Colorado's history was shaped by many peoples, including the Anasazi, the Utes, other Native peoples of the region, Hispano pioneers who became the state's first permanent non-Indian settlers, and the men and women who built cities, dug mines, and planted farms. Rising on the Sante Fe Trail in 1860, Trinidad quickly became a center of farming, ranching, freighting, and later coal mining, developing into a thriving commercial hub with a prosperous downtown, newspapers, an opera house, public buildings, and elegant neighborhoods. Felipe and Dolores Baca helped establish a sense of community there by leading pioneers to Trinidad, donating land for the townsite, and supporting the Catholic school and church, while Frank Bloom became another major force in the city's growth through merchandising, banking, cattle, and coal. During the Mexican-American War, Colonel Stephen Watts Kearny led the Army of the West along the Mountain Route of the Santa Fe Trail, moving 1,500 men and as many supply wagons from Fort Leavenworth into Mexican territory on August 1, 1846, passing near present-day Trinidad on August 6, and occupying Santa Fe on August 18 without firing a shot. During the Civil War, Confederate forces advanced out of Texas into New Mexico seeking control of the Rocky Mountain goldfields, and in response two units of the First Colorado Regiment joined near Trinidad on March 7, 1862, marched ninety-two miles in thirty-six hours over Raton Pass to Fort Union, and then helped provide decisive support at the Battle of Glorieta Pass, after which the Rebels soon retreated.