We followed highway 51 in search of
Engle (the one we found).
Built in 1879 as a station on the
Aitcheson, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad, the town was probably named after R
L Engle a railroad construction engineer.
Engle became a thriving cattle town,
at one time having a population of about 500, it was also a shipping point for
supplies and ore. When White Sands
Missile Range to the east of Engle was created in 1945 it spelled the end for
the town.
A few of the original buildings still
stand, along with the school house which is now a country church.
We followed the road south towards
Cutter (the one we lost).
Cutter once a mining boom town of
3,500, people moved away as the mines failed and today it’s a ranching area
with no sign of the once thriving town.
We reached a sharp left turn which we think would’ve taken us to
Spaceport America, we didn’t investigate further as at the moment it’s only
open to the public on organised tours.
Continuing straight ahead the road
turned to dirt heading towards a couple of places on our ‘to visit’ list, the
Yorst Trailhead, and Point of Rocks Overview http://www.nps.gov/elca/historyculture/yost-escarpment.htm
on the infamous Jornado Del Muerto, a harsh, waterless section of the Camino
Real de Terra Adentro.
We hope to return and visit the
overview and hike the trail earlier in the day when it’s cooler. The Yorst trail is only 1½ miles long but as
it crosses mesquite desert it is really easy to get turned around and it’s
definitely not somewhere we’d want that to happen.
Have fun, we are!
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