The Cookes Range (Cooke's Range, Cooks Range or Cook's Range) is a small, 17-mi (27 km) long

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have ari ...

in northern

Luna County Luna County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Mexico. As of the 2010 census, the population was 25,095. Its county seat is Deming. This county abuts the Mexican border. Luna County comprises the Deming, NM Micropolitan Statistic ...

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe, New Mexico, Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque, New Mexico, Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Albuquerque metropolitan area, Tiguex , Offi ...

, which extends slightly north into southeastern Grant County. The range is a southern continuation of the Mimbres Mountains, itself the southeast portion of the extensive north–south running

Black Range Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

. The Cookes Range is surrounded by lower elevation areas of the northwest

Chihuahuan Desert The Chihuahuan Desert ( es, Desierto de Chihuahua, ) is a desert ecoregion designation covering parts of northern Mexico and the southwestern United States. It occupies much of far West Texas, the middle to lower Rio Grande Valley and the lo ...

Description

Cookes Range is about 17 mi long, and about 8 mi at its widest. The range is a basin and range north-south trending uplift with a center-north section intruded by granodiorite which forms Cookes Peak, . Cookes Peak is at the head of OK Canyon, which exits the range eastwards. South of OK Canyon is a transverse ridgeline, across the range west to east, named Rattlesnake Ridge. One other larger peak occurs in the mountains and hills in the southern part of the range, Massacre Peak, at . Other outlying lower elevation hills occur, east and west, in the north section, as the Cookes Range merges into the lower elevations of the Mimbres Mountains section of the Black Range.

History

The range was named after its prominent peak, which in turn was named after Captain Philip St. George Cooke of the

Mormon Battalion The Mormon Battalion was the only religious unit in United States military history in federal service, recruited solely from one religious body and having a religious title as the unit designation. The volunteers served from July 1846 to July ...

. Cookes Spring was a station on the Butterfield Trail. Fort Cummings (1863–1873, 1880–1886), located in the southeastern foothills of the range near Cookes Spring was established to restrict Mimbreño Apache raiding. Silver was discovered in the range north of Cooks Peak in 1876, and the Cooks Peak Mining District was established in 1880. Silver, lead, and zinc were mined there until 1967.

Environment and ecology

The higher elevations of the range are pinon-juniper shrublands habitat which gives way to Chihuahuan desert in the foothills. The Cookes Range Wilderness Study Area is located in the range.

References

External links

Peaks

Cookes Range

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NMBGMR, Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources, Cookes Peak, Cookes Range, maps & photo gallery
Mountain ranges of New Mexico Landforms of Luna County, New Mexico Mountain ranges of Grant County, New Mexico {{NewMexico-geo-stub