In the 1860s, countless men, women, and children traveled west along the Westport Route of the Santa Fe, Oregon, and California Trails. The Westport Route was one of several roads leading from Westport, Independence, and other Missouri towns, the well-known jumping-off points for the trip west. Travelers bound for Santa Fe, Oregon, and California used the Westport and other routes to cross what is today the Kansas City metro area. Several miles south, at the Lone Elm campground, these routes converged, and for the next few miles a single main road carried all westbound travelers before splitting in two, with the Santa Fe Trail leading southwest and the Oregon and California Trail heading northwest.