Bonanza City, New Mexico

[2][3] During the 16th and 17th centuries, the colonizing Spanish used Pueblo slave labor to mine turquoise, as well as lead and silver.

In May 1879, the administration of President Ulysses S. Grant began selling land in New Mexico, including the Cerrillos Hills region, to the American public.

[2][11] By July 1881, the town contained a store, post office, hotel, and smelter;[1] Bonanza City also had a church and priest at some point in the early 1880s.

[7] The town lacked important amenities such as a barbershop, shoemaker, and a general merchandise store.

[note 3] Today, all that remains of the original town are building foundations and the ruins of the smelter.

[21] Starting in the 1980s, a permanent movie set was constructed on the ranch by the Hughes family and various production companies.

[21] On October 21, 2021, the film Rust was in production in Bonanza when Alec Baldwin discharged a prop firearm on the set, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza.