OLDNAVYMCPO
US Veteran, Absent Comrade
Up the trail from El Paso, parallel to the Rio Grande, is the old Spanish trail, Jornada Del Muerto, "the route of the dead man". The trail and the Rio Grande meet at Socorro, NM. Directly west is the town of Magdalena( later to become a R.R. cattle shipping center), from here west to the Arizona border is vast grasslands with springs and creeks. In the early 1800's this area was sparsely settled by Mexican descendants who did a little subsistence farming, raised a few goats and sheep, and lived quiet lives. Various native tribes also called the area home.
Elfego Baca was born in Socorro in the last year of the Civil War. His family then moved to Topeka, Kansas until his mother died in 1880. He returned to NM when his father returned to become a marshal in Belen, NM.
At this time in NM history, Texas cowboys, hardcore Confederate veterans escaping Yankee rule under reconstruction, discovered the vast lands to the west. Many herds of Texas cattle were driven into the grasslands of NM. These armed and experienced veteran war-fighters simply overran the Mexican squatters or bought them out for minimal money.
In 1884, nineteen year old Elfego Baca, tired of his Hispanic people being treated roughly, got him a mail order badge, stole a couple of six-shooters, and appointed himself as deputy sheriff of Socorro County, NM.
In the town of Frisco ( present day Reserve), Elfego got into a shooting fiasco over some of Texas John Slaughter's cowboys trying to hoorah the town. One anglo cowboy was killed and one wounded, the war was on. Eventually, Baca was penned down in a jacal( a Mex style hut made of poles and mud). Word spread among the ranches and more cowboys joined the fight.
Attacked by up to forty cowboys, the battle waged for 33 hours, with thousands of rounds fired. Unwounded, Baca had shot and killed four of his attackers. He was arrested and brought to trial for murder. He was later acquitted after the door of the jacal was presented with over 400 bullet holes in it.
Baca was appointed a U S Marshal in 1888, studied law and passed the bar in 1894. He practiced law on San Antonio Street in El Paso from 1902 until 1904. He held numerous public and political offices in both Texas and NM. Over the years he had numerous confrontations on both sides of the law and both sides of the Mexican border. He had considerable involvement with the Mexican Government on behalf of the US during the Mexican Revolution. He handled security in a big time Mex casino during prohibition. He died on Aug 27,1945 in Albuquerque, NM.
His bigger than life legend is a sizeable part of NM Hispanic culture. There is far more to this fascinating story than I could possibly cover here. Fact is so mixed with fiction that I tried to only represent the facts.
Elfego Baca was born in Socorro in the last year of the Civil War. His family then moved to Topeka, Kansas until his mother died in 1880. He returned to NM when his father returned to become a marshal in Belen, NM.
At this time in NM history, Texas cowboys, hardcore Confederate veterans escaping Yankee rule under reconstruction, discovered the vast lands to the west. Many herds of Texas cattle were driven into the grasslands of NM. These armed and experienced veteran war-fighters simply overran the Mexican squatters or bought them out for minimal money.
In 1884, nineteen year old Elfego Baca, tired of his Hispanic people being treated roughly, got him a mail order badge, stole a couple of six-shooters, and appointed himself as deputy sheriff of Socorro County, NM.
In the town of Frisco ( present day Reserve), Elfego got into a shooting fiasco over some of Texas John Slaughter's cowboys trying to hoorah the town. One anglo cowboy was killed and one wounded, the war was on. Eventually, Baca was penned down in a jacal( a Mex style hut made of poles and mud). Word spread among the ranches and more cowboys joined the fight.
Attacked by up to forty cowboys, the battle waged for 33 hours, with thousands of rounds fired. Unwounded, Baca had shot and killed four of his attackers. He was arrested and brought to trial for murder. He was later acquitted after the door of the jacal was presented with over 400 bullet holes in it.
Baca was appointed a U S Marshal in 1888, studied law and passed the bar in 1894. He practiced law on San Antonio Street in El Paso from 1902 until 1904. He held numerous public and political offices in both Texas and NM. Over the years he had numerous confrontations on both sides of the law and both sides of the Mexican border. He had considerable involvement with the Mexican Government on behalf of the US during the Mexican Revolution. He handled security in a big time Mex casino during prohibition. He died on Aug 27,1945 in Albuquerque, NM.
His bigger than life legend is a sizeable part of NM Hispanic culture. There is far more to this fascinating story than I could possibly cover here. Fact is so mixed with fiction that I tried to only represent the facts.
