Colfax County

Images of America: New Mexico

by Stephen Zimmer, Gene Lamm

In 1841, Carlos Beaubien and Guadalupe Miranda received a grant of land from the governor of New Mexico in the northeastern part of the Mexican province. Frontier conditions prevented colonization of the grant until 1848, when Beaubien's son-in-law Lucien Maxwell led settlers from Taos to the Rayado River where it crossed the Santa Fe Trail. Maxwell's friend Kit Carson joined him the following year, and their ranch prospered in spite of frequent attacks by Jicarilla Apaches. Later, Maxwell moved north to the Cimarron River. Gold was discovered on the western part of the grant in 1866, and miners rushed to the diggings, establishing the town of Elizabethtown. It became the first seat of Colfax County in 1869. Maxwell sold the grant to foreign investors who organized the Maxwell Land Grant and Railway Company in 1870 and founded the town of Cimarron. The Santa Fe Railroad entered the county in 1879, which precipitated the creation of the towns of Raton and Springer and also fostered large-scale ranching, mining, and lumbering.

131 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 14, 2015

About the author

Zimmer lives outside Cimarron, New Mexico where he writes about western art and ranch life. He is also the author of "For Good or Bad, People of the Cimarron Country;" "Western Animal Heroes, An Anthology of Stories by Ernest Thompson Seton," and "Cowboy Days: Stories of the New Mexico Range," all published by Sunstone Press. With his wife, Shari, and sons, Parker and Marshall, he raises and trains registered ranch Quarter Horses.

Reviews

[Sharon Mensing · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great photo-based introduction to the area where our new cabin is. Each section has a page or so of overview, and then the story is told in photos and the words describing them. I loved the way I was able to actually see the locales and people that were being talked about, and now as I travel around the area I feel like it's an old friend.