Otero, Miguel A. (Miguel Antonio), 1829-1882

Miguel Antonio Otero (June 21, 1829 – May 30, 1882) was a prominent American politician of the New Mexico Territory. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as Delegate from 1856 to 1861. Otero was instrumental in the economic development of the territory.

Born in Valencia, Nuevo México (now Valencia County, New Mexico), he received his early education there before enrolling in St. Louis University, ultimately graduating from Pingree College in Fishkill, New York. Otero studied law ion New York City and St. Louis, passing the Missouri bar in 1852. He entered the political realm as the private secretary to territorial governor William Carr Lane, the former mayor of St. Louis, serving until Lane’s term expired in 1853. At 23, Otero won election in September 1852 to represent Valencia County in New Mexico’s Second Legislative Assembly. In 1854 Otero was appointed attorney general for the territory; he served in that position until his election to Congress.

On July 23, 1856 he was seated as a Democratic Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives, after successfully contesting the election of José Manuel Gallegos. With the support of the Bishop of New Mexico, Jean Baptiste Lamy, Otero was reelected to the next two Congresses, but was not a candidate for renomination in 1860. An outspoken Congressman and a strong supporter of the railroad, Otero devoted much of his efforts to the construction of the transcontinental railroad through New Mexico. After Otero had completed his term in Congress, President Abraham Lincoln nominated him to be minister to Spain in 1861. Otero declined that office to accept an appointment as secretary of the territory of New Mexico, but the Senate did not confirm him because of his involvement in the 1860 Democratic National Convention in South Carolina and his pro-confederate tendencies.

In 1864 Otero left New Mexico to pursue business interests in Kansas City and in Leavenworth, where he worked as a silent partner in a forwarding and commission firm. In 1867 Otero, with his brother Manuel, and Scottish immigrant John Perry Sellar formed one of the largest merchandising firms in the Southwest: Otero, Sellar, and Company. In the 1870s, Otero served as an agent for the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad, lobbying on its behalf before the New Mexico territorial government. In this position, he continued to pursue one of his goals in Congress: bringing major railroads through New Mexico to spur economic development. He also served on the board of directors of the New Mexico and Southern Pacific Railroad Company and arranged for its passage through the territory. Eventually, Otero and Sellar, among others, incorporated the San Miguel National Bank in Las Vegas, New Mexico, in 1879.

In 1880, Otero ran for the Delegate's seat to the U.S. House, narrowly losing to entrepreneur Tranquilino Luna. Less than two years later, on May 30, 1882, Otero died in Las Vegas, New Mexico, from complications of pneumonia.