Page 2 of the pamphlet in the file, "Take a Santa Fe Trail Trip": "In 1821 the Spanish Flag was hauled down and the same year saw the beginning of the trade on the Old Santa Fe Trail. Also in 1821, Captain W. W. Becknell left Franklin, Missouri on September 1, with a small cargo loaded on pack mules. He traveled overland. ..to. ..New Mexico and to Santa Fe by the way of Las Vegas and Pecos. The next year he and others brought wagons over this route proving it could be done and blazing the way for the thousands who would follow."
