Ocate Peak or the older name Ocate Crater is a volcano in
Mora County, northeastern
New Mexico
)
, population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano)
, seat = Santa Fe
, LargestCity = Albuquerque
, LargestMetro = Tiguex
, OfficialLang = None
, Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...
. It was a
landmark on the old
Santa Fe Trail before the development of the
Cimarron Cutoff
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, ...
.
Ocate Peak is located just southeast of the community of
Ocate, and
State Road 120 passes just north of it. Originally, due to the heightened chance of meeting marauding Indians on the plains, the Santa Fe Trail kept as close to the
Sangre de Cristo Mountains as possible, passing through
Rayado to the community of Ocate and passing west of Ocate Peak. After Fort Union was established in 1851, the trail took the easier route east of Ocate Peak, but still west of th
Turkey Mountains
''Ocote'' is a
Nahuatl word meaning "pine".
References
Landforms of Mora County, New Mexico
Mountains of New Mexico
Volcanoes of New Mexico
Mountains of Mora County, New Mexico
Santa Fe Trail
Volcanoes of the United States
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