Las Cruces is a city in Do??a Ana County, New Mexico, United States. As of the 2000 United States Census, the city had a total population of 74,267. The population was 89,722 as of the 2007 census estimate, making it the second largest city in the state. Las Cruces is the center of an agricultural region irrigated by the Rio Grande, which flows just west of the city. The city of Las Cruces bisects the fertile Mesilla Valley, the flood plain of the Rio Grande which extends from Hatch, New Mexico to the west side of El Paso, Texas. Las Cruces is also the home of New Mexico State University. NMSU is New Mexico's only land-grant institution, citing...

Las Cruces is a city in Do??a Ana County, New Mexico, United States. As of the 2000 United States Census, the city had a total population of 74,267. The population was 89,722 as of the 2007 census estimate, making it the second largest city in the state. Las Cruces is the center of an agricultural region irrigated by the Rio Grande, which flows just west of the city. The city of Las Cruces bisects the fertile Mesilla Valley, the flood plain of the Rio Grande which extends from Hatch, New Mexico to the west side of El Paso, Texas. Las Cruces is also the home of New Mexico State University. NMSU is New Mexico's only land-grant institution, citing more than 16,000 graduate and undergraduate students on the main campus. As well as the Organ Mountains that are to the east of the city, the Las Cruces area is also in close proximity to the Dona Ana mountains, the Robledo mountains, and Picacho peak. Las Cruces has a council-manager form of government. It is the county seat of Do??a Ana County, New Mexico.

History
=Early settlers=

The area where Las Cruces rose was previously inhabited by the Manso people, with the Mescalero Apache living nearby.



The area was colonized by Juan de O??ate beginning in 1598, and he became its first governor.

Las Cruces was founded in 1849 when the US Army laid out the new town after the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo had ceded the land to the United States in 1848.

The settlement was created as an overflow area from the colony of Do??a Ana, New Mexico, located six miles (10 km) north of the new settlement.