Butterfield Overland Mail -- Mesilla Station, Old Mesilla Plaza, Las Cruces NM
N 32° 16.462 W 106° 47.717
13S E 330920 N 3572262
This BOM trail marker stands at the spot where the Butterfield Overland mail stopped at its Mesilla Station, in old Mesilla Plaza at Las Cruces NM
Waymark Code: WMV1EQ
Location: New Mexico, United States
Date Posted: 02/07/2017
Views: 3
The plaza at Old Mesilla was the confluence for every route and trail through this part of New Mexico. A Butterfield Overland Mail station was located here on the Mesilla plaza, in the heart of Old Mesilla.
From Wikipedia: (
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"Butterfield Overland Mail in New Mexico Territory
The Butterfield Overland Mail was a transport and mail delivery system that employed stagecoaches that traveled on a specific route between Saint Louis, Missouri and San Francisco, California and which passed through the New Mexico Territory.
It was created by the United States Congress on March 3, 1857, and operated until March 30, 1861. The route that was operated extended from where the ferry across the Colorado River to Fort Yuma Station, California was located, through New Mexico Territory via, Tucson to the Rio Grande and Mesilla, New Mexico, then south to Franklin, Texas, midpoint on the route.
The New Mexico Territory mail route was divided into two divisions each under a superintendent. Tucson was the headquarters of the 3rd Division of the Butterfield Overland Mail Company. Franklin Station in the town of Franklin, (now El Paso, Texas), was headquarters of the 4th Division."
From the Butterfield Overland Mail website: (
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"New Mexico Stations
March 28, 2012
Frontera (Cottonwoods Station)
Fort Fillmore
Mesilla
Picacho Station
Rough and Ready Station
Goodsight Peak Station
Fort Cummings
Cooke’s Spring
Murphy’s Station
Cow Spring Station
Soldier’s Farewell Station near Deming
Station near Lordsburg
Stein’s Pass Station"
From Wikivisually we get more detailed information as follows: (
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"4TH DIVISION STATIONS
. . .
Mesilla - Located 6 miles, east of Picacho Station. Mesilla, was almost exactly midway between St. Louis, Missouri and San Francisco, California and was the most important Overland Stage Station between the two points. At this time Messilla was on the west bank of the Rio Grande and was the point where the route crossed the river."