Franklin was established in 1816, chosen as the Howard County seat in 1817, and grew rapidly to about 1,500 people by 1823 as the political, economic, and social center of Boone's Lick Country, but by 1828 flooding and the gradual washing away of the town had led to its near-total abandonment. During its brief existence, William Becknell owned lots 52 and 53 there, and a teenage Kit Carson worked in Franklin as a saddler's apprentice before running away to join the Santa Fe trade route. On Aug. 14, 1821, Becknell organized and was elected captain of the first expedition to Santa Fe; on Aug. 18 the company met at a Mr. Shaw's in Franklin to elect two lieutenants; and on Sept. 1, 1821, the party crossed the Missouri River near the ferry at Arrow Rock on pack horses on the way to Santa Fe, returning in December with money and goods that stirred local interest in the trade. As settlement moved west, the starting point of the Santa Fe Trail also moved west, though people in the area continued to participate in and finance Santa Fe trade until the middle of the 19th century. In the years leading to the War of 1812, frontier tensions rose as many Indian tribes from the Great Lakes to the Missouri River resisted continued loss of their lands and Americans blamed British traders for encouraging raids; after the United States declared war on Britain on June 18, 1812, the 500 Boone's Lick settlers fortified themselves, most importantly at Cooper's Fort about two miles south of the salt lick in the river bottoms. Raids became so severe by 1814 that the salt works closed, and in September Col. Henry Dodge arrived at Cooper's Fort with 200 Rangers and 50 allied Shawnee scouts, then, joined by Boone's Lick militia, crossed the Missouri River at Arrow Rock and captured a band of Miami Indians upstream, but attacks continued because Sauk, Fox, and Ioway groups were responsible. Although the United States and Great Britain made peace on Dec. 24, 1814, treaties with the Indian tribes were not completed until the summer of 1815, and when the owners and operators of Boone's Lick returned to the salt works they found most of it destroyed.