Today historian Rick Britton talks with Les Sinclair about: TODAY IN US HISTORY – On January 6, 1912, New Mexico was admitted as the 47th state.

Spanish explorers had passed through New Mexico in the early 16th century, encountering the well-preserved remains of a 13th-century Pueblo civilization. The first full-scale Spanish expedition into New Mexico was led by Francisco Vasquez de Coronado in 1540. In 1609, Pedro de Peralta became governor of the “Kingdom and Provinces of New Mexico,” and a year later he founded its capital at Santa Fe. In fact, Santa Fe is the oldest U.S. state capital.

When Mexico achieved independence from Spain in 1821, New Mexico became a province of Mexico, and trade was opened with the United States. In the next year, American settlers began arriving via the Santa Fe Trail. In 1846, the Mexican-American War erupted, and U.S. troops captured and occupied Santa Fe. Two years later, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ceded New Mexico to the United States, and in 1853 the territory was expanded to its present size through the Gadsden Purchase.

Local connection: The man who negotiated the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Nicholas Trist, was born in Charlottesville (and was married to one of Jefferson’s granddaughters).

ALSO: Rick Britton will be teaching a 4-session OLLI at U.Va. class (at Michie Tavern) on four consecutive Thursdays starting January 26. It’s called “The Early History of Albemarle County!”
• Jan. 26 – Albemarle’s Beginnings: the Monacans, the Land and Its Settlement by Europeans
• Feb. 2 – Brilliance Forgotten: Dr. Thomas Walker & the Founding of Charlottesville
• Feb. 9 – Albemarle’s Lost Town: Milton on the Rivanna
• Feb. 16 – Traveling Albemarle: The County’s Roads, Taverns, & Rivers
To register, call the OLLI at U.Va. office at (434) 923-3600 or go the following web-site: www.olliuva.org