Event Details

Ranger Daniel will discuss early attempts to create an independent government in Southern New Mexico. First led by Rafael Ruelas in the 1850s and amplified by Col. John R. Baylor during the Civil War, the political movement reached a national audience with William H. Arny’s proposal to establish the Territory of Montezuma in 1865. While the movement failed to receive support from Congress, these leaders succeeded in attracting waves of new settlers, farmers, and health-seekers to the Mesilla Valley during a transitional period before New Mexico became the forty-seventh state in 1912.This talk will be held Saturday, Oct. 18 from 2 - 3 p.m. at the Mesilla Community Center, 2251 Calle de Santiago, and is FREE and open to the public. Presented by New Mexico Historic Sites and the Friends of Taylor-Mesilla Historic Site. Call 575-202-1638 for more info.