Santa+Fe+and+Oregon+trails

Santa Fe and Oregon trails

**Santa Fe trail**
The Santa Fe Trail was an historic 19th century transportation route across southwestern North America connecting Missouri with Santa Fe, New Mexico. First used in 1821 by William Becknell, it served as a vital commercial and military highway until the introduction of the railroad to Santa Fe in 1880. At first an international trade route between the United States and Mexico, it served as the 1846 U.S. invasion route of New Mexico during the Mexican-American War. After the U.S. acquisition of the Southwest, the trail helped open the region to U.S. economic development and settlement, playing a vital role in the expansion of the U.S. into the lands it had acquired. 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 Colorado and northern New Mexico has been designated the Santa Fe Trail National Scenic Byway. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Fe_Trail

**Santa Fe trail**
During the 1800s, the Santa Fe Trail took people and goods back and forth between Independence, Missouri and Santa Fe, New Mexico. It took about 8 weeks to travel on the trail. There were many dangers such as storms and attacks from Indians and bandits. When the railroad was built, it replaced the trail in moving goods and supplies west.From the 1821 to 1880, the Santa Fe Trail was an important travel route. Along with the Oregon and Chisholm Trails, it is one of the 'big three' trails of United States history. During its sixty years, the Santa Fe Trail was mainly a commercial route. It carried goods and promoted trade between what was first the Southwestern Spanish Provinces, then became independent Mexico, and later was a U.S. territory.In 1821, Mexico gained independence from Spain and trade barriers were removed. That same year, William Becknell and four other men traveled from Franklin, Missouri for a distance of 1,203 miles to open trading between the US and Mexico in Santa Fe. In the next twenty years, about 80 wagons and 150 people traveled the trail each year. Suspicion and tension between the United States and Mexico escalated and finally erupted into the Mexican-American War in 1846. The Santa Fe Trail carried soldiers and supplies to New Mexico and beyond. The war ended in 1848 with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. http://www.42explore2.com/santafe.htm "The Wet/Dry Route" was a section of the Santa Fe Road that ran from just northeast of Larned, Kansas, in the area of Ash Creek Crossing and Pawnee Rock, Kansas to Fort Dodge, Kansas and The Caches. Fort Dodge is about five miles east of the present town of Dodge City, Kansas and The Caches is about five miles west of Dodge City. At or near Larned, Kansas the Santa Fe Trail split into three main and separate trails with branches joining them together along the way to Dodge City, Kansas. http://www.stjohnks.net/santafetrail/wet/dry-route.html



**Oregon trail**
The Oregon trail was a path to oregon.If it wasn't for the Oregon trail Washington,Oregon,Calfornia,Nevada,Idaho,and Utah wouldn't be part of the United States. The Oregon trail was how settlers got across the mountains.The common misperception is that Native Americans were the emigrant's biggest problem route.The first emigrants to go to Oregon in a covered wagon were Marcus and Narcissa Whitman who made the trip in 1836. But the big wave of western migration did not start until 1843, when about a thousand pioneers made the journey.That 1843 wagon train, dubbed "the great migration" kicked off a massive move west on the Oregon Trail. Over the next 25 years more than a half million people went west on the Trail. Some went all the way to Oregon's Willamette Valley in search of farmland--many more split off for California in search of gold. The glory years of the Oregon Trail finally ended in 1869, when the transcontinental railroad was completed. [http://www.isu.edu/%7Etrinmich/Introduction.html



**Oregon trail**
The Oregon Trail was the best land route for travel to the western United States. It was the only practical way for settlers in wagons with their tools, livestock, and supplies to cross the mountains. Many believe that without the trail, most of the American west would today be part of Canada or Mexico.For twenty-five years, 1841-1866, people 'pulled-up-stakes' and headed west. Estimates range from 250,000 to 650,000 persons made the trip. About 1/3 immigrated to Oregon, another 1/3 were bound for California, and 1/3 went to Utah, Colorado, and Montana. The Oregon Trail, the longest of the overland routes used in the westward expansion of the United States, was first traced by explorers and fur traders. Settlers began following the trail in 1841. The first large group of about 900 immigrants used the trail in the "Great Migration" of 1843. In that year, a provisional government was organized in Oregon. The Oregon Country's northern boundary was set in 1846, and the Territory of Oregon was formed in 1848 as over 12,000 people made the journey in that decade. http://www.42explore2.com/oregon.htm