by Mike Magers
New Mexico Military Institute, or NMMI, was founded in 1891 by Col. Robert Goss and Capt. Joseph C. Lea and was initially known as Goss Military Academy. New Mexico had been organized as a territory of the United States under the bill known as the Great Compromise of 1850. Under the bill, California was admitted to the Union, New Mexico and Utah were created as territories out of land gained in the Mexican War (1846-1848), these territories were allowed sovereignty in voting for or against slavery, the boundary between Texas and New Mexico was established and it made it easier for residents of so-called slave states to recover fugitive slaves. The subject of slavery was hotly debated and this bill was the compromise reached by members of the U. S. Congress.
New Mexico Sports 