and here's a picture of otero. so, there was a contested election in 1855. it came down to disputed votes. what happened on the floor was an event in july of 1865. gallegos is defending himself through an interpreter, through a clerk of the house, reading his statement on the floor, and he stresses his personal ties to his constituents, describing himself as native to that very mexican soil. he emphasizes the fact that american mexican-american constituents -- that mexican-american constituents "chose me as the representative. and he judges with the sneers and the just that they responded to his english really to be insults against all nuevo mexicanos. i am the rep resented of of my people. otero, in stark contrast, comes to the floor, and he speaks in english. he addresses the house. and he repeats salacious claims against gallegos, going back to his days in the priesthood, and he accuses gallegos of being a creature of an alien political culture, the mexican party faction, which he described as "indulging great hostility against the institutions of the uni