To the north, Raton Pass formed a treacherous connection through rough mountain terrain between Colorado and New Mexico. Wagon trains traveling on the Santa Fe Trail camped here at Willow Springs to prepare for or recover from the trek through the pass. Known as the Mountain Route, this route was longer than the Cimarron Route across the flatland between Kansas and New Mexico, but it furnished more water and proved safer from Indian raids. Raton Pass was a difficult slog where axles and wheels broke and wagons had to be dragged uphill in some places. Seeing an opportunity, entrepreneur Rickens Lacy “Uncle Dick” Wootton built a 27-mile toll road in 1865, with bridges and improved grades over the pass. Tolls varied, but during 1869 and 1870 the rate for wheeled vehicles ranged from $1.00 to $1.50 and 5c per head for livestock. One of Colorado's most colorful mountain men, “Uncle Dick” was a trail trader, trapper, cattle rancher, hotel operator, and military scout, and he died at 77, having outlived all five of his wives.