About this Painting – “Stuck in a Rut on the Santa Fe Trail – Wagon Mound, NM”©

12″ x 24″ Oil on Canvas by Timothy K Lewis – 2025

About this painting by Julianne Lewis:

Have you ever felt like you were stuck in a rut? There is a reason Tim titled his new painting Stuck in a Rut on the Santa Fe Trail – Wagon Mound, NM.

If you have ever stood on the plains below Wagon Mound in Mora County, New Mexico, you know this land was never easy. It is both beautiful and treacherous, a place where wild cactus flowers bloom among cattle skeletons and the wind steals your breath as quickly as it steals your hat.

Wagon Mound rises out of northern New Mexico, a volcanic butte shaped like a covered wagon and known for generations as the last major landmark before Santa Fe. For wagon trains grinding west along the Cimarron Cutoff, that silhouette on the horizon meant, Keep pressing forward. You have almost arrived. It was also a stark reminder that danger shadowed every mile. Tales of Apache raids were well known among travelers.

Tim captures that tension perfectly. Oxen strain against a deep rut. Children run alongside the wagons. Weary travelers lean their full weight into the struggle. The moment is raw and painfully human. On the Santa Fe Trail, staying stuck was never an option. Survival demanded adrenaline, grit, and relentless determination. You pushed forward, no matter how impossible the moment felt.

One of my favorite things about hiking with Tim is how he captures deeply researched history in motion. He watches the land as if it is still speaking. When we hiked the area, we found old bullet casings buried in the dust, cow skulls bleached to ivory, and faint wagon ruts carved into the prairie. In moments like that, the past rises up around you.

Even the monsoons, bearers of precious water, left behind their own misery. Axle-deep mud. Windstorms strong enough to rip tents from the ground. Belongings scattered across the plain.

Wagon Mound was not just scenery. It was a checkpoint burned into memory. Traders, soldiers, and families all watched for that silhouette. It meant water was close. Safety was close.
Santa Fe was no longer just a rumor of hope.

The dangers along the way were real. In 1850, a group of New Mexican mail carriers and travelers was ambushed near this very landmark in what became known as the Wagon Mound Massacre. The attack is widely believed to have been carried out by a small band of Jicarilla Apache, likely a retaliatory strike following the killing of Chief Lobo Blanco’s daughter by a U.S. soldier atop Wagon Mound.

This is what I love about Tim’s painting. This National Historic Landmark is not just a scene. It is grit on the ground. It feels like stepping straight into a John Wayne moment. Travelers did not simply pass Wagon Mound. They earned it.

And when I stood out there that day, with the wind sweeping across land some might call God-forsaken, I knew it was not. It is deeply inspirational.

I could hear the Creator whisper:
You may be stuck in the ruts right now, but your destination is closer than you think. Keep pulling. Keep moving. Keep pressing forward. Rise up one more time. The arrival will be worth it.