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Lea County
History:
"Lea County was created from Eddy and Chaves counties in 1917 and named for Captain Joseph Calloway Lea, just five years after New Mexico was admitted to the Union as a State. Captain Lea was the first Mayor of Roswell and the father of the New Mexico Military Institute. Lea County had virtually nothing to offer except the vision of a handful of hardy settlers. Wagon roads and cattle trails were the only roads connecting the sparse settlements; there were no railroad, telegraph, daily newspaper, running stream, river, nor any major center of population that could properly be called a city. The mail was a horse-conveyed means of communication requiring days to be picked up and delivered."
"Political realists in Santa Fe could not justify the creation of a county from an area that was little more than a vast pastureland for cattle and sheep on the semi-arid, windswept, southwestern corner of the High Plains, or Llano Estacado, cradled in the arm of the neighboring Texas to the east and south. There were no known tax-generating natural resources other than grass and water. Little did they know that deep in the confines of the High Plains country, behind the Caprock that looked down on their rich Pecos Valley lands, was more wealth in gas, oil and potash than had been known in all the centuries since the Spaniards had proclaimed the Kingdom of New Mexico. (Source: Lea, New Mexico's Last Frontier, by Gil Hinshaw)"
Lea County's history has been one of change and growth. The original settlers of this area would find it hard to believe that Lea County has become so populated and plays a vital role in the production of some of the nation's energy resources.
Once known as part of the Great American Desert, the area held no promise of open water for travelers. At one time, a spring was discovered which flowed in the early part of the year, and a tall mound of rocks was built to mark the spot. This monument was a welcome sight to the people who passed through this area. It is no longer standing, because the rocks were used to build a house, but the spring still flows near Monument, New Mexico.
Today, Lea County flourishes not only in oil and gas, but also in agriculture, cattle, the dairy industry, and is the home to a state correctional institution.
"Lea County was created from Eddy and Chaves counties in 1917 and named for Captain Joseph Calloway Lea, just five years after New Mexico was admitted to the Union as a State. Captain Lea was the first Mayor of Roswell and the father of the New Mexico Military Institute. Lea County had virtually nothing to offer except the vision of a handful of hardy settlers. Wagon roads and cattle trails were the only roads connecting the sparse settlements; there were no railroad, telegraph, daily newspaper, running stream, river, nor any major center of population that could properly be called a city. The mail was a horse-conveyed means of communication requiring days to be picked up and delivered."
"Political realists in Santa Fe could not justify the creation of a county from an area that was little more than a vast pastureland for cattle and sheep on the semi-arid, windswept, southwestern corner of the High Plains, or Llano Estacado, cradled in the arm of the neighboring Texas to the east and south. There were no known tax-generating natural resources other than grass and water. Little did they know that deep in the confines of the High Plains country, behind the Caprock that looked down on their rich Pecos Valley lands, was more wealth in gas, oil and potash than had been known in all the centuries since the Spaniards had proclaimed the Kingdom of New Mexico. (Source: Lea, New Mexico's Last Frontier, by Gil Hinshaw)"
Lea County's history has been one of change and growth. The original settlers of this area would find it hard to believe that Lea County has become so populated and plays a vital role in the production of some of the nation's energy resources.
Once known as part of the Great American Desert, the area held no promise of open water for travelers. At one time, a spring was discovered which flowed in the early part of the year, and a tall mound of rocks was built to mark the spot. This monument was a welcome sight to the people who passed through this area. It is no longer standing, because the rocks were used to build a house, but the spring still flows near Monument, New Mexico.
Today, Lea County flourishes not only in oil and gas, but also in agriculture, cattle, the dairy industry, and is the home to a state correctional institution.