This town offers our area a glimpse of days gone by.
Walk through the streets and you'll gather a sense of
how a border village looked in the 1800s. It was here
that Billy the Kid was tried for
murder and sentenced to hang -- though shortly
afterward he escaped. It was reported he had
killed 21 men, one for every year of his life. After escape,
he was hunted by Sheriff Pat Garrett and shot July 14, 1882 in
Lincoln County, New Mexico.
Mesilla is the best known and most visited historic community in southern
New Mexico. Before being bypassed by the railroad in 1881, it was the
largest town between San Antonio and San Diego in the United States and a
regional center for commerce and transportation. The traditional adobe
buildings remain as a tangible reminder of its long and significant past.
After 1800, the vicinity of Mesilla was a camping and foraging spot for
both the Spaniard and Mexicans. It wasn't until after the treaty of Guadalupe
Hidalgo in 1848 that the first permanent settlers came here to make it
their home. By 1850, it was a firmly established colony. The constant
threat of attack by the Apache put these early settlers on constant alert.
Apaches periodically swept through the area, stealing livestock and
foodstuffs, murdering colonists and seizing captives.
Villagers swiftly retaliated by sending out the Mesilla
Guard, a militia comprised of a man from each household.
Time after time the militia wrought
revenge on any Apache in the area.