Union County, New Mexico, Place Names

AIROLO - Post Office 1905-1909; mail to Pasamonte.

ALPS - Station or passing track on C&amp;S RR, 5 miles northeast of Folsom and 6 miles south of the Colorado border. Named in 1887, when the railroad was built, because of terrain similar to the Swiss Alps.

AMBOY - On C&amp;S RR, 3 miles NW of Des Moines.

AIROLO - Post Office, 1905-09; mail to Pasamonte.

AMISTAD - Spanish for "friendship". Near Texas state line, east of NM 18. Founded in 1906 by the Rev. H. S. Wannamaker, a Congregational minister, who named it as a token of his hope for enterprise. A number of the early settlers were clergymen from the East. Post Office, 1907.

ARCHULETA CREEK -

ATENCIO - 7 miles from the Texas state line, 24 miles north of Clayton. Name of Spanish family, the earliest of whom, Jose de Atienza de Alcala y Escobar, arrived in NM in 1693. Post Office, 1910-1914.

BACA - Post Office 1884-1898; mail to Bueyeros. First postmaster, Louis A.C. de Baca.

BARNEY - Former settlement on Pinabete Creek, 24 miles southwest of Clayton. Post Office, 1896-1930.

BEENHAM - Former ranch settlement on a branch of Tramperos Creek, 9 miles southeast of Pasamonte. Owned and named about 1880 by Charles John de Haviland (Uncle Charley) Bushnell, a sea captain from Beenham, England. He served as first postmaster. Post Office, 1890-1924.

BIBLE TOP HILL - 3 miles west of Rabbit Ears Mountain and north of US 87. A deep depression runs east and west across the top of the hill, which thus appears like an open book; hence the name Bible Top. This hill was used as a lookout point by Indians, and numerous flint arrow points have been found here.

BIG SPRING - See Rabbit Ear Creek

BLACKSMITH CANYON - 2.5 miles north of dry Cimarron River on north side of Black Mesa. Heads in NM and opens out into North Carriso Canyon in Colorado. In the early 1860's a band of outlaws, led by the notorious outlaw Coe, did their blacksmithing in this canyon, where later settlers found a part of the anvil block. It was made from a piece of fine, hard wood, very rare in this part of the country; hence the name.

BRIGGS CANYON - 12 miles northeast of Folsom; heads a few miles north of Des Moines and opens into Cimarron Canyon. Named for a family who located here in 1866. It is a spot abounding in wildlife.

BRYANTINE - 25 miles southeast of Mosquero. First postmaster, Sarah P. Bryant. Post Office 1903-1920.

CAPULIN - Mexican Spanish for "wild cherry". ON US 64 and 87., 27 miles southeast of Raton and 8 miles west of Des Moines. First named DEDMAN in honor of E.J.Dedman, superintendent of AT&amp;SF RR in 1909. In 1914, when Mr. Dedman died, the name was changed to Capulin because of the proximity to Mt. Capulin. Post Office, 1879 to present day.

CAPULIN MOUNTAIN - 20 miles south of Colorado state line and 4 miles northeast of Capulin. Named because of the wild cherries (chokeberries) which grew inside the volcanic cone. It is one of the most symmetrical volcanic cones in North America. The high elevation affords a view into 5 states.

CARRIZO CREEK - Empties into Dry Cimarron Creek.

CARRUMPA CREEK - See CORRUMPA

CENTERVILLE - 8 miles south of Amistad and 13 miles north of Nara Visa. Established by hometraders in December 1907. Post Office 1907-1944.

CENTRAL CITY - See HAYDEN

CERNADA - Spanish for "cinder", with probable reference to volcanic ashes. Near Mt. Dora, 18 miles west of Clayton.

CIENAGA CREEK - Cienega in Spanish means "marsh, marshy place". See RABBIT EAR CREEK.

CIENAGA DEL BURRO - See RABBIT EAR CREEK.

CIENEGUILLA CREEK - "Cieneguilla" in spanish is small marshy place. Formed by several tributaries 3 miles north of the settlement of Mt. Dora; flows east into Oklahoma. Formerly called CIENEGUILLA DEL BURRO.

CIMARRON PASS - See EMORY GAP.

CLAPHAM - 22 miles southwest of Clayton on NM 57. Named for Tom Clapham who, in 1888, filed with Jim Davis on adjoining claims. They built a long, two room house on the section line, so that one room was on Clapham's claim and the other on Davis's claim. Post Office, 1888 to 1954.

CLAYTON - A railroad shipping center and county seat, 10 miles west of the Texas state line. Founded in 187 by John C Hill, range manager of the Stephen Dorsey Ranch and named for Clayton C. Dorsey, son of Senator Stephen W Dorsey of Arkansas. The latter was involved in a famous mail fraud case. Bob Ingersoll was his lawyer at the trial and Dorsey was freed. Then he and Ingersoll established the Triangle Dot Ranch in Union and Colfax Counties. Post Office 1888 to present day.

CLAYTON MOUNTAIN -

CORRUMPA - A Native American word meaning "wild or isolated". Former settlement on the headwaters of Corrumpa Creek where FDW Ranch was founded by Frederick D. W. Wright. Now headquarters for Ferol Smith Ranch. Post Office 1905 to 1919.

CORRUMPA CREEK - 10 miles east of Des Moines, at headwaters of North Canadian. First named MCNEES Creek by the traders on the Santa Fe Trail, in memory of a young man who was murdered there by Comanche Indians in 1828. Later the name was changed to Corrumpa. Captain William Becknell crossed the creek in 1822. It is also called CURRUMPAW CREEK.

CRAMER CREEK - 1.5 miles south of Centerville.

CUATES - Trading point 10 miles north of Clayton. Borrows the spanish term "cuate" meaning "twin or close friend" as a place name. Post Office from 1903 to 1938.

DEAD MAN - Post Office 1909 to 1912; Changed to CAPULIN.

DEAD MAN'S ARROYO - A few miles east of Sierra Grande Mountains, where Seneca Creek heads. Received its name from the last Indian raid in Union County (then a part of Colfax County) on July 4 1874. Ute indians came through the country on the warpath, killing several Spanish Americans and two Anglos. The Anglos were killed at Corrumpa Creek and the Spanish in this arroyo.

DEDMAN - Post Office 1909 to 1923. See CAPULIN.

DES MOINES - On US 87 and C&amp;S RR, 38 miles southeast of Raton. Post Office 1906 to present day.

DEVOY PEAK - 2.5 miles from the Colorado state line, 10 miles northeast of Folsom. Named for Michael Devoy, early pioneer.

DOLORES - On Ute Creek at the Union and Harding County line. Post Office 1913 to 1914.

DON CARLOS CREEK - Runs along the Colfax and Union county line and flows south to join the Holkeo Creek. Name probably is associated with a landowner in the area.

DON CARLOS HILLS - In the southeast corner of Union county, 6 miles northeast of Gladstone.

DRIPPING SPRINGS - Located in a cave in Peacock Canyon. Gets its name from the way the water drips from stalactites.

DRY CIMARRON RIVER - The river is believed to have been a disappearing river because of the notable feature of sinking and rising as it goes along. Flows from the foot of Johnson Mesa in Colfax County, cuts a deep canyon across the northern part of Union County, across a corner of Oklahoma, and finally empties into the Arkansas River near Dodge City, Kansas.

EMBERSON - Post Office from 1908 to 1909; mail to Centerville.

EMERY GAP - First known as CIMARRON PASS, it led from Colorado through the mountains to the Dry Cimarron country; 7 miles East of the Colfax County line. Post Office 1906 to 1908, and 1909 to 1925; mail to Branson, Colorado.

EMERY PEAK - On the south bank of the Dry Cimarron River, 8 miles from the Colorado state line in the northwestern corner of Union County.

ESTRANIA ARROYO - Possible corruption of the spanish "extranar" "to miss". In extreme southeast tip of Union County, flowing east into Monia Creek.

EXTER - Post Office 1890 to 1903. Name changed to Valley.

FOLSOM - Cattle shipping and ranching community at the junction of NM 72 and NM 325, 6 miles east of Colfax County line. Named for President Cleveland's wife Frances Folsom. Post Office 1888 to present day. Name has been associated with a culture period in the history of human life in the Southwest. Chipped stone darts of unique shape, dating from the time when men hunted the giant ground sloth and the mammoth, have been found in the Capulin Folsom region. Those spearheads indicate the existence of man here for more than 15,000 years.

FOLSOM CAVES - On Robinson Peak, southwest of Folsom. Contains stalactites of smooth red lava.

GARCIA - First postmaster, Lino Garcia, Post Office 1904 to 1909.; mail to Barney.

GEM COMMUNITY - Between Bible Top Mountain on the east and Mt. Dora on the west, and US 87 and Seneca Creek on the north and south. Named for George E Merrilatt, one of the first homesteaders, whose initials spell "gem". Settled about 1914 and 1915, it was once a thickly settled dry farming community, but now is owned by a few cattlemen.

GENOVA - Shown on 1895 map, 10 miles southeast of Gallegos, in present day Harding County. Post Office 1884 to 1898; mail to Gallegos; 1904 to 1905; mail to Logan. GLADSTONE - Farming and ranching community on NM 58, 36 miles east of Springer, near the Union and Colfax County line. Founded about 1880 by William Harris, and said to have been named for the English statesman, W.E. Gladstone, who Harris knew. The original inhabitants were from Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas. Post Office 1888 to the present.

GLEASON CANYON - On Cross Ell Ranch, about 24 miles northeast of Raton. A prong of Cimarron Canyon, the mouth of which is not far from US 64. Named for Fritz Gleason, who came here in the later 1860's bringing a herd of cattle.

GLEASON SPRINGS - On the Cross Ell Ranch.

GOULD - Post Office 1906 to 1908; mail to Mosquero.

GRANDE - Spanish for "large or great". Small community on US 87, and C&amp;S RR, 11 miles northwest of Grenville. Named for Sierra Grande Mountain, directly east of the settlement. Post Office 1908, intermitently to 1913.

GRENVILLE - Dairying and ranching town on US 87, NM 120, and C&amp;S RR, 27 miles northwest of Clayton. At this point NM 120 begins. Named for a Mr. Grenville, a prominent man in pioneer days. Post Office 1888 to present.

GRENVILLE CAVES - 8 miles west of Grenville and 4 miles south of US 87. The entrance is on top of a little knoll.

GUY - Former settlement on NM 370, 37 miles northwest of Clayton. Once headquarters for Colorado Arizona Sheep Co., founded by Edmund D Hunig. Post Office, 1910 to 1945.

HARRINGTON - Post Office 1910 to 1918.

HAYDEN - Trading point in ranching area, 29 miles north of Nara Visa. Originally platted as CENTRAL CITY on line of survey for the Denver and New Orleans Railroad never constructed. Renamed Hayden by George L. Cook. Site of annual Hayden Rodeo. Post Office 1908 to present day.

HOLLAND - Post Office 1905 to 1917.

IONE - In the southwest corner of Union County on NM 65, and 9 miles southeast of Rosebud. Settled in 1908 by Iowa farmers. E.F.Snyder was the first postmaster. He is reported to have named the place for a girl he left behind in Iowa. Post Office 1908 to 1962.

JAMES DAM - Large earth rock dam on the Corrumpa creek, 8 miles east of Des Moines; used for irrigation. At former headquarters of Thomas P James Ranch. Now called WEATHERLY LAKE for present owner, A.D.Weatherly.

JOHNSON - First postmaster, David C Johnson, Post Office 1906 to 1911; mail to Kenton, Oklahoma.

KEPHART - Former store and post office on farm of Tom Kephart, 20 miles southeast of Abbott. Dwelling became the headfquarters of Jay Lemon Ranch.

LEIGHTON - First postmaster, Hampton W Leighton. Post Office, 1890 to 1904; mail to Folsom.

LEON CREEK - Small creek that flows southwest into Pinabete Arroyo.

MADISON - 8 miles northeast of Folsom, in Dry Cimarron Canyon. First town in what is now Union County. All that is left are ruins of the old grist mill. Named for Madison Emery, who settled in NM in 1865. Post Office 1874 to 1888.

MAJOR LONG'S CREEK - Flows southeast across the southern tip of county into Texas. Possibly commemorative of Stephen H Long (1784-1864), American explorer and engineer, who led a US Army expedition in 1819-1820 to the Rocky Mountains returning by the Arkansas and Canadian Rivers. Long's Peak in Colorado was also named for him.

MALPAIS HILL - 3 miles southwest of Dora and near Farley - Mt. Dora branch at AT&amp;SF RR right of way.

MALPIE - Formerly called MALPAIS. This spelling is a clue to the widespread pronunciation in the West: "mal pi". Former trading point 12 miles south of Capulin and northeast of Chico near the Union county line. Named for the great quantity of volcanic rock found in the hills and area near the settlement. Post Office, Malpais, 1909 to 1911; mail to Des Moines; Malpie, 1916 to 1939.

MANSKER - Site of former consolidated school, 9 miles south of Clayton on NM 18. Named for Robert W Mansker, old time peace officer.

MC NEES CREEK - See CORRUMPA CREEK

MIERA - The earliest record of this surname, is that of a soldier, Bernardo Miera y Pacheco, who appeared in Santa Fe as early as 1756. His son, Anacleto, is said to be the founder of the family that settled this town. It is 9 miles south of Barney, at the Union Harding county line. At one time it was called TRAMPERAS, also LOUIS. First postmaster, Francisco Miera. Post Office 1889, intermittently to 1927.

MONIA CREEK - Doubtless a mispelling of the spanish "monilla", a shrub like plant producing a hard black seed, found in NM. First called MONIA ARROYO. The creek flows east across the southern tip of Union County into Texas.

MOSES - There are two communities with this name, an old one and a new one. "Old" Moses was located near Corrumpa Creek, 18 miles northeast of Clayton. This settlement was known in the days of the Santa Fe Trail. Upon the sale of the Espinosa Ranch (Delfin Espinosa was the last owner of the Old Moses Store). A new store and post office was started at a curve on NM 18. The first postmaster was Frank Moses, Post Office, 1909 to 1955.

MOUNT CAPULIN - See CAPULIN MOUNTAIN

MOUNT CLAYTON - 8 miles west of Mt. Dora and 3 miles south of C&amp;S RR right of way. Named ROUND MOUNTAIN by traders on the Santa Fe Trail, who crossed here in 1822 under the leadership of Colonel Becknell. In 1887 the name changes to Mount Clayton by US Senator Stephen Dorsey of Arkansas in honor of his son, Clayton. See Clayton.

MOUNT DORA - The mountain is 15 miles northwest of Clayton, named for Senator Dorsey's sister in law. The ranching community is on US 87, 18 miles northwest of Clayton. The settlement is 3 miles from Mt. Dora. Shipping point for cattle, sheep and grain. Post Office 1908 to present day.

NIGGER MESA - On the Colorado state line with union County between Branson and Folsom. Named by the cowboys after a fight between a Black Man and a cowboy, which happened at the foot of the mesa in the early 1880's.

NORTH CANADIAN - See CORRUMPAW, or CANADIAN RIVER

NORTH DES MOINES - Post Office 1909 to 1916.

OAK CANON CREEK - 4 miles south of Emery Gap.

PASAMONTE - Spanish "pass or opening between the mountains". On NM 58, 33 miles west of Clayton. Lies between rolling hills. Established in 1899 by Carl Gilg, the first postmaster. Post Office, 1899 to 1947.

PASAMONTE LAKE - North and west of Pasamonte.

PATTERSON - First postmaster, Gertie Patterson. Post Office 1910 to 1918.

PEACOCK CANYON - Prong of Cimarron Canyon 35 miles northeast of Folsom. A family of this name located here in the early 1870's. See DRIPPING SPRINGS.

PENNINGTON - 17 miles southwest of Mt. Dora. Post Office 1914 to 1921.

PENRITH - On C&amp;S RR, 3 miles southeast of Mt. Dora. Once a blind siding and shipping point for cattle. Now grazing land.

PERICO - Spanish for parrot or parakeet. Also, a family name. Post Office 1886 to 1888; changed to CLAYTON.

PERICO CANYON - Rises near Tripod Mountain, flows east, passes 6 miles south of Mt. Dora and 5 miles south of Clayton into Texas.

PINABETE ARROYO - Lear Creek flows into it.

PINABETITOS CREEK - "Little fir trees". Rises southwest of Pasamonte and joins Major Long's Creek below Stead.

PLEASANT - Former settlement and school district in farming region, 10 miles east of Des Moines. Also called PLEASANT VALLEY. Post Office 1914 to 1915. RABBIT EAR CREEK - First called RABBIT EARS CREEK, later renamed CIENAGA CREEK, and still later BIG SPRING. Name for the Mountain Ridge to the east, "Las Orejas de Conejo" "Ears of the Rabbit". Freighters on the Santa Fe Trail called it CIENEGA DEL BURRO or "jackass swamp". Known today as SENECA Creek. It flows east between Rabbit Ear Mountain and Clayton, continuing into Texas.

RABBIT EAR MOUNTAIN - 6 miles north of Clayton, near US 87. Named for a Comanche Chief, called Rabbit Ears, because his ears had been frozen. He was killed in battle and buried on the mountainside. In 1717, at this place, a volunteer army of 500 Spaniards killed several hundred Comanches, and took 700 prisoner, after which a long truce followed.

RAFAEL CREEK - Rises southeast of Sierra Grande Mountain and empties into Corrumpaw Creek (now the North Canadian). Said to have been named by US Senator Stephen W Dorsey of Arkansas, who sojourned in NM in the 1880's.

RAMON - Post Office 1911 to 1914.; changed to DAVID.

REESE HILL - On NM 18.5 miles south of US 64 at Clayton. Named for a family who lived near the foot of the hill. NM 18, leading from Cimarron River Canyon south to Clayton, emerges from the canyon at this point.

ROAD CANYON - South of Reese Hill. So named because the first road leading through Cimarron Canyon to Clayton went through it.

ROUND MOUNTAIN - See MOUNT CLAYTON

ROYCE - Community 8 miles west of Clayton on C&amp;S RR, US 64 and 87. Ranchers received their mail and shipped cattle

SEDAN - Farming community on NM 102, 24 miles south of Clayton, 5 miles west of the Texas line. Named by Ames B. Christerson, who located on a homestead here and was its first postmaster, in memory of Sedan, Kansas, his home town. Post Office, 1910 to present day.

SENECA - The anglicized form of the spanish word "cienega" or swamp. This was once a heavily populated farming community on NM 18, 14 miles northeast of Clayton. After the dust bowl of the 1930's, much of the land was retired or leased by the US Forest Service to ranchers. Post Office 1908 to the present day.

SENECA CREEK - Known to the early frighters over the Santa Fe Trail by the spanish name CIENEGUILLA DEL BURRO. or "jackass swamp". Heads east of the Sierra Grande Mountains, crossing Union County from west to east. As Union county was settled by homesteaders from the East, the name was shortened to Seneca. See Rabbit Ear Creek.

SIERRA GRANDE MOUNTAIN - On us 85, in the northwestern part of Union County. A symmetric basaltic cone more than 40 miles around the base and said to be the largest individual mountain in North America.

SMITH - Post Office 1914 to 1918.

SOFIA - Former trading point on NM 120, 36 west of Clayton and 10 miles east of the Union Colfax County line. Once a large bean growing district, homesteaded by immigrants chiefly from Bulgaria and Hungary, Now a ranching community. Post Office 1914 to 1926.

SPRING HILL - Post Office 1890 to 1899; mail to Folsom.

STAUNTON - Passing track on US 87 and C&amp;S RR, 4 miles northwest of Grenville; Post Office 1914 to 1918.

STEAD - Trading point, farming, and ranching community on NM 18 and Major Long's Creek, 25 miles south of Clayton. Named for father of LR Rock Stead of Clayton. Post Office 1916 to the present.

STEAMBOAT MOUNTAIN - South of NM 325, east of Folsom. Layers of sandstone resemble a gigantic ship left stranded and immobile endless years ago.

STONEHAVEN - Post Office 1910 to 1913.

TATE - Former post office and trading point on Carrizo Creek, 18 miles southwest of Clayton. Started by H.H.Tate on old Clayton - Las Vegas Trail about 1907. Now ranching area. Post Office 1914 to 1923.

TELESFORA - Post Office 1901 to 1903; mail to Miera.

THOMAS - Ranching community west of NM 18, 17 miles douth of Clayton. First postmaster, Laura F Thomas. Post Office 1907 to 1944.

TOLL GATE CANYON - Branch of Dry Cimarron Canyon, 8 miles north of Folsom. Named for a tollroad built by Bill Metcalf, through the canyon in 1870-1871. TOWANDA - Passing track on C&amp;S RR halfway betweeen Folsom and Alps.

TRAGUES CREEK - Rises in Union County near Ione, and flows southeast across the northeastern corner of Quay county to Texas.

TRAMPERAS - Post Office 1879 to 1892; changed to LOUIS.

TRAMPEROS CREEK - Spanish for "trappers", 25 miles south of Clayton.

TRAVESSER CREEK - Also TRAVASIER CREEK - more commonly knows as TRAVASIER CANYON - Heads west of Guy and runs northeast to Dry Cimarron River.

TRAVESILLA - Post Office, 1892 to 1894; mail to Veda.

TRIPOD MOUNTAIN - 10 miles southwest of Mt. Dora on the north bank of Carrizo Creek. A set of three low peaks representing points of a trianple (legs of a tripod), west of the famous "round mound" landmark of the old Santa Fe Trail.

TROMPERAS CREEK - Probably for spanish "tramperas" or "trappers". 6 miles south of Clapham.

UNION COUNTY - Created by the territorial Legislature, February 13, 1893. Named Union because of the united desire of the people to establish a county government.

UTE CREEK - Rises southwest part of Union County and flows south to join the Canadian Red River in Quay County. Named for the Ute Native Americans. Some old maps call it ALAMO CREEK.

VALLEY - Trading point on NM 325, 2 miles from the Colorado state line, on Dry Cimarron River. Settled in 1879. Post Office, 1903 to 1926.

VANCE - 14 miles south of Clayton, 1/2 mile west of NM 18, and 3 miles southeast of Thomas. First postmaster, William H Vance. Post office on the farm of Willis R Vance, 1908 to 1920.

VARGAS - Siding 5 miles from Mt. Dora where the AT&amp;SF RR bought a mountain and built a short track in order to use volcanic cinder material for ballast roadbeds.

VEDA - Post Office 1890 to 1998; mail to Spring Hill; 1900 to 1907; mail to Corrumpa.

VIGIL - The earliest record of the Vigil surname is that of Francisco Montes Vigil and his wife came to Santa Fe as early as 1695, and in 1710 received a land grant. Post Office 1894 to 1898.

WANETTE - Established about 1911, 5 miles southwest of Seneca and northwest of Clayton. A Dr. Carpenter, owner of a general store, combined the name of his daughter Nette with the name of his freighter, Walter Ciser, to designate the place. Wanette disappeared when isolated by travel and highways. Post Office 1910 to 1916.

WEATHERLY LAKE - See Wetherly Lake

WEDDING CAKE HILL - On the north side of US 64, 12 miles west of Oklahoma state line. Named for its peculiar formation, a round mound rising about 300 feet from the floor of the canyon. The grass covered slope is topped by red, white, and brown layers of sandy rock, giving it the appearance of a big layer cake.

WETHERLY LAKE - 9 miles southeast of Des Moines