Historical Marker

Goodnight-Loving Trail (3)


This famous old cattle trail, running 2000 miles from Texas to Wyoming, was blazed in 1866 by Charles Goodnight and Oliver Loving. In New Mexico, the trail followed the Pecos River north to Fort Sumner, where the government needed beef to feed the Navajos at the Bosque Redondo Reservation.

In the early 1800s, New Mexico became an important center for trade along the Santa Fe Trail, which connected Missouri to Santa Fe. The trail was used by traders, trappers, and settlers to transport goods and supplies across the frontier.