Ortega's Indian Market Continental Divide

About

Sitting beside Historic Route 66 at one of New Mexico’s most recognizable geographic milestones, Ortega’s Indian Market combines the tradition of the roadside trading post with the experience of crossing the Continental Divide. New Mexico Tourism notes that the Great Divide runs directly through the store, giving travelers the unusual opportunity to browse for souvenirs while standing along the watershed separating drainage toward opposite sides of the continent. The market is Native American owned and carries locally made jewelry, pottery, Kachina dolls, sandpaintings, handwoven rugs, beadwork and other arts and crafts from tribes of the surrounding region, along with Route 66 and New Mexico souvenirs.

The store also carries forward a much older Route 66 trading tradition associated with the Ortega family. Historical accounts trace Armand Ortega’s beginnings to the trading-post business around Lupton, Arizona, in the 1940s; he later developed a network of trading businesses across Arizona and New Mexico. That heritage makes the Continental Divide market more than a modern gift stop—it represents the trading-post culture that became closely intertwined with Route 66 tourism across the Southwest. Today, travelers can make the short detour from I-40 onto the old highway, visit the Continental Divide landmark and explore a market whose jewelry, crafts and roadside character continue that tradition.

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