Point of Rocks (Sierra County, New Mexico)

Last updated

Point of Rocks, named by the Spanish Cerros del Perrillo (Hills of the Doggy), is a 5,115 foot / 1,559 meter summit and the name of a range of hills of which the summit is the highest. [1] The summit and the hills are in the Jornada del Muerto plateau, mostly in Sierra County, New Mexico. The southernmost part of the hills are within Doña Ana County, New Mexico. [1]

History

Point of Rocks was a landmark along the El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro that passed to the west of these hills. Nearby to the south were two waterholes and a camping place, one of the few reliable watering places along the route known as the Jornada del Muerto. [2] The place was called the Paraje del Perrillo (Place of the Little Dog). The paraje was named for a little dog that returned with muddy paws to the thirsty Onate expedition, prompting the search for and discovery of two small waterholes nearby that the Spanish fittingly named Los Charcos del Perrillo (The Puddles of the Doggy). [2] :151–152

Long before the arrival of the Spanish, the water at Los Charcos del Perrillo was also a popular watering place for the local Apache. [2] From the time that travelers came into the Jornada del Muerto they would be under scrutiny from mountains and hills along the route. Signal fires would be lit to alert others to this intrusion and to tell of their strength. Point of Rocks itself was a dangerous place, ideal for Apache warriors to conceal an attack or an ambush of passing travelers. The Paraje was located well away from the slopes of this place, and travelers were well advised to be wary and keep alert while near it. [2] :152

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jornada del Muerto</span> Desert region in New Mexico, United States

Jornada del Muerto was the name given by the Spanish conquistadors to the Jornada del Muerto Desert basin, and the almost waterless 90-mile (140 km) trail across the Jornada beginning north of Las Cruces and ending south of Socorro, New Mexico. The name translates from Spanish as "Dead Man's Journey" or "Route of the Dead Man". The trail was part of the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro which led northward from central colonial New Spain, present-day Mexico, to the farthest reaches of the viceroyalty in northern Nuevo México Province.

Paraje, a Spanish term meaning in English place or spot. Paraje is a term from the original Spanish speaking settlers, in use among English speakers in the southwestern United States, particularly in New Mexico, that refers to a camping place along a long distance trail where travelers customarily stopped for the night. A paraje can be a town, a village or pueblo, a caravanserai, or simply a good location for stopping.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Selden</span> United States historic place

Fort Selden was a United States Army post, occupying the area in what is now Radium Springs, New Mexico. The site was long a campground along the El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro. It was the site of a Confederate Army camp in 1861. The U. S. Army established Fort Selden in 1865 for the purpose of protecting westward settlers from Native American raids, but the post fell into disrepair after the American Civil War. It was ultimately abandoned in 1891, due in large part to the decision to expand Fort Bliss and the lack of any expenditures for repair of the facility.

Point of Rocks may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern Emigrant Trail</span> 19th century immigrant route in the United States

Southern Emigrant Trail, also known as the Gila Trail, the Kearny Trail, Southern Trail and the Butterfield Stage Trail, was a major land route for immigration into California from the eastern United States that followed the Santa Fe Trail to New Mexico during the California Gold Rush. Unlike the more northern routes, pioneer wagons could travel year round, mountain passes not being blocked by snows, however it had the disadvantage of summer heat and lack of water in the desert regions through which it passed in New Mexico Territory and the Colorado Desert of California. Subsequently, it was a route of travel and commerce between the eastern United States and California. Many herds of cattle and sheep were driven along this route and it was followed by the San Antonio-San Diego Mail Line in 1857–1858 and then the Butterfield Overland Mail from 1858–1861.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victorio's War</span>

Victorio's War, or the Victorio Campaign, was an armed conflict between the Apache followers of Chief Victorio, the United States, and Mexico beginning in September 1879. Faced with arrest and forcible relocation from his homeland in New Mexico to San Carlos Indian Reservation in southeastern Arizona, Victorio led a guerrilla war across southern New Mexico, west Texas and northern Mexico. Victorio fought many battles and skirmishes with the United States Army and raided several settlements until the Mexican Army killed him and most of his warriors in October 1880 in the Battle of Tres Castillos. After Victorio's death, his lieutenant Nana led a raid in 1881.

Engle is an unincorporated community in Sierra County, New Mexico.

San Diego Mountain also known as Tonuco Mountain is an American summit 22 miles northwest of Las Cruces, New Mexico in Doña Ana County. Its summit is at an elevation of 4,951 feet.

Santa Barbara is a former settlement in Dona Ana County, New Mexico, now the site of Hatch, New Mexico. It lay at an elevation of 4,058 feet/1,237 meters.

Fosters Hole or La Tinaja, was a waterhole on the original route of Cooke's Wagon Road in what is now Sierra County, New Mexico. It is located in narrow crevasse at the foot of a cliff in Jug Canyon that is difficult to spot, except from a few vantage points.

Paraje de San Diego was a camping place, overlooking the Rio Grande, along the route of the Jornada del Muerto. It was located 5 leagues north of the Paraje de Robledo and "half a league from the river".

Cañon del Muerto is a canyon, in Sierra County, New Mexico.

Paraje was a populated place along the east bank of the Rio Grande, in Socorro County, New Mexico, United States, now a ghost town. It is located north northeast of the Fra Cristobal Range.

Fort McRae was a Union Army post, established in 1863, then a U.S. Army post from 1866 and closed in 1876, in what is now Sierra County, New Mexico. The post was named for Alexander McRae (1829–1862) a slain hero of the 1862 Battle of Valverde.

Paraje del Perrillo, was a dependable watering and stopping place along the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, where it passed through the Jornada del Muerto in the vicinity of Point of Rocks in Sierra County, New Mexico. Paraje del Perillo was the next water to the north beyond the Paraje de San Diego overlooking the Rio Grande 5 leagues beyond Paraje de Robledo and a half league from the River.

Aleman is a locale, a formerly populated place in Sierra County, New Mexico, United States. It lies at an elevation of 4,669 feet.

Point of Rocks Tank is a former dam and reservoir now broken, on Rincon Arroyo in Doña Ana County, New Mexico. It lies at an elevation of 4,344 feet about three miles south of Point of Rocks.

Engle Lake, originally named Laguna del Muerto by the Spanish, is a seasonal lake in the Jornada del Muerto region in Sierra County, New Mexico. It lies at an elevation or 4,715 feet (1,437 m) in the depression in the Jornada Del Muerto basin.

Mesa del Contadero, sometimes called Black Mesa, also appeared on a 1773 Spanish map as Mesa de Senecú, is a basalt mesa that stands out on the east bank of the Rio Grande over three miles southwest of Val Verde in Socorro County, New Mexico. The mesa rises up dramatically from its lower surroundings in steep sides of 250 to 300 feet, particularly on the three sides where the river must pass around it to the west. It then levels off to a level area on top of an elevation of 4,810 feet, with a high point summit called Mesa Peak at 4,916 feet on the northeast edge of the Mesa.

San Ygnacio de la Alamosa, also known as Alamosa, is now a ghost town, in Sierra County, New Mexico, United States. San Ygnacio de la Alamosa was founded in 1859 as a native New Mexican colonizing settlement from San Antonio. The site of the new colony was along the west bank of the Rio Grande, 35 miles south of Fort Craig, on the south bank of Alamosa Creek nearby its mouth and confluence with the Rio Grande, in what was then southern Socorro County.

References

Coordinates: 32°47′30″N106°58′57″W / 32.79167°N 106.98250°W / 32.79167; -106.98250