Roping New Mexico: The Scurrilous Libels of George Judson Kin

November 4, 1910, marked a dark day for the people of New Mexico as George Judson Kin, a self-proclaimed advisor extraordinary to the governor of the territory, launched a scathing campaign to discredit the state and its people. Kin’s vitriolic writings, published in the Mobile Register of Mobile, Alabama, were a thinly veiled attempt to undermine the constitutional convention proceedings in New Mexico. The evening newspaper in Albuquerque, seen as a mouthpiece for the interests of the territory, stood idly by, providing a platform for Kin’s libels and propaganda efforts.

The Mobile Register’s sensationalized headlines and articles, which Kin had written under the guise of objective reporting, painted New Mexico and its people in a negative light. The libels, which Kin dared not publish in Mexico, were a brazen attempt to influence public opinion against the state. By peddling falsehoods and half-truths, Kin sought to create a narrative that would discredit the New Mexico constitutional convention and its delegates.

The people of New Mexico were not the only ones targeted by Kin’s venomous pen. His writings also took aim at the United States, attempting to sow discord and undermine the state’s relationship with the federal government. The evening newspaper’s complicity in these efforts only served to further damage the reputation of New Mexico.

As the people of New Mexico continued to work towards statehood, they faced a formidable foe in the form of George Judson Kin’s malicious writings. The state’s future hung in the balance, threatened by the scurrilous libels of a man who seemed to have no regard for the truth or the well-being of its citizens.