Santa Fe Trail
Santa Fe Trail | |
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Location | Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado |
Established | 1822 |
Governing body | National Park Service |
Website | Santa Fe National Historic Trail |
The Santa Fe Trail was a 19th-century route through central
The route skirted the northern edge and crossed the north-western corner of Comancheria, the territory of the Comanche. Realizing the value, they demanded compensation for granting passage to the trail. American traders envisioned them as another market. Comanche raiding farther south in Mexico isolated New Mexico, making it more dependent on the American trade. They raided to gain a steady supply of horses to sell. By the 1840s, trail traffic through the Arkansas Valley was so numerous that bison herds were cut off from important seasonal grazing land. This habitat disruption, on top of overhunting, contributed to the collapse of the species. Comanche power declined in the region when they lost their most important game.[3]
In 1846, during the Mexican–American War, the United States Army used the Santa Fe Trail to invade New Mexico.[4]
After the U.S. acquisition of the Southwest that ended the war, the trail was integral to the U.S. opening the region to economic development and settlement. It played a vital role in the westward expansion of the U.S. into these new lands. 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.
History
This section needs additional citations for verification. (January 2016) |
The Santa Fe Trail was a transportation route opened by the
In 1719, the French officer
After Louisiana was sold to the United States in 1803 (Louisiana Purchase), Americans improved and publicized the Santa Fe Trail beginning in 1822, in order to take advantage of new trade opportunities with Mexico which had just won independence from Spain in the Mexican War of Independence. Manufactured goods were hauled from Missouri to Santa Fe, which was then in the northern Mexican state of Nuevo Mexico.[5]
Settlers seeking the opportunity to hold free land used wagon trains to follow various
In the 1820s–1830s, it was also sporadically important in the reverse trade, used by traders to transport foods and supplies to the fur trappers and mountain men opening the remote Northwest, especially in the interior Northwest: Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, and Montana. A mule trail (trapper's trails) led to points north to supply the lucrative overland fur trade in ports on the Pacific Coast.
North–South trade
Santa Fe was near the northern terminus of
Cargo mule trains were run from
Importance of Santa Fe
In 1825, the merchant Manuel Escudero of Chihuahua was commissioned by New Mexico governor
In 1835, Mexico City had sent Albino Pérez to govern the department of New Mexico as Jefe Politico (political chief or governor) and as commanding military officer. In 1837, the forces of Rio Arriba (the upper Rio Grande, i.e., northern New Mexico) rebelled against Pérez's enforcement of the recent Mexican constitution, new revenue laws taxing Santa Fe commerce and entertainment, and the large grants of New Mexico land to wealthy Mexicans. New Mexicans appreciated the relative freedoms of a frontier, remote from Mexico City. The rebels defeated and executed governor Albino Perez, but were later ousted by the forces of Rio Abajo (the lower Rio Grande, or southern New Mexico) led by Manuel Armijo.[7]
Conflict between Texas and Mexico
The Republic of Texas competed with Mexico in claiming Santa Fe, as part of the territory north and east of the Rio Grande which both nations claimed following Texas's secession from Mexico in 1836.
In 1841, a small military and trading expedition departed from Austin, Texas for Santa Fe. They represented the Republic of Texas and its president Mirabeau B. Lamar. Their intention was to persuade the people of Santa Fe and New Mexico to relinquish control over the territory under dispute with Mexico, and over associated Santa Fe Trail commerce. Knowing about recent political disturbances there, they hoped for a welcome by the rebellious faction in New Mexico. What was known as the Texan Santa Fe Expedition encountered many difficulties. The party was captured by governor Armijo's Mexican army under less than honest negotiations. They were subjected to harsh and austere treatment during a tortuous forced march to Mexico City, where they were tried, convicted and imprisoned for their insurgent activities.[8]
In 1842, Colonel William A. Christy wrote Sam Houston, president of Texas, requesting support for an overthrow scheme by Charles Warfield dependent on armed forces. He proposed deposing the governments in the Mexican provinces of New Mexico and Chihuahua and returning half of the spoils to the Republic of Texas. Houston agreed, provided the operation be conducted under the strictest secrecy.
He commissioned Warfield as a colonel, who attempted to raise volunteers in Texas, St. Louis, Missouri; and the southern Rockies for a Warfield Expedition. He recruited John McDaniel and a small band of men in the proximate vicinity of St. Louis, giving McDaniel the rank of a Texas captain. After Warfield headed toward the Rockies with a companion, McDaniel led a robbery in April 1843 (in present-day Rice County, Kansas) of a lightly defended Santa Fe Trail trading caravan. This resulted in the murder of its leader Antonio José Chávez, the son of a former governor of New Mexico, Francisco Xavier Chávez.[9][10]
Warfield was reportedly unaware of the crime. McDaniel and one accomplice were tried, convicted and executed. Other participating suspects arrested by the U.S. were convicted and imprisoned. The newspapers reported that Americans and Mexicans were outraged by the crime. Local merchants and citizens at the U.S. end of the Santa Fe Trail demanded justice and a return to the stable commerce which their economy depended on.[6]
After the murder of Chávez, Warfield began limited military hostilities in the region using recruits from the southern Rockies. He made an unprovoked attack on Mexican troops outside Mora, New Mexico, leaving five dead. Warfield lost his horses after an encounter in Wagon Mound, where the Mexican forces had made chase. After Warfield's men reached Bent's Fort on foot, they disbanded.
In February 1843, Colonel Jacob Snively had received a commission to intercept Mexican caravans along the Santa Fe Trail, similar to that received by Warfield the year prior. After disbanding the volunteers under his command, Warfield located and joined the 190-man, Texas "Battalion of Invincibles," under the command of Snively. New Mexico Governor
Mother of the railroad
This section needs additional citations for verification. (October 2017) |
In 1863, while railroad legislation underwent continual revisions, entrepreneurs grew more interested in the
In Kansas, the AT&SF roadbed roughly paralleled the Santa Fe Trail west of Topeka as it expanded between 1868 and 1874. When a railroad bridge was built across the Missouri River to connect eastern markets to the Dodge City cattle trail and Colorado coal mines, the railroad spurred the growth of Kansas City, Missouri. Building the railway westwards beyond the New Mexico border was delayed and placed the railroad under financial pressure. In response, they offered packaged "Shopping Excursion deals" to potential real estate buyers. The railroad began to discount such trips to visit its land offices and gave back the ticket price as part of the purchase price if a sale was concluded.
The railroad's sale of its land granted by congress fostered growth of new towns and businesses along its route, which generated railway traffic and revenues. With this financial base, the railway extended west, gradually adding new connections through rougher west country along the western Trail. With the development of rail transport, traffic on the Trail soon dropped to merely local trade. After World War I the trail was gradually became a paved automobile road.
Route
The eastern end of the trail was in the central
West of Independence, it roughly followed the route of
From Olathe, the trail passed through the towns of Baldwin City, Burlingame, and Council Grove, then swung west of McPherson to the town of Lyons. West of Lyons the trail followed nearly the route of present-day Highway 56 to Great Bend. Ruts in the earth made from the trail are still visible in several locations (Ralph's Ruts are visible in aerial photos at (38°21′35″N 98°25′20″W / 38.35959264°N 98.42225502°W).[15] At Great Bend, the trail encountered the Arkansas River. Branches of the trail followed both sides of the river upstream to Dodge City and Garden City.
Trails |
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West of Garden City in southwestern Kansas the trail splits into two branches. One of the branches, called the Mountain Route or the Upper Crossing follows the Purgatoire River from La Junta upstream to Trinidad then south through the Raton Pass into New Mexico.[12]: 93 [16]: 133
The other main branch, called the Cimarron Cutoff or Cimarron Crossing or Middle Crossing
From Watrous, the reunited branches continued southward to Santa Fe.[12] Part of this route has been designated a National Scenic Byway.
Challenges
This section needs additional citations for verification. (July 2021) |
Travelers faced many hardships along the Santa Fe Trail. The trail was a challenging 900 miles (1,400 km) of dangerous plains, hot deserts, and steep and rocky mountains. The natural weather was and is continental: very hot and dry summers, coupled with long and bitterly cold winters. Fresh water was scarce, and the high steppe-like plains are nearly treeless. Water flows in the Pecos, Arkansas, Cimarron, and Canadian rivers that drain the region vary by 90 or more percent in their flows during an average year. Also on this trail, unlike the
Historic preservation
Segments of this trail in
Notable features
- Missouri[21]
- Huston Tavern)
- Harvey Spring/Weinrich Ruts
- Independence (Santa Fe trail Ruts, Lower Independence (Blue Mills) Landing, Upper Independence (Wayne City) Landing.
- Kansas City (Westport Landing)
- Kansas[21]
- Kansas City (Shawnee Mission, Big Blue River Crossing)
- Council Grove (Kaw Mission, Neosho River Crossing, Hermit's Cave, Last Chance Store, Council Oak, Post Office Oak)
- Fort Larned National Historic Site
- Fort Dodge (Jackson's Grove and Island, Santa Fe Trail Ruts, Middle Crossing, Point of Rocks, Fort Atkinson Site)
- Point of Rocks
Mountain Route towards Colorado
- Arkansas River Crossing
- Colorado[21]
Mountain Route
Cimarron Route thru Kansas towards Oklahoma
- Cimarron River
- Cimarron National Grassland
- New Mexico[21]
Mountain Route
- Clifton House
- Cimarron (Aztec Mill, Cimarron Plaza and Well)
- Philmont Scout Ranch
Cimarron Route
Joint route
- Fort Union National Monument
- Pecos National Historical Park
- Santa Fe
- De Vargas Street House, Oldest House in the United States
- Northern Rio Grande National Heritage Area
See also
- MO: Jackson County Historic Places
- KS: Johnson County Historic Places
- OK: Cimarron County Historic Places
- NM: Colfax County Historic Places
- Oregon-California Trails Association
- Pawnee Rock
- Related National Park Units
- Santa Fe Trail Remains
- Santa Fe Trail Museum, part of the Trinidad History Museum
- Santa Fe Trail Historical Park in El Monte, California
- Trailside Center museum in Kansas City, Missouri
- Scenic byways in the United States
- Tree in the Trail
References
- ^ "The Quest for a National Road - The National Old Trails Road". Federal Highway Administration. December 19, 1911. Retrieved November 24, 2022.
- ^ "The Route of the 1926 National Old Trails Road". Society for American Baseball Research. Retrieved November 24, 2022.
- ISBN 978-0300126549.
- ISBN 978-0803281165.
- ISBN 978-1558597822.
- ^ a b c d Marc Simmons, Murder on the Santa Fe Trail: an International Incident, 1843, El Paso, Texas: The University of Texas El Paso (1987)
- ^ Ray John de Aragon, Padre Martinez and Bishop Lamy, Pan American Publishing Company (1978)[ISBN missing][page needed]
- ^ Kendall, George (1884). "Narrative of the Texan Santa Fé Expedition". en.wikiquote.org. Retrieved 2017-10-25.
- ISBN 978-0806133898.
- ^ "Kansas: A Encyclopedia of State History". Archived from the original on November 17, 2005.
- ^ "Republic of Texas | The Handbook of Texas Online| Texas State Historical Association (TSHA)". Tshaonline.org. Retrieved 2012-11-18.
- ^ ISBN 978-0826302359.
- ^ "A History of the Santa Fe Trail". santafetrail.org. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
- ^ Switzler, William F. (1882). History of Boone County. St. Louis: Western Historical Company.
- ^ "Aerial Photos Topo Maps of Santa Fe Trail Ruts and Sites". Archived from the original on 2023-02-06. Retrieved 2007-12-28.
- ^ ISBN 978-0803296152.
- ^ ISBN 978-0803863149.
- ^ Samuel Gance, Anton ou la trajectoire d'un père, L'Harmattan, Paris, 2013. p. 115.[ISBN missing]
- ^ Gallagher, Joseph J., Alice Edwards, Lachlan F. Blair, and Hugh Davidson (March 8, 1993). "National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property Nomination Form: Historic Resources of the Santa Fe Trail, 1821–1880" (PDF). Retrieved 2007-04-10.
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: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "National Historic Landmarks Program (NHL): Santa Fe Trail Remains". Archived from the original on May 1, 2015. Retrieved 2007-04-10.
- ^ a b c d Santa Fe trail, Official Map and Guide; National Park Service; Harpers Ferry, West Virginia; 1997
Further reading
- O'Brien, William (2014). Merchants of Independence: International Trade on the Santa Fe Trail, 1827–1860. Truman State University Press. ISBN 978-1612480909. 224 pages.
- Unrau, William (2013). Indians, Alcohol, and the Roads to Taos and Santa Fe. University Press of Kansas. ISBN 978-0700619146. 208 pages.
- Peters, Arthur (1996). Seven Trails West. Abbeville Press. ISBN 978-0789206787. 252 pages.
- Watson, Douglas (1931). The Santa Fe Trail to California, 1849–1852. E. and R. Grabhorn. 272 pages.
- Brigham, Lalla (1921). The Story of Council Grove on the Santa Fe Trail. Council Grove? Kan. 168 pages.
- Cordry, Almira (1915). The Story of the Marking of the Santa Fe Trail by the Daughters of the American Revolution in Kansas and the State of Kansas. Crane and Co. 162 pages.
- Along the Old Trail: a History of the Old and a Story of the New Santa Fe Trail. Multiple Editors. Tucker Vernon Co. 1910.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: others (link) 190 pages. - Gregg, Josiah (1844). Commerce of the Prairies: The Journal of a Santa Fe Trader – Volume 2. H.G. Langley.;318 pages.
- Gregg, Josiah (1844). Commerce of the Prairies: The Journal of a Santa Fe Trader – Volume 1. H.G. Langley. 320 pages.
- Inman, Col. Henry (1881). Stories of the Old Santa Fe Trail. Kansas City, MO.: Ramsey, Millett & Hudson. 287 pages.
- Maps
- Franzwa, Gregory (1989). Maps of the Santa Fe Trail. Patrice Press. ISBN 978-0935284683. 196 pages.
- NPS (1990). Santa Fe National Historic Trail: Comprehensive Management and Use Plan Map Supplement. National Park Service. 121 pages.
- KSHS (1911). Santa Fe Trail: Brief Summary of the Santa Fe Trail through Kansas. Kansas State Historical Society. 21 pages.
External links
- The Great Prairie Highway (National Park Service)
- Santa Fe Trail at Pecos National Park (National Park Service)
- Santa Fe Trail Center
- Santa Fe Trail Research
- Santa Fe Trail Research Site Aerial Photo Tour of the Santa Fe Trail Archived 2023-02-06 at the Wayback Machine
- Access documents, photographs, and other primary sources on Kansas Memory, the Kansas State Historical Society's digital portal
- New Mexico Santa Fe Trail National Scenic Byway Archived 2006-12-29 at the Wayback Machine
- Glorieta and Raton Passes: Gateways to the Southwest, a National Park Service Teaching with Historic Places (TwHP) lesson plan
- Pioneer Trails from US Land Surveys
- Oklahoma Digital Maps: Digital Collections of Oklahoma and Indian Territory