Puerto de Luna

The storekeeper the panel names, and misspells, was a priest first. Alexander Grzelachowski, born in Poland in 1824, came to New Mexico with Bishop Lamy in 1851, served parishes as Padre Polaco, and married in 1870. In this village he kept a store and the post office and lobbied for the new county in 1891. On Christmas Day 1880, Pat Garrett's posse stopped here with Billy the Kid shackled on the road to Las Vegas, and Grzelachowski fed them dinner. He had told his clerks to let the Kid take what he needed.

What the plaque says

Official Scenic Historic Marker Puerto de Luna Established by the early 1860s, Puerto de Luna is one of southeast New Mexico's oldest permanent settlements. An important farming and ranching center, the town was the Guadalupe County seat from 1891 until 1903. A strong oral tradition maintains that William "Billy the Kid" Bonney had many friends here and frequently visited the village and patronized Alexander Grzelochowski's general store.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Blue Hole — 8.1 mi
  A bell-shaped artesian spring in Santa Rosa, 81 feet deep and a steady 61 or 62 degrees, where divers from across the region learn to dive at altitude.

More markers nearby

• Santa Rosa — 8.2 mi
• Santa Rosa — 8.4 mi
• Santa Rosa Lake State Park — 8.9 mi
• Santa Rosa — 8.9 mi