priests and "Americanize" the Catholic Church there, which created tension between the Mexican Americans and Euro-Americans. At the time, a large amount of Euro-Americans viewed Catholicism as a "superstitious" church and felt that Mexicans were racially inferior for believing in this. There was a disconnect between the Euro-Americans and the Mexican Americans living in New Mexico and other parts of the Southwest that caused many issues for the Mexican Americans that identified with Catholicism. The Euro-Americans that had replaced the Mexican priests felt that assimilation to American culture was vital, and they used racist ideas to justify the changes that they were making to the Catholic Church. However, Zubiria still had jurisdiction over Doña Ana, La Mesilla, and Las Cruces which kept the newly appointed bishop of Santa Fe Jean Lamy and his clergymen out of Southern New Mexico until 1868. José Jesus Baca, a priest originally appointed by Zubiria, asked transfer to the archdiocese of Durango after following the change. In response, Zubiria appointed him to supervise all of the major parishes in southern New Mexico (Mora). Baca felt most comfortable in one of the parishes, named Mesilla, where he decided to take a political position as a part of the Church, continuing Zubiria's mission of resistance. Baca became politically active in the area, lending his support to the Republican Party. He supported the Republican candidates because he felt that it aligned with his Catholic faith, and that Mexicans who supported Democrats were "betraying" their religion. Despite his support for Republicans, in 1871, Baca and José Manuel Gallegos, who was a Democrat, shared an intense opposition to French control over New Mexico's parishes. Gallegos went on to lose an election because his alignment with Catholicism seemed to suggest to his opponents that his loyalty was to Mexico rather than to the United States. After this, Baca viewed Gallegos as a threat to Mexican Catholics due to his political stance. Baca encouraged "loyal Catholics" to vote for Gallegos' opponent, believing that this would allow Baca and the other Mexican American priests to continue to hold jurisdiction over the southern New Mexico parishes. Unfortunately for Baca, the Republican win did not ensure that he and the other Mexican priests would maintain control over these parishes. The election of 1872 set the stage for the Santa Fe Ring. The Santa Fe Ring was a group of influential and powerful elites in New