The New Mexico Bootheel is a salient which comprises the southwestern corner of

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

. As part of the

Gadsden Purchase The Gadsden Purchase ( es, region=MX, la Venta de La Mesilla "The Sale of La Mesilla") is a region of present-day southern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico that the United States acquired from Mexico by the Treaty of Mesilla, which took effe ...

it is bounded on the east by the Mexican state of Chihuahua along a line at extending south to latitude 31°20′0″N at . The southern border is shared between the Mexican states of Chihuahua and

Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Sonora), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is d ...

along latitude 31°20′0″N, while the western border with

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

is along

meridian Meridian or a meridian line (from Latin ''meridies'' via Old French ''meridiane'', meaning “midday”) may refer to Science * Meridian (astronomy), imaginary circle in a plane perpendicular to the planes of the celestial equator and horizon * ...

109°03′0″W at , bounding an area of and comprising . New Mexico bootheel topo v1

It is characterized by

basin and range Basin and range topography is characterized by alternating parallel mountain ranges and valleys. It is a result of crustal extension due to mantle upwelling, gravitational collapse, crustal thickening, or relaxation of confining stresses. The e ...

topography with three north south trending mountain ranges, the Peloncillo Mountains, the

Animas Mountains The Animas Mountains are a small mountain range in Hidalgo County, within the " Boot-Heel" region of far southwestern New Mexico, in the United States. They extend north–south for about 30 miles (50 km) along the Continental Divide,Since ...

, and the Big Hatchet Mountains, separated by four valleys, the San Simon, Animas, Playas, and Hachita valleys. A single road traverses just north of the bootheel,

New Mexico State Road 9 State Road 9 (NM 9) is a state road in the U.S. state of New Mexico. The highway spans Hidalgo, Grant, and Luna counties from its western terminus at NM 80 to its eastern terminus at CR A003 at the Doña Ana county line. NM ...

, while

New Mexico State Road 80 State Road 80 (NM 80) is north–south state highway, state road in southwestern New Mexico, between the Arizona state line near Rodeo, New Mexico, Rodeo and Interstate 10 in New Mexico, Interstate 10 (I-10) at Road Forks, New Mexico, Road ...

(former US-80) skirts the western edge running south through the San Simon Valley. The other two roads in the bootheel are State Road 338 running down Animas Valley and State Road 81 running from Hachita to Antelope Wells, a border crossing. The bootheel is a sparsely populated (population density < 1 person/square mile) region known primarily as a

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult mal ...

-ranching area, with the best-known ranch being the Diamond A Ranch in the Animas Valley, although mining also played a part in the development of the bootheel with the abandoned mining town of old Hachita. Land ownership is divided between publicly owned state and federal lands covering much of the mountain ranges and private lands in the valleys. The only settlement is Antelope Wells, while the towns of

Rodeo Rodeo () is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working va ...

, Animas, and Hachita lie just to the northwest, north, and northeast respectively. The former

Phelps Dodge Phelps Dodge Corporation was an American mining company founded in 1834 as an import-export firm by Anson Greene Phelps and his two sons-in-law William Earle Dodge, Sr. and Daniel James. The latter two ran Phelps, James & Co., the part of the o ...

mining town of Playas is now a training facility for the

United States Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the Federal government of the United States, U.S. United States federal executive departments, federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the I ...

References

{{American panhandles Chihuahuan Desert Border irregularities of the United States Geography of New Mexico Geography of Hidalgo County, New Mexico