Roads To The West

The Santa Fe Trail

The Santa Fe Trail began in 1821 when William Becknell led a small group of men on a trading expedition from frontier Missouri to colonial Santa Fe. Mexico had recently declared its independence from Spain and abolished ...

First Roads to the West

Before the Europeans, only Indian trails led through virgin forests that once stretched beyond the horizon. About 1750 Nemacolin, a Delaware Indian, blazed a trail past here for the Ohio Company. Four years later, Virginia militia under Lt. Col. George ...