Thomas B. Catron

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American politician (1840–1921)

title: "Thomas B. Catron" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["20th-century-mayors-of-places-in-new-mexico", "confederate-states-army-officers", "mayors-of-santa-fe,-new-mexico", "republican-party-united-states-senators-from-new-mexico", "1840-births", "1921-deaths", "delegates-to-the-united-states-house-of-representatives-from-new-mexico-territory", "members-of-the-new-mexico-territorial-legislature", "people-from-new-mexico-territory", "people-from-lexington,-missouri", "university-of-missouri-alumni", "new-mexico-republicans", "20th-century-united-states-senators", "19th-century-united-states-representatives"] description: "American politician (1840–1921)" topic_path: "geography/mexico" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_B._Catron" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American politician (1840–1921) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]

FieldValue
nameThomas B. Catron
imageCATRON, T.B. SENATOR LCCN2016858197 (cropped).jpg
captionCatron, 1905–1921
jr/srUnited States Senator
stateNew Mexico
term_startMarch 27, 1912
term_endMarch 3, 1917
precededOffice created
succeededAndrieus A. Jones
office213th Mayor of Santa Fe, New Mexico
term_start21906
term_end21908
predecessor2A. R. Gibson
successor2José D. Sena
office3Delegate to the
U.S. House of Representatives
from New Mexico Territory’s at-large district
term_start3March 4, 1895
term_end3March 3, 1897
preceded3Antonio Joseph
succeeded3Harvey Butler Fergusson
birth_date
birth_placenear Lexington, Missouri
death_date
death_placeSanta Fe, New Mexico
residenceSanta Fe, New Mexico
spouseJulia Anna Walz Catron (1857–1909)
children5
professionAttorney
alma_materUniversity of Missouri
partyRepublican
allegianceConfederate States of America
branch
commands3rd Missouri Battery
serviceyears1861-1865
rankFirst lieutenant
::

|name = Thomas B. Catron |image = CATRON, T.B. SENATOR LCCN2016858197 (cropped).jpg |caption = Catron, 1905–1921 |jr/sr = United States Senator |state = New Mexico |term_start = March 27, 1912 |term_end = March 3, 1917 |preceded = Office created |succeeded = Andrieus A. Jones |office2 =13th Mayor of Santa Fe, New Mexico |term_start2 =1906 |term_end2 =1908 |predecessor2 =A. R. Gibson |successor2 =José D. Sena |office3=Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives from New Mexico Territory’s at-large district |term_start3=March 4, 1895 |term_end3=March 3, 1897 |preceded3=Antonio Joseph |succeeded3=Harvey Butler Fergusson |birth_date= |birth_place=near Lexington, Missouri |death_date= |death_place=Santa Fe, New Mexico |residence=Santa Fe, New Mexico |spouse= Julia Anna Walz Catron (1857–1909) |children = 5 |profession=Attorney |alma_mater=University of Missouri |party=Republican |allegiance = Confederate States of America |branch = |commands = 3rd Missouri Battery |serviceyears= 1861-1865 |rank = First lieutenant

Thomas Benton Catron (October 6, 1840May 15, 1921) was an American politician and lawyer who was influential in the establishment of the U.S. state of New Mexico, and served as one of its first United States Senators. Catron has defenders but enemies have described him as a "greedy land grabber and ruthless politico."

Catron was a native of Missouri and a graduate of the University of Missouri. He was a Confederate States Army veteran of the American Civil War. After the war, he moved to New Mexico Territory, where he learned Spanish, studied law, and attained admission to the bar. A Republican even though most Southerners were Democrats, Catron soon made his mark in both law and politics, including serving as a district attorney, territorial attorney general (1869–1872), and United States Attorney for New Mexico (1872–1878). He later served on the New Mexico Territorial Council (1884, 1888, 1889), as the Territorial Delegate to Congress (1895–1897), President of the New Mexico Bar Association (1895), and Mayor of Santa Fe (1906–1908).

In addition to practicing law Catron was a member of the Santa Fe Ring of prominent attorneys, politicians and land speculators. He used his knowledge of New Mexico's Spanish and Mexican land grants to acquire land from Hispanic settlers unfamiliar with Anglo law and the English language and often not even aware that their ownership of the land where they lived was being challenged. He accumulated title to more than 3000000 acre, possibly making him the largest landholder in the United States. When New Mexico achieved statehood, the legislature elected Catron one of the state's first U.S. Senators. He served from 1912 to 1916, and was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1916. He died in Santa Fe, and was buried in Santa Fe's Fairview Cemetery.

Early life

Catron was born near Lexington, Missouri, on October 6, 1840, a son of John Catron and Mary (Fletcher) Catron, and was named after Missouri Senator Thomas Hart Benton. His ancestors emigrated from Germany to Virginia in 1765. He was educated in Lexington's public schools and at Masonic College in Lexington. He graduated from the University of Missouri in 1860.

Civil War

During the American Civil War Catron joined the Confederate States Army, serving in Hiram M. Bledsoe's Battery, a unit of Sterling Price's command. Catron took part in the battles of Carthage, Wilson's Creek, Second Lexington, and Pea Ridge. By the end of the war Catron was a first lieutenant in command of the 3rd Missouri Battery. In the latter stages of the war he served during combat in Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi, before surrendering in Mississippi at the end of the war as part of Richard Taylor's command.

Post-Civil War

Catron returned to Missouri after the war and began to study law. In 1866 he moved to the Territory of New Mexico, living in Las Cruces before settling in Mesilla. He traveled to New Mexico with two wagon loads of flour, which he sold to finance his legal studies, and a Spanish grammar book, which he used to begin to learn the language. (He soon became fluent by living in Spanish speaking communities and speaking only Spanish.) Catron completed his legal studies and was admitted to the bar in 1867.

Political career

Unlike most Southerners who had supported the Confederacy, Catron was a Republican. Almost as soon as he began to practice Catron was appointed District Attorney for the Third Judicial District (present day Doña Ana County), and served until 1868.

In 1869 he was appointed Attorney General of the New Mexico Territory. In 1872 he was appointed United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico, an office previously held by his law partner, Civil War colleague and fellow Republican Stephen Benton Elkins, who had been elected to Congress. Catron served as U.S. Attorney until 1878.

While holding office as U.S. Attorney Catron moved to Santa Fe. In 1884 Catron was elected to the New Mexico Territorial Council, and he served again in 1888 and 1890. In 1892 Catron ran unsuccessfully for Delegate to Congress. He ran again in 1894 and won, serving one term March 4, 1895, to March 3, 1897. From 1895 to 1896 Catron was President of the New Mexico Bar Association. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection to Congress in 1896, and served on the Territorial Council again in 1899 and 1905.

From 1906 to 1908 Catron served as Mayor of Santa Fe.

Land acquisition

As a lawyer familiar with the intricacies of old Mexican land grants, Catron gained an interest in or clear title to 34 grants totaling 3000000 acre. As a member of the group of land speculators known as "Santa Fe Ring," he became by 1894 the largest landowner in the United States.

After annexing New Mexico in 1848, the U.S. required that Spanish and Mexican land grants be "confirmed" by the U.S. courts and Congress. Hispanic claimants of land in the land grants often did not speak English and were suspicious of and unfamiliar with the American legal system—so different from the Hispanic. Many of the claimants were poor and unable to pursue the lengthy and expensive legal process of getting a claim confirmed. Moreover, the Surveyors General appointed by the U.S. had little knowledge of Hispanic land practices and customs. "The situation was ripe for fraud. The results were "large grants owned by speculators were erroneously confirmed; other grants which should have been confirmed were not...[and]...some valid grants were confirmed, but to the wrong people." The Santa Fe Ring of lawyers and politicians, often in league with the Surveyors General, abused the adjudication system for their own benefit.

Among Catron's acquisitions was the 600000 acre Tierra Amarilla Land Grant. Disputes about ownership have continued into the 21st century and erupted into violence on at least one occasion, a 1967 raid on the Rio Arriba County courthouse by Reies Tijerina and Hispanic claimants to grant land.

United States Senator

Catron was an early advocate for New Mexico statehood, and in the early 1900s marshaled the territorial Republican Party to lobby Republicans at the national level for New Mexico's admission to the Union.

When New Mexico was admitted as the 47th state in 1912, the New Mexico State Legislature elected Catron as one of the state's first U.S. Senators. Catron won the "long term" (four years), while Albert B. Fall won the "short term" (one year). Catron took office on March 27, 1912.

To win election to the Senate, Catron made a personal alliance with Fall (later to be involved in the Teapot Dome scandal), ensuring that each of them would be elected. This alliance antagonized New Mexicans of Spanish heritage, who had hoped that one of their own would become a Senator.

At the start of his Senate career Catron served as Chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the Interior Department. In 1916 he was a candidate for reelection, but lost the Republican nomination to Frank A. Hubbell. Hubbell went on to lose the general election to Andrieus A. Jones.

After leaving the Senate Catron returned to Santa Fe, where he resumed his law practice and business interests, and served in local offices including President of the Board of Education.

Catron was mentioned as a Senate candidate in 1918 if Fall did not run for reelection, but Fall decided to run, received the Republican nomination, and won another term.

Retirement, death and burial

After leaving the Senate, Catron attempted unsuccessfully to receive an appointment as Ambassador to Chile. In retirement Catron continued to reside in Santa Fe. He died in Santa Fe on May 15, 1921, and was interred in a mausoleum at Fairview Cemetery.

Family

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bb/Julia_Anna_Walz.jpg" caption="Julia Anna Walz"] ::

In 1887 Catron married Julia Anna Walz (March 28, 1857November 8, 1909), a native of Ohio. She had lived in Mankato, Minnesota, was a graduate of Oberlin College, and was teaching school when she met Catron. They had five children, four of whom lived to adulthood: John Walz; Charles Christopher; Thomas Benton II; and Fletcher Arthur.

Awards and honors

Catron received an honorary Master of Arts degree from the University of Missouri in 1868, and in 1920 the University of Missouri awarded him an honorary LL.D.

Catron County, New Mexico, is named in his honor.

In popular culture

A Chicano Spanglish poem, Lo que dirá ("What He Will Say") was written by T. A. Tornillo and published in the October 15, 1892 edition of El Hispano Americano, a newspaper in Las Vegas, New Mexico. It invites people not to vote for Catron in the November 8 election for Delegate to Congress and describes him as a ladrón banquero ("robber banker").

References

References

  1. City of Santa Fe, [http://www.santafenm.gov/mayors_of_santa_fe Former Mayors of Santa Fe], 2014
  2. (1988). "Thomas Benton Catron: A Historical Defense". New Mexico Historical Defense.
  3. (2003). "Struggle for Survival: The Hispanic Land Grants of New Mexico, 1848-1901". Agricultural History.
  4. William A. Keleher, [https://books.google.com/books?id=XdkJAgAAQBAJ&dq=%22thomas+benton+catron%22+lexington+1840&pg=PA57 Violence in Lincoln County, 1869-1881: Facsimile of 1957 Edition], 2007, page 57
  5. David Correia, [https://books.google.com/books?id=UCollKHzafsC&dq=%22thomas+benton+catron%22+named+senator+thomas+hart&pg=PT24 Properties of Violence], 2013, Chapter 2
  6. (2007). "The Leading Facts of New Mexican History". Sunstone Press.
  7. Victor Westphall, [https://books.google.com/books?id=4BdSAQAAIAAJ&q=%22thomas+benton+catron%22+%22masonic+college%22 Thomas Benton Catron and His Era], 1973, page 6
  8. Herbert Oliver Brayer, Alianza Federal de las Mercedes, [https://books.google.com/books?id=dhtBAAAAMAAJ&q=%22class+of+1860%22 Spanish and Mexican Land Grants], 1923, page 167
  9. Ralph Emerson Twitchell, [https://books.google.com/books?id=VrsUAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22thomas+b+catron%22+%22civil+war%22&pg=PA519 The Leading Facts of New Mexican History], Volume 2, 1912, pages 519-520
  10. Richard W. Etulain, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Wagh66BYxmkC&dq=%22thomas+b+catron%22+%22university+of+missouri%22&pg=PA197 New Mexican Lives: Profiles and Historical Stories], 2002, page 197
  11. William A. Keleher, [https://books.google.com/books?id=d-c1kDce60UC&dq=%22thomas+benton+catron%22+%22university+of+missouri%22&pg=PA117 The Fabulous Frontier, 1846-1912], pages 117-118
  12. C. R. Caldwell, [https://books.google.com/books?id=HSysw_UbEIQC&dq=%22thomas+benton+catron%22+%22district+attorney%22+%22dona+ana%22&pg=PA304 Dead Right: The Lincoln County War], 2008, page 304
  13. Donald R. Lavash, [https://books.google.com/books?id=UCu_avjCX4EC&dq=%22thomas+b+catron%22+%22attorney+general%22&pg=PA32 Sheriff William Brady, Tragic Hero of the Lincoln County War], 1986, page 32
  14. Rubén Darío Sálaz, [https://books.google.com/books?id=zbYLAAAAYAAJ&q=%22united+states+attorney%22+catron+1872+1878 New Mexico: A Brief Multi-History], 1999, page 299
  15. David L. Caffey, [https://books.google.com/books?id=NMalAgAAQBAJ&dq=%22US+attorney%22+catron+1872&pg=PA92 Chasing the Santa Fe Ring: Power and Privilege in Territorial New Mexico], 2014, page 92
  16. Ralph Emerson Twitchell, [https://books.google.com/books?id=o1CwTgi4tw8C&dq=%22thomas+benton+catron%22+council&pg=PA429 Old Santa Fe: Facsimile of Number 281 of the Original 1925 Edition], 2007, page 429
  17. C. R. Caldwell, [https://books.google.com/books?id=HSysw_UbEIQC&dq=%22thomas+benton+catron%22+congress+1892&pg=PA304 Dead Right: The Lincoln County War], 2008, page 304
  18. Sunstone Press, [https://books.google.com/books?id=J7DhRhtSnGoC&dq=%22thomas+b+catron%22+mayor&pg=PA427 All Trails Lead to Santa Fe: An Anthology Commemorating the 400th Anniversary of the Founding of Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1610], 2010, page 427
  19. (1977). "History of the Tierra Amarilla Grant". New Mexico Geological Society Guidebooke.
  20. William W. Dunmire, [https://books.google.com/books?id=fMSxVxkiq3YC&dq=%22thomas+b+catron%22+three+million+acres&pg=PT73 New Mexico's Spanish Livestock Heritage], 2013, Chapter 9
  21. "History: Land Grants".
  22. (December 1962). "Land Policy in the Spanish Southwest: 1846-1891". The Journal of Economic History.
  23. (1985). "The History and Adjudication of the Common Lands of Spanish and Mexican Land Grants". Natural Resources Journal.
  24. (July 20, 2018). "Fresh Dispute over Historic New Mexico Land Grant".
  25. Prince, Le Baron Bradford. (1910). "New Mexico's Struggle for Statehood".
  26. Larson, Robert W.. (2013-08-15). "New Mexico's Quest for Statehood, 1846-1912". UNM Press.
  27. McCord, Richard. (2009). "Santa Fe Living Treasures: Our Elders, Our Hearts". Sunstone Press.
  28. Dodd, Mead And Company, [https://books.google.com/books?id=I00xAQAAMAAJ&dq=catron+albert+fall+%22united+states+senator%22+1912&pg=PA466 The New International Year Book], 1913, page 466
  29. New York Times, [https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1912/04/07/100358751.pdf New Mexico Natives Bitter Over Defeat], April 7, 1912.
  30. Texas History Online, El Paso Herald, [http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth138444/m1/2/zoom/ Catron After Fall's Job], September 30, 1916.
  31. Chicago Daily News, [https://books.google.com/books?id=AWQTAAAAYAAJ&dq=andrieus+jones+hubbell+1916&pg=PA302 Almanac and Year Book for 1918], 1918, page 302
  32. New Mexico Department of Education, [https://books.google.com/books?id=MRxVvxvdM8UC&dq=%22t+b+catron%22+%22board+of+education%22&pg=RA1-PA23 New Mexico Educational Directory], 1916, page 23
  33. Newspapers.com, [https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/11617031/ Deming Headlight], August 23, 1918.
  34. Calvin Alexander Roberts, Susan A. Roberts, [https://books.google.com/books?id=SttlyvdXitEC&dq=%22albert+b+fall%22+reelection+1918&pg=PA162 New Mexico], 2006, page 162
  35. David L. Caffey, [https://books.google.com/books?id=NMalAgAAQBAJ&dq=catron+%22new+mexico%22+ambassador+chile&pg=PA203 Chasing the Santa Fe Ring: Power and Privilege in Territorial New Mexico], 2014, page 203
  36. William A. Keleher, [https://books.google.com/books?id=d-c1kDce60UC&dq=thomas+catron+%22minister+to+chile%22&pg=PA117 The Fabulous Frontier, 1846-1912], 2008, page 117
  37. Mark Grossman, [https://books.google.com/books?id=DxupZ6O0p64C&dq=%22thomas+b+catron%22+fairview+cemetery&pg=PA49 Political Corruption in America: An Encyclopedia of Scandals, Power, and Greed], 2003, pages 48-49
  38. [https://books.google.com/books?id=o1CwTgi4tw8C&dq=%22thomas+b+catron%22+julia+fletcher+christopher&pg=PA429 Old Santa Fe: A Brief Review of History 1536-1912], 1912, James B Raciti, page 429
  39. Columbia Missourian, [http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn89066315/1919-04-23/ed-1/seq-1/ Catron Says Wood is Choice of West], April 23, 1919.
  40. Victor Westphall, [https://books.google.com/books?id=4BdSAQAAIAAJ&q=%22thomas+benton+catron%22+honorary+%22master+of+arts%22 Thomas Benton Catron and His Era], 1973, page 7.
  41. Robert Hixson Julyan, [https://books.google.com/books?id=p3fMJnT1gx0C&dq=%22thomas+b+catron%22+%22catron+county%22&pg=PA68 The Place Names of New Mexico], 1996, page 68
  42. Alfred Arteaga. (1994). "An Other Tongue: Nation and Ethnicity in the Linguistic Borderlands". Duke University Press.

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