Southwest Trail

Route and History

 * The Southwest Trail was a 19th-century pioneer route that was the primary route for American settlers bound for Texas.
 * The Southwest Trail was originally an American Indian trace, and it was improved and expanded by European-American pioneers.
 * The trail ran from St. Louis, Missouri, to Fulton, Arkansas on the Red River.
 * At the time of Americans' first settling the Texas area, the Red River was the border between Mexico and the United States.
 * With only slight changes to the route it traveled, the Southwest Trail has also been known as the Southwest Road, Military Road and the Natchitoches Trace.

The trail is commemorated in the Historic Washington State Park near Hope, Arkansas.