Pinos Altos is a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, such ...

Grant County Grant County may refer to: Places ;Australia * County of Grant, Victoria ;United States *Grant County, Arkansas *Grant County, Indiana *Grant County, Kansas *Grant County, Kentucky *Grant County, Minnesota *Grant County, Nebraska *Grant Co ...

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 ...

, United States. The community was a

mining town A mining community, also known as a mining town or a mining camp, is a community that houses miners. Mining communities are usually created around a mine or a quarry. Historic mining communities Australia * Ballarat, Victoria * Bendigo, ...

, formed in 1860 following the discovery of gold in the nearby Pinos Altos Mountains. The town site is located about five to ten miles north of the present day Silver City. Although once abandoned, the town is now a place for summer homes and caters to tourists. Its population was 198 as of the 2010 census.

Demographics

History

Originally named ''Birchville'', after prospector and former outlaw, Robert H. Birch, one of three people who found the first gold, it later took the Spanish name Pinos Altos, meaning tall pines, because there were tall trees growing in the area. These were cut down as the town grew to a population of about 9,000 during the 1880s and 1890s before slowly being abandoned during the early 1900s. Today, many of the original buildings remain.Pinos Altos or Birchville
Retrieved fro
Ghosttowns.com
on 14 January 2011. From the discovery of gold in 1860 until late 1861, miners were harassed by Apache Indians opposed to American and Mexican settlers occupying their lands. On September 27, 1861, it was the site of the

Battle of Pinos Altos The Battle of Pinos Altos was a military action of the Apache Wars. It was fought on September 27, 1861, between settlers of Pinos Altos, New Mexico, Pinos Altos mining town, the Confederate Arizona, Confederate Arizona Guards, and Apache warri ...

between the Arizona Guards of Pinos Altos, a Confederate Arizona Territorial militia company, and

Apache The Apache () are a group of culturally related Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, which include the Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Lipan, Mescalero, Mimbreño, Ndendahe (Bedonkohe or Mogollon and Nednhi or Carrizaleño an ...

warriors led by

Mangas Coloradas Mangas Coloradas or Mangus-Colorado (La-choy Ko-kun-noste, alias "Red Sleeve"), or Dasoda-hae ("He Just Sits There") (c. 1793 – January 18, 1863) was an Apache tribal chief and a member of the Mimbreño (Tchihende) division of the Central ...

and

Cochise Cochise (; Apache: ''Shi-ka-She'' or ''A-da-tli-chi'', lit.: ''having the quality or strength of an oak''; later ''K'uu-ch'ish'' or ''Cheis'', lit. ''oak''; June 8, 1874) was leader of the Chihuicahui local group of the Chokonen and principa ...

. This battle did not end the conflict between settlers and Native Americans, which continued for several years, with neither side particularly willing to see the dispute resolved peacefully. Even when a treaty was eventually negotiated between the settlers and Indians, a settler hosting a dinner to celebrate the signing opened fire on 60 unarmed Indians, killing and injuring many of those assembled. Indian hostility continued until the military built permanent forts in the area, most significant of which was Fort Bayard, established a few miles to the southeast in 1866. Senator

George Hearst George Hearst (September 3, 1820 – February 28, 1891) was an American businessman, miner, and politician. After growing up on a small farm in Missouri, he founded many mining operations, and is known for developing and expanding the Hom ...

invested in several Pinos Altos mines, including the Mina Grande and the Pacific Mine. He built a

stamp mill A stamp mill (or stamp battery or stamping mill) is a type of mill machine that crushes material by pounding rather than grinding, either for further processing or for extraction of metallic ores. Breaking material down is a type of unit operatio ...

in Pinos Altos in 1889, and incorporated the

Silver City, Pinos Altos and Mogollon Railroad Silver City, Pinos Altos and Mogollon Railroad (SC, PA&M) was a narrow gauge railway serving copper mines along the Continental Divide in the mountains of southwestern New Mexico. The communities of Silver City and Pinos Altos developed as 19 ...

to connect these properties to his Silver City

smelter Smelting is a process of applying heat to ore, to extract a base metal. It is a form of extractive metallurgy. It is used to extract many metals from their ores, including Silver mining#Ore processing, silver, iron-making, iron, copper extracti ...

. Comanche Mining and Smelting Company completed the 2-foot

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...

railroad in 1906; but the railroad closed when the price of copper plunged the following year. The town's ZIP code is 88053.NM Home Town Locator: Pinos Altos, NM, Community Profile
/ref> The old opera house has been combined into a restaurant with the Buckhorn Saloon.

Notes

External links

Pinos Altos, New Mexico, official homepage and website
{{authority control Census-designated places in New Mexico History of Grant County, New Mexico Pinos Altos Census-designated places in Grant County, New Mexico 1860 establishments in New Mexico Territory