In the early 1800s, this was the western edge of the American frontier, with American Indians controlling lands farther west and Spanish territory 440 miles away south of the Arkansas River. Settlers were drawn to the Boone's Lick region by rich farmlands, natural salt springs, and river access, but money was scarce and financial troubles plagued the area in 1821. That year, local salt works manager William Becknell, virtually bankrupt, left to trade to the west and was welcomed in Santa Fe, which was desperate for manufactured goods. He returned to Missouri with precious silver coins, and the next year repeated the expedition with wagons. Boone's Lick became an important crossroads for American and Mexican cargo, and a cobblestone street beneath the highway bridge was used to carry goods to warehouses on Main Street. From 1821-1846, the Santa Fe Trail was an international road for American and Mexican traders. In 1848, the Mexican-American War ended, adding New Mexico to the United States, and the trail became a national road for commercial and military freighting, stagecoach travel, and mail service before it was gradually replaced by the railroad, which reached Santa Fe in 1880. Irish immigrant Major William Harley later made a fortune as a trader, settled in Boonville in the 1840s, established warehouses for Santa Fe goods, and donated this park land to the city.
