Santa Fe Trail

Day # 1 – ARRIVALS
Upon arrival at Kansas City International Airport passengers will be transported to our hotel in Independence, to freshen up for a festive welcome dinner to kick off our grand adventure.  Overnight:  Kansas City, MO.  (D)

Day # 2 – Nat’l Frontier Trails Center/ Fort Leavenworth
Our journey back in time begins at the National Frontier Trails Center which sits right on the original spring where pioneers and muleskinners filled their water barrels for the journey ahead.  From historic Independence Square, we’ll move on to Kansas City, where we’ll visit an amazing displayof perfectly preserved cargo from an 1856 steamboat wreck, supplies which are identical to those carried over the trail by Santa Fe traildrivers.  At Fort Leavenworth, where early day traders found a conducive river crossing plus military protection as they entered Indian Country, wagon ruts are still plainly visible on the riverbanks.  We’ll tour the Frontier Army Museum which provides insights into Indian relations and American expansion as well as Army life on the frontier.  Lunch is a special treat as we encounter another 19th century influence: Fred Harvey and his train depot restaurants.  We’ll be greeted by our “conductor” and served by “Harvey Girls” in the restored Union Depot.  Overnight:  Kansas City, MO.  (B,L)

Day # 3 – Shawnee Indian Mission / Kansas City area
A local guide will join us today to lend insights to the sights. The famous Shawnee Indian Mission School was constructed in 1830 and was a familiar site to wagonmasters on the trail. We will also tour the home of Alexander Majors, a major player in the Santa Fe trade and mastermind of the short-lived Pony Express. We’ll end the day with an authentic pioneer meal along with a living history interpretation of life on the trail. Overnight Kansas City, MO.  (B,D)

Day # 4 – Mahaffie Farmstead / Kansas State Musem / Council Grove
This morning we hit the trail with a stop at the Mahaffie Farmstead and Stagecoach Stop which stabled horses and fed commercial travelers along the Santa Fe Trail.  Next we’ll visit the Kansas State Museum of History, one of the top state historical museums in the country.  Our overnight tonight is the charming Victorian Cottage House in the strategically important town of Council Grove.  Eighteen national registered historic sites survive here, including the historic Hays House, constructed in 1857 by a descendant of Daniel Boone, and in continuous operation as a restaurant ever since.  We’ll dine in these historic surroundings tonight, just a few feet from the trail itself. Overnight:  Council Grove, KS (B)

Day # 5 – Fort Larned National Historic Site
Built in 1859 to protect the traders enroute, Fort Larned is considered one of the best preserved frontier military forts in the country.  Today nine of the original buildings are enriched by living history re-enactors as we learn about the hardships encountered by frontier soldiers on the plains.  Also on today’s agenda is Pawnee Rock, the midpoint on the trail and site of numerous and deadly Indian attacks.  We’ll overnight in Garden City tonight. (B)

Day # 6 – Bent’s Old Fort/ Koshare Indian Museum
Our activity-filled day begins this morning with a visit to Bent’s Old Fort.  This adobe citadel was at one time the principal outpost of American civilization on the Southwestern frontier and has been restored to its appearance when it was the center of trading activities between 1833 and 1849.  Living history enactors demonstrate the daily activities of the fort’s 60 original inhabitants who maintained a self-contained community here.  Also on the agenda is the Koshare Indian Museum, home of one of the largest and most comprehensive collections of American Indian art, artifacts and history in the world.  The museum is unique not only for its collection, but because it is also the home of the Koshare Indian Dancers – Troop 232, Rocky Mountain Council, Boy Scouts of America.  We’ll tour the museum and (if the troop is not on tour) view a demonstration of their famous dancing. Overnight: Garden City, KS. (B, D)

Day # 7 – Raton Pass / Fort Union National Monument
For much of today we will follow the original Santa Fe National Historic Trail, through the mountains and over Raton Pass toward Santa Fe.  We’ll tour the Baca House in Trinidad, built by a Santa Fe Trail merchant right on the trail in 1870, and visit Fort Union, now a national monument, the largest and most important military fort along the trail (1851-1891).  Tonight we’ll overnight in the Victorian elegance of the Plaza Hotel, built in 1882 on the historic plaza of Las Vegas.  The hotel is reputed to be haunted, so be prepared to share your room with one of its former boarders!  Overnight:  Las Vegas, NM. (B)

Day # 8 – Pecos National Monument / Santa Fe
Pecos Pueblo was already a ruin when the first of the Santa Fe wagons rolled past in 1821.  This major landmark on the Santa Fe Trail, had served as a thriving trading center and home to some 2,000 people for over 1,000 years before its mysterious demise. Our festive farewell lunch is at La Fonda, the actual end-of-the-trail hotel which has served weary travelers on the same spot since 1610.  We’ll have time to explore the famous shops lining the plaza before our festive farewell dinner. Overnight:  Santa Fe, NM  (B, D)

Day # 9 – End of the Trail
Santa Fe lies in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Range of the southernmost portion of the Rocky Mountains.  Before departing for the airport in Albuquerque we will visit a magnificent complex of four major museums, explore the panoply of galleries and boutiques lining the historic plaza, and walk the storied streets which echo the commercial activity which made it famous.  Afternoon flights.  (B)