Historic Trail Map of the

La Junta 1° × 2° Quadrangle, 

Southeastern Colorado

and Western Kansas

By Glenn R. Scott, Richard H. Louden, F. Craig Brunstein,

and Carol A. Quesenberry

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

Prepared in cooperation with the

Denver Public Library, Western History and Genealogy Department

Pamphlet to accompany 

Scientific Investigations Map 2923

2008
U.S. Department of the Interior

DIRK KEMPTHORNE, Secretary

U.S. Geological Survey

Mark D. Myers, Director

U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia: 2008

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Suggested citation:

Scott, G.R., Louden, R.H., Brunstein, F.C., and Quesenberry, C.A., 2008, Historic trail map of the

La Junta 1° × 2° quadrangle, southeastern Colorado and western Kansas: U.S. Geological Survey

Scientific Investigations Map 2923, scale 1:250,000; 56-page pamphlet.
Contents

Introduction................................................................................................................................... 1

Method of Preparation of the Trail Map ....................................................................................... 6

Acknowledgments......................................................................................................................... 7

Early Explorers along the Arkansas River and on the Santa Fe Trail........................................... 7

Roads Established or Proposed under General Assembly Session Laws,

Colorado Territorial Corporations and Charters, 1859–1876 ......................................... 14

Freighting Companies................................................................................................................. 17

Stage Companies That Probably Operated in the La Junta Quadrangle..................................... 20

Travel by Wagons and Stagecoaches.......................................................................................... 21

Railroads Operated in the La Junta Quadrangle

(Including Lines along the Arkansas River North of the Quadrangle)........................... 23

Military and Civilian Camps, Forts, and Bases in the La Junta Quadrangle .............................. 24

Fossils and Plants in the La Junta Quadrangle............................................................................ 24

Indian Tribes in the La Junta Quadrangle................................................................................... 28

Early Man or Paleo-Indians................................................................................................ 28

Archaic Indians .................................................................................................................. 28

Prehistoric and Historic Indians.......................................................................................... 28

Historic Indian Tribes in the La Junta Quadrangle ............................................................. 30

Place Names in the La Junta Quadrangle and Place Names along

Freight Routes Leading to the La Junta Quadrangle ...................................................... 32

Sources of Information ............................................................................................................... 49

Figures

1. Index map of the La Junta 1° × 2° quadrangle showing selected modern-day

major geographic features and communities................................................................. 2

2. Map showing the Santa Fe Trail, including the Mountain Branch

and the Cimarron Cutoff................................................................................................ 2

3. Regional map showing the Overland, Mormon, Smoky Hill, Santa Fe,

Cherokee, Trappers, Republican Fork, and Oregon Trails

and their many branches................................................................................................ 4

Introduction

The State of Colorado contains the equivalent of 14 areas 

the size of the La Junta quadrangle, and each area contains 

about 7,200 square miles. The La Junta quadrangle contains 

all or part of eight Colorado and Kansas counties (fig. 1), 

named here with their dates of authorization and founding:

Colorado

Baca April 16, 1889

Bent February 11, 1870

Las Animas February 9, 1866

Otero March 25, 1889

Prowers April 11, 1889

Kansas

Hamilton January 29, 1886

Stanton June 17, 1887

Morton November 18, 1886

Many of the historic trails in the La Junta quadrangle 

were used by Indians long before the white man reached the 

area. The earliest recorded use of the trails by white men in 

the quadrangle was in the 1820’s when traders brought goods 

from St. Louis for barter with the Indians and for commerce 

with the Mexican settlements in New Mexico. Trade with 

Santa Fe and Taos in New Mexico led to development of the 

Santa Fe Trail, which had two major branches, the Cimarron 

Cutoff and the Mountain Branch (fig. 2). Discovery of gold in 

the Rocky Mountains in central Colorado in 1858 led to the 

surveying of several other major new trails to the gold fields. 

Trails in the La Junta quadrangle included segments of the 

Mountain Branch of the Santa Fe Trail (principally a commercial route) and the Cherokee Trail (figs. 1 and 2). The Santa Fe 

and Cherokee Trails followed the Arkansas River through La 

Junta. The Santa Fe Trail took a route that always ensured a 

reliable source of water for travelers. In addition to the named 

major trails, many new local trails were opened to afford

Historic Trail Map of the La Junta 1° × 2° Quadrangle, 

Southeastern Colorado and Western Kansas

By Glenn R. Scott,1 Richard H. Louden,2 F. Craig Brunstein,1 and Carol A. Quesenberry1 

1

U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, CO 80225, and 60 Estes Street, 

Lakewood, CO 80226-1254.

2

P.O. Box 8, Branson, CO 81027-0008.

connection to the major trails, stage stations, trading posts, and 

military posts. Many of the local trails were used extensively; 

some were so deeply worn that they still are visible on aerial 

photographs. Some are even shown on USGS 7.5-minute 

quadrangles of the area.

Stage lines and stations were established along the Santa 

Fe Trail. Only a few of the stations are described in the literature, and all locations are poorly known. Seven dugout stations 

apparently were built along the Santa Fe Trail from Fort Lyon, 

near Prowers, Colorado, eastward to Fort Larned in Kansas, 

but little information has been found that shows the locations 

of the stations. Some stations were built along the Cherokee 

Trail, which is actually on the same alignment as the Mountain 

Branch of the Santa Fe Trail; however, station names and locations are not well known. Nevertheless, all the known stations 

along the trails have been placed as accurately as the information will allow.

When trails were built, an effort was made to choose 

level routes; however, very little grading was done, so stages 

were constantly traveling down into valleys and back up the 

other sides or were fording streams. Diaries of the travelers 

give accounts of stages turning over where traversing steep 

stream banks along valleys. The stages traveled as rapidly as 

the drivers would let the horses run, and to keep the horses 

vigorous, they were changed about every 10–15 miles at 

stations where extra stock were kept. These stations were 

called “swing” stations, but they provided little comfort to 

the passengers, because stops were only long enough to 

change the teams of horses. About every fourth station was 

equipped with a kitchen and dining room so that the passengers could eat meals three times a day. These stations were 

called “home” stations. Some of them had beds, but generally 

the stages did not stop for the night and the passengers had 

to sleep on the coach as it traveled through the night. Along 

the Arkansas River, the stage passengers camped at night. 

Because of the scarcity of trees that could be used for lumber 

along the stage routes, many of the stations were simply dugouts into the banks of streams or into the sides of hills. A few 

stations were built of adobe or lumber. 
38 ̊

37 ̊

104 ̊ 102 ̊

BENT PROWERS

HAMILTON STANTON MORTON

OTERO

LAS ANIMAS BACA

Comanche

National

Grassland

Comanche

National

Grassland

Purgatoire River

389

109

116

89

10

160

287

385

160

101

Branson

Timpas

La Junta

Toonerville

Two Buttes

Walsh Springfield Bartlett

Saunders

COLORADO

NEBRASKA

KANSAS

NEW MEXICO

TEXAS

OKLAHOMA

MISSOURI

ARKANSAS

Arkansas River

Arkansas River

Arkans a s River

Osage R ive

N

r

eosho River

Cimarron River North Canadian Rive

C

r

anadian River Pecos River

Mora R

Pur gatoire River

SANTA FE T RAI L

CIMARRON

CUTOFF

MOUNTAIN BRANCH

Canon City

Pueblo

Trinidad

Raton

Cimarron Camp Nichols

SANTA FE

Rayado

Las Vegas

San Miguel

Tucumcari

Fort Bascom

Taos

Timpas

Fort Aubrey

Fort Mann

Cimarron

Fort Larned

Fort Zarah

Hays City

Diamond

Spring

Franklin

Independence Council

Grove

Kansas

City Fort Leavenworth

Frost's (Hoehne's)

Stage Station

Hole in the Rock

Fort

Wise

Fort

Dodge

Fort

Lyon

Fort

Union

Glorieta

Pass

Fort

Mary

Bent’s

Fort

DENVER

Wagon Mound

Rock Crossing

Point of

Springer Rocks

40 ̊

38 ̊

36 ̊

106 ̊ 104 ̊ 102 ̊ 100 ̊ 98 ̊ 96 ̊ 94 ̊

0

0 50 100 MILES

50 100 200 KILOMETERS

2 Historic Trail Map of the La Junta 1° × 2° Quadrangle, Southeastern Colorado and Western Kansas

Figure 1. Index map of the La Junta 1° × 2° quadrangle showing selected modern-day major 

geographic features and communities. 

Figure 2. Map showing the Santa Fe Trail, including the Mountain Branch and the Cimarron Cutoff.
Introduction 3

Part of the profit for the stage companies came from the 

transport of mail and freight. The stage contractors had to 

bid for the privilege of carrying the mail, and the competition 

was very keen, even though the profit was meager along some 

stage lines. 

Although the stage routes were established by contractors to haul the mail and passengers, the routes were also used 

by freighters, immigrants, and gold seekers. A succession 

of mail contractors operated stage lines along the Santa Fe 

Trail through the La Junta quadrangle and along feeder lines 

leading into the main trail. The first regular mail stage to use 

the Mountain Branch of the Santa Fe Trail along the Arkansas River in the La Junta quadrangle was in November 1859, 

when the conductor, James Brice, was unable to get an army 

escort along the Cimarron Cutoff, so he decided to follow the 

Mountain Branch westward to Bent’s Old Fort, then southward to Santa Fe. Later in November, another mail stage was 

the first to run northward along the mountains to the Arkansas 

River and eastward to Kansas (Taylor, 1971, p. 133). A feeder 

line from Fort Wallace in western Kansas led westward to 

Cheyenne Wells on the Smoky Hill Trail and then southwestward to New Fort Lyon; later this line extended farther west 

to Kit Carson and then to Fort Lyon. Many changes of routes 

took place between the time when delivery of mail started and 

when completion of railroads into the area caused abandonment of the stage lines (see Taylor, 1971, for an excellent 

discussion of the mail lines). The following principal mail 

companies served the La Junta area:

Missouri Stage Company, February 1861

Slemmons, Roberts, and Company—The Kansas City, 

Santa Fe, and Canon City Fast Line, May 1861

Vickroy and Barnum—The Cottrill, Vickroy,

and Company, April 1862

Barlow, Cottrill, Vickroy, and Barnum—The M. Cottrill 

and Company, March 1863. Also known as Kansas, 

Santa Fe, and Canon City Express; Kansas City, 

Santa Fe, and Denver Mail and Express Line;

Santa Fe Stage and Express; Santa Fe Stage 

Company; and simply Santa Fe Stage

Barlow and Sanderson, February 1866

Southern Overland Mail and Express Company,

early 1868

During most of the time the trails were used, travel was hazardous for several reasons. The best known reason was that the 

Indians were antagonized by intrusion of white settlers into their 

native lands. The Arapaho (later spelled Arapahoe), Cheyenne, 

Comanche, Kiowa, and Pawnee Tribes were particularly troublesome for the white settlers in eastern Colorado. Treaties were 

agreed to but were not kept by either the Indians or the white 

intruders. In the early years (1858–1863) when there were fewer 

travelers into Colorado, there was much less trouble than in the 

later years (1864–1869). Trouble increased when the military 

attempted to prevent the Indians from harassing travelers along 

the stage lines. Retaliation by the Indians became most active 

after the Sand Creek massacre on November 29, 1864. Travel 

along all of the stage lines into Colorado was slowed or curtailed 

for several months after that incident. To protect the travelers 

along the stage routes, the U.S. Government fortified some existing stage stations and set up new camps or forts along the trails 

and garrisoned them with small units of cavalry. The cavalry 

controlled the size of traveling groups and provided escorts to 

assure their safety from Indian attacks. A systematic effort to kill 

off the bison on the plains, and thus deprive the Indians of their 

main food supply, probably accomplished more than anything 

else to stop the depredations of the Indians and force them onto 

reservations. The Cheyenne and Arapahoe Tribes were relative 

newcomers to the Colorado plains, having moved to the headwaters of the Platte River and the Platte-Arkansas divide in the 

early part of the 19th century (Swanton, 1953, p. 279, 385). Even 

though they were newcomers, they naturally were reluctant to 

yield their territory to the aggressive white intruders. The whites 

tried several methods to decrease harassment by the Indians. One 

method was to protect travelers by using military escorts along 

the trails. Another was to offer reservations where the Indians 

would be protected from white intrusion and have access to wild 

game and agricultural lands.

On February 18, 1861, a reservation was established in 

southeastern Colorado for the Cheyenne and Arapahoe Tribes. 

It existed only until October 14, 1865, and then was ceded by 

treaty. Unfortunately, establishment of the reservation did not 

bring peace to the Colorado plains or safety along the immigrant trails or along the commercial routes.
4 Historic Trail Map of the La Junta 1° × 2° Quadrangle, Southeastern Colorado and Western Kansas

Figure 3. (Above and facing page) Regional map showing the Overland, Mormon, Smoky Hill, Santa Fe, Cherokee, 

Trappers, Republican Fork, and Oregon Trails and their many branches. The route of the Oregon Trail is from Mattes 

(1969), and its route is described in detail by Franzwa (1972). The route of the Smoky Hill Trail is from Long (1947). 

Unlabeled location circles are stage stations.
Introduction 5
6 Historic Trail Map of the La Junta 1° × 2° Quadrangle, Southeastern Colorado and Western Kansas

Even if the Indian tribes had been peaceful, travel along 

some of the immigrant trails would have been hazardous 

because of the lack of water and game. The shortage of game 

resulted from the early travelers eliminating the game or 

driving it away; thus, later travelers had difficulty in procuring meat. Westward movement and settlement of whites onto 

the Great Plains was encouraged by the Homestead Act of 

1862. Many persons displaced by the Civil War moved onto 

the newly opened land, even though the Indians were still a 

potential menace. After the General Land Office completed the 

land surveys in about 1870, many of the Indians had moved out 

of the area. Much of the land became safe for settlement, and 

small towns sprang up, generally spaced no more than 10 miles 

apart—the distance a team and wagon could travel to town and 

back in a day. Roads were built to connect the new communities and provide access to the major trails. Railroads were built 

westward and were gradually completed across the La Junta 

quadrangle to meet the needs of an expanding population.

Originally the La Junta quadrangle was part of an area 

called the Texas Claim. The Texas Claim was an area that lay 

south of the Arkansas River and west of the 100th meridian. 

This area was claimed by Spain until 1822, then claimed by 

Mexico until the Mexican War Settlement in 1848, and then 

claimed by Texas until November 25, 1850. On that date, 

Texas accepted propositions offered by an Act of the U.S. 

Congress of September 9, 1850, for establishment of Texas’ 

northern and western boundaries and for relinquishment of 

Texas’ claims to lands exterior to those offered in the propositions (Barry, 1972, p. 976).

The Anis-Otis Treaty of 1819 set the Arkansas River as 

the boundary between Spanish New Mexico and the Louisiana 

Territory of the United States. The Mexican land in southern 

Colorado became part of the United States when the treaty of 

Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848 was enacted. This southern Colorado area was still occupied by Indians until the establishment 

of Colorado Territory in 1861.

Method of Preparation of the

Trail Map

The most reliable sources for accurately identifying and 

locating the trails are aerial photographs, the original General 

Land Office (GLO) land plats, and the early GLO surveyor’s 

field notes that were prepared only a few years after the trails 

were in use. The railroads were located from published maps, 

railroad timetables, and published books. The names and 

locations of towns were obtained from old maps, gazetteers, 

postal guides, and the earliest site localities in the official 

applications for the establishment of Post Offices. The correct location for many towns was obtained from U.S. Postal 

Service site maps; however, some towns did not have site 

maps, so accurate locations of those towns cannot be assured. 

In addition, the locations of Post Offices have changed over 

the years; in such instances, multiple sites where a town’s 

Post Office existed are shown. Published articles about events 

along the historic trails in the quadrangle were of some help 

in preparing the map. Hundreds of U.S. Geological Survey 

aerial photographs taken mostly in the 1950’s at a scale of 

about 1:20,000 were examined with a stereoscope to locate 

the railroads, settlements, and some of the trails where they 

were still visible. In addition, trails plotted from the land plats 

were searched for on the aerial photographs. Many segments 

of the trails are still detectable on the aerial photographs even 

though much of the La Junta quadrangle was plowed. Very 

little use of some of the trails was made after the middle of the 

19th century. Aerial photographs were available to me when I 

prepared the geologic map of the La Junta quadrangle (Scott, 

1968), and that is when I put the trails on the first La Junta 

trail map (Scott, 1972). Most of the trails ultimately were 

plotted from those shown on the land plats made from 1876 

to 1890, and from old privately published maps. Then, the 

trails, railroads, stage stations, towns, and other features were 

transferred to a Mylar base map of the La Junta quadrangle, 

which was then scanned and digitized. All of the trails on the 

A wagon train of covered wagons pulled by oxen, sometime trail maps are only approximately located.

between 1870 and 1880. Stopped for midday rest and refreshment. 

Location and photographer unknown. (Courtesy of Denver Public 

Library, Western History and Genealogy Department. X-21874.)
 Early Explorers along the Arkansas River and on the Santa Fe Trail 7

Many books and articles and many published and 

unpublished maps were examined. Unfortunately, locations 

of many cultural features varied from map to map, and the 

exact locations of some features were difficult to determine; 

therefore, those features may not be accurately located. Where 

the location of a town or other feature is uncertain, the term 

“location?” is added on the map.

Acknowledgments

This map was prepared principally because I thought that 

the original La Junta historic trail map (Scott, 1972) was not 

as comprehensive as the later maps, such as Denver, Trinidad, 

and Leadville, and I wanted to bring it closer to the quality of 

those later maps. Most of the research has been done in the 

Western History Department of the Denver Public Library. 

Its comprehensive collection of maps and books about the 

history of the Western United States was the primary source 

for most of the information in this publication. For their kind 

help, I thank the department personnel, especially Philip J. 

Panum, map specialist. The official records of Colorado that 

are preserved in the Colorado Archives provided information about toll roads in the quadrangle. Postal site location 

applications were studied at the Denver Regional Office of the 

National Archives and at the local office of the U.S. Bureau 

of Land Management (BLM). Also the General Land Office 

plats were studied at the National Archives office on the Denver Federal Center. Both the General Land Office plats and 

surveyor’s field notes also were examined at the U.S. Bureau 

of Land Management, 2850 Youngfield St., Wheat Ridge, 

Colorado. I benefited greatly from the assistance of the BLM 

staff, especially Andrew J. Senti, historian of the BLM, who 

is very knowledgeable about the BLM records and maps. The 

U.S. Geological Survey Library, Building 20, Denver Federal 

Center, gave access to early topographic and geologic maps; 

these materials permitted me to more accurately locate all the 

railroad spur lines in the quadrangle. The U.S. Geological Survey National Mapping Division Mapping Center in Building 

810 helped me to study a small part of their immense coverage of their low-altitude aerial photographs of the La Junta 

quadrangle. I thank William H. Bauer, an expert on U.S. Post 

Offices in Colorado, who examined the list of place names 

in the La Junta quadrangle, and restricted the use of the title 

“Post Office” to only those places that actually had official 

Post Offices. Other places that did postal business are called 

unofficial post offices. Kenton Forrest of the Colorado Railroad Museum reviewed the text and maps and suggested many 

revisions concerning railroad names and routes, and made 

suggestions about content that improved the accuracy and 

made it easier to understand which rail lines actually operated 

in the map area. A skilled map reviewer, Karl Kellogg, who is 

a geologist of the U.S. Geological Survey, examined the maps 

and text and suggested many corrections and additions that 

were then used by us.

The Trail Map series, completed by this La Junta map, 

would not have been the same without the whole-hearted 

dedication, talent, and hard work of its editor, Craig Brunstein 

(1951–2008).

Early Explorers along the 

Arkansas River and on the 

Santa Fe Trail

1. Francisco Vasquez de Coronado in 1540 and 1541

2. Juan de Ulibarri in 1706

3. Paul and Peter Mallet in 1739

4. Lt. Zebulon M. Pike in 1806

5. Robert McKnight and eight others in 1812

6. Sylvester Pratte and James Ohio Pattie in the 1820’s

7. Major Stephen Harriman Long in 1820

8. William H. Becknell in 1821

9. Hugh Glenn–Jacob Fowler Company in 1821

10. Col. Henry Dodge in 1835

11. Marcus Whitman in 1842 

12. Lt. John Charles Fremont in 1842 through 1853

13. Gen. Stephen Watts Kearny in 1846

14. Col. Alexander W. Doniphan in 1846

15. Francis Parkman in 1846

16. Lt. William Hemsley Emory in 1846

17. Francis X. Aubry in 1846 through 1852 

18. Capt. John W. Gunnison in 1853

19. William Metcalf in 1869

Early Explorers along the Arkansas River and on the Santa Fe Trail 9

The earliest known explorer into the La Junta quadrangle was 

Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, who in 1540 led a large 

Spanish expedition from Compostela in Northwestern 

Mexico across the La Junta quadrangle(?) in late February 

to search for the so-called wealthy Seven Cities of Cibola 

(Barry, 1972, p. 1). They found the first of the cities, a 

Zuni village on the west edge of present-day New Mexico. 

Coronado made his headquarters there and sent out parties to 

make further searches. Cardenas discovered the Grand Canyon; Alvarado found the Rio Grande valley and many Indian 

pueblos. Coronado then traveled to the Rio Grande for the 

winter. After being told of a rich Kingdom of Quivira by an 

untrustworthy Indian slave called “Turk,” Coronado searched 

for the place in 1541.

In the spring of 1541, Coronado took a small group of his 

people northward across present southeastern Colorado 

(according to Bond, 1907). In June, he crossed into

present-day Kansas in his search to find Quivira. However, 

Herbert E. Bolton (1990) reviewed Coronado’s travel record 

and decided that Coronado had never touched within Colorado. We believe that because the topography in southeastern 

Colorado and southwestern Kansas is essentially featureless, 

it would have been very difficult to reconstruct Coronado’s 

route. Coronado did not state what features he saw on his trip, 

so how could historians 500 years later be able to say definitely where Coronado had traveled? The details of his return 

trip in 1541 are sketchy—he might have crossed Colorado 

then. Therefore we are presenting both routes (although we 

have a bias for the non-Colorado route), and our readers may 

decide which route they prefer.

Wedel (1942, p. 22) concluded “that while the exact limits of 

Quivira in Kansas cannot now be set up, the heart of the 

province lay north and east of the Arkansas and south of the 

Smoky Hill River, extending from Rice, or possibly Barton, 

County, east through McPherson and Marion Counties, to or 

beyond the Kansas-Oklahoma State Boundary.”

In 1706, Juan de Ulibarri and a Spanish-Indian force traveled 

to El Cuartelejo to recover some Picuris Indians who had 

left the Rio Grande in 1896. Ulibarri’s plan was to bring 

them back to New Mexico (Barry, 1972, p. 8 and 9). Ulibarri 

crossed the La Junta quadrangle by either using Chacuaco 

Creek (Schroeder and Withers, 1959, p. 23–25) or by crossing Mesa de Maya south of Kim, Colorado (Gunnerson, 

1984). Wedel (1959, p. 468) decided that the location of El 

Cuartelejo should rest on archeological evidence, including particularly the unique association of a pueblo ruin with 

Plains cultural remains. Wedel also concluded that the Scott 

County, Kansas, pueblo and its archeological material very 

likely were the authentic Cuartelejo Rancheria from which 

Ulibarri rescued Don Lorenzo and his Picuris Indians. On 

the other hand, Janet LeCompte (1978) believed that El 

Cuartelejo was not a single place but was a region and that 

Wedel’s Scott County site was just one of the villages.

In 1739, Paul and Peter Mallet and six other French trappers 

started to New Mexico by way of the Missouri River; they 

crossed the Platte River on June 13, reached the Arkansas 

River on June 30, and traveled west along the river. They 

then continued upstream where they came upon a camp of 

Comanche Indians, perhaps near Lamar. From there they 

left the river and continued on south to Santa Fe, which 

they reached on July 22, 1739. They were the first party (of 

record) to reach New Mexico from the Missouri country. 

On their return from Santa Fe, they followed the Arkansas 

River and made their way back to New Orleans (Barry, 

1972, p. 21 and 22).

In 1806, Lt. Zebulon M. Pike had been directed to find the 

source of the Red River and the approximate south boundary of the Louisiana Purchase. On November 23, 1806, 

Pike and his party traveled westward along the Arkansas 

River without exploring until they reached the future site 

of Pueblo. They then camped on the south bank of the 

Arkansas River where they built the first structure built by 

the United States in Colorado. They cut 14 logs and put up 

walls 5 feet high on three sides and left open the north side 

next to the Arkansas River. They stayed there 5 days. During that time, Pike and some of the others made an attempt 

to climb the high mountain, later named for Pike. They succeeded in climbing one subsidiary peak, probably Mt. Rosa. 

They then returned to the camp on the river and proceeded 

with their original purpose to find the Red River and to 

explore the southwestern part of the Louisiana Purchase. 

They struggled through the snow and ice up the Wet Mountain Valley and turned southward, crossed the Sangre De 

Cristo Mountains, passed by the Great Sand Dunes (which 

he described), then turned southward in the San Luis Valley 

for some miles, where they were apprehended by Spanish 

soldiers and taken to Chihuahua, Mexico (American Guide 

Series, 1941, p. 34–35).

(Facing page) Native American pictograph on sandstone cliff 

in Apishapa Canyon made by chipping the “desert varnish” from 

the weathered surface of the rock. Photograph taken in 1912 by 

G.W. Stose. (U.S. Geological Survey Earth Science Photographic 

Library.) 
10 Historic Trail Map of the La Junta 1° × 2° Quadrangle, Southeastern Colorado and Western Kansas

In May 1812, Robert McKnight and eight others left the 

Missouri Valley settlements on a proposed trading expedition to New Mexico. Apparently following directions from 

Zebulon Pike, they went safely to Santa Fe where they were 

jailed as spies and their sale goods were confiscated. They 

were taken south to a Chihuahua prison, held there for 9 

years, and not released until the Mexican revolution in 1821 

allowed Americans to travel south of the Arkansas River 

(Barry, 1972, p. 68–69). In 1822, Robert McKnight was 

reunited with his brother John, and their party crossed the 

southeast corner of the La Junta quadrangle on about June 

11, 1822, on their travel back to the east. They reached their 

homes in eastern Missouri in mid-July.

In the 1820’s, James Ohio Pattie gave an account of a journey 

to New Mexico with Sylvester Pratte and Company. Pattie’s account describes only his experience in the summer 

of 1825. A group of 112 men started from 6 miles below 

Fort Atkinson, in Nebraska 8 miles north of present Omaha. 

They were joined by James Pattie and his father Sylvester 

Pattie at a rendezvous on the Platte River in early August 

1825. They reached the Arkansas River in eastern Colorado 

on Sept. 22, 1825, and arrived at Taos, New Mexico, on Oct. 

26. May Howbert (1934) placed some maps in the Western 

History Department of the Denver Library that showed that 

Pattie traveled southwestward down the Santa Fe Trail from 

the future site of Bent’s Fort. The American Guide Series 

book about New Mexico (1945) states that James Ohio Pattie 

trapped all over New Mexico and Arizona from 1825 to 1828.

In 1820, Major Stephen Harriman Long and his assistant, Dr. 

Edwin James, a botanist, geologist, and party historian, 

were selected by President Thomas Jefferson to explore the 

southwestern boundary of the Louisiana Purchase. They 

were accompanied by Dr. Thomas Say (zoologist), Dr. A.E. 

Jessup (geologist), and Titian Ramsey Peale (a naturalist 

and artist). They entered Colorado by a westward course 

along the South Platte River, and, after reaching the Front 

Range, they traveled southward down the eastern front of 

the Front Range. Near the present Colorado Springs, Dr. 

James headed a small party that made the first recorded 

ascent of the peak that first was called James Peak by Long, 

but later was named Pikes Peak to commemorate Zebulon Pike’s failed attempt to reach the summit of the peak. 

They then went southward along Fountain Creek and then 

eastward along the trail later called Santa Fe Trail on the 

Arkansas River. A few miles east of the west edge of the La 

Junta quadrangle, they turned southward along the Purgatoire River, struggled through the narrow canyon of Chacuaco Creek and crossed the La Junta quadrangle from north 

to south in 1822. Long claimed that the land he had crossed 

was “unfit for cultivation” (Barry, 1972, p. 89–90).

On Sept. 1, 1821, William H. Becknell left Franklin, Missouri, on a trading trip to the Comanche Country. His party 

followed the south bank of the Arkansas River toward the 

mountains, probably with trade goods in wagons, and when 

they reached a left-hand fork (what Zebulon Pike called 

the “First Fork” on the Arkansas) on Oct. 21, 1821—the 

Purgatoire River—they followed it. They then followed a 

left-hand branch, Chacuaco Creek, finally escaping from 

that deep canyon, then crossed a short stretch of prairie, 

and then they crossed the future south edge of the La Junta 

quadrangle and went through Emery Gap and entered the 

Dry Cimarron Valley, which they mistook for the Red River 

(Richard Louden, written commun., 2004). Their records of 

struggling through the rugged canyon of Chacuaco Creek 

almost precisely duplicated the struggles the Long expedition had suffered just the year before. Three weeks later, in 

New Mexico, Becknell met Spanish troops and followed 

them to Santa Fe. In Santa Fe on November 16, they had 

great success in selling their goods. By December, they 

were in San Miguel, New Mexico. They left San Miguel on 

Dec. 13, 1821, took the Cimarron route, and by the end of 

January 1822 they were back home in Franklin, Missouri. 

This trip was the first successful commercial trip to New 

Mexico (Seward, 1998). Becknell has been called “The 

father of the Santa Fe Trail.”

On Sept. 25, 1821, the Hugh Glenn–Jacob Fowler Company 

started on a trading-trapping expedition to the Rocky Mountains. They left Hugh Glenn’s trading house (near the mouth 

of the Verdigris River) in present-day east-central Oklahoma 

with 20 men. On November 4, the expedition crossed the 

Kansas-Colorado boundary. They apparently had followed 

the Arkansas River, and on Nov. 13, at the mouth of the 

Purgatoire River, one man was fatally wounded in camp 

by a bear. In late November, they camped in an area now 

part of Otero County. They were surrounded by lodges of 

Arapahoe, Kiowa, and other Indians with whom they traded 

for needed horses. The company halted in the present-day 

Pueblo area on Christmas 1821, while Hugh Glenn went 

to Santa Fe and got permission for all of them to trap in 

the Rio Grande Valley in New Mexico. In 1822, when still 

in the vicinity of future Pueblo, Colorado, they built a log 

house south of the Arkansas River, then moved to the north 

side of the river where they built a fortified three-room 

block house just east of where Fountain Creek joins the 

Arkansas River. They also built a log corral. They stayed in 

their log house during January 1822. The whole party then 

moved to Taos, New Mexico, on the Rio Grande for the rest 

of the winter and early spring. From Taos, the Glenn-Fowler 

and McKnight-James companies started back east together. 

About June 6, 1822, they reached the southwest corner of 

the La Junta quadrangle and again crossed the quadrangle, 

but from the southwest corner to the northeast corner. They 

left the quadrangle on June 11, 1822, finally reaching St. 

Louis in the middle of July (Barry, 1972, p. 97–98).
Early Explorers along the Arkansas River and on the Santa Fe Trail 11

Typical pinon-juniper landscape of the Purgatoire River Valley in southeastern Colorado. Photographs taken in 2005 by

Craig Brunstein, USGS.
12 Historic Trail Map of the La Junta 1° × 2° Quadrangle, Southeastern Colorado and Western Kansas

On June 15, 1835, Henry I. Dodge led an expedition to the 

Rocky Mountains. He was commissioned in 1832 by 

President Andrew Jackson as a U.S. Army Major leading a battalion (six companies) of Mounted Rangers. For 

about 1 year, they ranged along the frontier and trained for 

Army service. Dodge earned $1,456 a year. On March 2, 

1833, President Andrew Jackson created the 1st regiment 

of Dragoons and appointed Dodge as Colonel of the U.S. 

Dragoons and U.S. Rangers. He commanded a force of 

748 officers and men. Jefferson Barracks on the Missouri 

River was selected as his Headquarters. Dodge led several 

expeditions in the U.S.; however, on June 15, 1835, he led 

his eleventh and last expedition, with 120 dragoons, to the 

Rocky Mountains. On May 29, 1835, Col. Dodge and three 

companies of the First U.S. Dragoons headed northward 

to the Platte River on the first leg of a 1,600-mile circuit 

up the Platte River and its South Fork as far as the Rocky 

Mountains. On August 1, they passed John Gantt’s abandoned Fort Cass trading post. They arrived at Fort Bent on 

the Arkansas River on August 6, 1835, and camped 1 mile 

below it. On August 11, Dodge met assembled Cheyennes, 

Arapahoes, and Gros Ventres in council, and then on August 

12 he traveled east down the Arkansas River and along 

the Santa Fe Trail (see Wheat, 1958, and Barry, 1972). He 

arrived back at Fort Leavenworth on September 16, 1835, 

after having traveled 1,645 miles. Col. Dodge’s First U.S. 

Dragoon command followed the Santa Fe Trail eastward 

from the point where it reached the Arkansas to a point due 

south of Fort Leavenworth. The trip was made to encourage 

peace with the Plains Indians. Capt. John Gantt, an ex-Army 

officer and fur trader since 1831, went along as a civilian 

guide (Barry, 1972, p. 287). 

Dr. Marcus Whitman started his famous winter ride from 

Oregon to the Eastern United States in October 1842. In 

January 1843, he reached Bent’s Fort and then followed 

the Santa Fe Trail along the Arkansas River. He eventually 

arrived in Washington, D.C., to recommend that military 

posts be established along the Oregon Trail.

Lt. John Charles Fremont probably was the most avid and 

renowned explorer in the Western United States. He traveled on the Santa Fe Trail along the Arkansas River. He 

led five expeditions into the Rocky Mountains during the 

years 1842, 1843–1844, 1845, 1848, and 1853. On August 

2, 1845, when Fremont was at Bent’s Fort on his third trip, 

Lt. James W. Abert and Lt. William G. Peck were asked 

to make a survey of the prairie region south of the Santa 

Fe Trail, embracing the Canadian, the Purgatoire, the 

false Washita River, and other rivers south of the Arkansas River (encompassing much of the land in the La Junta 

quadrangle). They left Bent’s Fort on Aug. 12, 1845, and 

crossed the Kansas line on Aug. 18. They were given a 

large staff, including guides Thomas Fitzpatrick and John L. 

Hatcher (the latter for part of the trip), and 32 hired hands, 

and they were supported by four wagons and 63 horses 

and mules. They were supplied with a chronometer and a 

sextant. Thomas Fitzpatrick served as general manager of 

the train. Abert’s and Peck’s party concluded their exploration in October 1845, and they went back to Fort Gibson, 

Oklahoma, on October 21. All parties were reunited with 

Fremont in mid-February 1846. 

Fremont’s fourth expedition in 1848 used the Smoky Hill Trail 

across Kansas, and then traveled southward to Bent’s Fort. 

They followed the Santa Fe Trail along the Arkansas River. 

They continued west to Pueblo where they hired “Old Bill” 

Williams as a guide, and then they traveled on to Pueblo 

San Carlos (Hardscrabble Trading Post), which is west of 

the La Junta quadrangle, where final preparations were 

made for the expedition. On November 26, Fremont started 

the ascent of the snow-covered mountains. This trip ended 

in disaster even before reaching the Continental Divide in 

the San Juan Mountains where the snow became so deep 

that they could no longer move through it. After many days 

of starvation, in January 1849 some members of the party 

were able to leave and managed to get rescuers in to get the 

others out. Fremont went on to California, but left many of 

his men behind (Barry, 1972, p. 784).

On September 22, 1853, Fremont began his fifth expedition—

called a “trial start.” He again wanted to test the practicability of a central railroad route to the Pacific during the 

season of snow. This was to be another attempt to cross the 

mountains, an attempt already tried by Lt. Edward F. Beale 

in mid-May, 1853, and Capt. John W. Gunnison on June 

23, 1853. On their trips, all three explorers used the Santa 

Fe Trail. Fremont again failed on this trip (Barry, 1972, p. 

1180–1182).
Early Explorers along the Arkansas River and on the Santa Fe Trail 13

In 1846, General Stephen Watts Kearny traveled westward 

along the Santa Fe Trail just north of the La Junta quadrangle on his march from Kansas to his bloodless conquest 

of New Mexico. The troops in Kearny’s “Army of the West” 

joined him near Bent’s Fort and stayed there a long time. 

A brass cannon was fired as a salute to Kearny, but the 

cannon burst and later was replaced by an iron cannon. The 

entire force traveled west up the Santa Fe Trail through the 

La Junta quadrangle and across Raton Pass with Thomas 

Fitzpatrick as a guide. Kearny brought a great number of 

animals with him, and they ate up much of the vegetation 

around the fort. William Bent tried unsuccessfully to claim 

damages and compensation from the Army.

In June 1846, Col. Alexander W. Doniphan, a Liberty, Missouri, lawyer, head of the 1st Regiment Missouri volunteers, 

started west on a campaign to New Mexico. Doniphan’s 

soldiers were part of Col. Stephen W. Kearny’s Army of 

the West. They traveled on the Santa Fe Trail during July 

and August, passing Bent’s Fort and La Junta. They then 

followed the Santa Fe Trail south and crossed Raton Pass 

(staying on the Santa Fe Trail) in early August 1846 (Barry, 

1972, p. 621).

On May 9, 1846, Francis Parkman and his cousin, Quincy 

A. Shaw, of Boston, set out on a summer excursion from 

Westport, Missouri, to the Rocky Mountains by way of the 

Oregon Trail. They were accompanied by a guide hunter, 

Henry Chatillon, and a cart driver, Antoine De Laurier. 

After several weeks at Fort Laramie in Wyoming they 

headed south on Aug. 4 and traveled along the east flank 

of the Front Range. They continued southward and reached 

old Fort Pueblo at the confluence of Fountain Creek and the 

Arkansas River on Aug. 20, 1846. They left Fort Pueblo on 

Aug. 22 and headed east along the Cherokee Trail toward 

Bent’s Fort. They reached Bent’s Fort on Aug. 24 and left 

on Aug. 27. They traveled down the Arkansas River through 

“Kansas” on the Santa Fe Trail. Parkman celebrated his 

23rd birthday in McPherson County, Kansas, on Sept. 16, 

1846. Parkman and his three companions arrived back at 

Westport, Kansas, on Sept. 26, 1846 (Barry, 1972, p. 581, 

and Parkman, 1949).

On June 27, 1846, Lt. William Hemsley Emory, a member of 

the Corps of Topographical Engineers, started from Fort 

Leavenworth in eastern Kansas bound for the Arkansas 

River in southeastern Colorado. His Corps was also accompanied by Second Lt. James W. Abert, Second Lt. William 

G. Peck, and 10 hired hands. On July 1 they reached the 

Santa Fe Trail and on July 9 they reached the Little Arkansas River. After crossing the Arkansas River on a raft on 

July 16, they traveled “in company” with the “Army of the 

West” and arrived at Bent’s Fort on July 29. From there, 

Abert made a military reconnaissance traverse across the 

La Junta quadrangle southward from Las Animas through 

Bent, Baca, and Las Animas Counties. Emory continued 

westward to the Pacific with General Stephen Kearny 

(Barry, 1972, p. 619). Emory’s last camp in Kansas was on 

the north bank of the Arkansas River on July 24, 1846. He 

arrived at Bent’s Old Fort on July 29, 1846, near presentday La Junta. He collected plants and made many notes on 

the vegetation in the area. Emory’s plant collections were 

later reported on by John Torrey (Ewan, 1950, p. 204). 

From that place (later called La Junta), he went southwestward along Timpas Creek, crossing the northwest corner of 

the present-day La Junta quadrangle. 

From 1846 to 1852, Francis X. Aubry made about seven trips 

from Independence, Missouri, to Santa Fe, New Mexico, 

sometimes traveling along the Santa Fe Trail through the 

La Junta quadrangle. Apparently he set goals for himself on 

his trips that included cutting the time and distance the trip 

should take, eliminating the “heavy” miles on the Jornada 

in Oklahoma, and reducing the time and distance on the 

Cimarron Cutoff in Oklahoma. His “ideal” trips from Santa 

Fe were successful in meeting those goals. Such a trip left 

Santa Fe on the northeast-trending Santa Fe Trail to Cold 

Spring in the Oklahoma Panhandle, then traveled 10–40 

degrees north of east to the south side of Bear Creek and 

followed it for 20 miles in the La Junta quadrangle, then 

north to the Santa Fe Trail on the Arkansas River where 

there was an excellent wagon road well supplied with water 

and grass. This trip avoided the Jornada and Cimarone 

(Cimarron) Cutoff entirely. Both apparently were troublesome stretches of trail. He traveled on the Santa Fe Trail 

along the Arkansas River until he was 12 miles west of 

Chouteau’s Island and 58 miles west of where the Cimarron 

Cutoff reached the Santa Fe Trail along the Arkansas River. 

Then he apparently traveled on eastward to Independence.
14 Historic Trail Map of the La Junta 1° × 2° Quadrangle, Southeastern Colorado and Western Kansas

In 1853, Capt. John W. Gunnison, Corps of Topographical 

Engineers, traveled along the Santa Fe Trail and in the 

La Junta quadrangle on his way west to find a feasible 

route for a transcontinental railroad to the west. His quest 

was arranged by Jefferson Davis, Secretary of War. The 

members of his party were Richard H. Kern, Frederick 

Creutzfeldt, Sheppard Homana (astronomer), Dr. Jacob H. 

Schiel (geologist and surgeon), John Bellows (employee), 

James A. Snyder (assistant topographer), John Moses and 

William Potter (guides), and Lt. Edward G. Beckwith, second in command. Gunnison and his soldiers had left camp 

on June 23, 1853, about 5 miles west of the Missouri border. 

Gunnison followed the Arkansas River through western 

Kansas. They also followed the Santa Fe Trail through 

Colorado, reaching Bent’s Fort on July 29, 1853. However, 

on Oct. 26, 1853, a band of Indians on the Sevier River in 

Utah massacred eight of the company including Gunnison. 

From that point on, Gunnison’s Chief Assistant, Lt. Edward 

G. Beckwith, Third Artillery, took over and led the rest of 

the trip and wrote the final report (Barry, 1972, p. 1167).

In 1869, William (Basil Bill) Metcalf, an early settler 

in the La Junta quadrangle at Timpas, established a toll road 

through Tollgate Canyon in New Mexico (barely below the 

southwest corner of the La Junta quadrangle). It became the 

principal passage across the Raton Mountains south of the La 

Junta quadrangle, and it was built in a narrow canyon characterized by two tall pillar-like stones on each side of the road. 

Once in the pass, a traveler could not proceed or turn around 

with an ox team without having to pay the 75-cent toll. Metcalf also built a profitable saloon at the toll station to further 

augment his profit. In 1884, Metcalf traded the toll station to 

Mike Devoy, and it has been reported that a toll was still paid 

as late as 1887 (American Guide Series, 1941, p. 331).

Roads Established or Proposed 

under General Assembly

Session Laws, Colorado Territorial 

Corporations and Charters, 

1859–1876

(Information is from the record books in the Colorado 

Archives (including toll road index cards to certificates of 

incorporation of road companies, from the Secretary of 

State; microfilm roll 1, 1864–1899). Charter volumes, page 

numbers, and dates of incorporation are shown for many of the 

roads. Some road alignments could not be shown on the trail 

map because of crowding. The descriptions of the roads are 

mostly quoted from the original certificates. The spelling and 

usage of some words, although not in current use 

today, are retained from the original descriptions. 

An example is the spelling of the word “canon” 

(canyon).)

(Facing page) Engraving of the 

head of a bison. From the 1873 

book, “Buffalo Land,” by William 

E. Webb.

Pronghorn antelope. 

Original drawing by

Carol Quesenberry, USGS.
Roads Established or Proposed under General Assembly Session Laws 15
16 Historic Trail Map of the La Junta 1° × 2° Quadrangle, Southeastern Colorado and Western Kansas

Arkansas River Wagon Road Co., v. F, Certificate of Incorporation, 1183 or 1185, p. 76–78. Aug. 30, 1875.

Bent’s Fort Bridge Co., p. 453, May 18, 1869.

Bent’s Fort Bridge and Ferry Co., p. 469, Jan. 25, 1870.

The Boggsville Bridge Co., p. 550, July 27 and 31, 1869, John 

W. Prowers, Charles Boggs, and Charles S. Lite. A toll 

bridge over Las Animas River, 3 miles above mouth.

Joseph B. Doyle granted right to build a toll bridge across the 

Arkansas River at any point 2.5 miles above and 2.5 miles 

below Gaunt’s (Gantt’s) Old Fort; p. 128, August 9, 1862.

La Junta and New Mexico Road Company, p. 381, v. F, June 

14, 1876, Certificate of Incorporation. Starts on southern 

Colorado line in valley of San Isidro Creek or Manco Burro 

Creek, then down valley of said creek to San Francisco 

Creek, then down that valley to Purgatoire River, then to 

Timpas Station on Trinidad and La Junta Wagon Road, then 

to La Junta.

Las Animas City & Fort Union Wagon Road Company, p. 

509, v. C, Feb. 11, 1869. From south bank of Rio Las 

Animas or on the Purgatoire River at the head of the canon 

known as Purgatoire Canyon and running thence southerly on the side of Vega Redondo, then following the bed 

or valley of Vega Redondo Creek to a source in a pass in 

Raton Mountains known as the Sugarite Pass and in the 

direction of Fort Union.

Las Animas Toll and Wagon Road Company, v. E, p. 199–201, 

Dec. 15, 1873.

Las Animas Toll Wagon Road, Land and Town Company, v. E, 

p. 330–331, Apr. 14, 1874.

Pulaski Road Company, v. F, Certificate of Incorporation, p. 

128–130.

Smoky Hill, Arkansas and Purgatoire Wagon Road Company. 

From any point on Pond Creek or Smoky Hill Fork to the 

mouth of Purgatoire River, then up Purgatoire River to the 

north line of New Mexico; p. 130, January 11, 1867.

Weary pioneers pose beside their Conestoga wagon train 

sometime between about 1880 and 1890. Location and 

photographer unknown. (Courtesy of Denver Public Library, 

Western History and Genealogy Department. Z-308.)
Freighting Companies 17

Freighting Companies

Trade to Santa Fe was $450,000 in 1843. In 1846, 414 

wagons went to Santa Fe with goods worth $1,750,000. In 

1855, the trade was valued at $5,000,000. In 1876, the few 

traders still in the freighting business transacted $2,000,000 

worth of trade with Santa Fe. These figures expanded greatly 

when the railroads began the movement of people and freight.

From 1825 to 1846, Josiah Gregg hauled freight on the 

Santa Fe Trail (Barry, 1972, p. 119–643). In 1866, the largest 

freighting firm was Majors, Russell, and Waddell, which held 

a contract to haul supplies to Army forts along the Santa Fe 

Trail. The firm employed 5,000 men and used 3,000 wagons, 

40,000 oxen, 1,000 mules, and moved 16,000,000 pounds of 

freight that year. In the La Junta quadrangle, a “Dodges Road” 

is shown in T. 31 S., R. 53 W. (Nell, 1892), apparently the 

original route named for Major Richard I. Dodge, commandant at Ft. Lyon in the 1870’s. Just about east of that Dodges 

Road is another road called Dodge’s Road to Fort Union. 

When the railroad reached Kit Carson, Colorado, in 1870, 

it became the responsibility of Fort Lyon to forward freight 

destined for Fort Union, so Maj. Richard I. Dodge was looking 

for a better route than the Raton Pass. Dodge’s road and the 

Granada route continued to be the main arteries depicted on 

maps of the 1870’s. During the time from September 1873 

through June 1875, the forwarding companies of Chick, 

Brown and Co. and Otero, Sellars & Co. transported 723 tons 

of military freight over the “new route” (most likely Lt. Col. 

(1873) R.I. Dodge’s route). This does not include the amount 

of freight that may have been transported by other commercial 

freighters and private shippers.

Mark Gardner (2000, p. 145) provides the following 

article about wagons that is quoted from the Westport Border 

Star, June 23, 1860, p. 2, columns 1 and 2: 

“Rolling stock of the Plains. * * * The number of 

wagons engaged in the transportation of freight 

across these plains to Mexico, the Forts, the Mountains and Utah, at five thousand, with a tonnage 

equal to 32,500,000 pounds. * * * A regular * * * 

wagon capable of carrying 6,500 pounds is what we 

here call a “Santa Fe wagon” * * * “A large portion 

of these wagons are manufactured in St. Louis and 

at establishments in Indiana and Illinois, and are 

forwarded here by water. * * * The material for the 

construction of a wagon is obtained mostly in the 

counties of Clay and Jackson, Missouri, Wyandotte 

County, Kansas, and Indiana, and is consumed into 

“shaped lumber” at the factory, when it then undergoes a seasoning process before being worked up. 

As in factories for the construction of locomotives, 

every thing is reduced to a system—as it is in these 

“shops,” and in the various departments, machine 

shops, painting room, furnishing and trimming 

room, and lathe room, we find men engaged on 

some particular part of a wagon.”

Wagon boss and his team drivers at a camp somewhere on the Great Plains, 1870. Photographer W.H. Jackson. (U.S. Geological 

Survey Photographic Library.)
18 Historic Trail Map of the La Junta 1° × 2° Quadrangle, Southeastern Colorado and Western Kansas

“A regular wagon of the first magnitude, capable of carrying 6,500 pounds is what we here 

call a “Santa Fe wagon,” from the fact that so many trains of these wagons are continually leaving 

Westport and Kansas City for Santa Fe, New Mexico. During the spring and summer and part of the 

fall months we see hundreds of them every day.

Some of the dimensions of these wagons would supprise [surprise] an Eastern man. The diameter of the larger wheel is five feet two inches, and the tire weighs 105 pounds. The reach is eleven 

feet and the bed forty-six inches deep, twelve feet long on the bottom and fifteen feet on the top, 

and will carry 6,500 pounds across the plains and through the mountain passes. When ready for a 

voyage a wagon has an amount of rigging equal to many small water crafts. This consists of bows, 

yokes, ox bows, sheets, chains, ropes, extra spars in the shape of tongues, axles and bolsters, kegs, 

bolts, nuts and a number of tools.”

(This description of freight wagons used on the Santa Fe Trail is from a June 23, 1860, article in 

the “Westport Border Star” (Westport, Missouri). The article was reprinted in “Wagons for the Santa 

Fe Trade, Wheeled Vehicles and Their Makers, 1822–1880,” by M.L. Gardner, published in 2000.)
Freighting Companies 19

D.B. Powers freight wagon train in Denver, June 20, 1868. Freight wagons similar to these were used to 

haul the goods of commerce on the prairies and mountain passes throughout the West. Freight wagons were 

in use along the Santa Fe Trail from about 1821 until 1880, when the completion of the Atchison Topeka and 

Santa Fe Railroad to Santa Fe in 1880 mostly ended the need for hauling freight over the long arduous trail. 

(Courtesy of Denver Public Library, Western History and Genealogy Department. Williams & M’Donald, 

photographers. Z-224.)
20 Historic Trail Map of the La Junta 1° × 2° Quadrangle, Southeastern Colorado and Western Kansas

“In looking through the shops we find a series of 

machines, that with the human hand and an arm of 

steam do all the work upon a wagon, the mortices, 

tenents, felloes, grooves, scrolls, etc., etc., and in 

addition to this a gang of knives that work in one 

of Daniel’s planers give the finishing touch to all 

the axles. bolsters, tongues and other heavy timber 

about a wagon.—These machines consist of a morticer that in eighteen minutes make all the mortices 

for a set of hubs—a job that would occupy a man 

all day and even then he could not do the work with 

near the niceity and exactness that the machine does. 

Then comes the planer, spoke lath, upright drill, 

tenanting machine, the knives of which revolve three 

thousand times a minute cutting tenants of any size, 

felloe saws, scrolls saws, a swinging saw that cuts 

the lumber crosswise, and which is a most ingenious 

contrivance, four circular saws, grind-stones, and 

other machinery for finishing work. All of these 

machines are new and of the latest and best patterns, 

and after once witnessing the amount of labor they 

perform in a time that you can compute in minutes, 

one no longer wonders at the rapidity with which 

the steam machines turn out the strong and unwieldy 

looking wagons.”

Stage Companies That Probably 

Operated in the La Junta 

Quadrangle

(The operation of stagecoach lines was along the Mountain 

Branch of the Santa Fe Trail.)

In 1849, Waldo Hall received a stagecoach mail contract. Mail 

contracts made the passenger business much more profitable. 

Barlow and Sanderson Co. ran stages from La Junta, the railhead of the Santa Fe Branch of the Kansas Pacific Railroad, 

to Pueblo in the 1870’s.

Butterfield and Company in 1857 entered into contracts with 

the Central Overland California & Pikes Peak (C.O.C. 

& P.P.) Express and the Western Stage Company. For the 

Western Stage Company, Butterfield paid for the balance of 

their mail contract and passenger service, which cleared the 

route from Fort Kearney to Denver. The contract between 

the C.O.C. & P.P. Express and the Western Stage Company 

is too involved to go into detail here.

The Colorado & Wyoming Stage, Mail, and Express Company 

succeeded Barlow and Sanderson.

Stephen Conroy in 1856 was a coach driver who took mail 

along the Mountain Branch of the Santa Fe Trail (Friedman, 

1988, p. 35). Friedman also gave an account of a ride on this 

stage line. By September 1876, the Denver and Rio Grande 

Railroad had taken most of the passenger traffic, and as a 

result the stage lines closed down their passenger and mail 

services. Also, by September 1876, all stage travel on the 

Mountain Branch of the Santa Fe Trail was stopped.

Cottrill, Vickroy, Barlow, Vaile, and Barnum. In July 1862, 

they had a contract between Pueblo, Fairplay, Hamilton, and 

other towns. They also had a coach that ran between Bent’s 

Old Fort, Pueblo, Russellville, and Denver; stages also ran 

from Denver to Santa Fe. In 1869, a route began from Denver to Russellville, Spring Valley, and Colorado City. Later 

it became M. Cottrill & Company.

M. Cottrill & Company in 1859–1864 had a route between 

Denver and Kansas City. It was the parent company of the 

Kansas, Santa Fe & Canon City Express, also known as the 

Kansas City, Santa Fe & Denver Mail & Express Line, the 

Santa Fe Stage & Express, and the Santa Fe Stage Company.

Hockaday and Hall took over the mail route from Independence to Santa Fe for 4 years starting in July 1857. The 

stages were pulled by six mules. They left Independence 

on the first and fifteenth of each month completing the 

journey in 20–25 days. Fare from May to November was 

$125; fare from November to May was $150. Later, by the 

early 1860’s, stages went from Kansas City to Santa Fe in 

13.5 days. The riders ate salt pork and hard tack. The U.S. 

Government paid part of the cost of travel. Companies 

running in the 1860’s included Waldo, Hall & Company; 

Hockaday and Hall; Barnum, Vail and Vickery; and Barlow 

and Sanderson.

Missouri Stage Company, successor to Hall & Porter, carried mail along the Arkansas River to Fairplay. In 1850, the 

U.S. Postal Department let out a contract to carry mail from 

Independence, Missouri, to Santa Fe, New Mexico. The 

contract was awarded to David Waldo, a Santa Fe Trader, and 

associates. They ran the mail in stagecoaches on the Cimarron Cutoff for several years. In 1853, stage travel was not an 

elegant mode of travel, and the trip cost $150 and took 25 

days. Later, in November 1860, the first stage line was run 

on the Mountain Branch of the Santa Fe Trail over Raton 

Pass. The change was made because of Indian hostility in the 

Cimarron area. About in 1860, the Missouri Stage Company 

took over the Santa Fe Mail contract. In 1861, Slemmons, 

Roberts, and Company took over the contract of the Missouri 

Stage Company Stage Line. The Missouri Stage Company 

had made improvements on the Mountain Branch. Bent’s Old 

Fort and Iron Springs both were made stage stops. In April 

1866, Barlow and Sanderson made further changes in the 

mail and stage system (Friedman, 1988, p. 44–45).

John Prowers was reported to have operated a stage business 

near Las Animas and Boggsville.
Travel by Wagons and Stagecoaches 21

Travel by Wagons and Stagecoaches

Wheeled vehicles first reached the frontier in the 1800’s, 

and the wagon was the most important method of travel. 

Long wagon trains pulled by mules, oxen, and horses brought 

people and goods from the Missouri River centers to outposts in the West. The size of the trains was important. Single 

wagons were too dangerous. Trains that were too long were 

unmanageable and slow. The most convenient size was about 

25 wagons, the size of the commercial trains. That size was 

defended easily and was easy to manage. Too small a train 

was too hard to protect from Indians. Under ideal conditions, 

a train could travel 15–20 miles a day. A train to the Rocky 

Mountains would start in early May when the grass on the 

plains was turning green. Nearly all wagon trains had a leader 

or a captain, usually elected, acting as a wagonmaster. His 

jobs were to select camping places, assign night guards, and 

see to it that all the work of the train was accomplished. At the 

end of each day’s travel, wood or buffalo chips were gathered 

for the evening fire, water was brought in and the stock were 

watered, and guards were posted and rotated. The stock were 

always guarded because the Indians loved to run them off. 

The first thing the train did after stopping for the day was to 

circle the wagons and put the stock inside the circle. The train 

was well protected within the circle. The most important rule 

of the wagon train was to keep moving. Travel, travel, travel. 

However, the train needed some days of rest. Gardiner (1941) 

wrote that trains that stopped for Sundays made better time 

than those who never stopped. The animals needed rest, and 

probably the people also needed rest.

The trails (or areas without trails) were seldom smooth, 

and wagons had to cross many steep-banked streams that 

could break the wagons. Some streams contained quicksand 

or plastic clay that would stop forward progress. An important 

rule was that streams should always be crossed before camping at night. Commonly, two stops were made during each 

day, one in mid-morning and one in mid-afternoon. During 

the mid-morning stop, the stock were turned out to graze, and 

breakfast was cooked and eaten. Breakfast was bacon, pancakes or fried bread, and lots of strong coffee. Some people 

brought canned goods, but the old cans with soldered seams 

sometimes exploded. The train continued traveling through 

the middle of the day, but stopped again in the mid-afternoon, 

when the oxen were watered and re-yoked, and the wagons 

repacked. Then the train continued until dark, at which time 

the train corralled for the night and supper was eaten by campfire, probably the same meal as breakfast. Guards were posted, 

some people sang, talked, or told stories, then it was bedtime 

(from Gardiner, 1941, p. 208–222).

Concord stagecoach “No 7 US Mail,” the “Cripple Creek 

stage,” drawn by a team of six horses in the high country of 

Teller County, Colorado. Between 1890 and 1910. Before the 

construction of tracks for steam locomotive travel, stagecoaches 

were used to carry passengers and mail over the prairies and 

mountain passes throughout the West. Photographer L.C. 

McClure. (Courtesy of Denver Public Library, Western History 

and Genealogy Department. MCC-3157.)
22 Historic Trail Map of the La Junta 1° × 2° Quadrangle, Southeastern Colorado and Western Kansas

HINTS FOR PLAINS TRAVELERS

In 1877, the Omaha Herald published “Hints for Plains Travelers.”

“The best seat inside a stagecoach is the one next the driver...with back to the horses, which 

with some people, produces...seasickness, but in a long journey this will wear off, and you will get...

less than half the bumps and jars than on any other seat. When any old “sly Eph,” who traveled 

thousands of miles on coaches, offers through sympathy to exchange his back or middle seat with 

you, don’t do it.

Never ride in cold weather with tight boots or shoes, nor close-fitting gloves. Bathe your feet 

before starting in cold water and wear loose overshoes and gloves two or three sizes too large.

When the driver asks you to get off and walk, do it without grumbling. He will not request it 

unless absolutely necessary. If a team runs away, sit still and take your chances; if you jump, nine 

times out of ten you will be hurt.

In very cold weather, abstain entirely from liquor while on the road; a man will freeze twice as 

quick while under its influence.

Don’t growl at food at stations; stage companies generally provide the best they can get. Don’t 

keep the stage waiting; many a virtuous man has lost his character by so doing.

Don’t smoke a strong pipe inside especially early in the morning. Spit on the leeward side of 

the coach. If you have anything to take in a bottle, pass it around; a man who drinks by himself in 

such a case is lost to all human feeling. Provide stimulants before starting; ranch whiskey is not 

always nectar.

Don’t swear, nor lop over on your neighbor when sleeping. Don’t ask how far it is to the next 

station until you get there.

Never attempt to fire a gun or pistol while on the road, it may frighten the team; and the careless handling and cocking of the weapon makes nervous 

people nervous. Don’t discuss politics or religion, nor 

point out places on the road where horrible murders have been committed.

Don’t linger too long at the pewter wash 

basin at the station. Don’t grease your hair 

before starting or dust will stick there 

in sufficient quantities to make 

a respectable ‘tater’ patch. Tie 

a silk handkerchief around your 

neck to keep out dust and prevent 

sunburns...A little glycerine is good in 

case of chapped hands.

Don’t imagine for a moment you are 

going on a pic-nic; expect annoyance, 

discomfort and some hardships. 

If you are disappointed, thank 

heaven.
Railroads Operated in the La Junta Quadrangle (Including Lines along the Arkansas River North of the Quadrangle) 23

Railroads Operated in the 

La Junta Quadrangle 

(Including Lines along the 

Arkansas River North of the 

Quadrangle)

(For brevity, the designations “railroad” and “railway” are 

omitted from many of the spelled-out titles that follow the 

abbreviations. This list contains only the railroads that were 

built and operated. When most of the railroads had been 

built, it caused cessation of much of the travel on the Santa 

Fe Trail. Some railroads were proposed (“paper railroads”), 

but were not built or operated. The “paper railroads” are not 

listed here, but most can be found in Ormes (1963). Not all of 

the railroads and railways listed below are shown on the La 

Junta map. Kenton Forrest of the Colorado Railroad Museum 

reviewed and arranged this listing of railroads.)

AT&SF (Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe, 1873–1995)

AV (Arkansas Valley, 1873–1877)

BN (Burlington Northern, 1970–1995)

BNSF (Burlington Northern Santa Fe, 1995–present)

CV (Cimarron Valley, 1996–present)

C&NM (Colorado & New Mexico, 1873–1875)

C&S (Colorado & Southern, 1898–1982)

DT&FW (Denver Texas & Fort Worth, 1888–1890)

DC&CV (Dodge City & Cimarron Valley, 1911–1937)

KP (Kansas Pacific, 1873–1877)

P&AV (Pueblo & Arkansas Valley, 1875–1900)

UPD&G (Union Pacific Denver & Gulf, 1890–1898)

The Arkansas Valley Railway (AV) was built from Kit Carson 

(then called Carson), which was on the Kansas Pacific Railroad (KP), to West Las Animas. The line opened in October 

1873. The line was controlled by the Union Pacific Railroad 

(UP). The AV continued with construction to the Swink 

area by 1875. The line was abandoned in 1877, the first big 

abandonment in the State of Colorado (80 miles of track).

The Colorado & Southern Line (C&S) and the Denver Texas 

& Fort Worth (DT&FW) were built from Trinidad to the 

Colorado State line in 1888. The line was then acquired 

by the Union Pacific Denver & Gulf Railway (UPD&G) in 

1890. After several years of receivership, the line became 

part of the Colorado & Southern Railway (C&S) in 1898. 

The C&S was then merged with the Burlington Northern 

(BN) in 1982. Later, the BN and the AT&SF merged in 

1995 to form the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF).

Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (AT&SF) Santa Fe 

Mainline. The first AT&SF line from the Colorado State 

line to Granada was built by the Colorado & New Mexico 

Railroad Company (C&NM), and was opened on July 4, 

1873. The next segment to be constructed in 1875 was 

from Granada to Rocky Ford by the Pueblo & Arkansas 

Valley Railroad Company (P&AV). The P&AV absorbed 

the C&NM in 1875. The P&AV continued on to Pueblo 

by 1876 and also to Trinidad from La Junta in 1878. The 

P&AV leased the line to the AT&SF until 1900. The line is 

still in use today along with the daily Amtrak Super Chief

passenger train.

Boise City Line. The Dodge City & Cimarron Valley Railway Company (DC&CV), a construction company of the 

AT&SF from 1911 to 1937, built this line from Las Animas 

Junction to Boise City, Oklahoma. The line opened on February 2, 1937. The line is still in use today with the Union 

Pacific (UP) having trackage rights over the line.

Satanka Line. The line from Pritchett to Satanka, Kansas, was 

built by the DC&CV in November 1926. The line opened on 

February 1, 1927. In 1996, the line was sold to the Cimarron 

Valley Railroad (CV), which still operates the line today. The 

segment from Springfield to Pritchett is now an industrial 

spur.

Grand Valley Branch. The AT&SF built a 5.9-mile-long 

branch from Newdale on the mainline to Hawley in 1907. 

The line was abandoned in 1966.
Military and Civilian Camps,

Forts, and Bases in the 

La Junta Quadrangle

(Extracted from Scott, 1999. Soon after railroads spread out 

into the West, many of the forts became unnecessary and were 

closed down.)

Camp at Iron Springs, Colorado Cavalry, May–June 1864, 

1st Reg., Co. K, SW 1/4 sec. 16, T. 27 S., R. 58 W., Otero 

County (Scott, 1972).

Nine Mile Bottom, 1860’s, a temporary post of the Colorado 

Cavalry, on Purgatory River presumably 9 miles upstream 

from the Arkansas River and southwest of Las Animas. In 

T. 26 S. and T. 27 S. and R. 54 W. and R. 55 W. along the 

Purgatoire River, Otero County (U.S. National Archives, 

Muster roll). 

Unnamed camp, near Bent’s Old Fort and 33 miles from Camp 

Caldwell (Kings Ferry), Colorado Cavalry, SW 1/4 sec. 1, 

T. 24 S., R. 55 W., Otero County (U.S. National Archives 

Muster roll).

Fossils and Plants in the 

La Junta Quadrangle

(Not abundant but of scientific interest.)

Probably the most interesting of all fossil sites in the quadrangle is the dinosaur footprints site near Higbee, Colorado. 

The tracks are spread across several rock layers of the Morrison Formation. The Morrison Formation was deposited in 

a nonmarine environment about 150 million years ago. The 

tracks were made by sauropods and theropods including the 

two genera Apatosaurus and Allosaurus (Lockley and others, 1997). Access to the site is limited.

Another interesting find in the quadrangle is the Chinaberry or 

western Soapberry tree (Sapindus saponaria drummondi) 

that grows in a small area near the southern boundary of 

Baca County in the La Junta quadrangle. The tree is the 

food plant of, and grows in association with, a hairstreak 

butterfly Phaeostrymon alcestis, or the soapberry hairstreak 

butterfly (Scott, J.A., 1986, p. 360). The soapberry tree 

grows on moist clay or limestone upland sites. The trees 

also may be found on desert grasslands. It grows like a large 

shrub and is as much as 15 m high. It produces smooth 

berry-like yellow to black fruits (Elias, 1980, p. 762).

A

B

C

D
Eon Era Period Epoch

Holocene

Pleistocene

Pliocene

Miocene

Oligocene

Eocene

Paleocene

Late Cretaceous

Early Cretaceous Phanerozoic

Proterozoic

Cenozoic

Mesozoic

Paleozoic

Late Proterozoic

Middle Proterozoic

Early Proterozoic 

Quaternary

Tertiary

Cretaceous

Jurassic

Triassic

Permian

Pennsylvanian

Mississippian

Devonian

Silurian

Ordovician

Cambrian

Estimated Age 

11,680 years

Archean

AGE OF THE EARTH 

1.8

5.3

23.8

33.7

54.8

65.0

99.0

144

206

248

290

323

354

417

443

490

543

900

1.6

2.5

4.5

Geologic Time Chart

Million

years

Billion

years

Fossils and Plants in the La Junta Quadrangle 25

(Pages 24 and 25) USGS scientists at 

work at the Purgatoire River dinosaur 

tracksite. The site is the largest 

dinosaur tracksite in North America. 

The Upper Jurassic (about 145–160 

million years ago) tracks are mostly 

from sauropods (commonly referred 

to as “brontosaurs”) and carnivorous 

theropods, such as Allosaurus. (Lockley 

and others, 1997). A, B, Scientists 

making plaster casts of dinosaur 

footprints. C, Purgatoire River and 

part of the dinosaur tracksite. D, 

Preserved footprint of three-toed 

theropod. Photographs A, B, and C

taken in 1993 by Kevin C. McKinney, 

USGS. E, Restoration of a Brontosaurus

skeleton by paleontologist O.C. Marsh. 

Illustration is from the Sixteenth Annual 

Report of the U.S. Geological Survey, 

published in 1896. F, Allosaurus

skull drawing by H.F. Osborn of the 

American Museum. Illustration is from 

the Memoirs of the American Museum 

of Natural History, volume 1, published 

in 1912.

E

F
26 Historic Trail Map of the La Junta 1° × 2° Quadrangle, Southeastern Colorado and Western Kansas

Plants in the area near Bent’s Old Fort. During 1846, Lt. James 

William Abert, a member of General Kearny’s bloodless 

conquest to New Mexico, became ill after reaching Fort 

Bent, and was left there for some time to recuperate. Having 

a strong interest in plants, he started studying and collecting the local plants near La Junta (Featherstone, 1966). He 

also asked the local Indians for the names they used for the 

plants and compiled a dictionary of the Indian names. He 

also learned from them the uses and the medical properties 

of the plants. He preserved his specimens so today we can 

see that the flora of Abert’s day is essentially the same as 

the flora of today. Several of the plants were later named for 

Abert (Ewan, 1950, p. 147).

In the late 1960’s, some rare vertebrate fossils were discovered 

at a spring on the north side of Mesa de Maya in the NE 1/4 

sec. 19, T. 33 S., R. 54 W. Michael W. Hager, then a Ph.D. 

candidate at Wyoming University, started excavating the 

site, and Mrs. Ruth Henritze of Trinidad College and Glenn 

Scott of the U.S. Geological Survey visited the site during 

June 4–6, 1969, and offered information and encouragement 

to him. Dr. G. Edward Lewis, a vertebrate paleontologist 

with the U.S. Geological Survey, was consulted concerning 

the site and gave advice and identified some of the fossils. Two levels of both invertebrate and vertebrate fossils 

were found. Hager called the lower level Donnelly Ranch 

fauna, and it later turned out to be of Blancan age, about 2.5 

million years old (Hager, 1974). It produced bones of tapir 

(Tapirus), horse (Equus), cotton rats (Sigmodon), mastodons 

(Gomphotherium), peccary (Platygonus), camel (Gigantocamelus), llama (Tanupolama), and sloth (Paramylodon). 

The upper level of fossils was a Quaternary (Sangamon) 

fauna and is not described here. Hager’s work was described 

in a Ph.D. dissertation at the University of Wyoming. It also 

was published in the Geology Journal (Hager, 1974, 1975).

Indian paintbrush (Castilleja sp.), 

a colorful perennial plant found 

on plains and mountain areas of 

Colorado. Original drawing by 

Carol Quesenberry, USGS.

Blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis), 

the State grass of Colorado, 

is symbolic of the short-grass 

prairie. (Original drawing by 

Jennifer Shoemaker, USGS.) 
Fossils and Plants in the La Junta Quadrangle 27

Fossils have been collected from most of the layered sedimentary formations in the quadrangle. In addition, the tracks of 

dinosaurs have been found in the Jurassic Morrison Formation. The formation has also yielded well preserved invertebrate fossils near Carrizo Creek in Baca County. Petrified 

wood has been collected from the nonmarine Cheyenne 

Sandstone Member of the Purgatoire Formation of Cretaceous age. The Cheyenne Sandstone forms conspicuous 

cliffs. The Glencairn Shale Member that overlies the Cheyenne Member is mostly marine and contains abundant fossils of pelecypods and ammonites, as well as fish bones and 

fish scales, in thin-bedded brown sandstone. Most of these 

fossils came from a locality along Horse Creek in the SE 

1/4 sec. 19, T. 29 S., R. 44 W., 3.5 miles south of the village 

of Two Buttes. The site produced two unusual ammonites, 

small planospiral forms (Goodhallites) and various uncoiled 

forms (Idiohamites) (Cobban, 1987, p. 217–222).

Late Cretaceous fossils are present in all three members of the 

Greenhorn Limestone—the Lincoln Limestone Member, 

which is the basal limestone member, the middle or Hartland Shale Member, and the upper or Bridge Creek Limestone Member. One of the many ammonites in the Bridge 

Creek Limestone Member collected by the writer was 

named Nigericeras scotti for him by Dr. William A. Cobban 

(Cobban, 1971, p. 18). The Upper Cretaceous Niobrara Formation, the youngest of the Cretaceous sedimentary rocks 

in the quadrangle, is fossiliferous throughout. The most 

characteristic fossil of the Niobrara is Inoceramus deformis, 

a large clam, commonly as large as 10 inches, found in the 

basal member, the Fort Hays Limestone.

Restoration of the skeleton of an American mastodon. 

The American mastodon was as much as 8–9 feet tall and 

probably weighed 4–6 tons. It lived in North America 

during the Ice Age but became extinct about 11,000 years 

ago. Fossil remains of the American mastodon have been 

found within the La Junta quadrangle. Engraving from 

U.S. Geological Survey Monograph 27, published in 1896.
28 Historic Trail Map of the La Junta 1° × 2° Quadrangle, Southeastern Colorado and Western Kansas

Indian Tribes in the 

La Junta Quadrangle

Early Man or Paleo-Indians

The earliest Indians in America are called Early Man 

or Paleo-Indians (Wormington, 1957, p. 3). They lived from 

about 14,000(?) to 6,000 years ago. No Early Man site has 

been found in the La Junta quadrangle, although thousands of 

surface finds of paleo points have been found at blowouts in 

eolian sand and elsewhere—but those finds were not recorded 

in the literature. Although there are no known Early Man 

archeology sites in the La Junta quadrangle, about 10 miles 

south of the quadrangle and south of Branson is the town of 

Folsom. About 8 miles west of Folsom a local cowboy named 

George McJunkin in 1908 found large animal bones eroding 

out of the wall of a small arroyo that was a tributary of the 

Cimarron River (Noble, 2000, p. 8). He examined them and 

then brought in a local amateur paleontologist, Carl Schwachheim, from near Raton, who then notified the Colorado 

Museum of Natural History about the find.

In 1926, J.D. Figgins, of the Colorado Museum, and 

Harold J. Cook, a Nebraskan paleontologist, responded to 

the request and excavated the beds enough to recognize that 

the bones were those of very large bison, later identified as 

Bison antiquus figginsi, and with the bones they found some 

projectile points, now called Folsom fluted points. Figgins 

and Cook tried to get archeologists interested in the site, but 

were met with skepticism because the points they had found 

were not left in place in the soil. The next time Figgins and 

his crew found a point and bison bones in-place, experts were 

called in. Three professional archeologists and paleontologists, Barnum Brown, American Museum of Natural History, 

Frank H.H. Roberts, Jr., Smithsonian Institution, and Alfred 

V. Kidder of Phillips Academy, came to the site and immediately agreed with Figgins’ conclusion concerning the great 

importance of the Folsom discovery. Another article about the 

Folsom site (and also about the Lindenmeier site) was written 

by Frank H.H. Roberts, Jr., who agreed with Figgins and the 

other scientists about the archeological and paleontological 

importance of the site (Roberts, 1946, p. 145–156). Tail bones 

had not been found during the excavations; the lack of tail 

bones showed that the bison had been skinned by the Indians. 

A carbon-14 age of charcoal from the site, as later reported by 

Cassells (1997, p. 53), yielded an age of about 10,890 plus or 

minus 50 years, or late Pleistocene in age (Figgins, 1927, p. 

229–239, and 1931; Cook, 1927, p. 240–247; Cassells, 1983 

and 1997, p. 51–53; Wormington, 1957, p. 23–25; and Fagan, 

1985, p. 198–201.)

The finding of Early Man projectile points and Pleistocene bones only a few miles south of the La Junta quadrangle 

suggests to us that early man almost surely must have also 

been in the La Junta quadrangle during late Pleistocene time.

Archaic Indians 

The next younger group of Indians is called Archaic and 

they lived from 8,000 to 2,300 years ago. A discussion of 

Archaic Indians of Colorado is in Noble (2000, p. 11–22). One 

Archaic site is known in the quadrangle. It is the McEndree 

Ranch site, probably located near section 5, T. 28 S., R. 49 

W., Baca County, Colorado. The actual McEndree Ranch is in 

the SW 1/4 SE 1/4 sec. 25, T. 28 S., R. 49 W., on Two Buttes 

Creek near Maxey. No projectile points were found at the site, 

but a charcoal-stained heavily compacted house floor with a 

ramp entrance was discovered at the site. The site was dated 

at 2,350 plus or minus 65 years before the present (Cassells, 

1983 and 1997), but Cassells did not tell what kind of material 

was dated. The site was called Late Archaic. The cultures following the Archaic were the Prehistoric and the Historic. 

Prehistoric and Historic Indians

Nine Prehistoric (500 A.D. to 1600 A.D.) and Historic 

(after 1600 A.D.) sites are listed and shown on a sketch map 

by Cassells (1983 and 1997). None was accurately located, but 

that seems to have resulted from an effort by an archeologist to 

avoid giving location information to possible pothunters. Here 

is a discussion of the nine sites in the La Junta quadrangle.

The Carrizo Ranches is a site in Baca and Las Animas 

Counties. At the site, there are stone drive lanes to direct animals 

over the edge of a cliff where they might die when they fell. Surface sites and rock shelters were also found at this locality.

The Cramer site is on the 100-foot-high rimrock at the 

mouth of Apishapa Canyon. Just downstream from this site, 

the Apishapa River valley opens up as it courses 25 miles 

northeast to the Arkansas River. On the surface at this site 

were hundreds of vertical slabs marking the outlines of structures. The site has been heavily vandalized by pothunters. The 

Cramer site is dated at A.D. 1250 to 1350.

The Medina Rock Shelter site (see Campbell, 1963) is on 

the west side of Chacuaco Canyon in sec. 15, T. 30 S., R. 56 

W., about 8.5 miles south of the junction of the Chacuaco and 

Purgatoire Rivers and about 17 miles north of where Highway 

U.S. 160 crosses the canyon. The Pyeatt Ranch house is 1 mile 

to the southeast.

The Metate Cave site is tentatively located near the south 

edge of the La Junta quadrangle. This site, as do many others, provides excellent natural shelter; they “provide excellent 

stratigraphic sequences and outstanding preservation, but tell us 

little about the perishable structures that may have been present 

during the period of use” (Cassells, 1983 and 1997, p. 194).

The Pyeatt Ranch site is another shelter site about in the 

NW 1/4 sec. 18, T. 30 S., R. 55 W., along the west side of the 

Chacuaco Canyon. Campbell believed that the Pyeatt Ranch 

site was a typical Anasazi Basketmaker II site, perhaps 700 to 

1000 A.D. (see Campbell, 1963, p. 55).
Indian Tribes in the La Junta Quadrangle 29

The Snake Blakeslee site is a series of sites along the 

Apishapa River in the northeast corner of the Trinidad

1° × 2° quadrangle, the southeast corner of the Pueblo

1° × 2° quadrangle, and the southwest corner of the Lamar 

1° × 2° quadrangle. The Snake Blakeslee site is not in the La 

Junta quadrangle, but it was one of the earliest sites investigated in the region. A Columbia University student, Hal 

Chase, studied the site in 1949. It had two room blocks composed of 11 rooms that were built of stone blocks and stone 

slabs that had been quarried from the Smoky Hill Shale Member of the Niobrara Formation, the geologic unit that underlies 

the site. Cassells (1983 and 1997, figs. 9-11, 9-12, and 9-13) 

shows the important features of the Snake Blakeslee site.

The Sorensons site was located on the rimrock overlooking the Purgatoire River, south of the juncture with the 

Chacuaco River (Cassells, 1983 and 1997, p. 220). The site is 

comprised of three stone slab enclosures, each subdivided into 

3–25 rooms. Eight of these rooms are over 10 square meters 

in size. Water would have been available at times in bedrock 

depressions within the village. A small corner notched point 

was found in the test excavations, and a charcoal sample from 

a hearth yielded a carbon-14 age of 930 plus or minus 50 years 

before the present.

The Steamboat Island Fort site is located on the Chacuaco River just north of the New Mexico border. It is an 

open-air site of the Apishapa Culture. Stratified remains of the 

Apishapa Culture have been found in a variety of rock shelters 

according to Cassells (1983 and 1997, p. 220).

The Upper Plum Canyon site is a rock shelter that was 

used by the Apishapa Culture. Cassells (1983 and 1997) 

shows a chipped stone knife hafted in a bone handle that was

found in the Upper Plum Creek Canyon shelter, and it appears 

to be of the Apishapa Culture age. Stratified remains of the 

Apishapa Culture have been found in the Upper Plum Canyon 

site. The site (Cassells, 1983 and 1997, fig. 9-1) appears to be 

either at the mouth of the Chacuaco River or on the Purgatoire 

River at the confluence of the two rivers (southeast corner of 

T. 28 S., R. 56 W., or nearby).

The original “Folsom point” “in position,” as examined before removal by Dr. Barnum Brown and Dr. Frank Roberts. This site is about 

10 miles south of the La Junta quadrangle, near Folsom, New Mexico. The point is associated with an extinct species of bison (Bison 

antiquus figginsi). Although there are no known Early Man archeological sites in the La Junta quadrangle, it is likely that Early Man 

lived in the quadrangle. Photograph taken probably in 1929. Photographer unknown. (Courtesy of Denver Public Library, Western 

History and Genealogy Department. f38199.)
30 Historic Trail Map of the La Junta 1° × 2° Quadrangle, Southeastern Colorado and Western Kansas

Historic Indian Tribes in the

La Junta Quadrangle

The tribes that lived in the La Junta quadrangle were 

the Pawnee, Apache, Comanche, Cheyenne, Kiowa, Kiowa 

Apache, and Arapahoe. According to Swanton (1953, p. 370), 

the Jicarilla Band of the Apache tribe was a semi-permanent 

resident of eastern Colorado. The Apaches living along the 

Arkansas River in Colorado in 1700 were attacked by a 

combined Ute-Comanche force, and by 1719 these attacks 

became so severe that Governor Valverde of Mexico made an 

expedition into the area where Trinidad, Colorado now stands, 

hoping to find and strike at these raiders (Steege and Welch, 

1967, p. 97–98). Valverde’s attempt failed and the Utes and 

Comanches continued their depredations and drove out the 

Apaches. At this time, the Pawnees had obtained guns from 

French traders and started attacking Apaches from the east. 

The Comanches met the French traders on the Arkansas River 

in 1727 and at that time were introduced to the Pawnees and 

traded with them, exchanging horses and captive Apaches for 

guns and other goods (Steege and Welch, 1967, p. 98). The 

Utes were ultimately driven back into the mountains and the 

Apaches were driven out of the La Junta area. The Comanches 

lived in the La Junta area for a long time, where they became 

accomplished horse thieves and raiders.

The Kiowa tribe used the area along the Arkansas River 

for hunting and warring, and during winter they availed 

themselves of the scanty supply of wood for fuel and let their 

animals browse on the twigs and bark of the cottonwood 

trees. The bison also came into the lowland areas to feed on 

the cottonwood (Emory, 1848, p. 15; Wedel, 1963, p. 10). 

Such floodplain areas along the major streams were common 

camping grounds for Indians. The canyon of the Purgatoire 

also was a common gathering place for both the bison and the 

Indians. In the middle of the 1800’s, one explorer mentioned 

the remains of old Indian campgrounds 30 miles south of 

the Arkansas (on the Purgatoire?) and was told by his guide 

that the Cheyennes and Arapahoes wintered there (Hafen and 

Hafen, 1959, p. 235). In the fall of 1865, the Treaty of the 

Little Arkansas gave the Southern Cheyennes and Arapahoes a 

new reservation between the Arkansas River and the Cimarron River (Friedman, 1988, p. 42). Thomas Fitzpatrick was 

appointed as Indian Agent of the Upper Platte and Arkansas in 

1846, mostly for the Cheyenne and Arapahoe. After a council 

in February 1848 between Thomas Fitzpatrick and the Kiowa 

Nation in the Bent’s Fort area, the Kiowa severed their affiliation with the Comanches and joined the peaceful Cheyennes 

and Arapahoes in the Arkansas River area. Fitzpatrick continued as Agent until Feb. 7, 1854, when he died in Washington, 

D.C., at the age of 55. He was a noted mountain man for 23 

years before becoming an Indian Agent in 1846. 

To punish the Indians for some of their depredations during 1868, a three-pronged military movement was started. One 

part of the push took General Penrose and the Tenth Cavalry 

and part of the Third and Fifth Infantry units from Fort Lyon to 

Oklahoma. Perhaps their movement to the south from Fort Lyon 

took them along the Penrose Trail that is shown on the map. 

In 1867, the American Government negotiated the Treaty of 

Medicine Lodge with the Kiowas, Kiowa Apaches, Comanches, 

Cheyennes, and Arapahoes, which gave them new reservations. 

However, these new treaties did not prevent further raids by the 

Indians. After these raids, most of the Southern Cheyennes and 

Arapahoes were forced onto a reservation in Oklahoma. By 

1869, nearly all Indians in the quadrangle had been forced onto 

reservations. Only some renegades were still on the loose. During 1873, nearly 1,600,000 bison were killed. In order to control 

the Indians, it had been decided to eliminate their food source. 

During 15 of the years when the Indians were harassing travelers and the trails, nearly $40,000,000 was spent to control them 

and to keep the trails open (Martin, 1972).

Cave dwellings are abundant along the Purgatoire River 

and Chacuaco Creek and around several of the high buttes in 

the quadrangle (Campbell, 1963, p. 54). Many of the cliffs surrounding the buttes in which the caves are found are composed 

of sandstone of the Dakota Sandstone or Morrison Formation. 

On the edges of the floors of the caves and cliff dwellings, 

there commonly are holes worn by the native women grinding 

corn for their meals. In other words, they are built-in metates. 

Also, manos were left in some of the caves. Some caves have 

as many as 10 metates circled around the openings. Indeed, 

at Cow Canyon Cave on the Louden Ranch, there are 34 

metates in the area adjacent to the living part of the cave in 

what Louden refers to as the “kitchen area.” Robert Campbell 

studied these caves during his study of the local archeology for 

a Ph.D. at the University of Colorado.

(Facing page) Young Cheyenne woman with two children near 

Arapaho, Oklahoma, about 1910. At one time, the Cheyenne 

inhabited a large area of the Great Plains, including the area 

of the La Junta quadrangle. Photograph by T.W. Vaughan. U.S. 

Geological Survey Photographic Library.
Indian Tribes in the La Junta Quadrangle 31
32 Historic Trail Map of the La Junta 1° × 2° Quadrangle, Southeastern Colorado and Western Kansas

Place Names in the La Junta 

Quadrangle and Place Names along 

Freight Routes Leading to the 

La Junta Quadrangle

The La Junta quadrangle is in the High Plains physiographic province. After most of the Indians departed from 

the area, the population remained a mix of Hispanic and 

Anglo people; however, the gold rush of 1858–1859 brought 

many newcomers to Colorado, and by 1861, so many people 

had arrived in Colorado that the U.S. Congress established 

Colorado Territory. The Homestead Law and ensuing wire 

fence put an end to open trails. Not all of the place names 

listed below are shown on the trail map. The dates represent 

the approximate dates of founding of the places. Alternate 

town names are shown in parentheses. P.O. = Post Office; year 

following P.O. indicates date of establishment of Post Office. 

A year without P.O. indicates the year a place was founded. 

Ranch names generally are not included. Much of the historic 

activity in the area took place along the Arkansas River, just 

north of the La Junta quadrangle. See the south part of the 

adjoining Lamar historic trail map (Scott, 1995) for details of 

the activities along the Arkansas River.

Albany, P.O. 1887, SW 1/4 corner, sec. 27, T. 27 S., R. 44 W., 

Prowers County

Alcreek, P.O. 1916, SE 1/4 sec. 26, T. 33 S., R. 57 W., or NW 

1/4 sec. 36, T. 33 S., R. 57 W., Las Animas County

Alkali Holes, NW 1/4 sec. 28, T. 28 S., R. 52 W., on Johnny 

Branch of Muddy Creek, Las Animas County

Alkali Springs, SE 1/4 NW 1/4 sec. 1, T. 29 S., R. 52 W., Las 

Animas County (Nell, 1895)

Alkali Station, 1874, NW 1/4 sec. 29, T. 25 S., R. 53 W., on 

Purgatoire Fork of the Mountain Branch of the Santa Fe 

Trail, and on the bank of the Purgatoire River, Otero County

Andrix, P.O. 1920, NW corner sec. 7, T. 32 S., R. 51 W., Las 

Animas County

Angora, pre-1885, a Post Office located on the AT&SF Railroad about 6 miles from La Junta on the way to Trinidad. 

The Post Office operated before 1885, and there is no record 

of a connection to the people who lived in the area, other 

than the Post Office (see Benton)

Apishapa, P.O. 1867, Apishapa Bluff was in the SW corner 

sec. 31, T. 23 S., R. 58 W., Otero County

Artesia, early name for Blaine, in the NW 1/4 sec. 27, T. 29 S., 

R. 43 W., 1 mile SE of Blaine, no P.O., Baca County

Atlanta, P.O. 1890, NW 1/4 sec. 23, T. 29 S., R. 50 W., built 

1887 at mouth of Freezeout Creek, 12 miles southwest of 

Brookfield, on Two Buttes Creek, Baca County

Atwell, P.O. 1915, NE 1/4 sec. 25, T. 34 S., R. 58 W., Las 

Animas County

Aubry Trail. Francis X. Aubry ran northeastward from base 

of La Junta quadrangle at R. 45 W. to east side of quadrangle at T. 29 S. He made several fast trips to learn how 

expeditious the trips from Fort Union, New Mexico, to Fort 

Leavenworth, Kansas, could be completed. He ran many 

additional trips across the quadrangle from May 1846 until 

September 1852, his last journey on the Santa Fe Trail 

(Barry, 1972, p. 1125)

Ayer, 1892, P.O. 1911, NE 1/4 sec. 25, T. 26 S., R. 58 W., on 

AT&SF R.R. southwest of Timpas, Otero County

Ayr, P.O. 1888, SW 1/4 sec. 7, T. 25 S., R. 46 W., On Cat 

Creek Road and on the Springfield and Lamar Stage line on 

a branch of the Santa Fe Trail, Prowers County

Baca County, known for its production of Broom Corn, much 

more than from any other Colorado county. Many of the settlers had established residence before 1889 under the Homestead, Preemption, or Tree Claim Acts. In 1889, a severe 

drought beset the county and successive years of crop failure caused a severe exodus of people. Taylor (1963) wrote 

that by 1893 only 700 of 6,000 original people remained. 

All the towns in the county except Springfield, Stonington, 

and Vilas disappeared

Baker, P.O. 1915, SE 1/4 sec. 5, T. 34 S., R. 41 W., Baca 

County

Bartlett, P.O. 1928, NE 1/4 sec. 15, T. 30 S., R. 42 W., on the 

Satanka Line, northeast of Lamport, Baca County

Bent Canyon, P.O. 1872, SE 1/4 sec. 23, T. 28 S., R. 56 W., on 

the Purgatoire River, Las Animas County

Bent Canyon Stage Station, 1872 to 1902, SE 1/4 sec. 23, T. 

28 S., R. 56 W., Las Animas County

Benton, 1887, SW corner sec. 22, T. 32 S., R. 44 W., also 

called Old Boston, Benton was on the maps from 1884 to 

1968, Baca County

Benton, pre-1885, NW 1/4 sec. 2, T. 25 S., R. 56 W., station 

on the AT&SF (See Angora), Otero County
Place Names in the La Junta Quadrangle and Place Names along Freight Routes Leading to the La Junta Quadrangle 33

Bent’s Old Fort, SW 1/4 sec. 14, T. 23 S., R. 54 W., in the 

Lamar quadrangle (Scott, 1995), was established in 1833 by 

Charles and William Bent and Ceran St. Vrain and lasted 

until 1849. After Kearny’s troop animals damaged the land 

around the fort, William Bent unsuccessfully tried to sell the 

fort to the U.S. Government. When that failed, he deserted 

the fort and moved eastward to the Big Timbers area in the 

SW 1/4 NW 1/4 sec. 14, T. 22 S., R. 48 W., where he built a 

temporary stockade and trading post. Bent’s Old Fort gradually deteriorated, but later became a successful stage station

Big Canyon Tyron Airport, NE 1/4 sec. 34, T. 30 S., R. 58 W., 

Las Animas County

Biggler’s Store at Setonsburg

Big Hole Canyon, SE 1/4 sec. 13, T. 34 S., R. 50 W., Baca 

County

Bisonte Siding, 1937, SW 1/4 sec. 15, T. 32 S., R. 46 W., on 

the Boise City Line, about 10 miles northeast of Campo, 

Baca County

Black, NW 1/4 SW 1/4 sec. 35, T. 26 S., R. 45 W., Prowers 

County

Black Butte, NE 1/4 sec. 3, T. 30 S., R. 44 W., Baca County

Black Buttes, NW 1/4 sec. 8, T. 34 S., R. 54 W., Las Animas 

County

Black Hills, T. 29 S., and T. 28 S., R. 56 W., Las Animas 

County

Blaine (formerly Artesia), P.O. 1900, mail to Lycan, NW 1/4 

sec. 27, T. 29 S., R. 43 W. Blaine absorbed Butte City and 

later was absorbed by Minneapolis (see Butte City, 1886)?, 

Baca County

Bloom, P.O. 1899, also 1913 to 1938

Bloom Siding, P.O. 1899 (near Iron Springs), SW 1/4 sec. 18, 

T. 27 S., R. 59 W., on the AT&SF, Otero County

Boggus Store, NW 1/4 sec. 15, T. 33 S., R. 50 W., Baca 

County

Native American pictograph in the Purgatoire River Valley. This image of a hand is carved into solid rock. Photograph taken in 1993 

by Kevin C. McKinney, USGS.
34 Historic Trail Map of the La Junta 1° × 2° Quadrangle, Southeastern Colorado and Western Kansas

Border, SW 1/4 sec. 16, T. 28 S., R. 43 W., Stanton County, 

Kansas

Boston, P.O. 1887, Old Boston, NE corner sec. 25, T. 32 S., R. 

44 W., 10 miles south of Vilas, was once the largest town 

in Baca County, had a rough reputation, settlers were from 

Boston, Massachusetts. Baca County

Branson, P.O. 1918, originally Wilson Switch or Wilson, station on the C&S, station on NW corner sec. 11, T. 35 S., R. 

58 W., formerly Coloflats (or Colorado Flats) founded in 

1881 or 1915. Named for Josiah Branson, a town promoter 

of Trinidad who acquired the land upon which the town was 

built. In a newspaper ad he thanked the town for the honor. 

Las Animas County

Bristol, in Prowers County(?)

Brookfield (site), P.O. 1887, SE 1/4 NE 1/4 sec. 19, T. 28 S., 

R. 48 W., on Two Buttes Creek 12 miles below Atlanta, 

Baca County

Buckeye (Lycan P.O.), SE corner sec. 34, T. 28 S., R. 42 W., 6 

miles to Kansas, Baca County

Buckeye Crossroads, SE 1/4 sec. 34, T. 28 S., R. 42 W., Baca 

County

Buffalo Point, before 1892, NE 1/4 sec. 25, T. 30 S., R. 44 

W., end of plateau on Bear Creek, first town started in Baca 

County, Baca County

Buster, P.O. 1916, NE 1/4 sec. 21, T. 31 S., R. 51 W., Las 

Animas County

Butte City, 1886, NW 1/4 sec. 30, T. 29 S., R. 42 W., 2 miles 

east of Minneapolis and was absorbed by Blaine and later 

by Minneapolis. See Blaine. Baca County

Butte Springs, NE 1/4 sec. 10, T. 26 S., R. 43 W., on Two 

Buttes Creek, Prowers County

Campo, 1909, P.O. 1913, SW corner sec. 2, T. 34 S., R. 46 

W., a railroad station on the Boise City Line. Town named 

Campo for the Spanish word for field. Baca County

Camp Windmill, SW 1/4, T. 29 S., R. 55 W., Las Animas 

County

Captain John Pope’s Route from August and September 1851 

went from Fort Union, New Mexico, to Fort Leavenworth, 

Missouri. According to the Warren map of the Territory 

of the United States, he left the Cimarron River at Cedar 

Creek, just across the Oklahoma Line. He entered the La 

Junta quadrangle about at Little Black Mesa and reached the 

Arkansas River about at Big Timbers just west of Lamar, 

Colorado. Pope’s map and report were compiled in St. 

Louis and are dated Sept. 15, 1851. It shows a route approximating a second and different route that Pope proposed to 

explore at a future date. According to the map of Bvt. Col. 

John Munroe, drawn by R.H. Kern in 1851, Pope apparently 

(and unbelievably) had proposed a westward second trip 

in 1851 that was almost the same route as the Aubry Trail 

across the southeastern quadrant of the La Junta quadrangle. 

Pope apparently did explore this route later in 1851, as 

Barry (1972, p. 1056) reports a party having met Pope at 

Pawnee Rock, headed west, some time shortly before their 

arrival in Kansas City on December 13, 1851. He wrote, 

“You will perceive that there is a portion of the route I have 

not yet traversed, but which I propose to examine when I 

return to Santa Fe.”

Carrica Ranch, SW 1/4 SE 1/4 sec. 30, T. 25 S., R. 54 W., 

Otero County

Carrizo (Carriso), P.O. 1887, SW 1/4 sec. 22, T. 34 S., R. 50 

W., abandoned 1893, only foundations left in 1940, the 

word carrizo means reed grass, no Post Office in 1895, Baca 

County. At various times there were Post Offices named 

“Carrizo,” “Carriso,” and “Corrizo,” not all at the same 

place

Carrizo Canyon Trail, SE 1/4 sec. 27, T. 33 S., R. 50 W., Baca 

County

Carrizo Springs, P.O. 1888, SE 1/4 sec. 16, T. 33 S., R. 50 W., 

ghost cattle town, organized in 1887. It had a violent history 

because it was located along cattle trails, and it was also 

occupied when the nearby copper mines were active. The 

place was known by some as “the Tubs,” because of the big 

wooden tanks that stood there (see Colorado Magazine, v. 

17, p. 129). Baca County

Casa, 1907, 4.2 miles east of La Junta railroad siding, on the 

Main Line to Las Animas

Cerro Negro, SE corner sec. 12, T. 34 S., R. 54 W., Las Animas County

Chacuaco Canyon, T. 30 S. and T. 31 S., R. 56 W., carved by 

active streams flowing off Mesa de Maya. The canyon has 

a width of 2 miles near the junction with the Purgatoire 

River. At that junction, the Chacuaco Creek has eroded into 

the reddish brown layers of the Permian and Triassic rocks. 

The result looks like the scenic cliffs of Arizona. The entire 

canyon is in Las Animas County
Place Names in the La Junta Quadrangle and Place Names along Freight Routes Leading to the La Junta Quadrangle 35

Cheney Center, or Cheneycenter, P.O. 1917–1936, SW 1/4 SE 

1/4 sec. 15, T. 25 S., R. 42 W., Prowers County

Cimarron Branch of Santa Fe Trail, or Cimarron Cutoff, or 

Cimarron Desert Jornada Route, probably the earliest route 

of the Santa Fe Trail because it dates to about 1824. It split 

off westward from the Arkansas River at the Cimarron 

Crossing to the Cimarron Desert and where the Comanches 

lived. It was a dry route, and several parties who took it 

complained about the lack of water and about the Jornada, 

or the long stretch of desert conditions eastward from Fort 

Union in New Mexico to the Arkansas River at Fort Dodge, 

Kansas. The Cutoff crossed the southeastern corner of the 

La Junta quadrangle. In 1859 and 1860, the Comanche and 

Kiowa Indians shut down all travel on the Cimarron Cutoff. 

From 1850 to 1861, stages carried mail to Santa Fe over the 

Cimarron Cutoff

Cimarron National Grassland, in Kansas in the southeastern 

corner of the La Junta quadrangle

Clay Creek Spring, SW 1/4 sec. 11, T. 27 S., R. 48 W., on a 

wagon road in Two Buttes 7.5' quadrangle, Bent County

Cleveland (Plum Valley), P.O. 1917 (no official P.O.), SW 1/4 

sec. 12, T. 32 S., R. 54 W., a stagecoach station, Las Animas 

County

Clyde, P.O. 1889 or 1901–1909, NE 1/4 sec. 25, T. 31 S., R. 

48 W., or SE 1/4 sec. 33, T. 31 S., R. 47 W.(?), Baca County

Collins Store, NW 1/4 SW 1/4 sec. 32, T. 34 S., R. 47 W., 

Baca County

Colorado Flats (Coloflats), P.O. 1915, NW corner sec. 11, T. 

35 S., R. 58 W., Las Animas County

Comanche National Grassland, located in Otero County, Bent 

County, Las Animas County, and 250,000 acres of the 

southeastern part of Baca County and includes much private 

land in small parcels (U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, 2003)

Copper Mines, sec. 7, T. 34 S. and T. 35 S., R. 50 W., and 

Copper Mountain. The copper mines were located near 

Estelene. They were operated from 1900 to 1938. Recorded 

production of copper was from chalcocite, partly altered 

to malachite and azurite in a white sandstone matrix. From 

1900 to 1917, a total of 21,511 pounds of copper were 

recovered, also 14 ounces of gold and 356 ounces of silver 

were recovered, all with a total value of $4,959 (Vanderwilt, 

1947, p. 32). Baca County

Cordova Plaza, 1873, in sec. 1, T. 29 S., R. 56 W., at the 

mouth of Chacuaco Creek, named for Juan B. Cordova who 

with family members and friends established Cordova Plaza 

in 1867, Las Animas County

Corinth, P.O. 1887, former settlement in the SE corner sec. 13, 

T. 29 S., R. 43 W., 8 miles east of Minneapolis on an 1894 

map, between Horse Creek and Buffalo Creek, Baca County 

(Colorado Magazine, v. 32, p. 263)

Dalerose, P.O. 1916–1943, SE 1/4 sec. 24, T. 33 S., R. 54 W., 

mail to Kim, on West Carrizo Creek, Las Animas County

Dalerose Mesa, 1916, sec. 26, T. 33 S., R. 54 W., Las Animas 

County

David Canyon Ranch, center S 1/2 sec. 30, T. 26 S., R. 55 W., 

Otero County

Decatur, P.O. 1888, SW 1/4 sec. 30, T. 29 S., R. 46 W., 12 

miles east-southeast of Brookfield, Baca County

A wagon train of covered wagons pulled by oxen, sometime 

between 1870 and 1880. Stopped for midday rest and refreshment. 

Location and photographer unknown. (Courtesy of Denver Public 

Library, Western History and Genealogy Department. X-21874.)
36 Historic Trail Map of the La Junta 1° × 2° Quadrangle, Southeastern Colorado and Western Kansas

Delhi, 1832, P.O. in 1908–1975, site marked on an 1892 map. 

Was a siding on the main railroad line to Trinidad, was in 

the east end of the Trinidad quadrangle

Deora, P.O. 1920, SW 1/4 sec. 5, T. 28 S., R. 49 W., and NW 

1/4 sec. 30, T. 29 S., R. 49 W., 12 miles north of Springfield 

and 4 miles north of Frick, name derived from Spanish “of 

gold,” Baca County

Devils Elbow, SE 1/4 sec. 10, T. 35 S., R. 46 W., Baca County

Devils Grate, SE 1/4 sec. 18, T. 27 S., R. 44 W., Prowers 

County

Dodges Road, shown in T. 30 S. and T. 31 S., R. 53 W., Las 

Animas County (on Nell’s 1899 and 1907 maps of Colorado), apparently was named for Major Richard I. Dodge, 

Commandant at Ft. Lyon in the 1870’s. When the railroad 

reached Kit Carson, Colorado, in 1870, it became the 

responsibility of Fort Lyon to forward freight destined for 

Ft. Union, so Major Dodge was looking for a better freight 

route than the Raton Pass route. On June 8, 1870, Major 

Dodge filed a report about a route he had pioneered

Don Sammons, center NE 1/4, sec. 23, T. 31 S., R. 53 W., Las 

Animas County

Druce, P.O. 1916, NE 1/4 sec. 3, T. 33 S., R. 52 W., 7 miles 

southwest of Andrix, Las Animas County

Duer, P.O. 1916, SW 1/4 sec. 7, T. 26 S., R. 44 W., Prowers 

County

Duncan, 1901, P.O., NE corner sec. 1, T. 35 S., R. 55 W. 

Mail from Valley, New Mexico, was carried by horseback 

to Duncan by Cole Dalton, a law-abiding member of the 

Dalton boys. Duncan was near New Mexico line south of 

Mesa de Maya. Duncan later was changed to Gotera (Nell, 

1903; Green, 1962). The first Gotera, the successor of 

Duncan, was located about one and a half mile northwest in 

the mouth of Spring Canyon. Gotera was later moved to a 

location about 8 miles northwest. Las Animas County

Dust Bowl. Most of the effect of the Dust Bowl is in southeastern Baca County. The dust started on May 12, 1934, and 

blew clear across the United States and part of the Atlantic 

Ocean. Most of the Dust Bowl sand is now in the Comanche 

National Grassland (and some in the Cimarron National 

Grassland). Most of the other area affected by the dust was 

in southwestern Kansas, northern Oklahoma, and Texas. 

(American Guide Series, 1941, p. 329)

Eagle Hill, P.O. not official, center sec. 10, T. 25 S., R. 44 W., 

Prowers County

East Hill, P.O. not official, center sec. 1, T. 25 S., R. 42 W., 

Prowers County

Edenview, P.O. 1919, SW 1/4 sec. 10, T. 31 S., R. 53 W., Las 

Animas County

Edler, P.O. 1916, NE 1/4 sec. 14, T. 33 S., R. 48 W., named for 

Dr. Edler, first homesteader in area, 15 miles northwest of 

Campo, Baca County

Elder, in south-central Baca County, 12 miles northwest of 

Campo, Baca County

El Rio de Las Animas Perdidas en Purgatorio, the Spanish 

name for the Purgatoire River. It is a tributary of the Arkansas River that runs through Las Animas and Bent Counties. 

The Purgatoire River probably was named for Antonio Gutierrez de Humana and his companions who in 1594 traveled 

to Kansas (but not to Colorado) while on a search for the 

seven cities of Cibola or the wealthy kingdom of Quivira. 

Later expeditions along the Purgatoire River found military 

relics of Spanish soldiers along the river

Emery Gap (see Tollgate Canyon) NE 1/4 sec. 14, T. 35 S., R. 

58 W., had a good north-trending road in 1867 that came 

from Fort Union in New Mexico to the Arkansas River. The 

ruts of that road are locally called “the old Military road” 

or the Military Freight Route. Madison Emery’s ranch from 

which he freighted his farm produce northward to Fort Lyon 

was at the upper end of Cimarron Canyon in New Mexico. 

The canyon is the opening between two mesas about a mile 

southeast of Branson, and the State line runs east to west 

across Emery Gap. Juan de Archuleta possibly used parts of 

the road as early as the mid-1600’s to reach El Quartelejo 

in western Kansas. Emery Gap is at the north edge of New 

Mexico on the boundary with Colorado. Emery Gap was not 

in use in 1867 when the young Englishman, William Bell, 

with a railroad survey crew, saw the area, but by the following summer, Madison Emery had established a wagon road 

discernible to the Darling Survey crew who were surveying the State line. The military first passed through Emery 

Gap in 1870 when Major Richard I. Dodge used a part of 

Emery’s wagon road in a search for a better route between 

Ft. Lyon and Ft. Union

Emery Gap and Cimarron Pass. Emery Gap (Cimarron Pass is 

an earlier name) is on the boundary between Colorado and 

New Mexico just south of Branson. In Union County, New 

Mexico

Emery Road was a trail southward from Las Animas. Apparently it was the route taken by Madison Emery [but wrongly 

reported by Kenyon Riddle (1948, map 2), as Lt. William 

H. Emory’s Road] in Bent, Baca, and Las Animas Counties. 

Another road actually traveled by Maj. William H. Emory 

in 1846 was along the Timpas road in the western part of 

the La Junta quadrangle

Estelene, P.O. 1910, SE 1/4 sec. 22, T. 33 S., R. 50 W., it had 

no railroad, about 6 miles north of Carrizo, 1 mile southeast 

of Carrizo Springs, on East Carrizo Creek, Baca County

Felt, see Pritchett, Baca County
Place Names in the La Junta Quadrangle and Place Names along Freight Routes Leading to the La Junta Quadrangle 37

Flues, P.O. 1915, SE 1/4 sec. 32, T. 29 S., R. 51 W., Las Animas County

Fort Carson Military Reservation, an expansion of 1941 Camp 

Carson (named for Kit Carson), 65,000 acres. It was later 

named Fort Carson in 1954. It is located along Colorado 

highway 115 south of Colorado Springs (Taylor, 1963, p. 

171 and 400). The 1974 addition to Fort Carson (Pinon 

Canyon Maneuver site; 138,523 acres) is mostly in Las 

Animas County. The north boundary is on the north line of 

the county and the south boundary is about in the middle of 

Township 31, and the reservation runs eastward into the La 

Junta quadrangle almost to the Purgatoire River. The Pinon 

Canyon Maneuver Site was developed to provide a larger 

area to maneuver and a wider firing range

Fort Dodge was built in 1864 (it is on U.S. 154, four miles 

southeast of Dodge City, Kansas). It was an important way 

station on the military freight route to Fort Union, which 

is east of Santa Fe, New Mexico. It also was one of the 

important stations to protect travelers, stagecoaches, wagon 

trains, and railroad survey and construction parties. It was 

abandoned in 1882

Fort Leavenworth, in Kansas, was established in 1827 on the 

west bank of the Missouri River 20 miles north of the mouth 

of the Kansas River. It was on the east end of the freight 

route from Fort Union, New Mexico, and was the eastern 

terminus of the Santa Fe Trail

Fort Lyon to Canadian River, a route from Old Fort Lyon near 

Prowers, Colorado, southward to the Canadian River in 

New Mexico. Fort Lyon was abandoned on Oct. 20, 1887

Fort Union, a prominent U.S. Army fort (on NM 161), 8 miles 

north of Watrous, New Mexico. Built in 1851 by Col. E.V. 

Sumner, the fort was a mile square, and it was an important 

southern road terminus of the Santa Fe National Historic 

Trail, a commercial center, and ordnance supply depot for 

New Mexico and Arizona. It became the juncture of the 

Mountain Branch and the Cimarron Cutoff of the Santa 

Fe Trail. It was the largest military post in the southwest 

and was used by soldiers and their families throughout the 

Indian wars and the Civil War. It was abandoned in 1890. 

From 1954 or 1956 it has been a National Monument

Windmills such as this one in southeastern Colorado are common 

throughout the Great Plains. Such devices are often used to pump 

ground water into stock tanks so that livestock (such as cattle and 

horses) have water to drink. Photograph taken in 2005 by Craig 

Brunstein, USGS.
38 Historic Trail Map of the La Junta 1° × 2° Quadrangle, Southeastern Colorado and Western Kansas

Fort Union–Fort Lyon Road is shown on a USGS 7.5-minute 

topographic map in T. 32 S., R. 55 W. It was the Fort Union 

Route of the Santa Fe Trail, a National Historic Trail. One 

of the several military freighting roads from Fort Lyon that 

were indiscriminately referred to as the Fort Union Road 

because the freight was headed there. This was the main 

purpose of these roads

Fowler Mesa, T. 33 S., R. 54 W. The name is a misnomer for 

Fallas Mesa (Christofferson, 1982, and Richard Louden, 

written commun., 2004), named for Old Jim Fowlis, a man 

of prominence with the Reynolds Cattle Company, or for 

Fallas Spring, a famous water source and small settlement 

about 1–1.5 miles south of the base of Fallas Mesa. Las 

Animas County

Freezeout Creek, T. 30 S., R. 50 W., a branch of Two Buttes 

Creek, also a tributary valley called Soldier Canyon (see 

Soldier Canyon), Baca County

Frenchmans Butte, NE 1/4 SE 1/4 sec. 29, T. 33 S., R. 54 W., 

Las Animas County

Frick, 1937, SE corner sec. 19, T. 28 S., R. 49 W., Frick Siding 

and station (Deora?), on the Boise City Line, Baca County

Gillette, P.O. not official, 1888, center sec. 26, T. 32 S., R. 58 

W., northwest of Yachita, Las Animas County

Gilpin, 1937, NW 1/4 SE 1/4 sec. 24, T. 24 S., R. 52 W., nine 

miles south of Las Animas, railroad station on the Boise 

City Line, mail to Las Animas, on Springfield Branch of 

Santa Fe Trail, Bent County

Goat Ranch Spring, NE 1/4 sec. 22, T. 28 S., R. 56 W., Las 

Animas County

Gleason Canyon and Gleason Springs, in Union County, New 

Mexico, northeast of junction of NM 456 and 551 at Emery 

Peak on an early road and a prong of Dry Cimarron Canyon, 

the mouth of which is not far from U.S. 64. Named for Fritz 

Gleason who came here in the late 1860’s bringing a herd 

of cattle. The canyon is the first tributary east of the modern 

highway switchback route through Toll Gate Canyon

Gobbler’s Knob (Station), SE 1/4 NW 1/4 sec. 20, T. 26 S., R. 

46 W., Prowers County

Gotera, P.O. 1916 (formerly Duncan), NW 1/4 sec. 29, T. 34 

S., R. 55 W., changed to Lone Oak in 1922, Las Animas 

County

Graft, P.O. 1916, SE 1/4 sec. 10, T. 30 S., R. 49 W., near 

Pritchett, Baca County

Granada and Fort Union Route of Santa Fe National Historic 

Trail crosses the quadrangle from southwest to northeast. 

Also known as the Granada Santa Fe Wagon Trail, it came 

into being in 1873 when the railroad reached Granada 

and freight was hauled from there to Fort Union, joining 

Dodge’s Road from Ft. Lyon, already in existence, at Willow Springs. Granada is on the Arkansas River about 17 

miles west of Kansas. As for the road from Granada to Pan 

Handle (see map), could “Pan Handle” be referring to the 

Oklahoma panhandle or the Texas panhandle?

Greenfield, a planned, plotted settlement that never really 

came into existence. About 9 miles southwest of Tobe, in 

sec. 13, T. 33 S., R. 57 W.

Griffin Airport (Griffin Field–Aeroplane Field, 1 mile north 

of Walsh), north middle sec. 32, T. 30 S., R. 43 W., Baca 

County

Hackberry Spring (Bloody Spring), northwest corner sec. 7, 

T. 28 S., R. 50 W., an archaeological site (a restricted area) 

called the Colorado Millenial Site in the northwest corner of 

Baca County

Harbord Switch, NW 1/4 sec. 28, T. 29 S., R. 48 W., station on 

the Boise City Line, mail to Springfield, Baca County

Harbourdale, P.O. 1915, sec. 31, T. 27 S., R. 53 W., Bent 

County

Hauck, or Houck, same town as Hawley, on the Grand Valley 

Line west of La Junta, Otero County

Hawley (see Hauck), started 1908, abandoned 1970, NE 1/4 

sec. 7, T. 24 S., R. 56 W., originally a beet dump and a place 

to make beet sugar, named for Floyd Hawley of the American Crystal Sugar Company Railroad Station on AT&SF 

R.R. (Grand Valley Line), Otero County

Higbee (Old Higbee), P.O. 1872, settled 1860, a stock growing 

area, formerly named Nine Mile Bottom; the Higbee Post 

Office had operated at many places in Nine Mile Bottom, 

but closed in 1925. NE 1/4 SE 1/4 sec. 29, T. 26 S., R. 54 

W. An uplift of the rocks in secs. 28 and 29, T. 31 S., R. 51 

W., raised the Jurassic rocks and their dinosaur tracks up 

to what is now river level. Two miles south of the Higbee 

school was San Joseville (approximately located in SE 

corner sec. 31, T. 26 S., R. 54 W.) on the Purgatoire River 

(and on the road that went down the river). Higbee was 

named for Uriah Higbee, an early settler. Higbee first raised 

cattle elsewhere, but then moved to Nine Mile Bottom. One 

mile from Higbee is a large area of dinosaur tracks in the 

rock floor of the Purgatoire River. It is said to be the longest 

dinosaur track site on the North American Continent. The 

rocks are layers of the Morrison Formation of Jurassic age. 

The tracks were made during the Jurassic Period about 150 

million years ago by sauropods and theropods including the 

genera Apatosaurus and Allosaurus (Lockley and others, 

1997), Otero County
People, buggies, and automobiles in Kim, sometime between 1900 and 1910. Photographer unknown. (Courtesy of Denver Public 

Library, Western History and Genealogy Department. X-10159.)

Place Names in the La Junta Quadrangle and Place Names along Freight Routes Leading to the La Junta Quadrangle 39

Hogback (a topographic feature), in southern part of sec. 10, T. 

31 S., R. 59 W., probably a structural fold of the rocks, Las 

Animas County

Hogback Stage Station, 1871, NW 1/4 sec. 22, T. 31 S., R. 59 

W., just barely outside of La Junta quadrangle, Las Animas 

County, New Mexico

Hole in the Rock, an early day watering hole and the stage station on the Santa Fe Trail at the west edge of Thatcher and 

about 14 miles southwest of the later town of Bloom Siding, 

but still in Las Animas County

Hoopup, P.O. 1919, SE 1/4 sec. 33, T. 30 S., R. 52 W., near 

head of Two Buttes Creek, 15 miles northeast of Kim, Las 

Animas County

Hornville, SE 1/4 sec. 6, T. 28 S., R. 46 W., settlement, mail to 

Springfield, Baca County

Indian Trail (see Riddle, 1948), from Cimarron Cutoff in 

Kansas north across the La Junta quadrangle to Kit Carson 

in northeastern Colorado

Independence, Missouri, was the port on the Missouri River 

where many people landed before starting their journeys 

across the western lands. In fact, it was the main outfitting point; however, other parties took a 12 mile road from 

Independence to Westport where most of the wagon trains 

started on their westward journey. Actually, the eastern 

terminus of the Santa Fe Trail was about 30 miles north 

of Westport at Fort Leavenworth, Missouri, which was 

founded in 1827

Indianapolis, P.O. 1887, SE 1/4 sec. 1, T. 34 S., R. 59 W., at 

a minor tributary of Trinchera Creek just across Trinchera 

Creek from Stockville, Las Animas County

Iron Springs, 1878

Iron Springs Stage Station Historic Site, established around 

1861. The Missouri Stage Company stopped here by 

1881, in the northwest 1/4 sec. 16, T. 27 S., R. 58 W., near 

Symons and Mindeman Station, Otero County 

Irwin Canyon, 1873, P.O. 1920, east-central sec. 8, T. 29 S., R. 

52 W., SE of Yeiser on 1923 Colorado State Highway Map, 

Las Animas County

Israel Crossing, SE 1/4 NE 1/4 sec. 13, T. 29 S., R. 50 W., 

Baca County

Israel store (site), NW 1/4 SW 1/4 sec. 10, T. 29 S., R. 49 W., 

Baca County
La Junta’s first school building. Photograph taken between 1920 

and 1950; photographer unknown. (Courtesy of Denver Public 

Library, Western History and Genealogy Department. x-10470.)

40 Historic Trail Map of the La Junta 1° × 2° Quadrangle, Southeastern Colorado and Western Kansas

Joycoy, P.O. 1915, SW 1/4 sec. 11, T. 31 S., R. 49 W., 3 miles 

west of later town site of Pritchett (founded in 1926). After 

Pritchett was founded and the railroad reached Pritchett, 

Joycoy declined, Baca County

Kazan, P.O. 1920, SW 1/4 sec. 5, T. 28 S., R. 51 W., Las Animas County

Kim, P.O. 1917, 1918, NW 1/4 sec. 22, T. 32 S., R. 53 W., on 

U.S. Highway 160, named by Olin D. Simpson for Rudyard 

Kipling’s novel “boy hero” Kim. A farming village in 1893, 

but was too dry to provide good crops. Home of the newspaper, “Kim Country Record.” Las Animas County

Kings Ferry, middle E 1/2 sec. 2, T. 24 S., R. 55 W., see also 

Knights Ferry across Arkansas River east of La Junta, Otero 

County

Kirkwell, P.O. 1917, SE corner sec. 29, T. 33 S., R. 49 W., 

near Las Animas County line south of Oklarado. Baca 

County

Kline, SE 1/4 sec. 30, T. 24 S., R. 43 W., Prowers County

Knights Ferry, 1882, center sec. 1, T. 24 S., R. 55 W., across 

Arkansas River, 2 miles east of La Junta. Casa was nearby, 

on AT&SF R.R. east of La Junta (Nell, 1882). Otero County

Konantz, P.O. 1895, SW 1/4 sec. 9, T. 31 S., R. 41 W., or in 

middle south edge sec. 32, T. 30 S., R. 41 W., Baca County

La Junta, founded in 1875 as Otero, P.O. Jan. 1876–July 1877 

and Sept. 20, 1878; the Post Office reopened in 1879. Town 

located in sec. 1, 2, 3, 10, and 11, T. 24 S., R. 55 W., called 

the junction, formerly terminus of Arkansas Valley Railroad, also on the AT&SF R.R. (county seat, formerly named 

Otero for Miguel Otero). Otero County

La Junta Army Air Base, built 1940, 4 miles north of La Junta 

on Highway 109. In use to train British and Chinese pilots 

and U.S. Army Air Force crews for B-25 bombers. Base 

closed soon after 1945. The base then became the La Junta 

Industrial Park and has been a beneficial addition to the town

Lake Mesa, SE 1/4 SW 1/4 sec. 7, T. 28 S., R. 52 W., Bent 

County
Place Names in the La Junta Quadrangle and Place Names along Freight Routes Leading to the La Junta Quadrangle 41

Lamar Communications Facility Annex, NW 1/4 SW 1/4 sec. 

32, T. 24 S., R. 46 W., Prowers County

Lamport, P.O. 1908, NE 1/4 NW 1/4 sec. 27, T. 33 S., R. 42 

W., and in SE 1/4 sec. 13, T. 34 S., R. 43 W., Baca County

L.B. Merrill Ranch, now the Cross L Flats Ranch, SW 1/4 NW 

1/4 sec. 22, T. 34 S., R. 57 W., Las Animas County

Lima, 1907, later became Ormega Siding (see Ormega Siding). Otero County

Lockwood Arroyo, in Fort Carson Military Reservation (Pinon 

Canyon Maneuver Site), in T. 29 S., R. 57 W. and R. 58 W., 

tributary of Purgatoire River, enters river in sec. 36, T. 29 S., 

R. 57 W., Las Animas County

Lockwood Stage Station, 1871, SE 1/4 sec. 23, T. 29 S., R. 58 

W., in Lockwood Arroyo, Las Animas County

Lone Oak, 1932, no P.O., NE 1/4 sec. 11, T. 35 S., R. 56 W., 

southwest of Gotera, its former name in 1922–1928 (not 

listed in Rogers, 1967), Las Animas County

Lone Rock, SE 1/4 sec. 18, T. 31 S., R. 49 W., Baca County

Longshore Ranch, SE 1/4 NE 1/4 sec. 18, T. 28 S., R. 46 W., 

Baca County

Lycan, P.O. 1913, NE 1/4 sec. 13, T. 28 S., R. 43 W., homesteaded 1910, at head of Horse Creek, Baca County

Madison Emery’s freighting road, 1868, started from the Dry 

Cimarron in New Mexico, then into Gleason’s Canyon, 

through Emery Gap at the State line, then followed the Military Freight route to Willow Spring in sec. 18, T. 31 S., R. 

52 W., which was a water stop on the way to Fort Lyon

Maine Ranch, P.O. 1872, sec. 12, T. 27 S., R. 55 W., southwest 

of Higbee, on the Purgatoire River, formerly Marine Ranch, 

Otero County

Mathews, SW 1/4 sec. 30, T. 33 S., R. 43 W., Baca County

Maxey, P.O. 1895, in 1889 on wagon road from Fort Union to 

Granada on Two Buttes Creek, SE 1/4 sec. 25, T. 28 S., R. 

49 W., Baca County

Maxey, P.O. 1910, NE 1/4 sec. 33, T. 29 S., R. 48 W., 12 miles 

northwest of Springfield, Baca County

Supposedly the oldest house in La Junta. Photograph taken 

about 1900; photographer unknown. (Courtesy of Denver Public 

Library, Western History and Genealogy Department. X-10465.)
42 Historic Trail Map of the La Junta 1° × 2° Quadrangle, Southeastern Colorado and Western Kansas

McCall, SE 1/4 sec. 36, T. 30 S., R. 48 W., on AT&SF R.R. 

(Satanka Line), Baca County

McEndree Ranch, SW 1/4 SE 1/4 sec. 25, T. 28 S., R. 49 W., 

Baca County

Medford Springs, 1916, SE 1/4 sec. 17, T. 26 S., R. 49 W., on 

fork of Antelope Creek, Bent County

Mesa de Maya, plateau in the lower south central part of the 

quadrangle, contains petroglyphs carved in the cliffs, Las 

Animas County

Midway, SE corner sec. 19, T. 33 S., R. 42 W. (formerly 

Lamport in 1910)

Milas, sec. 20, T. 34 S., R. 42 W., mail to Stonington, Baca 

County

Miller, SW 1/4 sec. 35, T. 24 S., R. 51 W., Baca County

Mindeman Siding and railroad station on Main Line of AT&SF 

R.R., P.O. 1917, SE 1/4 sec. 8, T. 27 S., R. 58 W., or SW 1/4 

sec. 9, T. 27 S., R. 58 W., formerly Iron Springs or Symons, 

on Santa Fe National Historic Trail, Otero County

Miners Peak, NW 1/4 sec. 16, T. 33 S., R. 56 W., Las Animas 

County

Minneapolis, P.O. 1887 (formerly Butte City in 1886 and 

Blaine in 1910), NE 1/4 sec. 22, T. 29 S., R. 43 W., Baca 

County 

Minneapolis Cemetery, NW 1/4 sec. 27, T. 29 S., R. 43 W., 

Baca County 

Mitchell Camp, 1916, SE 1/4 sec. 24, T. 25 S., R. 49 W., on 

road along Mud Creek, Bent County

Monon, P.O. 1901 or 1910(?), NW 1/4 SW 1/4 sec. 33, T. 29 

S., R. 41 W., on Bear Creek, Baca County

Mountain Branch of the Santa Fe Trail. From where the 

Cimarron Cutoff split off from the main Santa Fe Trail, the 

Mountain Branch continued up the Arkansas River to future 

Timpas Creek, then turned southwestward and crossed Raton 

Pass, then rejoined the Cimarron Cutoff near Watrous, New 

Mexico. The Mountain Branch was safer and easier

Muddy Gap, SE 1/4 sec. 32, T. 27 S., R. 53 W., a pass on 

Muddy Creek where it joins Smith Canyon, Bent County

Muddy Gate, NW 1/4 sec. 30, T. 27 S., R. 53 W. (Probably an 

erroneous spelling of Muddy Gap?) A slight error in location on Nell’s 1895 to 1907 maps of Colorado. Bent County

Mulvane, P.O. 1888, NW 1/4 sec. 32, T. 27 S., R. 47 W., a village on Two Buttes Creek, Prowers County

New Stage Station, SW 1/4 sec. 17, T. 26 S., R. 46 W., on road 

marked Santa Fe Trail near Clay Creek, Prowers County

New Troy, P.O. 1910, NW 1/4 NE 1/4 sec. 2, T. 34 S., R. 54 

W., Las Animas County

Ninaview, P.O. 1915, SE 1/4 sec. 33, T. 27 S., R. 52 W., 

original name was from Nina Jones, but was renamed by the 

Post Office Department; a farming community. Bent County

Nine Mile Bottom, first name for Higbee, town extended 

across Townships 26 S. and 27 S. and Ranges 54 W. and 55 

W., along the Purgatoire River, Otero County

Ninemile Hill, SW 1/4 sec. 24, T. 24 S., R. 52 W., Bent 

County

North Junction of Boise City Line and Pritchett Line, sec. 25, 

T. 30 S., R. 46 W., Baca County

North La Junta, parts of T. 23 S. and T. 24 S. and R. 55 W., 

mail to La Junta, Otero County

Northway, P.O. 1916, SW 1/4 sec. 28, T. 27 S., R. 45 W., 

Prowers County

Nowlinsville, P.O. 1916, NE 1/4 sec. 1, T. 35 S., R. 47 W., 

Baca County

Officer, P.O. 1913, 1917, NE 1/4 or NW 1/4, sec. 19, T. 30 S., 

R. 54 W., mail to Villegreen, named for Charles Officer, Las 

Animas County

Oklarado, P.O. 1916, SE 1/4 sec. 30, T. 32 S., R. 49 W., on 

south fork of Sand Arroyo, Baca County

Old Atlanta, SW 1/4 NW 1/4 sec. 23, T. 29 S., R. 50 W., Baca 

County

Old Boston, 1886 (Benton), SW 1/4 sec. 22, T. 32 S., R. 44 

W., Baca County

Old Higbee (see Higbee), NE 1/4 SE 1/4 sec. 29, T. 26 S., R. 

54 W., Otero County

Old Minneapolis, NE 1/4 sec. 22, T. 29 S., R. 43 W., Baca 

County

Old Stage Station, SW corner sec. 28, T. 26 S., R. 46 W., 2 

miles south of New Stage Station, near Clay Creek, on cross 

roads of two trails. Prowers County

Omer, P.O. 1900, NW 1/4 sec. 3, T. 25 S., R. 59 W., on 

Apishapa River, Otero County

Opal, P.O. 1913, NE 1/4 NW 1/4 sec. 34, T. 27 S., R. 53 W., at 

south edge of Bent County

Ormega Siding or Lima, NE 1/4 sec. 17, T. 24 S., R. 55 

W., railroad station on the AT&SF R.R., 3 miles south of 

La Junta on route to Raton Pass, mail to La Junta, Otero 

County
Place Names in the La Junta Quadrangle and Place Names along Freight Routes Leading to the La Junta Quadrangle 43

Otero, founded 1875 at terminus of AT&SF R.R., when railroad built on to the west. The name Otero was associated 

with the Commission house, Otero, Sellars and Company. 

The town was named for Miguel A. Otero. In 1878, name 

was changed to La Junta, Spanish for “the junction.” Two 

other names were used for a short time, Manzanares and 

Ricetown (see Colorado Magazine, v. 18, p. 228). Otero 

County

Packers Gap, 1895, SE 1/4 sec. 34, T. 26 S., R. 56 W., Otero 

County

Palidor Trail, T. 26 S. and T. 27 S., R. 42 W. and R. 43 W. 

Name was used on a map by George Trommlitz (1889) 

showing trails and water-bearing canals in the Prowers 

County area of the La Junta quadrangle

Patt, P.O. 1919, NE 1/4 sec. 10, T. 31 S., R. 52 W., mail to 

Kim, Las Animas County

Penrose Trail, a northeast-trending trail through T. 30 S., R. 50 

W., the name possibly originated from an Army march by 

General Penrose when he took the Tenth Cavalry and part of 

the Third and Fifth Infantry units from Fort Lyon southward 

into Oklahoma. The Penrose Trail could have been along 

Freezeout Creek (Friedman, 1988, p. 43), Las Animas and 

Baca Counties

Pete Carrica Ranch (see Carrica Ranch), SE 1/4 sec. 30, T. 25 

S., R. 54 W., Otero County

Picture Canyon, SE 1/4 sec. 7, T. 35 S., R. 47 W., has shallow canyons with petroglyphs and Indian artifacts, about 

12 miles west and 5 miles south of Campo. Some cliffs rise 

200 feet high, Baca County

Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site, an addition to Fort Carson Military Reservation in the west end of the La Junta quadrangle, 

Las Animas County

Pinon Canyon, NW 1/4 NE 1/4 T. 31 S., R. 58 W., Las Animas 

County

Pinon Park, sec. 13, 19, and 24, T. 29 S., R. 54 W. and R. 55 

W., south of Villegreen Road

Pinon Spring, sec. 6 or 7, T. 30 S., R. 54 W., Las Animas 

County

Plains, P.O. discontinued 1921, NE corner sec. 25, T. 27 S., R. 

43 W., Prowers County

Plains Community, 1908, SE 1/4 sec. 16, T. 27 S., R. 43 W., 

Prowers County

Platt Ranch, NE 1/4 NW 1/4 sec. 11, T. 30 S., R. 53 W., Las 

Animas County

Plum Valley, P.O. 1917, in a small valley, secs. 28 and 33, T. 

31 S., R. 54 W., sometimes mail to Villegreen, formerly a 

farm and stock community during the “dust bowl” years. 

Known for wild plum trees in the valley. Las Animas 

County

Plymouth, NE corner sec. 17, T. 32 S., R. 42 W. (Taylor, 1963, 

p. 255), Baca County

Potato Butte, NE 1/4 sec. 14, T. 33 S., R. 51 W., a feature; 

petroglyphs are carved in the surrounding canyon cliffs, Las 

Animas County

Pride, P.O. 1914, SW 1/4 sec. 12, T. 35 S., R. 44 W., Baca 

County

Pritchett, or Felt, P.O. 1927, S 1/2 sec. 6, T. 31 S., R. 48 W., 

station of AT&SF R.R., area of dry farming, named for 

Dr. Henry S. Pritchett in 1926, on the Satanka Line, Baca 

County

Progress, P.O. 1888–1895, SW 1/4 sec. 9, T. 32 S., R. 42 W., 

Baca County

Prowers County, 1889, named for John W. Prowers, pioneer 

cattleman

Purgatoire Fork of Mountain Branch of the Santa Fe Trail. Las 

Animas and Otero County

Purgatoire River (or Las Animas River), Las Animas County

Ralph Queeno Ranch, SW 1/4 sec. 9, T. 27 S., R. 50 W., Bent 

County

Ranch Camp, NW 1/4 sec. 28, T. 26 S., R. 43 W., same place 

as Fowler’s camp on June 10, 1822, Prowers County

Red Rock, 1882, no P.O., SE 1/4 sec. 18, T. 29 S., R. 56 W., a 

community around Bent Canyon that had quite an influx of 

settlers during the late 1860’s and the 1870’s, Las Animas 

County

Regnier, P.O. 1900, SW 1/4 SE 1/4, sec. 8, T. 35 S., R. 48 W., 

on Gallinas Canyon, mail to Springfield, Baca County

Rene, P.O. 1912–1921, AT&SF R.R. Main Line to Trinidad, 

siding platted Nov. 30, 1916, by Olivia Maggie Campbell, 

NE 1/4 sec. 19, T. 25 S., R. 56 W., Otero County

Richards, P.O. 1912, SE corner sec. 13, T. 33 S., R. 44 W., 

Baca County

Richland Academy, SE 1/4 sec. 14, T. 32 S., R. 45 W., Baca 

County

Riddle Store, N 1/2 T. 32 S., R. 47 W., Baca County

Roberta Siding, 1928, NW corner sec. 34, T. 24 S., R. 56 W., 

on branch of the Grand Valley Line in 1906, Otero County

Robinson, 9 miles east of La Junta
44 Historic Trail Map of the La Junta 1° × 2° Quadrangle, Southeastern Colorado and Western Kansas

(Pages 44 and 45) Engraving showing 

the Clark & Irwin ranch (center, top), 

which is in the Purgatoire River valley. 

This image is from an 1888 illustrated 

newspaper supplement of the Bent County 

Democrat. (Courtesy of Denver Public 

Library, Western History and Genealogy 

Department. X-11989.)
Place Names in the La Junta Quadrangle and Place Names along Freight Routes Leading to the La Junta Quadrangle 45
Rodley, P.O. 1910, NE 1/4 sec. 11, T. 33 S., R. 45 W., 7 miles 

west of Richards, Baca County

Round Mound, SW corner sec. 29, T. 27 S., R. 51 W., Bent 

County

Round Prairie, SE corner T. 28 S. and NW corner T. 29 S., R. 

54 W., Las Animas County

Ruff, P.O. 1889, SW 1/4 sec. 12, T. 33 S., R. 42 W., on old 

wagon road from Oklahoma to Progress, south of Sand Hill, 

a former settlement, 9 miles southeast of Stonington, Baca 

County

Rule, P.O. 1909, SE corner sec. 12, T. 27 S., R. 51 W., on 

Hackberry Creek, Bent County

Ruxton, 1937, SW corner sec. 28, T. 26 S., R. 51 W., railroad 

station on the Boise City Line, 3 miles southeast of Toonerville, mail to Ninaview, Bent County

Sammons Ranch, east part of the middle sec. 5, T. 31 S., R. 52 

W., Las Animas County

Sand Arroyo, P.O. 1915, SW 1/4 SE 1/4 sec. 22, T. 32 S., R. 

47 W., Baca County

Santa Fe Trail (Mountain Branch), sometimes called the Main 

Trail, in use 1834–1872, along north side of Arkansas River. 

The USGS calls it the Santa Fe National Historic Trail. The 

Purgatoire River Branch or Purgatoire Fork of the Mountain 

Branch of the Santa Fe Trail, T. 29 S. and T. 30 S., R. 58 

W. and R. 59 W., was a branch that paralleled the Mountain 

Branch but was close to the Purgatoire River and close to 

the Red Rocks and Bent Canyon areas. It was sometimes 

called the Barlow and Sanderson Stage Route and became 

the stage road from Trinidad to Las Animas. Colorado 

placed 30 historical monuments along the main trail in 

1908. The Mountain Branch of the Santa Fe Trail from La 

Junta to Trinidad received no monuments (Taylor, 1963, 

p. 525). In early August 1834, William Bent and Ceran St. 

Vrain left Santa Fe, went north across the Rocky Mountains 

to the Forts on the Arkansas River bringing with them 11 

wagons for the establishment of Fort William (afterward 

better known as Bent’s Old Fort). This presaged the beginning of the fort on the Arkansas River and the opening of 

another pathway to Santa Fe, the mountain route of the 

Santa Fe Trail, a longer, but better watered and therefore 

safer route than the Cimarron route. In 1825, Joseph C. 

Brown and his survey company were commissioned to 

make a survey of the Santa Fe Trail. In 1825, the United 

States made the Santa Fe Trail, as far west as Council 

Grove, a territorial road. By 1865, both branches of the trail 

received much less use. In 1868, the Kansas Legislature 

passed an act declaring the Santa Fe road from the eastern 

to the western boundaries of Kansas, a State road (Barry, 

1972, p. 124)

Saunders, in sec. 6, T. 29 S., R. 43 W., on the Satanka Railroad 

Line in Stanton County, Kansas

Scotts Ranch, NE 1/4 sec. 26, T. 24 S., R. 49 W., Bent County

Setonsburg (Seton), P.O. 1915 to 1916, SE 1/4 sec. 19, T. 32 

S., R. 48 W. (name changed from Seton), Baca County

Sheridan Canon, T. 30 S. and T. 29 S., R. 49 W. and R. 50 

W., on the Granada and Fort Union Route of the Santa Fe 

National Historic Trail (Nell, 1882). General Philip H. 

Sheridan ran a campaign against the Cheyenne and Arapahoe Indians in 1868 and was in Albuquerque in 1870. Baca 

County

Smith Homestead, SW 1/4 SE 1/4 sec. 24, T. 30 S., R. 54 W., 

Las Animas County

Smoky Hill Arkansas and Purgatoire Wagon Road, circa 1867, 

road from the Smoky Hill River about 20 miles north of the 

Arkansas River south to the Purgatoire River

Soldier Canyon of Freezeout Creek in T. 30 S., R. 50 W., 

11 miles west of Pritchett, named because Corporal John 

Jackson and companions in the early days found skeletons 

of men and horses at foot of cliff. Remnants of clothing and 

guns indicated them to be Spanish soldiers who probably 

perished in a blizzard (Taylor, 1963, p. 255–256; Rogers, 

1967). Baca County

South Junction, in the NE 1/4 sec. 32, R. 30 S., T. 46 W., on 

the Boise City Line, Baca County

Springfield, P.O. 1887, secs. 29 and 30, T. 30 S., R. 46 W., on 

AT&SF R.R., county seat of Baca County

Springfield Airport, sec. 5, T. 30 S., R. 46 W., Baca County

Springfield and Lamar Stage line, T. 25 S. and T. 26 S. and R. 

46 W. and R. 47 W., Prowers County

Stage Canyon, just north of Black Hills, Las Animas County

Stage Canyon Stage Station, P.O. 1919, NE 1/4 sec. 7, T. 28 

S., R. 56 W., station near Purgatoire route of Santa Fe Trail. 

Stage Canyon is a tributary of the Purgatoire River. Las Animas County

Stonington, P.O. 1888 and 1909, NW corner sec. 5, T. 32 S., 

R. 42 W., located early in 1887, later most of it was moved 

to Walsh. Baca County

Symons Station, 1909, sec. 17 or 18, T. 27 S., R. 58 W., on 

AT&SF R.R., see Mindeman, no post office, shown in same 

place as Iron Springs, Otero County

Table Mesa, center of S 1/2 sec. 5, T. 30 S., R. 50 W., Baca 

County

46 Historic Trail Map of the La Junta 1° × 2° Quadrangle, Southeastern Colorado and Western Kansas
(Far left) Little bluestem 

(Andropogon scoparius), a 

perennial grass found on plains 

and mountain areas of Colorado. 

(Original drawing by Margaret 

Austin, USDA.) 

(Left) Indian paintbrush 

(Castilleja sp.), a colorful 

perennial plant found on plains 

and mountain areas of Colorado. 

Original watercolor by Margaret 

Austin, USDA.
48 Historic Trail Map of the La Junta 1° × 2° Quadrangle, Southeastern Colorado and Western Kansas

Taloga, Kansas; along east edge of quadrangle on State 

Highway 51 in NW 1/4 sec. 29, T. 33 S., R. 43 W., Morton 

County, Kansas

Taylor Ranch, NE 1/4 sec. 7, T. 29 S., R. 58 W., Las Animas 

County

Taylor Station, sec. 8, T. 29 S., R. 58 W., exact location 

unknown but near the Taylor ranch, Las Animas County

Ten Mile Waterhole (or 10 Mile Water Hole), SE 1/4 sec. 18, 

T. 24 S., R. 54 W., Las Animas County

Texas Trail, a major cattle trail, trends northward along east 

edge of quadrangle, trail is in Colorado and varies from 

being close to or approximately 3–8 miles west of Kansas 

border. Baca and Prowers Counties

Theater, center sec. 6, T. 24 S., R. 54 W., in La Junta. Otero 

County

The Hogback, a topographic feature in north middle of sec. 15, 

T. 31 S., R. 59 W., and in NW 1/4 sec. 4, T. 32 S., R. 51 W., 

Las Animas County

Three Buttes, a topographic feature in the NW 1/4 sec. 16, T. 

26 S., R. 57 W., Otero County

Timpas, 1876, P.O. 1891, platted in 1887 on the Main Line of 

the AT&SF R.R., NE 1/4 sec. 3, T. 26 S., R. 57 W., an area 

of cattle and sheep ranching starting in the 1860’s. In 1868 or 

1869, Basil (Missouri Bill) Metcalf had established a trading 

and stopping place (a ranch) on the Santa Fe Trail at Timpas 

that later became the Timpas Stage Stop. Otero County

Timpas Stage Station, SE 1/4 sec. 34, T. 25 S., R. 57 W., Otero 

County

Tobe, P.O. 1910, SW corner sec. 29, T. 32 S., R. 55 W., near 

Tobe Creek and on U.S. Highway 160, Las Animas County

Tollgate Canyon, entirely in Union County, New Mexico, 

south of Basil (Missouri Bill) Metcalf’s toll station. Tollgate 

Canyon was on a deep tributary valley of the Dry Cimarron 5 miles south of Colorado on the C&S Line. The toll 

station, established in 1873, consisted of two rock pillars 

on each side of the road. A traveler through there could not 

turn around, but had to pay the 75-cent toll to Bill Metcalf. 

Missouri Bill Metcalf was involved in the La Junta quadrangle prior to his toll station in New Mexico. In 1869, or 

possibly 1868, he had established a ranche (a trading and 

stopping place) on the Santa Fe Trail at Timpas, apparently 

at what later became the Timpas Stage Stop

Toonerville, SE 1/4 sec. 18, T. 26 S., R. 51 W., on the Boise 

City Line of the AT&SF R.R., Bent County

Trail Ruts Historic Site, SW 1/4 sec. 9, T. 27 S., R. 58 W., 

Otero County

Troy (also called Post Village), P.O. 1887, center west edge 

sec. 27, T. 32 S., R. 55 W., Las Animas County. According 

to the U.S. Post Office Department, Troy P.O. was also at 

the following sites (Bauer, 1990):

Sept. 14, 1887, NW 1/4 sec. 21, T. 32 S., R. 55 W.

July 3, 1899, sec. 2, T. 34 S., R. 54 W.

Nov. 7, 1908, Moved from SE 1/4 sec. 1, T. 34 S., R. 54 

W., to NW 1/4 sec. 25, T. 33 S., R. 53 W.

Oct. 27, 1934, SE 1/4 sec. 22, T. 33 S., R. 54 W.

Oct. 21, 1938, SE 1/4 sec. 3, T. 34 S., R. 52 W.

Oct. 21, 1941, SE 1/4 sec. 3, T. 34 S., R. 52 W.

Tuck, P.O. 1916, SW 1/4 sec. 1, T. 31 S., R. 50 W., Baca 

County

Twenty Mile Waterhole (or 20 Mile Water Hole), NW 1/4 sec. 

36, T. 29 S., R. 54 W., Las Animas County

Two Buttes, P.O. 1909, SW 1/4 sec. 32, T. 28 W., T. 44 W., 

Baca County

Two Buttes Laccolith (geologic feature), SW 1/4 sec. 25, T. 27 

S., R. 46 W., Baca County

Unaquaqua Reservoir, T. 29 S., R. 55 and 56 W., Las Animas 

County

Utleyville, P.O. 1917, farming village, NE 1/4 sec. 5, T. 32 S., 

R. 50 W., settled by Utley family, Baca County

Van Bremer Road, SE 1/4 T. 31 S., R. 59 W., an extension of 

the road in the Trinidad quadrangle where it is called Alternate Santa Fe Route, Van Bremer Road. However, other 

maps do not show how or where the road then crossed the 

Purgatoire River. Animas County

Vigil and St. Vrain Land Grant in T. 42 S. and T. 43 S., R. 63 

W. and R. 64 W., along the Huerfano River, 1885. A Mexican Land Grant, originally planned to be a large part of the 

NW quarter of the La Junta quadrangle. Bent, Las Animas, 

and Otero Counties

Vilas, P.O. 1887, NW 1/4 sec. 1, T. 31 S., R. 45 W., 2 miles 

south of Bear Creek, a station on the Satanka Line, Baca 

County

Villegreen, P.O. 1917, settlement on Plum Creek in the SE 

corner sec. 25, T. 31 S., R. 55 W., on AT&SF R.R.. Villegreen was in three different locations over the years. Las 

Animas County

Vogel Canyon Stage Station, NW 1/4 SW 1/4 sec. 24, T. 26 S., 

R. 55 W., see Maine Ranch. Otero County

Wagon Gap, SE 1/4 sec. 8, T. 28 S., R. 53 W., Las Animas 

County

Walsh, P.O. 1926, SE 1/4 sec. 32, T. 30 S., R. 43 W., a station 

on the Satanka Line, Baca County
Sources of Information 49

Walts Corner, NW 1/4 sec. 14, T. 33 S., R. 58 W., Las Animas 

County

Watervale, P.O. 1888, on C&S R.R., SE 1/4 sec. 1, T. 35 S., R. 

59 W., Las Animas County

Webb, P.O. 1910, SW 1/4 sec. 26, T. 26 S., R. 42 W., Prowers 

County

Wentworth, P.O. 1911, NE 1/4 sec. 33, T. 32 S., R. 42 W., 

Baca County

Wilde, P.O. 1887, SE 1/4 NE 1/4 sec. 28, T. 27 S., R. 46 W., or 

NW 1/4 SW 1/4 sec. 28, T. 27 S., R. 46 W., Prowers County

Willow Spring, center sec. 18, T. 31 S., R. 52 W., Las Animas 

County

Wilson Switch (or Wilson), NW corner sec. 11, T. 35 S., R. 58 

W., on the C&S, it was the original name of Branson, Las 

Animas County 

Yachita, P.O. 1916, NE 1/4 sec. 3, T. 33 S., R. 57 W., Las 

Animas County

Yeiser, P.O. 1904, NW 1/4 sec. 23, T. 28 S., R. 54 W., in Smith 

Canyon, Las Animas County

Zion Chapel, SW 1/4 sec. 7, T. 31 S., R. 47 W., Baca County

Sources of Information

(Users of this map might want to know something about 

the areas that surround the La Junta quadrangle. For 

further information about three areas that border the La 

Junta quadrangle: on the north see map I–2469 (Lamar 

quadrangle; Scott, 1995), on the south see map I–1641 

(Raton quadrangle; Scott, 1986), on the west see map I–2745 

(Trinidad quadrangle; Scott, 2001). Nearly all call numbers 

for the following maps and books are those of the Western 

History and Genealogy Department, Denver Public Library. 

Not all references are cited in the text or on the maps. Many 

references listed here were used for background information.)

American Guide Series, 1941, Colorado, a guide to the highest 

state: New York, Hastings House Publishers, 511 p.

American Guide Series, 1945, New Mexico, a guide to the colorful state: Albuquerque, University of New Mexico Press, 

438 p.

Asher and Adams, 1875, Colorado: New York, Asher and 

Adams, a map, scale 1 inch equals 20 miles, DPL call number CG 4310 1875 .A8

Original drawing by Carol Quesenberry, USGS.
50 Historic Trail Map of the La Junta 1° × 2° Quadrangle, Southeastern Colorado and Western Kansas

Austin, J.R., 1936, A history of early Baca County: written and published by J.R. Austin, 54 p., DPL call number 

C978.84-B12au

Barry, Louise, 1972, The Beginning of the West: Kansas State 

Historical Society, Topeka, Kansas, 1,296 p., probably the 

most comprehensive history of Kansas and surrounding 

States yet written, DPL call number 978.1-B279be 1972

Bauer, W.H., Ozment, J.L., and Willard, J.H., 1971, Colorado 

postal history; the post offices: J.B. Publishing Co., The 

Crete News, Inc., 248 p., DPL call number C383-B3256co

Bauer, W.H., Ozment, J.L., and Willard, J.H., 1990, Colorado 

Post Offices, 1859–1989: Colorado Railroad Museum, 

Colorado Railroad Historical Foundation, Box 10, Golden, 

Colorado, 280 p., DPL call number C383.49788-B326co

Beachum, L.M., 1982, William Becknell; father of the Santa 

Fe Trade: Southwestern Studies Monograph no. 68, El Paso, 

Texas Western Press, 89 p. (Concerns the second Becknell 

trip to Santa Fe, N.M., in 1822) DPL call number C979.0-

2-B389 zbeac

Bent County, April 1, 2000; Last updated Jan. 20, 2004, Copyright 2003-2004, Bent County History: Web pages by Kathy 

Leigh and maintained by Mary Thompson Saban.

Blecha, A.D., 1999, Colorado Place Names: a Genealogical 

and Historical Guide to Colorado sites: Published by Colorado Genealogical Society, Inc., Denver, Colorado, 433 p., 

DPL call number C917.88003-B614bl

Bolton, Herbert E., 1990, Coronado, Knight of Pueblos and 

Plains: Albuquerque, University of New Mexico Press, one 

map, 491 p., DPL call number C979.01-V479ZboL, 1990

Bond, Frank, 1907, Map of the conterminous United Sates 

showing routes of the principal explorers from 1501 to 1844 

whose work had an important bearing on the settlement of 

the country and the fixing of its successive boundaries: General Land Office, scale 1 inch equals about 40 miles, DPL 

call number G3701 .S12 1907 .U5 G4

Campbell, Robert, December 1963, The excavation of Medina 

Rock Shelter, Chacuaco Creek Canyon: Southwestern 

Lore, The Colorado Archaeological Society, v. 29, no. 3, p. 

53–60. 

Carlson, P.H., 1998, The Plains Indians: Elma Dill Russell 

Spencer Series in the West and Southwest, number 19, 254 p.

Carpenter, Louis G., 1861–1935, A gazetteer of Colorado, 

place names that were included in Rydberg’s Flora of Colorado in 1906: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 291.

Cassells, E.S., 1983 (and later edition dated 1997), The 

Archaeology of Colorado: Johnson Books, Boulder, Colorado, p. 51–53 of 409 p.

Christopherson (Hirleman), Nancy C., 1982, Historical map 

of Las Animas County, Colorado: publisher unknown, 

scale, 1 inch equals 3.7 miles, DPL call number,

CG4313 .3. 1982 .H5

Claggett, L.S., 1987, History of Lincoln County, Colorado: 

Curtis Media Corp., includes map that probably is a reprint 

of 1914 Rand McNally map, 230 p., map scale 1 inch equals 

16 miles, DPL call number C978.889.03-C519hi

Clason, George, publication date unknown, Colorado-Kansas: 

Published by the Clason Map Co., Denver, scale 1 inch 

equals 6 miles, DPL call number CG 4310 .C56, Prowers 

County.

Clason, George, 1900(?), Baca County, Colorado: Published 

in Denver, Colorado, scale 1 inch equals 3 miles, DPL call 

number CG4313 .B3

Clason, George, 1913, Clason’s map of Colorado: Denver, 

Colorado, Clason Map Co., scale 1 inch equals 9 miles, 

DPL call number CG4311 .P3 1913 .H3 1963 

Clason, George, 1915, Map of the Pueblo Land District: Denver, Colorado, Clason Map Co., scale 1 inch equals 7 miles, 

DPL call number CG4314 .P8 1915 .C5

Clason, George, 1915, Free homestead lands of Colorado, 

described, a handbook for settlers: Denver, Colorado, The 

Clason Map Company, 318 p., DPL call number C978.806-

C568f

Clason, George, 1917, Clason’s map of Colorado: Denver, 

Colorado, Clason Map Co., scale 1 inch equals about 3 

miles, DPL call number CG 4311 .P2 1917 .C5.

Clason, George, 1919, Guide map of Colorado: Denver, Colorado, Clason Map Co., scale 1 inch equals 18 miles, DPL 

call number CG 4310 .1919 .C5 

Clason, George, publication date unknown, Map of the Lamar 

Land District: Denver, Colorado, Clason Map Company, 

scale 1 inch equals 5 miles, DPL call number CG4312 .L3 

.C56

Cobban, W.A., 1971, New and Little-Known Ammonites 

from the Upper Cretaceous (Cenomanian and Turonian) of 

the Western Interior of the United States: U.S. Geological 

Survey Professional Paper 699, p. 18.

Cobban, W.A., 1987, An ammonoid fauna from the Glencairn 

Shale Member of the Lower Cretaceous Purgatoire Formation, Baca County, Colorado, in New Mexico Geological 

Society Guidebook, 38th Field Conference, Northeastern 

New Mexico: New Mexico Geological Society, p. 217–222.

Coburn, Earl, 1912, Southeastern Colorado Land, Baca 

County, Colorado: publisher unknown, scale 1 inch equals 

about 7 miles, DPL call number CG4313, .B3 1912. B6
Sources of Information 51

Colorado State Department of Highways, 1924, Map of Colorado: Colorado State Department of Highways, scale 1 inch 

equals 14(?) miles, DPL call number CG 4311 .P2 1924 .C6 

.H5

Colorado State Department of Highways, 1963, Colorful 

Colorado, Map of Colorado: Colorado State Department of 

Highways, scale 1 inch equals 15 miles, DPL call number 

CG4311 .P2 1976 .C6 .H5

Cook, Harold J., 1927, New Geological and Palaeontological 

Evidence bearing on the Antiquity of mankind in America: 

Natural History, v. 27, no 3, p. 240–247.

Coues, Elliott, 1898, The journal of Jacob Fowler, narrating 

an adventure from Arkansas through the Indian Territory, 

Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, and New Mexico, to the 

sources of Rio Grande del Norte, 1821–1822: New York, 

F.P. Harper, American Explorers Series I, 183 p., DPL call 

number C978.8-F82j

Cram, George F., 1909, Map of Colorado: Chicago, George F. 

Cram, scale 1 inch equals 11 miles, DPL call number CG 

4310 1909 .C7 (Oversize)

Darton, N.H., 1906, Geology and underground water of the 

Arkansas Valley in eastern Colorado: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 52, 90 p., 28 plates.

Duffus, R.L, 1936, The Santa Fe Trail: New York, Tudor Publishing Co., 283 p. 

Egan, Ferol, 1985, Fremont, Explorer for a restless nation: 

Reno, University of Nevada Press, 582 p.

Elias, T.S., 1980, The complete trees of North America, Field 

guide and Natural History: New York, Outdoor Life/Nature 

Books, Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, 948 p.

Ellis, E.H., 1983, Colorado mapology: Frederick, Colorado, 

Jende-Hagan Book Corporation, 256 p.

Emory, W.H., Emory’s Report, 1848; Notes of a military 

reconnaissance from Fort Leavenworth, in Missouri, to San 

Diego, in California: New York, published by U.S. Government, 15 p., also in the House Executive Document 41, 30th 

Cong., 1st Session, p. 21.

Ewan, Joseph, 1950, Rocky Mountain Naturalists: Denver, 

Colorado, The University of Denver Press, 358 p.

Fagan, Brian M., 1985, The Adventure of Archaeology: 

National Geographic Society, p. 198–201.

Featherstone, William (Superintendent of Fort Bent), 1966, 

Bent’s Old Fort: La Junta Tribune-Democrat, September 

29, 1966, p. 4, column 3, article available in the clipping 

file of the Western History Department of the Denver Main 

Public Library under the file “Botany, Colorado,” Denver, 

Colorado.

Figgins, Jesse D., 1927, The Antiquity of man in America: 

Natural History, v. 27, no, 3, p. 229–239.

Figgins, Jesse D., 1931, An Additional Discovery of the Association of a “Folsom” artifact and fossil mammal remains: 

Proceedings, Denver, Colorado Museum of Natural History, 

v. 10, no. 2.

Foreman, Grant, 1926, Pioneer days in the early southwest: 

Cleveland, Ohio, The Arthur H. Clark Company, 349 p., 

DPL call number 633.6 p –F76p-5964

Franzwa, G.M., 1972, The Oregon Trail Revisited: St Louis, 

Mo., Patrice Press, Inc., 417 p.

Friedman, Paul D., 1988, Valley of Lost Souls, A history of 

the Pinon Canyon Region of Southeastern Colorado: The 

State Historical Society of Colorado, 122 p., DPL call number C978.89-F914val

Gannett, Henry, 1906, A gazetteer of Colorado: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 291, 185 p., call number (200) E no. 

291, U.S. Geological Survey Library.

Gardiner, Dorothy, 1941, West of the River: Binghamton, New 

York, Thomas Y. Crowell Co., 347 p. 

Gardner, M.L., 2000, Wagons for the Santa Fe Trade, Wheeled 

Vehicles and their Makers, 1822–1880: Albuquerque, University of New Mexico Press, 204 p.

Garst, Shannon, 1961, Broken-Hand Fitzpatrick, greatest of 

mountain men: New York, J. Messner, 190 p. DPL call 

number 917.8032-F582zgar

Gilbert, G.K., 1896a, Laccoliths in southeastern Colorado: 

Journal of Geology, v. 4, no. 6, p. 816–825.

Gilbert, G.K., 1896b, The underground water of the Arkansas 

Valley in eastern Colorado: U S. Geological Survey, 17th

Annual Report, pt. 2, p. 551–601.

Green, Mel, 1962, Map of the state of Colorado showing 

towns and railroads: Littleton, Colorado, published by 

the author, scale 1 inch equals 11 miles, DPL call number 

CG4311 .P3 1962 .G7

Gunnerson, James H., 1984, Documentary Clues and Northeastern New Mexico Archeology: New Mexico Archaeological Council Proceedings, v. 6, p. 47, about Juan de 

Ulibarri’s 1706 journey to El Quartelejo.

Gunnerson, James H., 1987, Archeology of the High Plains: 

Denver, Colorado, Rocky Mountain Region, USDA Forest 

Service, 259 p. 

Hafen, L.R., editor, 1930, The W.M. Boggs manuscript about 

Bent’s Fort, Kit Carson, the Far West and the life among the 

Indians: Colorado Magazine, v. 7, no. 2, p. 45–69. 
52 Historic Trail Map of the La Junta 1° × 2° Quadrangle, Southeastern Colorado and Western Kansas

Hafen, L.R., 1973, Broken Hand, The life of Thomas Fitzpatrick: Mountain Man, Guide and Indian Agent: Denver, 

Colorado, The Old West Publishing Company, 359 p. DPL 

call number: 917. 8032—F582zhaf2

Hafen, L.R., and Hafen, A.W., 1959, Relations with the Indians of the Plains, 1857–1861: The Far West and the Rockies 

Historical Series, 1820–1875, v. 9, p. 235.

Hafen, L.R., Hafen, A.W., and Ghent, W.J., 1931, Broken 

Hand, The life story of Thomas Fitzpatrick, Chief of the 

Mountain Men: Denver, The Old West Publishing Company, 

p. 186–192, DPL call number, 978.01-F585 hal

Hager, M.W., 1974, Late Pliocene and Pleistocene history of 

the Donnelly Ranch Vertebrate Site, Southeastern Colorado: 

Geology Journal, Contributions to Geology, Special Paper, 

no. 2, 62 p., USGS Library call number G(282)-qW96cs, 

no. 2; Colorado School of Mines Library call number QE 

841.H23

Haley, E.J., 1963, Rocky Mountain Railroad Club, Historic 

Railroad Map of Colorado: Map No. 1178, copyright 1913 

by the Clason Map Co., republished by Hotchkiss, Inc., 

Denver, Colorado, scale l inch equals approximately 9.5 

miles, first edition 1963, DPL call number CG 4311 .P3 

1913 .H3 1963. Back of map also shows many small maps 

of other Colorado railroads.

Hayden, Ferdinand V., 1877, Drainage map of Colorado: 

U.S. Geological and Geographical Atlas of Colorado and 

portions of adjacent territory: Department of the Interior, 

United States Geological and Geographical Surveys of the 

Territories, scale 1 inch equals 12 miles, shows trails, DPL 

call number CG 4311 .U5 1881 sheet II map

Henderson, C.W., 1926, Mining in Colorado, a history of 

discovery, development, and production; Map of Colorado 

showing location of mining districts, transmission lines, and 

water-power plants: U.S. Geological Survey Professional 

Paper 138, plate 1, scale 1:750,000, DPL call number CG 

4311 .H1 1924 .U5

Howbert, May, 1934, Early Trails in Colorado, 1803–1861 

(Maps): published by author, Denver Public Library, Western History and Genealogy Department, DPL call number 

CG4311 .P25. 1803–1861 .H6 .1934 (5 map sheets 66 by 

48 cm), sheet 1 1803–1819; sheet 2 1819–1836; sheet 3 

1836–1848; sheet 4 1848–1854; sheet 5 1854–1861.

Irwin, J.H., 1968, unpublished geologic map of Bent County, 

Colorado, Ground Water Branch, U.S. Geological Survey.

James, Edwin, 1822–23, Account of an expedition from 

Pittsburgh to the Rocky Mountains, performed in the years 

1819 and 1820 by order of the Hon. J.C. Calhoun, Secretary 

of War, under the command of Major Stephen H. Long: 

Philadelphia, H.C. Carey and I. Lea, 2 volumes and atlas of 

4 pages, 9 plates and 2 double maps (subject of this publication is Indians of western North America), DPL call number 

C978.02 L857ja.

Keck, F.B., 1999, Conquistadors to the 21st Century: A history 

of Otero and Crowley Counties, Colorado: La Junta, Colo., 

Otero Press, 430 p.

Kistler, W.H., 1881, Historical map of Colorado, compiled 

from U.S. Government Surveys and other authentic sources: 

Denver, Colorado, W.H. Kistler Stationery Company, scale 

1 inch equals 16 miles, DPL call number CG4310 1881r 

.N4 1958 map

Knox, Robin, 1982, Map of Colorado: Colorado Division of 

Wildlife, Dept. of Natural Resources, Denver, Colorado, 

shows the boundaries of the Comanche and Cimarron 

National Grasslands, scale 13 inches equal 1 mile, DPL call 

number CG4311 .E63 1982 .K49

LeCompte, Janet, 1972, Bent, St. Vrain and Company among 

the Comanche and Kiowa: Colorado Magazine, State Historical Society of Colorado, v. 49, no. 4, p. 273–293.

LeCompte, Janet, 1978, Pueblo, Hardscrabble, Greenhorn, 

the Upper Arkansas, 1832–1856: Norman, University of 

Oklahoma Press, 354 p.

Lee, Herschel, after 1900, The Mexican Land Grants in 

Colorado: publisher unknown, a map, scale 1 inch equals 12 

miles, DPL call number CG4312–G465

Lockley, M.G., Fillmore, B.J., and Marquardt, Lori, 1997, 

Dinosaur Lake, The story of the Purgatoire Valley Dinosaur 

Tracksite Area: Colorado Geological Survey, Special Publication 40, 64 p.

Lockley, M.G., 2001, Field Trip Report: Purgatoire Valley 

Dinosaur Tracksite and Mesalands Museum, Tucumcari, 

in Picketwire Canyonlands Dinosaur Tracksite Field Trip: 

Friends of Dinosaur Ridge Report, Summer 2001, volume 

13, number 2, p. 1 and 3.

Long, Margaret, 1947, The Smoky Hill Trail: Denver, Colorado, W.H. Kistler Stationery Company, 376 p.

Loomis, N.M., and Nasatir, A.P., 1967, Pedro Vial and 

the roads to Santa Fe: University of Oklahoma Press, p. 

369–379.

Louden, Richard H., 1961, Diary of George W. Hardesty: 

Colorado Magazine.

Louden, Richard H., 1972, Southern Colorado Cattlemen mark 

100 years: Cattle Guard 17, p. 9–15.
Sources of Information 53

Louden, Richard H., 1990, Las Animas County Ranching: 

published by 1st National Bank, La Junta, Colorado.

Louden, Richard H., 1990, Wooton’s toll gate at Raton Pass: 

Wagon Tracks, v. 5, no. 1, p. 18.

Louden, Richard H., 1993, The Military Freight Route: Wagon 

Tracks, v. 7, no. 3, p. 7–10.

Louden, Richard H., 1995, Diary of George W. Hardesty: 

Wagon Tracks, v. 9, part 2, p. 10–12.

Louden, Richard H., 1999, The Branson Story: published by 

the author(?)

The Loveland Archaeological Society, Inc., 1990, History of 

the Stone Age Fair: published by the Loveland Archaeological Society, Inc., 152 p.

Martin, Gene and Mary, 1972, Trail Dust, a quick picture 

history of the Santa Fe Trail: Colorado Springs, Colorado, 

Little London Press (third edition), 58 p.

Mattes, M.J., 1969, The Great Platte River Road; Covered 

wagon mainline via Fort Kearny to Fort Laramie: Nebraska 

State Historical Society, 583 p.

McCullough, Frances, 1998, The Barlow and Sanderson stage 

line in the San Luis Valley: The San Luis Valley Historian, 

v. 30, no. 3, p. 5–66.

McLaughlin, T.G., 1954 [1955], Geology and ground-water 

resources of Baca County, Colo.: U.S. Geological Survey 

Water Supply Paper 1256, 232 p.

Munroe, Bvt. Col., John, U.S.A., 1851, Territory of New 

Mexico (showing Indian Territory) compiled by 2d Lt. John 

G. Parke: U.S.T.E., Santa Fe, N. Mex., scale 1 inch equals 

36 miles, DPL call number: CG 4320 1851 K4

Murray, C.A., 1839, Travels in North America during the 

years 1834, 1835, and 1836, Including a summer residence 

with the Pawnee tribe of Indians in the remote prairies of 

the Missouri, by the Hon. Charles Augustus Murray: London, New York, R. Bentley, DPL call number C970.3-P284, 

v. 1 and v. 2, RP 385 #3804.

Nell, Louis, 1882, Nell’s Topographical & Township map 

of the State of Colorado, compiled from U.S. Geological 

Surveys and other National sources: Denver, Colorado, 

Chain and Hardy, General Agents for Colorado, scale 1 inch 

equals 11 miles, DPL CG 4310 1882 .N4

Nell, Louis, 1887, Nell’s Topographical map of the state of 

Colorado: Denver, Colorado, E. Besley & Co., scale 1 

inch equals 10 miles, DPL call number CG4310 1887 .N4 

[Shows trails from General Land Office survey plats.]

Nell, Louis, 1892, Nell’s Topographical map of the state of 

Colorado: Denver, Colorado, E. Besly Co., Publishers, scale 

1 inch equals 10 miles, DPL call number CG4310 1892 .N4.

Nell, Louis, 1895, Topographical map of the state of Colorado: 

Denver, Colorado, Hamilton and Kendrick, scale 1 inch 

equals 10 miles, DPL call number CG4310 1895 .N4.

Nell, Louis, 1899, Nell’s Topographical map of the state of 

Colorado: compiled from U.S. Government Surveys and 

other authoritative sources, Wash., D.C.: Denver, Colorado, 

published by Hamilton and Kendrick, scale 1 inch equals 10 

miles, DPL call number CG4310 1899 .N4.

Nell, Louis, 1903, Topographical map of the state of Colorado: 

Denver, Colorado, The Kendrick Books Stationery Co., 

scale 1 inch equals 10 miles, DPL call number CG 4310 

1903 .N4.

Nell, Louis, 1907, Nell’s Topographical map of the state of 

Colorado: Denver, Colorado, The Kendrick Book and Stationery Co., scale 1 inch equals 10 miles, DPL call number 

CG 4310 1907 .N4.

Noble, David G., 2000, Ancient Colorado, An archaeological 

perspective: Colorado Council of Professional Archaeologists, Denver, 48 p.

Oliva, L.E., 1873, The Aubry route of the Santa Fe Trail: Kansas Quarterly, V (5th part of series), Spring 1873, p. 21–25.

Ormes, R.M., 1963, Railroads and the Rockies, a record of 

lines in and near Colorado: Denver, Colorado, Sage Books, 

406 p.

Parkman, Francis, 1949, The Oregon Trail: Sketches of Prairie 

and Rocky Mountain Life: New York, The Modern Library, 

366 p.

Pearce, Thomas M., 1965, New Mexico place names, a geographical dictionary: The University of New Mexico Press, 

187 p., DPL call number C929.4898-P315ne

Pelzer, Louis, 1911, Henry Dodge, Iowa Biographical Series, 

edited by Benjamin F. Shambaugh: Iowa City, Iowa, The 

State Historical Society of Iowa, 266 p., DPL call number 

C978.02-D663pe.

Pierce, John, 1863, Map of public surveys in Colorado Territory to accompany a report of the Surveyor General, 1863: 

U.S. Surveyor General, scale 1 inch equals 18 miles, DPL 

call number CG 4310 1863 .P5. [The third official map of 

Colorado.]

Rand McNally & Company, 1881, New Sectional Map of 

Colorado: Chicago, Rand McNally & Co., scale 1 inch 

equals 12 miles, DPL call number CG 4310 1881 .R3. 

Rand McNally & Company, 1883, Colorado: Chicago, Rand 

McNally & Co., scale 1 inch equals 4 miles, DPL call number CG 4310 1883 .R3.
54 Historic Trail Map of the La Junta 1° × 2° Quadrangle, Southeastern Colorado and Western Kansas

Rand McNally & Company, 1887, Rand and McNally Indexed 

atlas of the world: Chicago, Rand McNally & Co., scale 1 

inch equals 24 miles, DPL call number CG 4310 .1887 .R36

Rand McNally & Company, 1891, Map of the Denver and Rio 

Grande Railway, showing stage lines and all principal mining camps and pleasure resorts in Colorado: Chicago, Rand 

McNally & Co., scale 1 inch equals 25 miles, DPL call 

number CG 4311 .P3 1891 .R3

Rand McNally & Company, 1913, Rand McNally Pocket 

Parcel Post Map of the U.S. and a complete map of Colorado, with an index showing all post offices: Chicago, Rand 

McNally & Co., scale 1 inch equals 16 miles, DPL call 

number CG 4311 .P8 1913 .R3

Riddle, Kenyon, 1948, Records and maps of the old Santa Fe 

Trail: Raton, New Mexico, Raton Daily Range, 36 p., four 

maps on 5 folded sheets in pocket, scale 1 inch equals 19 

miles, DPL call number, C978.014-R413rd

Riddle, Kenyon, 1963, Records and maps of the old Santa Fe 

Trail: West Palm Beach, Fla., published by the author(?), 

147 p., scale 1 inch equals 19 miles, DPL call number 

C978.014-R431re2

Roberts, Frank H.H., Jr., 1946, Prehistoric peoples of Colorado: The Colorado Magazine, v. 23, no. 4, p. 145–156.

Rogers, J.G., 1967, Colorado place names: Denver, Colorado, 

Colorado Historical Society, 6 rolls of positive 35 mm 

microfilm in Western History and Genealogy Department of 

the Denver Public Library.

Ruth, Kent, 1963, Landmarks of the west, a guide to historic sites: Lincoln, Nebraska, and London, University of 

Nebraska Press, 309 p.

Schroeder, Albert H., and Withers, Arnold M., 1959, A study 

of the Apache Indians, Part II, The Jicarilla Apaches: Santa 

Fe, National Park Service, p. 23–25. [This is about Juan de 

Ulibarri’s 1706 journey to El Quartelejo.]

Scott, G.R., 1968, Geologic and structural contour map of the 

La Junta quadrangle, Colorado and Kansas: U.S. Geological 

Survey Miscellaneous Geologic Investigations Series I–560, 

scale 1:250,000.

Scott, G.R., 1972, Historic Trail Map of the La Junta 2° quadrangle, Colorado: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous 

Field Studies Map MF–346, scale 1:250,000, DPL call 

number CG 4312 .P25 1972 S3.

Scott, G.R., 1986, Historic Trail Maps of the Raton and 

Springer 30' × 60' quadrangles, New Mexico and Colorado: 

U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Investigations Series 

I–1641, scale 1:100,000, DPL call number CG 4312 .P25 

1986 .S3.

Scott, G.R., 1995, Historic Trail Map of the Lamar 1° × 2° 

quadrangle, Colorado and Kansas: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Investigations Series I–2469, scale 

1:250,000, DPL call number: CG 4312 .P25 1995 .S3.

Scott, G.R., 1999, Historic trail map of the Denver 1° × 2° 

quadrangle, central Colorado: U.S. Geological Survey Geologic Investigations Series I–2639, scale 1:250,000.

Scott, G.R., 2001, Historic Trail Map of the Trinidad 1° × 2° 

quadrangle, southern Colorado: U.S. Geological Survey 

Geologic Investigations Series I–2745, scale 1:250,000, 

DPL call number CG4312 .P25 2001 .S3.

Scott, J.A., 1986, The Butterflies of North America, a Natural 

History and Field Guide: Stanford, California, Stanford University Press, 583 p., DPL call number 595.789097-S425 ba.

Seward, D.E., 1998, A Raton Mountain Railway Journal, in

Santa Fe in the Intermountain West, Colorado Rail Annual 

No. 23, A Journal of Railroad History in the Rocky Mountain West: Colorado Railroad Historical Foundation, Inc., 

pages 10–163.

Smith, Frank W., 1930(?), Map of Prowers County, Colorado, Pueblo Land District, Civil and Hydraulics Engineer, 

Lamar and Holly, Colorado: Denver, Clason Map Company, 

scale 1:142,560 or 1 inch equals 5 miles, DPL call number 

CG4313 .P7 1930? .C5

Steege, L. C., and Welch, W.W., 1967, The Athabascans: N.W. 

Plains Publishing Co., p. 95–98.

Stimson, Julia M., The making of Colorado: Denver Public 

Library, scale 1 inch equals 16 miles, DPL call number 

CG4311 .P25 1935 .S7

Swanton, J.R., 1953, The Indian tribes of North America: 

Washington, D.C., Smithsonian Institution Bureau of 

American Ethnology Bulletin 145, 726 p., DPL call number 

C970.1-S972in

Taylor, Morris F., 1966, Trinidad, Colorado Territory: Trinidad, Trinidad State Junior College, 214 p. (Note 12, in 

Chapter 4, Hall, History of the State of Colorado., At the 

height of the so-called Trinidad War of 1868, it was John 

Taylor who carried the message for help from the Anglos 

in town via the Hole-in-the-Prairie Stage Station to General 

Penrose at Fort Lyon.)

Taylor, Morris F., 1971, First mail west: Stagecoach lines on 

the Santa Fe Trail: Albuquerque, New Mexico, University 

of New Mexico Press, 253 p.

Taylor, Morris F., 1972, Fort Stevens, Fort Reynolds, and the 

defense of Southern Colorado: Colorado Magazine, v. 49, 

no. 2, p. 143–162.
Sources of Information 55

Taylor, Morris F., 1973, The Barlow and Sanderson Stage 

Lines in Colorado, 1872–1884: The Colorado Magazine, v. 

50, no. 2, p. 142–162.

Taylor, Morris F., publication date unknown, Basil (Bill 

Metcalf) and his Toll Gate: pamphlet published by Trinidad State Junior College with map and cover by Willard C. 

Louden.

Taylor, R.C., 1963, Colorado, South of the Border: Denver, 

Colorado, Sage Books, 561 p., Jefferson County Public 

Library call number SP-CC C978.8-Taylor

Thayer, W.M., 1873, Thayer’s map of Colorado: Denver, Colorado, Richards & Co., fourth edition, scale 1 inch equals 24 

miles, DPL call number CG4310 1873 .T5

Thomas, A.B., 1940, The Plains Indian and New Mexico, 

1751–1778: Albuquerque, University of New Mexico Press, 

232 p.

Trommlitz, George, 1889, Prowers County, Colorado, BentProwers Map, Bent and Prowers [Counties] Irrigation 

District, Two Buttes Irrigation District, and Mammoth 

Irrigation District: publisher unknown, scale 1:63,360 or 1 

inch equals 5 miles, or 1 inch equals 1.25 miles, DPL call 

number CG4313 .P7 1889 .T7

Ubbelohde, Carl, Benson, Maxine, and Smith, D.A., 1972, 

A Colorado History: Boulder, Colorado, Pruett Publishing 

Co., 380 p. 

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, 2003, 

Comanche National Grassland, Colorado, America’s Great 

Outdoors: U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, 

scale 1:126,720 or 1 inch equals 2 miles.

U.S. Department of the Interior, 1905, State of Colorado, 

General Land Office, compiled from the official records of 

the GLO and other sources: U.S. Department of the Interior, 

scale 1 inch equals 12 miles, DPL call number CG4310 

1905 .U5 .L3.

U.S. Department of the Interior, 1970, General Land Office, 

New Mexico Private Land Claim, Land Grants, Vigil and St. 

Vrain, docket 17: U.S. Department of the Interior, scale

1 inch equals 19 miles, DPL call number CG4311 .G465 

1870 .C6 .L3

U.S. Geological Survey, various publication years, Topographic and County maps (within the La Junta 1° × 2° quadrangle) at scales of 1:100,000, 1:62,500, 1:50,000 (county 

series), 1:48,000, and 1:24,000, all published by the U.S. 

Geological Survey.

U.S. National Archives, date of microfilm unknown, Colorado, 

First Cavalry through Denver City Home Guards (6 months, 

1861–1862): U.S. National Archives Microfilm (Muster 

roll), Microcopy No. 594 [Compiled records showing service of military units in Volunteer Union Organizations; 16 

mm roll 4. A two-volume printed copy is in Western History 

and Genealogy Department, Denver Public Library.] DPL 

call number C978.802-N58co

U.S. Post Office Department, 1892, Post Route Map of the 

state of Colorado showing Post Offices with the intermediate distances and mail routes in operation on March 1, 1895: 

U.S. Post Office Department, scale 1 inch equals 8 miles, 8 

sheets, DPL call number CG 4311 .P8 1892 .U5 .P6

Van Arsdale, Perry C., The great pioneer state of Colorado, 

showing old roads, railroads, forts, towns, trails, stage lines, 

ore and freight routes, mining and Indian areas, trading 

posts, telegraphs, cattle trails, emigrant and army routes, 

etc.: publisher unknown, scale 1 inch equals 12 miles, DPL 

call number CG4311 .S1 1972 .V3

Vanderwilt, John W., 1947, Mineral resources of Colorado: 

Denver, Colorado, Mineral Resources Board, State of Colorado, 547 p.

Voegeli, P.T., Sr., and Hershey, L.A., 1965, Geology and 

Ground Water resources of Prowers County, Colorado: U.S. 

Geological Survey Water Supply Paper 1772, 101 p.

Walton Enterprises, 1971, State of Colorado: Eight States 

Associates, Inc., Professional Treasure Hunters, scale 1 inch 

equals about 15 miles, DPL call number CG4311 .E15 1971 

.W3

Warren, G.K., 1859, Memoir, in Pacific Railroad Explorations 

and Surveys Series, 33rd Cong. 2d Sess., Sen. Ex. Doc. no. 

78, v. 11 (Serial 768); map of the territory of the United 

States: U.S. Congress [contains Pope’s route in 1851], DPL 

call number C4050 .1858 .W3 [Serial 768 is missing in the 

Denver Public Library collection.]

Wedel, W.R., 1942, Archaeological remains in central Kansas 

and their possible bearing on the location of Quivira: Smithsonian Miscellaneous collections, v. 101, no. 7, p. 1–24, and 

10 plates.

Wedel, W.R., 1959, An Introduction to Kansas Archeology: 

Washington, D.C., U.S. Government Printing Office, DPL 

call number C970.1381-W414in

Wedel, W.R., 1963, The High Plains and their Utilization by 

the Indian: reprinted from American Antiquity, v. 29, no. 1, 

July 1963, 16 p.

Weist, W.G., 1965, Geology and occurrence of ground water 

in Otero County and the southern part of Crowley County, 

Colorado: U.S. Geological Survey Water Supply Paper 

1799, 90 p.
56 Historic Trail Map of the La Junta 1° × 2° Quadrangle, Southeastern Colorado and Western Kansas

Wheat, C.I., 1958, Mapping the Transmississippi West, 

1540–1861: San Francisco, Institute of Historical Cartography, vols. 1–5, v. 1, 1540–1804, v. 2, 1804–1845, v. 

3, 1846–1854, v. 4, 1855–1860, v. 5, parts 1 and 2, v. 3, 

(1959), p. 18.

Wheeler, G.M., 1876, Map of part of Central Colorado, Atlas 

sheet no. 53 (C.): U.S. Geographical Surveys West of the 

One Hundredth Meridian, scale 1 inch equals 4 miles.

Wilbar, A.P., 1860, Sketch of Public Surveys in New Mexico, 

compiled from maps on file in the office of the Surveyor 

General, Santa Fe, New Mexico, Sept. 1, 1860: Santa Fe, 

New Mexico, Surveyor General, scale 1 inch equals 36 

miles, DPL call number CG 4321 1860 .W5

Wilkins, T.E., 1974, Colorado railroads, chronological development: Boulder, Colorado, Pruett Publishing Company, 

309 p.

Wormington, H. Marie, 1957, Ancient man in North America: 

The Denver Museum of Natural History Popular Series, no. 

4 [fourth edition, revised 1957], 322 p.