Ezequiel Cabeza De Baca made history as the first Hispanic governor in New Mexico when he was elected in November 1916. A descendent of original Spanish settlers, De Baca was Jesuit-educated. In 1891, he helped publish La Voz del Pueblo in his hometown of Las Vegas, New Mexico, and served as a delegate to the 1900 Democratic National Convention. De Baca served as the state’s first lieutenant governor from 1913 to 1917, but his governorship lasted only a few weeks as he died of an illness after assuming office at age 52.
