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The name SOCORRO means "help" in Spanish. In 1598, Juan de Onate gave this name to the pueblo. The Pilabo Indians gave them food and shelter. In 1680 the Pueblo people of New Mexico revolted against their Spanish masters. The people from Socorro did not join in the revolt and as a result, retreated with the fleeing Spanish to the vicinity of modern day El Paso, Texas. Their descendents still live in Socorro del Sur...Socorro of the South...in Texas. The Spanish returned to New Mexico, in 1692 but the Socorro area remained empty. By the late 18th Century, officials in Santa Fe began planning the resettle. This was to protect the trail from Santa Fe to Chihuahua, Mexico. The Apache people were making travel through this area very dangerous -- the Chihuahua trail was already known as La Jornada del Muerto...the Trail of the Dead Man or Journey of Death. Socorro is a fertile land. There is a very large spring at the base of the mountains which then, and now provides an abundant water supply. The new settlers rebuilt the church and the town and by the late 1850's, Socorro numbered about 600 people. The real influx of new people, did not happen until the coming of the Santa Fe Railroad in 1880. The population jumped to over 4000 within two years. By 1886 the present town was incorporated. The 1880's and early '90's were boom years for Socorro. There was extensive mining in the mountains and hills, with smelters to handle the ore. Farming, ranching and extensive merchantile interests also added to the economy. In 1889 the New Mexico School of Mines was established and the first students arrived in 1892. Today, the school remains one of the state's leading centers for education and research.
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