Ramón Ortiz y Miera
| Ramón Ortiz y Miera | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | 28 January 1814 New Mexico |
| Died | 11 March 1896 (aged 82) El Paso del Norte |
| Nationality | Mexican |
| Occupation | Priest |
Ramón Ortiz y Miera (commonly Padre Ramón Ortiz) (28 January 1814 – 11 March 1896) was a Mexican priest who helped organize armed resistance during the Mexican–American War of 1846 to 1848, and who was frustrated by the U.S. authorities in his efforts to repatriate Hispanic residents from New Mexico to the republic of Mexico after the war.
Ramón Ortiz y Miera was born in Santa Fé, Nuevo México (now New Mexico) on 28 January 1814, the youngest of eleven children of don Antonio Ortiz and doña Teresa Miera. The Ortiz family of Santa Fé was well-connected, descended from early Spanish settlers in Mexico. His father was one of the three leading candidates to be the first (and, as it turned out, the last) representative for New Mexico in the Cortes Generales of Spain. When Ramón Ortiz was baptized his godparents were the governor of New Mexico at the time, Lieutenant Colonel don José Manrique, and the governor's wife, doña Inez Tellez. Ortiz's sister, Ana María, married Lieutenant Colonel José Antonio Vizcarra, who was governor of New Mexico from 1822–1823.
At the age of 18 Ramón Ortiz moved to Durango to study theology under Bishop José Antonio Laureano de Zubiría. He was appointed parish priest of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe in El Paso del Norte (now Ciudad Juárez) in 1836, where he had a spacious house surrounded by orchards and vineyards. He was known for his hospitality to visitors. These included Northerners, as recorded by Susan Shelby Magoffin.
In 1841 the Texan Santa Fe Expedition was launched by a group of soldiers and traders from the Republic of Texas, pushing through New Mexico towards Santa Fe. Before reaching Santa Fe the expedition was defeated by Mexican troops, and the survivors were captured and marched to Mexico City. When the Texan prisoners passed through El Paso, maltreated by their captors and exhausted by the rigors of the desert crossing, Padre Ortiz gave them food and drink and helped them recover. However, he was a fierce nationalist and took advantage of the pulpit to communicate his hostility to United States expansionism.
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