Miguel Antonio Otero (born 1859)

Miguel Antonio Otero
Miguel Antonio Otero
16th Governor of New Mexico Territory
In office 1897–1906
Preceded by	William Taylor Thornton
Succeeded by	Herbert James Hagerman
Personal details
Born	October 17, 1859 St. Louis, Missouri
Died	August 7, 1944(1944-08-07) (aged 84) Santa Fe, New Mexico
Political party	Republican
Occupation	politician and writer

Miguel Antonio Otero II (October 17, 1859 – August 7, 1944), nicknamed "Gillie," was the 16th Governor of New Mexico Territory from 1897 to 1906 and in later life the author of several books on Western lore. He was the son of Miguel Antonio Otero, a prominent businessman and New Mexico politician.

Miguel Antonio Otero had an adventurous boyhood as his father, a businessman and railroad baron, moved the family from town to town across Kansas, Colorado, and New Mexico. The family established a permanent home in Las Vegas, New Mexico about 1879. He attended St. Louis University and the University of Notre Dame with his older brother Page, but preferred socializing to studying. He returned to Las Vegas in 1880 to work in his father's bank.

The naming of the three generations of Oteros is confusing and has been muddled by writers through the years. According to available evidence, the first Otero did not add any suffix to his name after his son was born. Modern historians often append Sr., but this cannot be considered correct as his son never used Jr. In My Life on the Frontier, 1864–1882, his son gave Otero the parenthetical suffix (I), but this probably was never used during Otero's lifetime. The second Otero also referred to himself without a suffix. But when clarification was necessary, as when describing his family in his autobiography, My Life on the Frontier, he used the parenthetical suffix (II) and specifically not Jr., since that is what he called his son. It is incorrect to refer to the second Otero as Jr. The third Otero was known as Miguel Antonio Otero, Jr. But in My Life on the Frontier, his father also refers to him as Miguel Antonio Otero (IV) -- not (III). Examples of these usages can be found in My Life on the Frontier, pages iv, 280, 285, 286, and 292. Because the two older Oteros had exactly the same name, there remains confusion over places that were named for them. Best evidence suggests that all three were named after Miguel Antonio Otero (I).

While working as a banker, land broker, and livestock broker in Las Vegas, Otero began his career in politics. In a few years, he served as city clerk, probate clerk, county clerk, and recorder, and district court clerk. In 1892 he served as a delegate to the Republican National Convention and met Ohio Senator William McKinley. When McKinley was elected President in 1896, he appointed Otero governor of the Territory of New Mexico. Given Otero's youth (37 years), his meager statewide experience, and his lack of support from either political party, the appointment was somewhat of a surprise. The Otero name was well known in New Mexico, however, and initially he was supported by a wide range of constituencies.