Be sure to visit www.santafetrail.org/geocaching to learn about the PASSPORT ACTIVITY to accompany this Geo Tour. Containers on the Santa Fe National Historic Trail Geo Tour are military ammunition canisters, or Brochure-Holder boxes, with an identifying Santa Fe Trail Association yellow sticker on the top of the box, under the handle and the dark green geocaching.com ID is on the side of the boxes with the information that provides coordinates, who set the cache and who to contact for information. Each cache contains a logbook to sign, a variety of items that provide information about the Santa Fe Trail as well as swag items. If you are participating in the Passport activity, the code word is located on the inside of the box, on the top of the lid and is clearly identified as Code Word. Permission to set caches has been obtained. We ask that all cachers please respect all property at the sites where our caches are set.
The town of Las Vegas began as a Santa Fe Trail town in 1835. The trail passed through the plaza, and presumably many traders stayed here. It was from the top of the flat-roofed adobe structure, between numbers 210-218 on the north side of the plaza, that Brig. Gen. Stephen W. Kearny claimed the New Mexico territory for the United States in 1846.
Established by land grant in 1835, Las Vegas was originally called Nuestra Señora de Los Dolores de Las Vegas Grandes (Our Lady of the Sorrows of the Great Meadows). The history of Las Vegas is influenced not only by many different cultures, but also by two major forms of transportation. As a major trading point on the Santa Fe Trail, Las Vegas became a prosperous Spanish town with a wide variety of adobe structures. As trade on the trail increased, so did the variety of settlers and architecture in the town. The arrival of the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad saw a further increase of new residents many of whom built Victorian houses reminiscent of their homes in the east. While the Victorian residences are quite a surprise to visitors, accustomed to the Pueblo revival of Santa Fe, it is the combination of the indigenous adobe architecture and the variety of Victorian architecture that makes Las Vegas unique.
Over 918 of these structures, both adobe and Victorian, survive today. The Las Vegas Citizens' Committee for Historic Preservation (LVCCHP) was organized to promote the preservation of these buildings, educate the public regarding the rich cultural heritage these buildings represent, and to investigate and implement ways in which these buildings can continue to play a vital role in the infrastructure, culture, and future of Las Vegas. Stop by LVCCHP, 116 Bridge Street, for a free walking tour guide of the town. LVCCHP is an official Santa Fe Trail Interpretative Center.
There are several other Santa Fe Trail sites of interest in this area to visit. La Cueva, which is 25 miles north of Las Vegas on New Mexico Highway 518. A mill was established here in the 1850s and used until 1949. The adobe structure and the milling equipment still stand, badly in need of preservation. There was much traffic to this mill from Fort Union for flour, which was distributed to military posts throughout the region as well as along the trail. Hermit's Peak is between La Cueva and Las Vegas and can be seen from either New Mexico 518 or 1-25. The peak was named in honor of Giovanni Maria Augustini (or Augusti), after whom Hermit's Cave in Council Grove, Kansas, is also named. Augustini traveled to New Mexico with a trading caravan and spent three years in isolation on this peak. The peak was a landmark for trail travelers. Kearny Gap is 2 miles south of Las Vegas and west of 1-25. Also called Puerto del Norte, this pass was little used by Santa Fe Trail traffic prior to the Mexican War. Wagon ruts west of Kearny Gap indicate that it must have been used extensively by freight wagons after the Mexican War. After leaving Las Vegas, travelers had to find an easy pass through the high ridge of hills. Two passes within a few miles were probably used, and the Puertocito Pedregosa was probably the most used. It is north of the railroad tracks and 1-25. The town of Tecolote was founded at the Tecolote River crossing during the Santa Fe Trail era. The Tecolote Creek crossing is 12 miles south of Las Vegas on 1-25. This crossing was used well into the 20th century, and it is still visible. Wagon ruts in the hill to the south attest to the intensity of traffic. Starvation Peak is about 5 miles southwest of Tecolote. Also known as Bernal Hill, this peak was a landmark for Santa Fe Trail travelers. Near this hill the trail swung to the west, and at this point were Bernal Spring and for a time a stage station.