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Introduction

List of Routes

Image Gallery

Internet Resources

Introduction

          By the 1860’s Americans began to look beyond the   settlements of the states on the western bank of the Mississippi River, such as Missouri and the eastern part of Kansas.  Here wagon trains formed at such places as Independence in Missouri to travel through the expansive prairies via several trails to the old Spanish colonial city of Santa Fe which up to this time was focused upon its lifeline to Mexico via the El Camino de Tierra Adentro.   From Santa Fe westward bound migrants traveled to the Rocky Mountains and on to California on the Old Spanish Trail. 

     After the American Civil War an increasing number of migrants turned their attention to the old Spanish Southwest. Here they came into conflict with the Native-American Comanche, and Apache who like the Great Plains tribes allowed migrants to cross their territory but would not tolerate permanent settlements. When migrants moved into Colorado and New Mexico in violation of native sovereignty, the Indians waged a determined resistance. Gradually, however, the United States Army subdued them and this region lay open to further settlement during the last final decades of the 19^th century.

     Westward migration into the Southwestern United States first opened with the great rush of migrants to the mountainous regions following the discovery of gold in California.  Starting in the 1850’s prospectors used the Old Spanish Trail as they flooded into California, Nevada, Utah, and Colorado. The rush diminished significantly after the most workable deposits were exhausted and many mining communities disappeared. Yet the mining frontier helped lay the foundation for communities that would become important commercial centers for continued migrations into the Southwest. During the middle decades of the 19^th century cattle ranching, brought more migration to the Southwest via the South Texas and Old San Antonio Trails.  At first, cattle-ranchers settled in Texas to pursue range ranching, an activity requiring ranchers to drive huge herds of cattle hundreds of miles over open grasslands to designated slaughter depots. As railroads opened more eastern markets to beef, more sedentary forms of ranching took hold throughout the Southwest.  Some Southwest immigrants, no longer able to make a living as ranchers, returned to the Midwest and found employment in support industries in cities like Chicago, which became the leading center for meat processing and packaging in the United States.

     Soon after the ranchers came to the Southwest they were followed by the farmers.  Thousands of migrants pushed into the Southwest after the passage of the 1862 Homestead Act awarded free grants of 160 acres to anyone who would improve the land.  During the 1880s and 1890s, these migrants-turned-farmers clashed with ranchers over land usage and water rights.  As with the Great Plains and other western areas a significant percentage of these migrants were newly arrived foreign immigrants, who preferred to take their chances with western farming rather than endure life in the rapidly industrializing eastern cities, or former slaves who sought refuge from the racially exclusive environment of the American South.  Unfortunately these ethnic minorities seldom found increased opportunity or equality along the route west and settled along side of the previous Mexican population in the growing cities of the newly emerging Southwest.

List of routes

Generally these routes are defined as having their terminus in present day Arizona, New Mexico, West Texas, as well as southern Nevada, Utah, and Colorado.

LINKS = in the following list will take you to more information about that historic trail, road or migration route.

Road Trip= link to the “Road Trip” page of this route.

Image Gallery= link to the “Image Gallery” for this route.

Topo Map = link to a topographic map of this route.

§  = denotes an established or proposed road as listed in the Colorado Archives.

NAME (A)

FROM / TO

DESCRIPTIVE  INFORMATION

Abeyta Pass Toll Road

Topo Map

La Veta, CO

to Russell CO

This 22 mile “toll road” was built c.1874 and appears to be an improvement of the former Cucharas & Sangre de Cristo Wagon Road that started at present day La Veta, CO.  Today much of this road is US Route 160. §

Alamosa and Pagosa Springs Wagon Road

Topo Map

Alamosa, CO to

Pagosa Springs, CO

Established c.1878 this road ran, a distance of 85 miles, following Alamosa Creek westward upstream to Tipton’s Ranch at Cat Creek. Then to a branch near Lookout Mountain to Summitville. Then on to the summit of the divide between the Alamosa and East San Juan Rivers. From here the road travelled down the East San Juan River to Pagosa Springs. AKA Alamosa and Pagosa Springs Wagon Toll Road; Alamosa, Summit & Pagosa Springs Toll Road; and Alamosa San Juan & Pagosa Toll Road. §

Ancient Way

A network of Indian Trade Routes in New Mexico, in use even before the arrival of the Spanish.

Apache Trail

Apache Jct., AZ to

 Roosevelt Lake, AZ

Originally a stagecoach trail that ran through the Superstition Mountains of Arizona.

NAME (B)

FROM / TO

DESCRIPTIVE  INFORMATION

Bradshaw Trail

Image Gallery

San Bernardino, CA

to La Paz, AZ

La Paz is known today as Ehrenberg. It was the first road connecting Riverside County to the Colorado River. aka The Gold Road

NAME (C)

FROM / TO

DESCRIPTIVE  INFORMATION

Canon City, Grand River, and San Juan Road

Topo Map

Canon City, Co to

Slumgullion Pass, Co

Established c.1862 this road ran westward from Canon City to the 28th mile of the Canon City-Hamilton road southerly via Poncha and Sawatch Passes to an intersection with Loring’s road from Ft. Garland to Salt Lake City along the Rio Grande del Norte. §

Chávez Trail

Winslow, AZ to

Prescott, AZ

Established in 1864 this east-west trail crossed the southern part of central Arizona’s Verde Valley, linking Winslow, on the Colorado Plateau, with Prescott, in the Central Arizona Highlands, where Fort Whipple was also located.

Chihuahua Trail

Mexico City, MX

to Santa Fe, NM

A section of the El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro.  Probably so named because it linked Chihuahua, Mexico with northern New Mexico. 

Cimarron Cutoff

see Cimarron Route

Cimarron Route

Holcomb, KS

to Watrous, NM

This route was the portion of the Santa Fe Trail that cut through the Oklahoma Panhandle.  It was shorter than the Mountain Route through Colorado by about 100 miles, AKA Cimarron Cutoff or Cimarron Trail.

Cimarron Trail

see Cimarron Route

Cooke’s Wagon Trail

see Desert Trail

Crook Road

Fort Apache, AZ to Fort Whipple/Prescott, AZ

In 1871 General Crook located and marked this military supply road. Actual construction of a road started in the spring of 1872. By 1873, supplies began moving by pack train and in September 1874, the first wagon supply train left Fort Whipple for Fort Apache. The road was in continual use until the Rim Road was built in 1928.  AKA. General Crook Road

Cucharas ­- Elizabethtown Wagon Road

See: Cucharas – Moreno Wagon Road

Cucharas & Moreno Valley Wagon Road

Topo Map

Cucharas, CO to

 Elizabethtown, NM

Established c.1868, this 80 mile route ran from the south line of Huerfano County where it crosses the Cucharas River, extending up the valley, across Cucharas Pass and terminating in Moreno Valley.  AKA Cucharas ­- Elizabethtown Wagon Road §

Cucharas & Sangre de Cristo Wagon Road

La Veta, CO to headwaters of the Sangre de Cristo Creek, CO

Established c.1868 this route began at the Francisco family homestead at present-day LaVeta, Co. the road extended westward up the South Veta (Abeyta) Creek crossing the Continental Divide at La Veta Pass and terminating at the headwaters of the of Sangre de Cristo Creek.  Around 1874 this route also became a “toll road” known as the Abeyta Pass Wagon Road.  §

NAME (D)

FROM / TO

DESCRIPTIVE  INFORMATION

Denver and San Luis Valley Wagon Road

Topo Map

Denver, CO to

Los Pinos, NM

Established c. 1865 this route started at Denver, then southerly to about three miles above the mouth of Plum Creek, thence southerly to where the road leading from Colorado City to South Park crosses the south branch of the South Platte River, thence southerly to where the roads leading from Canon City to California and to Montgomery diverge, thence southerly to the crossing of the Arkansas River, about fifteen miles above Canon City, thence southerly through Poncha Pass to the crossing of the Rio del Norte, thence by way of the Conejos agency and Los Pinos to the southern boundary of Colorado. §

Desert Trail

El Paso, TX

to Yuma, AZ

That segment, of a complex of trails that ran through NM and AZ to the Pacific coast, which ran from southwestern New Mexico to the Colorado River, AKA Cooke’s Wagon Trail.

NAME (E)

FROM / TO

DESCRIPTIVE  INFORMATION

Ehrenberg – Prescott Road

Ehrenburg / LaPaz, AZ to

Prescott / Ft. Whipple, AZ

Established in 1863 this road from the Colorado River was southernmost route of two main supply roads to the area of Prescott and Fort Whipple. Constructed from the river ports of La Paz and Ehrenberg.  This toll road ran for about 150 miles over rough, unsettled Indian country. 

El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro

Road Trip;   Image Gallery

Mexico City, MX

to Santa Fe, NM

The “Royal Road to the Lands of the Interior” also sometimes called just Camino Real, this was the main trail from Mexico to Santa Fe, and followed the Rio Grande Valley. AKA Chihuahua Trail; El Camino Real. 

NAME (F)

FROM / TO

DESCRIPTIVE  INFORMATION

Fort Garland, Summit & Decatur Toll Road

Fort Garland, CO to

Summit Mining District in Rio Grande Co. CO

Established in 1875 from Fort Garland in Costilla County, westerly to the Rio Grande, crossing near the mouth of the Alamosa River, then extending westward up the Alamosa River valley to the Decatur Mining District in Conejos County, then to the Summit Mining District in Rio Grande County, about 75 miles. §

Fort Smith-Santa Fe Trail

Fort Smith, AR

to Santa Fe NM

Name for the entire route to Santa Fe.  The eastern segment ran from eastern Oklahoma, along the north side of the Arkansas River to near Great Bend, KS where it linked with the Santa Fe Trail, AKA Gregg’s Route.

NAME (G)

FROM / TO

DESCRIPTIVE  INFORMATION

General Crook Road

Fort Apache, AZ to Fort Whipple/Prescott, AZ

see Crook Road

Gold Road

see Bradshaw Trail

Grayback Toll Road

Established 1879, this road ran from the mouth of Grayback Creek in Huerfano County, CO upstream 4 miles to near the carbonate and iron mines to the summit of the Grayback Mountain. §

Gregg’s Route

Van Buren, AR

to Santa Fe, NM

Josiah Gregg was a Santa Fe trader who sought a southern alternative to the existing Santa Fe Trail.  His route generally followed the Canadian River across what is now Oklahoma, AKA Fort Smith-Santa Fe Trail.

NAME (H)

FROM / TO

DESCRIPTIVE  INFORMATION

Hardyville – Prescott Road

Hardyville (now Bullhead City) / Fort Mahove, AZ

To Fort Whipple /

Prescott, AZ

Established in 1863 this road from the Colorado River was the northernmost route of two main supply roads to the area of Prescott and Fort Whipple. Constructed from the river ports of Fort Mohave and Hardyville, (now Bullhead City), this toll road ran for about 150 miles over rough, unsettled Indian country. 

Honeymoon Trail

Image Gallery

Pipe Spring, AZ

to St. George, UT

Southern segment of the Old Arizona Road. Mormon newlyweds from NM & AZ used this road to travel to the Temple to seal their marriages.

Huerfano County Territorial Road

Established c.1874, this road traveled between B.T. Howard’s Ranch in Huerfano County, by way of St. Mary’s, then southwest through the ranch of Hamilton Brothers on the North Beyta, and thence to the mouth of the South Beyta Canon. §

NAME ( I )

FROM / TO

DESCRIPTIVE  INFORMATION

NAME (J)

FROM / TO

DESCRIPTIVE  INFORMATION

Janos Trail

Santa Rita, NM to

 Chihuahua and Sonora

in northern Mexico

A trade route established by the Spaniards, extending from the copper mines in New Mexico. Tradition has it that this trail used part of the Ancient Way. 

NAME (K)

FROM / TO

DESCRIPTIVE  INFORMATION

NAME (L)

FROM / TO

DESCRIPTIVE  INFORMATION

La Bajada Hill Wagon Road

Santa Fe, NM to

Albuquerque, NM

The road was first built in 1598 by enlarging an old Indian trail, and was originally part of the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro It ranks as the oldest European built highway in the United States.  

LaJunta & New Mexico Road

Established c.1876, this route ran from the Colorado-New Mexico border in the Canon of San Isidro (or Manco la Burra) Creek then down to San Francisco Creek, then down to the Purgatoire River then to Tempe Station on the Trinidad & La Junta Wagon Road, then on northeast to La Junta. §

Las Animas City & Fort Union Wagon Road

Established c.1869, this wagon road travelled from the head of the south bank of Purgatoire Canyon in Las Animas County, CO, then southward along the Vega Redondo Creek upstream and across Sugarite Pass of the Raton Mountains in the direction of Fort Union to the Colorado-New Mexico Line. §

NAME (M)

FROM / TO

DESCRIPTIVE  INFORMATION

Mackenzie Trail

Shackleford Co., TX

to Fort Sumner, NM

Fort Griffin was the beginning of the Mackenzie Trail, which stretched across West Texas to Fort Sumner, New Mexico.

Middle Creek Pass Toll Road

Established c.1874 this road ran from the mouth of Middle Creek Canon in Huerfano County, CO crossing the Sangre de Cristo Mountains at Middle Creek Pass, then to the Huerfano-Costilla County line, then westward 10 miles into Costilla County. §

Mojave Road

Image Gallery

Los Angeles, CA to

 Albequerque, NM

Became a military wagon road in 1859 with the establishment of Ft. Mojave on the Colorado River.  During the period of 1860-1880 the road served travelers heading west.

Mosca Pass Wagon Road

Topo Map

Mouth of Mosca Canyon, Alamosa Co., CO to Badito, CO

As early as c.1874 this road travelled from the mouth of Mosca Creek in the San Luis Valley, up the creek and across the summit at Mosca Pass of the Sangre de Cristo Range, thence down the canyon on the east side, then into and thru Poison Canyon.  After improvements over the next 20 years it extended down along the Hurefano River to Badito, CO totaling about 28 miles, from the point of beginning. The road at Mosca Pass charged a toll of $2 per wagon $1 for a horse and rider, a 50 cents for each head of cattle, sheep, etc. By 1892 about 30 to 40 wagons crossed the pass each day.  AKA. Mosca Pass & Huerfano Toll Road; Mosca Pass & Poison Canon Toll Road; Mosca Pass Toll Road §

Mountain Monarch Wagon Road

Wahatoya Valley,  Huerfano Co., CO to Wahatoya Camp, CO

Established c.1879, this road ran from a point in the Wahatoya Valley in Huerfano County about 2 1/2 miles southeast of La Veta extending up the east side of the valley along the Wahatoya Creek then up to the head of the east canon of the West Spanish Peak or what is called Ducket Gulch a distance of about 5 miles from the beginning. §

Mountain Route

Holcomb, KS

to Watrous, NM

The portion of the Santa Fe Trail that followed mountain passes through Colorado.  This was more rugged than the Cimarron Cutoff, but offered reliable sources of water. 

Music Pass Toll Road

Established c.1880 this road ran  from west side of Wet Mountain Valley where Cottonwood Creek comes out of the Sangre de Cristo Range into the Wet Mountain Valley, then up Cottonwood Creek and across the Sangre de Cristo Range thru Music Pass, then down Sand Creek to its mouth in the San Luis Valley in Saguache County.  §

NAME (N)

FROM / TO

DESCRIPTIVE  INFORMATION

NAME (O)

FROM / TO

DESCRIPTIVE  INFORMATION

Old Trader’s Trail

Located in northern New Mexico, this was most likely a local term for a portion of the Old Spanish Trail that ran from Santa Fe to California.

NAME (P)

FROM / TO

DESCRIPTIVE  INFORMATION

Parkview & Fort Garland Freight Road

Established c.1877 this road ran from Parkview in Rio Arriba County, New Mexico, extending up the left branch of the Chama River and over the most practical crossing of the San Juan Mountains, then to Fort Garland, Colorado.  §

Pass Creek Toll Road 

Established c.1880 this road ran, in Huerfano County, CO  southward up Pass Creek and across the summit of the Sangre de Cristo Range at Pass Creek Pass, then down Sangre de Cristo Creek in Costilla County to the intersection of the Abeyta Pass Toll Road and the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad above the upper water tank on the south bank of Sangre de Cristo Creek. §

Pueblo & San Juan Wagon Rd.

Topo Map

Pueblo, CO to

Del Norte, CO

Established c.1874 this road proceeded from Pueblo up the Arkansas Valley to the foot of the Greenhorn Range, then across the range via Hardscrabble Creek to the Rosita mines and on into the Wet Mountain Valley, then over the Sangre de Cristo Range, at Music Pass then west to Del Norte in Saguache County to connect with the road to San Juan County. The distance from the beginning is about 125 miles. §

NAME (Q)

FROM / TO

DESCRIPTIVE  INFORMATION

NAME (R)

FROM / TO

DESCRIPTIVE  INFORMATION

Raton Wagon Road 

Trinidad, CO to

Raton, NM

Established c.1870 this road was an improvement upon the original trail from Trinidad to the Raton Mountains. This route travelled up Raton Creek to the summit of the mountains and the boundary line between Colorado and New Mexico. It eventually crossed through Raton Pass to the town of Raton, NM, AKA Trindad, Raton Wagon Road. §

NAME (S)

FROM / TO

DESCRIPTIVE  INFORMATION

Saguache & Medano Pass Wagon Road

Established c.1872 this road started in Colorado Springs and ran easterly to the north line of Bear Baca Grant No. 4 near its northwest corner, then east along north line to the base of the mountains then southeasterly along the base to the mouth of Medano Creek, then up Medano Creek to the top of the pass, then southerly to the Huerfano River to intersect the Huerfano and Mosca Pass Wagon Road near the foot of Mosca Pass. §

Sangre de Cristo Wagon Rd.

Fort Garland to

La Veta Pass

Established c. 1864 this route travelled from Fort Garland in Costilla County up along the Sangre de Cristo Creek to Sangre de Cristo Pass (aka. LaVeta Pass), then over the Sierra Madre Range, AKA Sangre de Cristo Toll Road. §

Santa Fe Trail

Image Gallery; Road Trip

Franklin, MO to

 Santa Fe, NM

19^th century migration trail extending west through much of Kansas.  Near Lakin, KS travelers could choose from the Mountain or the Cimarron Routes. 

Silver Cliff & San Luis Valley Toll Road

Silver Cliff, CO to

San Luis Valley, CO

Established c. 1881, this road ran from Silver Cliff via Lake of the Clouds at head of Swift Creek across the Sangre de Cristo Range to the headwaters of Rito Alto Creek down the creek to the San Luis Valley. §

South Texas Trail

San Antonio, TX

to El Paso, TX

A western extension of the Old San Antonio Road through west Texas near the Rio Grande River.

Summit Creek & Wagon Creek Toll Road

Head of Summit Creek to Fort Garland, CO

Established c.1876 this road to run from the head of Summit Creek to Wagon Creek, then westward to Sangre de Cristo Creek at Russel, then down Sangre de Cristo Creek to the Sangre de Cristo Toll Road, then following down the said toll road turning to the right up Spring Branch Gulch, to Fort Garland, about 15 miles. §

NAME (T)

FROM / TO

DESCRIPTIVE  INFORMATION

Temple Trail

Image Gallery

Mt. Trumbull, AZ

to St. George, UT

This 80 mile trail was used between 1871-77 to haul materials to build Mormon Temple at St. George.

Trinidad & Costilla Road

Trinidad, CO

 to Costilla, NM

Established c.1875, this road would meet the need to cross the Culebra Range to the Sangre de Cristo Grant. A possible route would have started from Trinidad west along the Purgatoire River then down the South Fork at Weston to intersection with the Cucharas & Moreno Valley Road near Torres the over San Francisco Pass, then up Gold Creek to the headwaters of Costilla Creek to Costilla. §

Trinidad & Moreno Valley Wagon Road

Trinidad, CO to

Tincup, CO

Established c.1868 this road to run from Trinidad to Rifenburg’s Mill at the mouth of Long’s Creek, extending southwestward upstream in Long’s Canyon, crossing the divide at the head of Red River, then to Virginia City, (now Tincup, CO), and the southern boundary of Colorado. §

Trinidad, New Mexico & San Juan Road

Trinidad, CO to

Taos, NM

Established c.1876 to run from Trinidad up the middle fork of Purgatoire River to the southwesterly Cucharas­ Elizabethtown, New Mexico, Wagon Road,  then following said road southwest to the south boundary of Colorado, then via the headwaters of the Vermejo River to Costilla Pass, then west to Costilla River, then downstream to the Rio Grande near the town of Costilla, New Mexico, then south to Taos, New Mexico.  §

Trinidad- Raton Wagon Road

Trinidad, CO to

Raton, NM

Established c.1865 this route went from Trinidad on the Purgatoire River in Las Animas County, then to the south boundary of Colorado over the Raton Mountains by way of the old route known as the Santa Fe or Bents Old Fort Road.  See Raton Wagon Road. §

NAME (U)

FROM / TO

DESCRIPTIVE  INFORMATION

NAME (V)

FROM / TO

DESCRIPTIVE  INFORMATION

NAME (W)

FROM / TO

DESCRIPTIVE  INFORMATION

NAME (X)

FROM / TO

DESCRIPTIVE  INFORMATION

NAME (Y)

FROM / TO

DESCRIPTIVE  INFORMATION

NAME (Z)

FROM / TO

DESCRIPTIVE  INFORMATION

Image Gallery

During our research we have collected images and photographs that are of general interest to a variety of historic American roads, trails and migration routes.  Some of them are presented on this website because we believe they tend to provide the reader with additional information which may aid in the understanding of this topic as well as our ancestors past lives.

Click on image to enlarge

Use this LINK to see the “Image

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Inyernet resources

The  Google  search  engine   button

and following web sites may provide 

you  with  additional  information  to

assist your research about this topic. 

·      American Migration Patterns

·      Migration Routes, Roads & Trails

·      Brethren Life: Migrations

·      Trails West - TNGenWeb

·      Historical U.S. roads and trails - Wikipedia

·      U.S. Historical Maps - Perry-Castañeda Collection

·      Early American Roads and Trails

·      Frontier Trails: A Brief History

·      MIGRATIONS.org

·      ROOTS / MIGRATIONS

·      American Migration Trails: Eastern United States

·      American Migration Fact Sheets

·      Map guide to American migration routes,1735-1815

·      Migration Book Store

·      Early Migration Routes

·      The Overland Trail Links--Ancient Indian Trails

·      Westward Expansion: Trails West

·      Migration Message Boards – Ancestry.com

·      The African-American Migration Experience 

·      Migration Trails – map of many U.S. trails

·      Migration Information & Maps By Ethnic Group

·      United States Research Wiki – Family Search

·        Arizona Migration Routes -  Family Search Wiki

·        New Mexico Migration Routes -  Family Search Wiki

·        Texas Migration Routes -  Family Search Wiki

·        Nevada Migration Routes -  Family Search Wiki

·        Colorado Migration Routes -  Family Search Wiki

·        Utah Migration Routes -  Family Search Wiki

·        Historic Trails of Arizona

·      Commerce Of The Prairies By Josiah Gregg

·      Utah State History: Markers & Monuments

·      Historic trails and roads in New Mexico

·      Historic Trails of the Old West

·      Links to Trails West Across the Southwest

·      Historic Trails: Eastern CO and Northwestern NM

Download a free 2-page Fact Sheet

about American migration routes.

The following Link will take you to our library of genealogy reference books.   Here you will find books about historic American roads, trails, and paths.  In addition, there are texts that pertain to ethnic and religion groups, history, geography as well as other books that will assist you with your research.

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collections of reference books.  

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