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- This article is about the historic transportation route. For the 1940 film, see Santa Fe Trail (film). For the auto trails, see Old Santa Fe Trail (auto trail) and New Santa Fe Trail.
The Santa Fe Trail was a historic 19th century transportation route across southwestern North America connecting Missouri with Santa Fe, New Mexico. First used in 1821 by William Becknell it served as a vital commercial and military highway until the arrival 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
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 Colorado and northern New Mexico has been designated the Santa Fe Trail National Scenic Byway.
Route
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 Kansas, it roughly followed the route of U.S. Route 56 to the town of Olathe. The section of the trail between Independence and Olathe was also used by emigrants 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 and Council Grove, then swung east of McPherson to the town of Lyons. West of Lyons the trail followed nearly the route of present-day Highway 56 to Great Bend, where it 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 has a complex network of branches. One of the branches 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. A dramatization of life on the route was made into a motion picture in 1940, starring Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Raymond Massey and Ronald Reagan.
Cimarron Cutoff
The other main branch cut southwest to the valley of the Cimarron River near the town of Ulysses and Elkhart then continued toward Boise City to Clayton, joining up with northern branch at Fort Union. From Watrous, the reunited branches continued southward to Santa Fe.Part of this route has been designated a National Scenic Byway.
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
External links
- National Park Service: Santa Fe Trail
- Trails West Maps: Route choices
- 2004 Santa Fe Trail Rendezvous
- Pioneer Trails from US Land Surveys
- TerraServer Aerial photograph at Points of Rocks Mesa New Mexico
"Santa Fe Trail"