Luis Lopez, New Mexico
Luis Lopez is an unincorporated community between Socorro and San Antonio in New Mexico
In 1667 Captain Luis Lopez was alcalde mayor (mayor) of the Piro Pueblo of Senecú. It appears that he had
an hacienda on the east bank of the Rio Grande. During the 18th century the estancia was mentioned in the journals
of a few travelers though it had been abandoned after the Pueblo Revolt of 1680. The village of Luis Lopez appears
to have been founded in the mid to late 1830s. At that time it was located on the west bank of the Rio Grande just
east of its present day site.[1]
Luis Lopez has been listed in United States census every decade since 1850, except for 1870. Since the village
was not counted in that year, it is thought that it may have been abandoned for a short time and then relocated
to its present position above the flood plain.[2]
Today, the village of Luis Lopez consists of farms and a small suburb. New wells have brought growth to the community.
The present population is estimated at 128. The village is a suburb of Socorro, New Mexico
Magdalena
Magdalena is a village in Socorro County, New Mexico, USA. The population was 913 at the 2000 census.
The Lady on the Mountain is a rock formation on Magdalena Peak overlooking Magdalena. Spanish soldiers saw the
face of a woman on the west face of the peak. A priest with them was reminded of a similar peak in Spain called
"La Sierra de Maria Magdalena", so he called the New Mexico one "La Sierra de Magdalena". The
natural pass to the south of the peak became known as Magdalena Gap, and when a town grew up it received the same
name.
In 1883, about 2.5 miles south of Magdalena, the Kelly Mine opened in Kelly, New Mexico. In 1884, the village of
Magdalena was named after Magdalena Peak when its post office opened. The next year the railroad completed a spur
out from Socorro, New Mexico, orignally intended to ship cattle from the Plains of San Augustin, but which also
proceeded to ship out ore from the Kelly Mine and others. Magdalena was incorporated in 1913.
San Antonio
The village of San Antonio is in Socorro County, New Mexico which is roughly in the center of the state. The entire
population of the county is around 18,000; the population of San Antonio is hard to pin down because the area is
somewhat ill-defined, but a reasonable estimate is several hundred.
San Antonio, when part of New Mexico Territory, was the birthplace of Conrad Hilton. Hilton was one of the original
legislators in the newly formed State of New Mexico, and founded the Hilton Hotels Corporation. Hilton's name can
still be seen ("C Hilton 1903") carved on the wall of what was once the schoolhouse, since then a mechanic's
garage, and now a barn. The Owl Bar and Cafe, located on Highway 380, was once part of Hilton's store. Several
workers from the Trinity site stopped there.
Socorro
The Founding of Socorro
In June 1598, Juan de Oñate led a group of Spanish settlers through the Jornada del Muerto, an inhospitable
patch of desert that ends just south of the present day city of Socorro. As the Spaniards emerged from the desert,
Piro Indians of the pueblo of Teypana gave the Spaniards food and water. Therefore, the Spaniards renamed this
pueblo Socorro, which means "help" or "aid." Later, the name "Socorro" would be applied
to the nearby Piro pueblo of Pilabó.
Nuestra Señora de Socorro , the first Catholic mission in the area, was probably established c. 1626. Fray
Augustin de Ventancurt would later write that around 600 people lived in the area during this period.
During the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, Spanish refugees stopped in the pueblo of Socorro. A number of Piro Indians followed
the Spaniards as they left the province to go south to safety. With no protection of Spanish troops, Socorro was
destroyed and the remaining Piro were killed by the Apache and other tribes.
The Spanish did not initially resettle Socorro when they re-conquered New Mexico. Other than El Paso, there were
no Spanish settlements south of Sabinal (which is approximately 30 miles north of Socorro) until the 1800s. In
1800, governor Fernando Chacon gave the order to resettle Socorro and other villages in the area. However, Socorro
was not resettled until about 1815. In 1817, 70 Belen residents petitioned the crown for land in Socorro. The
1833 Socorro census lists over 400 residents, with a total of 1,774 people living within the vicinity of the village.
The mission of San Miguel de Socorro was established soon after Socorro was resettled. The church was built on
the ruins of the old Nuestra Señora de Socorro.
In the late 1870s and into 1881, noted lawman and gunman Dallas Stoudenmire served as the town Marshal for Socorro.
Source: Wikipedia.org
102 The American Geologist. August,</p>
EARTHQUAKES IN SOCORRO, NEW MEXICO.</p>
By ROFUS M. BAGG, JK.
Socorro New Mexico
Thirty-four earthquake shocks have been felt in Socorro during
the last three months.
Seismographs have therefore been constructed in the basement of
the New Mexico
School
of Mines for more accurately investigating these phenomena.
Since this work was
done we have had one earthquake which occurred shortly after
midnight on the
night of March 8,
1904. The first decided shock came at 7:10 p.m., January 19,
shaking doors,
rattling windows and swaying objects back and forth. It was
accompanied by a
heavy rumbling sound like thunder. Several minor tremors
occurred that same night. The next marked disturbance was on the
3Oth of January at 5:25 a.m. On
the 21st of February at 11:30 p.m.
another rather sharp earthquake occurred and there were three
pronounced jars
during the night. The last shock was on 13th of March at 12:26
a. m. The
direction of the movement of the earth-wave during this shock
was recorded by
the writer's seismograph and was found to be an almost true east
and west
movement, the motion being first toward the east and then to the
west. Though
the pendulum swung outward and back, making two complete
vibrations, and
returned to the centre, it is probable that there was but one
vibration-wave
instead of a double rocking motion. This is probable from the
very fine wire
used and the length of the pendulum which would of itself
through momentum be carried out and back-through the sand bed
after the initial jar had passed.
Upon investigation we find that there have been a number of
earthquake shocks in
this immediate vicinity at various intervals during the past and
some have been
quite violent. According to the most reliable evidence at hand
from one of the
oldest residents here there was a strong earthquake on the
twenty-eighth of
April, 1868, and again in April, 1869. This latter was the most
serious
known here. This earthquake shock affected the water flow in the
Socorro springs
at the base of Socorro mountain. Prior to this disturbance the
water flowed most
rapidly from the southwest corner of the wet area about the
springs. After the
jar it shifted to the north end of the water-bearing zone where
it still issues
forth in abundance, but not as strongly as it used to in the
area farther south.
Furthermore after this earthquake the water became muddy and of
a rusty color
and remained so for many weeks. The next violent shock occurred
on the sixth of July, 1886,
when the County Commissioners were in session at the court
house. There was a
heavy rumbling sound preceding the jar and this was followed by
so sharp a
rocking of the building that the men endeavored to rush out of
doors for safety.
Fortunately the vibrations quickly passed and the building
remained. Again in
1897 another earthquake was felt which is distinctly remembered
by many persons
now residing here. This
was sufficient in strength to overturn chairs and small objects.
One man
crossing the plaza says that the ground seemed to roll towards
him and he was
forced to stop and sit
down until the motion passed. The above records are sufficient
to show that
Socorro is in a
belt of crustal disturbances which, while they are not violent
enough to render
the region in any sense unsafe, yet they may be pronounced
enough to be worth
careful study and should
be accurately measured by instruments prepared for that purpose.
With the
present improvements made in the seismographs in the basement of
the School of
Mines we shall be in better shape to record such earth tremors
should they
continue. There seems to be no record of any damage to public or
private
property, however, although the recent shocks have been so
pronounced that people are awakened from sound slumber when they
occur.
All these jars are of short duration, come at irregular
intervals, and the more
violent appear to be followed by a number of minor tremors which
are more or
less distinct. The turbidity of the waters in Socorro springs in
1869 and the
number of fault planes found on Socorro mountain go far to
substantiate the
hypothesis that these earthquakes are due to local displacements
in Socorro
mountain and its outliers. One such fault is visible close to
the Magdalena
railroad track as it bends around the mountain at the arroyo
crossing a few
miles from Socorro. These slippings are presumably going on
slowly with now and
then a sudden displacement strongly marked which results in
these local
earthquakes. It is quite likely that the region is slowly
uplifting which
assists in preserving the rugged topography of the mountain
which is so
characteristic. That such elevation is assuredly taking place in
the southwest
portion of Colorado among the San Juan mountains has already
been shown by the
geologists of the
United States Geological Survey who have studied the district.
