Trail of Tears National Historic Trail: see National Parks and Monuments (table).

Trail, city (1991 pop. 7,919), SE British Columbia, Canada, on the Columbia River just N of the Wash. border. It is a metal-smelting center for a mining area that produces lead, zinc, silver, and gold. Sulfuric acid and fertilizers are manufactured there.

Santa Fe Trail, important caravan route of the W United States, extending c.780 mi (1,260 km) from Independence, Mo., SW to Santa Fe, N.Mex. Independence and Westport, Mo., were the chief points where wagons, teams, and supplies were obtained. From there, the trail led 150 mi (241 km) SW to Council Grove, Kans., which was the main wagon train organization point. Crossing the Kansas plains to the Arkansas River, the trail then followed the river to its fork near Dodge City, Kans. The Mountain Division of the trail in the north continued to hug the river W to Bent's Fort (now a national historic site); turning south, it passed over its most rugged part, including the Raton Pass. The Cimarron or Cutoff Division of the trail in the south, a more direct route, crossed the Great Plains from the Arkansas River to Fort Union, N.Mex., where it rejoined the northern route. Although less rugged, the southern route was dry, with poor grass and little wildlife. The Santa Fe National Historic Trail (see National Parks and Monuments (table) follows the route of the old trail, with many sites marked or restored.

By the early 19th cent. small trapping parties had reached Santa Fe, then under Spanish rule; but they were forbidden to trade. In Nov., 1821, William Becknell, a trader, returned with news that Mexico was free and Santa Fe welcomed trade. Early in 1822 he left Missouri for Santa Fe with the first party of traders. From then on, annual wagon caravans, usually leaving in early summer, made the 40- to 60-day trip over the trail and returned after a 4- to 5-week stay in Santa Fe. An increasing amount of goods was taken to Santa Fe each year. In 1850 a monthly stage line was started between Independence and Santa Fe over the northern route. In 1880 the Santa Fe RR reached Santa Fe, marking the death of the trail.

Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail: see National Parks and Monuments (table).

Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail: see National Parks and Monuments (table).

Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail: see National Parks and Monuments (table).

Overland Trail, any of several trails of westward migration in the United States. The term is sometimes used to mean all the trails westward from the Missouri to the Pacific and sometimes for the central trails only. Particularly, the term has been applied to a southern alternate route to the Oregon Trail used by the Overland Stage. It branched from the parent trail at the junction of the North Platte and South Platte rivers and followed the South Platte to near the present Greeley, Colo., where it left the river and went largely overland, crossing the Laramie and North Platte rivers and rejoining the parent trail east of Fort Bridger. The term is also particularly applied to a route to California that went west from Fort Bridger to the Great Salt Lake (thus duplicating in part the Mormon Trail), then on to Sutter's Fort in California; it was much used by California-bound immigrants.

Oregon Trail, overland emigrant route in the United States from the Missouri River to the Columbia River country (all of which was then called Oregon). The pioneers by wagon train did not, however, follow any single narrow route. In open country the different trains might spread out over a large area, only to converge again for river crossings, mountain passes, and other natural constrictions. In time many cutoffs and alternate routes also developed. They originated at various places on the Missouri, although Independence and Westport (now part of Kansas City, Mo.) were favorite starting points, and St. Joseph had some popularity.

The Route

Those starting from Independence followed the same route as the Santa Fe Trail for some 40 mi (64 km), then turned NW to the Platte and generally followed that river to the junction of the North Platte and the South Platte. Crossing the South Platte, the main trail followed the North Platte to Fort Laramie, while the Overland Trail followed the South Platte. The main trail continued from Fort Laramie to the present Casper, Wyo., and through the mountains by the South Pass to the basin of the Colorado River. The travelers then went SW; the Overland Trail rejoined the route E of Fort Bridger. From Fort Bridger the Mormon Trail continued SW to the Great Salt Lake, while the Oregon Trail went northwest across a divide to Fort Hall, on the Snake River. It then went along the Snake River. The California Trail branched off to the southwest, but the Oregon Trail continued to Fort Boise. From that point the travelers had to make the hard climb over the Blue Mts. Once those were crossed, paths diverged somewhat; many went to Fort Walla Walla before proceeding down the south bank of the Columbia River, traversing the Columbia's gorge where it passes through the Cascade Mts. to the Willamette Valley, where the early settlement centered. The end of the trail shifted as settlement spread.

The Wagon Trains

The mountain men were chiefly responsible for making the route known, and Thomas Fitzpatrick and James Bridger were renowned as guides. Capt. Benjamin de Bonneville first took wagons over South Pass in 1832. The first genuine emigrant train was that led by John Bidwell in 1841, half of which went to California, the rest proceeding from Fort Hall to Oregon. The first train of emigrants to reach Oregon was that led by Elijah White in 1842. In 1843 occurred the "great emigration" of more than 900 persons and more than 1,000 head of stock. Four trains made the journey in 1844, and by 1845 the emigrants reached a total of over 3,000. Although it took the average train six months to traverse the c.2,000-mi (3,200-km) route, the trail was used for many years. Travel gradually declined with the coming of the railroads, and the trail was abandoned in the 1870s. Many trail sites are now preserved in the Oregon National Historic Trail (see National Parks and Monuments, table). An interpretive center is in Baker City, Oreg.

North Country National Scenic Trail: see National Parks and Monuments (table).

Nez Percé National Historic Trail: see National Parks and Monuments (table).

Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail: see National Parks and Monuments (table).

Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail: see National Parks and Monuments (table).

Mohawk Trail. 1 Old road (c.100 mi/160 km long) in central New York state following the Mohawk River. It was the sole route through the Appalachians by which thousands of settlers emigrated from the Eastern seaboard to the Midwest. It traverses territory once occupied by the Iroquois Confederacy. In the Colonial period it was a series of turnpikes beginning at Schenectady and extending to Rome, with lesser trails stretching westward. The Erie Canal rendered the road less important, and when the railroads were built its value was further diminished. 2 Motor highway extending c.30 mi (50 km) across N Massachusetts from Greenfield to North Adams. It follows a trail blazed originally by the Mohawks. Traversing the scenic Hoosac Mts. and Berkshire Hills, the route is popular with tourists.

Mission Trail: see Camino Real, El.

Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail: see National Parks and Monuments (table).

Ice Age National Scenic Trail: see National Parks and Monuments (table).

Florida National Scenic Trail: see National Parks and Monuments (table).

Chisholm Trail, route over which vast herds of cattle were driven from Texas to the railheads in Kansas after the Civil War. Its name is generally believed to come from Jesse Chisholm, a part-Cherokee trader who, in the spring of 1866, drove his wagon, heavily loaded with buffalo hides, through the Indian Territory that is now Oklahoma to his trading post near Wichita, Kans., the wheels cutting deep ruts in the prairie. These marked a route followed for almost two decades by traders and by drovers bringing cattle to shipping points and markets in Kansas. Hundreds of thousands of Texas longhorns were driven north annually, following the Eastern and Western trails in Texas to the Chisholm Trail, which became celebrated in frontier lore and cowboy ballads. With the development of railroads and the introduction of wire fencing, the trail fell into disuse, although traces of it can still be seen.

California National Historic Trail: see National Parks and Monuments (table).

Bozeman Trail: see under Bozeman, John M.

Appalachian Trail, officially Appalachian National Scenic Trail, hiking path, 2,144 mi (3,450 km) long, passing through 14 states, E United States. Conceived in 1921 by Benton MacKaye, forester and regional planner, and completed in 1937, the trail extends along the ridges of the Appalachian Mts. from Mt. Katahdin, Maine, to Springer Mt., Ga. The largest part of the trail passes through eight national forests and two national parks, but some of its length is still on private property. Hiking and trail clubs maintain shelters and campsites along the path. The Appalachian and Pacific Crest scenic trails, both designated in 1968, were the first two components in the National Trails System. In 1999 the International Appalachian Trail, a 690-mi (1,110-km) extension of the trail north and east from Mt. Katahdin into New Brunswick and Quebec to Cape Gaspé, was dedicated. Sections of this trail pass through Canadian national and provincial parks.

Appalachian National Scenic Trail: see Appalachian Trail.

Historic wagon trail from Independence, Missouri, to Santa Fe, New Mexico, U.S. An important commercial route from 1821 to 1880, it was opened by William Becknell and used by merchant wagon caravans. From the Missouri River the trail followed the divide between the tributaries of the Arkansas and Kansas rivers to the site of modern Great Bend, Kan., then proceeded along the Arkansas River. At the western end three routes turned south to Santa Fe, the shortest being the Cimarron Cutoff through the valley of the Cimarron River. When the Santa Fe railroad was completed in 1880, use of the trail ceased.

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Major U.S. route to the Northwest in the 19th century. It stretched about 2,000 mi (3,200 km), from Independence, Mo., to the Columbia River region of Oregon. First used by fur traders and missionaries, it was heavily used in the 1840s by travelers to Oregon, including settlers of the “great migration,” led by Marcus Whitman. Of all western trails, it was in use for the longest period, surviving competition from the railroad by serving as a trail for eastward cattle and sheep drives.

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19th-century route for cattle drives from Texas to Kansas, probably named for the trader Jesse Chisholm (1806?–1868?). The trail ran from south of San Antonio, across Oklahoma to Abilene, Kan., where a railhead was established in 1867. Between 1867 and 1871 1.5 million head of cattle were driven north over the trail to be shipped to markets in the East. After the 1880s the trail's importance declined as other railheads were established.

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Footpath, Appalachian Mountains, U.S. Extending over 2,000 mi (3,200 km) from Mount Katahdin, Maine, to Springer Mountain, Georgia, along the crest of the mountains, the trail passes through 14 states, 8 national forests, and 2 national parks. Hikers and volunteers maintain the shelters and campsites. The trail's highest point is Clingmans Dome (6,643 ft [2,025 m]) in the Great Smoky Mountains. With its first section opened in 1923, the trail was completed in 1937 and became part of the National Trail System established by the U.S. Congress in 1968.

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