Harding County, New Mexico, Place Names

ABBOTT LAKE. Artificial lake 10 miles SW of Abbott (Colfax County).

ABBOTT STATION. 2 miles south of the Colfax county line, 19 miles SE of Springer. Established when Southern Pacific railRoad built its lline through the area in the later 1870's. Two brothers, Horace and Jerome Abbott, owned a big sheep ranch here.

ALAMO CREEK. "alamo" spanish for "cottonwood". See Ute Creek.

ALBERT. At the junction of Tequesquite and Carriso Creeks, 13 miles NE of Mosquero. Named for Albert Mitcchell, one of the early and prominent ranchers of the state. His son Albert K. Mitchell, was a candidate for governor in 1938. The Mitchell ranch is near Albert and uses the town as headquarters. Post office, 1890.

ALICIA SIDING. On SP RR, 5 miles SE of Abbott Station.

ARROYO DEL CEJITA Named for Cejita Creek. Also known as Ridge Creek. ARROYO DEL MUERTO Spanish arroyo of the deadman". Possibly for the tragedy to people trapped by the sudden rush of water in a stream bed usually dry.

BUENA VISTA Spasnish for "beautiful view". 28 miles SE of Mosquero on NM 39.

BUEYEROS Spanish for "ox team drivers". On Bueyeros Creek and NM 57, 8 miles south of Union County line. Settled in 1878. So named because teams of oxen were used for the work done here. Post Office 1898-.

BURRO ARROYO Flows down Burro Canyon 6 miles SE of Roy, coming into San Miguel County.

CARROS CREEK 12 miles west of Pleasant Valley.

CEJITA CREEK

CEJITA DE LOS COMANCHEROS Spanish for "little mountainsummit of the Comanche hunters or traders". A little west of Union County line in the NE corner of Harding County. Name is descriptive of the warfare before the US occupation. The Comancheros were licensed by the United Dtates. They bartered with the Indians for buffalo hides, horses and cattle. and sometimes fought. After the US occupation, there were Anglo Comancheros, sometimes accused of disguising as Indians and raiding American wagon trains.

CONE - Former settlement 9 miles west of Hayden; then moved 8 miles northwest of Rosebud. Named for William W Cone, first postmaster, Mystice Cone. Post Office 1908 to 1935.

DAVID - 10 miles east of Mosquero at foot of David Hill. Center of a sheep raising district. Post Office 1915 to 1922.

DEHAVEN - Sometimes written DE HAVEN. 3 miles from the Harding and Union County line, in the north central part of Harding County. First postmaster George W De Haven. Post Office 1895 to 1920.

DEL MUERTO CREEK - See Arroyo del Muerto.

GENOVA - Shown on 1895 map, 10 miles southeast of Gallegos, in present day Harding County. Post Office 1884 to 1898; mail to Gallegos; 1904 to 1905; mail to Logan.

GRAVEYARD IN THE SKY - Stone formation near Bueyeros. So called because of graves of pioneers on top.

LEON - Spanish word for "lion". Now deserted; was on the east bank of the Ute Creek, 20 miles northeast of Mosquero. Post Office 1898 to 1911.

LEON CREEK - Small creek that flows southwest into Pinabete Arroyo.

MALPAIS HILL - 1 mile west of Ute Creek and south of Sierra Negra Mountains.

MESTENO - Spanish ofr "wild or untamed" usually referring to an animal such as a wild horse. The american word "mustang" is derived from this spanish word. On SP RR near Mills.

MILLS - Farming and ranching settlement along NM 39, 11 miles north of Roy on SP RR. Name honbors Melvin W Mills, early day attorney and rancher of Springer and Elizabethtown. Post Office 1898 to present day.

MINNIE BUTTE - In the northeast corner of Harding County, about 3 miles west of the Union County line.

MOSQUERO - Spanish for "fly trap or mosquito swarm". The county seat of Harding County. on SP RR and NM 39, 19 miles southeast of Roy. Stock raising and farming community and the site of dry ice plants. Post Office 1908 to present day.

MOSQUERO CREEK - Rises east of Mosquero and flows southeast to join Ute Creek in the south ccentral part of Harding county.

OJO DE LAS GALLINAS - Spanish for "wild fowl spring". Ojo is a an archaic spanish term for slow flowing water or spring.

PLEASANT VALLEY - 6 miles southeast of Buena Vista.

REYES - Spanish for kings. In the northeastern part of Harding county on NM 171, and 57, 35 miles northeast of Mosquero. A Christian name formerly common to both men and women in honor of the three kings of the epiphany, also a surname. Post Office 1910 to 1918.

RIDGE CREEK - See ARROYO DEL CESITA

ROSEBUD - On NM 65, 29 miles east of Mosquero. Settled in 1908 by three young sisters. A new barn was beeing painted a bright red; upon finishing the job, the painters painted three green rosebuds at the end of the barn to represent the sisters. M.T.Nix, upon applying for a post office several months later, sent in the name Rosebud. Post Office 1909 to 1950. `

ROY - On NM 39, 120, and SP RR, 9 miles east of the Canadian River. Center of a ranching and farming areathat also produces carbon dioxide. Established by Frank and William Roy in 1901, and named for Frank, the first postmaster. Original town was 2 miles west of the present site. The new town was started when the railroad was built, and incorporated in 1916. Post Office 1901 to present day.

SABINO - Trading point, 21 miles east of Roy.

SALADO - Spanish for "salted".

SALADO ARROYO - Comes out of Union County and flows southeast to Ute Creek in central part of Harding county.

SALADO CREEK - Heads in Union County; flows south into Del Muerto Creek above Bueyeros.

SIERRA NEGRA - On the west bank of the Ute Creek in the central part of Harding County.

SIXELA - Switch point on C&amp;S RR, 9 miles south of Clayton at US 87, near the Texas state line. At this point the tracks become Denver and Fort Worth Railway. Named in 1886.

SOLANO - Community on NM 39 and SP RR, 10 miles southest of Roy. May have been named for St. Francis Solano, a Spanish Franciscan, who evangelized Peru and other parts of South America. Also a surname of the family of Antonio Solano y Castro, who was married in Santa Fe on May 20, 1763. Another man named Solano is namedin Santa Fe records in 1790. Post Office, 1907 to present day.

TEQUESQUITE - Mexicanism for "alkali". Once a small settlement, now deserted, 10 miles southwest of Baca post office, on the Tequesquite Arroyo. Post Office 1879 to 1890.

TEQUESQUITE ARROYO, CREEK - Rises in the northwest corner of Harding County and runs south from Albert into Ute Creek near the Harding - San Miguel county line.

UTE CREEK - Rises southwest part of Union County and flows south to join the Canadian Red River in Quay County. Named for the Ute Native Americans. Some old maps call it ALAMO CREEK.

YATES - 4 miles south of Union County line, and 22 miles northeast of Roy on NM 120. Named for "Uncle Jim" Yates, who settled here in 1908. Post Office, 1922 to 1931.

Source: New Mexico Place Names, A Geographical Dictionary. T.M. Pearce, Ina Sizer Cassidy, Helen S pearce; The University of New Mexico Press, 1965. LCCC No. 64-17808.