Cooke's Canyon or Cookes Canyon, a

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains and typically containing a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over ...

and

ephemeral Ephemerality (from the Greek word , meaning 'lasting only one day') is the concept of things being transitory, existing only briefly. Academically, the term ephemeral constitutionally describes a diverse assortment of things and experiences, fr ...

stream, located on the eastern slope of the

Cooke's Range The Cookes Range (Cooke's Range, Cooks Range or Cook's Range) is a small, 17-mi (27 km) long mountain range in northern Luna County, New Mexico, which extends slightly north into southeastern Grant County. The range is a southern continua ...

Luna County, New Mexico Luna County (Spanish: ) is a county located in the U.S. state of New Mexico. As of the 2020 census, the population was 25,427. Its county seat is Deming. This county abuts the Mexican border. Luna County comprises the Deming, NM Micropol ...

. It has its source at north of Massacre Peak. The mouth of Cooke's Canyon is at its confluence with Fort Cummings Draw. Cooke's Canyon is named for Lt. Col.

Philip St. George Cooke Philip St. George Cooke (June 13, 1809 – March 20, 1895) was a career United States Army cavalry officer who served as a Union General in the American Civil War. He is noted for his authorship of an Army cavalry manual, and is sometimes calle ...

, who commanded the

Mormon Battalion The Mormon Battalion was the only religious unit in United States military history in federal service, recruited solely from one religious body and having a religious title as the unit designation. The volunteers served from July 1846 to Jul ...

from Santa Fe to San Diego, California during the Mexican War. Their task was to establish a wagon road, which later was called

Cooke's Wagon Road Cooke's Wagon Road or Cooke's Road was the first wagon road between the Rio Grande and the Colorado River to San Diego, through the Mexican provinces of Nuevo México, Chihuahua, Sonora and Alta California, established by Philip St. George Coo ...

, and became the primary route used by the

Southern Emigrant Trail :''The Southern Emigrant Trail should not be confused with the Applegate Trail, which is part of the Emigrant Trail, Northern Emigrant Trails.'' The Southern Emigrant Trail, also known as the Gila Trail, the Kearny Trail, the Southern Trail and ...

. The Mormon Battalion crossed Cooke's Canyon on 17 November 1846.Cooke's Journal, Senate Documents, 1849 The upper part of Cooke's Canyon is part of what was called Cooke's Pass, a narrow gap, running east and west, through which the Southern Emigrant Trail passed through Cooke's Range.

References

History of Luna County, New Mexico Landforms of Luna County, New Mexico Canyons and gorges of New Mexico {{NewMexico-geo-stub