Luna, Tranquilino, 1849-1892

LUNA, Tranquilino, a Delegate from the Territory of New Mexico; born in Los Lunas, Valencia County, N.Mex., February 25, 1849; attended the public schools and was graduated from the University of Missouri at Columbia; engaged extensively in stock raising; delegate to the Republican National Conventions in 1880 and 1888; elected as a Republican to the Forty-seventh Congress (March 4, 1881-March 3, 1883); presented credentials as a Delegate-elect to the Forty-eighth Congress and served from March 4, 1883, until March 5, 1884, when he was succeeded by Francisco A. Manzanares, who contested his election; sheriff of Valencia County 1888-1892; died in Peralta, Valencia County, N.Mex., November 20, 1892; interment in Los Lunas Cemetery, Los Lunas, N.Mex.

<p>Tranquilino Luna was a transitional figure in New Mexico politics. A successful rancher and entrepreneur, Luna ran for the Territorial Delegate’s seat in the U.S. House against Miguel A. Otero, a seasoned political veteran and a patron of early territorial politics. Their 1880 election campaign displayed the stark divide between the older, founding generation of territorial politicos and a successor generation bent on dictating the terms of New Mexico’s political future. Once in Congress, Luna introduced a bill to create a state government and bring New Mexico into the Union. However, his controversial 1882 election sparked a conflict between warring political factions throughout the territory and prematurely ended his House career.</p>

<p>Tranquilino Luna was born on June 29, 1847, in Los Lunas, Valencia County, Mexico, to Antonio Jose Luna and Isabella Baca. According to one scholar, Antonio was quite wealthy. A merchant-farmer, Luna “grazed 45,000 sheep and had an annual income of $25,000 at the height of his career.” Tranquilino Luna’s family was active in politics; his grandfather, Juan Baca, had served three terms in the territorial assembly as a representative of Valencia County. One of nine children, Luna was educated in local public schools. Like the other offspring of affluent nuevomexicanos in the territory, Luna was sent to college in the United States. After graduating from the University of Missouri at Columbia, Luna returned to New Mexico to work in the livestock industry. In the late 1860s he married Amalia Jaramillo. The couple had one son, Maximiliano, who later became one of Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt’s Rough Riders in the Spanish-American War.</p>

<p>In 1878 Republicans nominated Luna for Delegate at their convention, but “for the sake of harmony” he declined the offer to make way for Mariano S. Otero, whom he “promised to support … heartily.” Two years later, when Otero declined nomination for a second term, Luna sought to run for Delegate in the 47th Congress (1881–1883). In August 1880, the Republican Party unanimously nominated him as its candidate. The Daily New Mexican described the new nominee as a “man of kindly, energetic, and enterprising disposition and exceedingly popular among all classes, both of Americans and Mexicans wherever known.” In his acceptance speech at the nominating convention, Luna assured supporters, “I pledge most solemnly if elected to do all that lays in my power for the development and prosperity for the people, and … the many and varied interests of our beloved Territory.” He vowed to address infrastructure improvements, including the expansion of the railroads. His campaign received a boost from the support of former Delegate José Francisco Chaves, a major political patron who campaigned for Luna in the northern counties of the territory. Luna’s Democratic opponent was another towering figure in territorial politics, Mariano Otero’s uncle, Miguel Otero, who had served as Territorial Delegate during the 34th through the 36th Congresses (1855–1861). At the time of Otero’s tenure, the New Mexico territorial government was controlled by “National Democrats,” who aligned themselves with the Democratic presidential administrations in Washington and supported preserving slavery and secession. A Southern sympathizer, Otero tried to move New Mexico toward statehood and economic development by allying himself with powerful Southern Members of Congress. Although publicly Otero took a middle course on secession, questions about his loyalty forced him in 1860 to relocate with his family to Missouri, where they remained for the better part of a decade. This left him open to accusations in 1880 that he was little more than a carpetbagger, “a gentleman who was born in New Mexico but has lived for a great portion of his life in Colorado and Kansas.”</p>

<p>Tranquilino Luna (February 25, 1849 – November 20, 1892) was a Delegate to the United States House of Representatives from the Territory of New Mexico. Born in Los Lunas, New Mexico, Luna attended the public schools and graduated from the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri. He engaged extensively in stock raising.</p>

<p>Luna served as delegate to the Republican National Conventions in 1880 and 1888. Luna was elected as a Republican to the Forty-seventh Congress (March 4, 1881 – March 3, 1883). He presented credentials as a Delegate-elect to the Forty-eighth Congress and served from March 4, 1883, until March 5, 1884, when he was succeeded by Francisco A. Manzanares, who contested his election. After leaving Congress, he was the Sheriff of Valencia County, New Mexico, from 1888-1892. He died in Peralta, New Mexico, on November 20, 1892, and was buried in Los Lunas Cemetery in Los Lunas, New Mexico.</p>