5/18/25: Mesilla & An Engagement in the Organ Mountains!

 

Just four miles south of downtown Las Cruces, New Mexico, lies its most historic neighborhood, Mesilla, which is technically its own distinct town, and also where Steven and I stayed for ten nights. The town's fascinating history began as a significant stop on the El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, a vital trading route from Mexico City to Santa Fe, established during the early to mid-1800s when the Spanish arrived. The Butterfield Stagecoach, which traveled from San Antonio to San Diego, also helped turn the region into a hub for commerce and transportation.

Mesilla was also a stopover on the Butterfield Overland Trail, the forerunner of the Pony Express, a mail stage line from St. Louis to San Francisco from 1858 to 1861. 

Early settlers were drawn to Mesilla and began to populate the town after the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848. After the United States and Mexico settled the border dispute that arose from the treaty a few years later, Mesilla was established as a colony, known as the Gadsden Purchase, the last major territorial acquisition in the contiguous United States.  With it, the Mexican flag was replaced by the stars and stripes on this plaza, making Mesilla a border town. Less than a decade later, it became the capital of the Confederate Territory of Arizona after being taken over by 300 Texas troops. 

After the Civil War ended in Mesilla in 1862 and the Confederate forces retreated to Texas, Mesilla returned to Union control and experienced a surge in economic activity. That resulted in Mesilla becoming the largest town in the US between San Antonio and San Diego. Still, its hustle and bustle also attracted outlaws like Billy the Kid. If it weren't for the decision to place a railroad stop in neighboring Las Cruces instead of Mesilla, the former might have been a town within Mesilla, rather than the other way around. 

New Mexico's oldest documented brick building, now home to a gallery and gift shop called Thunderbird de la Mesilla, was constructed in 1860 using burned bricks from Augustin Maurin's own kiln. After he was murdered in his adjoining apartment by robbers in 1866, his heir, Cesar Maurin, came from France to claim the property. Sadly, he died two years later of natural causes. Frenchman Pedro Duhalde, a former Mesilla saloonkeeper, moved in, but he was also killed by robbers. The building remains in good condition after serving as a general store, residence, saloon, and town hall.

The Barela Reynolds Grange property was established in the early 1850s as a mercantile business and home, successively occupied by a freighter merchant, another merchant, and a parish priest. 

The building on the right dates to 1850 and once housed the Capitol of Arizona and New Mexico. It was later the courthouse in which Billy the Kid was tried and sentenced to hang. 

Billy the Kid, born as Henry McCarty but also later known by the pseudonym William Bonney, was an Old West outlaw and gunfighter who killed eight men and allegedly committed three other murders when he fought in New Mexico's Lincoln County War in 1878. His notoriety grew in 1880 when newspapers in New Mexico and New York City carried stories about his crimes, and wanted posters were issued. After McCarty was captured by Sheriff Pat Garrett for killing the Lincoln County Sheriff and one of his deputies, he was tried, convicted, and sentenced to hang in Mesilla. While escaping from jail in April 1881, he killed two more deputies but evaded capture for two months. Garrett "finally got his man," killing 21-year-old McCarty on July 14, 1881. However, during the following decades, legends grew that he had survived, and several men claimed to be him. Billy the Kid remains one of the most notorious figures from the era.

You may recall that Steven and I had previously visited the site where Garrett was himself murdered, not far away in Las Cruces. 

Mesilla was unfortunately dead as a doornail when we strolled through the town on a Sunday morning, evidently not the time to visit!

Since 1905, Albert Fountain Jr. began producing plays, light opera, vaudeville, and lantern slide shows in the Fountain Theater, located a half-block off the plaza. For the last 25 years, the theater has shown the best independent, foreign, and documentary films in the Southwest. When we stopped by, I would have liked to have seen No Other Land, a film that won this year's Academy Award for Best Documentary. It was made by a Palestinian-Israeli collective about the destruction of an occupied West Bank settlement by Israeli soldiers and an alliance that developed between a Palestinian activist and an Israeli journalist. Steven and I had not heard of its showing in Denver, so were surprised that such a small town was featuring it.

Mesilla's Church of San Albino was built at the plaza's north end from adobe with one steeple around 1885. Once the current church was built in the early 1900s around the old church, the latter was dismantled and carried out the front door! It was elevated to a Minor Basilica by Pope Benedict XVI in 2008. 

On the way to hiking at the Organ Mountains-Desert Springs National Monument, located ten miles east of Las Cruces, Steven, Zachary, Noora, and I got caught in another dust storm. We'd learned earlier that it had been the worst spring in 50 years for dust storms.

The impressive Organ Mountains are characterized by granite pinnacles that rise to over 9,000 feet and extend for 20 miles. The area has been a draw for hundreds of years, attracting diverse Native American peoples, adventurous 17th-century Spaniards, the Butterfield Stagecoach Line, a hideout for outlaws of the American West, and even a training ground for airmen during World War II and Apollo astronauts.

Click on the photo to enlarge it and read about some of the dangers in the national monument's Dripping Springs Natural Area!

Mule deer: 

Because this area provided habitat for endangered and extremely fragile plant and animal species, dogs and fires were not allowed, and we were cautioned not to stray from designated trails. 

The natural benches under the tree were a welcome resting spot. 

The Desert Spoon is a slow-growing, drought-tolerant succulent native to the arid areas of the southwestern United States. 

The outbuildings, including the livery, chicken coop, and mercantile, were the first signs that we were close to the ruins of the mountain camp owned and operated by Eugene Van Patten, a prominent figure in the Southwest. He was a Butterfield Trail stage line driver, a Confederate army officer, and a county sheriff, among others. Guests arrived at his camp by stagecoach and horseback. Stagecoach drivers placed the wagons inside a long barn next to the corral. Guests enjoyed meals that included seasonal fruits and vegetables, beef, milk from the dairy cow, and fresh eggs from the chickens raised here. 

The livery:

From the late 1800s to the early 1900s, the mountain camp boasted 32 guest rooms adorned with murals, muslin-cloth-covered ceilings, and a dining room featuring a full-size piano. Entertainment took place on the gazebo, which attracted the social elite and was also popular among students from the local college. 

On a high hill beyond the camp was the former sanitarium.

Even though we'd hiked to the end of the Desert Springs Trail, there were no visible springs at the end of the trail last month.

The tree cholla was about twelve feet tall!

A funny story about the following photos taken a few minutes later among the ruins: Several days before Zachary and Noora joined us from Denver in Las Cruces for a long weekend, Zachary called me to ask if the condo had an iron. That seemed peculiar, as I know our son well! I checked and told him that, yes, indeed, there was one. That morning, while ironing his shirt, he said to Noora, "Don't you want to change your shirt?" Her response was something like, "Huh, aren't we just going hiking after walking around Mesilla?" Zachary responded with more of the same, suggesting again that she give him another shirt to iron. She did, albeit somewhat reluctantly! I suspected something might be afoot ...

Their engagement took place to the left at the top of the steps below!

A couple of months earlier, the happy couple had gone ring shopping and had designed a ring, so Noora knew it was just a matter of time before Zachary popped the question. However, as time passed, she continued to wonder when it might happen. 

Steven and I were delighted to welcome Noora to our family and also very honored to witness their engagement!

I'm sure the Organ Mountains will always hold a special place in their hearts, as they will in ours. 

This view of the Organ Mountains reminded us of the similarly shaped cliffs surrounding Red Rocks Amphitheater, located in the Foothills close to us, where The Beatles and countless other star-studded bands have played.

Later that day, back at the condo, before we took them out for a celebratory dinner in Mesilla:

Next post: Hiking in Mesilla Bosque State Park before touring El Paso.

Posted on Father's Day, June 15th, 2025, from our home in sun-drenched Denver. I hope that all dads and grandfathers had a special day in their honor today. Be sure to take care of yourself and your loved ones.