Rodeo has a
history that dates back to the early Native American
cultures that pre-dated the arrival of Apaches around 1400
A.D. Recent archaeological studies are also pointing to the
fact that early Spanish explorers led by Coronado may very
well have passed through the area as they made their way up
from Mexico. This Spanish influence
is still evident in Rodeo today with many local families tracing
their ancestry back to the Spanish rule in the 1800s.
Rodeo was founded in 1902 when the Southwestern Railroad of New
Mexico was completed. The origin of the town's name is in dispute.
One book indicates the Spanish word rodeo means "roundup,
enclosure," but a local historian interprets it as referring to a
large bend in the area's railroad. Whatever the case, Rodeo started
out as a ranching and farming community, which grew in part because
of the railroad system that ran from Arizona mining towns like
Tombstone, Bisbee and Douglas.
It was during this time that Rodeo
was considered a boomtown and was one of the main railroad
shipping terminals for cattle in the area. With a decline in
mining and eventual closing of the railroad, Rodeo declined
rapidly and came close to being a ghost town itself |
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by the early 1960s before times once again improved.
Hidalgo County was formed from
Grant County in 1919. One theory as to its name is that it was
named in honor of El Cura Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, the
liberator of Mexico. Another view is that it was named after
Miguel Dolores Hidalgo, who led the 1810 revolution in Mexico
that eventually led to its independence from Spain.
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