On August 27, 1871, an arcing ax handle landed solidly on John Lemon’s head, plummeting him to the ground. The Doña Ana County politician and Republican party boss—a hopelessly intractable firebrand if one were a Democrat—lay unconscious in the street, wholly oblivious to the pandemonium. On the typically quiet, quaint plaza in La Mesilla, New Mexico, chaos was contagious; gunfire was ubiquitous. Democrats and Republicans were at war! The upcoming election on September 4 had evoked fan
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