America's Byways: Santa Fe Trail

	Santa Fe Trail
	PROGRAM
	Summary
	Program Preview
	Video Tape
	Credits

	HISTORY
	Introduction
	A Castle on the Plains
	Raton Pass
	An Ancient Santa Fe Trail
	Amache
	Healing the Wounds
	Exploring on Your Own
	Further Down the Road
	References

	WAYSIDE EXCURSION
	A History of the Santa Fe Trail
	Manifest Destiny
	Governor Carr

	TRAVEL
	Chambers/Visitor Centers
	Weather/Road Conditions
	Map

	RESOURCES
	Santa Fe Trail Timeline
	America's Byways Timeline
	Teacher's Guide


Dinosaur footprint Picketwire Cayonlands Dinosaur Tracksite Comanche National Grasslands	Great Divide Pictures LLC

Santa Fe Trail

Segment 4: An Ancient Santa Fe Trail
Standards-Based Themes: Preservation

Summary
A large expanse of dinosaur tracks appears along the Purgatoire River, telling of the travels of brontosaurs and allosaurs. The tracks were probably made in the mud, then dried out, and finally flooded, filling them with a finer layer of mud. This protected them, even when falling water levels exposed them to view. The tracks are unique because of their number, expanse, and the fact that they show the animals moving west in a herd.


Brontosaurs	Courtesy, Mesa Land Community College

Vocabulary
allosaurs
brontosaurs
sauropods

Pre-Viewing Focus

What makes these dinosaur tracks unique?
What kinds of dinosaurs made the tracks?

Post-Viewing Discussion

What do the dinosaur tracks of the “ancient Santa Fe Trail” have in common with the Santa Fe Trail of the 1800s?


	HIGHLIGHTS


	Allosaurus Courtesy, Comanche National Grasslands 150 Million Years Ago Dinosaurs such as the allosaurs and brontosaurs leave footprints across what is now the Comanche National Grasslands.

	Tracks left by dinosaurs Great Divide Pictures LLC Stamped along an ancient lakeshore, the footprints appear so fresh that it seems the creatures recently disappeared around the bend. With over 1,300 dinosaur prints, the Picketwire Canyonlands is the largest dinosaur tracksite in North America.

	Allosaurus footprints Courtesy, Comanche National Grasslands The allosaurus, a two-footed meat-eating scavenger, left the three-toed prints pictured on the top of this page. The points at the end of the toes are made by the allosaurus’s sharp six-inch claws.

	Dinosaur tracks Great Divide Pictures LLC Rounded tracks are left by sauropods—often called brontosaurs. These enormous vegetarians are 70-feet long and weigh 33 tons.