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I don’t know how it happens, we don’t purposely seek out historically fascinating places, yet Mesilla (Little Tableland) is another one. The small farming community hasn’t grown a bit since it was established in 1848, right after the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. An error made by a map maker in New York (why were they drawing the map in New York anyway?) created a strip of disputed territory that became “No Man’s Land”.

The flood of settlers pouring in to the new territory avoided the area since no one knew if it was part of Mexico or part of the U.S. The amount of settlers was so large that the U.S. Army was sent out to protect and organize the fast growing community of Las Cruces. Mesilla and Las Cruces were separated at the time by the Rio Grande river. People wishing to travel from one town to the other had to take a barge ferry across the river. In 1885 the river wandered on the other side of Mesilla and it no longer forms a barrier.

Mesilla became home to residents who wished to remain Mexican citizens. Many families moved from areas north but they ended up as U.S. citizens after all. In 1854 the U.S. ratified the Gadsden Purchase, a deal made with Mexican President Antonio Lopes de Santa Anna (of the Alamo). The Purchase was signed in what is now the Double Eagle Building and the American flag was raised in Mesilla plaza. We stopped in the Double Eagle Bar for margaritas one night and learned about its two residents ghosts. Don’t worry, the bartender assured us they were friendly. I’ll take his word for it!

Although the towns were established at roughly the same time, shortly after the treaty in 1848 they followed very different trajectories. Mesilla was founded by people who weren’t fond of change, while Las Cruces sought it. In 1848, Mesilla was the largest town between San Antonio, Texas and San Diego, California with 3,000 inhabitants. Today the population is slightly less. Las Cruces on the other hand claimed about 600 people in 1848; currently it has close to 80,000 and is New Mexico’s second largest city after Albuquerque.

Mesilla was, and still is, a natural crossroads in the valley of the Rio Grande. For thousands of years Native Americans traversed the valley as part of their trade routes, Oñate and his expedition came through the Mesilla Valley in 1598 while establishing El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, the Santa Fe Trail and the Butterfield-Overland Mail and Stage Line met there, the railroad arrived in 1881 and now I-10 and I-25 cross nearby.

The citizens of Mesilla chose to keep their agricultural way of life when they refused to allow the railroad to come through their community in 1881. The Alameda Depot was built in Las Cruces instead and that made all the difference. Mesilla is still agricultural even though the crops have changed. The Mogollon Indians lived along the fertile Rio Grande where they grew corn and beans until they disappeared around 1450. The Catholic priests who later settled the area planted vineyards, ostensibly for sacramental wine although it was much acclaimed by many at the time. Currently the main crops are pecans, cotton and chiles.

I was surprised to learn about the pecans and cotton but the chiles I expected. After all, the Chile Capital of the World is just 40 miles away in Hatch, New Mexico. I wandered through the small streets and found myself in between a cotton field and a large pecan orchard. All just a few blocks from the Plaza! Stahmann Farms is located in Mesilla and is the world’s largest family-owned pecan orchard. Did you know pecans are the only mass market nut native to the Americas? And that George Washington carried pecans in his pocket during the Revolutionary War? If only I liked nuts…

Southern New Mexico was dramatically impacted by WWII, not only was the first atomic device detonated nearby but the war created a shortage of labor on the local farms. The farmers were helped by 900 or so German and Italian prisoners of war under the Emergency Farm Labor Program. I’d never even heard of that program before. Interesting, very interesting.

The Plaza I keep talking about was (and still is) the main focus of the town. The open Plaza was ringed by buildings, mostly for defense from the local Mansos band of Apaches. Today many of the historic buildings house shops, galleries and restaurants. San Albino Church towers over the Plaza at the end of it. The brick church was built in 1906, replacing the crumbling adobe one that was built in 1855. We could hear the bells ringing from our spot at RV Doc’s Park. We loved this RV park, not only does it have a great location but we took time every evening to play horseshoes, ping pong and sit in the hot tub. Fun!

The area reminded us of our old house in Tucson where we used to listen to the bells from the church down the street, the train whistling through the Old Pueblo and see the granitic Santa Catalina Mountains rising to the north. In Mesilla, we listened to the bells of San Albino, heard the train as it traveled through Las Cruces and we watched the sun change the color of the Organ Mountains to the east. We felt right at home.

Since Mesilla was a crossroads it is no surprise that some of the west’s most famous (infamous?) men spent time there. In April 1881 Billy the Kid was on trial in Mesilla. Not surprisingly he was found guilty and sentenced to hang in nearby Lincoln. Many of the old Hispanic families in the area sympathized with Billy and looked upon him as a kind of Robin Hood. The citizens didn’t stand in his way when he killed the two deputies and escaped. In fact, they fed him and lent him horses (which he later returned, gentleman that he was).

The escape bought him a few more months but it also put a price on his head. Sheriff Pat Garrett, who had an office in Mesilla, hunted him down and shot him on the night of July 14, 1881. Or so the story goes. Years later two men stepped forward claiming to be the Kid. One family even sought DNA tests to prove it but they ran into problems locating Billy’s remains and other samples. I think I agree with one old-timer who said Billy was so fast and smart, it is unlikely that he was so easy to kill. He really doesn’t sound like all that bad a guy, once you read the facts.

One more rebel with a cause for you, Pancho Villa. Mexicans seem to like people who fight the system, perhaps the Don Quixote syndrome runs in their Spanish blood. No one is all good or all bad, sometimes they are just right for their times. Pancho Villa was one of those people. On his visits to Mesilla he was welcomed.

Obviously, we enjoyed Mesilla. I’m glad it’s just off I-10, that way we can stop in next time we head through the area. From Mesilla we followed I-10 to Tucson, just in time to spend Thanksgiving with family and friends.

Photos View photos from our time in Mesilla.

Dates: We stayed in Mesilla, New Mexico from 11/05/06 to 11/12/06.