Moriarty to Tijeras on the Salt Missions Trail

Moriarty to Tijeras - Page 2

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Founded in the early 1930’s, Edgewood is a "young” town by New Mexico standards. Established just in time to meet the needs of the changed 1937 Route 66 alignment, Edgewood exudes the very essence of the Mother Road. All manner of motor courts and other services soon popped up. Today, you can still get full service at several local gas stations and the town still doesn’t have a single traffic light. The original two room school house still stands. The area abounds with horse properties and it’s not unusual to see modern day cowboys riding their steeds along the roadways.

While in Edgewood you can visit the Wildlife West Nature Park where you can view numerous native New Mexican animals, including whitetail deer, bobcats, cougars, coyotes, javalinas, raptors, mountain lions, and wolves. Trails through the 122 acre park are constructed through natural habitats. The park is located at exit 187.

Abandoned Trading Post outside Edgewood

Abandoned Trading Post outside Edgewood,

courtesy The Road Wanderer

Also in Edgewood is an old Valentine Diner that once stood in Magdelena, New Mexico before it was purchased by Jerry Ueckert and moved to Edgewood. The diner had extensive damage and now has been fully restored. It is located on Route 66.

The Red Top is in the process of being restored,

photo courtesy Jerry Ueckert.

Barton

Just four more miles will bring you to Barton, New Mexico , officially a ghost town, but really not much more than a scattering of buildings. Here you will see the old Lester homestead and original Route 66 gas station complete with 1950's vintage gas pumps. The homestead is a half-mile stretch at the corner of Old Route 66 and Mountain Valley Road, owned now by an 80-year-old Edgewood resident named Bob Audet. An avid Route 66'er, Audit has made the Mother Road not only his passion, but his way of life. Filled with old cars and other rusty memorabilia, some refer to this half mile stretch as a "junkyard” but for Mother Road fans, it is a vintage delight. Also on the property is the original Barton jail which once detained such outlaws as the Dawson Gang.

Lester's Conoco in Barton, New Mexico

Lester's Conoco in Barton, New Mexico , courtesy

Round America.

Tijeras Canyon

Route 66 Through Tijeras Canyon

Tijeras Canyon vintage postcard.

Beyond Barton the road begins to climb upwards some 7,000 feet. When the old road was built in the 1950's, the Tijeras Canyon job was the largest road project ever taken on in the State of New Mexico . During the drilling, dynamiting, and dirt moving, a caravan of about 15 cars full of hired union men showed up to slow down the work. Commonly known as hired "goons,” they protested "Our men are on strike!” However, the road builders and contractors of New Mexico were not part of the union. Day after day for almost two months, the goons tried unsuccessfully to delay the work and intimidate the employees. Finally, the goons disbanded and the union never succeeded in "organizing” the road crews and contractors in New Mexico . In 1951 it was finally completed.

Through this stretch keep your eyes open for old trading posts and wayside gas stations, as well as enjoying the majestic views of the Rio Grande Valley and the Sandia Mountains.

Right in the center of Tijeras Canyon was once the Tijeras Pueblo. Established about 1300 A.D., the adobe structure housed about 400 people. "Tijeras,” meaning "scissor” comes from the fact that the pueblo was on the crossroads of two major trade routes, one extending from Mexico City to Santa Fe, and the other from the Great Plains to the Pacific Ocean. The pueblo was abandoned when water became scarce along the Rio Grande Valley. Today the site is a grass-covered mound where once stood the 200-room pueblo.

Soon you reach the small village of Tijeras within the boundaries of the Cibola National Forest. The town is the southern gateway to the Turquose Trail Scenic Byway that travels to Santa Fe. Along the trail are unique towns, a number of museums and recreational opportunities along this path where prehistoric peoples once made their homes. In Tijeras is one of the Cibola National Forest’s Vistors Centers as well as the Talking Talons Leadership Center & Living Conservation Museum.

West of the village, Route 66 emerges from the canyon where you can see a beautiful view of the Rio Grande Valley and Albuquerque.

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To Albuquerque

Return to Route 66

To Cline's Corners

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