Santa Fe Weekly Post Archive

The Santa Fe Weekly Gazette commenced publication on April 25, 1851, and continued until September 25, 1869. Santa Fe, founded between 1607 and 1610 by Don Pedro de Peralta, had served as the capital of the province of New Mexico during the Spanish and Mexican periods. This continued after the Mexican-American War (1846-48), which makes Santa Fe the oldest capital in the United States. The city's position along the Santa Fe Trail, opened in 1821, contributed to its prestige and the growth of its population to nearly 4,500 residents by 1850. Although several papers had been established in Santa Fe prior to the Santa Fe Gazette, none were as successful.

The Santa Fe Weekly Gazette went through several name changes. It became the Santa Fe Gazette in 1854 and was later published as the Santa Fe Weekly Gazette until 1859, when it returned to the name Santa Fe Gazette; the name reverted to the Santa Fe Weekly Gazette in 1864. The paper was published in both Spanish and English. The Spanish titles also varied: Gaceta de Santa Fe ("Santa Fe Gazette") and Gaceta Seminaria de Santa Fe ("Weekly Gazette of Santa Fe"). The Gazette spanned four pages, two in English and two in Spanish.

Prior to the Civil War, the paper focused as much on culture as it did on reporting the news, as the prospectus from February 25, 1854, demonstrates: "In politics, [the Santa Fe Weekly Gazette] will aim to be a sound democratic Journal; but in addition, it will be devoted to General Literature, and the current news of the day."

Examples of the Gazette's contents include sonnets in English, selections from Spanish novels, lengthy excerpts from U.S. law, and acts of Congress. Editorials appear as well, such as the one in the April 23, 1853 issue, which describe the editor's difficulty understanding why New Mexicans were not "filled with an intense desire to know something of the strange government, country, and people, with which they have become irrevocably united."

The following motto graced the pages of theSanta Fe Gazette: "Independent in all things - neutral in nothing." Despite this maxim, the paper supported both Democratic and Republican causes, probably a result of the multitude of editors who served the paper. James L. Collins stands out as one of the most prominent, serving from 1864 until 1866. Collins came to New Mexico from Kentucky several years after the opening of trade between the United States and Mexico. He joined the United States Army during the Mexican-American War and then moved to Santa Fe, where he held various government positions. John T. Russell took control of the paper after from 1866 until September 25, 1869, when it was succeeded by the Santa Fe Weekly Post.

After the outbreak of the Civil War, the news content of the paper increased significantly. In addition to local and national coverage of the war, the Santa Fe Gazette debated with the New Mexican over General Henry Carleton's policy of creating reservations for the Apache and Navajo tribes at Bosque Redondo, which the Santa Fe Gazette supported.

On November 6, 1852, a one-year subscription to the Santa Fe Gazette cost $5.00 or $2.50 for six months. Advertisements in early issues occupied only small portion of the paper's pages; however, by 1868 they covered the entire front page.