Old Spanish Trail

United State] [[Image:Gotoarrow.pn] [[United States Migration Internal|Migratio] [[Image:Gotoarrow.pn] [[US Migration Trails and Roads|Trails and Road] [[Image:Gotoarrow.pn] [[Old_Spanish_Trail|Old Spanish Trail [[Image:Old Spanish Trail map.png|right|400px]]

Historical Background
The Old Spanish Trail was an overland pack-train trade route rather than a pioneer migration trail between Santa Fe, New Mexic] and Los Angeles [[California Genealogy|Californi] 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 in Santa Fe, or (via the [[Santa Fe Trail|Santa Fe Trail) in [[Missouri Genealogy|Missour]. Later in the history of the trail an extensive Indian slave trade developed which had a significant impact on Indian tribes along the route.

Part of the reason the Old Spanish Trail was used was because it linked via the Santa Fe Trail to Missour] and the [[United States Genealogy|United State], and via the the [[Camino Real de Tierra Adentro|Camino Real to [[Chihuahua Trail|Chihuahu] and Mexico City in [[Mexico Genealogy|Mexic].

Route
There were very few European settlements on this rugged route between Santa Fe and Los Angels except near each end of the trail. The Old Spanish Trail had several additional branches which are not shown in the nearby map.

Settlers
The opening of easier wagon-friendly routes to the north (Pony Express or Overland Trail) and south (Butterfield Overland Mail) resulted in few Europeans settling along this difficult pack-animal route. However, because of the slave trade along trail the Indian tribes were cautious, hostile, and themselves engaged in slave trading and raids.

Many of the settlers along the trail in present-day southern Utah, Nevada, and California arrived via the Mormon Trail and the [[Mormon Trail to Southern Californi] which overlapped the Old Spanish Trail from about Cedar City, Utah to Los Angeles California.

External Sites

 * Lifetime Legacies Productions and San Luis Valley Museum Association, History of the Old Spanish Trail
 * [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Spanish_Trail_(trade_route) Old Spanish Trail (trade route) - Wikipedi history, route description, register of historic places
 * [http://www.oldspanishtrail.org/index.php Old Spanish Trail Associatio history, maps, books, merchandise
 * [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson_Hunt Jefferson Hun in Wikipedia has a history of a discharged soldier who was one of the first to use part of the Old Spanish Trail to travel between Los Angeles and Salt Lake City