ThTx, it's too bad that I can't detect with you. My time comes in mid April. I live in Minnesota and have been ghost town hunting in New Mexico for two weeks every yr for 6 yrs now. I only covered the lower 2/3rds of the state due to larger cities (and detectorists) in the northern 1/3rd. I look at old original N M state maps (1928 and newer) to make plans for the next year's detecting.
Anything east of Artesia, to me, was all oil related.....although there might be some old (now gone) cities there, I did not venture that much into the area.
These towns were on an old map printed in about 1928 by the New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources. The names were historic cities, trading posts, ghost towns, and stage and rail stops. Oh heck, I'll be at it all night...... I'll P M or email you with info. Goose