How did they travel on the Santa Fe Trail?

How did they travel on the Santa Fe Trail?

They traveled on horseback carrying packsaddles, a difficult and tiresome way to move goods. Horses were not reliable pack animals. The journey across the Great Plains to Santa Fe and back was almost 800 miles and horses had to be watered and rested frequently. They were also attractive to Indian raiders.

What did they bring on the Santa Fe Trail?

For almost 60 years the Santa Fe Trail was the conduit which brought goods to New Mexico and the southwest and had sent back silver, furs, and mules. But ideas were also exchanged across this route along with culture.

How many days did it take to travel the Santa Fe Trail?

How long did it take to travel the Trail? For most people, it took 8 to 10 weeks to travel by wagon train between Independence or Westport, Missouri and Santa Fe, New Mexico.

What wagons were used on the Santa Fe Trail?

Later they and an offshoot of the Conestoga were used over the plains and the Rocky Mountains carrying settlers to California and Oregon. Traders on the old Santa Fe Trail liked the Conestoga wagon for both it’s size and durability.

How many died on the Santa Fe Trail?

Merchants traveled in caravans, moving wagons in parallel columns so that they might be quickly formed into a circular corral, with livestock inside, in the event of an Indian attack. Josiah Gregg reported that up to 1843 Indians killed but eleven men on the trail.

What were the dangers of the Santa Fe Trail?

While some travelers made the trip without incident, the unforgiving climate, illness, mechanical failures, starvation, dehydration, and the potential for violent encounters created an array of challenges to prepare for and overcome. While some struck it rich, others lost their fortunes, their health, or their lives.

Can you walk the Santa Fe Trail?

Walking the trail is a different kind of hiking experience! In some places, the historic trail is a current modern-day hiking trail. In others, it could be a modern-day asphalt road.

What is the main purpose of the Santa Fe Trail?

The Santa Fe Trail (aka, Santa Fe Road) was an ancient passageway used regularly after 1821 by merchant-traders from Missouri who took manufactured goods to Santa Fe to exchange for furs and other items available there. Mexican traders also provided caravans going to western Missouri in this international trade.

Who led the Santa Fe Trail?

William Becknell
1821 – William Becknell, a Missouri trader, was the first to follow the route that later became known as the Santa Fe Trail. His mule train passed through Morris County at what became known as Council Grove.

How long is the Santa Fe Trail?

1,400 km
Santa Fe Trail/Length

What is the importance of the Santa Fe Trail?

The Santa Fe Trail was mainly a trade route but saw its share of emigrants, especially during the California Gold Rush and the Pike’s Peak Gold Rush in Colorado. The trail also became an important route for stagecoach travel, stagecoach mail delivery and as a mail route for the famed Pony Express.

What was the route of the Santa Fe Trail?

The historic trade route of the Santa Fe Trail from Missouri through Kansas to Santa Fe, New Mexico, had two primary branches — the Cimarron Route and the Mountain Route. During the trail’s heydays, both were well-traveled for different reasons. William Becknell blazes the Santa Fe Trail.

What was the trade on the Santa Fe Trail?

The demand for American and European goods was emphasized by the instance of Becknell and others selling even their wagons, worth $150, for $700. The profits derived by Becknell from this trip went a long way toward pacifying his creditors back in Franklin.

Why was the Santa Fe Trail considered illegal?

As trade routes expanded along the Rio Grande, commerce inevitably reached the Spanish colonists of New Mexico—but Spain had declared trade with Native Americans illegal. Still, many American explorers traveled to Santa Fe and attempted trade. Most were detained and sent home. By 1810, the Mexican people had had enough of Spain’s iron-fisted rule.

What was the weather like on the Santa Fe Trail?

Movies and books often romanticize Santa Fe Trail treks as sagas of constant peril, replete with violent prairie storms, fights with Indians, and thundering buffalo (bison) herds. In fact, a glimpse of bison, elk, antelope (pronghorn), or prairie dogs was sometimes the only break in the tedium of 8-week journeys.