Elfego Baca

Elfego Baca (February 10, 1865 – August 27, 1945) was a gunfighter, law enforcement officer, lawyer, and politician in New Mexico, who became an American folk hero of the later years of the New Mexico Territory frontier. His goal in life was to be a peace officer, and for "the outlaws to hear [his] steps a block away". He is known for his involvement in an 1884 shootout in Frisco (now Reserve), New Mexico, as well as later fictionalized representations of his life in Westerns released during the mid-20th century.

Baca was born in 1865 in Socorro, New Mexico, to Francisco and Juana Maria Baca. His family moved to Topeka, Kansas, when he was a young child. Upon his mother's death in 1880, Baca returned with his father to Belen, New Mexico, where his father became a marshal. In 1884, at the age of 19, Baca acquired some guns and became a deputy sheriff (whether through purchasing a badge or by being appointed is unclear) in Socorro County, New Mexico.

In October 1884, in the town of Middle San Francisco Plaza (now Reserve, New Mexico), Baca arrested a drunk cowboy named Charlie McCarty, flashing his badge at him and taking his gun. McCarty's fellow cowboys tried to stop Baca, but he fought back, killing the horse of John Slaughter's foreman, which fell on him and killed him, and shooting another cowboy in the knee. Subsequently, Justice of the Peace Ted White granted McCarty's freedom and summoned Bert Hearne, a rancher from Spur Lake Ranch, to bring Baca back to the justice for questioning relating to what he considered murder. After Baca refused to come out of the adobe jail, Hearne broke down the door and ordered Baca to come out with his hands up. Soon after that, shots volleyed from the jail and hit Hearne in the stomach, mortally wounding him.

A standoff with the cowboys ensued. The number of cowboys who gathered has been disputed, with villagers at the scene reporting about 40 present, while Baca himself later claimed there had been at least 80. The cowboys are said to have fired more than 4,000 shots into the house, until the adobe building was full of holes. However, none of the bullets struck Baca; the floor of the home is said to have been slightly lower than ground level, allowing him to escape injury.

After about 33 hours and roughly 4,000 rounds fired, the battle ended when Francisquito Naranjo persuaded Baca to surrender. In May 1885, Baca was charged with murder for the death of John Slaughter's foreman and Bert Hearne, and was jailed awaiting trial. In August 1885, Baca was acquitted after the door of Armijo's house was entered as evidence. It had more than 400 bullet holes in it. Purportedly, Baca's defense attorney had false documentation to prove Baca's legal deputization, as Baca's biography suggests he deputized himself just before the arrest of Charlie McCarty.

Baca officially became the sheriff of Socorro County and secured indictments for the arrest of the area's lawbreakers. Instead of ordering his deputies to pursue the wanted men, he sent each of the accused a letter. It said, "I have a warrant here for your arrest. Please come in by March 15 and give yourself up. If you don't, I'll know you intend to resist arrest, and I will feel justified in shooting you on sight when I come after you." Most of the offenders turned themselves in voluntarily.

In 1888, Baca became a U.S. marshal. He served for two years and then began studying law. In December 1894, he was admitted to the bar by Judge A.A. Freeman and briefly joined Freeman's Socorro law firm in February 1895. He practiced law on San Antonio Street in El Paso between 1902 and 1904.

Baca held a succession of public offices, including county clerk, mayor, and school superintendent of Socorro County and district attorney for Socorro and Sierra Counties. In his book The Shooters, historian Leon Metz writes, "most reports say he was the best peace officer Socorro ever had."