Blazing a New Trail

By PHAEDRA HAYWOOD, PHOTO BY PHAEDRA HAYWOOD, MAP COURTESY OF THE PECOS NATIONAL HISTORIC PARK

Proposed path passes through actual Civil War battle areas of the Glorieta Pass

Trail: Beekman is excited about opening more park property

Christine Beekman led the way along a glittering path of cracked pavement, broken glass, barbed wire and abandoned appliances, waving her arms and talking enthusiastically about the new trail that will be built there.

Beekman, chief of interpretation for the Pecos National Historical Park, flagged the

2.25-mile course that loops from the west end of Old Denver Highway up to Windmill Hill and back again.

Once the trail is complete, she said, it will be the only public access to the “hallowed ground” of the Battle of Glorieta Pass, a small but strategically important Civil War skirmish on March 26- 28,1862.

During the three-day battle — sometimes called the “Gettysburg of the West” — Union troops from New Mexico and volunteers from Colorado turned back Confederate fighters from Texas who were advancing north after having captured Albuquerque and Santa Fe.

Beekman is excited about opening up more park property to the public. “We have

1,600 acres and only a 1.2-mile walking path; that is ridiculous,” she said. “We’ve studied the archaeology already, and we’re all ready to go.”

As she talked, she picked her way through arroyos filled with spring mud and mounds of snow.

“I’m not a real Civil War buff, but the flanking maneuver (in the final battle) really fascinated me,” she said, pointing to a ridgeline along Glorieta Mesa that Union troops scaled in order to attack the enemy’s rear supply wagons.

“For 400 men to come up along that ridge and back in one day is pretty impressive,” she said, looking ahead to locate another of the fluttering pink flags that provide clues of where the trail will be.

Beekman said the land owned by the park is the perfect spot to commemorate the battle because other areas important to the conflict — which began in the Canoncito area and ended near Pecos just below the site of the proposed trail — are too close to Interstate 25 and N.M. 50 to allow tourists safe access.

The proposed path passes through actual battle areas and provides views of others. At least part of the path will be paved to provide access to those who can’t hike the entire trail.

“Civil War enthusiasts are a different breed,” Beekman said. “But lots of them have problems with the altitude.”

Plaques, historical photos and Civil War-era artifacts such as mountain howitzers and the cannon balls they fired will guide visitors through the stages of the battle.

The park is making logistical decisions about how to funnel people through the visitors center to pay the park fee and then direct them to the trailhead a mile or so away, Beekman said.

The nonprofit group Friends of the Pecos National Historical Park has agreed to help fund and develop the path and a parking area that will cost about $100,000 to build.

The public will have two opportunities to comment on the proposed trail: during the scoping process (occurring now) and again following the release of an environmental assessment of the project. Comments can be submitted online at www.parkplanning.nps.gov/ or be mailed to Superintendent, Pecos National Historical Park, P.O. Box 418, Pecos, N.M. 87552. The initial comment period ends March 31.

Contact Phaedra Haywood at 986-3004 or phaywood@sfnewmexican.com.

(c) 2007 The Santa Fe New Mexican. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.