Abo Canyon

From pre-Columbian times, the pass provided the most direct trading route through the mountains between Plains tribes such as the Abó, Gran Quivira, Quarai, and others located in the Estancia Valley to the east, and the Pueblo cultures of the Rio Grande to the west. They used this pass as a route between the Rio Grande valley and the three “salt missions” they constructed northeast of the pass, now ruins preserved as part of the Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument. Shortly after the United States' acquisition of New Mexico in 1846, US Congress authorized a search for a direct rail line through the nation. In 1853 a small military expedition of approximately 100 men occupied the area surveying the canyon. == Railroad ==

bridge across Abo Canyon, circa 1905–1908. Sand Canyon is in background. The Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad began construction in 1868, originating in Topeka, Kansas and expanding to the west through Colorado. The railroad, primarily used to facilitate the trade of buffalo hides and cattle, expanded south over Raton Pass and Glorieta Pass, reaching Santa Fe and Albuquerque in 1880. Now part of the BNSF system and known as the Clovis subdivision of the Southern Transcon, the rail corridor is one of the most heavily trafficked routes in the western US. An average of almost 90 trains daily passed through Abo Canyon in 2006, each typically 6000 to 8000 feet in length. The four-mile route through the canyon remained a single-track bottleneck until March 2011, when a second track was completed at a cost of $85 million. The BNSF project to expand this section of the railroad was scheduled to take 2.5 years and was completed ahead of time with zero reported injuries. == Highway ==

The Atlantic and Pacific Highway was established through the pass in 1921, and was designated as U.S. Route 60 in 1931. New Mexico State Road 47 joins the highway from Belen on the west side of the pass. ==Other Infrastructure==

In addition to the BNSF railroad and US Highway 60, two major electrical transmission lines and a natural gas transmission pipeline also pass through Abo Pass. == Abo Pass Trail ==

On July 31, 1998, the Abo Pass Trail was made a New Mexico Scenic and Historic Byway. It is a 31 miles scenic drive through the Salt Missions area along New Mexico State Road 47 and U.S. Route 60. The route originally served as a Pueblo trade path to the eastern plains. Abo Pass Trail experienced high traffic in the 17th and 18th centuries as it connected traders and missionaries to the main route between Mexico and Santa Fe, the Camino Real. == References ==