2-914-007 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Fort Fillmore, New Mexico, 1854. View of '...one of the garrisons first built by the United States Government on the Rio Grande del Norte...In the background are seen the great chains of the White and Sacramento Mountains...The Mesilla Valley had been for some time disputed territory, when the question was settled by purchase by the United States Government; thus opening another beautiful region of country to American enterprise...All the mountains in the vicinity of Fort Fillmore are known to be exceedingly rich in iron, copper, silver, and gold ores. Silver mines are now worked...The climate of the Mesilla is unsurpassed: its soil is equal to that of any portion of the globe...A few years hence will be seen an industrious and happy people enjoying this charming country, where now the Apache, Comanche, Navajo, Tongawaa, and Lipau, are the chief proprietors'. From "Illustrated London News", 1854.