Elfego Baca
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Silver was discovered in the Magdalena Mountains west of Socorro in 1867, creating growth in that army town. (Ft. Craig was 20 miles to the south.) By 1890, Socorro was the largest city in New Mexico. Reportedly 3,000 miners made it their home and their trading, gambling, and drinking center. Between thirty and forty saloons were built to accommodate their demands. It became evident before long that law and order were unknown qualities.
Enter Elfego Baca. Born in 1865, his arrival into the world was dramatic. His mother was pregnant at 19 and, so the story goes, was playing baseball. She jumped for the ball, came down with a thump, and “Elfego entered the ball game!”
His legendary fame was similar to that of Billy the Kid, except he was on the side of the law as sheriff, marshal, district attorney, school superintendent, and mayor. At age nineteen, he established his reputation as a quick draw with a deadly aim when he held 80 Texas cowboys at bay for thirty-six hours, killing four and wounding eight.
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Marsh Trail overlook. Photo by Leonard Padilla.
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It is late winter, a Monday afternoon, in New Mexico’s Middle Rio Grande Valley. The temperature outside hovers at sixty degrees. For one person, the temptation to remove his coat and tie and play hooky from work is too compelling to resist. From Socorro, our adventurer drives south on New Mexico Highway 1 toward the entrancing and renowned Bosque Del Apache Wildlife Refuge. He must, for obvious reasons, remain anonymous.
South of town, through and along desert hills, Highway 1 parallels Interstate 25 for five miles, then turns sharply over the interstate and winds down to the valley. The village of Luis Lopez is at the bottom of the hill. Another five miles further south is the more well-known village of San Antonio.
A short time later, eighteen miles from Socorro and just inside the Refuge boundary, an American kestrel perches on an overhead wire and surveys the scene. Just up the road, slicing through the air at about eye level, glides a red-tailed hawk. The Refuge headquarters and visitor center soon appear and, after paying $3.00 at an entrance station, the visitor takes the Marsh Road Loop. In the canal which parallels the road, a great blue heron preens itself. In the marshes, Canada geese, northern shovelers and buffleheads paddle lazily in small groups, some tipping over sporadically in search of food, scarcely taking notice. Down the road, snow geese line the top of a canal, providing contrasting foreground for the Chupadera Mountains.
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