History Of Mining And The Settlement Of Socorro County

Ivy Stover

February 27, 2014

Mining and the Settlement of Socorro County

Socorro County is a place of rich history. The area was named Socorro after the aid Don Juan de Oñate and his party of explorers received from the Teypana people when they traveled through the area in 1589. Missionaries stayed behind from the expedition and built the San Miguel Catholic church. Spanish families soon surrounded the mission, farming and ranching the land. However, during the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, settlers and natives moved with the Spaniards farther south into New Mexico. According to Roath, “Socorro was not re-founded as a community again until late 1816.” Fort Craig was built in 1854 to protect the El Camino Real. The fort remained a Union Army post during the Civil War. Confederate troops battled with Union troops on February 21, 1862, in the Battle of Valverde. After the Civil War, Fort Craig housed the Buffalo Soldiers (Roath).

Mining played a crucial role in the settlement of Socorro County. In the late 1860’s a man by the name of Colonel J.S. Hutchason discovered three sizeable limestone croppings near Magdalena Peak (pdf thing). Hutchason at first only worked the Juanita and Graphic claims; having a partner, Andy Kelly, work on the third claim. Kelly named the mine after himself; however, Hutchason later repossessed the claim when Kelly failed to do work to preserve it. News of Huchason’s success brought many new prospectors to the area. In 1870, Kelly, a small boom town, was created; named after the successful mine. In 1876 Huchason leased out the Juanita mine and sold both the Graphic and Kelly mines (Harris, 97).

With the mining came the railroads. In December of 1878 the first train came to New Mexico, the Atchison, Topeka, and S...

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...n all night” (Harris, 98). To meet the demand for space, hotels started limiting customers to one eight-hour shift a night. (Harris, 98).

The smelter went through many changes during its run, many being for the safety and convenience of the employees. Bathrooms were installed in 1886 and an electric light plant, the first in the Territory, was installed in 1890. The smelter was a “near monopoly” for many years. Despite this, Billing never took advantage, instead keeping prices so low that most mines in New Mexico and Arizona shipped to Socorro (pdf thing online).

Bibliography

Harris, Linda G. "Socorro County: Rails and Trails." Ghost Towns Alive: Trips to New Mexico's past. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico, 2003. 87-101. Print.

Roath, Gwen. "History." Visit Socorro New Mexico. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2014.

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