Johnson Mesa

Johnson Mesa is an 8609 foot (2624 meters) mesa in Colfax County in northeastern New Mexico just south of the Colorado border. The city of Raton is on the west and Folsom on the east.

The mesa is named after Lige Johnson who lived below the mesa but grazed his cattle on top of it. Grazing on top of mesas was a traditional practice throughout northern New Mexico, where some mesas to this day are known as potreros.

Structures on the mesa include the abandoned farming town of Bell (1880s-1933) and St. John's Methodist Episcopal Church, dating from 1898.

Natural features of the mesa include a few lakes, the two largest of which are Berry Lake and Bellisle Lake, and a large hill called Red Mountain. The Dry Cimarron River, which becomes the Cimarron River, has its beginning on the eastern side of the mesa.

The mesa is crossed east-west by New Mexico State Road 72, part of the Dry Cimarron State Scenic & Historic Byway [http://www.legendsofamerica.com/HC-DryCimarron2.html] .

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