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266 Chap ter t went y-t wo The Final Years I’ll be a bigger man dead than I have ever been alive. —Ross, winter of 1906–1907 At the reception they told me he enjoyed the music, applauding heartily, but as to the congratulatory speeches he comprehended little, for his own gratification the turning point of the tide of public opinion had come too late. —Lillian Ross Leis, “Memoirs of Edmund G. Ross, Part Three”| In August 1889 an article appeared in the New York Times titled “Ross’s Varying Fortune.” It was well written, without a byline, seemingly by someone who knew Edmund Ross well and who thought highly of him. The article had a Topeka dateline of August 17. The writer commented: “Kansas Republicans with long memories are discussing with evident relish the fact that Edmund G. Ross, late Governor of New-Mexico, is now a common printer in the office of a Santa Fé newspaper.” The implication was that such a job was demeaning for a former United States senator and territorial governor , and there was therefore delight in knowing he was having to labor in such a manner. The writer, however, was quick to point out that Ross had “frequently told his Washington associates that he would be found at the case when his Senatorial duties were over.” He did not see any loss of dignity in his job; to him it was honest labor.1 Lillian Ross Leis confirms that after leaving office her father did work at a Santa Fe newspaper, which she identifies as the Santa Fe New Mexican— although given that paper’s editorial policy, which was strictly Republican, the Santa Fe Herald would seem to have been the more logical place for Ross. What additionally made the New Mexican an unlikely employer was Max Frost. Frost was part owner, publisher, and editor of the New Mexican The Final Years = 267 in late-nineteenth-century New Mexico and an archenemy of the Ross administration. Frost’s newspaper was not only Republican, it was a voice of the Santa Fe Ring, and Frost himself was an important investor in land grant schemes. He also had served for a time as the territorial land register and was charged with fraudulent activity in connection with the job. George Julian had preferred the charges. Frost was tried and found guilty, but the conviction was later overturned.2 Although Ross had once worked for the Republican Albuquerque Journal, a stint with the Republican Santa Fe New Mexican would be quite another matter. Ross’s working for the New Mexican remains a possibility, and it must be said that Ross and Frost did find common ground when it came to promoting statehood in 1888. If the New Mexican was Ross’s only offer of employment, although not what he might have desired, he may have swallowed his pride a bit just to stay in Santa Fe, the political power center of the territory. Ross was, after all, a leading Democrat, and he probably wanted to keep a high profile in Democratic circles in Santa Fe while seeing what other opportunities might open for him. It is probably correct that wherever Ross worked, it was a job “at the case,” not an editorial position, and at most Ross would have worked at a Santa Fe paper for a only few months. In August 1889 Singleton Ashenfelter of Silver City wrote to let Ross know that his purchase of the Deming Headlight newspaper was complete and to offer Ross editorship of the paper at one hundred dollars per month. The letter has an apologetic tone to it. The one hundred dollar salary was less than half what Ross had earned as governor, but Ashenfelter promised his salary “would increase in proportion as the business warranted.”3 The letter was sent to Ross in Santa Fe, suggesting that Ross was at the time employed there. Deming was a small but promising town near New Mexico’s southern border. The AT&SF and the Southern Pacific met at Deming, a surprisingly thriving community. A second letter sent later in August indicated that Ross would arrive in Deming on a Friday or Saturday at the end of the month.4 The first edition of the Headlight with Ross as editor was dated September 7, 1889. Although Santa Fe was the real power center of New Mexico, Ross saw that as editor of the Headlight he had a platform for expressing himself and that...

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