Portales New Mexico Tourism

The history of Portales is closely linked with the picturesque late-nineteenth century story of New Mexico. In those days, there was a Portales Springs, six miles southeast of the present city, which took its name from a series of cave-openings from which flowed streams of water. This site became famous as a watering-hole along the historic Fort Sumner Trail.

The first permanent settler of Roosevelt County, a cattleman by the name of Doak Good, made his home at Portales Springs about 1880. Good, who seldom ran more than 400 head of cattle, is better known in Southeastern New Mexico for his range war with one Jim Newman who in 1882 settled at Salt Lake.

The City owes it’s start to a man known as “Uncle” Josh Morrison. Just about a year before the railroad reached Portales, Uncle Josh set up a little store in a one-room frame building at Portales Springs.

When the town began, Morrison moved to town, too, along with the building, and so began the first store in Portales. The town began growing up around the one-story structure and adopted the name Portales from the nearest landmark, Portales Springs. The name was given to the early site because caves resembled the “porches” of Spanish adobe houses, and “porches” in Spanish is “Portales.”

One of the world’s most important archaeological sites is seven miles north of Portales. An abundance of artifacts has been found in this area, and archaeologists believe these discoveries tell of life 11,000 to 12,670 years ago.