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Octaviano Ambrosio Larrazolo (December 7, 1859April 7, 1930) was a Republican politician who served as the fourth governor of New Mexico and a
United States senator The United States Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives being the Lower house, lower chamber. Together they compose the national Bica ...
. He was the first Mexican-American and first Latino United States senator.


Early life

Larrazolo was born in
Valle de Allende Valle de Allende is the municipal seat and largest city of the municipality of Allende in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. Originally named Valle de San Bartolomé for Bartholomew the Apostle, it was founded in 1569 by Franciscan friars. The city is ...
in Chihuahua,
Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
, on December 7, 1859, to Don Octaviano, a wealthy landowner, and Doña Donaciana Corral de Larrazolo. He was brought up in a wealthy home and was taught to read and write in his home; he later briefly attended school in his town but left after his schoolteacher beat him. In 1863, French soldiers ransacked the Larrazolo home because the family supported Benito Juarez's revolt against the French. In 1870 at the age of eleven, Larrazolo left Mexico for
Tucson , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...
,
Arizona Territory The Territory of Arizona (also known as Arizona Territory) was a territory of the United States that existed from February 24, 1863, until February 14, 1912, when the remaining extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of ...
, under the care of Jean Salpointe, a French-born
bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
of
Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
. Larrazolo left with the bishop because he intended to study theology to become a priest and because his family had fallen into bankruptcy and could not support his schooling. After completing his primary studies with the bishop, Larrazolo studied theology at the St. Michael's College at Santa Fe,
New Mexico Territory The Territory of New Mexico was an organized incorporated territory of the United States from September 9, 1850, until January 6, 1912. It was created from the U.S. provisional government of New Mexico, as a result of ''Santa Fe de Nuevo México ...
, graduating in 1876 at the age of 18. He considered entering the priesthood right after his graduation but secured a teaching position instead; he later also taught in El Paso County,
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
. During this time, he started studying law; he taught in the day and studied law at night. On December 11, 1884, Larrazolo became a U.S. citizen in order to prepare himself to become a lawyer. In this same year, he registered with the Texas State Republican Party. Larrazolo was admitted to the Texas state bar in 1888. He was elected district attorney for the Western District of Texas in 1890 and reelected in 1892. He held the position until 1894. Larrazolo moved to
Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
, New Mexico Territory, in 1895. He practiced law in that town and became involved in Democratic politics and focused on civil rights for the Mexicans and
Hispanos Hispanos (from es, adj. prefix Hispano- relating to Spain, from la, Hispānus) are Hispanic residents of the United States who are culturally descended from the original Spanish-speaking settlers in the areas which were once part of New Spain ...
who comprised two-thirds of New Mexico's population. Larrazolo had difficulty finding success as a Democrat because most Latinos identified as Republicans. This difficulty is shown by the fact that he narrowly lost elections to become Territorial Delegate to the U.S. Congress in 1900, 1906 and 1908, though the 1908 election was extremely close and subject to several credible fraud charges. In 1910, Larrazolo attacked the
machine politics In the politics of representative democracies, a political machine is a party organization that recruits its members by the use of tangible incentives (such as money or political jobs) and that is characterized by a high degree of leadership co ...
in New Mexico that he felt were exploiting Hispanic voters across the state. He feared New Mexico was close to becoming like the South where
Jim Crow The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the Southern United States. Other areas of the United States were affected by formal and informal policies of segregation as well, but many states outside the Sout ...
laws stripped African Americans of their rights. This speech is considered a milestone; he forced both Republicans and Democrats to acknowledge the concerns of Hispanics in New Mexico and became the most vocal leader in his generation. In the speech, he said "you ispanics… have allowed yourselves to be controlled by other men but you will be controlled by bosses only as long as you permit the yoke to rest on you...Every native citizen must unite in supporting this constitution because it secures to you people of New Mexico your rights—every one of them; the rights also of your children and in such a manner that they can never be taken away...if you want to acquire your freedom and transmit this sacred heritage in the land hallowed by the blood of your forefathers who fought to protect it...Do not wait until you are put in the position of Arizona which in two years will be able to disfranchise every Spanish speaking citizen." In 1911, the New Mexican Territory held a constitutional convention in preparation for its entering the Union. Larrazolo was one of the Latino delegates chosen to attend the convention. To his displeasure, the State Convention of the Democratic Party denied his request that half of all statewide nominees be Hispanic to represent the 60 percent of the population of New Mexico that was Hispanic. Despite this, Larrazolo was able to have considerable success in implementing pro-Latino measures in the New Mexico Constitution. He and other people insisted that the Spanish-speaking population of New Mexico be protected by the new state constitution. The reason for this was that Larrazolo did not want the rights of the Spanish-speaking people to be stripped when New Mexico entered the Union because he was afraid that the Union's segregation policies applied to African Americans would be used to justify the infringement of Latinos' rights in New Mexico once it entered the Union. Larrazolo and the other Latino delegates succeeded in implementing pro-Latino measures and language into the New Mexico State Constitution. The new Bill of Rights stated that (Article II Section V) "The rights, privileges and immunities, civil, political and religious, guaranteed to the people of New Mexico by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo shall be preserved inviolate." The Education Article, (XII., Section 8), gave the legislature authority to provide training for teachers in public schools so that "they may become proficient in both the English and Spanish languages, to qualify them to teach Spanish-speaking pupils. . .". Section ten of the article assured the right of children of Spanish descent to attend public education institutions and prohibited the establishment of separate schools. To the dismay of Larrazolo, the state Democrats unsuccessfully tried to prevent the ratification of the state constitution because of these pro-Latino provisions, and because of this he became a Republican and remained one for the rest of his life. Because Larrazolo advocated so strongly for Latino rights, many New Mexico politicians considered him a race agitator. Even though many New Mexico politicians resented him for this, Larrazolo still managed to gain a lot of political credibility especially from Latinos who were glad for the work he had done for Latinos. His popularity throughout New Mexico caused the New Mexico Republican party to nominate him for governor of New Mexico. The campaign in 1918, though, was an intense one that exposed some factions within the Hispanic community. His Democratic opponent, Félix García, claimed that Larrazolo's birth in Chihuahua precluded him from understanding the concerns of "native New Mexicans." He was elected Governor of the State of New Mexico in 1918, becoming the first Mexican-born Latino to be governor of New Mexico. Larrazolo's narrow victory, however, seemed to quiet most of the debate about whether he could authentically advocate on behalf of the Spanish-speaking population. Throughout his time as governor, he had various controversies and successes. In the first year of his term, he declared martial law in the state to suppress a coal mining strike. In the time the fear of anarchism was rampant and this plus the gravity of the strike convinced Larrazolo to declare martial law. He was also criticized for pardoning Mexican troops who raided parts of New Mexico with Pancho Villa. He believed that since the Mexican troops were acting under orders from their superior that they should not be held accountable. He also supported and signed a new income tax law that angered his Republican party. The aspects that he won praise for was his support for the creation of the League of Nations. Larrazolo advocated for bilingual education and supported the civil rights of Mexican immigrants in the state. He was also a supporter of the women's suffrage amendment to the United States Constitution. Since he angered the Republican party of his state many times throughout his time as governor, the New Mexico Republican Party did not renominate Larrazolo to be governor of New Mexico. This caused him to briefly return to El Paso County, Texas to practice law. He opened a firm in El Paso with Nick Meyer and practiced in New Mexico and Mexico. In 1922 Larrazolo opened an office in Albuquerque as well. However, he did not stay out of politics for too long. In 1923, the state legislature of New Mexico nominated him to become governor of Puerto Rico. He lost this bid but he used the jolt of political popularity that he received by his consideration to be appointed governor of Puerto Rico to reenter politics in New Mexico. He ran and lost an election to become a justice of the New Mexico supreme court in 1924. However, he was elected in 1927 to the New Mexico State House of Representatives. But then in 1927, the Democratic U.S. Senator from New Mexico Andrieus Jones died and Larrazolo ran and on 6 November 1928 won for Jones's remaining term. This made Larrazolo the first Mexican-American to serve in the U.S. Senate. Unfortunately, he was by that time very old and suffered with many illnesses. Because of this he only was able to make it to one session of Congress and he was only able to introduce one legislative action. This action called for the establishment of an industrial school in New Mexico for the Spanish-speaking youth to promote equal opportunity. Larrazolo died on April 7, 1930.


Politics

Larrazolo was admitted to the Texas state bar in 1888. He was elected district attorney for the Western District of Texas in 1890 and reelected in 1892. He held the position until 1894. Larrazolo moved to
Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
, New Mexico Territory, in 1895. He practiced law in that town and became involved in Democratic politics and focused on civil rights for the Mexicans and
Hispanos Hispanos (from es, adj. prefix Hispano- relating to Spain, from la, Hispānus) are Hispanic residents of the United States who are culturally descended from the original Spanish-speaking settlers in the areas which were once part of New Spain ...
who comprised two-thirds of New Mexico's population. Larrazolo had difficulty finding success as a Democrat because most Latinos identified as Republicans. This difficulty is shown by the fact that he narrowly lost elections to become Territorial Delegate to the U.S. Congress in 1900, 1906 and 1908, though the 1908 election was extremely close and subject to several credible fraud charges. In 1910, Larrazolo attacked the
machine politics In the politics of representative democracies, a political machine is a party organization that recruits its members by the use of tangible incentives (such as money or political jobs) and that is characterized by a high degree of leadership co ...
in New Mexico that he felt were exploiting Hispanic voters across the state. He feared New Mexico was close to becoming like the South where
Jim Crow The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the Southern United States. Other areas of the United States were affected by formal and informal policies of segregation as well, but many states outside the Sout ...
laws stripped African Americans of their rights. This speech is considered a milestone; he forced both Republicans and Democrats to acknowledge the concerns of Hispanics in New Mexico and became the most vocal leader in his generation. In the speech, he said "you ispanics… have allowed yourselves to be controlled by other men but you will be controlled by bosses only as long as you permit the yoke to rest on you...Every native citizen must unite in supporting this constitution because it secures to you people of New Mexico your rights—every one of them; the rights also of your children and in such a manner that they can never be taken away...if you want to acquire your freedom and transmit this sacred heritage in the land hallowed by the blood of your forefathers who fought to protect it...Do not wait until you are put in the position of Arizona which in two years will be able to disfranchise every Spanish speaking citizen." In 1911, the New Mexican Territory held a constitutional convention in preparation for its entering the Union. Larrazolo was one of the Latino delegates chosen to attend the convention. To his displeasure, the State Convention of the Democratic Party denied his request that half of all statewide nominees be Hispanic to represent the 60 percent of the population of New Mexico that was Hispanic. Despite this, Larrazolo was able to have considerable success in implementing pro-Latino measures in the New Mexico Constitution. He and other people insisted that the Spanish-speaking population of New Mexico be protected by the new state constitution. The reason for this was that Larrazolo did not want the rights of the Spanish-speaking people to be stripped when New Mexico entered the Union because he was afraid that the Union's segregation policies applied to African Americans would be used to justify the infringement of Latinos' rights in New Mexico once it entered the Union. Larrazolo and the other Latino delegates succeeded in implementing pro-Latino measures and language into the New Mexico State Constitution. The new Bill of Rights stated that (Article II Section V) "The rights, privileges and immunities, civil, political and religious, guaranteed to the people of New Mexico by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo shall be preserved inviolate." The Education Article, (XII., Section 8), gave the legislature authority to provide training for teachers in public schools so that "they may become proficient in both the English and Spanish languages, to qualify them to teach Spanish-speaking pupils. . .". Section ten of the article assured the right of children of Spanish descent to attend public education institutions and prohibited the establishment of separate schools. To the dismay of Larrazolo, the state Democrats unsuccessfully tried to prevent the ratification of the state constitution because of these pro-Latino provisions, and because of this he became a Republican and remained one for the rest of his life. Because Larrazolo advocated so strongly for Latino rights, many New Mexico politicians considered him a race agitator. Even though many New Mexico politicians resented him for this, Larrazolo still managed to gain a lot of political credibility especially from Latinos who were glad for the work he had done for Latinos. His popularity throughout New Mexico caused the New Mexico Republican party to nominate him for governor of New Mexico. The campaign in 1918, though, was an intense one that exposed some factions within the Hispanic community. His Democratic opponent, Félix García, claimed that Larrazolo's birth in Chihuahua precluded him from understanding the concerns of "native New Mexicans." He was elected Governor of the State of New Mexico in 1918, becoming the first Mexican-born Latino to be governor of New Mexico. Larrazolo's narrow victory, however, seemed to quiet most of the debate about whether he could authentically advocate on behalf of the Spanish-speaking population. Throughout his time as governor, he had various controversies and successes. In the first year of his term, he declared martial law in the state to suppress a coal mining strike. In the time the fear of anarchism was rampant and this plus the gravity of the strike convinced Larrazolo to declare martial law. He was also criticized for pardoning Mexican troops who raided parts of New Mexico with Pancho Villa. He believed that since the Mexican troops were acting under orders from their superior that they should not be held accountable. He also supported and signed a new income tax law that angered his Republican party. The aspects that he won praise for was his support for the creation of the League of Nations. Larrazolo advocated for bilingual education and supported the civil rights of Mexican immigrants in the state. He was also a supporter of the women's suffrage amendment to the United States Constitution. Since he angered the Republican party of his state many times throughout his time as governor, the New Mexico Republican Party did not renominate Larrazolo to be governor of New Mexico. This caused him to briefly return to El Paso County, Texas to practice law. He opened a firm in El Paso with Nick Meyer and practiced in New Mexico and Mexico. In 1922 Larrazolo opened an office in Albuquerque as well. However, he did not stay out of politics for too long. In 1923, the state legislature of New Mexico nominated him to become governor of Puerto Rico. He lost this bid but he used the jolt of political popularity that he received by his consideration to be appointed governor of Puerto Rico to reenter politics in New Mexico. He ran and lost an election to become a justice of the New Mexico supreme court in 1924. However, he was elected in 1927 to the New Mexico State House of Representatives. But then in 1927, the Democratic U.S. Senator from New Mexico Andrieus Jones died and Larrazolo ran and on 6 November 1928 won for Jones's remaining term. This made Larrazolo the first Mexican-American to serve in the U.S. Senate. Unfortunately, he was by that time very old and suffered with many illnesses. Because of this he only was able to make it to one session of Congress and he was only able to introduce one legislative action. This action called for the establishment of an industrial school in New Mexico for the Spanish-speaking youth to promote equal opportunity. Larrazolo died on April 7, 1930.


See also

*
List of Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States Congress This is a list of Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States Congress, Hispanic and Latino Americans who have served in the United States Congress. Persons included are identified as having a lineage from Spain or Latin America, a definiti ...
*
List of first minority male lawyers and judges in New Mexico This is a list of the first minority male lawyer(s) and judge(s) in New Mexico. It includes the year in which the men were admitted to practice law (in parentheses). Also included are men who achieved other distinctions such becoming the first in t ...
*
List of United States senators born outside the United States This is a list of United States senators born outside the United States. It includes senators born in foreign countries (whether to American or foreign parents). The list also includes senators born in territories outside the United States that wer ...


References


External links


Octaviano A. Larrazolo Papers
, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Larrazolo, Octaviano Ambrosio 1859 births 1930 deaths 20th-century American politicians American politicians of Mexican descent Governors of New Mexico Hispanic and Latino American state governors of the United States Members of the New Mexico House of Representatives Mexican emigrants to the United States New Mexico Democrats Hispanic and Latino American members of the United States Congress New Mexico Republicans People from Chihuahua (state) People of the American Old West Republican Party governors of New Mexico Republican Party United States senators from New Mexico Santa Fe University of Art and Design alumni 19th-century American lawyers 20th-century American lawyers Latino conservatism in the United States