Old Spanish Trail: Difference between revisions

[[Image:Old Spanish Trail map.png|right|400px]]The Old Spanish Trail was an overland pack-train trade route more than a pioneer migration trail between Santa Fe, New Mexico and Los Angeles California from 1829 to the mid-1850s. Portions of the trail were explored as early as 1776 but left mostly unused. In 1829-1830 the Santa Fe merchant-explorer Anotoni Armijo combined information from several previous explorations and led a group of 60 men and 100 pack animals from Santa Fe to Los Angeles. Indian goods like woolen blankets and basketry were traded for California horses and mules which could be sold&nbsp;in Santa Fe, or (via the Santa Fe Trail) in Missouri. Later in the history of the trail an extensive Indian slave trade developed which had a significant impact on Indian tribes along the route.<ref>Wikipedia contributors, "Old Spanish Trail (trade route)" in ''Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia'' at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Spanish_Trail_(trade_route)(accessed 21 July 2009), and Lifetime Legacies Productions and San Luis Valley Museum Association, ''History of the Old Spanish Trail'' at http://museumtrail.org/OldSpanishTrail.asp (accessed 29 July 2009).</ref>  

Part of the reason the Old Spanish Trail was used was because it linked via the [[Santa Fe Trail|Santa Fe Trail]] to [[Portal:Missouri|Missouri]] and the [[United States|United States]], and via the the [[Camino Real de Tierra Adentro|Camino Real]] to [[Chihuahua Trail|Chihuahua]] and Mexico City in [[Portal:Mexico|Mexico]]. <ref>Wikipedia contributors, "El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro" in ''Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia'' at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Camino_Real_de_Tierra_Adentro (accessed 19 July 2009).</ref>