Las Cruces, NM

Las Cruces is a city located in the southeast desert area, but has many interesting venues to visit.

LaMesilla is a village that was settled before Las Cruces proper, first by the Spanish Catholic missionaries, then by settlers who were looking for land to ranch and mine for the minerals in the mountains. It's main claims to fame are the trial and conviction of Billy the Kid, and the holdout of Cochise and other Apache indians in the back country.

The native cliff dwellings at Gila are about an hour drive to the

northwest. Archaeologists think that only one or possibly two

generations of people lived here, and that drought or over

harvesting of the local plant life forced them to move on.

The construction of the walls inside the caves shows a fairly advanced knowledge of building techniques.

This is typical of the mountain scenery in the area.

The White Sands area is northeast of the city. The scenery is quite amazing as the desert dunes are indeed pure white. This is also where the White Sands Missle Proving Grounds are, and we were told that at times all traffic is denied access while tests are being done.




The museum in Alamagordo near White Sands archives the activities at the proving grounds. Rocket engines that have powered our space program were developed and tested here, as well as ICBM and anti-missle weapons.

This is a very interesting area to visit.