| | I read that the Yuma Indians showed early pioneers (or maybe mountain men or trappers) that they could cross the Colorado at its confluence with the Gila river - but that makes no sense since the Gila River I know is on the wrong side of the continental divide - it drains into the Sea of Cortez, whereas the Rio Grande drains into the Gulf of Mexico.
The Sante Fe trail took settlers from Kansas City to the Cimmarron Trail which led to the old conquistedore trail coming north out of Mexico. Part of that trail is the Journada del Muerto (Journey or day of the dead man) - the sweet name of the trail that took travelers to a Rio Grande crossing at Ft. Seldon, NM. There may have been crossings that weren't that far south but once across the river they needed a pass for the mountains.
It wasn't just the massive canyons like the Rio Grande Gorge, but nearly every river presented major crossing problems. And the moutain chains presented barriers that required a pass to get through. If you look at maps of the old trails, they move from marked crossings to marked crossings. There are variations in the trails that have to do with seasons. During dry seasons the trail was also from watering hole to watering hole - in wet seasons, some crossing were too dangerous, in cold seasons, they had to use lower mountain passes. Word of mouth information on what trail to use, how to recognize the landmarks and what to expect, was passed back by returning guides and trappers. When I've done longer sailing trips, the same kind of word of mouth is used - those of us in a port along the trade wind route would talk to those who had made the trip before about what to expect and the best route to take.
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