For 10 points, name this trail which connected Independence, Missouri, with the namesake New Mexican city.
The McKnight-James party made the first attempt along its dangerous "Middle Crossing" of in 1821, though the shorter "Jornada" crossing is more dangerous branch. Following the incursion of Charles Warfield and Jacob Snively's "Battalion of Invincibles" and the murder of Don Antonio Jose Chavez, Santa Ana temporarily closed it. In 1864, Kit Carson was dispatched to protect the Cimarron Cutoff branch of this trade route from Kiowa and Comanche attacks, resulting in the First Battle of Adobe Walls. William Becknell led the first expedition along this route, which followed the northernmost crossing across western Kansas into Colorado and then south. At its namesake terminus, this route met with the El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, which passed through El Paso. For 10 points, name this trail which connected Independence, Missouri, with the namesake New Mexican city.
The McKnight-James party made the first attempt along its dangerous "Middle Crossing" of in 1821, though the shorter "Jornada" crossing is more dangerous branch.
Santa {Fe} Trail