The town of Las Cruces was laid off and…
source date: 1889
availability: public-domain

The town of Las Cruces was laid off and settled in 1849 and Mesilla in 1850. The Gads- den treaty was signed by the commissioners on the last day of the year 1853, and in the month of May, 1854, the United States took formal possession of the new purchase. This long slip of land was annexed to Dona Ana county; being sheriff of the county at the time, my jurisdiction was eight hundred miles in length by three hun- dred miles in width, but I had about ten thous- and more savage Indians in my county than I had constituents. A short time after our occu- pation of the new purchase, the great overland route, a tri-weekly stage line between Memphis and San Francisco, was established. On the first trial trip, the stages from both ends of the line met at Mesilla on the tenth day and we all thought that was as near a railroad as we would ever see in this country. This gigantic enterprise 2,500 miles in length and running two thirds of the distance through a savage Indian country, made it an object of thrilling interest to every- body on the frontier. The years 1859 and 1860 was an era long to be remembered; all hands and the cook were making money, peace and plenty shed a halo of prosperity around south- ern New Mexico. The new purchase had a charm about it for adventurers of every kind and they soon came flocking in. There was more