Elfego Baca

Elfego Baca
Elfego Baca in 1883
Born(1865-02-10)February 10, 1865
Socorro, New Mexico Territory
DiedAugust 27, 1945(1945-08-27) (aged 80)
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Occupation(s)Gunfighter, sheriff, lawyer, politician
Political partyRepublican Party
Family

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.[1][2][3][4][5][6] 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.

  1. ^ Meier, M.S.; Gutiérrez, M.; Gutierrez, M.; Greenwood Press; ProQuest (Firm) (2003). The Mexican American Experience: An Encyclopedia. Greenwood Press. p. 34. ISBN 978-0-313-31643-2. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
  2. ^ Shimabukuro, Karra (2016). "Don't Just Print the Legend, Write It". Western Folklore. 75 (1). Western States Folklore Society: 77–106. ISSN 0043-373X. JSTOR 44790901. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
  3. ^ "Elfego Baca". La Prensa Texas. February 19, 2021. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
  4. ^ Worman, C.G. (2005). Gunsmoke and Saddle Leather: Firearms in the Nineteenth-century American West. University of New Mexico Press. p. 183. ISBN 978-0-8263-3593-7. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
  5. ^ Green, T.A. (2006). The Greenwood Library of American Folktales: The Northeast, the Midwest, the Mid-Atlantic. Greenwood Press. p. 4. ISBN 978-0-313-33774-1. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
  6. ^ Lucero, D.L. (2009). The Adobe Kingdom: New Mexico, 1598-1958, as Experienced by the Families Lucero de Godoy Y Baca. Sunstone Press. p. 274. ISBN 978-0-86534-669-7. Retrieved August 13, 2021.