Colfax County has a diverse
and multi-cultural history that reaches back at least 10,000 years with
evidence of prehistoric settlement sites, through the Spanish conquest
and later included the first incorporated town in New Mexico.
The Folsom Man
The first pioneer to visit Colfax County was "Folsom
Man". This discovery opened a unique view of North
America's past, confirming that Colfax's first residents
were among the first in the New World, occupying this
area at least 10,000 years ago.
Located in eastern
Colfax County, the Folsom Man Archeological Site is
eight miles west of Folsom, off Hwy 72 across Johnson
Mesa at Dead Horse Gulch. Anthropologists claim "Folsom
Man" traveled from Asia to Alaska to America during
the last Ice Age.
Following the era of "Folsom Man" a prolonged drought made occupation
in those areas impossible for several thousand years.
The Anazasi
One of the earliest native groups to cross the Sangre
de Cristo Mountains were the "Anazasi," or Ancient
Ones. These ancestors of today's Pueblo Indians first
lived in primitive caves and slowly began to erect
larger adobe and stone structures. Hunting and gathering
was gradually replaced with irrigated fields that
produced corn, beans, and squash. They produced well-crafted
pottery, woven cloth material and created elaborate
ceremonial rituals held in underground Kivas. Archaeological
evidence marks the probable arrival as early as 1000
AD.
At the time the Anazasi were moving southward along the Rio Grande and
east across the Sangre de Cristos, the Early Plains Indians were coming
into Colfax County from the Great Plains.
The Early Plains Indians were hunters and lacking horses had a more primitive culture than later Plains Indians.
Between 1100 and 1400 AD there lived groups of Pueblo-Plains Indians
that occupied Colfax County along valleys going into the Park Plateau.
Many studies have been conducted in the Ponil Creek watershed of Chase
and Philmont ranches giving rise to the name of the "Ponil People".
Their origins are unknown as is the reason for their disappearance. The
Ponil People made their living from farming as well as hunting.
Spanish Influence in the Region
In 1540 Francisco Vasquez de Coronado led an expedition into New Mexico
marking the starting point of its written history. Conquistadors
visited the Cimarron area in search of the lost "City of Gold" but
instead found Jicarilla Apaches and Moache Utes roaming the surrounding
hills. Spanish civilization began to spread slowly along the Rio
Grande.
By 1598 Juan de Onate secured the submission of all the pueblo
communities. By the 18th century settlements were constantly besieged
by Native American elements making immigration into the Colfax area
dangerous. There were no garrisons north of Santa Fe. The Jicarilla
Apaches arrived in the Colfax area around the early 1700's. They were
part of the Athapascans, who came from central Canada. Their culture
combined aspects of hunting and agriculture.
Upon the arrival of the Spaniards, the Moache Utes were already settled
in Colfax County. Unlike the Jicarillas, the Utes preferred mountain
living. Eventually both groups intermarried and conducted cultural
exchanges. Evidence of Ute presence can be found at Ute Park at the
entrance of Cimarron Canyon.
The Plains Indians
Far different than the Apaches and Utes who resided in the western part
of the County were the Plains Indians, which included the Comanches and
Kiowas. They were far less peaceful than the Apaches and Utes. By the
1600's the Plains Indians obtained horses from the Spanish and
developed their hunting prowess. Warfare and raiding parties became
central features within their societies.
The Plains Indians made frequent raids on the Apaches and Utes, driving
them high into the Sangre de Cristos. From the 1700's until the 1870's
European attempts to expel them from the area were extremely
unsuccessful.
By the early 1700's the first Europeans entered Colfax County. The
Spanish made concerted efforts to settle the area fearing French
encroachment. The Spanish, reaching Rayado, first encountered the
Jicarillas at their settlement called La Jicarilla. Few non-Mexicans
ventured into the area except a handful of French trappers.
Mexican Independence
Iturbide declared Mexican Independence on February 24, 1821, ending the
Spanish commercial monopoly. William Becknell, the "father of the Santa
Fe trail and founder of Santa Fe trade", became aware of the Mexicans
desire for trade in 1821. He advertised in Missouri papers for men to
travel west for the purpose of trading horses and hunting wild animals.
Many responded to these advertisements and came west for handsome
profits and soon a blossoming trade between the U.S. and Mexico
developed. Paralleling the onslaught of Missouri merchants moving
westward along the Santa Fe Trail was an even greater movement of
easterners exploring the southern Rockies and Sangre de Cristos in
search of beaver pelts.
Early Moutain Men
The opening of the southwest can be attributed to
these early mountain men. Many of their trails later
became roads. Mountain men led many of the early expeditions
into the southwest. Fur trapping was typically an
individual pursuit rendering the founding of settlements
unlikely. Colfax County was one of the sites for trapping
beaver. Early trappers playing a significant role
in the development of the area.
Charles Beaubien was a prosperous storekeeper actively engaged in the
fur trade with a need to increase his commercial activities. He decided
to buy property on the eastern slope of the Sangre de Cristos near the
Santa Fe Trail and entered into a partnership with Don Guadalupe
Miranda. Together they petitioned Governor Manuel Armijo on January 8,
1841 for a tract of land nearly two million acres in size. On January
11th, 1841 the grant was approved.
The Maxwell Land Grant
Lucien Bonaparte Maxwell ultimately attained ownership of the land
grant, having married Charles Beaubien's daughter, Luz. In 1858, he
felt secure enough to move his family to Cimarron, where he built a
large ranch and was appointed Postmaster. More of the Land Grant went
to Maxwell when Charles Beaubien died in 1864. In 20 years, he had gone
from being a frontier hunter to being the largest individual landowner
in the history of the United States - owning 1,714,765 acres.
In 1870, Maxwell sold almost all of his land for $1,350,000 to a
British company, soon to become bankrupt, which sold in 1880 to the
Dutch Maxwell Land Grant Company still in operation that bought the
property through a group of prominent New Mexicans. They incorporated
the holdings as the Maxwell Land Grant and Railway Company, so the
Maxwell name remained connected to the land even after it left
Maxwell's hands.
In June 1861 government officials decided to move 1500 Indians away
from Taos to the more remote area near Cimarron. The establishment of
the U.S. Indian Agency at Cimarron in 1861 was significant in the
long-range development of Colfax County.
In 1862, Maxwell leased 1,280 acres on the Ponil to the new Apache and
Ute Cimarron Indian Agency, to be administered by Indian Agents
including Amy, Keithly, Dennison, Keyes and Carson. This Agency allowed
the local Indians to be fed by the government, lessening the threat of
raiding the nearby ranches. In addition, providing food for the Indians
generated large Federal revenues. This was the first time settlers had
a financial incentive to grow beef, sheep, corn and wheat.
The Birth of Colfax Couty
The growth of the gold district was evidenced by the increasing demands
for the creation of a separate governmental district. After two years
of debating, the New Mexico territorial legislature gave in to the
demands of gold camp's leading figures by establishing a new county on
January 25, 1869, naming it after Republican Vice President elect
Schuyler Colfax, who was traveling the west at the time. Elizabethtown
was designated by legislation to be the first incorporated town in New
Mexico and the Colfax County seat.
Colfax County was the 12th New Mexico County to be
created. It was formed out of a section of Taos County.
At the time the new county included most of the Maxwell
Land Grant and stretched to the Texas and Oklahoma
state lines. In 1893, part of Colfax County became
part of Union County to the east.
