The Santa Fe Trail was a 19th-century route through central North
America that connected Franklin, Missouri with Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Pioneered in 1821 by William Becknell, who departed from the Boonslick
region along the Missouri River, the trail served as a vital
commercial highway until 1880, when the railroad arrived in Santa Fe.
Santa Fe was near the end of the El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro,
which carried trade from Mexico City.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.The American army used the trail route in
1846 to invade New Mexico during the Mexicanâ€"American War.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 US
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. Santa Fe Trail Biography, NetWorth, Height, Age, Weight, Family, Married, Son, Daughter