New Mexico Tourism | Western

Ghost Towns: Alma, Cerrillos, Chloride, Clairmont, Elizabethtown, Golden, Lake Valley, Loma Parda, Madrid, Mogollón, Shakespeare, Steins, Winston
Movie Sets: Bonanza Creek Ranch, Cerrillos, Madrid, Cook Ranch & the Silverado Set, Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad, Eaves Movie Ranch, White Sands National Monument, Zia Pueblo

Steins

Southwest region in New Mexico This old railroad and mining town south of the Peloncillo Mountain Range, got its start as a small stop on the Birch Stage Line in 1857. A year later, Birch was replaced by the Butterfield Overland Stage Company, who continued to use the station. At that time, it was called Doubtful Canyon, for the nearby pass by the same name, called such because of the constant threat of Indian attacks. In 1873, another such skirmish occurred in the canyon between the Apache Indians and the cavalry led by Captain Enoch Steins, who was killed in the attack. Afterwards, it was called Steins Pass.

When rich mineral deposits of gold, silver, lead and copper were found several years later, in the Peloncillo Mountains north of the pass, the area began to crawl with prospectors. Called the Kimball Mining District, a number of mining camps, with names like Kimball, Pocahontas, and Beck, sprang up along the base of the Peloncillo Range.

In 1878, the Southern Pacific Railroad began to blast away at the rock bluffs of the area, developing a quarry and taking away tons of rock for a new railroad bed. During this time, some 1,000 Chinese railroad workers lived at the foot of Steins Peak. By 1880, the railway was complete through the area and the railroad stabled a station at Steins Pass. In 1888, a post office, called Doubtful Canyon, was established on the main wagon road to serve the mining camps. For more than a decade, the area was dotted with little more than ramshackle cabins and prospector tents, though Beck’s Camp sported a store and a hotel, with buckboard service to the Southern Pacific Station.

On December 9, 1897, the mining camps were bursting with excitement when the Southern Pacific Sunset Limited was held up at Steins Pass by the Black Jack Ketchum Gang. In the robbery attempt a trainman named Edward Cullen was killed, and the bandits were able to escape; however, they made off with no money.

Today, Steins is a privately-owned ghost town with a population of two. What’s left of the community includes several adobe ruins and about ten restored buildings, including a tack shop, a community kitchen, and “Girdie’s Garter.” Guided tours are available for a nominal fee where visitors can see the buildings filled with antique furnishings and memorabilia, as well as hear about the town’s history. Nearby is an old cemetery that is dotted with a few worn and weathered tombstones.

Though its many residents are gone, the Southern Pacific locomotives still make their way past the town daily, whistling away to remind the coyotes and its two residents of are more prominent time.