The National Historic Trail Experience
Why would you do it? Why pack everything you own into a wagon, hitch it to some large, slow-moving animals and head out across thousands of miles of unknown terrain? (Unknown at least to you.) Maybe it’s the chance at a fresh start. Perhaps it’s that once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to earn some cash to support your family. Maybe you’re searching for a new place to live free from persecution. Or, maybe you were forced to leave the only home you’ve ever known.
No matter the reason, if you made this journey, chances are you traveled one of America’s National Historic Trails. The Oregon, California, and Mormon Pioneer Trails carried 500,000 emigrants westward between the 1830s and 1860s. Two Camino Reales – royal roads – brought soldiers, traders, settlers, and missionaries north from central Mexico to New Mexico and Texas for more than 400 years. The Santa Fe Trail and the Old Spanish Trail supported six decades of international trade between Mexico and the United States. Dozens of tough young men and their equally tough horses endured stifling heat, blizzards, and danger as they carried mail year-round across the West on the Pony Express Trail. And the Trail of Tears bore the heartache of tens of thousands Cherokees, Creeks, Choctaws, Chickasaws, and Seminoles forced from their homelands by the endless growth and greed of a young nation.
Today these designated National Historic Trails, their stunning landmarks and faint traces, their many stories and the lessons those stories reveal are readily available for you. Across 25 states and 25,000 miles, in national parks, state parks, historic sites, and even on private lands, a great experience awaits you on your National Historic Trails.
