Today's DAR
My father believed life was one big adventure. Once the weather turned in the Spring, we were on the road every weekend exploring the backroads of Kansas. These adventures were where I first discovered the Santa Fe Trail and began to learn its history. The more we learned about the trail, the more our imaginations were able to transport us back to the early days of Kansas as we explored locations along the Santa Fe Trail.
The Santa Fe Trail traversed 900 miles through five states and started as a route for moving freight, but quickly became a highway for settlers moving west who were looking for opportunity, homesteading, new starts and of course adventure. It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of travelers used the trail between 1821 and 1880. It was the first highway in our growing country and allowed the United States to experience dynamic westward expansion.
Now, 200 years later, the Bicentennial Commemoration of the Santa Fe Trail is underway. The DAR from the states of Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, Oklahoma, and New Mexico is at the center of this celebration. Each State Society placed granite markers along the Santa Fe Trail beginning in 1906. Today you can still follow the trail and walk in the ruts formed by the many wagons that passed by, and thanks to the efforts of the Daughters of the American Revolution the markers help to keep this history alive.
