Santa Fe Trail Detour

The Santa Fe Trail detour into Franklin County, used when water in Douglas County was low.

The Santa Fe Trail ran east to west through southern Douglas County, but a detour into northern Franklin County was used when water supplies were low on the main route.

A memoir by Joshua Marsden Luce, published in the 1 Jan 1913 Ottawa Herald, stated that “When water was scarce the Santa Fe trains also left the main trail at or near Palmyra and came by the way of Centropolis.”

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