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 mountain ranges can present formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human and animal migration t ...

on the

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

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New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

border in the western

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. It is located on the eastern side of the

Sangre de Cristo Mountains The Sangre de Cristo Mountains (Spanish language, Spanish for "Blood of Christ") are the southernmost mountain range, subrange of the Rocky Mountains. They are located in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico in the United States. The mountai ...

between Trinidad, Colorado and

Raton, New Mexico Raton ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Colfax County, New Mexico, Colfax County in northeastern New Mexico, United States. The city is located just south of Raton Pass. The city is also located about 6.5 miles south of the New Mexico–Col ...

, 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 The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. It generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's source basin lies in Colorado, specifically ...

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), also known as the Pan-American Freeway, 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 st ...

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, the ...

, a major 19th-century settlement route between

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and Santa Fe. It was designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

in 1960 for this association.

History

In 1846, during the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War (Spanish language, Spanish: ''guerra de Estados Unidos-México, guerra mexicano-estadounidense''), also known in the United States as the Mexican War, and in Mexico as the United States intervention in Mexico, ...

, Stephen W. Kearny and his troops passed through the pass en route to

. During the Civil War, it was the primary path into New Mexico since it avoided Confederate raiders. It was later developed into a toll road by Richens Lacey Wootton.

Railroad route

In the late 19th century, Raton Pass was the

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the largest Class 1 railroads in the United States between 1859 and 1996. The Santa Fe was a pioneer in intermodal freight transport; at vario ...

'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 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 The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

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Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

Southwest Chief The ''Southwest Chief'' (formerly the ''Southwest Limited'' and ''Super Chief'') is a Amtrak Long Distance, long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak on a route between Chicago and Los Angeles through the Midwest and American Southwest ...

'', freight traffic shifted from Raton Pass to the Belen Cutoff (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 Arkansa ...

, 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. Routes 85 and 87, and later,

between

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

In popular culture

Clint Black makes reference to the Raton Pass in the song "The Goodnight-Loving" from the 1990 album " Put Yourself in My Shoes." :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,

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