Summary Raton Pass was the most dangerous stretch of the Santa Fe Trail. Wagons had to cover 20 miles of difficult terrain, with an ever-present danger of tumbling off the road into a ravine or creek. Sometimes, an all-day struggle to climb the pass would result in only 600 yards of progress.
Richens Lacy “Uncle Dick” Wooten saw an opportunity to help the travelers on their journey and make a profit as well. He built a passable road, cutting down trees, blasting and clearing rocks, and building bridges. Those who wished to use his road paid $1.50 per wagon and $.05 per head of livestock. Native Americans could use the road for free. Traders continued to use the Santa Fe Trail until 1880 when the railroad extended to Santa Fe. Today, the well-worn trail appears as a ribbon of green grass on the prairie.
Raton Pass
Great Divide Pictures LLC
Vocabulary “The Promised Land”
Pre-Viewing Focus
What was the most arduous and dangerous part of the Santa Fe Trail?
Why would travelers experience both excitement and dread as they approached Raton Pass?
What disaster could befall a trader on Raton Pass?
Post-Viewing Discussion
Several times the narrator of the video compares the land along the Santa Fe Trail to a “sea of grass.” How is the prairie like a sea or ocean? How is it different?
Why did “Uncle Dick” Wooten take on the difficult task of building the road over Raton Pass?
Why did the Santa Fe Trail cease to be an important thoroughfare?
HIGHLIGHTS
“Uncle Dick” Wooten Courtesy, Sam Arnold
Richens Lacy Wooten is a colorful mountain man known as “Uncle Dick.”
Jesus Silva and “Uncle Dick” Wooten Courtesy, Denver Public Library, Western History Department, X22170
In 1865, “Uncle Dick” undertakes the seemingly impossible job of transforming a twisted Native American trail over Raton Pass into a passable and profitable road.
Historic-trail marker Great Divide Pictures LLC
The Santa Fe Trail byway preserves one of the most important trails ever laid across the American West.
