2. The Route
• The Spanish Trail connected what is near present day Santé
Fe, New Mexico to what we now know as Los Angeles and
Southern California.
• The route was Approximately 1,200 mi
• Spanish explored the area as early
as 1776
• The Trail saw extensive use
by pack trains from about
1830 until the mid-1850s.
3. History of the Old Spanish Trail
• The trail is combination of known trails that were established
by Spanish explorers, trappers and traders with the Ute and
other tribes of Indians.
• A route linking New Mexico to California, which combined
information from many explorers, was opened in 1829-30
when a Santa Fe merchant led 60 men and 100 mules to
California.
