About Las Vegas morning gazette. (Las Vegas, N.M.) 18??-1881
Las Vegas, N.M. (18??-1881)

Las Vegas Gazette, Daily Gazette, Las Vegas Morning Gazette, Las Vegas Daily Gazette and The Las Vegas Gazette

The seat of San Miguel County in New Mexico, Las Vegas dates back to 1850 It was initially known as San Miguel del Bado, which was founded in 1794. Settlers and officials saw the plains near the Rio Gallina to the north as an outlet for expansion, so in 1821 Luis Maria C de Baca petitioned for a land grant at Las Vegas Grandes, the big meadow. The formal name of the resulting settlement was Nuestra Senora de Las Vegas, Our Lady of the Meadows. An 1829 military report referred to the area as Begas de Las Gallinas, and sometimes residents referred to the area simply as Las Gallinas.

Las Vegas became an important stop on the Santa Fe Trail. With the arrival of the Atlantic & Santa Fe Railroad in 1879, Las Vegas quickly evolved into three towns: West Las Vegas, East Las Vegas, and a suburb that peaked in 1870 with 796 residents and then declined. Cultural differences created strong rivalries between the new and predominantly Anglo east Las Vegas and the older and prominently Hispanic west Las Vegas. The two communities once had separate post offices.

The Las Vegas Gazette began publication on September 27, 1872. During its lifetime, it went through numerous changes. The paper supposedly suspended publication between October 1873 and March 22, 1874. In 1886, the article was added to the title Las Vegas Gazette. The Gazette was preceded by the Las Vegas Mail published by Simon H. Newman and his co-editor W.N. Bollinger. In 1872, while Newman was in jail for political reasons, he and his co-editor were forced to sell the Mail. The new owner, May Hays, changed its name to the Las Vegas Gazette. From March 15, 1877, through December 1878, the Las Vegas Gazette included a Spanish-language companion paper La Gaceta. Variations of titles included Las Vegas Weekly Main, Daily Gazette (1879-80), Las Vegas Morning Gazette (1880-81), Las Vegas Daily Gazette (1881-86), Las Vegas Sunday Gazette, Las Vegas Weekly Gazette and Sunday Gazette, and, finally, Las Vegas Gazette (1886).

At first, the Gazette was printed as a bilingual newspaper; half of its contents was Spanish translations of the English news. A one-year subscription cost $4.00, a six-month subscription cost $2.50, and a three-month subscription cost $1.50. One square, which is equal to one square inch, cost $2.50 for the first insertion of advertisement. Thereafter, it cost $1.50 for one square inch of advertisement. After being published weekly for several years, daily printing of the Las Vegas Gazette began, except for Mondays; it also became an English-only paper. By this time, daily subscription costs were $10.00 for one year, $6.00 for six months, and $1.00 for three months.

The Las Vegas Gazette's first known editor and publisher was Louis Hommel. In the second issue of the paper, it was announced that the Gazette will henceforth be published every Saturday, at Las Vegas, N.M., as a twenty four column weekly newspaper. It will be independent in everything, but neutral in nothing. It will have in view the greater good of the greater number; the progress and best interest of the city of Las Vegas and San Miguel County, in particular, and of the Territory of New Mexico.

On March 13, 1875, Hommel stepped down as editor. He explained: An uneducated man is publisher and has not received education in English Grammar; and is a person who allows his passion and temper to run away with his head and hand thus has no business to edit a paper. Soon thereafter, J.H. Koogler, a member of the bar at Las Vegas and formerly the publisher of the Cimarron News, purchased the Las Vegas Gazette.

The Gazette reported on local, territorial, national, and international news. On July 3, 1881, the paper announced that President James A. Garfield was shot the day before by a disappointed office seeker. The Gazette printed daily reports on the Presidents condition through his death on September 19 and followed closely the trial and sentencing of his assassin. The paper also reported regularly on Apache raids and meetings between the Indians and representatives of the government. In 1885, the Las Vegas Gazette reprinted the harsh criticism from another paper which stated the Gazette is suffering from a diseased imagination. The Las Vegas Gazette ceased operations the following year.

Provided by: University of New Mexico