Some Magdalena history

The Magdalena area is rich with the stuff of which Old West legends are made--long, dusty cattle drives, rugged pioneer families, main street shoot-outs, fiery ranchers, and grimy-faced miners with wagonloads of ore, plus the lonesome call of the train whistle.

The chug of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe train was the heartbeat of early Magdalena. A spur line from Socorro opened in 1885 and hauled away tons of ore, thousands of head of cattle, thousands of bales of wool, and millions of board feet of timber. Magdalena became the railhead of the Magdalena Livestock Driveway that came from St. Johns, Arizona, and Horse Springs, New Mexico, across the San Agustin Plains. The railroad delivered to Magdalena everything the pioneer ranchers, miners, homesteaders, and merchants needed they couldn't produce themselves.

As with many Old West towns, prosperity and population growth in the area had its ups and downs. First came the soldiers, setting up small forts in the mid-1800's to protect the early traders and settlers from Indians. Apache, Navajo, Gila, Piro, Pueblo and Comanche Indians hunted in the area. At the army fort at Pueblo Springs, just north of present-day Magdalena, soldiers prospected in their spare time. In 1886, Colonel J. S. (Old Hutch) Hutchison was shown an ore sample from the Magdalena mountains. Old Hutch opened several mines, and there followed nearly 90 years of lead, zinc, silver, copper, and gold mining. The area produced $50-$60 million in ore between 1886 and 1945.

Magdalena officially became a town in 1884. Magdalena saw its heyday as a busy cattle town during the first quarter of the 20th Century. It was said to be the largest livestock shipping point west of Chicago. Eventually trucks came in, straight to the ranches, and the long cattle drives became a memory. Eventually too, prices and demand for minerals dropped and the mines closed.

Today (1998), ranchers in the area cherish their independent lifestyle, depending on Magdalena and neighboring Datil for schools, supplies and socializing. Now, the US Forest Service, which established headquarters in Magdalena in 1910, is the town's oldest continuous employer.

(Left) The stage, ready to leave Socorro for Magdalena, pulled by oxen, circa 1880. (Right) Workmen building a bridge during the construction of the rail spur line, circa 1885.