Elfego Baca
1865-1945
"I will show the Texans there is at least one Mexican in the county who is not afraid of an American cowboy"
Elfego Baca - 1884
In October 1884, seven drunken cowboys committed horrific acts against two Mexican men in Upper Frisco, (modern day Reserve). Just a stone's throw from where you now stand, in Milligan's Saloon, a man known as El Burro was brutally tortured and Epitacio Martinez, coming to the aid of his friend, was bound and shot for target practice. Both men lived. The Frisco deputy sheriff, Pedro Sarracino, outnumbered and overwhelmed, rode to Socorro for help. Nineteen year old deputy Elfego Baca rode back to Frisco with Sarracino intent on seeking justice.
Three days later, Baca observed one cowboy butting another one on the head and firing several rounds with his pistol. Justice of the Peace Lopez stood by hopelessly, saying the Slaughter outfit had 150 cowboys on their payroll and could not be stopped. Determined and fearless, Baca promptly arrested the cowboy. A large group of cowboys gathered and demanded his release. Baca shot into the group wounding one man and they dispersed. But the following day, 80 enraged ranch hands rode into the town, intent on freeing the arrested cowboy and avenging the indignity of his arrest. A trial was held and the cowboy was released. Baca, sensing a gunfight, retreated to a jacal belonging to Geronimo Armijo and barricaded himself inside. Baca kept his six-shooter blazing for 36 hours, pausing just long enough to cook some tortillas and beef stew. Protected by mud and picket walls,a sunken floor and an icon of Nuestra Senora Santa Anna, Baca braved dynamite and some 4,000 rounds of gunfire shot in his direction by the Texas cowboys.
On the third day, Baca agreed to give himself up to deputy Ross from Socorro but refused to turn over his guns. Baca, unscathed throughout the gunfight, had killed two cowboys and wounded two more.
The atrocities stopped.
This memorial has been constructed under the leadership of Henry Martinez (great-grandson of Epitacio Martinez), by the Elfego Baca Project, Inc. and Catron County with a grant from the State of New Mexico, to commemorate the life and honor the bravery of Elfego Baca.
Marker is on Main Street (New Mexico Route 435) 0.1 miles south of U.S. 12, on the right when traveling south.
Courtesy hmdb.org
