New Mexico features 26 recognized State Scenic Byways

(continued from Page 32) a 900-mile route that extends northeast through Kansas and ends in Independence, Mo. (Don’t confuse this lengthy byway with the much shorter but similarly named Santa Fe National Forest Scenic Byway, a 15-mile stretch that runs from the city up to the Santa Fe Ski Area).

The New Mexico section of the Santa Fe Trail begins on Interstate 25 at the New Mexico state line. Take I-25 south to Raton. In Raton, continue following I-25 south. Merge onto US-64 west. Follow US-64 south to Cimarron. In Cimarron, US-64 turns into Kit Carson Hwy and 10th St. Turn left onto NM-21 and go to Springer, where the byway branches south, headed to Santa Fe (Mountain Route) and east to the New Mexico-Oklahoma border (Cimarron Route). Visit the National Scenic Byway Foundation for precise directions and the story of the byway: https://nsbfoundation.com/ nb/santa-fe-trail-national-scenic-byway-nm/. This article will focus on sites along the Mountain Route.

One of America's first great commerce routes, the Santa Fe Trail was critical to our country's westward expansion in the 1800s. Merchant-traders from Missouri regularly traveled the trail, taking manufactured goods to Santa Fe to exchange for furs and other items available there. As a result of their repeated journeys, there are many historic sites and landmarks interspersed with incredible scenery all along the route. Raton Pass, Cimarron, Fort Union, Starvation Peak, and Santa Fe are among them.

The most historically important segment of the trail in New Mexico is arguably the Raton Pass at the border of presentday New Mexico and Colorado. In the 19th century, it was treacherous but enabled wagons to cut through the snowy Sangre de Cristo Mountains and make their way into the territory that is now New Mexico.

South of Raton is the town of Cimarron, where the St. James Hotel has been a treasured landmark since 1872. Originally built as a saloon, it soon evolved into a vital overnight outpost on the trail – the two-story Adobe Street James Hotel. Over the frontier era, notables such as Wyatt Earp, Jesse James, Buffalo Bill Cody, Clay Allison, Black Jack Ketchum, Billy the Kid and Thomas James Wright stayed at the hotel. Many of its rooms, all of which are available for guests, are said to be haunted.

On Highway 21 near Cimarron is Philmont Scout Ranch. Here, Lucien Maxwell and frontiersman Kit Carson established a small settlement often visited by traders traveling on the Santa Fe Trail. In 1950, the Boy Scouts of America built an adobe museum on the site, named in honor of Kit Carson.

Staff at the Kit Carson Museum dress in period clothing and demonstrate frontier skills and crafts like blacksmithing, cooking, shooting, and farming, according to the National Park Service. Each room in the museum is outfitted with reproduction furniture and objects typical of New Mexico in the 1850s. The Rayado Trading Company, located at the museum, sells books, maps, reproduction tools, and equipment, moccasins, and blankets.

A little further south is Fort Union National Monument, which, from 1851 to 1891, functioned as an agent of political and cultural change, according to the National Park Service. In fact, it was the largest 19th-century military fort in the region. Today, its adobe remnants and a visitors center are a reminder that the fort served as Cavalry headquarters during the Apache Wars. Visit https://www.nps.gov/foun/ index.htm for details.

Starvation Peak, between the town of Pecos and Las Vegas, served as a guiding landmark for Santa Fe Trail travelers. Visible from Interstate 25, the promontory is actually a butte that sits at over 7,000 feet.

Las Vegas, which today has a population of about 15,000, was a welcome sight for the trail-weary as it was the first town of any size after 600 miles of travel from Kansas. By the late 19th century, it had waterworks, a phone company, and a half dozen trains stopping there daily. Today, tourists enjoy shops on the town’s plaza, especially those who collect antiques.

The Santa Fe Trail continues for 66 miles toward the capital city of Santa Fe, where a granite marker on the Plaza commemorates the trail’s end.

For a snapshot of each of New Mexico’s scenic byways, including maps and images, visit https://www.newmexico. org/places-to-visit/scenic-byways/. The NM Department of Transportation, at https://www.dot.nm.gov/travelinformation/scenic-byways/, provides downloadable PDFs that describe each route, introduce historical context and identify some noteworthy stops.