01Summary
The 'Queen City of the Trails,' where wagons on the Santa Fe, California and Oregon trails set out. Emigrants gathered here in early spring to buy wagons, oxen and food, then set out once the prairie grass began to green, from about mid-April into May.
02History
Independence was founded in 1827 as the seat of Jackson County, Missouri, a few miles from the Missouri River. Traders bound for Santa Fe outfitted here from its earliest years, and the town became known as the 'Queen City of the Trails' because wagons on the Santa Fe, California and Oregon trails all set out from here.
The first emigrant wagon party bound for the Pacific set out from just across the Missouri line, west of Independence, in 1841. In the spring of 1843 an estimated 700 to 1,000 people gathered at a camp about 12 miles west of town and set out for Oregon. Outfitting traders and emigrants kept the town busy through the 1840s. In 1846 the Donner Party passed through on its way to California.
By the late 1840s Independence had to share the outfitting business with Westport and Kansas, today part of Kansas City, and many emigrants started from St. Joseph or Council Bluffs, farther up the river. Independence remained the trail's traditional starting point.
03Today
The National Frontier Trails Museum, since 2023 in the Truman Memorial Building, tells the story of the western trails. Wagon swales, the shallow grooves left by the old road, can still be seen on the grounds of the Bingham-Waggoner Estate.
04People connected here
05Stops nearby
The Oregon Trail ran about 2,170 miles from Independence, Missouri, to Oregon City. The stops just before and after this one are below. You can also find Independence on the interactive map.