Picacho, is a

Census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), 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 counte ...

Doña Ana County, New Mexico Doña Ana County () is a county located in the southern part of the New Mexico, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 219,561, which makes it the second-most populated county in New Mexico. Its county seat is Las Cruce ...

. It lies at an elevation of .

History

Picacho de los Nevarez

The village of Picacho was originally settled in 1855, by a party of settlers from

Socorro, New Mexico Socorro (, ''Help:Pronunciation respelling key, sə-KOR-oh'') is a city in Socorro County, New Mexico, Socorro County in the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is in the Middle Rio Grande Valley AVA, Rio Grande Valley at an elevation of . At the 2020 ...

, led by Candelaro Chavez. The original name of the village was ''Picacho de los Nevarez'', named after the local name of

Picacho Mountain Picacho Mountain () is a mountain in Panama. It is located in San Carlos District on the western side of the Panamá Province Panamá is a province of Panama. It is the location of the national capital Panama City, which also serves as the ...

, a peak named after the Nevarez family.

Picacho Station

Picacho village was the site of Picacho Station a stagecoach station of the 4th Division of the

Butterfield Overland Mail Butterfield Overland Mail (officially Overland Mail Company)Waterman L. Ormsby, edited by Lyle H. Wright and Josephine M. Bynum, "The Butterfield Overland Mail", The Huntington Library, San Marino, California, 1991. was a stagecoach service in ...

from 1858 to 1861. Located in the village of Picacho, it was 6 miles west and north of

Mesilla, New Mexico Mesilla (also known as La Mesilla and Old Mesilla) is a town in Doña Ana County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 1,797 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Las Cruces Metropolitan Statistical Area. During the Civil War, Mes ...

and 15 miles east of the Rough and Ready Station where the road passed through Picacho Pass then south to the station in the village. This station had the last natural water available on the route westward until Cooke's Spring 52 miles away, although the later intervening stations of Goodsight and Rough and Ready, hauled in water and constructed earthen tanks to catch what little rain water fell at their locations. The site of the station was at .Hackler, George, The Butterfield Trail in New Mexico; Yucca Enterprises, Las Cruces, NM; 2005

References

{{Butterfield4 Census-designated places in Doña Ana County, New Mexico History of Doña Ana County, New Mexico Geography of Doña Ana County, New Mexico Butterfield Overland Mail in New Mexico Territory American frontier San Antonio–San Diego Mail Line 1858 establishments in New Mexico Territory Stagecoach stops in the United States