Text of marker:
Captain William Becknell of Franklin
"Father of the Santa Fe Trail"
With Four Companions, Led the First Organized
Trade Expediton To Santa Fe, September 1st 1821
Franklin
"Cradle of the Sante Fe Trail
1821
This Trail
One of the Great Highways of the World
Stretched Nearly One Thousand Miles From
Franklin, Missouri To Santa Fe, New Mexico
"From Civilization To Sundown"
Marked By The
Daughters of the American Revolution
and the
State of Missouri
1909