Story and Photos by Robert Beard
White marble can be found on the dumps, and the darker sections of the dumps often have garnet and malachite, as well as ores oxidized to limonite.
The Organ Mountains are one of the most stunning ranges in New Mexico. Anyone driving past Las Cruces on Interstate 10 will have an excellent view of the mountains. The granitic core of the range forms a jagged, sawtooth pattern east of the Rio Grande. Early Spanish explorers thought they resembled the organ pipes of European cathedrals, and the mountains were referred to as Los Organos, or the Organ Mountains.