Our History
The original newspaper was published from 1877 to 1879, serving a community on the southern frontier—a place where languages, cultures, nations, and competing visions of the future met at the edge of larger political, cultural, and economic forces. Now, 150 years after the original newspaper appeared, The Mesilla Valley Independent returns as an annual literary and journalism magazine still interested in the voices that come from the edges.
Timeline:
1838 Albert Jennings Fountain is born on Staten Island, New York. He will eventually become an attorney, soldier, legislator, newspaper editor, and one of the most prominent figures in the early history of the Territory of New Mexico.
1846–1848 The Mexican-American War. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo transferred much of New Mexico to the United States, but the town of Mesilla remained in Mexican territory until the Gadsden Purchase.
1853–1854 The Gadsden Purchase—known in Spanish as “La Venta de la Mesilla” (The Sale of the Mesilla)—established the current southern boundary between the United States and Mexico, placing the Mesilla Valley within the United States.
1861–1865 The American Civil War. Albert Fountain served in the Union Army and participated in the California Column's campaign into New Mexico Territory.
1873 Albert Fountain moves to Mesilla and establishes himself as an attorney and political leader. He becomes deeply involved in the political, legal, and journalistic life of the territory.
June 23, 1877 The first issue of The Mesilla Valley Independent is published in Mesilla, New Mexico Territory with Albert Fountain as its chief editor. The newspaper is published in both English and Spanish, with its Spanish section appearing as El Independiente del Valle de la Mesilla.
1877–1879 The original Independent. For more than two years, The Mesilla Valley Independent chronicles the people, politics, events, and culture of the Mesilla Valley. The original newspaper publishes its final issue in July 1879.
1881 Fountain defends Billy the Kid. Albert Fountain serves as defense attorney for William H. Bonney, better known as Billy the Kid, in his trial for the murder of Sheriff William Brady.
1888 Las Cruces College, what will become New Mexico State University, opens in Las Cruces.
1896 The disappearance of Albert Fountain. On February 1, Albert Fountain and his young son, Henry, disappear while traveling from Lincoln County toward Las Cruces. Their bodies were never found.
1912 New Mexico becomes a state.
2027 The Mesilla Valley Independent returns.
Now, 150 years after its founding, The Mesilla Valley Independent returns with a new purpose and an old name. The annual magazine carries forward the name and spirit of its predecessor with fiction, creative nonfiction, journalism, essays, flash fiction, and flash nonfiction that explore the people, history, culture, ideas, and character of the Mesilla Valley, the broader Southwest, and anyone speaking from the edges.
Text from the Library of Congress:
The Mesilla Valley Independent and its Spanish-language section, El Independiente del Valle de la Mesilla, were published weekly from June 23, 1877, until July 26, 1879. Founded in 1849 on the banks of the Rio Grande River, Mesilla originally lay in Mexican territory. However, after the Gadsden Purchase of 1854, the town became part of the United States. By the 1850s, Mesilla’s population had grown to almost 2,500 people, dwarfing the neighboring town of Las Cruces.
Albert Jennings Fountain served as the paper’s chief editor, while John S. Crouch and Thomas Casad worked as co-editors. Fountain was born and educated in New York and later spent time in California as an attorney and lieutenant in the Union Army. He also became a Freemason and an important member of the Republican Party. Settling in 1873 in Mesilla with his family, Fountain continued his legal practice and even defended William H. Bonney–better known as Billy the Kid–in 1881.
Although Fountain was a Republican, the Mesilla Valley Independent did not simply support Republican candidates. The August 17, 1878 issue explains: “The two parties of New Mexico have each placed in the field their candidates for Congress. There is much that can be said in behalf of either . . . . We would advocate much cool judgment, with an independent thought as to who is the best man . . . “On August 17, 1878, Fountain left the Independent due to an illness and Thomas Casad retired. John S. Crouch stayed with the paper and Orla S. Casad joined him as editor.
The Mesilla Valley Publishing Company issued the newspaper every Saturday. The English section, The Mesilla Valley Independent, spanned five pages; while the Spanish section, El Independiente del Valle de la Mesilla, spanned only three pages. The latter did not simply translate the English news; rather, the editors focused on events in Mexico. When Orla Casad and John Crouch took over the paper, they recognized the deficiencies of El Independiente and purposed to “increase and make better our Spanish Columns, and to afford our Spanish reading patrons the same matter that will appear in English.” Despite these intentions, the Spanish section remained unchanged.
Topics reported on during the paper’s brief history include the Lincoln County War–a conflict between rival factions in New Mexico Territory (1878-79), irrigation issues, railroad news, and local events, including those in neighboring Grant County and the city of El Paso. The editors placed national and international news under the Telegraph column. Many issues also attacked the educational policies of the Jesuits, who had attempted to sell their textbooks to the public schools and gain tax-exempt status from the legislature.
In 1878, a subscription to the Mesilla Valley Independent cost $3.00 for one year, $1.50 for six months, and $1.00 for three months. Advertisements mainly included dry goods, grocers, jewelry and hotels. Each issue featured a Masonic Column, likely reflecting Fountain’s connection with this group.
Provided By: University of New Mexico
The Mesilla Valley Independent (Mesilla, N.M.) 1877-1879 | Library of Congress https://www.loc.gov/item/sn87090075/