La Mesilla
Inscription
The 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the Mexican-American War, establishing Mesilla as a Mexican holding. Cura Ramon Ortiz settled families from El Paso del Norte and pre-territorial New Mexico here. Disputes over the border just north of town continued. Soldiers raised the U.S. flag on this Plaza, November 16, 1854, marking the signing of the Gadsden Purchase, the last major territorial acquisition within the contiguous United States.
The “M” and “54” painted on the nearby bandstand commemorate the event.
Location
Sources
More markers in Dona Ana
Bartlett Garcia Continental Survey Point
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In 1858, American Express Company co-founder John Butterfield secured a $600,000 government contract to establish the first...
Disappearance of Albert J. Fountain and his son Henry
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Albert Jennings Fountain was a Civil War veteran, New Mexico legislator and prominent lawyer.
Dona Ana
This site is first mentioned as a paraje along the Camino Real when the Spanish rested near here as they retreated from New Mexico...
El Camino Real the King’s Highway
Juan de Oñate, first governor of New Mexico, passed near here with his colonizing expedition in May 1598.