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N0KFQ > TODAY 01.12.15 17:34l 49 Lines 2122 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 76043_N0KFQ
Read: GUEST
Subj: Today in History - Dec 1
Path: IW8PGT<IV3ONZ<IZ3LSV<IW0QNL<JH4XSY<JE7YGF<N9PMO<NS2B<N0KFQ
Sent: 151201/1531Z 76043@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQ1.4.65
1884
Elfego Baca battles Anglo cowboys
Elfego Baca, legendary defender of southwestern Hispanos, manages
to hold off a gang of 80 cowboys who are determined to kill him.
The trouble began the previous day, when Baca arrested Charles
McCarthy, a cowboy who fired five shots at him in a Frisco (now
Reserve), New Mexico, saloon. For months, a vicious band of Texan
cowboys had terrorized the Hispanos of Frisco, brutally
castrating one young Mexican man and using another for target
practice. Outraged by these abuses, Baca gained a commission as
deputy sheriff to try to end the terror. His arrest of McCarthy
served notice to other Anglo cowboys that further abuses of the
Hispanos would not be tolerated.
The Texans, however, were not easily intimidated. The morning
after McCarthy's arrest, a group of about 80 cowboys rode into
town to free McCarthy and make an example of Baca for all
Mexicans. Baca gathered the women and children of the town in a
church for their safety and prepared to make a stand. When he saw
how outnumbered he was, Baca retreated to an adobe house, where
he killed one attacker and wounded several others. The irate
cowboys peppered Baca's tiny hideout with bullets, firing about
400 rounds into the flimsy structure. As night fell, they assumed
they had killed the defiant deputy sheriff, but the next morning
they awoke to the smell of beef stew and tortillas-Baca was
fixing his breakfast.
A short while later, two lawmen and several of Baca's friends
came to his aid, and the cowboys retreated. Baca turned himself
over to the officers, and he was charged with the murder of one
of the cowboys. In his trial in Albuquerque, the jury found Baca
not guilty because he had acted in self-defense, and he was
released to a hero's welcome among the Hispanos of New Mexico.
Baca was adored because he had taken a stand against the abusive
and racist Anglo newcomers. Hugely popular, Baca later enjoyed a
successful career as a lawyer, private detective, and politician
in Albuquerque.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
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