Ranger James B. Gillett & Onofrio Baca



Photo James B Gillett

 During a Christmas church festival in 1881, in Socorro, New Mexico, two Mexican brothers, Abran and Onofrio Baca got into an argument with the local newspaper editor, A.M. Conklin. After the services ended, as Conklin exited the church, Onofrio shot and killed the newspaperman.


The Baca brothers fled to Mexico but were soon hounded by a proclamation issued by the governor of the state for $500.00 for their capture. The citizenry of Socorro issued a similar proclamation with the exception that the reward would be paid for the Baca's delivered dead or alive. The proclamations became widely known throughout the territory. The Texas Ranger station in Ysleta, Texas, also received the circulars with the Baca's descriptions. One Ranger, James B. Gillett, began watching the home of the county judge, Jose Baca, the boy's uncle. Two months later, Gillett received information that the Baca's were staying at the judge's home. Gillett and a detail of four other Rangers captured the two men and hauled them to Socorro. Upon arrival in Socorro, Gillett learned one of the men was Abran, but the other was a cousin, Massias.

A month after Abran's capture, Gillett learned that Onofrio was in Saragosa, Mexico, four miles southwest of Ysleta. The Rangers never let international borders stop their pursuit of a criminal and Gillett, accompanied by George Lloyd, rode into the Mexican town and spirited Onofrio back to Texas.

Once back on American soil, Gillett took Onofrio by train to Socorro. Along the way, Gillett received a telegraph from the governor of New Mexico. Fearing mob violence in Socorro, the governor warned Gillett not to come off the train in Socorro.

The train reached Socorro late in the evening and upon its stop was immediately boarded by twenty-five armed men. Gillett told the men that he could not collect his reward for Baca if he did not deliver the man inside the jail. The mob agreed and allowed Baca's delivery to Deputy Sheriff Eaton at the Socorro jail. The next morning, a vigilante mob took Baca from his jail cell, escorted him to a nearby corral and hanged him.

Gillett's commander in Ysleta, Captain Baylor received an order after the Baca affair to never again allow his Rangers to follow fugitives into Mexico.

In 1921, Gillett wrote his memoirs, Six years with the Texas Rangers. It has remained in print ever since. The book was used as a school textbook for several years in as many as seventeen states. Gillett died on June 11, 1937 and is buried in Marfa, Texas.

Mike Kearby's Texas copyright 2011