Mowry City is a former town at the old Mimbres crossing in Grant County, New Mexico, now m
Mowry City is a former town at the old Mimbres crossing in Grant County, New Mexico, now mostly in ruins but historically significant as the oldest settlement in the county and a harbor of refuge during overland travel [1][2][5]. Established about 1858 by Sylvester Mowry, a West Point graduate and former U.S. artillery lieutenant, the settlement was laid out with substantial stone and adobe houses [5][3][7]. Promoted as the head of navigation on the Mimbres River, Mowry City briefly gained an ephemeral reputation as a would-be metropolis [4][2]. During the stagecoach era, the nearly deserted town became a favorite resort for road agents who targeted silver bullion shipments [6]. Whitehill [2].
Sources
- Mowry City, at the old crossing of the… (1891)Mowry City, at the old crossing of the Mimbres, occupies a peculiar position in the
- Silver City Enterprise — 1891 (full OCR, Internet Archive) — 1891-07-24 (1891)timer, has anchored down to a life of granger respectability. He has a pretty place, planted to the usual valley crops, and is doing comfortably well. His orchard is a source of revenue to him, whilst his s…
- The place has an historical interest, inas-… (1891)ted sway over the entire country now embraced in Grant county, as well as what is now Dona Ana, and a portion of Sierra. Nothing daunted at the obstacles which beset his path, Mowry pro- ceeded to lay out the…
- As an historical neighborhood, this place… (1891)As an historical neighborhood, this place will ever stand as a monument in the long list of disappointed ambitions. The effete east has its pre-revolution settlements, the histories of which are familiar to every…
- The place has an historical interest, inas-… (1891)The place has an historical interest, inas- much as it was the oldest settlement within what are now the borders of Grant county, with the possible exception of Pinos Altos. The settlement was established about …
- In the old stage coach days, those within… (1891)In the old stage coach days, those within the memory of persons who have lived in Grant county for twenty years, the almost deserted Mowry City was a favorite resort for road agents, whose object was to captu…
- Silver City Enterprise — 1891 (full OCR, Internet Archive) — 1891-07-24 (1891)and it might well be mistaken for an old habitation or stronghold of a once warlike people. The “city” was constructed of substan- tial stone and adobe houses, and when in the full tide of its glory, no d…