Casimiro barela biography of williams
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The town of Barela was named for Casimiro Barela, known as the “Perpetual Senator” for his almost 40 years serving in the Colorado legislature. Barela helped to write Colorado’s State Constitution, and fought to ensure that it was published in English, Spanish, and German so the state’s diverse constituents could understand it. He was born in New Mexico in 1847, and was an early settler of what is now Las Animas County. Barela built a palatial home with a train stop in Barela, so he could go into Trinidad to attend to business. At different points, he held a number of elected positions in Las Animas County, had a blacksmith and a supply shop, ran two Spanish-language newspapers, and served as consul to both Mexico and revben Rica.
Barela supported women’s right to vote, fought to skydda land and grazing rights, and was a strong advocate for New Mexico statehood. To honor his years of service, his portrait was enshrined in stained glass at the Colorado State Capitol in Denver.
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SOUTHERN COLO.— Although Ceran St. Vrain died 144 years ago, he left a mighty footprint on southern Colorado. His original Spanish Land Grant of 4,000,000 acres is now spread across five counties (Huerfano, Las Animas, Otero, Bent and Pueblo), so many of us have shared his goal of populating the land. Numerous descendents of his extended family are a part of that population. Ceran was the father of three children by three different common law wives. They were Jose Vicente, born in 1827 to Maria Dolores de Luna, Felix, born in 1844 to Maria Ignacia Trujillo, and Felicita, born to Luisa Branch about 1865. He was also said to have married Maria Luisa Antonia, the second child of Carlos Beaubien of Taos. It was common in those days for the powerful men of Taos to form alliances with other powerful men through marriage, including common law agreements. They were, after all, building empires, and allies were invaluable. Of Ceran’s three children, Felix caused him the most trouble. He
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Casimiro Barela (1847-1920)
In 1871, still in his early 20s, Casimiro was elected to the territorial legislature as a representative of Las Animas County. He was soon sent to Denver and met other representatives who spoke Spanish. What was fairly unique to Casimiro was his fluency in both English and Spanish. By 1875, this understanding of multiple cultures and languages would come to serve him well.
In 1875 he was named as one of 49 representatives tasked with writing a Constitution for the state of Colorado. Understanding the various immigrant groups that made up Colorado, he suggested the Constitution be written in Spanish, English and German so that more people could understand it. Colorado became a state the next year and its Constitution would be published in all three languages for the 30 years that followed.
In 1876, he was elected as a senator to the state legislature. After the death of his first wife, he married a wealthy woman from New Mexico name