The history of the civil war in this area is often not remembered by many.  Only the name of John R.Baylor for the first victory of the battle of Mesilla seems to be on peoples’ tongue, because Baylor Canyon is marked in the Organ Mountain.

In 1861, after the outbreak of the American Civil War, Baylor organized the 2d Texas Cavalry Regiment (also known as the 2d Texas Mounted Rifles) to drive U.S. forces from the southwest on behalf of the newly formed Confederate States government. He led his cavalrymen into New Mexico Territory.^[1]

Following his victory at the First Battle of Mesilla (July 25, 1861), and the surrender of U.S. forces in the area, Baylor proclaimed himself as the Governor of Arizona Territory, a region encompassing the southern half of contemporary New Mexico and Arizona. On January 18, 1862, the fledgling territory was formally organized by the Confederate States.

Soon, a disagreement over critical articles in the Mesilla Times led to a fight between Baylor and the editor, Robert P. Kelly, whom he killed. Attorney General Marcus H. MacWillie, a member of Baylor’s state cabinet, officially pardoned him for the homicide. MacWillie was later rewarded when Baylor orchestrated the former AG’s election to the 1st Confederate States Congress.