New Mexico Bootheel

As part of the Gadsden Purchase it is bounded on the east by the Mexican state of Chihuahua along a line at 31°47′0″N 108°12′30″W / 31.78333°N 108.20833°W / 31.78333; -108.20833 extending south to latitude 31°20′0″N at 31°20′0″N 108°12′30″W / 31.33333°N 108.20833°W / 31.33333; -108.20833.

The southern border is shared between the Mexican states of Chihuahua and Sonora along latitude 31°20′0″N, while the western border with Arizona is along meridian 109°03′0″W at 31°20′0″N 109°03′0″W / 31.33333°N 109.05000°W / 31.33333; -109.05000, bounding an area of 50 by 30 miles (80 km × 48 km) and comprising 1,500 square miles (3,900 km2).

The Bootheel is a sparsely populated (less than 1 person per square mile or 2.6 km2) region known primarily as a cattle-ranching area, with the best-known ranch being the 500-square-mile (1,300 km2) Diamond A Ranch in the Animas Valley,[1] although mining also played a part in the development of the bootheel with the abandoned mining town of old Hachita.

[3] The only settlement is Antelope Wells, while the towns of Rodeo, Animas, and Hachita lie just to the northwest, north, and northeast respectively.

The former Phelps Dodge mining town of Playas is now a training facility for the United States Department of Homeland Security.