Boundaries of the thirteen counties of New Mexico are shown on the appended map. Eight of them date back to Mexican times; one was added soon after the territorial organization; and four have since been created.

Colfax county occupies an area of 7,000 square miles in the north-eastern corner of the territory, its altitude being from 5,500 to 8,000 feet, with some lofty peaks. It was created by act of 1869, its boundaries being modified in 1876 and in 1882. The county seat was first at Elizabethtown, which town was incorporated in 1870, but was moved to Cimarron in 1872, and finally to Springer in 1882. In 1876-8 the county was attached to Taos for judicial purposes. About half the area is mesa or prairie land, affording excellent grazing, and supporting in 1880 about 29,000 cattle and 65,000 sheep, the numbers having greatly increased since that date, 187,000 and 86,000 being the figures in 1883. Along the watercourses are numerous narrow tracts, successfully cultivated by irrigation. There are over half a million acres of coal­fields, and the coal is somewhat extensively worked in the region of Raton. The mountains are covered with pine, affording lumber of fair quality in considerable quantities. Of gold from the Moreno placers and Ute Creek and other quartz mines several millions of dollars have been produced since 1868, and copper is also found. Over half the county is included in the famous Maxwell rancho, or land grant of Beaubien and Miranda, and here the Jicarilla Apaches and Ute bands had their homes for many years, as related in an earlier chapter. The Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Railroad, the first to enter the territory, crosses Colfax from north to south, and on its line are the leading towns. The population in 1880 was 3,398, and is now perhaps 5,000. The total assessed value of property in 18b3 was $5,437,640, the largest item being that of live­stock. Raton, with over 2,000 inhabitants, is the largest town, being of modern or railroad origin. Its prominence arises from the proximity of the coal mines, to which a branch road extends, and from the location of the railroad shops here. The town has good water-works, good schools, two newspapers—the Guard, and News and Press—the only ones published in the county, and it aspires to future prominence as a manufacturing centre. Springer, the county seat, had but 34 inhabitants in 1880, but is now a thriving village, with a fine court-house and a cement factory, being also the shipping point for a large territory east and west. Elizabethtown and Cimarron, formerly honored as county seats, had respectively 175 and 290 inhabitants in 1880. The former is a mining town in the Moreno districts; and the latter, formerly known as Maxwell’s rancho, may be considered the oldest settlement in the county. Colfax has a smaller proportion of native, or Mexican, population than most parts of the territory.

Mora county, lying south of Colfax, with an area of 3,700 square miles, was created in 1860, being cut off from Taos, and including Colfax down to 1869. There were slight changes of boundary in 1868, 1876, and 1882. The county seat has been Mora, or Santa Gertrudis, from the first. The population was 9,751 in 1880, and may be nearly 12,000 now, a majority being of Spanish origin. The average elevation is 4-7,000 feet, the mountainous parts being in the western fourth, while the mesa lands occupy three fourths in the east. These grazing lands resemble those of Colfax in a general way, but are more cut up by ravines and timbered belts affording good protection from the winds. Thirty-eight thousand cattle and 78,000 sheep are noted by the assessor in 1883, but these figures are more than doubled by other authorities. The census of 1880 gives 576 farms, with an average extent of 101 acres, not only cereals but small fruits and sugar beets being successfully produced. In agricultural products for 1880 Mora, with $301,190, stood second in the list of counties. The total assessment in 1883 was $1,540,451. Mineral resources, known to be considerable, have been but very slightly developed, because the deposits are all on the unsettled Mora grant of some 800,000 acres. The railroad crosses the county from north to south, the principal stations being Ocate, Evans, Wagon Mound, Tiptonville, and Watrous. The latter has about 500 inhabitants, a newspaper—the Pioneer, formerly published at Tiptonville—and is the point of distribution for stock-men in most parts of the county. Mora, the county seat and the oldest town—dating from the issue of the land grant in 1835—had a population of 915 in 1880, probably scattered over a considerable area. Fort Union is one of the best known military posts of the territory, having been much of the time the military headquarters. The reader will recall the unsuccessful attempt of the confederates to capture this fort in 1861-2.

Taos county covers a tract of about 1,400 square miles in the upper Rio Grande valley, directly west of Colfax and Mora. It was one of the original Mexi­can counties, including, as bounded by the act of 1852, all of the present counties of Colfax and Mora, a wide strip of Rio Arriba extending westward to the Arizona line, and all that part of the territory since annexed to Colorado. Thus, from being one of the largest it has become one of the smallest counties. It takes its name from the pueblo of Taos, one of the grandest found by Coronado’s expedition of 1540, and still standing as the chief attraction of the region for visitors of today. Another of the ancient pueblos, that of the Picuries, still stands as in the past centuries. The chief town is also Taos—known as Fernandez de Taos or Don Fernandez de Taos, a corruption, I suppose, of San Fernando de Taos—situated several miles from the old pueblo, having a population of about 2,000, and having always been the county seat The average altitude of the county is 6,000 feet, and it is one of the best watered and timbered regions of the territory, having always been famous for its agricultural excellence. That very much greater progress has not been made in this direction is due chiefly to the fact that four fifths of the 12,000 inhabitants are of Mexican origin, and cling to their primitive methods of cultivation; yet Taos produced £386,2S3 in agricultural products in 1880, standing first in the list of counties. The assessment was $583,810 in 1883, when there were about 2,000 cattle and 83,000 sheep. There were in 188O, 888 farms, averaging 73 acres in size. The Taos mines have been more fully developed than others in the north, with good results from both quartz and placers, as elsewhere noted. The Denver and Rio Grande narrow-gauge railroad extends through the county, or along the western border, from north to south, affording easy access to what has been a comparatively isolated region; and the result in respects of immigration from Colorado has already been felt. Taos seems destined to be in the future as in the past one of the garden-spots of the territory. There are no towns of much importance, outside of the county seat, not mentioned in the census of 1880; but among the small hamlets may be mentioned Ranchos de Taos, with a fine flouring mill, Arroyo Hondo, Arroyo Seco, San Antonio Cerro, Castilla, Ojo Caliente, Red River Town, and Calabria.

Rio Arriba, or ‘Up the River’ county occupies an area of about 12,500 square miles in the north-western corner of the territory, lying west of Taos. It was one of the old Mexican counties, but originally and as organized in 1852 it did not include the northern strip along the San Juan. This strip was in 1861 cut off from Taos and organized as the county of San Juan, with the seat at Baker City; but the act was repealed in 1862; and in 1880 the tract was added to Rio Arriba. (In 1887, as this goes into type, San Juan has been again created.) The county seat was in 1852 fixed at San Pedro Chamita; but moved to Los Luceros in 1855, to Alcalde in 1860, and finally, in 1880, to Las Nutrias, which was renamed Tierra Amarilla. The average altitude is nearly 7,000 feet. In the south­eastern parts, near the Rio Grande, this county resembles Taos, and has all the agricultural advantages of its neighbor in respect of soil, water, and productions. Another fine agricultural tract, which in recent years is rapidly being filled up with settlers, is that in the valleys of the San Juan and Las Animas, in the north-west. In 1880 the county had 915 farms —heading the list—averaging 67 acres in size, and yielding $176,641 of farm products. In 1883, according to the assessor’s report, its 80,054 acres were valued at $87,282; there were 13,791 cattle and 171,107 sheep, not including the extensive flocks of the Navajos; and the total assessment was $788,180. Natural advantages for farming and stock-raising are excellent, but only to a comparatively slight extent utilized; while the mineral resources, known to be large, have been still less developed, though in late years mines are successfully worked in several districts. In the extreme west the Navajos have their immense but somewhat barren reservation, as recorded in other chapters; while in the eastern regions, about Abiquiú and Tierra Amarilla, the Jicarillas and Utes formerly roved and had their agencies. The narrow-gauge railroad from Colorado has its terminus at Española; while another branch extends through the northern borders to and beyond Amargo, where coal mines are worked. Tierra Amarilla, the county seat, is but a small village, and the county has as yet no towns of any special importance, or of more than a few hundred inhabitants, except Santa Cruz, which is said to have had 1,000 in 1883. The total population in 1880 was 11,023, but the number has since been considerably increased by immigration. It will be remembered by the reader that Rio Arriba has played a prominent part in the country’s early annals. Here are seen the wonderful cliff dwellings, built by the Pueblo tribes long before the Spaniards visited the province. Here are the aboriginal pueblos of San Juan, Santa Cruz, and Santa Clara. Here Onate in 1599 fixed his capital, at San Juan de les Caballeros, at the junction of the Rio Grande and Chama; and here he proposed to build the great city of his province, though circumstances required a change of plan, and the town was built at Santa Fe. Under Spanish rule Santa Cruz de la Canada was a more or less prosperous villa, ranking among the first, with Santa Fe and Alburquerque, in population.

Bernalillo county lies south of Rio Arriba, having an area of some 6,500 square miles, a width of over 70 miles in the great valley, extending westward to the Arizona line, and eastward in an absurd little strip, far enough to make an entire length of about 250 miles This was one of the original counties of 1852 and earlier, but its boundaries were changed in 1870. The county seat in 1854 was changed from the ranchos to the town of Alburquerque, where it has since remained, though in 1878 an election for a change was authorized. The north-eastern portion was formerly Santa Ana, with seat at Santa Ana and later Peña Blanca; but this little county—also one of the original ones—was merged in Bernalillo by act of 1876. In wealth and population this has always been one of the leading sections of the territory. The rich alluvial lands of the Rio Grande bottom, having for 80 miles an average width of five miles, furnish unsurpassed advantages for agricultural operations; and the region is especially noted for its grapes and small fruits. In 1880 there were only 112 farms, with 3,821 acres of improved land, producing $94,730. In 1883 the acreage is given as 116,037, valued at $1,160,370. Thus the farming lands have not yet been very fully utilized. Back from the river are the mesa tracts, from ten to twenty miles in width, on which, in 1883, grazed 475,000 sheep and 41,700 cattle, this county heading the list in the item of sheep. Mines are successfully worked, especially in the Sandía Mountains, at the New Placers on the Santa Fe borders, and in the Nacimiento or Jemes district. The total assessed value of property in 1883 was $4,328,605. The population in 1880 was 17,225, but has considerably increased in later years. Here, in that part of the great valley adjoining the town of Bernalillo, was Coronado’s Tiguex, where he spent the winter of 1540-2. Of the ancient pueblos, the county contains Jemes, Cia, Santa Ana, Cochiti, Santo Domingo, and Isleta; and the most of the towns of the great valley are settlements with which the reader is familiar from Spanish times, very slight improvement being noted in modem times, notwithstanding their exceptional advantages. Alburquerque, the county seat, is, however, a notable exception. It was founded in 1706, named for the viceroy of Mexico, and was in Spanish times a flourishing town, often mentioned in the earlier chapters of this volume. New Mexicans usually write the name Albuquerque, incorrectly, claiming the duke as governor, and being greatly at sea respecting the early annals of the villa. The modern city is of very recent growth, though adjoining the old one, dating from 1880, when the first locomotive arrived over the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fé Railroad. Its growth has been remarkable, the population in 1880 being 2,315, in 1883 about 3,500, and now claimed to be 10,000, making this the metropolis of the territory. It is at the junction of the two main lines of railroad, is looking for the arrival of divers other lines, and bases its faith in future greatness on its position as a railroad centre, as well as on the surrounding country’s resources. The new town has many solid brick blocks, good hotels, fine residences, several manufacturing establishments, besides the railroad shops; and it takes especial pride in its schools, including the Alburquerque Academy and the Indian school, and above all in its clearly manifested spirit of progress. The second town is Bernalillo, with some 1,800 inhabitants; and the third Golden, with about 1,000.

Santa Fé county, lying east and north of Bernalillo, has an area of 1,250 square miles. It is one of the old counties, with seat of government always at the city of Santa Fé, though the boundaries were slightly changed by acts of 1864, 1869-70, and 1882. It is the smallest subdivision of the territory, of broken and mountainous surface, with a limited area of farming lands and still more limited supply of water; yet, like most other parts of New Mexico, blessed with a most productive soil, with great agricultural possibilities in proportion to its extent. In 1880 there were 313 farms, of 42 acres average size, farm products being estimated at $59,107. In 1883 its 55,425 acres were valued by the assessor at $389,265; there were 3,415 cattle and 22,250 sheep; and the total assessment of property was $2,993,049. The population was 10,867 m 1880, and has since been largely increased. Mining has been more actively prosecuted here than in any other northern county, both in early and later times, the Old and New Placers, Los Cerrillos, and the turquoise mines being famous, as elsewhere recorded. Manufacturing industry here, as everywhere, is yet dormant; but the invaluable beds of anthracite coal, with other natural advantages, promise to make Santa Fé a manufacturing centre of the future. The Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fé Railroad crosses the county from east to west, sending out a branch from Lamy station northward to the capital. The old Indian pueblos are Nambé, Tesuque, Pujuaque, and San Ildefonso. The towns outside of the capital are small bat flourishing villages in the mining districts, including Los Cerrillos, Bonanza, Carbonateville, and San Pedro.

The city of Santa Fé—or San Francisco de Asís de la Santa Fé—the county seat and territorial capital, has been from the first the centre of the historical happenings recorded in this volume; and no retrospect is needed here. The town was founded shortly—perhaps several years—before 1617. Its oft-repeated claim to greater antiquity, or to be considered the oldest town in the United States, can rest only on the possibility that it was founded on the site of a small aboriginal pueblo, and is not a legitimate claim. The city is old enough and interesting enough without such exaggeration. In Spanish, Mexican, and American times it has been the capital, metropolis, and commercial centre of the territory; though in the past few years it has, as is claimed, been surpassed in population by Alburquerque, its chief rival in the past. It had 6,635 inhabitants in 1880, and the population is now about 8,000. During the past decade its quaint old, Mexican, one-story adobes have given way to a considerable extent to brick blocks and residences of modern style. It has gas and water works, good hotels, and fine churches and schools. The town is the archbishop’s residence, and the catholics have three churches besides the cathedral, with the San Miguel college of the Christian Brothers, the convent and academy of Nuestra Señora de Luz. Other educational institutions under protestant auspices are the Santa Fé academy and the university of New Mexico. At Fort Marcy, in the city, are the military headquarters. Among relics of antiquity the old adobe palacio holds the first rank, while the old foundations of the more modern capitol and penitentiary are also interesting ruins. The town has an altitude of 7,044 feet, and is noted as a sanitarium. With this advantage, its fascinating reminiscences of past centuries, its central position, its modern spirit of thrift, its extensive mercantile establishments, and its half-dozen newspapers, Santa Fé looks forward to a future of prosperity, and has not the slightest idea of ceding its supremacy, political, commercial, or in any respect, to either Alburquerque or Las Vegas, its most ambitious rivals.

San Miguel county lies east of Santa and Bernalillo, extending eastward to the Texas line, with an area of 10,600 square miles. It was one of the old organizations, the boundaries being slightly modified in 1882, and the county seat being changed from San Miguel to Las Vegas and back again in 1860-2, but finally fixed at Las Vegas from 1864. San Miguel had a population of 20,638 in 1880, which has been largely increased. Not only is it the most populous and one of the largest counties, but it is probably in most important respects—except that of mineral resources, which exist but have not been much developed—the best and richest. It is watered by the Pecos and Canadian, with their branches, and contains a large amount of the richest soil, well situated for irrigation, while certain considerable tracts will produce crops without artificially supplied water. In 1880 there were 622 farms, averaging 283 acres in size, and yielding $155,286 in products. In 1883 the valuation of farm property was $362,443. The mesas of the east and south furnish the best of grazing ranges, and stock-raising is the county’s industry. In 1883 there were assessed 47,295 cattle and 385,799 sheep, San Miguel taking second rank in each item; but in later years there has been a very great development, and now this county probably heads the list. The western mountains are well wooded, and the lumber business has assumed comparatively large proportions. In climate and scenery this region is unsurpassed by any in the territory. The abandoned pueblo of Pecos—the Cicuye of Coronado in 1540—is an object of historic interest, and there are many older ruins; the route of the old Santa Fé trading caravans was nearly identical with that of the modern railroad; here were fought the battles of the confederate invasion of 1861-2. Las Vegas, the county seat, though its history dates back only to 1835, has grown steadily and become the third town in New Mexico, with a population of about 6,000, and with unlimited aspirations for the future. It is in all respects a ‘live’ town in its commerce and industries, and perhaps the most agreeable of all New Mexican towns as a place of residence. It has several good newspapers, fine public buildings and hotels, gas and water works, a street railroad, several churches, and exceptionally good educational institutions, headed by the Jesuit college. The city expects to be a railroad centre when divers inevitable lines shall have been built, is as well situated as any other town for business, is the distributing point for an immense stock and farming region in the east, has enterprising merchants, who already do a large trade, and will by no means yield the palm as commercial metropolis of the future either to Santa Fé or Alburquerque. Six miles away, with a branch railroad, are the Las Vegas Hot Springs, with fine and constantly increasing accommodations for pleasure-seekers and invalids. The waters are claimed to be unsurpassed, like the climate, and the property is fortunately controlled by the railroad company, which has the means and disposition to make this the great resort of the south-western interior. Outside of Las Vegas the villages are as yet of small population and of no special importance. One of the smallest and least important of these is San Miguel del Vado, which in Spanish and Mexican times was the place most frequently mentioned, and which gave a name to the county.

Valencia county lies south of Bernalillo, having the same length from east to west, and covering an area of about 7,500 square miles. Its southern boundary with that of San Miguel forms a dividing line between northern and southern New Mexico. This is one of the old counties, its boundaries having been modified by acts of 1870 and 1882. The county seat was in early times at Valencia, but in 1852 was moved to Tomé, to Belén in 1872, back to Tomé in 1874, and finally to Las Lunas in 1876. The population in 1880 was 13,095, ranking third in the list of counties. There were 239 farms, of 97 acres average size, and farm products were valued at $102,701. In 1883 the land was assessed at $2,209,323, and all property at $3,834,20t), there being 12,066 cattle and 217,778 sheep. These figures would indicate a good showing as compared with those for other parts of the territory; though most current descriptions point to a lack of development. The agricultural land is for the most part confined to the Rio Grande valley, whose length m Valencia is limited, but the grazing lands are of great extent, though standing in greater need of wells than many other sections. Mineral resources are almost entirely undeveloped, though several districts, notably the Manzano, Ladrones, La Joya, and Spiegelberg, have shown good prospects. There are broad coal-fields and fine deposits of salt. Las Lunas, the county seat and chief town, has a population of about 2,000, and is a distributing point of some importance. Belen, or Bethlehem, has nearly 1,500 inhabitants. Fort Wingate, in the north-west, is near the Navajo reservation, and is intended to keep the Indians in subjection. Zuni and Acoma are the aboriginal pueblos, both famous in early annals. Coronado’s route in the sixteenth century led him past Zuñi, or Cibola, and the peñol town of Acoma to the great valley, and the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad follows nearly the same route. The fall of Acoma was the deciding event of Oñate’s conquest, and has been graphically narrated in Villagrá’s epic. Laguna, by its situation, gives the overland passenger by rail his best view of a pueblo, though it is of comparatively modern origin.

Lincoln county, lying south of San Miguel and Valencia, and occupying the south-eastern corner of the territory, is the largest of the counties, with an area of 20,000 square miles, and has the smallest population, only 2,513 in 1880. It was created in 1869, being cut off from Socorro, and the boundaries being defined by act of 1878. The seat was fixed at Rio Bonito, formerly called Las Placitas, and renamed Lincoln in 1870. The county was for a time attached to Socorro for judicial purposes. It is watered by the Rio Pecos, the old Río de las Vacas, and its branches; and the great valley is thought to possess great agricultural possibilities for the future. In the east, adjoining Texas, the plains are arid and largely unfit for grazing except by means of wells. In the western plains and mountain valleys the grazing is excellent. In 1883 Lincoln headed the list with 81,053 cattle, and stood sixth with 137,013 sheep. The assessed value of property was $2,053,176; and 18,283 acres of land were valued at $60,628. In 1880 there were 60 farms, averaging 224 acres in size, and producing $38,749. Rich mines have been worked in the districts of White Oaks, Nogal, Bonito, Red Cloud, and others in the western mountains. Among the impediments to progress the most serious have been Indian troubles, the disorderly character of the population, and the lack of means of transportation. Here, under the protection of Fort Stanton, is the Apache reservation, and the field of countless raids in former years. Here have been the most serious disturbances and ‘rustler’ wars between Texan, native, and Mexican stock-men, miners, and desperadoes. And this is the only county that has no railroad, though several are projected. Lincoln, the county seat, with 500 inhabitants, has no special importance, except in being the county seat White Oaks, a mining town, has a population of about 1,000, and is the county metropolis. Roswell is regarded as the prospective site of an important agricultural centre.

Socorro county covers an area of about 12,000 miles west of Lincoln and south of Valencia. It originally included all of southern New Mexico; but Dona Ana was cut off in 1852 and Lincoln in 1869; and the boundaries were otherwise somewhat changed in 1870, 1872, and 1880. The county seat was removed to Limitar in 1854, but restored to Socorro in 1867. With its long stretch of fertile alluvial soil in the main valley, and its 4-6,000,000 acres of grazing lands, this county is believed to have unexcelled advantages for agriculture and stock-raising, though both industries, and especially the former, have hitherto been too much neglected. In 1880, nevertheless, there were 728 farms, averaging 53 acres each, and producing $217,295. In 1883 the assessment was $330,793 on 393,170 acres; there were 20,430 cattle and 66,615 sheep; and the total valuation of property was $2,450,193. According to Hitch, in 1882-4 cattle increased from 9,000 to 70,000, while sheep decreased from 300,000 to 100,000. Mining activity dates from about 1881, and in the yield of silver, gold, and copper Socorro has become one of the leading counties, with over 50 districts and many remarkably productive mines. With the growth of this great mining industry the others retrograded at first, but in recent years there are indications of revival; and a prosperous future seems assured. Socorro, the county seat, is a flourishing town of over 3,000 inhabitants, with every sign of becoming a commercial centre of great importance; and doubtless other settlements will eventually enter the race of progress, though hitherto all have been content with mere existence. The railroad down the Rio Grande traverses the county from north to south, two short branches extend to the mines at Carthage and Magdalena, and here, as everywhere, several cross-county roads are looked for in the early future. In a certain sense Socorro may be regarded as the oldest Spanish name in New Mexico, though it is not quite certain that the pueblo or spot so named in the sixteenth century by Oñate is exactly the site of the present town. In this region was the southern­most group of pueblos, noted by all the early explorers coming from the south, or in the case of Coronado from the north; and the name Nuestra Senora del Socorro was given in 1598, in recognition of the succor there found after crossing the southern deserts. Span­ish and Mexican annals deal for the most part only with the line of settlements along the river, where the early pueblos have long since disappeared; but in the north-east were several flourishing mission pueblos, eventually destroyed by Apaches, the ruins of which are still seen at Abó, Gran Quivira, and other places.

Grant county occupies the south-western corner of the territory, with an area of about 7,000 square miles, being bounded on the west by Arizona and on the south by Mexico. It is a new county, organized by act of 1868. It was then cut off from Doña Ana, and a small portion of its territory was included in the Arizona county of 1860-1, before Arizona was organized as a territory. There was in 1877 an unsuccessful attempt to attach it to Arizona; and the boundary was slightly changed in 1880. The county seat was originally at Central City, but was moved to Pinos Altos in 1869 and to Silver City in 1872. This region does not figure in the early records, except as the Santa Ilita copper mines were worked to some extent in Mexican and Spanish times. It is essentially a mining county, the development of which began at Pinos Altos in 1866, and the yield of which in 1872-81 was about $5,000,000. In this industry, as elsewhere recorded, it heads the list of New Mexican counties. Here was the home of the Apaches, and the scene of many a bloody combat. The population was 4,539 in 1880, and has been doubled since. The native or Mexican element is comparatively small. There are excellent agricultural tracts, especially in the valleys of the Mimbres and Gila, where about 10,000 acres are cultivated, the mining camps affording an advantageous market. In 1880, 68 farms, with an average extent of 144 acres, are noted as producing $145,167. In 1883 the assessment was $64,350 on 5,052 acres; total valuation of property $2,960,874. Grazing lands are extensive, of good quality, and somewhat more fully utilized than in other parts of the territory. In 1883 there were 15,871 cattle and 328,400 sheep. The Southern Pacific Railroad crosses the county from west to east, with a narrow-gauge branch from Lordsburg to Clifton in Arizona; while the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fé road comes to Deming and has a branch to Silver City. The county seat, Silver City, is the mining centre, and though a new town, incorporated in 1878, has a population of 3,000, with solid brick buildings and all the characteristics of a thriving modem city. Deming, at the junction of the two great railroad lines, and noted as the only competing railroad point in the territory, has sprung up since 1880, and has a population of nearly 2,000, with well-founded aspirations to the position of county metropolis in the early future. Georgetown, Pinos Altos, Santa Rita, Lordsburg, Shakespeare, and Carlisle are the most prominent of other settlements.

Doña Ana county covers an area of about 6,700 square miles on the southern frontier, between Grant on the west and Lincoln on the east. It comprises a considerable portion of the Gadsden purchase of 1853-4. The county was cut off from Socorro in 1852, and then included all of southern New Mexico. Besides the cutting-off of the other southern counties, as elsewhere recorded, the boundary was modified by acts of 1870, 1872, and 1878. The county seat was originally Doña Ana, but was changed to Las Cruces in 1853, to Mesilla in 1856, and finally to Las Cruces again in 1882. The population in 1880, including most of Sierra county, was 7,612; and is now, alone, probably much more. The lower Rio Grande valley is known as the Mesilla valley, and is a veritable garden-spot, famous not only for its general crops of grain, but for its vegetables—especially onions—small fruits, and above all, for its grapes and wine. Its soil is fertile and easily irrigated; two crops in a year are often raised, and hay can be cut on the mesas any day in the year. In 1880 there are noted 431 farms, averaging 107 acres, and producing $175,005. In 1883 the assessment was $474,817 on 36,584 acres; and the total valuation of property was $1,417,354. Back from the river the mesas furnish the same advantage for grazing that are found in other regions; but in 1883 only 7,248 cattle and 24,853 sheep are reported. Rich mines have been worked, especially in the Organos, Jarillas, and Potrillas mountains. The county is traversed by the Southern Pacific Railroad from Deming to El Paso, and by the Atchison road from Deming to Rincon, and from Rincon down the Rio Grande to El Paso, so that no region is better supplied with railroads. Las Cruces, the county seat, has about 1,500 inhabitants, a newspaper, the Rio Grande Republican, and is the business centre. Mesilla, with a population of 1,200, and another paper, the News, is a close rival. Rincon and Nutt are railroad junction stations. This section has no early history, except that it was traversed by all the explorers and travellers between new and old Mexico. I have not even been able to learn from what particular Dona Ana the settlement derived its name; probably from the wife of one of the early explorers or governors. The first settlement of the Mesilla valley was by a Chihuahua colony, after the boundary survey had left this tract in Mexico, and before the Gadsden treaty restoring it to the United States.

Sierra county is a new creation of 1884, when it was formed from portions of Doña Ana, Grant, and Socorro, with county seat at Hillsborough. It has an area of about 2,100 miles, as I estimate it from the map, though different figures are given by Hitch and others. On account of its recent origin no statistics are accessible. It is a mountainous region, with considerable grazing ranges, which have been comparatively well utilized, and many fertile though small valleys, which may in time be cultivated. The main industry is, however, mining, in which the county takes the highest rank in proportion to its size, and very nearly so without reference to area. Only a few mines have been developed, notably those of the Lake Valley district, but these have proved by far the most productive of the territory. Hillsborough, the county seat, Lake Valley, and Kingston are connected with the main railroad by a branch from Nutt station, and are thriving mining centres, of small population as yet; and the northern settlements are Palomas, Fairview, Grafton, Robinson, and Chloride. The Cañada Alamosa is known to the reader as the site of a former Indian reservation; and in the main Rio Grande valley, now traversed by the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fé Railroad, is the famous Jornada del Muerto, an object of terror in early times to all who were compelled to make the trip between old and new Mexico.