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Plan a Road Trip > Explore America > National Parks > Santa Fe National Historic Trail |
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National Park Service, Long Distance Trails Group Office - Santa Fe, PO Box 728, Santa Fe, NM 87504-0728
Phone: 505-988-6888
Fax: 505-986-5214
Open All Year
Overview. Made up of several older Indian trails, and partially used by the Spanish in their exploration of the southwest, the Santa Fe Trail came into national prominence as a trading route with Mexico in the early 1820s. The Spanish forbade open trade with the U.S. when they held Mexico as a territory, but once Mexico won its independence in 1821, legal trade was quickly established along this trail between Franklin, MO and Santa Fe, NM. The first organized trading party from the U.S. consisted of six men with pack animals led by William Becknell. They set out from Franklin in 1821 and were escorted into Santa Fe by Mexican soldiers. The floodgates of commerce and cultural exchange had been opened, and nothing, it seemed, not even war, could close them.
Though primarily a freight wagon route providing two-way commercial access between the U.S. and the northern provinces of Mexico, the Santa Fe Trail was employed as a conduit for U.S. troops and supplies during the Mexican War, 1846-48. When the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the conflict with the U.S. annexation of New Mexico and other lands in the west and southwest, the trail remained instrumental in carrying goods cross-country.
Although the Santa Fe Trail was always more a trade route than a path of westward migration, by increasing commerce to the west, it brought settlement and development too. By 1850, stagecoach and mail service had been established. These trends understandably upset the Indians who depended on resources found along the trail corridors. They began to strike back against freight and stage travel along the trail, but that only brought increased Army involvement and the establishment of military posts, such as Fort Union and Fort Larned, whose main task was to protect commerce on the Santa Fe Trail.
The trail followed two routes: The original Cimarron Route and the Mountain Route, which traversed the Raton Pass. The Mountain Route offered more access to water and a better way to avoid encounters with Indians. It was longer, steeper, and more rugged than the Cimarron Route. Many traders continued to prefer the Cimarron Route, even after the Army widened the road over the pass. The Mountain Route began to gain favor after the Civil War, when Richens Lacy "Uncle Dick" Wootton established a toll road at Raton Pass.
Little by little, the railroad made its way across the country, encroaching on the freight trade that had been the Santa Fe Trail's lifeblood. The trail's 60-year era ended in 1880, when the first locomotive steamed into Santa Fe on the newly completed railroad. What war and troubled Indian relations, exacerbated by violence on both sides, couldn't impede was conquered by progress. The trail, colorful as it was, faded into the collective memory of the nation. In 1987, Congress designated this 1,203-mile route as a national historic trail.
What to see and do. Much of the route of the Santa Fe Trail can be roughly traced along existing highways -- what was the best route for 19th-century trade also seems to be a good route for modern travelers. The trail's eastern terminus lies at Old Franklin, MO, and it passes through Kansas, Colorado, and Oklahoma to its western terminus at Santa Fe. Cities along the trail include Kansas City and Independence, MO; Council Grove and Dodge City, KS; Trinidad, CO; and Las Vegas, NM; among other historic frontier towns. A designated auto route runs from Missouri to New Mexico. It is marked with the official Santa Fe National Historic Trail logo in both directions throughout its route. Over 200 miles of original ruts and trace still exist, and about 30 miles are protected on federal lands. You can see evidence of the original trail at many sites along the trail.
National historic sites along the trail include Fort Larned, Larned, KS; Bent's Old Fort, La Junta, CO; Pecos National Historical Park in New Mexico; and Fort Union National Monument, also in New Mexico. The National Park Service has certified over 60 sites as official trail components to date. Interpretive centers are located in Fort Osage, MO; at the National Frontier Trails Center in Independence, MO; at the Santa Fe Trail Center in Larned, KS; at the Morton County Historical Society Museum in Elkhart, KS; and at the Hough-Baca House and Santa Fe Trail Museum in Trinidad, CO. Cimarron National Grassland and Comanche National Grassland contain some excellent features connected with the Santa Fe Trail.
For more information, please contact the National Park Service in Santa Fe, or write to the Santa Fe Trail Association, RR3, Larned, KS 67550.
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