One of the few battles of the Mexican War to be fought in New Mexico occured near here on Christmas Day, 1846. U.S. troops under Colonel Alexander W. Doniphan defeated a Mexican army commanded by General Antonio Ponce de León. Two days later, . . . — — Map (db m6552) HM
Stagecoaches of the Butterfield Overland Mail Co. began carrying passengers and mail from St. Louis to San Francisco, across southern New Mexico, in 1858. The 2,795-mile journey took 21-22 days. In 1861 the service was re-routed through Salt Lake . . . — — Map (db m6553) HM
Juan de Oņate, first governor of New Mexico, passed near here with his colonizing expedition in May, 1598. Traveling north, he designated official campsites (called parajes) on the Camino Real, used by expeditions that followed. In Oņate's . . . — — Map (db m6549) HM