Santa Fe Trail - Cimarron Cutoff / Clayton
This is a two sided marker
Side A:
Santa Fe Trail
Cimarron Cutoff
The Santa Fe Trail was the major trade route between New Mexico and Missouri from 1821 until arrival of the railroad in 1880. The Cimarron Cutoff, a major branch of the Trail, passed through this portion of northeast New Mexico. Some of the best preserved segments of the Trail route are located at nearby Kiowa National Grasslands, along the Santa Fe National Historic Trail.
Side B:
Clayton
Population 2,968 ~ Elevation 4,969
Trade caravans and homesteaders traveling the Cimarron Cutoff of the Santa Fe Trail passed near here. Clayton was founded in 1887 and named for the son of cattleman and ex-Senator Stephen W. Dorsey, one of its developers. It became a major livestock shipping center for herds from the Pecos Valley and the Texas Panhandle.
Marker is on U.S. 56 at milepost 83.5, on the left when traveling east.
Courtesy hmdb.org
