#santafetrail

Cow on the ROW

While exploring the high plains near the Panhandles, I came upon this scene—cows grazing on an abandoned line of the Santa Fe, between Boise City, Oklahoma, and Clayton, New Mexico.

As I’ve written in other posts, the little set of peaks one sees here is called Rabbit Ears Mountain and was a landmark for the Cimarron Cutoff of the Santa Fe Trail.

In the Land of Enchantment

With a shooting day coming to a close, I wanted to see if I could get to Rabbit Ears Mountain, north of Clayton, New Mexico. Still some distance from it, this was my view as seen from Lake Highway.

This geological feature was a key landmark for pioneers traveling on the Cimarron Cutoff of the Santa Fe Trail.

Sacred Heart Church

Rabbit Ears and the C&S

After I shot the abandoned Colmor Cutoff line of ATSF, at Mt. Dora, New Mexico, I went nearby to watch the sun come up on the former Colorado & Southern Railway.

The two rounded peaks one sees on the horizon is Rabbit Ears Mountain—which was a landmark for the Cimarron Cutoff of the Santa Fe Trail through this area. This site has additional information on this interesting geological feature.

The C&S, which ran between Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, and Wendover, Wyoming, has intrigued me recently. (The portion in Texas was technically the Fort Worth and Denver City Railway Company.) It fell under control of the CB&Q in 1908 which was merged into the Burlington Northern in 1981. The BN, of course, was merged with the ATSF to form the BNSF Railway in 1995.