neomexicano Cultural Identity and the Spanish-Language Press, 1880–1920 (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1996): 46–50; Robert J. Rosenbaum, Mexicano Resistance in the Southwest (Dallas, TX: Southern Methodist University Press, 1998; reprint of 1981 edition): 99–101, 168. For a summary of the actions of Las Gorras Blancas and reactions from law enforcement, see especially pp. 103–110. One of the group’s targets was former Territorial Delegate Francisco Manzanares, who owned land in San Miguel County.
4Rosenbaum, Mexicano Resistance in the Southwest: 118–119; for a detailed explanation of the role of Spanish-language newspapers in territorial New Mexico, see Meyer, Speaking for Themselves: 3–17. For an overview of the territorial press in New Mexico, see Porter Stratton, The Territorial Press of New Mexico, 1834–1912 (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1968).
5Rosenbaum, Mexicano Resistance in the Southwest: 123–134, 137–139; see also pp. 169 and 178 for charts that detail the results for San Miguel County’s elections in 1890 and 1892; “Nestor Montoya, State’s Representative in House, Dies at Washington Home”; Territory of New Mexico, Report of the Secretary of the Territory, 1905–1906, and Legislative Manual 1907 (Albuquerque, NM: Morning Journal, 1907): 172, 177–178. Montoya served as editor and manager of La bandera americana until the publication of the issue dated 10 November 1922.
6“Nestor Montoya, State’s Representative in House, Dies at Washington Home”; Stratton, The Territorial Press of New Mexico, 1834–1912: 66.
7Territory of New Mexico, Report of the Secretary of the Territory, 1905–1906, and Legislative Manual 1907: 172, 177–178; “Nestor Montoya,” in Vigil, Los Patrones: Profiles of Hispanic Political Leaders in New Mexico History: 147. Vigil writes, “In 1892 Montoya was elected to the territorial House of Representatives from Santa Fe County and continues in the body through 1903, when he served as Speaker of the House of Representatives.” The Territorial Blue Books list Montoya’s service years as 1889 and 1903–1907, with no service in between.
8Dorothy I. Cline, New Mexico’s Constitution: A 19th Century Product (Santa Fe, NM: The Lightning Tree, 1985): 63; Territory of New Mexico, Report of the Secretary of the Territory, 1909–1910, and Legislative Manual, 1911 (Santa Fe: New Mexican Printing Company, 1911): 126; “Nestor Montoya,” in Vigil, Los Patrones: Profiles of Hispanic Political Leaders in New Mexico History: 147.
9Haines, History of New Mexico from the Spanish Conquest to the Present Time, 1530–1890 (New York: New Mexico Historical Publishing Co., 1891): 424–427; “Nestor Montoya,” in Vigil, Los Patrones: Profiles of Hispanic Political Leaders in New Mexico History: 147; “Nestor Montoya, State’s Representative in House, Dies at Washington Home”: 1. Haines notes that Montoya was a “Democrat in politics” in 1891; by 1910 Montoya had switched to the Republican Party.
10Territory of New Mexico, Report of the Secretary of the Territory, 1905–1906, and Legislative Manual 1907: 173; Benjamin M. Read, Illustrated History of New Mexico (New York: Arno Press, 1976; reprint of 1912 edition): 753; “Office of the Secretary, New Mexico’s First Secretary of State,” http://www.sos.state.nm.us/History/PastSOS.html (accessed 21 September 2010).
11“Republican Platform in Brief,” 9 September 1920, Albuquerque Morning Journal: 4; “Mechem Rally at Belen Not Up to Hanna’s,” 7 October 1920, Albuquerque Morning Journal: 1; “Republican Speakers Address 100 Voters at Los Griegos Rally,” 12 October 1920, Albuquerque Morning Journal: 1; “Montoya Smashes Speed Records in Disposing Instantly of Principal Issues,” 30 October 1920, Santa Fe New Mexican: 1.
12“Hanna Tour Presages Smashup for Bosses,” 20 September 1920, Santa Fe New Mexican: 1; “Wants Law to Hit The Vote-Buyers,” 1 October 1920, Santa Fe New Mexican: 1; “Antonio Lucero,” 2 October 1920, Santa Fe New Mexican: 4; “Lucero States His Stand for Welfare of Ex-Service Men,” 30 October 1920, Santa Fe New Mexican: 8. The Santa Fe New Mexican endorsed Lucero for the House seat in “Antonio Lucero,” 2 October 1920, Santa Fe New Mexican: 4.
13Frank Hubbell was a powerful rancher who operated a large business empire in New Mexico. He owned a merchandising company and a public works company, which he sold to the city of Albuquerque, and served as director of a life insurance company. Hubbell also had an extensive political résumé, having served as chairman of the Republican County Central Committee of Bernalillo County and as chairman of the state Republican committee. For a brief biography, see Charles F. Coan, A History of New Mexico. vol. 2 (Chicago and New York: American Historical Society, Inc., 1925): 44–46.
14“Montoya’s Daughter Is Ejected by Hubbell, Girl Delirious as a Result, Family Reports Father Ends Speaking Tour; Hurries Home,” 7 October 1920, Albuquerque Morning Journal: 3. Montoya eventually sued Hubbell for $30,000 for alleged injuries to his daughter. “To Ask $30,000 of F. A. Hubbell, Montoya States,” 8 October 1920, Albuquerque Morning Journal: 2.
15“El Sr. Montoya ha estado ocupado en la campaña del estado … sin pensar por un momento que el Sr. Hubbell buscará ventaja y en su ausencia y de una manera violentá, por la fuerza, tomará posecion [sic] de la oficina, y para hacerlo cobardemente cometió un ultraje encontra de la Señorita Frances Montoya … por cuya violencia, lastimaduras en los jalones, moretones en los brazos … nada le hubiera importado de máquinas, papeles o que a él personalmente lo hubieran tirado por la fuerza, si hubieran podido pero es una indignidad y humillación que tal ultraje se cometiera … encontra de una niña inocente cuyo espectáculo terrorizó a toda a la comunidad.” “Debido a la accion de Frank A. Hubbell de haberse apoderado de la imprenta por la fuerza y violencia,” La bandera americana (Albuquerque, NM): 9 October 1920: 1. Translated as “Due to Frank A. Hubbell’s Taking Control of the Printery by Force and Violence” by Translations International, Inc. (January 2011); Fourteenth Census of the United States, 1920: Old Albuquerque, Bernalillo, New Mexico, Roll T625_1074, page 14B, lists Frances’s age.
16“Burns Issue of Paper Opposing His Candidacy,” 10 October 1920, Albuquerque Morning Journal: 4. According to this article, during the trial, Montoya was “confronted every few minutes with the difficulty of explaining checks signed, rent paid and tax returns made by himself in the name of the company and under his signature as an official of that company.” Montoya acknowledged that “in 1907 La Bandera has been incorporated and later that, $2100 in stock had been issued to him and $5100 to Frank Hubbell, although neither paid for this stock in cash at the time.” The article also states that Montoya admitted “he and Hubbell were among a number of men who contributed to the organization of La Bandera in 1901 and that they had run it on a 50-50 basis … before its incorporation.” While the signed checks indicate that Hubbell was an official and Montoya a secretary, Montoya said he and Hubbell each played a role “as it existed” at that time. See “Montoya Fight for Newspaper Given Hearing,” 14 October 1920, Albuquerque Morning Journal: 4.
17“Hubbell and Son Conspired to Secure La Bandera, Is Held by the District Court,” 20 October 1920, Santa Fe New Mexican: 2; “Hubbell Will Take Case to Supreme Court,” 16 October 1920, Albuquerque Morning Journal: 4. After the verdict was rendered, Hubbell announced that he would appeal to the state supreme court and would publish another Spanish-language newspaper that would promote Democratic policies. For an alternative version of the court decision, see “Frank A. Hubbell: Prohibido permanente de interfirir con ‘La bandera americana,’” 15 October 1920, La bandera americana: 1.
18Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present.” Lucero wrote Montoya a congratulatory letter. A copy of the letter, along with Montoya’s response is included in “El hon. Antonio Lucero congratula a don Nestor Montoya,” 19 October 1920, La bandera americana: 2.
19David T. Canon, Garrison Nelson, and Charles Stewart III, eds., Committees in the U.S. Congress, 1789–1946: Member Assignments, vol. 3 (Washington, D.C.: CQ Press): 736. These committees, which were important for Montoya’s constituents and for Members from Western states, ranked near the middle or the bottom in terms of attractiveness to Members. According to Charles Stewart, the House Committees on Indian Affairs and Public Lands ranked 37.5 and 49.5, respectively, out of a total of 69 committees, from 1875 to 1947. However, among committees continually in existence, both committees ranked somewhat higher in terms of attractiveness to Members: Indian Affairs ranked 17th, and Public Lands 23rd out of a total of 29 committees. For more information about committee attractiveness in this period, see Charles Stewart III, “Committee Hierarchies in the Modernizing House, 1875–1947,” American Journal of Political Science 36, no. 4 (November 1992): 835–856. The charts chronicling committee attractiveness are on pp. 845–846 and p. 848.
20Congressional Record, Index, 67th Cong., 1st sess.: 215; Congressional Record, Index, 67th Cong., 2nd sess.: 198.
21Congressional Record, House, 67th Cong., 2nd sess. (24 March 1922): 4453.
22Congressional Record, Appendix and Index, 67th Cong.: 399.
23“Un proyecto pide de que el gobierno apropie $150,000 para un sitio y un nuevo edificio federal en Silver City … apropriación por $18,000 para pavimentar las calles al derredor del edificio federal en Santa Fé.” “Montoya en el congreso,” La bandera americana (Albuquerque, NM), 22 April 1921: 1. Translated as “Montoya in Congress,” by Translations International, Inc. (January 2011); Congressional Record, Appendix and Index, 67th Cong., 1st sess.: 452; Congressional Record, House, 67th Cong., 1st sess. (13 April 1921): 218. Montoya submitted eight bills for consideration, all of which died in committee.
24For more information about Bursum, see Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, “Holm Olaf Bursum,” http://bioguide.congress.gov. For a description of Montoya’s campaign activities on Bursum’s behalf, see “El representante,” 19 August 1921, La bandera americana: 2; “Para Washington,” 7 October 1921, La bandera americana: 1; “Montoya espera el desarrollo de reclamacion,” 14 October 1921, La bandera americana: 1.
25“Nestor Montoya Is a Candidate for House Seat,” 5 July 1922, Albuquerque Morning Journal: 7. Montoya also promoted the Smith–McNary bill to his Hispano constituents. For example, see “Montoya: Haciendo buen trabajo para el desarrollo de terreno,” 17 January 1922, La bandera americana: 1.
26“Cosas de grande beneficio para el pueblo trabajador de éste estado, además de estar siempre vigilando también que los nombramientos que se tienen que hacer para llenar oficinas federales en este estado los cuales están bajo sus recomendaciones.” “El primer: Canonazo de la ampaña congresional,” La bandera americana (Albuquerque, NM), 30 June 1922: 2. Translated as “The First Cannon Shot of the Congressional Campaign” by Translations International, Inc. (January 2011).
27“Party Unity Is Necessary, Says Nestor Montoya,” 10 July 1922, Albuquerque Morning Journal: 3.
28Charlotte Whaley, Nina Otero-Warren of Santa Fe (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1994): 94–97; “Republicans Nominate Dr. C. L. Hill, Dona Ana County, for Governor,” 9 September 1922, Albuquerque Morning Journal: 1, 2. The amendment passed because of Anglo support in the counties of “Little Texas” in southeastern New Mexico. For a detailed description of the women’s suffrage movement in New Mexico, see Joan M. Jensen, “‘Disfranchisement Is a Disgrace’: Women and Politics in New Mexico, 1900–1940,” New Mexico Historical Review 56, no. 1 (January 1981): 6–35.
29“Republicans on Campaign Tour Well Received,” 23 September 1922, Albuquerque Morning Journal: 3; Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present". For a detailed account of this race, see Elizabeth Salas, “Ethnicity, Gender, and Divorce: Issues in the 1922 Campaign by Adelina Otero-Warren for the U.S. House of Representatives,” New Mexico Historical Review 70, no. 4 (October 1995): 367–382.
30United States, House, 67th Cong., 4th sess., 1923. Néstor Montoya. Memorial Addresses Delivered in the House of Representatives of the United States in Memory of Néstor Montoya, late a Representative from New Mexico (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1924): 32. For more information about Alice Robertson, see Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, “Alice Mary Robertson,” http://bioguide.congress.gov/.
31“Montoya Dies Suddenly in Washington,” 13 January 1923, Santa Fe New Mexican: 1; “Nestor Montoya, State’s Representative in House, Dies at Washington Home.”
32“Uno de los hijos predilectos de este estado, un excelente ciudadano … que reflejaba honor y crédito a nuestra gente de habla española. Siempre fue fiel defensor del pueblo hispanoamericano, que hoy derrama lágrimas de sincero pesar como un tributo a su memoria.” Hernández, “Obito por el Hon. B. C. Hernández.” Translated as “Obituary by the Hon. B. C. Hernández” by Translations International, Inc. (July 2009).
33Congressional Record, House, 67th Cong., 4th sess. (26 January 1923): 2527–2528.
View Record in the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress
[ Top ]Gutiérrez, Ezekiel. "Nestor Montoya: Un Hombre Derecho." La Herencia del Norte, Vol. XXIII (Fall 1999): 20.
"Néstor Montoya" in Hispanic Americans in Congress, 1822-2012. Prepared under the direction of the Committee on House Administration by the Office of the Historian and the Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives. Washington: Government Printing Office, 2013.
United States. 67th Congress, 4th session, 1923. House. Néstor Montoya. Memorial addresses delivered in the House of Representatives of the United States in memory of Nestor Montoya, Late a Representative from New Mexico. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1924.
