The Santa Fe Trail
The Santa Fe Trail began in 1821 when William Becknell led a small group of men on a trading expedition from frontier Missouri to colonial Santa Fe. Mexico had recently declared its independence from Spain and abolished years of trade restrictions. The commodity starved village of Santa Fe welcomed Becknell. So began this international trade route between two nations, and for over fifty years the great freight caravans rumbled up and down the Santa Fe Trail. Traders and trappers, mountain men and soldiers, gold seekers and emigrants would all follow this trail; however its most lasting legacy would be as a two-way trail of frontier commerce.
In the Kansas City area the Santa Fe Trail has two trail heads coming off the Missouri River; Westport and Independence. Both routes met near present day Gardner, KS and then continued southwest as one route. The Santa Fe Trail was designated as a National Historic Trail by Congress in 1987.
The Oregon Trail and The California Trail
The Oregon Trail was the route for hundreds of thousands of people emigrating to the western frontiers from the late 1830's through the 1860's, laying claim to much of the West. It was a trail originally blazed by fur trappers and mountain men to and beyond the Rocky Mountains. By 1836, the Oregon Trail was being followed by missionaries to the Indians in Oregon Territory. In 1841, the Bidwell-Barteleson party left the Oregon Trail in Idaho and became the first wagon train to California. Today the overall route from Westport and Independence is commonly referred to as the Oregon-California Trail. By 1849, the rush to the Pacific shores for gold filled this trail. Starting in the 1850's stagecoaches also used it. But it is the image of wagon trains of families following the Oregon-California Trail to their destiny in the West that would be its most lasting legacy.
The routes followed by the travelers through the Kansas City area are shown above. The Oregon-California Trail and the Santa Fe Trail shared the routes until they split near present day Gardner, Kansas. The national map shows present day states for reference.
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