Mescalero Ridge

Mescalero Sands

Extending north-south along the western edge of the Mescalero Ridge lies a vast sand sheet called the Mescalero Sands, named after the Mescalero Apaches who once hunted in these sandhills. In 1928, Nelson Horatio Darton of the United States Geological Survey observed: “On the east side of the Pecos Valley in southern New Mexico there are very extensive sand hills formed of deposits known as the ‘Mescalero Sands,’ which are doubtless of Quaternary age ...” In places, these sands climb up and over the Mescalero Ridge and spread out over portions of the Llano Estacado.

The north dune is an off-road vehicle area. The south dune is a National Natural Landmark.

References

Addendum:

1. Bailey, Vernon. 1931. Mammals of New Mexico, North American Fauna, No. 53, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Biological Survey, U.S. Government Printing Office, 412 pp.
2. Bailey, Vernon. 1913. Life Zones and Crop Zones of New Mexico, North American Fauna, No. 35, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Biological Survey, U.S. Government Printing Office, 100 pp.
3. Findley, James S., Arthur H. Harris, Don E. Wilson and Clyde Jones. 1975. Mammals of New Mexico, University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 360 pp.
4. Hall, H. Ernest. 1944. “Sandhill White-tailed Deer Restoration”, Project Record Report, New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, Santa Fe, New Mexico
5. Hall, Steven A., 2008,” Archaeological Geology of the Mescalero Sands, Southeastern New Mexico”, Plains Anthropologist, Vol. 53, No. 207, pp. 279-290,
6. Ligon, J. Stokley. 1927. Wildlife of New Mexico Its Conservation and Management, New Mexico State Game Commission, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 212 pp.
7. Rogers, Walter. 1968. Report to the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, Santa Fe, New Mexico
8. Smith, Calvin B. 1966. The Paleo-Indian in Southeastern New Mexico, Transactions of the Second Regional Archaeological Symposium for Southeastern New Mexico and Western Texas, Special Bulletin No. 1, Midland Archaeological Society, Midland, Texas, pp. 3-8
9. Smith, Calvin B. 1971. Mescalero Sands Natural Studies Plan, Natural History Museum and the Paleo-Indian Institute, Eastern New Mexico University, 50 pp.
10. Smith, Calvin B. 1971. Proposed Study Area in the Mescalero Sands, Southeastern New Mexico, The New Mexico Academy of Science Bulletin, Vol. 12, No. 2, Santa Fe, New Mexico, pp. 19-20
11. Smith, Calvin B. 1985. To Save A Dune, The Greater Llano Estacado Southwest Heritage, Vol. No. 1, Hobbs, New Mexico, pp. 5-3, 12 and 19
12. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Species Assessment Team, New Mexico Ecological Services Field Office, 2024, “Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants, Federal Register, 89 (98)
13. Wendorf, Fred, Alex D. Krieger, Claude C. Albritton and T. D. Stewart. 1955. The Midland Discovery: A Report on the Pleistocene Human Remains from Midland, Texas, University of Texas Press, Austin, Texas 139 pp.
14. Whitlock, Vivian. 1970. Cowboy Life on the Llano Estacado, University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, Oklahoma, 320 pp.

References

References

1. {{cite gnis
2. Price, A.P. 1977. Mescalero Sandhills of Cochran and Yoakum Counties, Texas. Master's thesis, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, 253 pp.
3. Henderson, D. 2006. An Introduction to the Mescalero Sands Ecosystem. Master's thesis, Texas A&M University, 42 pp.
4. Julyan, R. 1996. The Place Names of New Mexico. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.
5. Hall, S.A. 2002. Field Guide to the Geoarchaeology of the Mescalero Sands, Southeastern New Mexico. State of New Mexico Historic Preservation Division and New Mexico Bureau of Land Management, Project No. 35-00-15334.11, 59 pp.
6. (1928). ""Red Beds" and associated formations in New Mexico, with an outline of the geology of the state". United States Geological Survey Bulletin.
7. https://www.blm.gov/visit/mescalero-sands-north-dune-ohv-area
8. https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nnlandmarks/site.htm?Site=MESA-NM