Segment 1: Introduction
Footsteps Echoing Across the Plains Standards-Based Themes: Economics
Summary The eastern plains of what was to become Colorado were vast, unspoiled, and remote. Abundant animal life, including buffalo and antelope, thrived in the shortgrass prairie. Early trade routes used by Native Americans foreshadowed the establishment of the Santa Fe Trail. In 1821, when Mexico became an independent nation, the opening of trade between the United States and the new nation was the impetus for caravans of wagons to set off for Santa Fe. Willing to take the risks of an 11-week journey through remote territory and difficult terrain, entrepreneurs filled wagons with trade goods and headed west and south to Santa Fe, the northernmost settlement in Mexico.
What two countries did the Santa Fe Trail connect?
Why is 1821 an important date?
Watch for these facts and figures:
How many miles was it from the start of the journey to the Colorado-New Mexico border?
How many days did it take to make this journey?
How many miles a day did the wagons cover?
How much did each wagon hold?
How much further did the wagons have to go from Bent’s Fort to get to Santa Fe (miles and days)?
Post-Viewing Discussion
What challenges and opportunities did the landscape offer?
If you were traveling the Santa Fe Trail, what would you put in your wagon to help you on the journey? What would you put in your wagon to trade? What would you expect to get in return?
Early 1800s
The region that becomes southeastern Colorado is remote and unspoiled. Buffalo graze and antelope dance amidst the brush hundreds of miles from civilization.
Comanche Chief Courtesy, Library of Congress, Smithsonian Bureau of Ethnology, LOT 12337-2
The corridor later called the Santa Fe Trail is traveled by people from New Mexico who trade with the Comanches and others.
Santa Fe Trail marker Great Divide Pictures LLC
Engraved stone monuments mark the original trail, established in 1822.
