Las Cruces, New Mexico

[Bob-E-Pin]

Hey guys,
So I usually post in the today's finds and bottles forums. However, not long ago I found a half point and a pottery shard spread (as in half a football field spread). So I suddenly got overwhelmed with the nostalgia of point hunting with my grandfather around Las Cruces. If anyone on here is close to the area and doesn't mind sharing some good hunting spots it would be greatly appreciated. I want to take both my daughters point hunting to give them some awesome memories. Thanks and happy hunting.

 

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[mn9000]

Point hunting out your way is a tough one-- mostly because the majority of them are very very tiny. Someone posted a photo of 6 finely crafted southern NM points covering the surface of a single penny a few months back. I'll see if I can find that picture.

The pottery is a different story though. There's lots of it. Just make sure you know where you're at first, BLM loves to make examples out of artifact hunters by issuing heavy fines then forwarding the info to the statewide newspapers so everyone gets to hear about it. It's part of their deterrent program.

Walk the dried up creek beds that have at least a 5-6 foot dirt bank on either side. The pottery usually sticks out like a sore thumb on the sides of the banks. Anyone with a few hundred acres of land likely has a dried up creek or knows a neighbor who has one. Hope that helps!

 

[mn9000]

Of course there's points of all sizes from all time periods across southern & western NM, but these tiny ones make up a good percentage of them and certainly make it challenging.

 

[Twitch]

Good luck Bob. I hunted around Cruces for 5 years and didn't find anything worth hunting. Only reasonable spots are out by Deming.

 

[mn9000]

If you want to show the girls some incredible petroglyphs, take them to Frying Pan Canyon at the western end of Cookes Canyon just north of Deming. You'll need a 4x4, the roads are pretty rough. Here's a few pictures from my last visit.

The history of Cookes Canyon is quite amazing. It's a 6 mile canyon pass where more than 400 settlers & travelers were murdered by Apaches in the 1860's. I'll spare you the details but the stories as you can imagine are horrifying. There's still several make shift stone graves along each side of the road through the canyon.

 

[Twitch]

Mn9000 - holy $&@? I had no idea that was an established site. I happened to 'find' it myself ~21 years ago wondering through the desert. Very, very cool.

 

[Bob-E-Pin]

Thanks for all the replies, I am aware of all the sites listed. I was hoping that someone knew the good spots right around town. We used to go to hanger lake and mesilla dam. Lots of points back then. Not so much now.

 

[Jon Stewart]

Mn9000, wife and I have driven over Cookes Pass from one side to the other. It was a good trip. I metal detected some of the area when crossing over.

 

[Bob-E-Pin]

Mn9000, Nice pics!!! I will definitely take them out there. I know that area, in fact past it this weeekend on the way to Silver. Are there good point hunting spots out that way by Cooks? I may be going out to Cummings soon,

 

[Pablo The Great]

I have a few know locations.

 

[arrow86]

Why not take them to spot you found point and pottery. Usually anywhere you find pottery is a great site.

 

[Old Pueblo]

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Of course there's points of all sizes from all time periods across southern & western NM, but these tiny ones make up a good percentage of them and certainly make it challenging.

Cool points, buts Its "Safford", Arizona, the last I checked. And the Sobaipuri Indians lived much further to the southwest.