OREGON AND SANTA FE TRAILS

AT THIS POINT US-50 IS IDENTICAL WITH THESE FAMOUS TRAILS WHICH FROM THE MISSOURI RIVER FOLLOWED THE SAME GENERAL ROUTE. NEAR HERE THEY BRANCHED, THE WORDS "ROAD TO OREGON" ON A ROUGH BOARD POINTING OUT THE NORTHERN FORK. SO SIMPLE A SIGN, ONE WRITER OBSERVED, NEVER BEFORE ANNOUNCED SO LONG A JOURNEY. HERE A SECOND SIGN POINTED SOUTHWEST ALONG THE SANTA FE TRAIL. OF ITS 750 MILES, TWO-THIRDS LAY IN KANSAS. AS EARLY AS 1821 PACK TRAINS HAZARDED THIS ROUTE BETWEEN THE MISSOURI AND SPANISH FRONTIERS. BY 1825 IT HAD BECOME A COMMERCIAL WAGON ROAD. FROM 1840 TO 1870 THOUSANDS OF TRAVELERS PLODDED THE 2,000 TORTUOUS MILES OF THE OREGON TRAIL, RECORDING WITH FEARFUL MONOTONY THE NEW GRAVES ALONG THE WAY. DOWN THE SANTA FE TRAIL WENT TROOPS BOUND FOR THE MEXICAN WAR OF 1846-1847. OVER THESE TWO ROADS, BRANCHING HERE INTO THE WILDERNESS, TRAVELED EXPLORERS, TRADERS, MISSIONARIES, SOLDIERS, FORTY-NINERS AND EMIGRANTS, THE PIONEERS WHO BROUGHT CIVILIZATION TO THE WESTERN HALF OF THE UNITED STATES.