2.12 Missouri traders arrive in Santa Fe traveling the Santa Fe Trail. From 1821, when William Becknell first made the trip, to 1880, when the Santa Fe railroad finally made it obsolete, the Santa Fe Trail was perhaps the most important commercial route for bringing the fur and mineral riches of the West to eastern markets and for carrying manufactured goods to the steadily growing communities of the frontier.

(Courtesy Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University [Zc50844gr, Vol 1, Copy 1, Didier)