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| "Arrival of the caravan at Santa Fe" -- Copy of original lithograph ca. 1844 |
U. S. trade with Mexico began in the 1820s and was largely confined to Missouri merchants whose original object was to trade horses and mules.
Missouri was admitted to the Union in 1821. As profitable trade between the U. S. and Mexico was realized by 1825, the need for a road to Mexico grew. President John Q. Adams appointed a commission to mark the highway between the U. S. and Mexico. At that time, San Miguel, Taos, and Santa Fe were familiar villages and destinations for trading parties.
The Santa Fe Trail began at Franklin, Missouri just east of the present Kansas City. Because of frequent flooding of the Missouri River, the road was soon moved to Independence. As trade increased with Mexico, it became apparent that the Mexican government was imposing high taxes on this trade. By 1846 the resistance to the Mexican government’s interference in trade led to war.
When emigrant trains increased on the western prairies, Colonel Stephen W. Kearny and 280 mounted and equipped First U. S. Dragoons were dispatched to protect and accompany around 3000 people and their caravan traveling west in 1845. That year President Polk proclaimed Texas the 28th state. Mexico had warned the U. S. that the annexation would prompt Mexico to call the move an act of war. When the Mexican minister resigned his post and left Washington, President Polk ordered Brigadier General Zachary Taylor to take troops from Louisiana to southern Texas. At the same time, he sent an emissary to Mexico to settle the U. S. differences with that country. The mission failed.
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