Transportation across the region has taken a variety of forms since humans first traversed the region. Over time, different modes of transport have appeared, but these have often followed routes established by earlier peoples with earlier technologies. The Mountain Branch of the Santa Fe Trail began carrying travelers through the region in the 1820s. As settlement developed, stagecoach lines, railroads, and asphalt-paved highways followed this route from Bent’s Fort to Trinidad, and south from there over Raton Pass to Santa Fe.
5LA.11648 Road
5LA.11788 Trinidad Highway bridge
The railroad arrived in 1876, bringing new commercial goods to residents and providing a critical link for cattle ranchers to move livestock to distant eastern markets. The rail lines and depots in the area did good business until after World War II, when better roads and increased truck transport led to the closing of many small depots.
Historic Contexts
Transportation
Cultural Resources Survey of the Purgatoire River Region
5LA.11597 DAR trail marker
5HF.2336 Denver & Rio Grande Railroad Depot
As settlement increased, the demand for decent roads increased as well. Early roads had been dictated by topography, following and conforming to contours and physical features of land and water. As homesteaders claimed land in parcels dictated by the more abstract township and range system, which ignored topography in favor of strict uniformity of parcel size, new roads often bounded properties and were built along section lines. The survey documented traces of several roads from 19th century trails to original routes of Highways 350 and 160. Though the rail line from La Junta to Trindad was once lined with depots, none remain. However, a depot located on the Denver and Rio Grande route through Huerfano County was documented.
Site types: • Historic trails and road beds • Railroad Resources • Culverts and Bridges 5OT.1165 Section of the original Hwy 350
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