Note 108 — [70] CHAPTER XI [V]

At this point Pike reached the Arkansas in October, 1806, on his way to the Rocky Mountains from the Pawnee village on Republican River. Here, also, the Santa Fé trail reached the Arkansas. From Independence and Kansas City the trail followed the divide between the Arkansas and Kansas, crossing the headwaters of the tributaries of the former. Above the Great Bend, the main route followed the river to Bent's Fort, where it forked as already described (see ante, note 43). A branch of the trail crossed the river in Gray County, Kansas, and traversed the semi-desert region to the southward, to the upper Cimarron; this branch was known as the Cimarron route. The use of the Santa Fé trail dates from time immemorial, but for purposes of trade was long precarious. It was of considerable commercial importance from the early twenties to the age of railroad building; in some years the value of the goods carried amounted to nearly half a million dollars. See volumes xix and xx of our series.—Ed.