Certified Sites on the Santa Fe NHT

This Barnes Enclosure and Cave Spring were made famous by overland travelers who mentioned it in their letters and diaries. Cave Spring, on the National Register of Historic Places, was a noted midday rest area for travelers heading west. Imagine that much of the Jackson County countryside, even in the early trail days, was owned by private landowners who had substantial estates. 

This 2,000-foot trail segment, located on the property of the Hickman Mills School District, begins just northeast of the district’s administration building (at 9000 Old Santa Fe Road, near Eastern Avenue).

The Santa Fe, Oregon, and California national historic trails (NHTs) passed through "New Santa Fe" in the Kansas City, Missouri area. Visit to see rare urban trail ruts and what’s left of a town created by trail traffic.

The historic trails passed through this area in the field that is directly across from the National Frontier Trails Museum. Evidence of the trails can still be seen in the field in the form of swales, which marks the exact route used by emigrants as they traveled westward. The museum is currently temporarily located at 416 W. Maple Ave., Independence, MO 64050.

The Arrow Rock State Historic Site visitors’ center opened in 1991 and features nearly 9,000 square feet of exhibit space. The center interprets the history of Arrow Rock and the central Missouri region historically known as “Boone’s Lick Country.” You can watch a 20-minute video “Arrow Rock: Frontier Town of the Boone’s Lick” an introduction and overview of the community.

Beginning around 1816, migrants travelling west crossed the Missouri River at this spot. The site marks the western end of the Arrow Rock ferry, with another landing on the other side of the river. The ferry played a significant role in shepherding traffic westward, including traffic on the Santa Fe Trail.

The Palestine Cemetery was an early burial ground for travelers along the Santa Fe, Oregon, and California trails.

Located North of Independence Square, the Lewis-Webb House was home to John and Susan Lewis who participated in Santa Fe Trail related commerce including outfitting traders and financing a trip to Santa Fe. The home is privately owned, but you can view the home’s exterior and read more about the house on the historic marker in the front yard.

Wieduwilt Swales are the grassed-over evidence of three historic trails that passed through the area, the Santa Fe, California, and Oregon. Thousands of wagons, carts, livestock, and people traveled on these trails, which created ruts and left deep depressions in the earth. After the traffic stopped, vegetation slowly reclaimed the muddy and barren ground of the trails, creating the swales that are still visible today.

Travelers on the Oregon, California, and Santa Fe trails passed through what is now Schumacher Park as they journeyed through the prairie of the great plains. They passed through the south end of the park in an east to west direction during the mid-1800s. Today, no traces of these trails (no ruts or swales) remain in the park, but the park does provide a good example of how this part of Kansas appeared in the 19th century.

Boggsville was once a stage stop on the Santa Fe Trail. Key businesses there were trading stores, owned by Thomas O. Boggs (built in 1862) and John W. Prowers (built in 1867). Boggsville became the seat of Bent County in 1870, but the coming of the railroad to nearby Las Animas brought about the town's downfall by 1880.

The Shawnee Mission was one of many missions established as a manual training school attended by boys and girls from Shawnee, Delaware, and other Indian nations from 1839 to 1862.

Approximately 33 miles of the Cimarron Route of the Santa Fe Trail crosses Morton County. It is the largest number of miles located in any one county across the trail’s five states. The museum introduces you to the trail and things to do in the area, including the Cimarron National Grassland where the public can hike an 18.3-mile long companion trail, a mowed path that parallels the historic route.

Lanesfield Historic Site consists of a historic schoolhouse, some outbuildings, and a visitor center. The schoolhouse, which served the now-defunct town of Lanesfield, is the main attraction. In addition to providing a glimpse of rural education during the nineteenth century, the site also allows visitors to experience a small mail stop along the Santa Fe Trail.

Established in 1858, the Mahaffie farmstead served as a stagecoach stop along the Santa Fe Trail where travelers could purchase supplies, eat a home-cooked meal, and even spend the night. The proprietor, J. B. Mahaffie, ran the stage stop with his wife, daughters, and some hired helpers. It remained in operation until 1881, right around the time that the Santa Fe Trail gave way to the railroad.

Kaw Mission tells the story of the place where 30 Kaw boys lived and attended school from 1851 to 1854. The Kaw (or Kansa) gave Kansas its name. They lived here along the Santa Fe Trail for less than 30 years before the US government removed them to Indian Territory (now Oklahoma). Today, the Kaw Mission is one of the oldest buildings still standing in this part of Kansas and is operated by the Kansas State Historical Society as a museum.

The Coronado Quivira Museum contains Santa Fe Trail artifacts as well as Spanish Colonial and ancient indigenous artifacts from sites located in Rice County Kansas.

The exciting and unique story of early Dodge City is told daily along Front Street at Boot Hill Museum. The area’s rich history dates back to the Native Americans who thrived off the land and the buffalo. The establishment of the Santa Fe Trail brought settlers to the area and introduced the potential of what is known as the Great American Desert.

The Barton County Historical Society Museum consists of exhibits (including the Santa Fe Trail Interpretive Site), a research library, and an administrative area. Behind the building is a historical village consisting of a church, 1-room school house, windmill, post office building, railroad depot, barn, residences, and other structures.

Check out this well-known landmark on the Santa Fe Trail.

Easily visible remnants (swales/ruts) of the Santa Fe Trail. Location of reliable water in the Cottonwood Holes and noon break ½-day travel west of Cottonwood Creek crossing. Site where Susan Magoffin “nooned it on the prairie” July 27, 1846, and site of French Frank’s Road Ranch 1861-66.

Stop by and enjoy many photos and artifacts of the Santa Fe Trail, especially those from the Las Vegas, New Mexico area. The Santa Fe Trail Interpretive center located in the Bridge Street Historic District can provide visitors with an in-depth history of the Santa Fe Trail through books, brochures and original photos of many interesting locations and events along the trail. Visit with the knowledgeable staff who can describe each photo and its importance.

When Santa Fe Trail trader James Johnson bought this adobe home in 1849, he expanded it to 19 rooms under a single, unifying zaguán (vestibule). Behind his Territorial Style home, Santa Fe Trail merchants kept their horses and oxen in his corrals before their return trip east.

Since 1610, this block-long, one-story adobe building has housed the offices and living quarters of 58 Spanish Colonial Governors, 16 Mexican Governors, four military and three civilian governors during U.S. rule, and 17 Territorial Governors. The building endured the 1680 Pueblo Indian Revolt; the 1692-1693 Spanish reconquest; the 1846 arrival of Brigadier General Kearny; and the 1862 invasion of Texas Confederate Troops.

Built in 1846, this U. S. fort was the first in New Mexico Territory (and is the only fort left in the United States from the Mexican American War). Built for 280 men, this irregularly shaped star fort was never garrisoned. Located on a hill 50 yards higher in elevation than the Plaza, its 14 cannons could have confronted an approaching Mexican army or suppressed a local uprising.

Las Vegas, New Mexico, was officially founded as Señora de Los Dolores de Las Vegas (Our Lady of Sorrows of the Meadows). The Santa Fe Trail went through the old original settlement plaza, in the center of town, which was a key trading spot on the Santa Fe Trail. Today, Las Vegas boasts of more than 900 registered historic structures and many Santa Fe Trail sites.

Santa Fe became a hub of international trade in the 1800s. The exchange of Spanish, American Indian, Mexican, and U.S. cultures inspired uniquely New Mexican art. With 3,000 objects, the collections at the museum are the most comprehensive compilation of Spanish Colonial art of their kind.

The institution is devoted to the acquisition, care, interpretation, and exhibit of artifacts and documents associated with the history of Union County and northeastern New Mexico.  Exhibits contain artifacts from the dust bowl era, Santa Fe Trail, and so much more.

Henri Lambert, who had been President Abraham Lincoln's personal chef, established a saloon here in 1872. By 1880, the saloon had evolved into the 2-story, Adobe Street James Hotel. As a vital outpost of the Santa Fe Trail, Cimarron and the St. James are linked to early land grant settlers, ranchers, and desperados, including such notables as settlers Lucien Maxwell and Carlos Beaubien, Buffalo Bill Cody and his cohort Annie Oakley, and Kit Carson.

Located at the intersection of Corrumpa Creek and the Santa Fe Trail, McNees Crossing was a welcomed source of necessary resources for travelers on the Cimarron Route. Also the host to a “dreadful catastrophe,” the site warns of the consequences of seeking vengeance. Visitors can experience the vastness of terrain and trail at this largely undeveloped site. Wagon ruts and the rocky creek bottom where caravans crossed are still visible today.

The town of Las Vegas began as a Santa Fe Trail town in 1835. The town was laid out in the traditional Spanish Colonial style, with a central plaza surrounded by buildings, which could serve as fortifications in case of attack. The trail passed through the plaza and presumably many of the traders stayed here.

Autograph Rock was an important campsite and source of water for travelers on the Santa Fe Trail. Travelers carved their names into the Sandstone cliff walls at the site which can still be viewed today. Some ruts and swales are also visible at the site.

The Cimarron Heritage Center interprets the history of Cimarron County, including the Santa Fe Trail.