"Las Cruces" a Las Cruces Travel Page by ATXtraveler

More than 150 years ago, United States Army Lt. Delos Bennett Sackett, using rawhide rope and stakes, plotted out 84 city blocks to form what is know today as Las Cruces, New Mexico. Sackett came to the Mesilla Valley from Fort Gibson, Oklahoma during the summer of 1848 with the First Dragoon of Company H. His mission, along with the 87 other soldiers, was to protect small communities from Apache raids. These communities included El Paso (or Paso del Norte) and Do?a Ana, a small village headed by alcalde Don Pablo Melendres.

There are multiple theories as to how Las Cruces got its name. One theory suggests that sometime during the 18th Century, a bishop, a priest, a Mexican Army colonel, a captain, four trappers and four choir boys were attacked near the Rio Grande and only one - a boy - survived. Crosses were erected in their honor, and the name, El Pueblo del Jardin de Las Cruces, (the City of the Garden of Crosses,) evolved.

Other stories say multiple crosses were erected in the area to mark the grave sites of the many victoms of Apache raids. And still another story is that a group of 40 travelers from Taos, NM were killed just as they reach Las Cruces. But some people feel that the name is simply the Spanish translation for "crossing" or "crossroads."