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Trails to the West By Michelle Ong The Santa Fe, Oregon and California trails were an important link between the United States and the communities of northern Mexico. They served as a passage into the West where travelers journeyed in search of land, gold and new opportunities. The Santa Fe Trail One of the most renowned trails leading to the West was the Santa Fe Trail that stretched over 800 miles from Franklin, Missouri to Santa Fe. Traders and merchants journeyed on the trail to earn large profits selling goods in Santa Fešs central plaza. One trip would take about fifty to sixty days and travelers were plagued by malaria, typhoid, dysentery and scurvy. Travelers were likewise wary of Indian attacks. The popularity of the trail caused the government to build several forts along the trail to protect peaceful Indian tribes and travelers, and serve as trading stations. In 1827 Independence replaced Franklin as the starting point of the trail and was consequently replaced by Port Landing in the 1840s (present-day Kansas City). The Santa Fe Trail began with Pedro Vial's journey from Santa Fe to St. Louis in May 1792. Vidal, a Frenchman, volunteered to carve out a trail and successfully made a round-trip, returning in June 1793. However, American merchants and traders were forbidden to enter Spanish-owned Santa Fe and were arrested and imprisoned. In 1821, Mexico gained independence from Spain and eagerly established trade relations with the U.S. William Becknell conducted the first successful trip to Santa Fe from Missouri in 1821. In 1824, the Missouri state government promoted Santa Fe trade and traders and merchants clamored for the federal government to place markers on the trail leading to Santa Fe. A bill for the road passed and President Monroe signed it into law on March 3, 1825. President Monroe then appointed a three-person commission to mark the road, form treaties with Indians and negotiate trade conditions with Mexico. Benjamin Reeves, the lieutenant governor of Missouri, Thomas Mather, a merchant, and George C. Sibley, a former Indian trader, writer and reporter, formed the commission under President John Quincy Adams. The commission, with forty-one men, left Fort Osage, Missouri on July 17, 1825. They erected earth mounds as markers but were prohibited from marking the trail in New Mexico. Discouraged, the commission returned home. On May 1827, Sibley and twelve men corrected an earlier part of their survey, shortened the trail distance and named landmarks. An official report was sent to the federal government on October 27, 1827. Newspaper stories about this report fueled greater interest on the Santa Fe Trail. However, the earth mounds gradually eroded during the next few years. Missouri became a supply center for pork, beef, flour and other foodstuffs. Increased traffic on the trail spurred frictions with Indian tribes. Mexican authorities also imposed heavy taxes on goods. New Mexicans wanted to establish strong trade links with the U.S. and knew these restrictions only impeded the influx of goods. New Mexican authorities sent their first party into the United States to negotiate for American protection from Indians for caravans traveling from New Mexico. A second party led by José Ignacio Ortiz traveled to Philadelphia to buy merchandise. During the course of the next decade, New Mexican merchants bypassed Mexican suppliers and bought goods directly from American sellers. By 1835, trade occurred routinely between Missouri and Santa Fe and the presence of soldiers lessened the problems with Indians. A slight decline occurred in 1840 due to a new $500 duty placed on goods by the New Mexican governor Armijo. The amount of Mexican traders into the U.S. increased. As more merchants traded in New Mexico, others began to trade in Albuquerque, El Paso, Sonora, Chihuahua and southern California. In 1846, the U.S. declared war on Mexico and used the trail as a military road. The war ended in 1848 with the annexation of New Mexico by the U.S. The government ended all duties and tariffs placed on American goods, encouraging more traders to use the trail. With the discovery of gold, many used the Santa Fe Trail to travel to California. The discovery of gold in Colorado also caused a new surge of travelers on the trail. The Santa Fe Trail gradually lost popularity with the expansion of railroads after the Civil War. Several railroads captured the Santa Fe trade. The railroad shortened the distance covered by wagons and people only used wagons to travel from the rail terminal to areas far from the railroad. The first train to Santa Fe arrived February 16, 1880 on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe line. The Oregon Trail The Oregon Trail extended for 2,000 miles from Independence, Missouri to Oregon City. Robert Stuart established the trail in 1812, while leading a group of fur traders from Oregon to the East. The trip from Missouri to Oregon lasted four to five months but travelers endured the arduous journey to acquire land, escape disease and search for new opportunities and riches. The trail traveled across the Midwest prairies to the Continental Divide at South Pass and then divided near Fort Hall. One branch continued northwest to Oregon, the other traveled south to Sacramento and present-day San Francisco. The government built forts along the trail to protect travelers. Fort Kearny was built in 1848 and the government acquired Ft. Laramie from a fur trading company in 1849. Economic need caused a large migration in 1843. The prospect of a Congressional bill donating land to Oregon settlers and the U.S. Gold rush of 1849-1850 spurred other migrations. The gold rush began when James Marshall noticed specks of gold while working at Sutter's Mill. The sudden discovery of gold caused a great flood of immigrants to California, massively increasing the state's population and the use of the California Trail. The California Trail The Spanish first explored possible routes from missions based in Arizona and Texas to California to find a way to send provisions to missions in California. Ships frequently faced problems with ocean winds, currents and frequent storms that occurred off the coast of southern California. (For more about California missions visit http://www.houstonculture.org/spanish/california.html) Juan Bautista de Anza led an expedition in 1774 with Father Francisco Garcés from the Tubac presidio near San Xavier del Bac and Tucson, Arizona. In 1776 a second expedition established an outpost at San Francisco. Father Francisco Garcés searched for a more direct trail between New Mexico and California, but others rarely used the trail he found. Several other expeditions failed to find a more direct route to California. American mountain men explored and established the first direct routes from New Mexico to California. A growing demand for beaver fur to decorate the top hats of European gentlemen boosted the establishment of fur trading posts in the West. Mountain men were hired as fur trappers and served as guides for fur-trapping groups. The trade declined in the 1830s when European gentlemen switched to silk hats. Mountain men branched into other occupations and served as guides for wagon trains and military expeditions and formed trading relationships with Indian tribes. After the Mexican Revolution, in 1829-1830 Antonio Armijo, a New Mexican merchant, completed the first round-trip journey between New Mexico and California. From 1830-1831, an American fur-trapper named William Wolfskill established the Old Spanish Trail that traversed from southwest Colorado to central Utah, southwest to the Colorado River, through the Mojave Desert, Cajon Pass and into California. By the 1850s Californians and the growing population of the southwest called for transcontinental wagon roads. A road from El Paso to Yuma was completed in June 1858 and provided supplies to mines. After the Civil War, Texans used the trail to transport cattle to ranches in New Mexico and Arizona, army posts and Indian reservations. The people of the southwest then demanded railroads and Congress authorized the construction of two rail lines. In 1881, a Southern Pacific line connected Deming with the Atchinson, Topeka and Santa Fe line. Another line continued through El Paso and reached the Mississippi River in 1882. A third was built in 1883 linking Albuquerque to Needles. The railroads announced the ineffectiveness of the trail but expedited travel across the region, helping families settle down and quickening the shipment of goods to new settlements. Learn about the Mormon Trail.
Sources:Collings, Kit. "The Oregon Trail". Pioneer Trails West. Ed. Don Worcester. Idaho: Caxton Printers, 1985. Darry, David. The Santa Fe Trail: Its History, Legends and Lore. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2001. Hague, Harlan. "The Southern Route". Pioneer Trails West. Ed. Don Worcester. Idaho: Caxton Printers, 1985. Mathes, Valerie Sherer. "The Santa Fe Trail". Pioneer Trails West. Ed. Don Worcester. Idaho: Caxton Printers, 1985. Peters, Arthur King. Seven Trails West. New York: Abbeville Press Publishers, 1996. Walker, Paul Robert. Trail of the Wild West: Rediscovering the American Frontier. National Geographic Society, 1997. |
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