The close of the Civil War released the Nation's great industrial energies. The railroad moved westward, providing cheaper and faster transportation. Trail trade continued in large volume as the wagons of large commercial freighting companies carried freight from the railhead, but as the rail lines got longer the Trail became shorter. Trails of mud and dust simply could not compete with trails of steel. In February 1880, as the first steam locomotive arrived at the New Mexican capital, the Santa Fe Trail's era of commerce and conquest passed silently into memory.
Men show their inside character out here where there are none of the restraints of civilization.
The adobe ruins and stone foundations of the fort, once the major military depot of the southwest, and extensive Trail ruts are preserved in the park. This reconstructed fort is furnished as it might have been in 1848, when it was a private commercial trading depot. Fort Larned National Historic Site Rt. Fort Larned is one of the best preserved frontier military posts in the west. A small outlying area protects Santa Fe Trail ruts.