Founding 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 them 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 Perpetuo Socorro, the first
Catholic mission in the area, was probably established c. 1626. Fray Agustín de Vetancurt would later write that around 600 people lived in the area during this period. Mines in the Socorro mountains were opened by 1626. During the
Pueblo Revolt of 1680, Spanish refugees stopped in the pueblo of Socorro before continuing south, out of the province, to safety. A number of Piro Indians followed them. The withdrawal of Spanish soldiers left Socorro and its Piro inhabitants vulnerable to attack by soldiers from
Apache bands and other tribes. By 1692 the settlement was in ruins. 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 north of Socorro) until the 1800s. In 1800, governor
Fernando Chacón 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.
Territorial period In August 1846, during the
Mexican–American War, New Mexico was occupied by the American Army. In
Las Vegas, New Mexico, Colonel
Stephen W. Kearny proclaimed New Mexico's independence from Mexico. On their way to begin their assault on Mexico, American troops stopped in Socorro. A British officer, Lt.
George Ruxton, commented that these soldiers were "unwashed and unshaven, were ragged and dirty, without uniforms..." and were lacking in discipline. In September 1850, New Mexico became a territory of the United States. At the time, New Mexico encompassed what is now the states of New Mexico and
Arizona. In 1850, the population of Socorro was only 543 people. This included 100 American soldiers who were soon moved to
Valverde. The first military post built near Socorro was
Fort Conrad, south of the town. Built in August 1851, the fort was badly constructed and was abandoned for
Fort Craig, located a few miles away. Fort Craig was first occupied on March 31, 1854. The New Mexico and Southern Pacific Railroad (a subsidiary of the
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe) arrived in July 1880, as it built south through the Rio Grande valley on its way toward El Paso. Its presence contributed to growth of the community, as it also became a center of mining activity of lead and zinc. The New Mexico School of Mines (now the
New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology) was founded in Socorro in 1889. On April 24, 1964, Lonnie Zamora, a local policeman, claimed to have observed a flying saucer and two little beings. Zamora's claim is known as the
Lonnie Zamora incident. ==Geography and geology==