Transportation
16
Plotted in 1849 by a U.S. Army surveying expedition under Capt. Randolph B. Marcy, this trail crossed the dreaded Staked Plains of West Texas under the guidance of Manuel, a Comanche Indian, proving the plains feasible for travel and opening a new and shorter road west. Running from Dona Ana, N.M., to Fort Smith, Ark., it became a major road to the California gold fields. Later the overland stage followed it for about 125 miles, and in 1881 the Texas and Pacific Railroad was built along part of the route.
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