About the Cooke's Peak Mining District

In 1876, Edward Orr discovered recoverable minerals on Cooke's Peak, and so began mining operations which developed into the most valuable lead producing area in New Mexico. By 1890, about 150 men labored in several mines, producing lead and silver valued at $216,000.

A post office was established in 1888 at Cooks (the final "e" is usually dropped now). Two new towns sprung up--Hadley and Jose. Mining was so active that Hadley, too, had its own post office from 1890 until 1895. But by 1905, large scale production at Cooks fell off. There was little production after 1911--the miners drifted away and the area expired.

Thanks to Donald Howard Couchman's book, COOKE'S PEAK-PASARON POR AQUI, A Focus on United States History in Southwestern New Mexico, published in 1990 by the Bureau of Land Management, Las Cruces District, Mimbres Resource Area, Las Cruces, New Mexico for the historical information.