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Socorro is a small town of about 10,000 people on the west side of the Rio Grande, I-10 and the railroad. The town was once known for mining (lead, silver and coal), cattle ranching and agriculture. Now the town primarily relies on the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology and tourism (both the Very Large Array and the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge are nearby) for it’s economic base.

Socorro was named by Juan de Oñate’s expedition of 1598. Oñate’s group reached the Piro Indian pueblo after traversing the aptly named Jornada del Muerto (journey of death) section of El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro. The Piros (the southernmost of the Pueblo tribes) gave the expedition much needed food and shelter and earned the name of socorro, Spanish for help. Oñate’s expedition was not the first Spanish one but it was the first to establish settlements in present-day New Mexico.

The Piro and the Spanish enjoyed an amicable relationship and by 1620 a mission and small town were established near the Piro pueblo. In it’s heyday the town had over 600 residents. The Pueblo Revolt of August 1680 changed everything. The Piro tribe was one of the few Pueblos that did not take up arms against the Spanish. As a result they were forced to flee alongside the Spaniards.

The area remained uninhabited because of raiding Apaches until 1815. The industrious settlers immediately rebuilt a new church on top of the former mission. San Miguel held its first service in 1821 and is still holding services today.

The Mission stands just north of the old plaza. The plaza and it’s historic buildings have been well maintained, the people of Socorro seem to respect their history. We stopped in the old Capitol Bar, located on the plaza, for happy hour. We played a couple games of pool in the building that was once a jail. I’m certain we had a better time than the previous inhabitants!

This little town is associated with some of the biggest names in New Mexico history; Elfego Baca and Conrad Hilton. Conrad Hilton founded the world-famous Hilton Hotel chain but it all started in a small town. Conrad was born in San Antonio, New Mexico (about 7 miles from Socorro) in 1887 and pitched in at his parent’s store and small inn at a young age. He went to school in Socorro, attending New Mexico Tech (as the locals call it) before purchasing his first hotel, and the rest is history.

Conrad, who died in 1979, is probably best known because of two women, one of his wives and his great-granddaughter. Zsa Zsa Gabor and Paris Hilton respectively. Knowing how hard old Conrad worked he is probably rolling over in his grave because of Paris!

Elfego Baca is New Mexico’s most famous lawman. Haven’t heard of him? Not many people outside of New Mexico have and I think that’s a shame! Elfego appointed himself the law of Socorro County in 1884 at the ripe old age of 19 because he was tired of the lawlessness. His first arrest almost cost him his life. Amazingly, Elfego held off 80 angry cowboys who fired over 4,000 rounds at the cabin he was in. After the cowboys ran out of ammunition Elfego walked out unharmed. Stuff of legends!

Elfego officially became a sheriff a few years later. His first act as sheriff was to send all the wanted men (notice how it’s never wanted women?) in his district a letter that 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.” Needless to say many of them turned themselves in. No wonder that he later became a lawyer, how can you argue with logic like that!

I haven’t been able to find it but I know Disney made a movie about Elfego. They called it “Elfego Baca: Six Gun Law” and it was released in 1962. One of these days I’ll watch it!

Lance and I found it very easy to get around on our bikes, it is a small town. In the afternoon we rode over to the New Mexico Tech campus to play frisbee. The weather was so wonderful, it felt good to be outside. The campus has beautiful large grassy areas and a nice pond full of ducks. We were puzzled by the multitude of bumps in many of the cars and trucks that we saw in town. Then we saw a bumper sticker, “This car survived the Socorro hailstorm” (link opens a PDF). I remember hearing about that!

In October of 2004 a freak hailstorm pounded New Mexico. Socorro took the brunt of it with hailstones up to 3” across. Windows and windshields were shattered all over town, people were hospitalized with injuries and much of the local wildlife was killed. For perspective a 2” hailstone hits the earth going about 95 miles per hour, a 3” one can reach speeds of 120 miles per hour! Glad we weren’t there for that!

Every night we would stand outside to listen to the Sandhill Cranes and Snow Geese as they flew overhead. Sandhills make the strangest sounds! We assumed they were flying to the nearby Bosque del Apache NWR, which persuaded us to pay a visit. We left Socorro and headed to the Bosque. We stopped for lunch in San Antonio at the Owl Bar, home of the world-famous green chile cheeseburgers. They really were that good! Next stop, Bosque…

Photos: View the photos from the our stay in Socorro, New Mexico.

Dates: We stayed in Socorro, New Mexico, from 10/30/06 to 11/03/06.