Raton Pass, Raton, NM-CO (6)
**Raton Pass** - National Register of Historic Places Ref # 66000474, date listed 10/15/1966
U.S. 85-87, CO/NM border
Raton, NM (Colfax County)
A National Historic Landmark (www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalhistoriclandmarks/list-of-nh...).
Raton Pass was the shortest and most practicable route from the upper Arkansas Valley to New Mexico. Both as a barrier and a gateway, the Raton Mountains symbolized the Mountain Branch of the Santa Fe Trail as did no other landmark. Those who traveled this way viewed Raton Pass as the climactic challenge of the trip to Santa Fe, for ahead, under the looming cliffs of castellated Fisher's Peak, lay a tortuous, rugged trail that claimed many wagons and animals as the price of passage.
The first man to cross Raton Pass with wagons was Captain William Becknell in 1821, Before him there had been Indians, Conquistadores, trappers and traders, but all these had traveled on foot or with horses or mule trains. Becknell traveled west from Franklin, Missouri to Bent's Fort, Colorado, and then south through the Raton Pass. The narrow trail followed the dry rocky bed of Raton Creek on the north ascent and Old Willow Creek on the southern descent. The narrow defile was so craggy as to permit the passage of only one wagon at a time at some places, and the wagon axles were splintered and sawed by the rocks which covered the "trail".
In 1865, with the close of the war, an individual approached the territorial legislatures of Colorado and New Mexico for charters to build a road from Trinidad, Colorado, to the Canadian River in New Mexico. Richens L. "Uncle Dick" Wootton was to build a toll road through Raton Pass, and his charters were granted without trouble. In the spring of 1866, he began the clearing, grading, blasting, and bridge building necessary to make an all year road suitable for heavy wagon and stagecoach travel out of the twenty-seven mile stretch which had been termed the worst on the entire Santa Fe Trail. Wootton's efforts were amply rewarded as traffic from New Mexico to eastern Colorado through the Pass increased heavily, and Wootton collected $1.50 a wagon. (1)
References (1) NRHP Nomination Form s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg...
Raton Pass, Raton, NM-CO (6)
**Raton Pass** - National Register of Historic Places Ref # 66000474, date listed 10/15/1966
U.S. 85-87, CO/NM border
Raton, NM (Colfax County)
A National Historic Landmark (www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalhistoriclandmarks/list-of-nh...).
Raton Pass was the shortest and most practicable route from the upper Arkansas Valley to New Mexico. Both as a barrier and a gateway, the Raton Mountains symbolized the Mountain Branch of the Santa Fe Trail as did no other landmark. Those who traveled this way viewed Raton Pass as the climactic challenge of the trip to Santa Fe, for ahead, under the looming cliffs of castellated Fisher's Peak, lay a tortuous, rugged trail that claimed many wagons and animals as the price of passage.
The first man to cross Raton Pass with wagons was Captain William Becknell in 1821, Before him there had been Indians, Conquistadores, trappers and traders, but all these had traveled on foot or with horses or mule trains. Becknell traveled west from Franklin, Missouri to Bent's Fort, Colorado, and then south through the Raton Pass. The narrow trail followed the dry rocky bed of Raton Creek on the north ascent and Old Willow Creek on the southern descent. The narrow defile was so craggy as to permit the passage of only one wagon at a time at some places, and the wagon axles were splintered and sawed by the rocks which covered the "trail".
In 1865, with the close of the war, an individual approached the territorial legislatures of Colorado and New Mexico for charters to build a road from Trinidad, Colorado, to the Canadian River in New Mexico. Richens L. "Uncle Dick" Wootton was to build a toll road through Raton Pass, and his charters were granted without trouble. In the spring of 1866, he began the clearing, grading, blasting, and bridge building necessary to make an all year road suitable for heavy wagon and stagecoach travel out of the twenty-seven mile stretch which had been termed the worst on the entire Santa Fe Trail. Wootton's efforts were amply rewarded as traffic from New Mexico to eastern Colorado through the Pass increased heavily, and Wootton collected $1.50 a wagon. (1)
References (1) NRHP Nomination Form s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg...