Kearny Gap is 2 miles south of Las
Vegas and west of I-25. Also called Puertico de la Piedra Lumbre, this pass was
used very little by the Santa Fe Trail prior to the Mexican War. Wagon ruts west of
Kearny Gap indicate that it must have been used extensively by freight wagons
after the Mexican War. It was near this location, on November 13, 1821, that Captain
Don Pedro Ignacio Gallego and over 450 New Mexican Militia, regular soldiers and
Pueblo Indian Auxiliares, met William Becknell and his five companions from Missouri.
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