156 
EVENTS AT 
Other trains which had preceded us, and some that 
arrived about the same time that we did from New 
Mexico, including emigrant trains bound for California, 
were disbanded here, leaving numbers of the outcasts 
of society referred to, with little means of support. 
But means or money were not of much consequence to 
these people : for their habits of gambling were such, 
that those who had money soon got rid of it. 
The discharging of so many worthless and vagabond 
men at Socorro, where the trains usually made it their 
rendezvous, threw upon the peaceful inhabitants of that 
place a set of ruffians, who, by daily increase of 
numbers, had become so formidable, that the life of no 
one was considered safe beyond the walls of his own 
house. And even within them, there was no security ; 
for several of these men had actually forced themselves 
upon the occupants, and compelled them to give them 
a home. Unused to such interlopers, and unable to 
obtain redress, several Mexican families abandoned 
their dwellings, and sought refuge on the opposite side 
of the river, or removed to other settlements. 
The first check given to this band of gamblers, 
horse thieves, and murderers, was the arrival of the 
United States Boundary Commission at Socorro. The 
presence of a body of well armed, well disposed, and 
spirited young men, tended to make these ruffians more 
circumspect for a time ; but as the former were grad- 
ually drafted off, to enter upon the duties connected 
with the Survey, the latter became more overbearing 
and insolent in their conduct. Houses were opened for 
the indulgence of every wicked passion ; and each mid- 
night hour heralded new violent and often bloody scenes 
