A friend of mine once told me that he could find no proof that Elfego Baca was a Socorro County Sheriff. This is important because some of Elfego Baca's more colorful stories have to do with him holding this office. I believed my friend, since I think that much of what Elfego Baca said was self promotion, and untrue or at least exagerated.
Well, we were wrong. The 1920 Albuquerque City Directory has a list of state officials. Elfego Baca is listed as the Socorro County Sheriff. (1)
That's why you never believe anyone until you confirm the information yourself.
1. 1920 Albuquerque City Directory (Hudspeth Directory Co., 1920) p. 91.
4 comments:
I'm glad it turned out to be true. OK, so I learned everything I know about Elfego Baca from Disney, which means that almost none of it is true, but he was still one of my childhood TV heroes.
I think that I got my skeptcism about Elfego Baca from my father. My dad told me that when my grandfather was a deputy sheriff, he witnessed Elfego Baca hidding evidence. Elfego was a defense attorney at the time. Although my dad had the same surname as Elfego, he was never proud of the man. Then again, Elfego was probably closer related to my mother's family, who were from the Belen area like Elfego's family, then my father's family, who were from Pena Blanca. My mom always seemed to be prouder of Elfego Baca's legacy then my dad.
When did Elfego serve as Socorro County Sheriff according to the Albuquerque Journal article? He did serve as Socorro's mayor 1897-98, but I have never found any documentation he served as sheriff. Sheriff Department records are complete and there is no mention of him being the sheriff in Socorro Chieftain newspapers at the time, just a deputy on a couple of occasions for the purpose of a posse. He was also sent to Mogollon as deputy sheriff, where he lived a few months until his newborn son died, but never sheriff. I'm not arguing, just trying to settle this claim myself. Thanks.
Paul Harden/Socorro
Paul:
The only thing I found that shows him as sheriff is the 1920 Albuquerque City Directory. I would hope that the directory would be correct, but now I'm not 100% sure.
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