B51. What are the names of the five volcanoes west of Albuquerque?
They are, from south to north, the J A, Black, Vulcan, Bond and Butte. J A
probably stands for John Adams, the name of the school whose students first
painted letters on the volcano. Later students from St. Joseph’s College
continued painting a solitary J on the volcano. Black and Bond are named for the
Black family and Frank Bond, who owned land nearby.
B52. Who was the longest serving president of UNM?
Tom Popejoy, who was president from 1948 to 1968, led the development of UNM’s
schools of medicine, pharmacy, nursing, law and business.
B53. What did early Spaniards call the area that became Albuquerque?
Spaniards called it La Tierra de Tiguex. The valley was called Bosque Grande.
B54. When did the Sandia Peak ski area open?
In 1936 the Albuquerque Ski Club formed. To pursue their sport, skiers walked up
the hill at Tree Spring. In 1937 Bob Nordhaus, a club member, had a run cleared
and then added a rope tow made from auto parts and other scraps. The lift ticket
was 50 cents.
B55. Why do many of the streets in far north Albuquerque have
California-related names?
The Norins Real Estate Co. of California acquired 5,700 acres of the Elena
Gallegos Land Grand and platted the area into a grid of one-acre lots.
B56. Who was the first sheriff of Bernalillo County and Albuquerque’s first
lawman after American occupation?
It was Juan Antonio Aragón, appointed by Gov. Charles Bent in December 1846.
He served as sheriff until 1851.
B57. What was Albuquerque’s first newspaper?
In 1853 Maj. Richard Weightman launched El Amigo del País, a partisan political
newspaper. It lasted less than a year. In 1870 William McGuinness started the
Republican Review, a bilingual newspaper.
B58. When was Albuquerque’s first English-language newspaper published?
Hezekiah S. Johnson began publishing The Rio Abajo Press, a weekly, on January
20, 1863.
It was also the first successful (English) newspaper.
B59. When was Albuquerque’s first daily newspaper published?
On June 4, 1880 the Golden Gate was first published. After two issues editor E.
W. Deer became sick and died. On October 14 of that year the Albuquerque
Publishing Co. acquired Deer's press and began publishing the Albuquerque Daily
Journal.
B60. What was the first African-American newspaper in Albuquerque?
New Age, published by Edward Ellsworth, owner of the New Age Publishing and
Printing Co., was established in the late 1800s and published until 1913.
B61. Name two early crusading journalists.
Rabbi Jacob Kaplan, who served Congregation Albert, also edited The Barbarian.
He was fired in 1907 after criticizing the perpetrators of a lynching. And S.W.
Henry, publisher of the African-American newspaper, the Southwest Review in
Albuquerque, in 1925 tried to rally local citizens against passage of Jim Crow
legislation that permitted segregation in southern New Mexico.
B62. When was the University of New Mexico established in Albuquerque?
UNM was founded in 1889 and held classes in a building at Railroad Avenue (now
Central) and Edith. In September 1892 classes were moved to UNM’s first
building, now known as Hodgin Hall. It housed everything until 1900.
B63. When did the first class graduate from UNM?
The first graduating class of five students received their bachelor of pedagogy
degrees in 1894.
B64. How did university architecture evolve?
In 1901 UNM’s campus consisted of two red-brick, steep-roofed buildings sitting
alone on East Mesa. That year William G. Tight became the third president of UNM
and would subsequently embrace what became known as Pueblo Revival architecture,
which subsequently became popular across the state. But it wasn’t popular and
was an unstated factor in his firing in 1909.
B65. When did APS begin?
The first meeting of the Albuquerque Board of Education was April 14, 1891, and
the board created Albuquerque Public Schools. C.E. Hodgin was the first
superintendent. The school opened in rented space on September 7.
B66. How many students and teachers did APS have when it began?
In 1891 APS started with 350 students; by year end it had 660 students.
B67. Where did APS first hold classes?
The first classes were in Perkins Hall, on Edith and Central, which previously
housed Albuquerque Academy. In 1900 Central School, a mid- and high school, was
built at the corner of Lead and Third. In 1914 Albuquerque High School was built
at Broadway and Central. Critics said AHS was too big, that it would never reach
its 500-student capacity.
B68. Why was the 1907 class at Albuquerque High School controversial?
The 1907 class included the first African Americans scheduled to graduate from
the school – Yola Black, Frances Ellsworth and Anedia Jasper. Citizens voiced
such strong objections that principal J.A. Miller enrolled them in the
university’s Normal School, and they graduated there. The action cost Miller his
job.
B69. When was Albuquerque Academy established?
Colorado College started an Albuquerque Academy in 1879 in Old Town as a
Protestant boarding school, the only one of its kind in New Mexico. It didn’t
survive. In 1955 the present Albuquerque Academy was founded. The first class of
five boys graduated in 1960.
B70. What New Mexico Senator has a statue in the Capitol Statuary Hall in
Washington D.C. and was also honored with a stamp in the Great American Series?
Dennis Chavez (1888-1962) was honored with a statue in 1966. The U. S. Postal
Service issued his stamp in an April 3, 1991 ceremony at Zimmerman Library.
B71. How many times did the city population double during the 20th Century?
In 1940 the Albuquerque population was 35,449, which more than doubled to 96,815
in 1950. The population again more than doubled between 1950 and 1960, when it
reached 201,189.
B72. What three Albuquerque balloonists were the first to make a
trans-Atlantic balloon crossing and when did this take place?
Maxie Anderson, Ben Abruzzo and Larry Newman completed their flight across the
Atlantic on August 12, 1978. They launched in Presque Isle, Maine and landed in
Miserey, France.
B73. What’s the name of the balloon Maxie Anderson, Ben Abruzzo and Larry
Newman used to cross the Atlantic in 1978?
Their black and silver balloon was the Double Eagle II, named to honor Charles
Lindbergh, who was called the Lone Eagle. The Double Eagle I was used in their
first attempt in 1977.
B74. How did the city’s West Side airport get its name?
Double Eagle II Airport was named for the balloon piloted by Albuquerque
balloonists Maxie Anderson, Ben Abruzzo and Larry Newman in their historic
flight across the Atlantic Ocean in 1978.
B75. How did Larry Newman and Ben Abruzzo meet?
In 1974 Larry Newman flew a hang glider off Sandia Crest and landed near
Abruzzo’s house. Abruzzo was fascinated and asked the young pilot to teach him
the sport.
B76. What was Maxie Anderson’s day job?
Maxie Anderson operated Ranchers Exploration and Development Corp., a uranium
mining company. Ben Abruzzo was president of Sandia Peak Tramway Co., and Larry
Newman had a commercial pilot’s license.
B77. How did the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta begin?
In 1972 Sid Cutter and Tom Rutherford gathered 13 balloonists in the parking lot
of Coronado Shopping Center. A year later the two formed World Balloon Corp. to
host the first fiesta with the official name. It attracted 138 balloons.
B78. When was Albuquerque named an All-American City?
The National Municipal League Albuquerque named Albuquerque an All-American City
in 1958 based primarily on the spectacular urban growth of that decade.
B79. When Albuquerque celebrated its 250th birthday in 1956, what special
gift was presented to the city by Don Beltrán Osorio y Diez de Rivera, the
eighteenth Duke of Albuquerque?
The Duke of Albuquerque presented a 17th century embroidered tapestry, or
repostero, to the city on July 10, 1956. It’s displayed at the Albuquerque
Museum in a permanent exhibit.
B80. Why did Albuquerque hang its first town marshal?
Milt Yarberry, the first town marshal in 1881, was known to be quick on the
trigger, and after shooting an unarmed man when he heard a shot while patrolling
the streets, he was tried and sentenced to hang. Tickets were sold for his
hanging, which took place on February 9, 1883. He was buried in the Santa
Barbara Cemetery.
B81. When were police not public employees?
In 1881 merchants paid the salary of the town marshal and his deputies, who were
called the Merchant Police Force.
B82. How did Albuquerque lose its second marshal?
On November 20, 1886, Albuquerque's second marshal, Robert McGuire, was shot
while trying to apprehend two outlaws. He died a few days later.
B83. Who was the first president of the University of New Mexico?
The university’s first Board of Regents was appointed on September 2, 1889.
Regents selected Elias S. Stover, a businessman, as the first president.
B84. When did New Mexico become a Territory of the United States? And when
did it become a state?
New Mexico became a Territory of the United States on September 9, 1850. Not
until January 6, 1912 did it become the 47th state of the union.
B85. What is the State Flower, State Tree and the State Grass of New Mexico?
The yucca, called “Our Lord’s candles” was selected as the State Flower in 1927
when a survey of school children showed they preferred this plant. The New
Mexico Federation of Women’s Clubs chose the piñon as the official State Tree.
And the blue grama grass, a low-growing bunch grass found in all areas of New
Mexico, is the state grass.
B86. What is the State Bird, the State Fish and the State Animal of New
Mexico?
The roadrunner, which can race along at nearly 20 miles an hour, is the State
Bird. The State Fish is the New Mexico cutthroat trout (Rio Grande cutthroat
trout), which is native to the streams and lakes of northern New Mexico. And the
State Animal is the black bear, chosen in 1963 because of New Mexicans’ fond
memories of the cub found in the Lincoln National Forest after a forest fire and
named Smokey Bear.
B87. What is the State Fossil and State Gem?
The State Fossil is the Coelophysis dinosaur, adopted on March 17, 1981.
The State Gem is turquoise, adopted on March 23, 1967.
B88. What is the State Poem and State Ballad of New Mexico?
The poem, “A Nuevo Mexico” was written by Luis Tafoya in January, 1911 (before
statehood) and became the State Poem in January 1991. The State Ballad, “Land of
Enchantment, was written by Michael Martin Murphy and adopted by the Legislature
in March 1989.
B89. What does the State Song have to do with Billy the Kid?
“O, Fair New Mexico” was written by Elizabeth Garrett, the blind daughter of the
famous lawman Pat Garrett, who killed Billy the Kid. It became the State Song in
1917, and in 1928, John Philip Sousa created a special arrangement. In 1971
Amadeo Lucero wrote “Asi Es Nuevo Mexico,” a Spanish version of the song, which
the Legislature also adopted. It was sung by then Lt. Gov. Roberto
Mondragon.
B90. What is the symbol on the state flag?
The design, created by Dr. Harry Mera of Santa Fe, is a modern interpretation of
an ancient symbol of a sun design inspired by Zia Pueblo pottery. Red and gold
were the colors of Queen Isabel of Castilla, which the Spanish Conquistadores
brought to the New World. The design was adopted in 1925.
B91. How many flags have flown over New Mexico?
The flags of Spain, the Republic of Mexico, the Confederate States of America,
and the United States of America have all flown over the state.
B92. What is the official salute to the Flag of New Mexico?
“I salute the flag of the State of New Mexico and the Zia Symbol of perfect
friendship among united cultures.” The Legislature adopted the salute on March
13, 1963.
B93. What is the state motto of New Mexico?
“Crescit Eundo” translates to “It Grows As It Goes” and was used on the first
Great Seal of 1851. The motto is a reference to lightning from classical
literature.
B94. What is the State Aircraft?
The Legislature in 2005 designated the hot-air balloon as the State Aircraft.
B95. When was the state Constitution approved by the voters?
It was approved on January 21, 1911 in the banquet hall of the Alvarado Hotel,
almost a year before statehood. President Taft authorized the constitutional
convention in 1910 in anticipation of New Mexico statehood.
B96. Who was the first woman elected to a statewide office?
The first woman elected to a statewide office in New Mexico was Soledad Chacón,
elected Secretary of State in 1922.
B97. What Lobo football player became a star with the Dallas Cowboys?
Don Perkins, a halfback, played during a winning stretch in the late 1950s.
B98. Who was the first native-born Hispanic on a space mission?
Col. Sidney Gutierrez piloted the Columbia on its 11th flight from Kennedy Space
Center at Cape Canaveral on June 5, 1991. Gutierrez is the 1969 valedictorian of
Valley High School and a graduate of the U. S. Air Force Academy, the Air Force
Test Pilot School and Webster College. He was selected as an astronaut by
NASA in 1984.
B99. When did New Mexico ratify the suffrage amendment?
On February 19, 1920 New Mexico became the 32nd state to allow women to vote.
B100. When was the University of New Mexico a private school?
In 1881 Horatio O. Ladd, a Congregational minister, founded the first University
of New Mexico in Santa Fe. It was not well received and closed in 1888.