"The Road to Santa Fe" premieres on KCPT on Sept. 24 and then will be distributed to public television stations nationwide. The program explores the history of the Santa Fe Trail. … On Sept. 1, 1821, William Becknell set out from Franklin, Missouri, to Santa Fe, New Mexico, with five other men. That journey has gone down in most histories as the opening of the 870-mile-long Santa Fe Trail. … what sets the Santa Fe Trail apart from, say the Oregon Trail or the California Road, was that, initially, its primary purpose for Americans was trade. “The Santa Fe Trail was America’s first great international commercial highway, and it remained so for the 60 years until railroads reached Santa Fe,” said Larry Short of Independence, president of the national Santa Fe Trail Association.
Source: KC Star Local News
