earliest trails used by Plains Indians and Puebloan peoples were those created by buffalo and were followed for hunting. The buffalo were considered "the best civil engineers in the world" for their ability to find the easiest, lowest paths through the mountains. The Old Kiowa Trail, still used today by Native Americans on horseback, is at the base of the Rocky Mountains. An old Navajo Trail criss-crossed the Rio Grande before heading west at Warmsley Crossing (John Dunn Bridge at Arroyo Hondo) There were additional trails that radiated out of Taos from Taos Plaza. Trails of the 19th century A key trail into Taos was "The Old Taos Trail", which began at the Bent's Fort on the Arkansas River in Colorado, west of the Spanish Peaks, through Sangre de Cristo Pass (west of Walsenburg, Colorado), Old La Veta Pass and into Questa area (NM 522/NM38 area). It came into Taos at either Taos Pueblo road or half a mile west on Couse Hill. Another route into Taos was along the Cimarron Route. It was this route that most wagon trains entered into the Rio de Fernando canyon valley. The two routes are the "mountain route" and the "Cimarron Route" of the Santa Fe Trail. One of the Cimarron Mountain Routes paralleled the present U.S. Route 64 from I-25 to Cimarron. Trails branched off of the Cimarron Route into several communities. A branch of the route from Bent's Fort went into Taos in or after the founding of the Santa Fe Trail in 1821. The first wagon train was led by Charles Bent in 1831. Bent, the brother of William Bent of Bent's Fort, became the most successful merchant in Taos before being made governor of New Mexico. Highways from the 20th century History of individual highways: U.S. Route 64. In 1927 the road into Taos from the northeast was highway 485, a branch of 85 from Raton, New Mexico. It ran south east from Cimarron to Taos and continued south to Santa Fe. In 1931, U.S. 485 was replaced by U.S. Route 64. In 1974 the route of 64 changed from Taos, and rather than taking a southerly route, it traveled north and west over the mountains of Tres Piedras, replacing the former NM 111 and NM 553 highways. New Mexico State Road 38. The highway was named NM 38 in or before 1912 for the road between Questa and