Women of the Santa Fe Trail

The panel's 1832 is a year early, and Mary Donoho's place on it is recent. For more than a century the title of first American woman on the trail went to Susan Magoffin in 1846; in the 1980s Marian Meyer, following an 1885 newspaper item about Donoho's son, showed that Mary Dodson Donoho reached Santa Fe in 1833 with her husband and infant daughter and ran a hotel there until 1837. Marion Sloan crossed first as a child, married at Fort Union, and lost her husband Richard Russell in 1888 to the Maxwell grant evictions at Stonewall, Colorado.

What the plaque says

Official Scenic Historic Marker Women of the Santa Fe Trail The Women of the Santa Fe Trail endured untold hardships traveling across the Great Plains. In 1829, six Hispanic women were the first known female travelers going east on the trail. In 1832, Mary Donoho was the first woman whose name was recorded to travel west along the trail. Susan Shelby Magoffin and Marion Sloan followed and both wrote about their experiences. Official Scenic Historic Marker New Mexico Historic Women Marker Initiative The New Mexico Historic Women Marker Initiative was founded in 2005 by members of the New Mexico Women's Forum in a statewide effort to recognize women's contributions to New Mexico history on the state's Official Scenic Historic Markers. The Initiative ensures that women's diverse histories will be remembered and told, and will inspire and provide a guide for future generations. The 2006 Legislature funded the project.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• St. James Hotel — 25 mi
  Henri Lambert's 1872 inn and saloon on the Santa Fe Trail at Cimarron, a stage for the Colfax County War, where the old saloon ceiling still shows 22 bullet holes.

More markers nearby

• Clifton House Site — steps away
• Santa Fe Trail — 12 mi
• First Automobile in New Mexico — 17 mi
• Raton — 17 mi