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Some history of Dexter, New Mexico, southwest United States
Dexter, in Chaves County, New Mexico, southwest United States, is about
16 miles south of Roswell, New Mexico. The community moved about a mile
west of its first site near the water of Lake Van to be near the railroad
and the irrigation canal. Three men--Theordore Burr, a native of Denmark;
Milton H. Elford, from Canada; and Albert E. Macey, an Iowa farmer--selected
the site in January, 1903. Since Macey was the only married man, he was
allowed to select the name. He chose "Dexter", after his hometown in Iowa.
In 1903, grazing sheep occupied many of the residents. Soon after lush
gardens grew, and agriculture became important. A major crop was alfalfa.
It was dehydrated, ground to powder, and sacked as feed for stock. Alfalfa
fields still blanket the Pecos Valley in New Mexico.