Becknell, William

Becknell, William

(born 1796?, Amherst county, Va., U.S.—died April 30, 1865, Texas) U.S. trader. After settling in Missouri, he became involved in trade with the Southwest. When the Spanish prohibition on trade with New Mexico was lifted in 1821, he followed the customary route through the Colorado Rocky Mountains south to Santa Fe, where he sold his goods at great profit. The next year he pioneered a new route through the mountains of northeastern New Mexico that became known as the Santa Fe Trail. In the mid-1830s he moved to Texas, where he fought for Texas's independence.

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Becknell, William (?1796–1865) fur trader, explorer; born in Amherst County, Va. He moved to Missouri and became the first American trader to do business in Santa Fe, N.M. (1821). He pioneered the Cimarron cut-off and the Santa Fe Trail (1822). He moved to Texas, fought in the Texas Revolution (1836) and later joined the Texas Rangers.