The importance and significance of the Santa Fe Trail was: ● Trade via the route brought much needed silver to the United States ● The trail tied the New Mexican Southwest economically to the rest of the U.S. and hastened American infiltration of the region Taos became a center for the so-called southern fur trade. It passed north of Marshall, through Lexington to Fort Osage, then to Independence. Commercial freighting along the trail boomed to unheard-of levels, including considerable military freight hauling to supply the southwestern forts. [19] In fact, the Cimarron River was one of the only sources of water along this branch of the trail. Comanche raiding farther south in Mexico isolated New Mexico, making it more dependent on the American trade. The Santa Fe Trail, stretching 1,200 miles from Franklin, Missouri to Santa Fe, New Mexico, was one of America’s great trading routes. The longest clearly identifiable section of the trail, Santa Fe Trail Remains, near Dodge City, Kansas, is listed as a National Historic Landmark. The route was pioneered by Missouri trader William Becknell, who left Franklin, Missouri in September 1821. The history of the trail in New Mexico is full of interesting facts and stories. Settlers seeking the opportunity to hold free land used wagon trains to follow various emigrant trails that branched off to points west. Cargo mule trains were run from Fort Bernard to the Santa Fe Trail. Near 3126 Santa Fe Road, on the east side of the road, is a clearly visible Santa Fe Trail ramp down part of a high creek bank. The Santa Fe Trail was the most important route to the West from the Missouri River to Santa Fe, Mexico, before the era of the railroads. Water flows in the Pecos, Arkansas, Cimarron, and Canadian rivers that drain the region vary by 90 or more percent in their flows during an average year. Like the Oregon Trail, another famous wagon trail, it began in Independence, Missouri. But, after the Invincibles destroyed much of an advance party led by Captain Ventura Lovato, the governor retreated. an important trade route going between Independence, Missouri, and Santa Fe, New Mexico, used from about 1821 to 1880. From Watrous, the reunited branches continued southward to Santa Fe. Speaking of the military, the Santa Fe Trail played an important role in the Civil War as well. [1][2][3][4] Pioneered in 1821 by William Becknell, who departed from the Boonslick region along the Missouri River, the trail served as a vital commercial highway until 1880, when the railroad arrived in Santa Fe. [original research? Remnants of the trail days can be seen at 21 historic landmarks, including nine National Historic Santa Fe Trail sites. Cimarron Route thru Kansas towards Oklahoma. The leave earlier meant the expense of carrying corn along to feed the animals in their wagon train. This post was eight miles east of the site of Fort John (now Ft. Laramie) (ca. Its major market in Missouri was St. Louis, with its port on the Mississippi River. During the early 1870s, three different railroads vied to build rails over Raton Pass in order to serve the New Mexico market. Then, in February 1880, the railroad reached Santa Fe, and the trail faded into history. After the murder of Chávez, Warfield began limited military hostilities in the region using recruits from the southern Rockies. Local merchants and citizens at the U.S. end of the Santa Fe Trail demanded justice and a return to the stable commerce which their economy depended on. “Council Grove was the most important stop on the Santa Fe Trail,” says Don Cress, who founded the local chapter of the Santa Fe Trail Association. Rattlesnakes often posed a threat, and many people died due to snakebites. Additional track mileage further shortened the effective distance of the Santa Fe. Learn more about trail life, trail impacts on indigenous people, how the trail shaped history and more! Knowing about recent political disturbances there, they hoped for a welcome by the rebellious faction in New Mexico. The travelers also packed more oxen instead of mules because the Indians did not want to risk raiding the caravans only for some oxen. Inside Kansas, the AT&SF roadbed roughly paralleled the Santa Fe Trail west of Topeka as it expanded between 1868 and 1874. After the Mexican and American war in 1849 mass immigration started again. This area included a large stretch of the Santa Fe trail, a lucrative trade route that linked Missouri (then the eastern boundary of the United States) with the town of Santa Fe in present-day New Mexico. 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. Trappers and hunters who sought beaver pelts and the hides of other animals used Taos as a place to trade their harvests for new supplies. People carried goods along the route in covered wagons drawn by teams of horses, mules, or oxen. [9]. West of Independence, it roughly followed the route of U.S. Route 56 from near the town of Olathe to the western border of Kansas. A mule trail (trapper's trails) led to points north to supply the lucrative overland fur trade in ports on the Pacific Coast. [12][13], Warfield was reportedly unaware of the crime. Part of this route has been designated a National Scenic Byway. Because the Santa Fe Trail hauled primarily commercial goods, this railroad expansion meant that the trading caravans needed to traverse increasingly short distances. This resulted in the murder of its leader Antonio José Chávez, the son of a former governor of New Mexico, Francisco Xavier Chávez. It enters Colorado, cutting across the southeast corner of the state before entering New Mexico. Santa Fe Trail Diaries. Santa Fe Trail, in U.S. history, famed wagon trail from Independence, Mo., to Santa Fe, N.M., an important commercial route (1821–80). It played a vital role in the westward expansion of the US into these new lands. In 1854, Jeb Stuart, George Custer and other graduates from West Point are posted to Kansas to help pacify the territory before railroad construction to Santa Fe can resume. It is also known as the Oregon-California Trail. It had just won independence from Spain in the Mexican War of Independence. [21] In Colorado, Santa Fe Trail Mountain Route--Bent's New Fort is included on the National Register. It was also called as The Great Prairie Highway for 60 years connecting economies of different territories through trading. Between 1821 and 1880, the Santa Fe Trail was primarily a commercial highway connecting Missouri and Santa Fe, New Mexico. The trail extended south from Santa Fe for an additional thousand miles through El Paso to the Mexican towns of Chihuahua and Durango, following the natural roads wagon masters found along the entire distance. So from 1821 till 1846 this trail's main use was as a international commercial highway for Mexican and American traders. This route was generally very hazardous because it had very little water. In 1825, Congress voted for federal protection for the Santa Fe Trail, even though much of it lay in the Mexican territory. He made an unprovoked attack on Mexican troops outside Mora, New Mexico, leaving five dead. Becknell, however, was pleasantly surprised to find that Mexico had overthrown the Spanish yoke, and the new Mexican government – unlike their predecessors – welcomed outside trade. Also on this trail, unlike the Oregon trail, there was a serious danger of Indian attacks, for neither the Comanches nor the Apaches of the southern high plains tolerated trespassers. Independence was also one of the historic "jumping off points" for the Oregon and California Trails. Opened by William Becknell, a trader, the trail was used by merchant wagon caravans travelling in parallel columns, which, when Indians attacked, as they did frequently between 1864 and… The trail followed several different routes depending on weather conditions and terrain. The French explorer Pedro Vial pioneered the route in 1792, and French traders from St. Louis gained a fur trading monopoly from the Spanish in Santa Fe. At first, it was an international trade route between the United States and Mexico. [20] In Missouri, this includes the 85th and Manchester "Three Trails" Trail Segment, Arrow Rock Ferry Landing, Santa Fe Trail-Grand Pass Trail Segments, and Santa Fe Trail-Saline County Trail Segments. The route skirted the northern edge and crossed the north-western corner of Comancheria, the territory of the Comanche. The railroad began to discount such trips to visit its land offices and gave back the ticket price as part of the purchase price, if a sale was concluded. In 1863, with all the political bickering over railroad legislation, entrepreneurs opened their pockets and set their sights on the American Southwest leading to the gradual construction east to west of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway; the name eponymously reflecting the intentions of the founders, the expected eastern terminus to be in Atchison, Kansas. The Santa Fe Trail was a 19th-century transportation route that connected Franklin, Missouri with Santa Fe, New Mexico. Freshwater was scarce, and the high steppe-like plains are nearly treeless. Santa Fe was near the end of the El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, which carried trade from Mexico City. By the 1840s, trail traffic through the Arkansas Valley was so numerous that bison herds were cut off from important seasonal grazing land. Transportation route through central North America that connected Franklin, Missouri with Santa Fe, New Mexico. The Texan Santa Fe Expedition, a politico-military-commercial expedition of 1841, was occasioned by President Mirabeau B. Lamar's desire to divert to Texas at least a part of the trade then carried over the Santa Fe Trail and, if possible, to establish Texas jurisdiction over the Santa Fe area, which the Republic of Texas claimed on the basis of an act of December 19, 1836. Not surprisingly, others got into the trade soon after Becknell returned, and by 1825 goods from Missouri were not only being traded in Santa Fe, but to other points farther south as well. The Santa Fe Trail was a 19th-century route through central North America that connected Franklin, Missouri with Santa Fe, New Mexico. West of Garden City in southwestern Kansas the trail splits into two branches. Then, in 1846, the Mexican-American War began, and a few months later, America’s Army of the West followed the Santa Fe Trail westward to successfully invade Mexico. Santa Fe Trail, important caravan route of the W United States, extending c.780 mi (1,260 km) from Independence, Mo., SW to Santa Fe, N.Mex. PO Box 728 [16]:93[17]:133. The earlier Fort and the identity of its traders are less certain; they may have been independents and not employees of the large fur companies. When a railroad bridge was built across the Missouri River to connect eastern markets to the Dodge City cattle trail and Colorado coal mines, the railroad spurred the growth of Kansas City, Missouri. Two major wagon networks that were famous among the migrants were the Oregon Trail and Santa Fe trail. The route across Missouri first used by Becknell followed portions of the existing Osage Trace and the Medicine Trails. After the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the war in 1848, the Santa Fe Trail became a national road connecting the more settled parts of the United States to the new southwest territories. Most, however, used the Cimarron Route, which was shorter and faster but required knowledge of where the route’s scarce water supplies were located. Santa Fe, NM Santa Fe National Historic Trail Why was the Santa Fe Trail Important? The Santa Fe Trail By: Will Anderson 8B/1 Alana Van Slovis 8B/17 Caroline Rothans 8B/12 Bring-A-Longs Difficulties People, who were usually traders, brought food materials like coffee, sugar, flour, salt, beans, and dried apples with them on the trail. Learn more about the people that have had a significant presence and impact during the period of the Santa Fe Trail. New Mexico governor Manuel Armijo led Mexican troops out of Santa Fe to protect incoming caravans. Santa Fe Trail and Oregon Trail. In 1837, the forces of Rio Arriba (the upper Rio Grande, i.e., northern New Mexico) rebelled against Pérez' enforcement of the recent Mexican constitution, new revenue laws taxing Santa Fe commerce and entertainment, and the large grants of New Mexico land to wealthy Mexicans. In a sense, after World War I the trail was reborn; by the 1920s it gradually became paved automobile roads. The winner of that competition, the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad, reached the top of Raton Pass in late 1878. 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. Santa Fe was near the northern terminus of El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, which led overland between Mexico City to San Juan Pueblo, New Mexico. Following this battle, many Americas resigned and Snively's force was reduced to little over 100 men. American traders envisioned them as another market. Santa Fe Trail This trails' long history of use started with William Becknell, who was the first of the traders to use this trail. Building the railway so that it extended westwards to destinations in and beyond the New Mexico border was delayed and kept the fledgling railroad gasping for cash. The trail was a challenging 900 miles (1,400 km) of dangerous plains, hot deserts, and steep and rocky mountains. Commercial freighting along the trail boomed to unheard-of levels, including considerable military freight hauling to supply the southwestern forts. They represented the Republic of Texas and its president Mirabeau B. Lamar. Warfield lost his horses after an encounter in Wagon Mound, where the Mexican forces had made chase. With this financial base, the railway extended west, gradually adding new connections through rougher west country along the western Trail. Route What were the three main items traded through the Santa Fe Trail? Other Americans improved and publicized the Santa Fe Trail as of 1822, in order to take advantage of new trade opportunities with Mexico. Opened by William Becknell, a trader, the trail was used by merchant wagon caravans travelling in parallel columns, which, when Indians attacked, as they did frequently between 1864 and 1869, could quickly form a circular line of defense. Answer: The Santa Fe Trail was America's first commercial highway... Before its demise due to the completion of the Santa Fe railroad, the Santa Fe Trail served as a thoroughfare for countless traders, pioneers and America's military, and it played a crucial role in America's westward expansion. The political philosophy of Manifest Destiny, the idea that the US should extend from one coast to another, dominated national political discussions. Independence and Westport, Mo., were the chief points where wagons, teams, and supplies were obtained. Realizing the value, they demanded compensation for granting passage to the trail. In the 1820s–30s, it was also sporadically important in the reverse trade, used by traders to transport foods and supplies to the fur trappers and mountain men opening the remote Northwest, especially in the interior Northwest: Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, and Montana. From 1821 until 1846, the Santa Fe Trail was a two-way international commercial highway used by both Mexican and American traders. It connects El Monte to Westward Expansion after the Mexican-American War of 1846-48, firmly lodging the city within the U.S. nation-state and cutting off anything or anyone that came before the first American families in El Monte in the 19th century. Beginning in 1826, prominent aristocratic families of New Mexicans, such as the Chávezes, Armijos, Pereas, and Oteros, entered into the commerce along the 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. The Santa Fe Trail was a 19th-century route through central North America that connected Franklin, Missouri with Santa Fe, New Mexico. He found a trail for part of the route that was wide enough for wagon trains and draft teams, making it … It was later used extensively by people from the United States in the 19th century after the Louisiana Purchase. The trail was also used by stagecoach lines, thousands of gold seekers heading to the California and Colorado gold fields, adventurers, missionaries, wealthy New Mexican families and emigrants. Interested in learning more or planning a visit? George C. Sibley (1782-1863) – An American explorer, soldier, Indian agent, politician, and educator who surveyed the Santa Fe Trail.. Charles H. Withington (1816-1881) – A blacksmith for the Sac and Fox Indians, Withington was the first white settler in Lyon County, Kansas.There, he operated a successful store along the trail, as well as serving as a mail agent. The limited trade traffic transited the site that would become Fort Bent in Colorado (directly on the Santa Fe Trail) and the short-lived trading fort (name, owner, management, dates all uncertain) that was located at the junction of the Trapper's Trail and Oregon Trail. The immigrants began to settle North America and the region west of Great Plains. In 1842, Colonel William A. Christy wrote Sam Houston, president of Texas, requesting support for an overthrow scheme by Charles Warfield dependent on armed forces. CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (, Santa Fe trail, Official Map and Guide; National Park Service; Harpers Ferry, West Virginia; 1997, Learn how and when to remove this template message, 85th and Manchester "Three Trails" Trail Segment, Santa Fe Trail-Saline County Trail Segments, Santa Fe Trail Mountain Route--Bent's New Fort, Northern Rio Grande National Heritage Area, Great Santa Fe Trail Horse Race Endurance Ride, "Old Franklin, Missouri & the Start of the Santa Fe Trail", "Narrative of the Texan Santa Fé Expedition - Wikiquote", "Kansas: A Encyclopedia of State History", "REPUBLIC OF TEXAS | The Handbook of Texas Online| Texas State Historical Association (TSHA)", "Aerial Photos Topo Maps of Santa Fe Trail Ruts and Sites", "National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property Nomination Form: Historic Resources of the Santa Fe Trail, 1821–1880", "National Historic Landmarks Program (NHL): Santa Fe Trail Remains", Santa Fe Trail Research Site Aerial Photo Tour of the Santa Fe Trail, Access documents, photographs, and other primary sources on Kansas Memory, the Kansas State Historical Society's digital portal, New Mexico Santa Fe Trail National Scenic Byway, Oklahoma Digital Maps: Digital Collections of Oklahoma and Indian Territory, Washington–Rochambeau Revolutionary Route, Mississippi National River and Recreation Area Water Trail, Mississippi River Water Trail (MRWT) Great River Water Trail, Missouri National Recreational River Water Trail, U.S. National Register of Historic Places, History of the National Register of Historic Places, National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Santa_Fe_Trail&oldid=992945889, Roads on the National Register of Historic Places in Colorado, Roads on the National Register of Historic Places in Missouri, Roads on the National Register of Historic Places in New Mexico, Roads on the National Register of Historic Places in Oklahoma, Native American trails in the United States, Trails and roads in the American Old West, Articles needing additional references from January 2016, All articles needing additional references, All articles that may contain original research, Articles that may contain original research from April 2020, Articles needing additional references from October 2017, Pages using Sister project links with hidden wikidata, Pages using Sister project links with default search, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 7 December 2020, at 23:40.