Exhibits in the Main Galleries | Follow the East Gallery Renovation Process!
Historic and Reproduction Buildings
Dale & Melba Woods Farm & Auto Museum Additions

Your visit to the Trail Center exhibits begins in our East Gallery with the prehistoric days of the Trail. Go back to the time when millions of buffalo covered the plains, and imagine what it was like for the Wichita Indians living in grass hunting lodges and pursuing the giant herds.

Traders camp at night The great era of the Santa Fe Trail began in 1821, when Mexican independence from Spain opened up new trade opportunities for American and Mexican merchants. Pulled by oxen and mules, commercial freight wagon trains crossed the plains until the railroad arrived near Santa Fe in 1880.

Mexican trader Unlike the other great Western trails, the Santa Fe Trail was a two way route between two different countries: the United States and Mexico. By the early 1840's, the majority of private freight caravans were owned and operated by New Mexicans. The Mexican War ended the international days of the Trail, when New Mexico was added to the U.S. territory.

Artifacts from both prehistoric and historic American Indians are on display in the museum, representing the many native peoples who inhabited the area of the Santa Fe Trail.

A restored United States Army escort wagon is one of the many displays in the museum. The military comprised a major portion of traffic on the Santa Fe Trail.

A diorama depicts a common scene along the Santa Fe Trail.

An impressive collection of historic firearms in the museum's galleries shows the progression of weapons from flintlock to cartridge.

As the railroad laid the tracks that ended the freighting days of the Santa Fe Trail, towns and farmsteads grew up in its wake. Many homes had a parlor like this where friends and family could gather.

Music was a popular form of entertainment for the people who settled along the ruts of the old Santa Fe Trail.