Trail of the Forty-Niners Historical Marker
Mile 252 Interstate 40 West
Santa Rosa, NM 88435
The marker is in the westbound rest area at mile 252 of Interstate 40 West. The inscription reads “To give gold-seekers another route to California, Capt. Randolph B. Marcy and Lt. James H. Simpson opened a wagon road from Arkansas to New Mexico in 1849. Marcy’s Road, although very popular with the Forty-Niners, still was never as well-traveled as the Santa Fe Trail. Here the route parallels I-40 to Albuquerque.”
The photos associated with this page are courtesy Bill Kirchner, 2015.
