In July of
1850, the first government-sanctioned mail delivery route was
inaugurated between
Independence,
Missouri, and
Santa Fe
using the
Cimarron Cutoff branch of the
Santa
Fe Trail. The monthly stage also carried passengers and baggage
for a one-way summer fare of $100 for the three and-a-half week trip.
The letter rate was 3 cents. Increasing Indian troubles and irregular
service led to a change in the route to the Mountain Branch over Raton
Pass in 1861, stopping at Maxwell's
ranch in
Cimarron.
In 1866,
Barlow, Sanderson & Company obtained the route. The discovery of gold
on Baldy Mountain the same year led to the opening of a branch line
through the canyon from
Cimarron
to Virginia City two years later. This building was used as the local
stage office from 1870 until the mail route closed in 1880 with the
coming of the railroad to Springer, 25 miles to the
east. It was
then used as a Wells Fargo Office and later converted into a
mercantile store in the early 1900s.
Read more
about Cimarron, New Mexico
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