Charles Edward Meketa was born in East St. Louis, Illinois on October 19, 1923. He was a pilot in Army Air Corps and later became a lieutenant in the Air Force serving in the Pacific and Caribbean theatres. A sculptor, woodworker and folk artist, he worked as a cartographer for the USGS, and at Kirtland AFB and Los Alamos as a craftsman and designer.
Jacqueline Dorgan Meketa (1926-1999) was born in Balboa, Panama and moved to New Mexico in 1932. Jacqueline was a member of the Southwest Writer's Guild and the recipient of many literary awards including the New Mexico Presswomen's Zia Award in 1995.
Charles and Jacqueline were married in 1946 and raised 7 children. They earned their bachelor’s degrees at UNM in the 1950’s. The Meketas lived in Los Alamos, Placitas and Albuquerque, New Mexico. They were an historian and public speaker duo who worked on many projects together. Charles was interested primarily in frontier military history of New Mexico and Arizona in the 1860s. Jacqueline was interested in New Mexico historical biography, and wrote articles and short stories. They both assisted each other with research acquiring photocopies of documents, photos, and maps from archival resources in New Mexico and neighboring states, as well as from National Archives and Records Administration microfilm, and from personal visits to historic sites. Charles analyzed selected NARA microfilms, territorial documents and period newspapers for data on the military activities of various units and individual soldiers serving in New Mexico and Arizona. The Meketa's papers are tied closely to their research interests and publications which include: Medal Of Honor: Indian Wars, 1865-1891, by Charles Meketa; One Blanket And Ten Days Ration: 1st Infantry New Mexico Volunteers In Arizona 1864-1866, by Charles and Jacqueline Meketa, 1980; From Martyrs To Murderers: The Old Southwest's Saints, Sinners, And Scalawags by Jacqueline Dorgan Meketa, 1993; Legacy Of Honor: The Life Of Rafael Chacon, A Nineteenth-Century New Mexican, edited by Jacqueline Dorgan Meketa, c.1986; Louis Felsenthal: Citizen-Soldier of Territorial New Mexico by Jacqueline Dorgan Meketa, c.1982. Legacy of Honor is considered by scholars to be the most accurate account of the Mexican and Civil War eras in New Mexico history. Much of their research pertained to Hispanics in the Civil War era. By searching individual medical records, the Meketas clarified that New Mexico volunteer Hispanic soldiers - previously falsely accused of desertion at Valverde in 1862 and causing the Union defeat - had in truth held their ground and taken heavy casualties. They greatly added to the scholarship on the war that now concludes the battle was lost by poor management at the command level. They wrote an article on the battle for the January 1987 New Mexico Historical Review . Some of Charles Meketa's research on the Hispanic New Mexico volunteers at Valverde is also cited in John Taylor's book, Bloody Valverde, UNM Press, 1995, 1999.
Jacqueline Meketa passed away on May 28, 1999 after battling a long illness. Charles Meketa passed away on March 3, 2007 after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease.
From the guide to the Charles and Jacqueline Meketa Papers, 1792-1994, 1860-1990, (University of New Mexico Center for Southwest Research)
