Trail of the Forty-Niners

Marcy made this road official more than he found it. Josiah Gregg had opened the Canadian River route between Fort Smith and Santa Fe in 1840 and recommended it in Commerce of the Prairies. In 1849 Marcy's troops escorted a train of California emigrants along it while Lieutenant Simpson chained and compassed the line into the first detailed map of the country. Amiel Whipple used that survey for his 1853 railroad reconnaissance, but by the late 1850s emigrants preferred the southern road through El Paso, and the Fort Smith route fell out of use.

What the plaque says

Official Scenic Historic Marker Trail of the Forty-Niners To give gold-seekers another route to California, Capt. Randolph B. Marcy and Lt. James H. Simpson opened a wagon road from Arkansas to New Mexico in 1849. Marcy's Road, although very popular with the Forty-Niners, still was never as well-traveled as the Santa Fe Trail. Here the route parallels I-40 to Albuquer- que.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Blue Hole — 23 mi
  A bell-shaped artesian spring in Santa Rosa, 81 feet deep and a steady 61 or 62 degrees, where divers from across the region learn to dive at altitude.

More markers nearby

• Edge of Plains — 0.4 mi
• Mela Leger-Bilingual Education Pioneer — 14 mi
• Santa Rosa — 22 mi
• Santa Rosa — 22 mi