Chasing the Santa Fe Ring: Power and Privilege in Territorial New Mexico by David Caffey (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Chasing the Santa Fe Ring: Power and Privilege in Territorial New Mexico by David Caffey James Blackshear Chasing the Santa Fe Ring: Power and Privilege in Territorial New Mexico. By David Caffey. (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2014. Pp. 336. Illustrations, notes, map, table, index.) In the post-Civil War Southwest, contemporary New Mexico newspapers characterized the Santa Fe Ring as an alliance of Republican officials [End Page 434] in both New Mexico Territory and Washington, D.C., who used their government positions to accumulate power and wealth through unethical means. The latter included land and election fraud, graft, jury tampering, and illegal manipulation of government contracts. In this well-balanced account of Gilded Age New Mexico, David Caffey explains that while most people who were associated with this ring were Republicans, Democrats also participated. He also argues that while Ring members were not angels, perhaps they were not the complete devils their political rivals made them out to be. After the Civil War, Anglo Americans began moving west, including to New Mexico Territory, in large numbers. None made a more significant impact in New Mexico Territory than two old college classmates, Thomas B. Catron and Stephen B. Elkins. While they took different paths to get there, Confederate Catron and Union veteran Elkins both ended up in Santa Fe, where they became law partners and power brokers within the Republican Party. Caffey details these men’s unique personal, political, and business relationships in the three decades that followed, explaining why their names are almost synonymous with the name Santa Fe Ring. While Catron remained a leading political figure in New Mexico for most of his life, Elkins moved east, serving as secretary of war and becoming a United States senator for West Virginia. Chasing the Santa Fe Ring illustrates how these men took advantage of their positions for their own personal gain, in the process creating one of the most interesting political partnerships in United States history. Yet this book is about much more than Catron and Elkins. Using court records, contemporary newspapers, and excellent secondary sources, Caffey builds a history of late nineteenth-century New Mexico that includes all the leading figures of the period. José Francisco Chaves, William Breeden, James Dolan, and countless others make their appearance. Caffey meticulously details such men’s roles in the fight for the Maxwell Land Grant, known as the Lincoln County Wars. Appendices give short, individual biographies about anyone who ever had a newspaper link them to Ring activities. Exquisitely rendered photos of leading New Mexico personalities accompany the text. Working on several levels, Caffey has written a detailed history, warts and all, of the Santa Fe Ring and men who have been linked to it in one way or another. Yet this is also a study of how any historical figure’s contemporary rivals have a role in shaping historical memory. While no apologist, Caffey makes a strong argument that if historians look beyond the hyperbole of the moment and study each source on its own merit, alternate perspectives often come to light. Southwestern scholars will find much of value here, as will historians interested in nineteenth-century politics, mythmaking, and the writing of history. [End Page 435] James Blackshear Collin College Copyright © 2014 The Texas State Historical Association