Founding of the New Mexico School of Mines

by Scott C. Zeman, asst. professor of humanities

Establishing the School of Mines in Socorro represented the combined efforts and dedication of Hispanic and Anglo Socorroans. As territorial legislator from Socorro, Juan Jose Baca proved instrumental in securing the institution for Socorro. (See footnote 1) Later, when faced with a closely approaching deadline and the possibility of losing the school to another city, Juan Jose and Francisca Baca, Estevan and Catalina Baca, Severo and Josefina Baca, and Antonio Abeyta y Montoya, along with Edward and Emma Hubbard, Jacob Naumer, and Robert Collins, stepped forward to donate land and assure the future of the School of Mines in Socorro.

In 1889, the Territorial Assembly in Santa Fe passed legislation that would have far-reaching consequences for Socorro and the Territory of New Mexico. In February of that year, the assembly approved an omnibus bill creating, in one legislative stroke, four major public institutions in the territory: a university in Albuquerque, an agricultural college in Las Cruces, an insane asylum in Las Vegas, and a school of mines in Socorro. All four survive today in the form of the University of New Mexico, New Mexico State University, the state mental hospital in Las Vegas, and the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology.

Territorial legislators outlined the mission of the School of Mines in Section 28 of the act, which mandated that the school “furnish facilities for the education of such persons as may desire to receive instruction in chemistry, metallurgy, mineralogy, geology, mining, milling, engineering, mathematics, mechanics, drawing,” as well as in “the fundamental laws of the United States and the rights and duties of citizenship, and such other courses of study, not including agriculture, as may be prescribed by the board of trustees.” (See footnote 2)

Already looking toward achieving statehood in the near future, the legislation further specified that when the Territory of New Mexico became the State of New Mexico, the School of Mines would become a state institution, and, as such, “shall be entitled to the benefits of all grants of land and moneys which shall be given to the territory by any act of Congress for the endowment of said institution, and such land and moneys shall be used for the benefit of this institution located at Socorro, Socorro County and for no other purpose.” (See footnote 3)

Section 3 of the act established the School of Mines within the city of Socorro “upon a tract of land of not less than twenty acres suitable for the purposes of such institution.” The act required that the land on which the future school reside “be donated and conveyed by a good and sufficient deed to the Territory of New Mexico by the owners thereof, free of cost and expense to said Territory, which deed shall be executed within six months from the passage of this act.” Construction of any school facilities was forbidden “until such deed is duly executed, recorded and filed in the office of the Secretary of the Territory as hereinafter provided.” (See footnote 4). In other words: no land, no school. Likewise, the act required that Albuquerque provide twenty acres; Las Cruces, one-hundred acres; and Las Vegas, five acres. The only specific location mentioned in the act was the tract for the agricultural school in Las Cruces which was to be placed on a one-hundred acre tract south of town owned by Jacob Schaublin. (See footnote 5). The Territory relied on the citizens of Socorro, Albuquerque, and Las Vegas to determine the exact locations of their respective institutions. The citizens of Socorro had until 28 August 1889 to provide a suitable site.

Following the signing of the act into law, months passed and Socorro had yet to select a site. Despite the potential boon to the city and county that the School of Mines represented, city leaders were preoccupied with the issue of disincorporation. In January of 1882, Socorroans had voted to incorporate as a municipality and elect a city government. Quickly, a movement began to disincorporate the city, and the question remained unsettled until April of 1889, when citizens voted to disincorporate. The action proved inconsequential however: the territorial legislature continued to recognize Socorro as a legally incorporated municipality, and city government continued to function as such. (See footnote 6)

As the deadline for providing the territory with twenty acres for the School of Mines rapidly approached without resolution, the editor of the Socorro Chieftain called on citizens to act quickly, declaring that “the citizens of this city have only a few days in which to decide whether, or no, they will have the School of Mines located in the vicinity of Socorro, or let it go to some other locality.” He warned that if the city were to let the opportunity slip by, “it will be the blackest advertisement that has ever gone out against Socorro.” In order to avoid that unhappy fate, the Chieftain editor called for a public meeting to be held the night or August 3 at the court house to consider possible sites for the school. (See footnote 7)

The call to action proved successful, and the Saturday night meeting was well attended. Juan Jose Baca served as chair of the meeting, and J.H. McCutcheon as secretary. Following some fine oratory regarding future benefits of the school, potential land donors came forward. H.R. Harris offered a twenty acre parcel one-half mile from the plaza. Severo Baca, Edward Hubbard, and Robert Collins presented an offer of land west of town. Following the presentation of the two possible tracts, Juan Jose Baca appointed a committee to consider the proposed sites. Chaired by John W. Terry, the committee met on Friday, August 9 and entertained a third offer of land in the Park City area. The committee considered the three prospective sites and decided in favor of what they referred to as the “Hubbard tract” (referred to elsewhere as the “Hubbard composite”). The committee asked the land donors to provide “good and sufficient deed” by no later than August 18. (See footnote 8)

The owners of the lands that comprised the “Hubbard composite” agreed to the wishes of the committee, and, on August 15, deeded the land to the territory. The owners of the land were Edward and Emma Hubbard, Juan Jose and Francisca Baca, Estevan and Catalina Baca, Severo and Josefina Baca, Jacob Naumer, Robert Collins, and Antonio Abeyta y Montoya.

The owners collectively conveyed their land to the territory

“for and in consideration of the sum of One Dollar, lawful money of the United States of America, to them in hand paid by the party of the second part [i.e., the Territory of New Mexico], before the ensealing and delivery of these presents, the receipt hereof is hereby confessed and acknowledged, have granted, bargained, sold, remised, conveyed, released and confirmed, and by these presents do grant, bargain, sell, remise, convey, release and confirm unto the said party of the second part for ever [emphasis in original] all the following lot or tract of land and real estate, situate, lying and being in the City of Socorro, County of Socorro and Territory of New Mexico, to-wit: Commencing at a point located Forty Two chains North and sixty feet west from a point marked with an iron pin in a mound of stones designating the corners of Sections Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen and Fourteen, of Township Two South, Range One West. The point of commencement being at the south-east corner of the tract hereby conveyed and on the west side of a new County Road to a point, thence West eleven chains and ten links to a point, thence South Twenty chains to a point, thence east eleven chains and ten links to a point at the place of beginning, and containing twenty two and one fifth acres, more or less. Together [emphasis in original] with all and singular the hereditaments and appurtenances therein to belonging or in anywise [sic] appertaining, and the reversion and reversions, remainder and remainders, rents issues and profits thereof, as well in law as in equity, of, in and to the above bargained premises with the hereditaments and appurtenances. To have and to hold [emphasis in original] the said premises above bargained and described with the appurtenances, unto the said party of the second part forever [emphasis in original]. And the said parties of the first part for their heirs, executors and administrators do covenant and agree to and with the said party of the second part, that at the time of the ensealing and delivery of these presents, they are well seized of the premises above conveyed, of a good, sure, perfect and indefeasable [sic] estate of inheritance in law, and have good right, full power and lawful authority to grant, bargain, sell and convey the same in manner and for aforesaid, and that the same are free and clear from any and all former other grants, bargains, sales, liens, taxes, assessments and encumbrances of what kind and nature soever, and the above bargained premises in the quiet and peaceable possession of the party of the second part, against all and every person and persons lawfully claiming or to claim the whole or any part thereof, the said parties of the first part, shall and will For ever warrant and defend" [emphasis in original].

The deed further noted that, "it is expressly understood that the premises above described are to be accepted and occupied as a site of the School of Mines by the Territory of New Mexico party of the second part, and in case said premises are not accepted and occupied, then this conveyance to be null and void." (See footnote 9)

The land thus deeded to the territory amounted to twenty-two and one-fifth acres, just slightly more than the amount required by law. (See footnote 10) The school later purchased an additional ten acres. (See footnote 11) The site was accepted, approved by district judge W.D. Lee in Albuquerque, and filed with the Secretary of the Territory on 3 September 1889. (See footnote 12)

The initial board of trustees appointed by Governor L Bradford Prince held their first meeting on 13 November 1889. Trustees present at the meeting were Ethan Eaton, Isaac Tiffany, Severo Baca, and Walter Hadley. Tiffany served as the board’s first president, and Eaton as its first secretary-treasurer. (See footnote 13) Over the next few years, the composition of the board changed several times and the trustees faced serious challenges finishing construction on the school buildings and getting it ready to enroll the first students.

In its second annual report in 1891, the board reported to the governor that “this institution, of the four provided for in the act creating them, has had, and is having the least assistance in every respect. [T]he University at Albuquerque has double the appropriation from the Territory that this has.” (See footnote 14) Nevertheless, the nascent School of Mines overcame the financial difficulties and opened for classes in September of 1893. That first year, twelve students attended classes in “general chemistry, qualitative analysis, determinative mineralogy, metallurgy and assaying.” (See footnote 15)

The fact that the School of Mines overcame various challenges and difficulties in the following years is a testament to the dedication of Socorroans’ efforts to ensure its survival and growth. When a school of mines in Socorro was little more than a ambitious idea, Hispanic and Anglo Socorroans worked together to achieve that goal. The families and individuals who donated the original land for the School of Mines played a crucial part in making that idea a reality.

1. Socorro County Historical Society, Publications in History, Vol. III (1967).

2. Legislative Assembly of the Territory of New Mexico, 28th Session, February 1889, “An act to establish and provide for the maintanance [sic] of the University of New Mexico, the Agricultural College and Agricultural Experiment Station, the School of Mines, and the Insane Asylum, and for other purposes.” Hereafter referred to as the Act of February 1889

3. Section 39, Act of February 1889.

4. Section 3, Act of February 1889.

5. Section 2, Act of February 1889.

6. For a more detailed examination of the disincorporation issue, see Bruce Ashcroft, The Territorial History of Socorro, New Mexico (El Paso: Texas Western Press, 1988), 26-29.

7. Socorro Chieftain, 2 August 1889.

8. Socorro Chieftain, 10 August 1889.

9. From the deed of land to the Territory of New Mexico, 15 August 1889.

10. Paige Christiansen, College on the Rio Grande: The Story of a Small School (Socorro: New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, 1989), 9.

11. F. Stanley, Socorro: The Oasis (Denver: World Press, 1950), 183-184.

12. A.D. Coon to L. Bradford Prince, 4 September 1889, Territorial Archives of New Mexico (TANM), Roll 104.

13. Gold Pan, January 1916.

14. Quoted in the Third Annual Report of the Board of Trustees of the New Mexico School of Mines, 1892, L. Bradford Prince, Reports to the Governor, TANM, Roll 121.

15. Fifth Annual Report of the Board of Trustees of the New Mexico School of Mines, 1894, William Thornton, Reports to the Governor, 1895-1897, TANM, Roll 125.