The chief warden of the penitentiary, Henry O. Bursum, had become
firmly established in power as the head of the ring vvhich had been exploit-
ing the finances of the Territory. Bursum was a political product of
Socorro county. At the beginning of the Hagerman administration he was
chairman of the territorial Republican central committee, and without
doubt the most potential factor in the territorial Republican organization.
286 HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO
He not onl}' dominated the legislature, but exercised his influence over
Governor Otero. One of the first acts of the new governor was to re-
move Bursum and appoint in his place Captain Arthur Trelford, an ex-
pert prison authority from the federal penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kan-
sas.
http://www.archive.org/stream/historyofnewmexi01paci/historyofnewmexi01paci_djvu.txt