The drive from St. Louis to Jefferson City, the capital of the State of
Missouri, was tedious and without result other than that of reaching the
point where actual driving began in early days. Governor Folk signified
his approval of the work, and I was given a cordial hearing by the
citizens.

On the fourth of April I arrived at Independence, Missouri, which is
generally understood to be the eastern terminus of the Santa Fe Trail. I
found, however, that many of the pioneers had shipped farther up the
Missouri, some driving from Atchison, some from Leavenworth, others from
St. Joseph. At a little later period, multitudes had set out from
Kanesville (now Council Bluffs), where Whitman and Parker made their
final break with civilization and boldly turned their faces westward
for the unknown land of Oregon.

The Santa Fe and Oregon trails from Independence and Kansas City were
identical for forty miles or thereabouts, out to the town of Gardner,
Kansas. From there the Santa Fe Trail bore on to the west and finally to
the southwest, while the Oregon Trail bore steadily on to the northwest
and encountered the Platte valley below Grand Island in what is now
Nebraska. At the forks of the road, the historian Chittenden says, "a
simple signboard was seen which carried the words 'Road to Oregon,' thus
pointing the way for two thousand miles. No such signboard ever before
pointed the road for so long a distance, and probably another such never
will."

I determined to make an effort to find the spot where this historic sign
once stood, and if possible to plant a marker there. Friends in Kansas
City, one of whom I had not met for sixty years, took me by automobile
to Gardner, where, after a search of a couple of hours, two old
residents were found who were able to point out the spot. These men were
Mr. V. R. Ellis and Mr. William J. Ott, aged respectively seventy-seven
and eighty-two years, whose residence in the near vicinity dated back
nearly fifty years. The point is at the intersection of Washington
Street and Central Street in the town of Gardner.

I planned to drive up the Missouri and investigate the remaining five
prongs of the trail--Leavenworth, Atchison, St. Joseph, Kanesville, and
Independence. I drove to Topeka, the capital city of Kansas, where I
arrived the eleventh of May (1908). There the trail crosses the Kansas
River under the very shadow of the State House, not three blocks away;
yet only a few knew of it.