La Bajada, or “the descent,” marks the division between the Río Arriba, or “upper river,” and the Río Abajo, or “lower river,” sections of New Mexico. This steep and dangerous grade was long an obstacle to caravan traffic traveling from the Río Grande Valley to Santa Fe. A facility built by the New Mexico State Highway Department to commemorate the bicentennial birthday of the United States stands fifteen miles south of the plaza in Santa Fe, the nation’s oldest capital city, atop La Bajada, where it affords a spectacular view of the Ortiz, Jemez and Sangre de Cristo Mountains.