Text adapted from research and tour organization materials by Paul and Marilyn Duncan and Dave Ferro. Edited by Mark Wing. Photos by Mark and Susan Wing unless otherwise noted.
Tour day 4 primary activities: Photo shoot – Santa Fe Trail – Clayton Lake – Dinosaur Tracks – Herzstein Museum – Tour Banquet – Singer & Songwriter Event, 2019
Total round trip 45 miles.
After breakfast some tour members visited Carl Price’s garage on the grounds of the Eklund Hotel where his two 1927 Model T’s are stored. Carl has used these Model T’s in parades and advertising for the Eklund Hotel in the past. They are now undergoing repairs and maintenance to make them drivable again.
After viewing the Model T collection it was time for co-tour organizer Marilyn Duncan to be interviewed by Marianne Rose, a reporter for the Union County Leader. Terry L. Martin, a Union County Leader photographer, provided the photos for the story (see the link below). The community really enjoyed our visit and are looking forward to getting the Eklund Model Ts back on the road.
Link to Union County Leader article by Marianne Rose.
Once the photo shoot and interview were completed, we drove through the town of Clayton along Main Street (US-64) reaching the West side of the Kiowa National Grasslands boundary at NM-406. We then went north through ranch and farming land that was destroyed during the Dust Bowl environmental disaster of the 1930s. The Federal Government stepped in to purchase the distressed land and restored crop land back to native short grass prairie. There are currently numerous private inholdings within the Federal Grassland parcels.
The Santa Fe Trail extended from Independence, Missouri to Santa Fe, New Mexico. In New Mexico, there were two main routes – the Cimarron Cutoff, and the Mountain Route. The Cimarron Cutoff extended into northern Clayton. There are a number of sites along the 1,200 mile Santa Fe Trail (1821-1880) where thousands of wagons carved ruts deep into the prairie. We stopped at Santa Fe Trail U.S. Forest Service interpretive site (north of Clayton) where ruts on private land can be viewed. There are also ruts visible at nearby McNees crossing and around Ft. Union. After exploring this interpretive center, we drove on to Clayton Lake State Park.
Link to more information about the Santa Fe Trail: https://www.claytonnm.org/santafetrail
Clayton Lake State Park is located north of the town of Clayton and was a stopover point for travelers along the Cimarron Cutoff of the Santa Fe Trail. In 1955 the New Mexico Game & Fish established the State Park as a summer fishing lake and winter migratory water fowl rest area. A dam was constructed across Seneca Creek to create the lake.
A tasty picnic lunch was provided by the Clayton Main Street Organization – thank you!
Many of the tour member hiked over the dam to view the spectacular 100 million-year-old dinosaur tracks. This is a major collection of dinosaur tracks that can be viewed from the dam spillway gazebo and boardwalk trail.
After lunch and viewing the dinosaur tracks, it was time to drive back to the Eklund Hotel in Clayton to rest and dress in our period clothing for the visit to the Herzstein Memorial Museum and tour banquet later in the evening.
For more information about the dinosaur tracks and geology: https://geoinfo.nmt.edu/tour/state/clayton_lake/home.html
https://ucmp.berkeley.edu/mesozoic/cretaceous/clayton.html
Later in the afternoon, we made the short drive to the Herzstein Memorial Museum to view their exhibits and hear a presentation by Charles Jordan detailing the Superintendent of Schools – Raymond Huff’s extraordinary contribution to Clayton during the Great Depression and Dust Bowl periods. Charles provided us with an excellent tour of the museum – thank you Charles! Later, Larry Azevedo let Charles drive his 1912 touring car in the streets surrounding the museum. Sharron Geilenfeldt had a printing plate (believed to be from the 1940’s) that was a map of Clayton. Sharron generously donated the printing plate to the Herzstein Memorial Museum.
For more information about the Herzstein Memorial Museum: https://www.claytonnm.org/the-herzstein-museum
After leaving the Herzstein Memorial Museum, it was time for our Tour banquet at the Eklund Hotel. We had a wonderful time recounting our tour activities in the Eklund’s ornate dining room full of antiques and history. Even our waitresses were vintage costumes. After the dinner, several members went to the bar area where the “Singer & Songwriter Event – 2019” was taking place. This event was planned to coincide with our stay at the Eklund and was a three-night (Sept. 19th-21st) event. The performance sessions included Folk, Country, American, Western, and Rock music. It was a perfect way to wind down from the tour and relax!
Sunday, September 22nd was devoted to loading our cars and trailering them back home. We wish to thank our tour organizers Paul and Marilyn Duncan, and Dave Ferro for a enjoyable, educational, and fun 2019 tour!
Links to other tour days:
Tour Day 1 (Wed) – Arrival in Raton – Shuler Theater – Raton Museum – Bruno’s Pizza
Tour Day 2 (Thu) – The Station – Sugarite – Johnson Mesa – Folsom – Capulin – Return to Raton Loop – Oasis restaurant
Tour Day 3 (Fri) – Power Plant – Shopping – Parade – Clayton – Eklund Hotel – Luna Theater
Link to Raton-Clayton Places Summary, September 2019(a PDF of more detailed information compiled by Paul and Marilyn Duncan of the places visited on the tour)?