Manuel Armijo (ca. 1793â€"1853) was a New Mexican soldier and
statesman who served three times as governor of New Mexico. He was
instrumental in putting down the Revolt of 1837, he led the force that
captured the Texan Santa Fe Expedition, and he later surrendered to
the United States in the Mexicanâ€"American War, leading to the
Capture of Santa Fe.Manuel Armijo was born, 1793, in the Albuquerque,
New Mexico area, most likely in Belen. He was the son of Vicente
Ferrer Duran y Armijo and Bárbara Casilda Durán y Cháves, both from
prominent New Mexico families. Vicente Armijo and his family resided
in the Plaza de San Antonio de Belén during the 1790s, and according
to the Spanish census, Vicente was a stockman and lieutenant in the
militia. Manuel Armijo married María Trinidad Gabaldón in 1819. The
couple did not have children, but adopted a daughter named Ramona, who
was named "my universal heir and daughter" in Manuel's will. Ramona
Armijo was married to Luís C. de Baca of Socorro, New
Mexico.According to George Wilkins Kendall, Armijo became wealthy by
working for a sheep rancher and stealing and selling the sheep, often
to his own employer; but Kendall was writing about his experience as
Armijo's prisoner in 1841 and his biographical sketch of Armijo is
scurrilous. The historian Marc Simmons ascribes the story of sheep
theft to "tradition". William Wroth wrote on the New Mexico State
Historian's Website, "Governor Armijo was portrayed by George Wilkins
Kendall as having been an uneducated man from a poor family who worked
his way up by stealing. This gross caricature was Kendall's way of
vilifying Armijo due to his perception that the Governor had treated
him unfairly in 1841 in the capture of the disastrous Texas Santa Fe
expedition." In general, according to many Hispanic New Mexicans,
historians have been unfair in their telling of the history of Manuel
Armijo. Angélico Chávez wrote, "Manuel Armijo's character as
Governor and as a man has been unjustly painted in sources too
numerous to mention here."Armijo became the alcalde (mayor) of
Albuquerque and militia lieutenant in 1822 and 1824. In 1827, he was
appointed governor of New Mexico, but in 1828 he returned from Santa
Fe to Albuquerque as a wealthy merchant in sheep and wool blankets,
acting as alcalde again. Some have it that he left the governorship to
avoid a Federal investigation. Manuel Armijo Biography, NetWorth, Height, Age, Weight, Family, Married, Son, Daughter