ELFEGO BACA
1865-1945
ELFEGO BACA, WHOSE TRUE-TO-LIFE EXPLOITS AS A YOUNG MAN IN SOCORRO COUNTY, NEW MEXICO, IN THE 1880s SERVED AS GRIST FOR WALT DISNEY PRODUCTIONS' 1958 TV MINI-SERIES, "THE NINE LIVES OF ELFEGO BACA." ACCORDING TO BOTH TRUTH AND LEGEND, BACA APPOINTED HIMSELF DEPUTY SHERIFF TO PROTECT THE HISPANIC CITIZENS OF THE COUNTY, WHERE TEXAN COWBOYS IN THE AREA WERE RELENTLESSLY HARASSING THE POPULATION. THE SELF-APPOINTMENT CULMINATED IN A SOLO BACA BEING HELD SIEGE IN A SMALL CABIN BY 50 HEAVILY ARMED COWBOYS. WHO WERE THWARTED BY THE SHARPSHOOTING AND HOLD-UP DEPUTY FOR TWO DAYS. HE WAS LATER ACQUITTED FOR THE DEATHS OF TWO OF THE TEXANS. ELFEGO LATER WENT ON TO BECOME THE SHERIFF OF SOCORRO COUNTY, AND SERVED IN THAT CAPACITY FOR SEVERAL TERMS. |
