Santa Fe Trail Historical Park

Santa Fe Trail Historical Park, also called Pioneer Park, is located on the bank of the Rio Hondo River in El Monte, California. The location was designated a California Historic Landmark (No. 975) on Aug. 13, 1987. This was the first an encampment on the Old Spanish Trail. The Old Spanish Trail and was an extension of the trail from Missouri to Santa Fe, New Mexico. The Gila River trail also ended in El Monte. By the 1850s, those in El Monte started to call the town the `End of the Santa Fe Trail.” This claim is disputed by some, such as the Santa Fe in New Mexico. In the 1800s permanent settlements were established by immigrants from Texas and Arkansas, the first settlement in Southern California founded by citizens of the United States. The state marker for the Santa Fe Trail Historical Park is located at 3564 Santa Anita Ave, El Monte, CA 91731. The City of El Monte held a ceremony to dedicate the Santa Fe Trail Historical Park on June 2, 1989.[1][2]

Santa Fe Trail Historical Park
Downtown El Monte, with sign: "El Monte the End of the Santa Fe Trail"
Location3675 Santa Anita Ave, El Monte, CA 91731
Coordinates34°4′28″N 118°2′30″W
Areaone acre
Built1822
DesignatedAug. 13, 1987
Reference no.975
Location of Santa Fe Trail Historical Park in the Los Angeles metropolitan area
Oldest home in El Monte at the end of the Santa Fe Trail built in 1849, (photo from 1922)
The route of the Old Spanish Trail
The route of the Old Spanish Trail
Santa Fe Trail highway sign in Cimarron, New Mexico
Connections along the Santa Fe Railroad, showing the principal regular stops on the AT&SF mainline, including cattle drive destinations such as Dodge City. It is no accident that most of those Kansas, Colorado, and New Mexican towns were also first serviced by the Santa Fe Trail.
Arrival of the caravan at Santa Fe, lithograph published c.1844

El Monte built the (now closed) Santa Fe Trail Historical Park in 1989, near Valley Blvd and Santa Anita Ave. The one-acre park has two historic structures and a covered wagon. The park is on the west side of Santa Anita Avenue, just a few blocks north of the Interstate 10 in California freeway and south of the El Monte City Hall.[3] Soon after it opened, the park closed, and the city has no plans to reopen it. The El Monte Historical Museum at 3150 Tyler Avenue show cases the Santa Fe Trail and El Monte's Historical importance to Southern California.[4][5]

Marker

The state marker reads:[6]

  • El Monte, on the bank of the San Gabriel River, played a significant part in California's early pioneer history. It was first an encampment on the Old Spanish Trail, and extension of the trail from Missouri to Sante Fe. By the 1850s some began to call El Monte the "End of the Santa Fe Trail." Early in that decade a permanent settlement was esablished here by immigrants from Texas. The first settlement in Southern California founded by citizens of the United States.

See also

References
  1. californiahistoricallandmarks.com El Monte, First Southern California Settlement by Immigrants from the United States
  2. Cal. Parks, First Southern California Settlement by Immigrants from the United States
  3. "El Monte CA | History – Presented by Village Profile". Villageprofile.com. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
  4. "A Brief History Of El Monte". Home.earthlink.net. Archived from the original on 2010-08-01. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
  5. Lacher, Irene. "El Monte Historical Society Museum – El Monte, CA 91731 | Find Local Los Angeles". Findlocal.latimes.com. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
  6. Cal. Marker, CHL No. 975 El Monte, First Southern California Settlement by Immigrants from the United States – Los Angeles
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