In downtown Santa Fe a plaque marks the end of the Santa Fe Trail. A thousand miles away, another plaque marks the beginning.

More in a moment . . .

After nearly 300 years of Spanish rule, Mexico was preparing for independence. When independence came, the New Mexico Territory would be open to free trade with the United States. A Missouri businessman, William Becknell, figured it was time to find a good trade route to New Mexico.

In 1821 Becknell left Franklin, Missouri with a few companions and some pack mules. When he arrived at the plaza in Santa Fe, he found that his goods were quickly sold. The next year he returned with three covered wagons -- the first to cross the southern plains.

The ruts made by the wheels of those first wagons marked the route for the Santa Fe Trail. Other wagons would follow and a new era in the history of New Mexico had begun. In Missouri, William Becknell is remembered as the father of the Santa Fe Trail.

A plaque in downtown Franklin, Missouri commemorates the beginning of the trail. It shows Becknell's first mule train. Part of the inscription reads: "This trail, one of the great highways of the world, stretched nearly 1000 miles from Franklin to Santa Fe, from civilization to sundown."

To learn more about the old Santa Fe Trail, visit the Palace of the Governors history museum in Santa Fe.