Santa Fe and Taos Trails

Santa Fe and Taos Trails. . In the early 19th century, the Santa Fe and Taos trails became the most renowned trading rouses in the West. For 60 years, American and Mexican traders drove great caravans of prairie schooner across a sweeping sea of grass - an 800-mile route that linked Independence and other Missouri towns with the fabled city of Santa Fe, the capital of New Mexico. At the same time, the Taos traders and trappers used the shorter Taos Trail to join New Mexico with the commerce of the western plains. The trails flourished until about 1880 when railroad construction over the same routes brought the caravan trade to an end. , Tao Trail , The Tao Trail came through this area as it connected the Upper Arkansas Valley with Taos, New Mexico, via Sangre de Cristo Pass and other routes across the mountains. The Taos Trail also provided in third option to the Mountain and Cimarron branches of the Santa Fe Trail and linked this region of the Southwest with the Overland Trail complex that followed the Platte River system farther north. , Mountian Branch , The Mountain Branch of the Santa Fe Trail followed the Arkansas River where food and water were abundant. Though longer and more difficult, particularly crossing Raton Pass, the Mountain Branch offered a safer and surer passage than the dangerous Cimarron Cut-off. Bent's Port, a trading post, established about 1834, also provided a respite on the long journey and enhance trade with the Cheyenne and other tribes. , Cimarron Branch , The Cimarron Branch (or Cimarron Cut-off) of the Santa Fe Trail saved time, but went through a parched country with little water and hostile Indians. Though more dangerous than the Mountain Branch, it was the preferred route prior to the late 1840s when a road was built over Raton Pass.