Wagon Mound
a.k.a. Santa Clara Spring
E of Wagon Mound on U.S. 85, Wagon Mound, NMWagon Mound was the last great landmark on the west ward journey across the plains of northeastern New Mexico It first becomes visible near Point of Rocks, and from the Rock Crossing it was the guidepost for the caravans. Early travelers likened the mountain to a shoe with the toe pointed westward, but soon a trader had an inspired vision and saw in the humped-up hill a wagon bearing southwest with its yokes of oxen lumbering over the horizon. The name he gave it, Wagon Mound, stuck. And a more appropriate simile for the Santa Fe Trail would be hard to find. Two miles northwest of Wagon Mound is Santa Clara Spring, up a canyon by the same name. Here the traders camped in a natural bowl, sheltered from the winds that unceasingly whip across the open plains. Beginning in the late 1840's Santa Clara Spring was the scene of frequent Indian ambuscades, most famous of which was the Mail Train Massacre of May 1850. Wagon Mound became not only a guide but a warning sign.
Local significance of the site:Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1966.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.