Cooke's Wagon Road - Luna County, NM - Wagon Roads and Trails on Waymarking.com

Web Site for the road: From Wikipedia - Philip St. George Cooke   Interactive Map of Trail
Marker Erected by: New Mexico Official Scenic Historic Marker
Marker Text:

COOKE'S WAGON ROAD In 1846, while leading the Mormon Battalion to California during the Mexican War, Lt. Col. Philip St. George Cooke blazed a wagon road from New Mexico to the West Coast. The potential use of the route for the railroad construction was one of the reasons for the Gadsden Purchase in 1853. Cooke entered Arizona through Guadalupe Pass.

What I learned about Cooke:
Born in Leesburg, Virginia, June 13, 1809, the U.S. Army was Cooke's life for 50 years. Graduating 23d in the West Point class of 1827, he was a veteran of frontier service and the Black Hawk and Mexican wars. He became a dragoon officer, a cavalry tactician, and an explorer in the Far West; in the late 1850s he was also a U.S. observer in the Crimean War.

When the Civil War began he was a colonel, but 12 Nov. 1861 he was commissioned a brigadier general in the Regular Army and given command of the cavalry forces in Washington, D.C. Cooke's sole combat service followed the next spring when he took part in Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan's Peninsula Campaign. He led a cavalry division in front of Yorktown and in the battles at Williamsburg, Gaines' Mill, and White Oak Swamp. The rest of his war service was administrative: he served on courts-martial until Aug. 1863, commanded the District of Baton Rouge until May 1864, then headed the Unions recruiting service until the Confederate surrender. He is remembered not so much for what he did during the Civil War but for what became of his family.

Cooke had 3 daughters and a son, John R. Cooke, who became a Confederate general. Like her father, one daughter held to the Union cause. The other 2 daughters, one of whom was married to Confederate cavalry commander JEB Stuart, allied with the South. This political split estranged the family members for most of their lives and became the subject of national gossip.

The older soldier was brevetted major general for his war service 13 Mar. 1865, and after more administrative duty he was retired 29 Oct. 1873, a little more than half a century after he had entered West Point. In retirement he wrote books about his army life, dying in Detroit, Michigan, March 20, 1895.

A different view of the road by bicyclists, also more about the book: Bicycling along Cooke’s Wagon Road

Road of Trail Name: Cooke's Wagon Road State: New Mexico County: Luna County Historical Significance: It opened the west and California to trade. Years in use: Began in 1846, and since the Interstate (10) is similar, probably to this day. How you discovered it: By accident. A friend and I over-nighted in Deming, and wanted to get an early start. You can see in the photos the sun is just beginning to come up. 5 mile west of Gage, we saw this neat area, and it looked unique to us - so we stopped to look it over, and there was the marker. We were headed to San Diego to attend my son's graduation from Marine Corps Boot Camp. Book on Wagon Road or Trial: Destiny Trail by Odie B. Faulk Website Explination: Please see long description and links provided there. Why?: They were headed for "Calie-for-nye-a" From 1858 to 1861 the Butterfield Overland Stage line, which ran from Tipton (1858) or Syracuse MO to San Francisco used this road as part of their route. The Butterfield Stage moved north through Kansas during the Civil War, because all of their employees were murdered in Syracuse, MO a southern town occupied by Union Troops in 1861. The opening of this trail also cleared the way for railroad expansion. Directions: I-10 (US 70) - 5 miles west of Gage, westbound rest area.

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Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   12/27/2018 The Snowdog visited it 03/24/2018 b&ladventures visited it 02/07/2018 LCSM visited it 07/29/2017 Tusmke visited it

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