Eusebio Chacón
Eusebio Chacón was a prominent figure in the Hispanic literary landscape of New Mexico and Colorado, known for his roles as an orator, essayist, historian, and fiction writer. Born on December 16, 1869, in Penasco, New Mexico, Chacón dedicated much of his life to addressing Hispanic issues in these regions. He received a Jesuit education and graduated with a law degree from Notre Dame University at a young age, later practicing law and serving as a deputy district attorney. Chacón's literary contributions include his 1892 publication "El hijo de la tempestad" and "Tras la tormenta la calma," which presented original narratives reflecting the complexities of Hispanic identity and moral dilemmas in society. Through his journalism and essays, he advocated for the preservation of Hispanic heritage and fostered interest in local literature. His works often conveyed political allegories and moral lessons, and he is remembered as a key voice promoting a distinctive Hispanic literary tradition in the American Southwest. Chacón passed away on April 3, 1948, leaving a legacy that continues to resonate within the cultural history of the region.
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Subject Terms
Eusebio Chacón
Author
- Born: December 16, 1869
- Birthplace: Peñasco, New Mexico Territory (now New Mexico)
- Died: April 3, 1948
- Place of death: Trinidad, Colorado
Biography
An orator, essayist, historian, and fiction writer, Eusebio Chacón sought to foster a Hispanic literary tradition in his native New Mexico. Chacón was born in Penasco, New Mexico, on December 16, 1869. His father, descended from New Mexican pioneers, was a military officer, and when Chacón was one year old, the family moved to Trinidad, Colorado. Hispanic issues in Colorado and New Mexico were to be Chacón’s focus for the rest of his life. In 1887, he received a degree from the Jesuit College in Las Vegas, New Mexico, and in 1889, when he was only nineteen, earned a law degree from Notre Dame University.
He returned to New Mexico, teaching for two years in Durango, and then moved again to Trinidad, where he passed the Colorado bar exam and began practicing law. He soon became a deputy district attorney and official translator for the U.S. Court of Private Land Claims, which settled disputes involving land grants made under Spanish and Mexican rule. In 1891 he married Sofia Barela, daughter of the politically powerful Senator Cosimiro Barela. Already celebrated for his oratory skills, Chacón turned to journalism, editing, and writing for El Progreso in Trinidad. He wrote essays in defense of Hispanics, published Spanish literary works, and compiled bibliographic information on regional Spanish manuscripts, all in an attempt to preserve the Hispanic heritage and foment interest in beginning a distinctive local literature. He died on April 3, 1948.
In 1892 Chacón published “El hijo de la tempestad”; “Tras la tormenta la calma”: Dos novelitas originales (Son of the Tempest; The Calm after the Storm: Two Novellas). The title of the book is in two ways a more forthright literary pronouncement than the two tales it contains. First, Chacón insists that the novellas are “original” and not derivative of Anglo literature. Second, the image of storms suggests conflict and controversy.
El hijo de la tempestad tells the life story of a fictional bandit, Son of the Storm, an orphan raised by a gypsy woman and thus existing outside the prevailing moral order. As an adult, he assembles a small army of followers and terrorizes communities in an undefined Southwest area. Eventually he is cornered and killed by a group of mounted vigilantes. The novel thereby depicts the lawlessness of the nineteenth century and, according to critic Francisco A. Lomelí, is a political allegory exposing the moral corruption of local politicians.
Tras la tormenta la calma is a class melodrama. It concerns the seduction of a lower-class girl away from her poor suitor by an upper-class Don Juan figure. The plot is simple and moral—the seducer eventually is punished, honor is upheld, the poor but honest suitor proves himself noble, and in the calm following the novella’s brief love-storm, moral balance is restored. Chacón is also said to have written poetry, now lost, and started but did not complete a history of New Mexico.