Massacre Peak, a

summit A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term (mountain top) is generally used only for ...

at an elevation of in the

Cookes Range The Cookes Range (Cooke's Range, Cooks Range or Cook's Range) is a small, 17-mi (27 km) long mountain range in northern Luna County, New Mexico, which extends slightly north into southeastern Grant County. The range is a southern continua ...

Luna County, New Mexico Luna County (Spanish: ) is a county located in the U.S. state of New Mexico. As of the 2020 census, the population was 25,427. Its county seat is Deming. This county abuts the Mexican border. Luna County comprises the Deming, NM Micropol ...

History

The route of the

Southern Emigrant Trail :''The Southern Emigrant Trail should not be confused with the Applegate Trail, which is part of the Emigrant Trail, Northern Emigrant Trails.'' The Southern Emigrant Trail, also known as the Gila Trail, the Kearny Trail, the Southern Trail and ...

passed just north of this peak as did the San Antonio-San Diego Mail Line,

Butterfield Overland Mail Butterfield Overland Mail (officially Overland Mail Company)Waterman L. Ormsby, edited by Lyle H. Wright and Josephine M. Bynum, "The Butterfield Overland Mail", The Huntington Library, San Marino, California, 1991. was a stagecoach service in ...

, and other stagecoach lines. The peaks name refers to the time of the

Apache Wars The Apache Wars were a series of armed conflicts between the United States Army and various Apache tribal confederations fought in the Southwestern United States, southwest between 1849 and 1886, though minor hostilities continued until as l ...

following the Bascom Affair when the

Apache The Apache ( ) are several Southern Athabaskan language-speaking peoples of the Southwestern United States, Southwest, the Southern Plains and Northern Mexico. They are linguistically related to the Navajo. They migrated from the Athabascan ho ...

destroyed most of the stations and many coaches and killed many of the station staff, drivers and passengers. Many violent incidents followed such as the

Battle of Cookes Canyon The Battle of Cookes Canyon was a military engagement fought between settlers from Confederate Arizona and Chiricahua Apaches in August 1861. It occurred about northwest of Mesilla, in Cookes Canyon. The exact date of the battle is unknown ...

. Near the end of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

Fort Cummings Fort Cummings is a former U. S. Army post located near Cooke's Springs, in Luna County, New Mexico. It is located 20 miles northeast of Deming, New Mexico. Cooke's Spring Cooke's Spring () was named for Philip St. George Cooke 2nd U.S. Dragoon ...

was established two miles (3.2 km) northeast of the peak, near Cooke's Spring and stage station.

References

Landforms of Luna County, New Mexico Mountains of New Mexico Mountains of Luna County, New Mexico {{NewMexico-geo-stub