Trail logo created by graphic designer Martin Kim as a pro-bono design project for the National Park Service

The Santa Fe Trail was a 19th-century transportation route through central North America that connected Missouri with Santa Fe, New Mexico. First used in 1821 by William Becknell, it served as a vital commercial and military highway until the introduction of the railroad to Santa Fe in 1880. At first an international trade route between the United States and Mexico, it served as the 1846 U.S. invasion route of New Mexico during the Mexican–American War.^[1]

The route crossed Comancheria, the territory of the Comanches, who demanded compensation for granting rights-of-way. Americans routinely traded with the Comanche along the trail, sometimes finding the trade in Comancheria more profitable than that of Santa Fe.^[2]

After the U.S. acquisition of the Southwest, the trail helped open the region to U.S. economic development and settlement, playing a vital role in the expansion of the U.S. into the lands it had acquired. The road route is commemorated today by the National Park Service as the Santa Fe National Historic Trail. A highway route that roughly follows the trail's path through the entire length of Kansas, the southeast corner of Colorado and northern New Mexico has been designated as the Santa Fe Trail National Scenic Byway.

[edit] Economics

The Trail was an important trade route, carrying manufactured products from the central plains of United States (present day Kansas City area) to the northeastern ranching and farming country of Mexico.

[edit] Route

Map of the Santa Fe Trail (in red) in 1845. A detailed present-day map is also available.^[3]

Santa Fe Trail ruts at Fort Union

The eastern end of the trail was in the central Missouri town of Franklin on the north bank of the Missouri River. The route across Missouri first used by Becknell followed portions of the existing Osage Trace. West of Franklin, the trail crossed the Missouri near Arrow Rock, after which it followed roughly the route of present-day U.S. Route 24. It passed north of Marshall, through Lexington to Fort Osage, then to Independence. Independence was also one of the historic "jumping off points" for the Oregon and California Trails.

West of Independence, in the State of Missouri, it roughly followed the route of U.S. Route 56 from near the town of Olathe to the western border of Kansas. It enters Colorado, cutting across the southeast corner of the state before entering New Mexico. The section of the trail between Independence and Olathe was also used by immigrants on the California and Oregon Trails, which branched off to the northwest near Gardner, Kansas.

From Olathe, the trail passed through the towns of Baldwin City, Burlingame, and Council Grove, then swung west of McPherson to the town of Lyons. West of Lyons the trail followed nearly the route of present-day Highway 56 to Great Bend. Ruts in the earth made from the trail are still visible in several locations (Ralph's Ruts are visible in aerial photos at (38°21′35″N 98°25′20″W / 38.35959264°N 98.42225502°W / 38.35959264; -98.42225502).^[4] At Great Bend, the trail encountered the Arkansas River. Branches of the trail followed both sides of the river upstream to Dodge City and Garden City.

West of Garden City in southwestern Kansas the trail splits into two branches. One of the branches, called the Mountain Route or the Upper Crossing (of the Arkansas River) ^{[5]:93[6]:133} continued to follow the Arkansas upstream in southeastern Colorado to the town of La Junta. At La Junta, the trail continued south into New Mexico to Fort Union at Watrous.

The Santa Fe Trail in Cimarron, New Mexico

The other main branch, called the Cimarron Cutoff or Cimarron Crossing or Middle Crossing^{[5]:93[6]:133[7]:144} cut southwest across the Cimarron Desert (also known as the Waterscrape or La Jornada^[7]:148) to the valley of the Cimarron River near the town of Ulysses and Elkhart then continued toward Boise City, Oklahoma, to Clayton, New Mexico, joining up with northern branch at Fort Union. This route was generally very hazardous because it had very little water. In fact, the Cimarron River was one of the only sources of water along this branch of the trail.

From Watrous, the reunited branches continued southward to Santa Fe.

Part of this route has been designated a National Scenic Byway.

[edit] Challenges

Travelers faced many hardships along the Santa Fe Trail. The trail was a challenging 1,200 miles (1,900 km) of arid plains, desert and mountains. On this trail unlike the Oregon trail, there was a serious danger of Native American attacks, for neither the Comanches or the Apaches of southern high plains tolerated trespassers. In 1825, Congress voted federal protection for the Santa Fe Trail, even though much of it lay in the Mexican territory. Lack of food and water also made the trail very risky. Weather conditions, like huge lightning storms, gave the travelers even more difficulty. If a storm blew up, there was often no place to take shelter and the livestock could get spooked. Rattlesnakes often posed a threat as many people died due to snakebite. The caravan size increased later on to prevent Indian raids. The travelers also packed more oxen instead of mules because the Indians did not want to risk raiding the caravans for only some oxen.

In April 1843 the Republic of Texas Snively Expedition came to plunder Mexican merchant caravans on territory claimed by Texas, but were quickly arrested and disarmed by United States troops escorting caravans, ^[8] although not before murdering Antonio Jose Chavez, son of a former governor of New Mexico. ^[9]

[edit] Historic preservation

Segments of this trail in Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.^[10] The longest clearly identifiable section of the trail, Santa Fe Trail Remains, near Dodge City, Kansas, is listed as a National Historic Landmark.^[11] Walking on the Santa Fe trail is now discouraged.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Notable features

Missouri^[12]

• Arrow Rock (Arrow Rock Landing, Santa Fe Spring, Huston Tavern)
• Harvey Spring/Weinrich Ruts
• Independence (Santa Fe trail Ruts, Lower Independence (Blue Mills) Landing, Upper Independence (Wayne City) Landing.
• Kansas City (Westport Landing)

Kansas^[13]

• Kansas City (Shawnee Mission, Big Blue River Crossing)
• Council Grove (Kaw Mission, Neosho River Crossing, Hermit’s Cave, Last Chance Store, Council Oak, Post Office Oak)
• Fort Larned National Historic Site
• Fort Dodge (Jackson’s Grove and Island, Santa Fe Trail Ruts, Middle Crossing, Point of Rocks, Fort Atkinson Site)

Mountain Route towards Colorado

• Arkansas River Crossing

Colorado^[14]

Mountain Route

• Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site
• Raton Pass

Cimarron Route towards Oklahoma

• Cimarron River
• Cimarron National Grassland

New Mexico^[15]

Mountain Route

• Clifton House
• Cimarron (Aztec Mill, Cimarron Plaza and Well)
• Philmont Scout Ranch

Cimarron Route

• Kiowa National Grassland

Joint route

• Fort Union National Monument
• Pecos National Historical Park
• Santa Fe
• Oldest House in the USA

[edit] See also

• MO: Jackson County Historic Places
• KS: Johnson County Historic Places
• OK: Cimarron County Historic Places
• NM: Colfax County Historic Places
• Oregon-California Trails Association
• Pawnee Rock
• Related National Park Units
  • Fort Larned National Historic Site
  • Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site
  • Fort Union National Monument
• Santa Fe Trail Remains

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Santa Fe Trail Center
• National Park Service: Santa Fe Trail
  • Trails West Maps: Route choices
• Santa Fe Trail Research
• Santa Fe Trail Research Site Aerial Photo Tour of the Santa Fe Trail
• New Mexico Santa Fe Trail National Scenic Byway
  • Flying the Santa Fe Trail
• The Great Santa Fe Trail Horse Race Endurance Ride A 10-day, 500-mile (800 km) endurance ride down the historic Santa Fe Trail with a focus on promoting the history of the Santa Fe Trail and surrounding communities
• Glorieta and Raton Passes: Gateways to the Southwest, a National Park Service Teaching with Historic Places (TwHP) lesson plan
• Pioneer Trails from US Land Surveys

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