The Becknell party arrives back in Missouri after a highly profitable, 48-day journey along the Santa Fe Trail. The group successfully traded goods such as calico and other cloth in Santa Fe, according to a history by the Kansas Historical Society. “Other trading ventures were organized immediately,” and the trail’s popularity took off, the history notes. This photo features a section of the Santa Fe Trail between the Missouri River and Arrow Rock.
Photo credit: Gerald R. Massie via State Historical Society of Missouri https://digital.shsmo.org/digital/collection/imc/id/26648/rec/1
