Be sure to visit www.santafetrail.org/geocaching to learn about the PASSPORT ACTIVITY to accompany this Geo Tour. This container on the Santa Fe National Historic Trail Geo Tour is a military ammunition canister with an identifying Santa Fe Trail Association yellow sticker on the top of the box, under the handle and the dark green geocaching.com ID is on the side of the box with the information that provides coordinates, who set the cache and who to contact for information. Each cache contains a logbook to sign, a variety of items that provide information about the Santa Fe Trail as well as swag items. If you are participating in the Passport activity, the code word is located on the inside of the box, on the top of the lid and is clearly identified as Code Word. Permission to set caches has been obtained from the Missouri Parks Department. We ask that all cachers please respect all property at the sites where our caches are set.
This location is one of the most significant on the Santa Fe National Historic Trail, as it marks where the Santa Fe trade began when William Becknell and his party started out for Santa Fe in 1821. They returned with substantial profits, signaling the opening of the Santa Fe Trail.
Old Franklin was located north of the Missouri River and west of the Boonville bridge on Missouri Highway 87. Franklin was washed away when the Missouri River flooded in 1826-27, and another town, "New Franklin", was built nearby to take its place. The historic site is north of the present river channel. A flagpole has been erected to designate the actual site of the historic town square. North of the Old Franklin town-site, and Missouri Highway 87, are two areas that provide interpretation about this historic site.