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National Historic Trails Scrapbooks

Imagine if early travelers on the National Historic Trails had a polaroid camera... what would their scrapbooks look like? Though we have many journals describing their experiences, there are obviously very few or no photos at all from these journeys. Cameras didn't exist! Well, we took a crack at it and created scrapbook pages for them! Take a look at what we imagine a trail traveler's scrapbook would like!

A scrapbook page depicting multiple scenes from the trail, and relevant icon images.
Image Description: A scrapbook page with images of a covered wagon, a river in a canyon, a chimney-shaped rock, and a grass covered hill. Included are depictions of an oxen, a campfire, a yoke, a covered wagon, and a trail traveling from Missouri to Oregon. The text reads: Oregon Trail Trip 1844.

NPS Photos/NPS Infographic

A scrapbook page depicting multiple scenes from the trail, and relevant icon images.
Image Description: A scrapbook page with images of a church with a bell, a rocky, steep escarpment, a forest of tall, leafy trees, and a church bell tower. Included are depictions of an oxen, a Spanish flag, a church, a serape, and a trail traveling from New Mexico to Mexico. The text reads: El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro Trip 1701.

NPS Photos/NPS Infographic

A scrapbook page depicting multiple scenes from the trail, and relevant icon images.
Image Description: A scrapbook page with images of a faint trail in an open high desert flat, a chimney-shaped rock, a historic two-story, white home with a picket fence, and a tower-shaped red rock in a canyon. Included are depictions of an oxen, a campfire, a handcart, and a trail traveling from Illinois to Utah . The text reads: Mormon Pioneer 1846-47 .

NPS Photos/NPS Infographic

A scrapbook page depicting multiple scenes from the trail, and relevant icon images.
Image Description: A scrapbook page with images of a river in an open canyon, a desert leading to distant mountains, multiple bells in a church bell tower, and a sandy desert surrounded by desert hills . Included are depictions of a person on horseback, a campfire, a person next to a pack mule, a pack mule  and a trail traveling from New Mexico to California . The text reads: Old Spanish Trail Trip 1840 .

NPS Photos/NPS Infographic

A scrapbook page depicting multiple scenes from the trail, and relevant icon images.
Image Description: A scrapbook page with images of a grassy valley leading to distant mountains, a sandy desert flat, a marsh, and red sandstone cliffs. Included are depictions of an oxen, a campfire, a yoke, a covered wagon, and a trail traveling from Missouri to California. The text reads: California Trail Trip 1847 .

NPS Photos/NPS Infographic

A scrapbook page depicting multiple scenes from the trail, and relevant icon images.
Image Description: A scrapbook page with images of a round house made of grass, a historic wooden fort, a river with vegetated banks, and a historic Spanish-colonial mission. Included are depictions of a Spanish flag, a church, a serape, an oxen, a pack mule, a team of mules pulling carts and a trail traveling from Texas and Louisiana to Mexico. The text reads: El Camino Real de los Tejas Trip 1805.

NPS Photos/NPS Infographic

A scrapbook page depicting multiple scenes from the trail, and relevant icon images.
Image Description: A scrapbook page with images of a person on horseback riding through an open valley, a historic wooden barn, antelope in an open field, and a historic stone cabin. Included are depictions of a post office, a person on horseback, an envelope, a horse, a mochilla pack, and a trail traveling from Missouri to California. The text reads: Pony Express 1860-61 .

NPS Photos/NPS Infographic

A scrapbook page depicting multiple scenes from the trail, and relevant icon images.
Image Description: A scrapbook page with images of an adobe mission, an expansive grassland, a historic fort, and sandstone bluff. Included are depictions of grass, wildflowers, a yoke, an oxen, a covered wagon, and a trail traveling from Missouri to New Mexico . The text reads: Santa Fe Trail Trip 1845.

NPS Photos/NPS Infographic

Learn More

A map of multiple trails covering the western part of the United States.
Learn more about historic trails!

National Trails

A covered wagon in front of a landscape of boulders and rocky outcroppings.
Explore history on the Trail

California National Historic Trail

A large covered wagon in a flat desert.
Explore history on the Trail

Oregon National Historic Trail

A cowboy rides a horse in a vast shrub desert plain.
Explore history on the Trail

Pony Express National Historic Trail

A steep-walled canyon, covered with green vegetation, under a blue sky.
Explore history on the Trail

Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail

A trail stretches through a shrubby desert, under a pink sunset-sky.
Explore history on the Trail

Old Spanish National Historic Trail

A rocky outcropping looks out over a vast grassland, under a warm setting sun.
Explore history on the Trail

Santa Fe National Historic Trail

Ruined adobe walls with distant desert mountains.
Explore history on the Trail

El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro

A still creek winds through a heavily vegetated area.
Explore history on the Trail

El Camino Real de los Tejas

Tags: california national historic trail, el camino real de los tejas national historic trail, el camino real de tierra adentro national historic trail, mormon pioneer national historic trail, old spanish national historic trail, oregon national historic trail, pony express national historic trail, santa fe national historic trail, park scrapbook, scrapbook, making memories, photography, birthday, nps birthday, national trails, historic trails, myparkscrapbook, foundersday

California National Historic Trail, El Camino Real de los Tejas National Historic Trail, El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail, Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail, Old Spanish National Historic Trail, Oregon National Historic Trail, Pony Express National Historic Trail, Santa Fe National Historic Trail more »

Last updated: August 24, 2021