THE SANTA FE ROUTE. 59 
The rocks a few hundred feet north of Wootton have yielded large 
numbers of fossil plants including remains of magnolias and palms. 
These indicate that when the formation was laid down the land sur- 
faces which existed from time to time were covered by a semitropical 
vegetation very different from the pines, junipers, oaks, and other 
northern species which grow on the hillsides of this region to-day. 
At Wootton was the home of “Uncle Dick” Wootton, one of the 
famous scouts of the early days when emigrants were passing through 
the country and Indians were a source of great danger. 
Wootten: O9le:-2Thie Bitton Mountains were also a favorite hold-up 
Fnatn 786 feet. place for highwaymen. Wootton was an associate 
of Kit Carson, and guided some of the military 
exploring parties. The portion of the wagon road passing over the 
Raton Pass was constructed by Wootton under charter from the 
legislatures of Colorado and New Mexico, and for many years he 
collected toll from those who traveled over it. Originally there 
was only a mountain trail through the pass, and considerable labor 
and expense were required to fit it for the passage of heavy wagons. 
In the ascent on the north side of the pass it crossed Raton, Creek 53 
times. In 1846, when Gen. Kearney and the Army of the West 
crossed these mountains on the way to take Santa F e, it was neces- 
sary to draw the wagons up and let them down by ropes. The 
soldiers at this time were on half and third rations. The remains 
of Wootton’s substantial adobe house, built somewhat like a south- 
ern plantation home, are visible on the wagon road west of the track. 
A short distance beyond Wootton the train crosses the State line 
between Colorado and New Mexico. It was the intention, that this 
line should follow the thirty-seventh parallel of latitude, but late 
surveys have shown that the line located on the ground was somewhat 
south of that parallel. 
New Mexico is one of our newest States, having been admitted to 
the Union January 6, 1912. It is less developed along industrial lines 
than its neighbors to the east and north. The main 
New Mexico. —_ line of the Santa Fe Railway runs through it for 430 
miles. The area of the State is 122,634 square miles, 
or slightly more than that of Colorado. It includes the south end of 
the Rocky Mountains and many outlying ranges of that system, 
together with wide plateau areas, in large part higher than 5,000 feet 
above sea level. Part of it was included in the Republic of Texas 
and part in Mexico. It was organized as a separate Territory of the 
United States in 1850, and its area was reduced to its present limits 
in 1863. In 1910 its population was 327,301, and the density of 
population was 2.7 to the square mile, having more than doubled 
sincc 1890." More than half the population are Mexicans, a people 
