How Did Miguel Antonio Otero Contribute To New Mexico

From September 15th to October 15th, we celebrate the impact Hispanics have had on the United States. Miguel Antonio Otero was an important figure who contributed in the economic development of New Mexico. He had many successes in his field of work as a government official and businessman. Miguel Antonio Otero was born on June 21, 1829 in Valencia, Nuevo México (New Mexico). Don Vicente Otero and Doña Gertrudis Aragón de Otero, his father and mother, were natives of Spain who had come to New Mexico as colonists. His father, Vicente Otero was a farmer, a merchant, and occasionally a judge under the Mexican government. Even before the outbreak of the Mexican-American War, the Oteros displayed an attraction for American culture. Otero received his early education in Valencia. He later enrolled at St. Louis University in Missouri in 1841. He served as a teacher and an assistant to the principal in Pingree College in New York. Otero began to study law under the tutelage of senior attorneys in New York and Missouri, from the years of 1849 to 1852. He had returned to Missouri in 1851, where he passed the Missouri bar exam.

In 1854, he was appointed Attorney General, and served for two years. Otero was seated as a Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives on March 4, 1856, after successfully competing against the election of José Manuel Gallegos. He was also reelected to the next two Congresses, but in 1860 he was not a candidate for renomination. After Otero completed his term in Congress, President Lincoln nominated him to be the secretary of the Territory of New Mexico in 1861, where he served for one year. President Lincoln had also nominated him to be minister of Spain in 1861; however, he declined that office to accept an appointment as secretary of the