Historical Marker

Hachita

Located in the Little Hatchet Mountains, Hachita was founded around 1875 as a mining camp. The mountains supplied the camp not only with silver and copper, but also its name, “little hatchet.” By 1884 Hachita grew to 300 residents. Soon after 1900, when railroad tracks were laid nine miles east of Hachita, another settlement sprang up, drawing away residents and dividing the community into Old Hachita and New Hachita. Hachita also served as the base for forces when the “punitive expedition” was organized in retaliation for Pancho Villa’s raid upon Columbus in 1916.