Historical Marker
Mesa and Pecos Valley
Pecos Valley section of Great Plains province stretches westward to foothills of Capitán, Jicarilla, and Gallinas Mountains. Southern High Plains, 50 miles to east, are capped by water-bearing Ogallala Formation; Poquita Mesa to east is Ogallala remnant. Nearby depressions are sinkholes in porous Permian limestones. Elevation 4,500 feet.
New Mexico was the birthplace of several famous figures in American history, including the outlaw Billy the Kid, the physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, and the astronaut Harrison Schmitt, who was one of the last men to walk on the moon.