The site is reputed to have been visited by
Francisco Vásquez de Coronado, who is believed to have camped here in 1541, on his way east in search of
Quivira. The first recorded permanent settlement was in 1863 when six Hispanic families built a dike on the Pecos to divert water for irrigation and began land cultivation. A post office was established in 1873. A notable settler was Padre Polaco, a.k.a. Alexander Grzelachowski, who originally came to
New Mexico at age 27 with Archbishop Lamy and settled in Puerto de Luna in 1874, opening up the mercantile store. In 1891, he donated the land for the county courthouse. and the community became the county seat of Guadalupe County. The community was, however, overtaken by Santa Rosa when the railroad arrived there, and went into decline shortly after. The county seat was moved to Santa Rosa in 1903.
Billy the Kid reportedly ate his last Christmas Eve dinner here in 1880 while being transported to trial in
Las Vegas in the custody of
Pat Garrett. The author
Rudolfo Anaya references Puerto De Luna in his autobiographical novel
Bless Me, Ultima. The author
Calvin Rutstrum bought, renovated and lived in a house here in the 1960s. His book
Greenhorns in the Southwest (University of New Mexico Press, 1972) is a semi-autobiographical account of that period. The roofless shell of the county courthouse remains the largest edifice. ==Etymology==