La Mesilla

Historical marker location:

Mesilla Plaza, Mesilla, New Mexico

( Mesilla Plaza)

The 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the Mexican-American War, establishing Mesilla as a Mexican holding. Cura Ramon Ortiz settled families from El Paso del Norte and pre-territorial New Mexico here. Disputes over the border just north of town continued. Soldiers raised the U.S. flag on this Plaza, November 16, 1854, marking the signing of the Gadsden Purchase, the last major territorial acquisition within the contiguous United States. The “M” and “54” painted on the nearby bandstand commemorate the event.