Timeline
1806--Zebulon Pike led a small military expedition across the plains and into Colorado to explore the Southwestern corner of the Louisiana Purchase
1821--Mexican Independence; William Becknell opens Trail
1825 - Senator Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri arranges for U.S. Government to survey the Trail
1836 - Texas wins independence from Mexico.
1846 - Steven Watts Kearny leads the Army of the West over the Mountain Branch of the Trail at the beginning of the Mexican-American War. He sent a letter ahead of him informing the Mexican Governor in Santa Fe that he was coming. When he arrived at Santa Fe, the Mexican authorities had evacuated themselves and headed south to what is now Mexico. The Americans essentially took Nuevo Mexico without firing a shot.
1848 - Mexican-American War ends. United States acquires almost half of Mexico's lands in Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
1851 - Fort Union is established to help protect Trail commerce.
1869 - Trail grows shorter as railroads push westward across Kansas. "Uncle Dick" Wootton improves the Trail over Raton Pass and then opens it as a toll road. His improvements cut the time needed to cross the Pass in half.
1878 - Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad reaches Raton Pass on the Mountain Route and buys Uncle Dick's toll road to use for the train.
1880 - AT & SF Railroad reaches Santa Fe. Santa Fe Trail slips into history.
1821--Mexican Independence; William Becknell opens Trail
1825 - Senator Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri arranges for U.S. Government to survey the Trail
1836 - Texas wins independence from Mexico.
1846 - Steven Watts Kearny leads the Army of the West over the Mountain Branch of the Trail at the beginning of the Mexican-American War. He sent a letter ahead of him informing the Mexican Governor in Santa Fe that he was coming. When he arrived at Santa Fe, the Mexican authorities had evacuated themselves and headed south to what is now Mexico. The Americans essentially took Nuevo Mexico without firing a shot.
1848 - Mexican-American War ends. United States acquires almost half of Mexico's lands in Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
1851 - Fort Union is established to help protect Trail commerce.
1869 - Trail grows shorter as railroads push westward across Kansas. "Uncle Dick" Wootton improves the Trail over Raton Pass and then opens it as a toll road. His improvements cut the time needed to cross the Pass in half.
1878 - Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad reaches Raton Pass on the Mountain Route and buys Uncle Dick's toll road to use for the train.
1880 - AT & SF Railroad reaches Santa Fe. Santa Fe Trail slips into history.
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People and Places
William Becknell returned to Santa Fe with a wagon train of goods, pioneering a route across the Cimarron desert that avoided the hazardous Raton Pass across the Raton Mountains linking southeast Colorado and northern New Mexico. Subsequent trading expeditions began using this route; Becknell became known as the "Father of the Santa Fe Trade." Senator Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri introduced legislation to mark the trail and protect the traders.
Starting in Independence, Missouri, the trail ran south and west to Council Grove, across the Arkansas and Canadian Rivers to San Miguel on the Pecos. From this point, the wagons moved directly to Santa Fe over the Glorietta Pass. An alternate route from the Arkansas River ran west to Bent's Fort and thence south over Raton Pass to Santa Fe. The second trail was longer and steeper, but it avoided most of the Indian dangers and the 60-mile Cimarron desert. Many chose the alternate trail because of Bent's Fort (completed in 1832), the most permanent and secure outpost on the southern plains.
Starting in Independence, Missouri, the trail ran south and west to Council Grove, across the Arkansas and Canadian Rivers to San Miguel on the Pecos. From this point, the wagons moved directly to Santa Fe over the Glorietta Pass. An alternate route from the Arkansas River ran west to Bent's Fort and thence south over Raton Pass to Santa Fe. The second trail was longer and steeper, but it avoided most of the Indian dangers and the 60-mile Cimarron desert. Many chose the alternate trail because of Bent's Fort (completed in 1832), the most permanent and secure outpost on the southern plains.
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Newspaper Articles:
The Santa Fe Trail was used largely as a connection from Missouri to Sante Fe, Nevada. Pioneers traveled not only for certain freedoms and the promise of prosperity, as well as the good trade opportunities.