The US acquires most of New Mexico through the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo at the end of the Mexican War.
1853
Gadsden Purchase increases size of state
1886
The US military and some Native American tribes fight in the Apache Wars, which end with the surrender of chief Geronimo in 1909.
1912
Admitted to Union as 47th state
1945
Atomic bomb testing at Trinity Site, in White Sands National Monument near Alamogordo.
Present Day
The four US states of New Mexico, Utah, Arizona, and Colorado meet at Four Corners, thus making it the only spot in the United States where more than three states meet.
New Mexico - Facts
The Elephant Butte Dam spans the Rio Grande and creates Elephant Butte Reservoir
Ancestral Pueblo structures are found in Aztec Ruins National Monument in north-western New Mexico.
Santa Fe is the oldest capital city in the United States.
One in three New Mexico residents is Hispanic, making the state with the highest population of Hispanics in the country.
New Mexico is the fifth largest state by area.
New Mexico has more Mative American people in its population than any other state in the lower 48
The town of Truth or Consequences is the only place to be named after a game show.