McRae Canyon, originally called Cañon del Muerto, lies in the southern Fra Cristobal Range of New Mexico and drains into the Rio Grande system, with its lower end now flooded by Elephant Butte Reservoir. Rising from about 5,070 feet and descending to roughly 4,354 feet, it includes a major tributary of the same older name and an artesian spring fed continuously from the Jornada del Muerto basin aquifer, a rare steady water source in this arid region. The canyon is also the site of Fort McRae, occupied by California Volunteers from 1863 to 1866 and by U.S. Army troops from 1866 to 1876, linking it to post-Civil War travel, control, and conflict along the Rio Grande corridor.