The Road to Santa Fe
Posted by: 
brwhiz
N 37° 46.773 W 099° 54.292
14S E 420317 N 4181741
This Kansas Historical Marker is located in a turnout on the northeast corner of the intersection of Jewell Road (US Highway 283) and 117 Road (US Highway 50/56) about 8 miles northeast of Dodge City, Kansas.
Waymark Code: WMGA2P
Location: Kansas, United States
Date Posted: 02/04/2013
Views: 2
The Road to Santa Fe
The Santa Fe trail, extending 750 miles from the Kansas City area to the old Spanish settlement of Santa Fe, was the great overland trade route of the 1820's to 1870's. Its commercial use began in 1821, when William Becknell headed west with a pack train from Franklin, Mo. For more than 500 miles the road lay in Kansas, angling southwest past such historic landmarks as Council Grove and Pawnee Rock.
Between present Larned and Fort Dodge, there were two routes. One, keeping to the ridges and higher ground, was used in wet weather. The other, favored during dry spells, lay along the bottom lands near the Arkansas river.
West of this marker the trail divided again. One road, following the north bank of the Arkansas, led to Bent's Fort in Colorado and then dropped south to Santa Fe. A second route crossed the river at several places between here and the Lakin vicinity. This was the famed cut-off to the Cimarron river which continued through southwest Kansas past Wagon Bed Springs and Point of Rocks. Although it was shorter, lack of water and the constant threat of Indian attack made it extremely dangerous.