DONA ANA

county, southern New Mexico, U.S., bordered on the southeast by Texas and on the south by Mexico. It lies in the Mexican Highland section of the Basin and Range Province, an area of desert plains interrupted by the San Andres and Organ mountains (topped by 8,870-foot [2,696-metre] Organ Peak) and by the Sierra de las Uvas range. The Rio Grande flows through the county from northwest to south. The Jornada del Muerto desert is in the north, and alkali flats and the gypsum sands of White Sands Valley lie in the barren northeast. White Sands National Monument (q.v.), San Andres National Wildlife Refuge, Aguirre Springs National Recreation Area, Fort Selden State Monument, and, on the Rio Grande, Leasburg Dam State Park are all within the county's borders. Sumas and Mansos Indians roamed the region before 1581, when the Agustn Rodriguez-Francisco Chamuscado expedition traveled the Chihuahua Trail northward along the banks of the Rio Grande. The towns of Doa Ana and Las Cruces were founded in the 1840s; Doa Ana county was established in 1852. White Sands Missile Range was created in 1942, and a section of the range is now a test facility for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Government employment, agriculture (milk, cotton, cattle, chiles, fruits, vegetables), construction, trade, and manufacturing (hosiery, foods) are prominent elements in the economy. Las Cruces is the county seat; in its suburb of University Park is New Mexico State University (founded 1888). In the early 1990s, Doa Ana was the second most populous county in New Mexico. Area 3,807 square miles (9,861 square km), Pop. (1990) 135,510.