The Interactive Santa Fe Trail (SFT) Homepage | http://www.kansasheritage.org/research/sft/
[SFT Logo]The Interactive Santa Fe Trail
This is a Kansas Heritage site * Check out our previous and text only pages


Associations | Books | Discussions, Events | History | Hotels, Motels, B&Bs | Maps | News | On-line Research | People | Photos | Travel

SFT Associations

Official Santa Fe Trail Association

CO: Bents Fort

KS: Santa Fe Trail Center - 2 miles west of Larned, Kansas on K-156 | Cimarron Cutoff | Cottonwood
        Crossing | Dodge City | Heart of the Flint Hills | Quivira | Wagon Bed Springs | Wet-Dry |

MO: Missouri River Outfitters, Independence, MO | Trailside Center, KC, MO |
        Historical Society of New Santa Fe, KC, MO | New Santa Fe Historical Society
- New Santa Fe, MO with map |
        National Frontier Trails Center and Oregon-California Trails Association - Independence, MO

NM: Corazón de los Caminos | End of the Trail

OK: Cimarron Cutoff

SFT Bookstore, from Amazon.com     | Discover Kindle, the latest wireless reading device
book Browse current popular books on the Santa Fe Trail
    Books on Colorado's Santa Fe Trail | History | Travel
    Books on Kansas' Santa Fe Trail | History | Travel
    Books on Missouri's Santa Fe Trail | History | Travel
    Books on New Mexico's Santa Fe Trail | History | Travel
    Books on Oklahoma's Santa Fe Trail | History | Travel
    Books on Genealogy and the Santa Fe Trail

    Maps of CO | KS | MO | NM | OK | Santa Fe Trail |


Other books by SFT authors: Eugene Barber | David Dary | David Lavender | Marc Simmons |

SFT Discussions, Events, and Treasure Hunts (Letterboxing)

* Read, join, and post messages to others interested in the trail on the Santa Fe Trail group, Yahoo. "The Santa Fe Trail winds its way through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado, and New Mexico. You may be interested in it because you live near it, are studying it in school, or you just like exploring or bike riding or discovering history for yourself. Whatever your interest - welcome to our club!"
* Special thanks to GardenCity.net for the original santa-fe-trail email list from July 1996 to the 9/27/2006 spamming.

* National Old Trails Road forum at American Roads

Events:
Great Santa Fe Trail Horse Race
(annual) | * Gen-Events forum | * Events Calendar
Events in: * Colorado along the Mountain Branch | * New Mexico: including Raton


Letterbox treasure hunts: to find (search "Santa Fe Trail", etc) * What is a letterbox?
Some are hidden in SW Kansas, at the SFT Center and in Santa Fe NM

SFT History - History of the Santa Fe Trail: when? where? who? how? why?
* Sangres'Santa Fe Trail
* National Park Service: Timeline and history
* Timeline history of the Santa Fe Trail

MISSOURI:
Most of what is currently Missouri, including all of the Santa Fe Trail route, became a state in August of 1821. See the timeline at http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/history/timeline/timeline3.asp. Becknell and his group left Franklin, MO in September of 1821.

KANSAS:
West of Missouri was Indian territory (eastern Kansas) which the USA had bought from France as part of the Louisiana Purchase. See the timeline at Kansas Timeline. There was a major routing dispute in Kansas around 1910 regarding the new and old Santa Fe Trail routes as part of the National Old Trails Route. Also see: Kansas Heritage | McGee's Tavern, by Jay Willows


MEXICO/ NEW MEXICO and OKLAHOMA:
The Sangres site timeline and narrative on the Santa Fe Trail says the northern border Mexico recognized with the USA after 1819 was the Arkansas River. More information about the history of New Mexico
  • Encarta map of the Arkansas River, from the Rocky Mountains of Colorado through Kansas and beyond
  • Dodge City, Kansas is on the Arkansas River and the Santa Fe Trail

COLORADO:
Current eastern Colorado was included in the Louisiana Purchase. See a Colorado timeline

More information about Hispanic history in what is now the USA


* Genealogy, history, and travel in Colorado | Kansas | Missouri | New Mexico | Oklahoma

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad
ATSF History and Timeline
A Chronology, Michael W. Blaszak

Coal train photo by Sween about 1991 in Bonner Springs, KS

SFT Maps and Images
|

The trail in Kansas: Eastern trail | Central trail | Western trail |
Local feature maps: Santa Fe Trail (GNIS) | Comprehensive map (SFTnet)
Mexico recognized the Arkansas River as its northern border with the USA in 1819
Search Current & Historical Maps

Maps of the Santa Fe Trail in books:

Claude-Rene DE WINTER, Belgian historian, suggested checking maps in the following books.
  • "Dales MORGAN (ed.) : Overland in 1846: Diaries and Letters of the California-Oregon Trail. UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA PRESS, 2 volumes, 1963; First Bison book printing; 1993. In particular: Map of the Emigrand Road from Independance to St Francisco, by T.H. JEFFERSON, vol. 1, pp. between 236-237; and vol.2, pp. 456-457.
  • Robert H. FERRELL, Richard NATKIEL : Atlas of American History. FACTS ON FILE, 1993;
  • Warren A. BECK, Ynez D. HAASE : Historical Atlas of the American West. UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA PRESS,1989; first paperback printing, 1992;
  • Warren A. BECK, YNES A. HAASE : Historical Atlas of New Mexico. UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA PRESS, 1969;
  • A. RAY STEPHENS, William M. HOLMES : Historical Atlas of Texas. UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA PRESS, 1989
  • Richard PATTERSON : Historical Atlas of the Outlaw West. JOHNSON BOOKS, 1993.
Also see how to get inter-library book loans
Google images: Santa Fe Trail


SFT News What's going on?
News from the Great Santa Fe Trail Horse Race Endurance Ride, including plans for the next race. The 2008 race will start with the Wagon Mound (NM) Ride (Aug 30) and finish with the "Kaw Nation Ride" around the Council Grove KS area (Sep 13).

First run in 2007, the Great Santa Fe Trail Horse Ride started at Santa Fe NM with the original plans to end in Independence, MO, changed to ending in Gardner, KS. Apparently due to two riders not recognizing the finish line, there was a fatal accident involving two horses, Mr. Valentine and Foxfire. With overall winner Scott Griffin of Seattle, here are the daily winners of the 2007 race.

* Current Google search     * Also check the Santa Fe Trail email group posts at Yahoo.

* Kathy Bowie, from Maryland, has a unique story on her way to the 2008 GSFT Ride.
* The Great Santa Fe Trail Race
with some pictures and daily updates from the "Simply Marvelous" blog - The Wonderful World of Horses



SFT People Who's Who
* William Becknell: his story and Santa Fe Trail history.
        Gary Becknell
, of Richmond, IN, is a decendent of Captain William Becknell. His father's name was William Hollis Becknell. (12/2001)
* The Life of Josiah Gregg, author of "Commerce of the Prairies" (1844)
* The Kaw and Seth Hays, et al, in Council Grove, KS
* Frank Kermott remembers Santa Fe Trail travel, early 1860s
* Joanne VanCoevern helped organize and served as first president of the Wet/Dry Routes Chapter of the SFTA.
* Military Expedition to New Mexico: diary of William Anderson Thornton
* Dick Williams, wagon master
* Women retracing the Santa Fe Trail
* Santa Fe, 42explore
* MORE People and Families along the Trail
* Genealogy, history, and travel in Colorado | Kansas | Missouri | New Mexico | Oklahoma | Hispanic Americans
SFT Photos
Fort Union scenes, by Garry E Veak (2007): 1, 2, 3, 4
Pictures & history of
Fort Union


Febiger, 1880s
© Ty Dodge 2003, all rights reserved

Image hosted by Webshots.com
by herlt at
WebShots.com
Reenactment, April 1999, along the trail in southern Johnson County, KS
* Slideshow pictures along the Santa Fe Trail
* Santa Fe Trail pictures from * KS * MO * NM
* Pictures of Kansas * eCard Index
* Santa Fe TrailCam including * Council Grove, KS
* Dodge City, KS * Fort Union, NM

* Santa Fe Trail group members add trail pictures here


SFT Reading and Research - On-Line Research and Books
Book Lists

On-line Western Sites: American Old West, Wikipedia | American Expansion, WWW-VL | Boones Lick Trail | Old West Kansas, Kansas Heritage |

Questia Research Library: - part free, part by subscription
* Santa Fe Trail * Old West * Western Expansion * New Mexico History

BOOKS about the Santa Fe Trail
BUY & SELL:
Santa Fe Trail Books

book
* Amazon.com
* Gen-Books eGroup
* Book searches
* Kansas Bookstore
Search for
Santa Fe Trail
books

Places to stay

ON-LINE SANTA FE TRAIL BOOKS: (Free)

* Blizzards at Fort Dodge, KS
* Prairie Fires on the Santa Fe Trail
* Pioneering the Midwest, stories of Robert P. Fann
include scouting along the Santa Fe Trail
* An Administrative History of Fort Union National Monument, L. Zhu (pictures)
* A History of Fort Union, NM, Sperry and Myers
* Brief Summary of the Santa Fe Trail Through Kansas, 1911-12
* A Campaign in New Mexico with Col. Doniphan, Edwards, 1984
* Downey and Beyond, Wakley
* History of the State of Kansas, Cutler
* On-Line Maps of the Santa Fe Trail
* Reriding History: Horseback over the Santa Fe Trail, Frank (excerp)
* The SFT Through Comancheria, 1821-50, Kavanaugh; more on the Comanche

On-line Book Libraries
Questia Library including NM History
Kansas Collection
    * Looking for transcribing volunteers


BOOK LISTS, REVIEWS
* A Basic SFT Reading List, Harry C. Myers
* SFT info, Bob Jones
* Basic Reading List, Trail Center
* Older SFT Book reviews and list

ON-LINE BOOK STORES:
* Last Chance Book Store
* Amazon.com
* A Kansas On-Line Bookstore
* Kansas Heritage Center, Dodge City
SFT Rivers along the Trail
* Missouri River Heritage Corridor
* Missouri River, photos
* Bend of the Missouri River at Kansas City: 1682-1840
* Kansas (Kaw) River, photos
* The Arkansas River is north of the Cimarron River on the trail in Kansas. In 1819, Mexico recognized the Arkansas River as its northern border with the USA.

SFT Travel Today - Exploring the Santa Fe Trail today:

road trips - CyberTrail SFT | National Scenic Byway: Santa Fe Trail | New Mexico with map | Mountain Branch
Bed and Breakfasts in Arrow Rock, Boonville, Independence Missouri and Santa Fe, NM

places to stay along the SFT: Bed & Breakfasts, Motels, Hotels

Make on-line reservations to spend the night in:

MO: Franklin - Boonville (B&B) - Arrow Rock (B&B) - Lexington - Sibley - Independence (B&B) - Kansas City
KS: Overland Park - Gardner - Baldwin City - Burlingame - Council Grove - Herrington - McPherson - Great Bend - Larned - Dodge City - Cimarron - Garden City or Liberal
CO: Lamar - La Junta - Trinidad
OK: Guymon
NM: Raton - Cimarron - Springer - Las Vegas - Santa Fe - B&Bs, hotels, inns, motels

Raton NM lodging
Some of our readers have stayed at the Raton Pass Inn
Check more Raton lodging with free breakfast | swimming pool | hot tub

Santa Fe NM lodging with on-site free breakfast | restaurant | hot tub | handicap accessable rooms | child care | pets welcome | swimming pool | tennis

* Bishops Lodge Resort and Spa, Santa Fe mountain resort with all day children's program (summer only), turn down service, and plush bath robes. Some rooms have outdoor area.
Prefer to fly? Check airline fares and schedules and car rentals in Santa Fe

biking - Santa Fe Trail Bike Trek by herlt | The Santa Fe Trail by Bicycle, Elaine Pinkerton |
        Annual September Santa Fe Trail Bicycle Trek (sign up early)

flying - SW Aviator, Revisiting the Santa fe Trail

hiking -

horse riding & trail rides -
The Great Santa Fe Trail Horse Race Aug-Sep, 2008 | 1st was in 2007

towns & cities along the trail: CyberTrail SFT

covered wagons -
NOTE: Conestoga wagons were used on the Oregon Trail where families were traveling west. Santa Fe Trail travelers were mostly business men, moving goods for sale or trade between Missouri (USA) and New Mexico (Mexico and USA).


* Genealogy, history, and travel in Colorado | Kansas | Missouri | New Mexico | Oklahoma | Hispanic Americans



Other Trails,
Other Stories
* American Discovery Trail
* American Hiking Society
* National Scenic Byways, by state
* Overland Trail with monthly spot light sites
* Trails.com Trail Finder:
other trails in Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado, New Mexico
* More On-line Resources:

newsgroups, email lists, magazines, maps, pictures
Places to stay
Things to see
Missouri:
* Jefferson City
* Kansas City

Kansas:
* Dodge City
* Overland Park

maps
Oklahoma:
* Guymon

Colorado:
* Las Animas

New Mexico:
* Las Vegas
* Santa Fe

Continuing the adventure:
Browse the
American West,
WWW Virtual Library,
US History
Family History
online research
Search
American
Memory

CyberTrail (SFT)
vicarious travel
Lodging at
Bed & Breakfasts
Dude Ranches
National Parks
Resorts

Santa Fe Trail
Net

SFT Sites, from the air:
USGS Aerial Photographs (Mix)
Wet/Dry
Routes


Rockhill Press

For Teachers:

Best of the Web


History Channel Network

Picture by Don Palmer
click to enlarge (jpg)
or jpe
Picture by Don Palmer of

Trail and Travel Images
[Santa 
Fe Trail marker]
(Click picture to enlarge)


This site was created in 1995 by Nancy Sween for Kansas Heritage
Copyright © 1995 - current, All Rights Reserved


Also see: Kansas History Web Sites
This Kansas Heritage site address is:
http://www.kansasheritage.org/research/sft/

A Kansas Heritage site with text only page, too

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