Overland Trails - Gardner, Ks - Wagon Roads and Trails on Waymarking.com

?This marker has been moved from its original location, which was a road side park about 2 miles SW of this location. This marker was moved here when the new park was created. The town site of Gardner is located where these major trails split and the town's motto is "Where the Trails Divide."

Text of the Marker:

Here US-56 lies directly on the route of the Oregon-California and Santa Fe trails. Nearby, the trails branched. On a rough sign pointing northwest were the words, "Road to Oregon." Another marker directed travelers southwest along the road to Santa Fe.
Between 1840 and 1870 thousands of settlers, miners, and soldiers plodded the 2,000 miles of the Oregon-California Trail from the "jumping off" towns on the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean. Diseases such as cholera and smallpox were the travelers' greatest enemies. Unknown thousands of emigrants died from disease, as did many of the Indians through whose lands they traveled.
The Santa Fe Trail was famous as a freight route between Missouri and New Mexico. Pack trains undertook the difficult journey as early as 1821, following rivers and earlier Indian trails. By 1825, large wagon trains were carrying tons of goods both east and west. US-56 generally follows the old trail route southwestward across Kansas some 500 miles, nearly two-thirds of the trail's total length.

Road of Trail Name: Santa Fe Trail State: Kansas County: Johnson Historical Significance: This marker discusses the significance of the two trail systems and the significance of highway 56 to the Santa Fe Trail. Years in use: 1822 to 1880 How you discovered it: I started following a book called "Following the Santa Fe Trail - A Guide for Modern Travellers" This guidebook gives the locations of the significant sites of the trail and the background stories. It is a good read even if you aren't following the trail. Book on Wagon Road or Trial: Following the Santa Fe Trail - A Guide for Modern Travellers by Marc Simmons and Hal Jackson Website Explination: Wikipedia has an excellent explanation of the trail: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Fe_Trail Why?: From the National Park Service Website: http://www.nps.gov/safe/ Between 1821 and 1880, the Santa Fe Trail was primarily a commercial highway connecting Missouri and Santa Fe, New Mexico. From 1821 until 1846, it was an international commercial highway used by Mexican and American traders. In 1846, the Mexican-American War began. The Army of the West followed the Santa Fe Trail to invade New Mexico. When the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the war in 1848, the Santa Fe Trail became a national road connecting the United States to the new southwest territories. Commercial freighting along the trail continued, including considerable military freight hauling to supply the southwestern forts. The trail was also used by stagecoach lines, thousands of gold seekers heading to the California and Colorado gold fields, adventurers, fur trappers, and emigrants. In 1880 the railroad reached Santa Fe and the trail faded into history Directions: This marker is located inthe parking lot of the Gardner Historical Museum - 204 West Main. This is west of the intersection of Main and Center Streets.

Visit Instructions:
To post a log for this Waymark the poster must have a picture of either themselves, GPSr, or mascot. People in the picture with information about the waymark are preferred. If the waymarker can not be in the picture a picture of their GPSr or mascot will qualify. There are no exceptions to this rule.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   04/27/2006 YoSam. visited it