Historical Marker

Santa Fe Trail

Clayton, Union County · New Mexico

Neither face of this panel belongs in Clayton. The Mountain Branch never came near here; it crossed Raton Pass far to the west, and the fork the first face describes, west to Cimarron and south to Rayado, lay beyond Raton. Clayton sits on the Cimarron Route the panel mentions only in passing, the dry shortcut most wagons took until the 1840s. Both faces read as text written for a Mountain Branch stop and set on the wrong road, and the first spells Cimarron with one r.

What the plaque says

Official Scenic Historic Marker Santa Fe Trail William Becknell, the first Santa Fe Trail trader, entered Santa Fe in 1821 after Mexico became independent from Spain and opened its frontier to foreign traders. The Mountain Branch over Raton Pass divided here. One fork turned west to Cimaron, then south and joined a more direct route at Rayado. Official Scenic Historic Marker Santa Fe Trail The difficulty of bringing cara- vans over rocky and mountainous Raton Pass kept most wagon traf- fic on the Cimarron Cutoff of the Santa Fe Trail until the 1840's. Afterwards, the Mountain Branch, which here approaches Raton Pass, became more popular with traders, immigrants, gold- seekers, and government supply trains.

Where it stands

36.45696, -103.17117 · Directions

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