Still-perceptible wagon ruts at a place called Iron Springs from the Santa Fe Trail period in the early and mid-1800s in Otero County, Colorado. The Santa Fe Trail was an important trade route running between Missouri and what is now New Mexico in two branches. The shorter route led through what was called Indian Territory, and a longer, but safer, "Mountain Route" through what is now southeastern Colorado. Iron Springs was an important watering hole on the often parched prairie. Photo by Carol Highsmith, 2016.