#ThisDayIn 1923 (Nov. 30): In hearings over the suspicious leasing of Teapot Dome, the largest naval oil reserve, to Sinclair Oil, Albuquerque Morning Journal owner Carl Magee was called to appear before Congress. He testified about Interior Secretary Albert Fall’s financial situation (center).

#ThisDayIn 1918 (Nov. 30): After a week of willful non-compliance, resentment, and chaos, Denver authorities rescinded their mask order, effective the next day at 6 p.m. Isolation and quarantine orders were, however, made more stringent.

#ThisDayIn 1916 (Nov. 30): Thanksgiving Day. The Albuquerque Morning Journal reported from East Las Vegas: “Juan Angel, the supposed slayer of Jose Maria Chavez, is still at liberty.”

#ThisDayIn 1901 (Nov. 30): La Voz del Pueblo published a resolution by the Catholic Association of St. Joseph of Las Vegas, NM: “Wherefor Divine Providence in its inscrutable designs on November 17, 1901 saw fit to remove Manuelita Tapia de Pino, at the age of 52 after a long illness…”

#ThisDayIn 1894 (Nov. 30): La Voz del Pueblo reports: “The young Juan Silva opened the most reputable saloon in the plaza. In cleanliness and care of service, it rivals the best in the whole town.”

#ThisDayIn 1884 (Nov. 30): After his legislature amended the Constitution of 1857 so that he could run again, Porfirio Diaz defeated his hand-picked successor Manuel Gonzalez Flores. The election is considered to be the start of a period of authoritarian rule in Mexico, one that lasted decades.

#ThisDayIn 1880 (Nov. 30): Deputy Sheriff Pat Garrett raided the Dedrick Ranch at Bosque Grande. Searching for Billy the Kid and his gang there, they found instead fugitives John Joshua Webb (wanted for murder in Las Vegas), and George Davis (wanted for horse theft). The hunt continued.

#ThisDayIn 1878 (Nov. 30): The first Santa Fe railroad tracks are laid going into New Mexico Territory along “Uncle Dick” Wootton’s old toll road over Raton Pass, the northern route of the Santa Fe Trail.

#ThisDayIn 1872 (Nov. 30): The Las Vegas Gazette reprinted a report from the Santa Fe New Mexican: “We are informed by the First National Bank of this city (Santa Fe) that counterfeit $10 bills on various National Banks are being extensively circulated in this Territory.”

#ThisDayIn 1851 (Nov. 30): Padre Alexander Grzelachowski (“El Padre Polaco,” pictured) first appeared as Parish Priest at San Miguel del Vado, replacing the 65-year-old Jose Francisco Leyva (who was accused of having gotten drunk and fallen off a horse, breaking his leg).

#ThisDayIn 1849 (Nov. 30): John S. Calhoun of the Office of Indian Affairs in Santa Fe wrote to the Secretary of Interior: “Matters in this territory are in a most deplorable condition, infinitely worse than you can imagine them, and which, without being an eyewitness you cannot realize.”

#ThisDayIn 1844 (Nov. 30): The day after Mexico’s Interim President Valentin Canalizo suspended Congress during what was supposed to have been a brief recess, soldiers blocked its members from entering Congressional chambers. Protests almost immediately spread across Mexico City.

#ThisDayIn 1838 (Nov. 30): Pres. Anastasio Bustamante rallied his citizens at the start of the Pastry War: “War has in fact been declared on the part of France by opening fire upon the city of Vera Cruz and the fortress of Uluia; on our part by our full right to repel an iniquitous aggression.”

#ThisDayIn 1830 (Nov. 30): Pope Pius VIII, the former Cardinal-Bishop of Frascati, ended his 20-month pontificate (the shortest of the 19th century) at his death in Rome from an infection of an unknown origin. He was 69.

#ThisDayIn 1786 (Nov. 30): Bernardo de Galvez, Viceroy of New Spain, died unexpectedly of typhus at his home in Tacubaya at age 40. He was the hero who helped the Americans defeat the British in Florida, and a reformist. Rumors at the time suggested that he was poisoned (none substantiated, though).

#ThisDayIn 1950 (Nov. 29): Lawyer William Vincent Morrison and Brushy Bill Roberts traveled to Santa Fe to meet with Gov. Thomas Mabry. Although the meeting was to be with only historians present and no press, Mabry had arranged for a large number of reporters to be present.

#ThisDayIn 1914 (Nov. 29): US President Woodrow Wilson named a strike board for Colorado to prevent future unrest like that of the Colorado Coalfields War.

#ThisDayIn 1913 (Nov. 29): The Las Vegas Optic reported that a Grand Jury investigation, overseen by Judge David J. Leahy, of the work of Traveling Auditor Howell Earnest had not been done according to any acceptable standard.

#ThisDayIn 1909 (Nov. 29): The Santa Fe New Mexican reported from Alamogordo: “US and District courts are in session, a double header as it were with US Court having the right of way. The first case was that of Oliver Carr, charged with unlawfully aiding Chinese to enter the United States.”

#ThisDayIn 1907 (Nov. 29): The Albuquerque Citizen reported from Santa Fe: “A telegram received here from Washington today stated that the commission of Capt. David J. Leahy as US District Attorney for New Mexico was mailed yesterday at Washington.”

#ThisDayIn 1902 (Nov. 29): The Albuquerque Daily Citizen reported: “Sen. Beveridge has telegraphed to Dr. Sloan at Santa Fe that the Senate Committee on Territories will make adverse report on the omnibus bill. There will be a minority report in favor of the bill.”

#ThisDayIn 1882 (Nov. 29): The Santa Fe New Mexican reported: “Felix Martinez, who conferred with Mr. William Whitney and then is supposed to have swung the New Mexico delegation into line for Cleveland at Chicago, is here (in Santa Fe) on the Democratic roundup today.”

#ThisDayIn 1885 (Nov. 29): The Las Vegas (NM) Gazette reported: “Canuto Trujillo of Lincoln County was very drunk (on a Sunday) in this city and used very bad language. Chief of Police Ortega took him in.”

#ThisDayIn 1880 (Nov. 29): A new posse of 20 men were led from Roswell by Pat Garrett (left) and Bob Olinger (right) in search of Billy the Kid, Dave Rudabaugh, and Billy Wilson, suspected to be at Dan Dedrick’s Bosque Grande Ranch. Special Agent Azariah Wild was among the riders.

#ThisDayIn 1862 (Nov. 29): The Santa Fe Gazette reported: “The snow is reported very deep in the neighborhood of Fort Union. Last week the mail was detained two days in consequence of it. The snow fell to a depth of about six inches here but it passed off in two or three days.”

#ThisDayIn 1845 (Nov. 29): Jose Serafin Ramirez filed a claim for himself and the other grantees of the San Pedro land grant with Mexican Gov. Manuel Armijo of Nuevo Mexico.

#ThisDayIn 1806 (Nov. 29): Zebulon Pike returned from climbing Mount Rosa (el. 11,499 feet), where he sighted the peak that later carries his name (he never actually climbed Pikes Peak). He was searching for the source of the Arkansas River.

#ThisDayIn 1745 (Nov. 29): Francisco Mondragon abducted the wife of Jacinto Sanches at Santa Cruz, but was caught and tried over the next three weeks. He’s eventually found guilty, but the punishment wasn’t recorded.

#ThisDayIn 1920 (Nov. 28): The Albuquerque Journal reported from Las Vegas, NM: “Statistics furnished by the fire departments show that the fire loss in Greater Las Vegas last year was $5,760, which is remarkably small for a city (agglomeration) of 10,000 people.”

#ThisDayIn 1911 (Nov. 28): After Mexican President Francisco I. Madero delayed action on land reform, Emiliano Zapata denounced his former ally and declared the Plan de Ayala. It effectively became “Sacred Scripture” for the Zapatista Movement across Mexico.