The Person:
From Wikipedia entry on Schuyler Colfax:
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"Schuyler Colfax Jr. (/'ska?l?r 'ko?lfæks/; March 23, 1823 – January 13, 1885) was an American journalist, businessman, and politician from Indiana. He served as a United States Representative (1855–69), Speaker of the House of Representatives (1863–69), and the 17th Vice President of the United States (1869–73). To date, he is one of only two Americans (John Nance Garner is the other) to have served as both House speaker and vice president.
Colfax was known for his opposition to slavery while serving in Congress, and was a founder of the Republican Party. In January 1865, as Speaker of the House, Colfax made the unusual choice to cast a vote for passage of the Thirteenth Amendment. (Speakers can vote on House motions but, by convention, rarely do so.) After winning the presidential election of 1868, Ulysses S. Grant and Colfax, at ages 46 and 45, were the youngest Presidential ticket elected in the 19th Century. Believing Grant would only serve one term, in 1870 Colfax attempted unsuccessfully to garner support for the 1872 presidential nomination by telling friends and supporters he would not seek a second vice presidential term. Grant ran again, and Colfax reversed himself and attempted to win the vice presidential nomination, but was defeated by Henry Wilson. In January 1871, Colfax encouraged a unified Italy to adopt a republican government that protected religious freedom and civil rights of its citizens.
An 1873 Congressional investigation into the Crédit Mobilier scandal named Colfax as one of the members of Congress (mostly Republicans) who in 1868 were offered (and possibly took) payments of cash and discounted stock from the Union Pacific Railroad in exchange for favorable action during the construction of the First Transcontinental Railroad. Colfax left the vice presidency at the end of his term in 1873 and never again ran for office. Afterwards he worked as a business executive and became a popular lecturer and speech maker.
Colfax died in Mankato, Minnesota, on January 13, 1885, while changing trains as he was en route to Rock Rapids, Iowa, to give a speech."
The Place:
From the Wikipedia page for Colfax County, New Mexico:
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"Colfax County is a county in the U.S. state of New Mexico. As of the 2010 census, the population was 13,750. Its county seat is Raton. It is south from the Colorado state line. This county was named for Schuyler Colfax (1823-1885), seventeenth Vice President of the United States under U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant.
Colfax County is the home of Philmont Scout Ranch and the NRA Whittington Center.
Colfax County was originally part of Taos County, one of the original nine counties created by the New Mexico Territory in 1852. In 1859, the eastern part of Taos County, including all of the territory of Colfax County, was split off to form Mora County. Colfax County was established on January 25, 1869 from the northern part of Mora County. The original county seat was the gold mining town of Elizabethtown.
By 1872, when the gold rush in Elizabethtown had died down, the county seat was moved to Cimarron. Cimarron was on the stage coach route along the Mountain Branch of the Santa Fe Trail, and was the headquarters of the Maxwell Land Grant. The Colfax County Courthouse in Cimarron is a contributing structure in the Cimarron Historic District, and is still in use as a Masonic lodge.
In 1881, the county seat moved from Cimarron to Springer, on the former Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad, since 1996 part of the Burlington Northern Railroad. The Colfax County Courthouse in Springer was the site of one of the last important shoot-outs in the Colfax County War.[4]:122–124 This former courthouse, which is on the National Register of Historic Places is now a museum devoted to the Santa Fe Trail.
The eastern portions of Colfax, Mora, and San Miguel counties were severed to form Union County in 1893.
After a referendum and a bitter legislative fight, the county seat moved from Springer to Raton in 1897.[5]:23–24 Raton was an important coal-mining town, and was also a railroad center. The citizens of Raton raised $8000 to pay one third of the costs of a new courthouse. That courthouse was replaced in 1932 by the current Colfax County Courthouse (Raton, New Mexico), an art-deco WPA structure that also is on the National Register of Historic Places."
The Courthouse:
From the Wikipedia page for Colfax County Courthouse:
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"The 1936 Art Deco Style Colfax County Courthouse in Raton is a rectangular shaped, five story building, with T-shaped circulation and PWA era bas relief embellishments. Designed by Townes and Funk with R.W. Vorhees, the structure occupies a Shelbyville style court square on a unique sloping site which overlooks the commercial district.
This blond brick courthouse has a truncated, hipped tile roof on the top, and flat roofs at the lower levels. The cornice is decorated in geometric bas relief, with the corners articulated in rounded glazed tile. One chimney extends above the roofline at the southwest corner. The building steps symmetrically down to the north and south (the courthouse faces east); each level has a flat roof and glazed tile cornice. Windows are metal casement and pivot in the center. The entry is detailed with farmer, miner, and cattle bas reliefs representing the main industries of Raton. Access to the courthouse is through a two story archway, leading to four, large, aluminum and glass doors. Metal panels above the doors are embellished with cattle brands from the region; above these are multilight transoms. Deco-style elongated lights with metal casings hang from above."