Please Remember Me: The story of Chihuahua Hill
author: Marrufo, Javier; Desert Exposure staff
source date: 2026
availability: web

Deep article on the Chihuahua Hill History Project by Silver City Museum curator Javier Marrufo. Centers on the oral history of Sinovia Ray ("Please remember me when I'm gone") and 75+ interviews with residents. Covers: the neighborhood's origins as a Mexican settlement predating Silver City's founding; the 1880 census showing 58% of Silver City residents were Mexican or Mexican-descended, mostly from Chihuahua state; La Capilla chapel built in 1887; community self-sufficiency with neighborhood stores, restaurants, bars; segregation — Spanish beaten out of children at school; resilience through mutual aid; figures like Steve Aguirre (Grant County's first Mexican American Sheriff, 1965) and Greg Jaurequi (education activist); the 2004 reconstruction of La Capilla; the 2020 park mural by Carlos Callejo; and the neighborhood's 1983 listing on the National Register of Historic Places.