Ken Orona

Assistant Professor
M.A., University of Colorado, Boulder
Ph.D., Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut

My current research study, Muddy Water: Power, Contest and Identity in Central New Mexico, 1848-1947, examines the middle Rio Grande valley in central New Mexico as a test case in how the people and local, state, and federal governments worked to provide flood control and drainage. I am in the process of preparing my manuscript for publication. My scholarly interests fall at the intersection of environmental, legal and political history. Situating my work in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, my area of expertise in is US Western History, especially in the timeframe of the US Progressive movement. Within the broader context of United States and Western American history, I contribute to the rich body of work that examines the transition framework I revisit ideas that link American western history to larger political, legal and environmental topics.

My project has, in many ways, clarified my thinking about the approach and direction I want to take as a scholar. This work has provided a solid foundation and method to launch my future work. Given my empirical grounding in late nineteenth and early twentieth century history, I'm currently undertaking research about the first Hispano United States Senator, Dennis Chavez. Born in 1888 and serving in the US Senate from 1935-1962, Chavez exemplified the transition from a local political leader to a national politician. In a political biography, I will illuminate the role Chavez played in securing poorest state in the nation. Using his papers at the Center for Southwest Research, housed at the University of New Mexico, as well as archival material in Washington, DC, I will trace Senator Chavez's career from junior Senator to influential statesman.