The romance and the history of the Santa Fe Trail lives on. You can join with over 700 people like you who enjoy more than just reading about history. Through chapter meetings, an award-winning journal, annual three- day meetings focused upon learning about an aspect of the Trail and field trips you will begin to experience the Trail as it really was from 1822 to 1880.
Our members are dedicated to working with the National Park Service to preserve, protect and publicize the Trail in its many forms. There is always something for you to be interested in. From wagons to forts to Native Americans to the trail routes and ruts themselves, it is all there for you to enjoy. You can help map the Trail or mark significant spots with signage to explain what happened. Or you can just walk or ride along it and see for it your self and imagine that you are back in the 1800s in a wagon making twenty miles per day.
Through our reenactments, in period authentic costumes and accessories, we present living history events at every thing from county fairs to chapter meetings to schools of all levels. Kids love learning history by actually seeing and touching these replays of what happened.
Recently geocashes have been installed along the trail. For more information please see the Santa Fe Trail Association web site.
For those interested in researching some aspect of the Trail’s fifty-eight year history there is much to explore. The Association’s journal, Wagon Tracks, contains some twenty-six years worth of documented Trail history many written by recognized scholars and is available to everyone for research or just for enjoyable reading.
The subject matter available to you will astound you. Every subject from ammunition to yokes or from draft animals to women who pioneered the Trail. You name it. If it existed and was connected in any way with life on the Trail we probably have information available about it.
In fact in our museum in Larned Kansas, which is located at about the half-way point along the 770 mile long Cimarron Route of the Trail to Santa Fe, you can most likely actually see it shown or discussed.
For more information please see the Santa Fe Trail Association’s website at: <www.santafetrail.org> or < [email protected]>.
Then become a member today using the membership form included at those websites. Membership dues start at just $25.00 per year and include four issues per year of Wagon Tracks.
Bringing history alive since 1986- The Santa Fe Trail Association.
Is there a group planning to ride (horse) the entire trail the summer of 2018?