Santa Fe Trail

Historical marker location:

Wheeless, Oklahoma

( Marker is on State Highway 325, 3.6 miles north of E0190 Road, on the left when traveling north.)

Marker installed: 1994

The Santa Fe Trail provided one of the earliest contacts with the Southwest. Running 780 miles from Independence, Missouri, to Santa Fe, New Mexico, it cut across the Oklahoma Panhandle and became an important trade route that was patrolled by army troops. The heaviest traffic came in 1849 as Easterners headed for the gold fields in California. The trail remained in use until the railroads came in 1880.