Mora County rises westward from the Great Plains into the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in north central New Mexico. Wagon Mound was one of the major natural landmarks along the Santa Fe Trail.

Formed in 1860, Mora County contains 1,931 square miles of land and 2 square miles of water. The county seat is Mora.

A large part of Mora County is the old Mora Land Grant, first settled around 1835. It was a very prosperous area in those days, then came the Mexican-American War in 1846-8. The settlement at Mora participated in the Taos Rebellion early in 1847 and in retaliation, the American invaders sacked and burned the town, killing almost everyone they came across (women and children included).