Building
their way through the arid Tularosa Basin towards Alamogordo, New Mexico the
workers along the El Paso and Northeastern Railroad began looking to the east at
the Sacramento Mountains. There, they presumed, would be the timber they
needed for railroad ties. A survey crew was dispatched into the mountains
to determine the practicality of running a line up into the area to gather the
needed resources. There, at 9,000 feet they found a small pasture, or
croft, that seemed to hold the clouds, and so they named it Cloudcroft.
By the 1900, the railroad finally reached Cloudcroft and work was begun on a
depot and "Pavilion" to accommodate guests. This pavilion, which later became
The Lodge, drew tourist from hot El Paso, turning the small croft into a retreat
for the desert-dwellers.
Today, the railroad is gone, but Cloudcroft still serves as a retreat from
the hot, arid climates that surround it. The beauty of the Sacramento
Mountains, and the views into the Tularosa Basin, still draw tourist from around
the world.
All images contained in this web
site are copyright. The download and use of any images is
prohibited without the express permission of
Assaca Press, L.L.C.. To see copyright notice,
click here.
Last modified: 02/12/04
.gif)
Building
their way through the arid Tularosa Basin towards Alamogordo, New Mexico the
workers along the El Paso and Northeastern Railroad began looking to the east at
the Sacramento Mountains. There, they presumed, would be the timber they
needed for railroad ties. A survey crew was dispatched into the mountains
to determine the practicality of running a line up into the area to gather the
needed resources. There, at 9,000 feet they found a small pasture, or
croft, that seemed to hold the clouds, and so they named it Cloudcroft.