Historical Marker
Clayton
Clayton, Union County · New Mexico
The livestock trade the panel credits came with the rails, not the trail. The Fort Worth and Denver City Railway built up from Texas and met the line from Denver near Folsom on March 14, 1888, with through service from April 1. Before that, cattle had only passed through on the Goodnight-Loving drives from the late 1860s. The railroad turned Clayton, a town of months, into the shipping pen for herds walked up from the Pecos and the Panhandle, and stock trains loaded here within the year.
What the plaque says
Official Scenic Historic Marker Clayton Population 2,968 - Elevation 4,969 Trade caravans and homesteaders traveling the Cimarron Cutoff of the Santa Fe Trail passed near here. Clayton was founded in 1887 and named for the son of cattleman and ex-Senator Stephen W. Dorsey, one of its developers. It became a major livestock shipping center for herds from the Pecos Valley and the Texas Panhandle.
Where it stands
36.46773, -103.22644 · Directions
More markers nearby
- Rabbit Ear Mountain — steps away
- Rabbit Ear Mountain — 2.0 mi
- Clayton — 2.0 mi
- Santa Fe Trail — 3.2 mi