Happy

It will be a while until the next posting.  Took off for holidays and haven't recovered from all the frivolity.  Hopefully by Mid-January.

2018 can only be better!

Farolito vs Luminaria

KOAT-TV Throwback

Here's a selfie shot by Dick Knipfing after the participants in this photo had a spirited discussion about the good ol' days at Channel 7 - KOAT.

Dick, of course, was anchorman, news director and general guiding light for that operation for years.

Sterling Grant played a significant role in getting our news programs on the air, he guided from "the booth" - pushing buttons, flipping switches, and I'll always remember Sterling hollering into the head set, "ab-lib, ab-lib" when things just didn't go according to the script.

And then there's Neil Murray, The Priest from The East, who was a significant media type in Albuquerque after UNM Track experiences.  Neil went on to spend time in Minneapolis TV, and continues to spin a good tale - even though there's not an outlet right now for his vast catalog of vinyl records.

And, I was just along for the ride, anchoring weekends, chasing car wrecks and politicians.  I continue to be amazed that people will still stop me on the street (people with white hair) and ask if I've retired from TV.   I did that back in the early 80's.  That tells you the impact TV news had back in those days when there were only 4 stations on your telly!

Thanks for the memories...

Throwback

This is a throwback Thursday posting - that throws back only a month.

Don't throw this fellow back, either.

Don't know his/her name, but sure is cute.  

Witnessed while on a stroll at the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington, DC - your nation's capital.

The wonder of it all.

Shoot'em Up -- Again

So, news circulates that there has been another "mass" shooting - this one is not so massive, it only involved 3 people - not 51 or more.

It was closer to home - only about a 3 hours drive away.

Someone killed 2 kids in a school.  That someone ended up dead, too.

Elected public officials immediately offered "thoughts and prayers" to the victims, their families, and anyone else who wanted to accept the offering.

Heard this before?

How many times will we hear it?

To do nothing, and offer thoughts and prayers, while the NRA and the gun toting chuckle heads refuse to admit that there's a problem with gun ownership by the wrong people - come on. 

DO SOMETHING OTHER THAN TALK!

Sleep well tonight, Mr. LaPierre (the NRA front face), you should be proud of your work!

Good God! 

December Notes

It's been almost a month since this post was updated.  It's not like a lost month - it's been a busy month.

Observations -

The ongoing political games continue.

I couldn't help but notice that POTUS blew into Salt Lake City, signed some papers reclaiming land "for the people" and taking it away "from the people" - the "adjustments" to national monuments.

He flew in, signed papers, and flew out.

It's a real shame he doesn't have the patience to understand this country.    Had he taken a few hours, flown in our government's aircraft down to the monuments, actually gotten out of the helicopters, had a little dust end up on his Gucci shoes, and then taken a Jeep ride into the outback, coupled with a quick low-level fly over of the Grand Canyon - he might appreciate this country more.   It's more than concrete and steel and glistening gold.

He ain't got a clue what it's all about.

Morning Joe, just his morning, talked about how New York City developers don't negotiate, they demand - if the demands aren't met they take their money and move on.  That's what the Donald is doing - hub-ub this and hub-ub that - if he carries the day, he's winning.  If he doesn't carry the day, fold the cards and move on to something else. 

There's no big picture of what this country and the people who inhabit our lands are all about.  Because, it's all about him.  SAD!

As I recently visited the FDR monument in Washington, DC - only a short distance from the government housing that Trump now occupies at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue -

I thought to myself:  "He should come down here sometime and walk around - stop and listen.

 He should walk over to the Vietnam War Wall and look for names that he might recognize 

and the Korean War monument, what a more timely time than now

and then look at the huge MLK statue - and just think.

He can't do that.  He's not big enough to think of our country.  Because, it's all about him.  SAD!

Anyway - after DC it was on to the beaches of Mexico near Puerto Vallarta.  We made it down and back, didn't see a wall - and came back ready and refreshed for the holiday season.

Only to be overwhelmed with more talk and blabber from DC.

YIKES!

Killing Fields

Trump's full quote on Texas: 

"I think that mental health is your problem here. Based on preliminary reports, a very deranged individual, a lot of problems for a long period of time. But this isn't a guns situation."

Mr. LaPierre and his pals at the National Rifle Association speak again!

Why does any private citizen need an assault rifle in their possession?   The last I heard, deer, elk, turkeys, antelope, and even bear don't shoot back!

Let the sportsmen play, that's OK.  

But, let's start now and outlaw assault rifles for personal purchase.  Leave those killing devices in the hands of the professionals.

The NRA will be saying, if they haven't already, it's a good thing that guy in Texas took a shot at the shooter - he saved lives.   Well, yes.  But the good guy with a gun didn't have an assault rifle.

Trump telling the truth

Finally we hear Donald Trump tell the truth:

"Let me tell you, the one that matters is me, I'm the only one that matters because when it comes to it that's what the policy is going to be,"

Take that America!

Las Vegas Strong

On this throwback Thursday, some shots from just the last few days.

A couple times a year I find my way to Las Vegas, to celebrate a special occasion (like an anniversary), to vacation, to go to a basketball tournament, etc.

During the most recent visit, some of the sights and sounds of the strip were a bit muted.  Along the stretch of "The Strip" that leads into town from the south, that all to familiar welcome sign, was the site of a memorial to the 58 people who were shot and killed by a deranged man with a weapon of mass destruction. 

Words can't express the emotions being felt by those who stopped by this stretch of road on a Sunday morning.  I hope the pictures will help. 

One of these photos is of the memorial to a New Mexican who was killed.

Throwback to Dodger Blue

Just look at the names - many of them one time Albuquerque Dukes

I was there in Chavez Ravine for the World Series vs the Oakland A's
& Mr. October, Reggie Jackson.

Oakland went on to win the all-California series.

Two years later Tommy Lasorda would become the LA Manager.

Lost in New Mexico

Thought for the weekend

From Bill Moyers dot com:

Bumper Sticker Alert - Portland

Seen along the way the other day:

Talk about guns. Do Something!

VOICES - HOPEFULLY NOT IN THE WILDERNESS:

Click to see
LATE NIGHT VOICES


Trevor Noah (Of South Africa)

We’re shocked. We’re sad. Thoughts and prayers. And then, almost on cue, people are going to come out saying, “Whenever you do, when speaking about the shootings, don’t talk about guns.” . . .

This is not the time to be talking about guns? . . . And also, if you say after a mass shooting is never the time, then you’ll never have the conversation in America, because there’s a mass shooting in America almost every single day. So when is the time? . . .

Conan O'Brien

The sounds of those automatic weapons last night are grotesquely out of place in a civilized society. It makes no sense to me as a reasonable human being and a father. . . . Something needs to change. It really does.

Stephen Colbert

. . . And now, President Trump: You’ve said you wanted to be a transformative president who doesn’t care about the way things have always been done in Washington, D.C. This is your chance to prove it. And I mean this sincerely — you do not owe the Republicans anything. You know the Republicans tried to stop you from being president. Well, screw ’em. Want to make America great again? Do something the last two presidents haven’t been able to do. Pass any kind of common-sense gun control legislation that the vast majority of Americans want. Because if we are facing pure evil, then by all means, offer thoughts and prayers. But think about what you need to do and pray for the courage to do it.

Jimmy Kimmell

President Trump is visiting Las Vegas on Wednesday, he spoke this morning, said he’s praying for those who lost their lives. You know, in February, he also signed a bill that made it easier for people with severe mental illness to buy guns legally. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, a number of other lawmakers who won’t do anything about this because the NRA has their balls in a money clip, also sent their thoughts and their prayers today, which is good. They should be praying. They should be praying for God to forgive them for letting the gun lobby run this country, because it’s so crazy.

Seth Meyers

We’ve talked about gun violence on this show before, and I’m not sure what else I can say. I also know nothing I say will make any difference at all. But to Congress, I would just like to say, are there no steps we can take as a nation to prevent gun violence? Or, is this just how it is and how it’s going to continue to be?

Because when you say — which you always say — “Now is not the time to talk about it,” what you really mean is, there is never a time to talk about it. And it would be so much more honest if you would just admit that your plan is to never talk about it and never take any action.

James Corden

I come from a place where we don’t have shootings at this frequency so it’s hard for me to fathom. But it should be hard for everyone to fathom. Gun violence should not be a staple of American life. Some say it’s too early to talk about gun control. For those victims last night, it’s far too late.

Long Guns Again!

Is there really any reason why private individuals need to own long guns with magazines capable of unloading dozens of bullets in a matter of seconds?

Senator Chris Murphy says this morning, it's "time for Congress to get of its ass"

I agree!

TESLA on the road

It's coming, they're showing up more and more!

On a recent trip I cruised through the parking lot at a Holiday Inn Express in Truth of Consequences, New Mexico.

Here's what I found!

It's an electric gas station! Doesn't this look like a modern day gas pump?

There was more than one of them in the parking lot.

And, although it has moved on by the time I got the picture taking machine out, there was a Tesla getting charged when I first saw this modern day service station.

Ah...progress!

Coincidence?   

Elon Musk's Tesla charging station is about 40 miles from Richard Branson's chosen site for launching shots into outerspace - Spaceport America.    Mr. Musk is in "competition" with Mr. Branson in the modern day space race. 

Please...Just Please

1000 words can't describe that!

Fly High Bob

It is still hard.

KRQE-TV's helicopter pilot/reporter Bob Martin died in the crash of Sky Ranger 13 this past weekend.

Bob was a newshound.
He could smell news.
He knew news.
He knew what the people wanted to know.
He knew how to tell a story.

We are all better informed today because of Bob's work.

I recall giving him a ride late one day from Santa Fe to Albuquerque, we were both young guys covering news at the state capital.  He was then a student "working" for the Eastern New Mexico University TV station.

They did a really good job of teaching and Bob learned the tricks of the trade.

TV news today needs more Bob Martin's.

Fly On, Bob!

Pete Domenici of New Mexico

On the passing of Pete Domenici –

New Mexico’s longest serving member of the United States Senate, Pete Domenici, has died.  He stepped down from the Senate years ago when a medical diagnosis revealed a serious health issue that, apparently never materialized.

Anyway, I got to know Pete Domenici when he was serving as Albuquerque’s City Commission Chairman (the de-facto Mayor).   And, he worked hard at getting to know the reporters.

It was either during his run for Governor, or his run for the US Senate, that I went by the Domenici house on Madison NE in Albuquerque.  I arrived shortly after breakfast, to be greeted by his lovely wife Nancy, and a huge pile of dishes.  She had just finished feeding Pete, herself, and their 7 kids.  There were pots and pans and dishes everywhere – and I think they were eating off benches because there wasn’t room for chairs in the small kitchen.    Things changed.

In 1970, he chose to step to a bigger stage and run for Governor of New Mexico against one of the state’s most prominent, and best loved politicians, Bruce King.  Pete lost.

During the campaign, I traveled much of the state (TV news did that back in those days so the public could be informed of the issues – they don’t really do that anymore).

I recall one stop, specifically.  It was at a supermarket in Socorro.   I was a reporter one-man-band, carrying the camera and taking film of his hand shaking.  Because I had been on TV, people would come up to me to say hi, and I would then point them in the direction of Pete Domenici and strongly suggest they go shake HIS hand so I could take their picture.   I’m not sure he realized that more recognized me at that time, than knew him.

Fast forwarding a couple years to the campaign he won to become the United States Senator in 1972 – replacing Clinton P. Anderson. Domenici was fortunate enough to have a donor from California that loaned him a 20-seater airplane that flew across the state time and time again.   Because the plane was big enough, and fast enough, quite often the campaign would call reporters and ask them to “come along for the ride”.  Of course, the candidate got coverage on TV (or print, or whatever).

After the campaign was over, I got to sit in the co-pilot seat when the plane was returned to home base in southern California.  I do not know, to this day, who owned the plane or who provided it to the campaign – such things weren’t reported in those days.   

During his term in the United States Senate, I had occasion to interview him quite often, and for about 12 years “work with him” on legislation involving the Rural Electrification Act.  That’s the FDR program that guarantees loans for consumer owned electric cooperatives to extend, or continue to provide electricity to farms, ranchlands, and other places in this country that investor-owned-utilities would not serve.  The government guarantees provided light and power to “the little guy at the end of the line”.

Domenici, as Budget Committee Chair, played a significant role in keeping the wolves (republicans who didn’t like the New Deal program) away.   He was the recipient of a national award for supporting the program through many years.

While political leaders certainly aren’t white knights all their lives, nor is anyone, 

I can say, without question, that Pete Domenici was good for New Mexico.  He worked hard for us, and we appreciate it. And, I appreciate the opportunity to have worked with him, covered him, and gotten to know him.

He always called me “Beemer”! 

I’ll never forget that!

Rest In Peace! 

Marco Island pre Irma

Irma is said to be heading for Marco Island, Florida.   Here are a couple shots from the condo we occupied a few years ago.  I'm guessing all of those boat slips and piers will be underwater very soon.

Here's after 

http://heavy.com/news/2017/09/hurricane-irma-marco-island-aftermath-damages-videos-photos-livestream-before-after/

DREAMERS

How many of us can say we had immigrant parents?  I didn't, but my dad did.

Mary Christina Swanson (Grandma Beimer) 

Born August 30, 1886 -Walla, Sweden. 

She came to the United States of America. 

She died in her adopted country in 1962. 

Joe Biden posted this today.  

Border War

Here is a very interesting take on border wars - and it involves 2 states, not 2 countries.

Gets pretty close to home, since my hometown was only 20 miles from the "border".

Waiting for Trump

I say this with tongue rigidly placed against my cheek, "I'm waiting to see The Donald" check out the damage in Texas.

He doesn't have a clue about rescue, floods, natural disasters, or what it takes to recover from them.

Put him in a pontoon boat and shoo him down the flooded streets!  Let him paddle to safety!

What will he wear when he goes down there, a dark suit, white shirt, long red tie, and Gucci shoes?

"We're going to send them money," will be what he says.  "Our response has been great, nothing like others!"  

I'm just guessing at that.

Any bets?

And, speaking of that, Texas US Senators Cornyn and Cruz were quick to appeal to POTUS for federal funds - even though 5 years ago they were among the first to vote "no" on funds for Hurricane Sandy relief for New York and New Jersey.

Wait for this discussion, climate change, what climate change?

Rather Trump

From Dan Rather's Facebook:

 

The decision of President Trump to pardon Sheriff Arpaio is a perversion of justice and demeans the prerogatives of the presidency.

Compared to the impact of sweeping policies, it is a token gesture. But the symbolism is stark, provocative and important. Mr. Trump continues to proudly strut on the global stage as a divisive actor heedless of the shouts of derision and censure from the majority of his audience. He seems only concerned in basking in the lusty cheers of intolerance from his enabled base.

Amidst rumors that Mr. Trump will end the deferred action policy for dreamers, the already glowing embers of racial strife risk bursting into destructive flames. And Mr. Trump appears eager to fan them on.

Eclipse in Indiana

On a business trip to Evansville, Indiana  

August 21, 2017 in direct path of the eclipse.

More than 99% of light was gone during this photo, but you can't tell because of the auto correcting camera. It was a spooky hazy weird atmosphere.

The nearby CVS lights came on (like they would do at sunset)!

Then it was over and life as we know it, resumed.

My Trumpian View

This is how I think this guy really, really feels about poor people, middle income people, education, veterans, homeless, the military, our friends and neighbors in the world, our federal, state, county and city governments, crumbing infrastructure, the ACA and the role they play in our day-to-day lives.

  

How he feels about everything in the world - except making money.

He's on government insurance for the rest of his life, 

along with Secret Service butlers, chauffeurs, schedulers, the finest seats in any house, restaurant, stadium, arena, theater or airplane.  

Why should he care? 

He's fiddling while the world about him, the world we live in, is crumbling - and he doesn't really give a damn!

SAD!

Recent Albuquerque Neighborhood Sightings

I'm going to include a few pictures here...the first two were taken at the UNM Championship Golf Course in recent weeks.  Fence Watchers.  A Roadrunner, the New Mexico State Bird...and, in the distance, what I believe to be a Coopers Hawk, on the fence watching the 10th hole.  We also saw a coyote, but I couldn't click fast enough.

And, then there are these photos taken within 10 blocks of our home.

Reports are it was a car theft ring headquarters.

But fear not, the neighborhood ain't going to hell!

Two blocks away:

And, then there's this...

The storefront on the left was at one time a WalMart.  

Then it became a Hobby Lobby.  

Now, it's nothing.

The center storefront was once a Hastings record/book store.

Now it's nothing.

And this, on August 5, 2017 -- 86 days before Halloween

This was a Raley's Supermarket, followed by an upscale furniture store.

Now it's filled with ghosts, goblins, Wonder Woman, and ...

Hmmmmm!

Summertime Scouting

Been a while since I posted anything.  Nothing to say.  However, I did come across this photo today while surfing the 'net - and it brought to mind the years I spent in the scouts - and the respect we had for our leaders.

I am hopeful that the leadership of the Jamboree that witnessed a political speech yesterday by POTUS has sufficient guts to tell their scouts, "We should show proper respect to the person who holds the office of the President of the United States.  However, we do not have to be a cheering squad for what he says!"


BREAKING NEWS:

Thursday, July27
Statement From:
Chief Scout Executive for the Boy Scouts of America Michael Surbaugh 

"I want to extend my sincere apologies to those in our Scouting family who were offended by the political rhetoric that was inserted into the jamboree. That was never our intent. The invitation for the sitting U.S. President to visit the National Jamboree is a long-standing tradition that has been extended to the leader of our nation that has had a Jamboree during his term since 1937. It is in no way an endorsement of any person, party or policies. For years, people have called upon us to take a position on political issues, and we have steadfastly remained non-partisan and refused to comment on political matters. We sincerely regret that politics were inserted into the Scouting program."

Golf Outing

Went to the US Open Golf Tournament @ Erin Hills Golf Course near Erin, Wisconsin.  Had a chance to take a fake picture with Steve Stricker, who lives just down the road apiece from the site of the event.

Buddy Tom Horan and I scoured the hills of Erin Hills (as did about 50,000 people on Saturday) - had a good time and a couple root beer floats, too.

Rickie Fowler is up there in orange pants.

There was talk of the "tall fescue" grass.  Well..it was tall!

Break time!

Heinrich & Montoya

In the 1970's one of New Mexico's United States Senators, Joseph M. Montoya, most prominent roles was that of being a member of the "Watergate Committee" - the group that met and eventually headed the demise of Richard Nixon.

Fast forward about 35 years, one of New Mexico's United States Senators, Martin Heinrich, is a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence - the group that's trying to figure out how Russia got involved in our election process, and who might have been complicit in that endeavor.

Facts sometimes are stranger than fiction.

Tierra Amarilla Courthouse Raid 50 Years Later

Fifty years ago, June 5, 1967, I was wandering around the KOAT-7 Big Seven Newsroom wondering about the stories of the day. Then came the 1000 cycle tone from the New Mexico State Police radio (you know that long beeeep that we hear when there’s a test of the Emergency Notification System).

It sounded like something like this:

“Attention all cars and all stations, this station is now 10-33.”

We were accustomed to the dolling on-an-on of police and fire radios – BUT – this was different.

10-33 meant something BIG was happening.

Knowing not what, the few of us in the newsroom (maybe 6 at most – 3 of whom actually went out to cover the news) started scouring around looking for cameras, film, lights. We were preparing to depart for parts unknown, just in case this was a big deal.

Well, within the hour I had maneuvered my way into covering the big story.  It was the Rio Arriba County Courthouse in Tierra Amarilla.

The leader of a group of heirs to old Spanish Land Grants, Reies Tijerina, and a band of followers had just attempted to kidnap the District Attorney (who wasn’t even there), gotten into a gunfight with the state police, and taken a deputy sheriff and a newsman covering the story, hostage.

Now, mind you, this was before cellphones and satellites – it was before computers.

Before leaving the newsroom for a chartered plane, I called the Justice of the Peace in Chama (or maybe it was the Mayor) and asked if he’d meet our plane at a landing strip at Chama Land and Cattle Company – about 10 miles or so away, and take me to the action.  I don’t remember his name, but he did just as I asked.  

So, away I go, in a plane leaving Albuquerque headed for points north – out of contact with the world, except for the airplane radio, and they didn’t care. 

I didn’t know what to expect.

It took an hour or so to get there.   

The landing strip, really a graded and maintained pasture, was moist from recent rains. We went for it anyway.  We were there to cover the news!

Still not quite sure about what was happening, we rolled on to the scene in that tiny northern New Mexico town.

I did a quick film interview with Benny Naranjo, the Rio Arriba County Sheriff.  He told me what had happened.  Sadly, the film of that interview is gone, and I don’t recall the specific quotes.  I ran off a few more scenes, then gave the film to the pilot and told him to get it back to Albuquerque – I’d stay around and cover the story.

Tijerina and some of his followers showed up at the courthouse that day for a hearing on a somewhat related matter, his brother and other followers were being arraigned on charges from other incidents involving the land grant struggle.

Well, they didn’t get the District Attorney, instead they shot up the courthouse, wounded the jailer and a state police officer, kidnapped a wire service reporter – all of which launched a massive manhunt that lasted for days.

Late that afternoon of June 5, 1967, headquartered at a US Forest Service ranger station in Canjilon, about 20 miles away, law enforcement of all uniforms commanded by New Mexico State Police Chief Joe Black went on the search.  

Lieutenant Governor E. Lee Francis called out the National Guard under the command of Adjutant General John Pershing Jolly. Tanks rolled, without ammunition, but it was a show of force.

By Martin Salazar / Journal Staff Writer Tuesday, January 20th, 2015  

Copyright © 2015 Albuquerque Journal

It had been nearly 40 years, but the images were still etched in former Gov. David Cargo’s mind. The day was June 5, 1967, and a caravan of New Mexico National Guard trucks and tanks was headed down Interstate 25, capping a bizarre day that thrust the obscure mountain village of Tierra Amarilla in northern Rio Arriba County into the national spotlight.

Some two dozen land grant activists had taken control of the courthouse, shot up the place, critically wounded a couple of law enforcement officers, and kidnapped a journalist and another officer.

By that evening – as Cargo was flying back into New Mexico from Michigan – the state had sprung to action. The lieutenant governor had mobilized the National Guard and a massive manhunt was underway to capture the raiders.

“We came in over Santa Fe,” recalled Cargo, who was governor at the time. “You could look down on La Bajada Hill. As I looked down, I saw all these trucks and some tanks, and I thought, what in the hell is going on?”

Editor’s note: As the 40th anniversary of the Tierra Amarilla courthouse raid approached in 2007, then­ Journal staff writer Martin Salazar sought out former New Mexico Gov. David Cargo, who was governor at the time of the raid. Salazar is now publisher and editor of the Las Vegas Optic newspaper in Las Vegas, N.M. Cargo died in 2013. Here is a republication of Salazar’s June 3, 2007, report for the Journal.

Tuesday (June 5, 2007) will mark the 40th anniversary of Tierra Amarilla’s infamous day – the day tensions over lost land grants boiled over into a blaze of bullets, spilling the blood of a State Police officer and jailer.

The activists – called the Alianza Federal de Mercedes – believed huge areas of land around the Southwest awarded as land grants by the Mexican or Spanish governments had been wrongfully taken away after the region became part of the United States in the mid­19th century.

Participants say the raid brought the injustices to light and helped spawn some changes. Forty years later, land grant activists are still fighting, but they’re now appealing to Congress to right the wrongs.

It was a rainy Monday afternoon when the land grant activists stormed the courthouse in their quest to make a citizen’s arrest of then­ District Attorney Alfonso Sanchez.

Three days before the raid, Sanchez blocked a meeting of the Alianza in Coyote. Eleven members of the group were arrested near Canjilon on various charges. Eight of them were slated to be arraigned on the day of the raid.

Alianza members – led by Reies Lopez Tijerina, a charismatic former evangelical minister – wanted to arrest Sanchez for violating their rights.

But Sanchez was 92 miles away in Santa Fe fielding telephone calls from villagers warning that something was about to happen and coordinating with law enforcement officials in an effort to head it off, Sanchez told the Journal during a recent interview.

The Alianza sent a few members to scout the courthouse. After getting the OK, about two dozen Alianza members crammed into a truck, a station wagon and a car and headed to it.

Tijerina wore a white handkerchief over part of his face as he and others invaded the courthouse, said Baltasar Martinez, one of the raiders.

Eulogio Salazar, a jailer, was shot in the face and chest as he tried to jump out a courthouse window. State Police officer Nick Saiz was hit in the left arm and chest while inside the courthouse.

Both men survived the wounds, but Salazar was later murdered, 10 days before he was to have testified against Tijerina. Tijerina has denied any involvement in Salazar’s murder, which remains unsolved.

Those in the courthouse were rounded up in the County Clerk’s Office. Among them was then United Press International reporter (and later Albuquerque Journal editor and columnist) Larry Calloway. He recalled being taken at gunpoint through the courthouse halls that were spattered with blood.

After realizing that the district attorney wasn’t at the courthouse, most of the raiders fled. But in the chaos, Martinez and another raider were left behind.

They took Calloway and a sheriff’s deputy hostage, putting them in a pickup truck and driving through calm streets shooting up police cars, Calloway wrote soon after his ordeal. Both men eventually escaped their captors.

The raiders fled into the mountains.

State Police from throughout northern New Mexico rushed to Tierra Amarilla. A State Police helicopter with two shotgun riders aboard swooped in and out over the hills around Canjilon.

And National Guard troops on tanks scoured the countryside looking for those who had shot up the courthouse.

Tijerina and other raiders were eventually nabbed or turned themselves in. Tijerina ended up serving two years in federal prison for an Alianza takeover of the Echo Amphitheater in the Carson National Forest near Abiquiu.

In the aftermath of the raid, Cargo and Sanchez would point fingers at one another, Sanchez saying Cargo encouraged the group by coddling them and leading them on and Cargo saying Sanchez forced the standoff through his hard­nosed actions. A reflective Cargo said conditions were probably ripe for the raid. “Everything just came together,” he said. “You had the war in Vietnam. You had unrest all over the country. You had assassinations. You had everything going on, a lot of unrest.”

From Larry Calloway, the UPI reporter http://larrycalloway.com/courthouse-raid/

In today’s electronic world, the Twitter would explode with coverage of that raid, satellite trucks from around the world would beam live TV from sleepy northern New Mexico, and our little ol’ Land of Enchantment would have publicity nobody could pay for.

A native northern New Mexican, I can say, it wasn’t our proudest moment – and many of the complaints that have been registered by those who believe they were wronged by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (go here for more) may never be answered.

One lasting memory I have of that incident, and subsequent reporting visits to Tierra Amarilla, that might reflect how serious the situation was, State Police Sgt Richard C de Baca inquired of me, “Do you have a gun with you?”

I didn’t.

“You should get one,” he said.

The next day I went to H. Cook Sporting Goods in Albuquerque and purchased a .38 caliber police revolver – and for a long time took it with me every time I went “up north”. 

H. Cook Sporting Goods is no longer, and neither is my ownership of that pistol.

  

P.S.

While this was happening in little ol’ remote northern New Mexico, the world turned focus to the Arab-Israeli 6-Day War. 

From Wikipedia: A war fought in 1967 by Israel on one side and Egypt, Syria, and Jordan on the other. Israel, victorious, took over the Golan Heights, the Jordanian portion of Jerusalem, the Jordanian West Bank of the Jordan River, and alarge piece of territory in northeastern Egypt, including the Sinai Peninsula, which contains Mount Sinai. Israel still occupies all these territories except the Sinai Peninsula, which it gave back to Egypt in 1982. Israel intains that its security would be enormously endangered if it withdrew from the other places.

(Photos used in this posting came off the internets.  The picture of the donkey and the tank was taken by Ray Cary of the Albuquerque Journal.  Unknown source for the picture of Reies Tijerina.  The picture of the Rio Arriba County Courthouse could have been taken by anyone.)