Santa Fe Trail
The Santa Fe Trail was a 19th century transportation route through central North America. It connected Independence, Missouri with Santa Fe, New Mexico. It was pioneered in 1821 by William Becknell. The Santa Fe Trail was a vital commercial highway until the introduction of the railroad to Santa Fe in 1880. Santa Fe was near the end of the El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro which carried trade from Mexico City.
The route skirted the northern edge and crossed the northwestern corner of Comancheria, the territory of the Comanches. they demanded payment for allowing people to use the trail. Comanche raiding farther south in Mexico isolated New Mexico. This made the area more dependent on the American trade. It also gave the Comanches a steady supply of horses. By the 1840s trail traffic along the Arkansas River valley was so heavy that bison herds could not reach important seasonal grazing land. This contributed to their decline which in turn hastened the decline of Comanche power in the region.[1] The Trail was used as the 1846 U.S. invasion route of New Mexico during the Mexican–American War.[2]
After the U.S. took the Southwest ending the Mexican–American War, the trail helped open the region new settlement. It was important for the expansion of the U.S. into the lands it had taken.
Historic trail
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 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.[3] It is 565 miles (909 kilometres) long and takes about 12 hours to drive the trail today.[3]
Santa Fe Trail Media
Arrival of the caravan at Santa Fe, lithograph published c.1844
Former U.S. Army outpost on the Santa Fe Trail, now a rest area on I-25 in northern New Mexico
Map of the Republic of Texas showing lands claimed by Texas after 1836 and present-day outline of New Mexico on the boundaries of 1836–1845
Connections along the Santa Fe Railroad, showing the principal regular stops on the AT&SF mainline, including cattle drive destinations such as Dodge City. It is no accident that most of those Kansas, Colorado, and New Mexican towns were also first serviced by the Santa Fe Trail.
Santa Fe Trail highway sign in Cimarron, New Mexico
End of the Santa Fe Trail marker on the Plaza in Santa Fe, New Mexico
Santa Fe Trail Ruts at Fort Union
Santa Fe Trail marker in Coolidge, Kansas
Santa Fe Trail Ruts west of Larned, Kansas
Santa Fe Trail marker at the Cuerno Verde Rest Area, Colorado
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References
- ↑ Pekka Hämäläinen, The Comanche Empire (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2008), pp. 159–160
- ↑ Pecos National Historical Park; Final General Management Plan, Development Concept Plan, Environmental Impact Statement" (Washington, DC: United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 1995), p. 116
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Santa Fe Trail". Federal Highway Administration. Retrieved 30 May 2016.