Ratón Pass is a 7,834 ft (2,388 m) elevation

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since many of the world's mountain ranges have presented formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human a ...

on the Colorado– New Mexico border in the western United States. It is located on the eastern side of the

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between Trinidad, Colorado and Raton, New Mexico, approximately 180 miles (290 km) northeast of Santa Fe. ''Ratón'' is Spanish for "mouse". The pass crosses the line of volcanic mesas that extends east from the Sangre de Cristo Mountains along the state line, and furnishes the most direct land route between the valley of the Arkansas River to the north and the upper valley of the Canadian River, leading toward Santa Fe, to the south. The pass now carries

Interstate 25 Interstate 25 (I-25) is a major Interstate Highway in the western United States. It is primarily a north–south highway, serving as the main route through New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming. I-25 stretches from I-10 at Las Cruces, New Mexic ...

and railroad tracks. The pass is a historically significant landmark on the

Santa Fe Trail The Santa Fe Trail was a 19th-century route through central North America that connected Franklin, Missouri, with Santa Fe, New Mexico. Pioneered in 1821 by William Becknell, who departed from the Boonslick region along the Missouri River, th ...

, a major 19th-century settlement route between

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...

and Santa Fe. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960 for this association.

History

In 1821, Captain

William Becknell William Becknell (1787 or 1788 – April 30, 1865) was an American soldier, politician, and freight operator who is credited by Americans with opening the Santa Fe Trail in 1821. He found a trail for part of the route that was wide enough for w ...

laid the path of the

through the pass. In 1846, during the Mexican–American War,

Stephen W. Kearny Stephen Watts Kearny (sometimes spelled Kearney) ( ) (August 30, 1794October 31, 1848) was one of the foremost History of the United States (1789–1849), antebellum frontier officers of the United States Army. He is remembered for his significan ...

and his troops passed through the pass en route to New Mexico. During the Civil War, it was the primary path into New Mexico since it avoided

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between ...

raiders. It was later developed into a toll road by

Richens Lacey Wootton Richens Lacy (or Lacey) Wootton (1816 - 1893), often referred to as "Uncle Dick" Wootton, was an American frontiersman born in Virginia, but lived most of his life in Colorado. In his early life Wootton was a mountain man and trapper, then a hun ...

Railroad route

In the late 19th century, Raton Pass was the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway's (AT&SF) primary route through the mountains. Along with Royal Gorge in Colorado, the pass was one of the focal points for the 1878–79

Railroad Wars Railroad Wars were business rivalries between railroad companies, which occurred frequently in American history. Although they were usually little more than legal disputes inside a courtroom, they sometimes turned into armed conflicts. There h ...

between the AT&SF and the smaller Denver and Rio Grande Railroad. The route over the pass has gradients of up to 3.5% and a tunnel at its highest point, above sea level. The tunnel is in New Mexico, but just barely so, with its northern portal lying only a few feet south of the Colorado border. The route is now owned by BNSF, which absorbed the AT&SF in 1996. While it is still used by Amtrak's Chicago– Los Angeles ''

Southwest Chief The ''Southwest Chief'' (formerly the ''Southwest Limited'' and ''Super Chief'') is a passenger train operated by Amtrak on a route between Chicago and Los Angeles through the Midwest and Southwest via Kansas City, Albuquerque, and Flagstaff ...

'', freight traffic shifted from Raton Pass to the

Belen Cutoff Belén is the Spanish name for Bethlehem. Belen, Belén or Beleń may also refer to: Places Argentina *Belén, Catamarca *Belén de Escobar, Buenos Aires Province Bolivia *Belén (Aroma), La Paz Department, Bolivia *Belén (Potosí), Bolivi ...

(1908), whose gradients do not exceed 1.25%. As a result, with Raton Pass having little to no freight traffic, BNSF said in 2012 that they could not justify maintenance of the route to Amtrak's standards between

La Junta, Colorado La Junta is a home rule municipality in , the county seat of, and the most populous municipality of Otero County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 7,322 at the 2020 United States Census. La Junta is located on the Arkansas Ri ...

, and Lamy, New Mexico, placing the future of rail transportation over the pass in jeopardy.Colorado State Legislature, Preserve & Expand Amtrak Interstate Rail Service
p2 Section 1(b)(c)

Highway route

In the 20th century, the pass was used as the route of

U.S. Route 85 U.S. Route 85 (US 85) is a north–south United States Highway that travels in the Mountain and Northern Plains states of the United States. The southern terminus of the highway is at the Mexican border in El Paso, Texas, connecting wi ...

and, later,

between Denver and Albuquerque. At above sea level, the highway is subject to difficult driving conditions and occasional closures during heavy winter snowfalls.

In popular culture

The pass was part of a Townes Van Zandt song "Snowin' on Raton". During a live performance, Townes commented how he liked playing a show in Colorado because he didn't have to explain what Raton was. The 1951 western movie '' Raton Pass'' stars Academy Award actress Patricia Neal. Raton Pass is mentioned in

C. W. McCall William Dale Fries Jr. (November 15, 1928 – April 1, 2022) was an American advertising executive and spoken word artist who won several Clio Awards for his advertising campaigns. He is best known for his character C. W. McCall, a truck-drivi ...

's (Bill Fries) song "Four Wheel Cowboy", from his album

Wilderness Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plural), are natural environments on Earth that have not been significantly modified by human activity or any nonurbanized land not under extensive agricultural cultivation. The term has traditionally re ...

. "Four Wheel Cowboy" also appears on his compilation release, titled " The Best of C. W. McCall". Clint Black makes reference to the Raton Pass in the song "The Goodnight-Loving" from the album "

Put Yourself in My Shoes ''Put Yourself in My Shoes'' is the second studio album by American country music singer-songwriter Clint Black, released on November 27, 1990. As with Black's debut album ''Killin' Time (Clint Black album), Killin' Time'', the album is currently ...

." :Ridin' against the wind in east New Mexico, :His skin is dry and worn as the Texas plains. :He's headed where the air is thin and the cold blue northers blow, :Up through the Raton Pass, but he'll have to beat the early snow, In the 1951

Randolph Scott George Randolph Scott (January 23, 1898 – March 2, 1987) was an American film actor whose career spanned the years from 1928 to 1962. As a leading man for all but the first three years of his cinematic career, Scott appeared in a variety of ...

film '' Santa Fe'' there is a part about how the Santa Fe railroad acquired Raton Pass for the use of the rail road.

Gallery

File:Raton Pass 1.jpg, Amtrak's Southwest Chief entering the north end of the tunnel File:Raton Pass 2.jpg, Sign marking the elevation of the Raton Pass tunnel

References

External links

Raton Tunnel
* ttp://www.rrsignals.net/Atsf/NewMexico/Raton.htm ''Raton Line: The Original Santa Fe Transcontinental'' a railroad history of Raton Pass {{Authority control Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Landforms of Las Animas County, Colorado Interstate 25 Landforms of Colfax County, New Mexico Mountain passes of Colorado Mountain passes of New Mexico National Historic Landmarks in Colorado National Historic Landmarks in New Mexico Natural features on the National Register of Historic Places in New Mexico Rail mountain passes of the United States Santa Fe Trail Transportation in Colfax County, New Mexico Transportation in Las Animas County, Colorado Raton, New Mexico National Register of Historic Places in Colfax County, New Mexico National Register of Historic Places in Las Animas County, Colorado