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 The Road to Santa Fe - Ford County Posted by:  iconions
N 37° 46.772 W 099° 54.287
14S E 420324 N 4181739
This marker is in a roadside turnout 8 miles northeast of Dodge City, Kansas on US-56, US-50, and US-283.
Waymark Code: WM5973
Location: Kansas, United States
Date Posted: 11/30/2008
Views: 22
This marker is in a small roadside turnout and park 8 miles northeast of Dodge City. The marker and park was in good shape.
Marker Name: The Road to Santa Fe
Marker Type: Rest Area
Marker text:
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 1820s to 1870s. Its commercial use began in 1821, when William Becknell headed west with a pack train from Franklin, Missouri. 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 ridgesand higher ground, was used in bad 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-offto 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.
Marker Location: Ford
Official Marker Number: 74
Name of agency setting marker: Kansas State Historical Society
Marker Web Address: [Web Link]
Year Marker Placed: Not listed
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Visit Instructions:
Must log an original UNPHOTOSHOPPED picture of you or your GPSr at the marker. Please tell some background of what you learned or how you found the marker.
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