The boundaries of the county of Dona Ana are as follows: the southern boundary, on the left bank of the Rio del Norte, is the boundary of the state of Texas, and on the right, the dividing line between the Republic of Mexico; on the north, the boundary of the county of Socorro, and on the east and west the boundaries of the territory.

History: Laws 1851-1852, p. 292, § 10; C.L. 1865, ch. 42, § 12; C.L. 1884, § 253; C.L. 1897, § 519; Code 1915, § 1074; C.S. 1929, § 33-701; 1941 Comp., § 15-701; 1953 Comp., § 15-7-1.

Compiler's notes. — Dona Ana county, as created by the above section, constituted the southern portion of the state from east to west. The county has been greatly reduced in size by the creation of new counties.

The present boundaries of Dona Ana county may be as follows: commencing on the south boundary line of the state of New Mexico at the point of its intersection with the range line between ranges 4 and 5 west; thence north [description from 4-16-1 NMSA 1978] on said range line to the fifth standard parallel south; thence west on said standard parallel to the southwest corner of township 25 south of range 4 west; thence north on the range line between ranges 4 and 5 west to the fourth standard parallel south; thence west on said standard parallel to the southwest corner of township 20 south of range 4 west; thence north on the range line between ranges 4 and 5 west to the northwest corner of township 18 south of range 4 west [description from 4-7-3 NMSA 1978 and 4-27-1 NMSA 1978]; thence east on the township line between townships 17 and 18 south to the principal meridian of New Mexico; thence north on the principal meridian to its intersection with a line described [4-7-2 NMSA 1978] as running from a point on the Rio Grande 1 mile south of the dwellinghouse of Tomas Gonzales in a straight line to the corner of the county of Lincoln a few miles north and west of the town of Tularosa (this corner described [4-15-1 NMSA 1978] as being the intersection of a line drawn from north to south from Malpais and a line passing east and west through the head of El Ojo de Tularosa); thence northeasterly on said line to its intersection with the range line between ranges 6 and 7 east; thence south [description from 4-19-1 NMSA 1978] on said range line to the third standard parallel south; thence west on said standard parallel to the northeast corner of township 16 south of range 5 east; thence south on the range line between ranges 5 and 6 east to the New Mexico-Texas state line. The southern boundary of the county is the southern boundary of the state, being, from east to west, the state of Texas, the center line of the Rio Grande as of September 9, 1850, and the Republic of Mexico.

Section 1075, 1915 Code, derived from Laws 1854-1855, p. 20 (C.L. 1865, ch. 20; C.L. 1897, § 533), read: "All that part of the territory of New Mexico that was recently acquired by the Gadsden Treaty, and has been annexed to this territory by an act of Congress, entitled, 'An act designating the southern limits of New Mexico, approved August 4th, 1854,' shall be and is hereby annexed to the county of Dona Ana, and the district court of said county shall have jurisdiction over the same, until other provisions be provided by law."

The sections in this article were incorporated in article 5, chapter 24 of the 1915 Code. Their inclusion therein did not constitute a reenactment, but they were compiled merely for convenience. See the 1915 Code, p. 1665.

Cross references. — For addition of territory to county, see 4-7-3 NMSA 1978.

For original boundaries of Socorro county, see 4-28-1 NMSA 1978.