Traversed for centuries by Native Americans, Spaniards, Mexicans, and then Americans, the San Andres Pass between Las Cruces and Alamogordo and White Sands, offers stunning views and vistas. Along this pass, Sheriff Pat Garrett, the man who killed the notorious gunfighter, Billy the Kid, was himself killed. The Pass recalls other notables such as Albert Fountain and Albert Fall. During the early American Civil War this spring was the site of a humiliating surrender of Union Army forces at the First Battle of Mesilla.
Only stretching for eight miles, the San Augustin mountains is a subrange of the San Andres Mountains on the north and the majestic Organ Mountains to its south past the San Augustin Pass. Organ, New Mexico sits at the southern tip of the San Augustin and was a mining camp prior to the Civil War. Extensive mining throughout this area included the Torpedo Mine which was the largest producing mine in the area. For minerals found in the area of the San Augustin Pass go HERE. For more about Organ, NM, go HERE
This Saturday, join historian Mary Kay Shannon for a two-hour tour of the Slumbering Mountain Cemetery in Organ, NM. For more about the field trip, visit our Events page.