Explorer's Paths

The early explorers often took advantage of existing native trails, so their paths provide clues regarding the older ones and sometimes the basis for later roads.

Dragoon Expedition (1834) started from Fort Gibson (now Oklahoma), established Camp Holmes on the Canadian River, then proceeded southward to Fort Washita.  They then turn west, stopping at a Comanche village and a Toyash village on the North Fork of the Red River before returning to Fort Gibson.

Don Juan de Onate Trail The path taken by the explorer who claimed what is now New Mexico for Spain.  Starts roughly where Texas, Mexico & New Mexico meet and follows the east bank of the Rio Grande to the junction of the Rio Grande and the Rio Chama, north of Espanola.  Later became part of El Camino Real.

Gregg's Route Josiah Gregg was a Santa Fe trader who sought a southern alternative to the existing Santa Fe Trail.  His route linked Van Buren, AR with Santa Fe, generally following the Canadian River across what is now Oklahoma.

Washington Irving's Expedition (1832) came to Fort Gibson (now Oklahoma) from Kansas and then looped through central Oklahoma's Arkansas, Cimarron, and North Canadian Valleys often using earlier Indian Trails. 

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