Settling Roswell (Rio Hondo)

Roswell, New Mexico dates back to 1866 when it, then known as Rio Hondo, was a cowboy outfitting station on a cattle trail. It acquired a post office in 1873 as well as the name Roswell. This area of Southeastern New Mexico around Roswell, the historic border between the Comanche and Mescalero Apache tribes, was then only sparsely settled. http://www.nmmi.cc.nm.us/reg/cat_start.html