This scientist spent nine years breeding chiles – and created New Mexico’s identity

Mesilla Valley’s Four-Century Journey to Perfect Chile

The New Mexico chile story starts with a Spanish explorer in 1598.

Juan de Oñate brought chile seeds on his Rio Grande journey, and soon after, Pueblo farmers made them their own. For three hundred years, families across the Mesilla Valley grew unique varieties suited to their land.

Then came the game-changers. In 1898, Theodore Roualt canned hundreds of green chiles at his Mesilla Valley factory, selling nearly all of them.

Yet the real revolution happened when Fabián García, a local horticulturist, spent nine years breeding the perfect chile.

His 1913 “New Mexico No.9” changed everything with its uniform heat and meaty pods. The story of this iconic pepper unfolds at Old Mesilla Plaza, where chile’s past and future meet.

Spanish Explorers Brought Chile Seeds Up The Rio Grande

Juan de Oñate carried chile pepper seeds from Mexico during his 1598 trip to start settlements along the Rio Grande.

His group crossed the river near today’s El Paso in April 1598 and went through the Mesilla Valley heading north. These seeds came from central Mexico, where people grew chiles for hundreds of years.

Some experts think earlier explorers like Antonio de Espejo might have brought a few chile seeds to Pueblo communities during his travels in 1582-83.

Native Farmers Quickly Added Chiles To Their Gardens

Pueblo communities started growing chile right after the Spanish arrived.

Spanish records from the early 1600s mention Pueblo farmers growing chiles all over the region. Chile growing spread fast across New Mexico.

By 1601, farmers already complained about mice eating chile pods in their fields, showing how quickly the crop caught on.

Local Families Created Their Own Special Chile Varieties

For almost 300 years, families across the Mesilla Valley and northern New Mexico grew their own unique chile types. Each family and valley grew slightly different kinds that worked best in their soil and climate.

Traditional types like Chimayó and Española grew in the same fields for generations, passed down through families.

These homegrown chiles came in many sizes, heat levels, flavors, and skin thicknesses.

Theodore Roualt Tried Canning Chiles And Struck Gold

Theodore Roualt grew a great crop of green chiles in his Las Cruces garden in 1898.

He tried canning several hundred cases at his Mesilla Valley Canning Factory, where he already canned tomatoes.

The canning kept their flavor, which surprised him. Roualt sold almost every can he made and planned to make over 4,000 cases the next year.

Las Cruces Beat California In The Chile Canning Race

A Los Angeles cannery claimed in 1905 that they canned Mexican peeled green chiles first. Roualt quickly corrected them, saying he canned them years earlier in Las Cruces.

His Mesilla Canning Company even won a prize for its canned chile at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exhibition in St. Louis.

The early chile processing business stayed small and local, with most products staying in the region.

A Young Orphan Grew Up To Transform New Mexican Agriculture

Fabián García was born in Chihuahua, Mexico in 1871 and lost both parents by age two.

His grandmother brought him to New Mexico and found work with the Casad family in the Mesilla Valley in 1885.

The Casads owned one of the biggest fruit orchards around and helped García get an education. He spent his childhood working with crops and learning farming in the fertile Mesilla Valley.

García Started Improving The Wild Chiles Around Las Cruces

García graduated in 1894 in the first class from New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts. He soon began working to make the native chiles grown by Hispanic farmers around Las Cruces better.

Before his work, farmers couldn’t predict how big their chiles would grow or how hot they’d be. García wanted to create milder chiles that would appeal to Anglo settlers and boost chile eating across the region.

Fourteen Chile Varieties Competed For García’s Attention

García picked 14 promising chile types growing around Las Cruces, choosing from pasilla, Colorado, and negro kinds. He wanted to develop chiles with bigger, smoother, meatier pods that would work better for canning.

His careful breeding work went on for nine years as he tested each type. García picked red-colored strains over dark brown ones for his breeding program.

New Mexico No.9 Changed Chile Growing Forever

García released New Mexico No.9 in 1913 after nine years of careful testing and selection.

This was the first official chile type from the college and started what we now call the New Mexican pod type. Farmers liked that the type had steady heat levels and standard pod size they could count on.

That same year, García became director of the Agricultural Experiment Station, making him the first Hispanic to lead a U.S. land-grant agricultural research station.

García’s Chile Became The Gold Standard For Decades

New Mexico No. 9 led chile growing in New Mexican cooking until 1950.

The type was bigger, smoother, and meatier than old-style chiles, making it perfect for the growing canning business.

Every New Mexican chile type grown today comes from García’s early work. His chile helped launch the Mexican food business across the United States.

The Chile Pioneer Left A Lasting Mark On New Mexico

García continued breeding work throughout his career, developing improved pecans and onions for Mesilla Valley farmers.

He retired in 1945 and died in 1948, leaving his estate to fund scholarships for Hispanic students. The chile industry he created became central to New Mexico’s economy and cultural identity.

Modern chile varieties like Big Jim and Sandia all came from García’s original breeding work, carrying his legacy into kitchens across America.

Visiting Old Mesilla Plaza, New Mexico

Old Mesilla Plaza is free public space 2 miles southwest of Las Cruces where you can explore New Mexico’s chile pepper history.

Visit the Chile Pepper Institute at 113 W.University Ave to see how Spanish colonizers introduced peppers that Pueblo people adopted into their cooking.

Their retail shop sells seeds and hot sauces Monday-Friday 9am-4pm.

Take free garden tours during growing season or eat traditional chile dishes at La Posta de Mesilla restaurant using century-old local recipes.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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