Silver City, New Mexico is located in the foothills of the Pinos Altos Range, an extension of the Mogollon Mountains. It is now a senior vacation area and retirement town.

Silver City NM History

The valley and the marsh that became Silver City had been an Apache campsite. When copper ore was discovered nearby, the first Spanish miners made an agreement with the Apaches not to disturb their camps, but the English-speaking copper miners ignored this agreement.

The first of these settlers were Captain John M. Bullard and William M. Milby, who named their community "Silver City". The boomtown appeared in the summer of 1870 as a tent city for thousands of miners. Silver City became a trading center and supply center for area mining camps and became the Grant County seat in 1871. Captain Bullard himself never lived to see even the beginnings of permanence, as he was killed in a confrontation with Apache raiders less than a year later, on February 23, 1871.

In 1893 the bottom dropped out of the silver market, many mines closed and mining camps soon became ghost towns. By this time, the cattle industry was well-developed and kept Silver City moving foward.

Silver City New Mexico – Near Prehistoric Indian Ruins

Today, cattle ranching and copper mining are now the main industries in this small retirement town. Near Silver City, senior visitors can see where prehistoric Mogollon Indians built 42 rooms in 5 natural caves located in large, picturesque sandstone bluffs.