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| Pioneers in wagon caravan |
Courtesy, VCI Entertainment
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Santa Fe Trail
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Wayside
Excursion: A History of the Santa Fe Trail
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| Unlike the other
major westward trails that carried emigrants and fortune seekers
to new opportunities, the Santa Fe Trail was primarily a commercial
roadway. In constant use from 1821 to 1880, the trail linked the
United States with Santa Fe, originally an outpost on the Mexican
frontier. The first Anglo-American trader to travel to Santa Fe
was William Becknell. He had planned to trade with Native Americans
in Colorado but headed for Santa Fe when he heard that Mexico had
declared its independence from Spain. It was reported that Becknell
made a 2,000 percent profit on his 1822 trip! |
| Once the Santa Fe market became available to American traders, Becknell’s success encouraged others to put together sale goods and head to Mexico. Josiah Gregg’s records show that in 1822, 70 men with pack animals hauled 15,000 pounds of goods. In 1843, 230 wagons left Missouri with 350 men; they hauled 450,000 pounds of merchandise. |
| By 1840 the wagons were laden with fabrics, both plain and fancy, and sewing notions to go with them. They also carried nails, spoons, knives, saws, hoes and spades. An ad in The Santa Fe Republican promised shoes, shirts, drugs, paint, tinware, and stationery, as well as several kinds of brandy and champagne. During the war with Mexico (1846 - 1848), military traffic on the trail increased, along with freighters hauling supplies for the army. |
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| Store
merchandise display, Bent’s Old Fort |
Great Divide Pictures LLC
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| While the potential for profit was great, the perils of the trail also were considerable. Wagons followed the rivers whenever possible because water was scarce. The trail branched off into two trails in western Kansas. One branch followed the Arkansas River and then traversed the treacherous Raton Pass. The other followed the Cimarron River, avoiding the pass, and then crossed a 50-mile dry plain that was extremely dangerous for both men and animals. The trail held the perils of encounters with Native Americans, severe weather, and exposure to diseases such as malaria, dysentery, and cholera. If a trader’s goods made it to Santa Fe—not a sure thing at all—he had to contend with high tariffs and often corrupt customs officials. |
| As the railroads moved west, the starting point of the Santa Fe Trail moved with them. Settlements at the end of the rail lines became important outfitting and distribution centers, with goods traveling by rail to these points, and then loaded onto wagons to finish their journey. When Santa Fe was linked to the rail system in 1880, The New Mexican headlined the news that “The Old Santa Fe Trail Passes into Oblivion.” There was no longer a need for wagons when goods, mail, and people could be moved by railroads. |
| In 1897, Kansas newspaperman Henry Inman published The Old Santa Fe Trail: The Story of a Great Highway. It was very popular and capitalized on the nostalgia people were feeling for the old trail. The Kansas chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution initiated a project to mark the trail before it was obliterated. By 1907, 95 markers were erected in Kansas, 27 markers were erected along the mountain and Cimarron routes, and one marker was placed on the southeast corner of the Plaza in Santa Fe. In 1987, President Ronald Reagan signed a bill establishing the Santa Fe National Historic Trail. David Dary writes in The Santa Fe Trail (2000) that “the attraction and appeal of the Santa Fe Trail continue unabated because of the romance and color of its history and the role it played in opening the American West.” |
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Old Bent's Fort bottles
Great Divide Pictures LLC
Merchants sell items from around the world at Bent’s Fort store.
Bottles, uncovered years later, tell of a world market on the remote
prairie.
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Settlers
Courtesy, VCI Entertainment
Trade with Mexico, illegal under Spanish rule, becomes possible
with Mexico's independence.
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“You can see trail ruts, you can see
homesteads, you can see the landscape in many ways as the settlers
originally saw it. The byway gives you a chance to get a hold
of a little piece of the past, touch it for a minute, and have
some experience that’s similar to the immigrant’s experience.”
Mark Mitchell
Santa Fe Trail
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Pipes
Great Divide Pictures LLC
Bent’s Fort sells tobacco from the South, pottery from England,
beads from Italy and chocolate from exotic islands.
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Western gun
Great Divide Pictures LLC
Traders, settlers and explorers resupply at Bent’s Fort.
Guns and bullets, made on the East Coast, are among the many items
available at the fort. It’s a global economy, except that
merchandise often takes months to arrive.
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