Valencia County, New Mexico

Valencia County is in central New Mexico and is mostly classed as part of the Albuquerque Metropolitan Area. For a time, Valencia County stretched from Texas to California. Since 1850 though, the county lines have been changed a dozen times, the last time being in 1981 when Cibola County was created from the western half of Valencia County.

During the Civil War, a skirmish between Union and Confederate troops was fought at Peralta, just north of Los Lunas. That April 15, 1862 event convinced the Confederates to continue their retreat southward after losing the Battle of Glorieta a few days previously.