Hysterical Journey To Historic Places

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ELFEGO BACA



On October 29, 1884 nineteen year old Elfego Baca appointed himself a deputy sheriff, pinned a store bought badge on his shirt, and stepped out to arrest a cowboy named Charlie McCarty for disturbing the peace in Upper Francisco Plaza, NM. Charlie had been firing his six-gun in town. None of the Frisco Plazas had a jail back then so McCarty was held under guard in a little jackal in the Middle Plaza overnight. When some of Charlie’s friends demanded his release one of them, Tabe Allen, was shot in the knee. In the ruckus that followed ranch foreman, Young Parham, suffered mortal injury when his horse reared and fell on him. Word quickly spread through the nearby ranching community that Mexicans up in the Plazas were in revolt and had killed five gringos. Just as quickly armed cowboys filled the Plazas to quell the riot, but finding no trouble they started in drinking tanglefoot whiskey in Milligan’s Store. A justice of the peace fined Charlie five dollars and released him, but some drunken cowboys chased Elfego into a nearby jackal owned by Geronimo Armijo. One of the cowboys, Bert Hearne, was killed when he went to arrest Elfego in the jackal for shooting Allen. The whole army of cowboys, maybe as many as eighty of them, put Elfego under siege for the next 33 hours. He survived a massive flood of bullets sent his way by staying prone on the dugout floor and judiciously returning fire. At one point the jackal was set afire and the roof collapsed, but Elfego calmly dug himself out and cooked breakfast. As they ran out of ammo the cowboys gradually left town. Elfego finally surrendered to Deputy Sheriff Ross but refused to give up his weapons. He kept them cocked and loaded and pointed generally at some cowboys who were escorting the wagon clear down to Socorro. Elfego was tried twice for murder but acquitted both times on grounds of self-defense after his lawyer introduced into evidence the door to the jackal with over 400 bullet holes in it and a broom handle that was hit eight times. Elfego Baca went on to serve his community as a lawman, lawyer, and judge until he retired in El Paso. The picture shows a monument erected in his honor in the town of Reserve, NM. The Frisco Plazas were renamed Reserve by the Forest Service in honor of the conservation effort there.

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Photos

ELFEGO BACA
From Socorro take Hwy 60 westward about 54 miles to Datil, going through Magdalena, and by the Very Large Array. Spend some time at the VLA learning about radio telescopes and deep space observations. At Datil turn south westward on Hwy 12 and follow the signs to Reserve. It is maybe 65 miles. The statue is across the street from the store.