2. Starvation Peak - Also known as Bernal Hill, this peak was a landmark for Santa Fe Trail traders. Bernal Spring offered water to traders and for a time there was a stage station here.
3. Kearney's Gap - Here, in 1821, Captain Ignacio Gallegos met trader William Becknell's party from Missouri. Mexican independence from Spain two months earlier allowed Governor Facundo Meigares to welcome Becknell and then open the Santa Fe Trail to legal international commerce between Mexico and the United States.
4. Las Vegas, New Mexico - From the top of the flat-roofed adobe structure, between numbers 210-218 on the north side of the plaza Brigadier General Stephen Watts Kearny claimed New Mexico territory for the United States in 1846
5. Watrous Store (Watrous Valley Ranch House) - Samuel Watrous opened a trading store here in 1849 and made his home in this structure. The store catered to Santa Fe Trail traders until the very end of the trail era. The town was originally know as La Junta and was renamed Watrous when the railroad reached the town.
6. Fort Union National Monument - Three forts were constructed o this site, the most recent built in 1863. It protected the western end of the trail and maintained well-supplied warehouses for both military units and private caravans reaching the fort from the east.
Submitted: July 2, 2013, by Chris English of Phoenix, Arizona.
Database Locator Identification Number: p246218
File Size: 1.253 Megabytes
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