Buy Gold and Silver in Las Cruces, NM

Las Cruces is the economic center of the Mesilla Valley, and the second-largest city in New Mexico. It lies at the juncture of Interstate 10 and 25, between the Organ Mountains and the Rio Grande.

It was settled by the Spanish in 1598, when conquistador Juan de Onate claimed the land north of the Rio Grande for New Spain. It became the subject of land squabbles during the 1800s, when it was claimed by the Mexican Empire, and later by the Republic of Texas. In 1848, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo established the United States as the land's rightful owner. The U.S. Army began to develop Las Cruces a year later.

Most residents chose to settle in nearby Mesilla instead, until the railroad reached Las Cruces in 1881. While this didn't experience the population explosion seen in many American cities, it did help the area grow steadily. More people arrived when the New Mexico State University was founded in Las Cruces in 1888. As the university has grown, so has Las Cruces. A large urban renewal initiative in the 1960s helped Las Cruces transform into the modern city it is today.