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An organized system of formal education in New Mexico was non-existent until the late 1800s. In fact, when Gov. Albino Pérez proposed a tax levy in 1837 to help fund a system of public education, he was more than just rebuffed — he was beheaded.

Trinidad Martinez, mentioned in this space a while back, took on ethnographic research for a linguistics class he took a few years ago when Prof. Carol Scates chaired the Highlands University English Department.

A native of nearby Peñasco, Martinez came up with an impressive list of words which we Spanish speakers in northern New Mexico have adopted. Surely, anyone familiar with the Spanish language has come across any number of words that we’ve somehow made fit.

By the late 1800s the Jewish presence in Las Vegas was robust and thriving, with the largest population of German Jews in all New Mexico. Most had become successful merchants and had been joined by extended family members emigrating from their old home lands in western Europe.

It would have been great if people who predict the end of the world had been a wee bit more accurate. Even though the prediction of the coming rapture was a few ticks off, it certainly drew a lot of attention.

Presbyterian Pastor Randy Campbell, for one, opened his Sunday sermon by announcing, “I’m here!” Doubtless many others said the same thing.