Cipriano Baca, Frontier Lawman of New Mexico

This is the first biography of the legendary officer Cipriano Baca, scion of a prestigious Spanish lineage tracing their heritage to the first settlers in Nuevo México. Baca was well educated and a successful businessman before beginning a 52-year career as a peace officer. Tenderhearted by nature, he could be cold as steel, even lethal, doing his duty. He was a man of honor and principle in an age of greed and selfishness.
Baca was first an undercover range detective, next a deputy sheriff and a deputy U.S. marshal. In 1901, the territorial governor appointed him the first sheriff of the newly formed Luna County, and in 1905, the territorial governor selected him as the first man to become the lieutenant of New Mexico’s newly established territorial rangers. Written with the full cooperation of the Baca family and utilizing public and private records, this biography presents the truth about a complicated man. One revelation: Baca discovered who was the real killer of Pat Garrett and the motive behind the murder of the man who killed Billy the Kid.

Chuck Hornung was a member of the founding board of directors and vice president of the Wild West History Association. He is a member of the Historical Society of New Mexico, the English Westerners Society, the Western Writers of America, past president of the Western Outlaw-Lawman History Association and president of the New Mexico Mounted Police Historical Society.

Chuck Hornung
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 296
Bibliographic Info: 32 photos, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2013
pISBN: 978-0-7864-7332-8
eISBN: 978-1-4766-0153-3
Imprint: McFarland

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments  ix
Introduction  1
1. The Early Years  3
2. A New Life in Arizona Territory  12
3. Diaper Days in Deming, New Mexico Territory  19
4. Grant County Peace Officer  33
5. The World Turned Upside Down  45
6. A New Life in Mogollon  54
7. Socorro, New Mexico Territory  63
8. Miss Mary Ann Berry  75
9. The Baca Boys of Socorro County  81
10. Baca Family Life  87
11. Life in Santa Fe  94
12. Return to Silver City  100
13. Luna County Sheriff  104
14. Deputy U.S. Marshal Cipriano Baca  132
15. The New Mexico Territorial Mounted Police  139
16. Lieutenant Cipriano Baca  142
17. Private ­Detective and Company Police Officer  180
18. The Mogollon Years  195
19. State of New Mexico vs. Cipriano Baca: Murder  206
20. A Broken Family  219
21. The Wartime Rangers  223
22. The Sunset Years  235
23. The Question of Eva Paiz  244
24. Crossing the Great Divide  251
25. Epilogue  256
Chapter Notes  259
Bibliography  273
Index  281

“meticulously and comprehensively documented”—Wild West History Association Journal.