Town of the Week

Raton, New Mexico
November 4, 2000
(rebroadcast from September 14, 1996)

Head over to Raton, New Mexico; just listen in.

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Since the days of the Spanish occupation, one spur of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in northern New Mexico has been called the Raton, as in "you dirty Raton." At the base of Raton Pass, a shortcut on the Santa Fe Trail, the railroad built a water stop at Willow Springs in 1879.

The town that grew up near the tracks became Raton, where railroad workers, drifting miners, and disaffected gunmen of the cattle range mixed and mingled. Like many other western towns, Raton had its share of violence, but it's also the site of the first high school in New Mexico, and "the Palisades of Cimarro"...the Rococo-style Shuler Theater with its near-perfect acoustics.

There are more than 70 buildings on a walking tour of the historic district of Raton. Land for the city was donated by the Maxwell Land Grant Company, which also established the Swastica Coal Company, then the largest coal operation in the west. The Swastica, of course, is an Indian symbol of good luck, and decorates the roofline of the Old Swastica Hotel.

The town's library has an excellent display of southwestern art. Nearby, you can walk down to the bottom of the Capuline volcano, then hike up to the rim for a view of five states. There's also the Folsom Man Fossil Site, Sugarite Canyon State Park, Philmont Scout Ranch, and the NRA's Whittington Center. The town's a Victorian jewel on the old Santa Fe Trail, home of the high school Tigers and Lady Tigers, and it's our Town of the Week, Raton, New Mexico.