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.

New Mexico was one of the last territories to become a state, gaining statehood in 1912. Before that, it had been part of the Spanish Empire, Mexico, and the United States Territory of New Mexico.