Luna, New Mexico

Luna is an unincorporated village in northwestern Catron County, New Mexico, United States. It is seven miles from the Arizona border and twentyone miles from Reserve on the San Francisco River and U.S. Route 180.

History

In the 19th Century it was part of the extensive lands of Don Salomon Luna and the valley was used for sheep ranching. It briefly was an outlaw hide-away, but was settled by Mormon ranchers in 1883 and subject to Chiricahua Apache attacks until the surrender of Geronimo. The town was named after Don Salomon Luna.

The Post Office was opened in 1886; Luna's zipcode is 87824.

Culture

"Mormon Pioneer Day" is celebrated on the Saturday closest to July 24 at the village rodeo grounds with a parade, rodeo and dance.

References

* Pearce, T. M. (1965) "Luna" "New Mexico place names; a geographical dictionary" University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, NM, p. 94, [http://worldcat.org/oclc/420847 OCLC 420847]
* Julyan, Robert Hixson (1998) "Luna" "The place names of New Mexico" (2nd ed.) University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, NM, p. 215, ISBN 0-8263-1688-3

External links

* [http://www.southernnewmexico.com/Articles/Southwest/Catron/Luna.html Banks, Phyllis Eileen (30 December 2002) "Luna — holding on to history" Southern New Mexico dotcom]