Colfax County

In 1841, Carlos Beaubien and Guadalupe Miranda received a grant of land from the governor of New Mexico in the northeastern part of the Mexican province. Frontier conditions prevented colonization of the grant until 1848, when Beaubien's son-in-law Lucien Maxwell led settlers from Taos to the Rayado River where it crossed the Santa Fe Trail. Maxwell's friend Kit Carson joined him the following year, and their ranch prospered in spite of frequent attacks by Jicarilla Apaches. Later, Maxwell moved