Miguel Antonio Otero

Writer

• Born: October 17, 1859
• Birthplace: St. Louis, Missouri
• Died: August 7, 1944
• Place of death: Santa Fe, New Mexico

American politican and writer

Otero was the first Hispanic territorial governor of New Mexico in fifty years and later served as marshal of the Panama Canal Zone. Otero also wrote a three-volume autobiography and a biography of Billy the Kid that questions Anglo American myths surrounding the traditional Western narrative.

Areas of achievement: Government and politics; literature

Early Life

Miguel Antonio Otero II (oh-TEH-roh) was born to Miguel Antonio Otero and Mary Josephine Blackwood on October 17, 1859, in St. Louis, Missouri. Otero had an older brother, Page Blackwood, and two younger sisters, Gertrude Vicentia and Mamie Josephine. When Otero was born, his father had just been appointed for his third term as delegate to the United States Congress from the New Mexico Territory. When his father completed that term, he chose to dedicate himself to his business interests, so the family began its journey throughout the Southwestern frontier. Otero’s early education was in various private and boarding schools. The family eventually settled in Las Vegas, New Mexico.

Otero studied at St. Louis University in Missouri and the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. He also received an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, but stayed only a short time. His education often was interrupted by poor health, but he seemed to thrive in the Western deserts. On May 30, 1882, when Otero was just twenty-two years old, his father died of pneumonia.

On December 11, 1888, Otero married Caroline Virginia Emmett. In 1891, they had a son, Miguel Antonio Otero III, who lived only eight days. On August 30, 1892, the Oteros had a second son, named Miguel Antonio Otero IV. In his autobiography Otero often referred to his son as “Junior,” adding to the confusion over the names of the various generations of Otero men.

Life’s Work

Otero’s political career began when he met William McKinley at the 1892 Republican National Convention. It was because of the relationship formed at that convention that President McKinley decided in 1897 to appoint Otero as the first Hispanic territorial governor of New Mexico since Donaciano Vigil in 1847. At the age of thirty-seven, Otero also was very young for a governor. In 1898, when the Spanish-American War became inevitable, Otero was instrumental in organizing the military regiment known as the Rough Riders.

During Otero’s second term as territorial governor, he rigorously opposed President Theodore Roosevelt’s plan to set aside timber lands as national forests. Otero’s opposition cost him a third term as governor. He stepped down as territorial governor on January 1, 1907, and changed his political allegiance to the Democratic Party. Otero led the New Mexico delegation to the Democratic National Conventions in 1912 and 1916. Subsequently, he accepted an appointment by President Woodrow Wilson as marshal of the Panama Canal Zone. He served in Panama from 1917 to 1921.

Otero began his career as a writer during the 1920’s. In 1925, he published Conquistadores of Spain and Buccaneers of England, France and Holland, followed by Colonel José Francisco Cháves, 1833-1924 (1926). He then wrote his memoirs in three volumes: My Life on the Frontier, Volume One: 1864-1882 (1935), My Life on the Frontier, Volume Two: 1882-1897 (1939), and My Nine Years As Governor of the Territory of New Mexico, 1897-1906 (1940). The three volumes later were reissued under the title Otero: An Autobiographical Trilogy (1974). Otero also wrote the biography The Real Billy the Kid: With New Light on the Lincoln County War (1936). He died in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 1944.

Significance

While Donaciano Vigil was the first Hispanic territorial governor of New Mexico, he took office only after the assassination of the man appointed to the office, Charles Bent. Otero was the first Hispanic to be appointed as territorial governor by the president of the United States. As territorial governor, Otero worked tirelessly for statehood, which was not achieved until 1912, six years after he left office. His personal and political life both focused on defining the position of the New Mexicans within the Anglo imagination. His writing also works to clarify the historical perception of New Mexicans to recast them in a more favorable light.

Bibliography

Leal, Luis, and Ilan Stavans. A Luis Leal Reader. Evanston, Ill.: Northwestern University Press, 2007. Devotes one chapter to Otero, discussing his historical significance as well as his literary production.

Otero, Miguel Antonio. Otero: An Autobiographical Trilogy. New York: Arno Press, 1974. Otero’s complete three-volume autobiography is reprinted in this edition.

Padilla, Genaro M. My History, Not Yours: The Formation of Mexican American Autobiography. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1993. Presents historical background on Otero and places his autobiography in the context of other such works by Mexican Americans.

Rivera, John-Michael. The Emergence of Mexican America: Recovering Stories of Mexican Peoplehood in U.S. Culture. New York: New York University Press, 2006. Discusses the importance of Otero’s political position focusing one chapter on the intended social impact of Otero’s writing.