Burns, Thomas D., Jr.

Thomas D. Burns, Jr., was the son of Ireland native Thomas D. Burns, a settler and well-known business in Northern New Mexico. The first T.D Burns came to Abiquiu, New Mexico in 1864. Burns married Josefa, daughter of wealthy Jose Pablo Gallegos. By 1872 he had established mercantile stores at Tierra Amarilla, New Mexico and Chama, New Mexico, among other New Mexican cities. He served as an interpreter to the Ute Native American Tribe and a post trader at Fort Lowell and was the first speculator to begin buying up interests in the Tierra Amarilla land grant. Burns senior was also the founder of the Burns National Bank in Durango, Colorado. He also invested in Trimble Hot Springs in Durango and built the Hermosa House which eventually burned down. Nothing more is known about Thomas D. Burns, Jr. except that he was born circa 1909.