We had planned to make a short run across the border at El Paso to visit Juarez and maybe have a meal at a genuine Mexican restaurant but B. J...uh, we had forgotten our passports so we had to content ourselves by cruising along the U. S. side of the Rio Grande and observing Old Mexico on the other side.

I reined Ole Red onto I-10 and headed him north. Soon we passed through the outskirts of El Paso and back into the mountainous deserts of New Mexico. I-10 runs parallel to the Rio Grande along here for approximately thirty miles to the “Old West” city of Las Cruces, New Mexico.

Las Cruces, New Mexico is a western history buff’s paradise; it figures prominently in the development of the turbulent “Old West”. More than 150 years ago, U. S. Army Lt. Delos Bennett Sackett, using rawhide rope and stakes, plotted out 84 city blocks to form what is known today as Las Cruces, New Mexico.

During the summer of 1848, with the First Dragoon of Company H., his mission, along with 87 other soldiers, was to protect small communities from Apache raids. These communities included El Paso and Dona Ana, a small village headed by Alcalde (mayor) Don Pablo Melendres.

There are many stories as to how Las Cruces got its name. One story suggests that sometime during the 18th century, a bishop, a priest, a Mexican Army Colonel, a captain, four trappers and four choir boys were attacked near the Rio Grande and only one, a boy, survived. Crosses were erected in their honor, and the name, El Pueblo del Jardin de Las Cruces (the City of the Garden of Crosses), evolved. Later the name was shortened to Las Cruces.

Other stories say multiple crosses were erected in the area to mark the grave sites of the many victims of Apache raids. Still another story is that a group of forty travelers from Tacos, New Mexico were killed just as they reached Las Cruces. But some people feel that the name is simply the Spanish translation for “crossing” or “crossroads”.

In any case, what is more certain is that Las Cruces has been the haunt of many notable figures, such as Geronimo, Chief Victorio, Albert Fall and the discoverer of Pluto, the late Clyde Tombaugh. But none have garnered more attention than the most infamous outlaw in the West, William H. Bonney, more popularly known as Billy the Kid.

One of Billy the Kid’s favorite hangouts was Las Cruces. However, such a notorious outlaw could not settle for long in one place. He moved around in the rough country of New Mexico getting into serious trouble everywhere he went.

In 1880, Billy stood trial in a Mesilla, New Mexico courtroom (near Las Cruces) for the murder of Andrew “Buckshot” Roberts. He was found guilty and sentenced to hang by Judge Warren Bristol. During his sentencing Judge Bristol told Billy that he was to be hung by the neck “until you are dead, dead, dead!” Legend has it that Billy shouted back “And you can go to hell, hell, hell!”

Billy was taken to Lincoln, New Mexico where he escaped while awaiting execution. Some believe that after he escaped he came to Las Cruces while on the run to try to gain refuge among friends there but when things were unfavorable for him to hide out in Mesilla or Las Cruces he went north and finally wound up with some pals at Fort Sumner. Allegedly, he was later shot and killed by his one-time friend Lincoln County, New Mexico Sheriff Pat Garrett in 1881 on the Pecos River near Fort Sumner.

And I especially like this, the building in Mesilla that housed the old jail and courtroom where Billy was held, tried and sentenced are still standing and the actual iron jail cell that held him is on display across the street in the Gadsden Museum. Another historical landmark in Mesilla (a suburb of Las Cruces on I-10) is the old Butterfield Stage Depot. Today it is home to La Posta, a restaurant with a worldwide reputation for its Mexican food. Yum-yum.

We crossed the Rio Grande at Las Cruces and headed toward Deming, New Mexico where we would bunk up for a spell before heading on over into the Grand Canyon state, Arizona.