In 1903 the AT&SF Railroad began laying track on the Belen Cutoff from Belen, New Mexico to Amarillo, Texas. The railroad company encouraged settlement of New Mexico’s eastern plains by sponsoring emigrant trains, a quicker method of transport for settlers moving their belongings and livestock across the country. Towns were founded along the route with the arrival of the railroad. Billy the Kid was shot and killed by Pat Garrett in Fort Sumner. Taiban’s Pink Pony Saloon & Dancehall publicized cock fighting and had a live snake den in the basement. Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart stopped at Portair Field in Clovis while flying across the country in the 1920s. Did you know Mountainair was the Pinto Bean Capital of the World, Negra has one of the last vintage gas stations in the state, Butch Cassidy and his gang trailed cattle to the railhead in Magdalena, and Montague Stevens was one of the last hunters to stalk grizzly bears? This book will give you answers to these questions as well as a glimpse into the history of this fascinating part of New Mexico, “The Land of Enchantment.”

The Coast-to-Coast or Ocean-to-Ocean Highway The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad began construction on the railroad route that became known as the Belen Cutoff shortly after the turn of the twentieth century. Towns quickly came to life beside the tracks. One town named Sunnyside later changed to Fort Sumner was created when the Eastern Railway was completed in March of 1906. In 1910 the National Highway Association laid out an auto route across the nation from coast to coast. A. L. Westgard was hired to make a trip in search of the best route. New Mexico's section of Highway 60 crosses the middle of the state between Texico and Quemado. By 1918 Highway 60 emerged from a wagon road to a primitive truck road. The highway follows the route of the Belen Cutoff from Abo Pass to the Texas border. The western half of the route runs between Socorro and the Arizona state line. The last section of the route to be paved was between Quemado and the Arizona border in the late 1940s.

New Mexico's rich and varied history is easily accessible via detours down obscure backroads and overlooked off-ramps. By taking the road less traveled in any direction, visitors can experience ancient landmarks, cultural heritage sites and striking vistas. Stop at places along the old Route 66, sample the world's best chiles by the Rio Grande or soak in geothermal water flowing under Truth or Consequences. Ancient dwellings in remote canyons, the town where the first atomic bomb was secretly assembled and the grave of Billy the Kid all lie off the beaten path in the Land of Enchantment. Authors Arthur and David Pike map out these and many more worthwhile points of interest for the curious traveler.

This revised and expanded edition of Roadside New Mexico provides additional information about these sites and includes approximately one hundred new markers, sixty-five of which document the contribution of women to the history of New Mexico.

This is a 24 page pamphlet on the history of Railroad Depots and Harvey Houses on the Belen, New Mexico Cutoff Railroad Route. Most of the depots are gone now and one of the Harvey Houses but the history of the area still remains. There were 28 locations along the route serving as depots, water stops and more. Most of the depots were closed in the 1960s causing a decline in the communities where they were located.

Promises of riches from gold, silver, copper and zinc ores attracted thousands of treasure seekers to the Land of Enchantment. Boomtowns blossomed across the rugged wilderness until the trifecta of the Silver Panic of 1893, World War I and the Great Depression collapsed the economy. Explore the vacant relics of once vibrant communities. Some are well preserved and others are but a whisper of their former selves, but all have a story to tell. From the lessons still scrawled across the chalkboards of the abandoned Cedarvale School to the forgotten talismans of the Turquoise Trail, accompany author Donna Blake Birchell on her trek through the ghost towns of New Mexico.