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leaving Fort Union in the first place. Slough met with Canby, determined the war in New Mexico was over, resigned his commission, and immediately headed to the
Eastern theater. At the first anniversary after the Battle of Glorieta Pass, his former Colorado troops sent him a gold inlaid sword as thanks for making the rag tag volunteers into a fighting force. In response, Slough wrote: “Remember the holy character of the cause in which you are engaged. Remember that you are American soldiers, battling in the cause of universal freedom.”
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421:. One of his first and most personal acts was to seek funds to mark the graves of the Union dead and place monuments at the Civil War battle sites of Valverde, Apache Canyon, and Glorieta Pass, New Mexico (only one in Santa Fe was erected). He also arrived to reform the legal system. Among the cases with the greatest impact was his decision that
484:. Outcries for a nonpartisan investigation were ignored over the protests of friends in New Mexico, Denver, and Cincinnati. The historian Richard Henry Brown says that the murder of Slough "helped affirm the position of New Mexico as 'apparently the only place where assassination became an integral part of the political system.'"
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Following the battle, Slough received direct orders from Canby to remain at Fort Union. Though dated and sent before the battle while the
Confederate army divided Canby and Slough's communication line, the order has been debated as confirmation or not that Slough had disobeyed Canby's orders by
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were U. S. citizens, could testify in his courts, especially in land disputes, and were equals in the eyes of the court, a decision that was eventually upheld by the U. S. Supreme Court. In
February, 1867, he attacked the system of
221:. While serving there, he struck a fellow assemblyman and was expelled for "an act unbecoming of a gentleman." His constituents reelected him to fill his vacant seat. In 1857, he relocated to
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On
December 15, 1867, Rynerson drew a gun on the judge in Santa Fe and said, "Take it back." Slough exclaimed, "Shoot and be damned!" and Rynerson fired. Mortally wounded, Slough drew a
245:, then in the western part of the Territory of Kansas, in 1860 and continued to practice law, becoming one of the city's more distinguished lawyers. With the establishment of the new
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Many New
Mexicans sought his removal, because of these destabilizing decisions but also for his efforts to correct court room antics, especially after a decision against an old
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460:, took part in a campaign to denigrate the judge and authored a resolution in the legislature to have the judge removed, leading Slough to slander Rynerson publicly.
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In a mockery of a trial, Rynerson was found not guilty (by reason of self-defense), an example of the growing power of what became known as the
Republican-controlled
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for selling liquor to
Indians. A local jury would not convict; he removed them and held a new trial. After Slough sentenced the
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351:. Slough's regiment had stopped the advance of the Confederates, who soon abandoned New Mexico and retreated back to Texas.
339:. The Texans were pushing the Coloradans back, but the battle was turned to a victory for the Union after Slough sent Major
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in early 1861, he helped organize the courts system, establishment of the bar, and review of professional peers.
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on a flank attack which destroyed the
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Death Comes for the Chief
Justice: The Slough-Rynerson Quarrel and Political Violence in New Mexico
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and, as the senior ranking officer, assumed command of the post and its New Mexico
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to a year in prison, the territorial governor pardoned him, which sent Slough into a tirade.
181:; February 1, 1829 – December 17, 1867) was an American general and politician who led
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When the Civil War ended in 1865, Slough resigned his commission and opened a law office in
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In 1861, the Civil War began and Slough immediately began recruiting for the federal army.
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to intercept Scurry. On March 26, 1862, an advanced unit met the Confederates at
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was moving to capture Fort Union. Col. Slough marched his regiment toward
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in New Mexico in anticipation of the Federal law against debt peonage—
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of volunteers of August 25, 1862, and became the military governor of
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Jason Silverman, "Frontier Law: The Assassination of a Chief Justice"
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Through his wife's McLean family ties (the chief justice of the
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Sharp-tongued with a fiery temper, he was appointed to fight
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Sunstone Press, 2006, pp. 68-71. For more on Rynerson, see
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he practiced law in Cincinnati before being elected to the
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American military officer and politician (1829–1867)
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533:"Denver Weekly Commonwealth". 6 July 1863.
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298:Albuquerque
282:Confederate
239:free" state
223:Leavenworth
189:during the
619:Categories
607:2008-08-14
521:References
454:corruption
394:Maj. Gen.
306:Fort Union
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104:Union Army
82:Allegiance
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71:Santa Fe
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