(The following was written by Jamie Jensen, Roadsides@aol.com, for the Kansas section of the Route 50 section of his book RoadTrip: USA. Jamie gave his permission to add the following for use with the Interactive Santa Fe Trail. His book RoadTrip: USA is available at Amazon.com (USA) and Amazon.co.uk (UK).)

** Marginal: Near Cimarron, 32 miles east of Garden City and 16 miles west of Dodge City, the main track of the Santa Fe Trail crossed the Arkansas River and headed southwest across the waterless plain of the Jornada del Muerto on what was known as the Cimarron Cut-off. This desolate region is also where, in 1831 in the earliest days of the trail, legendary mountain man Jedediah Strong Smith was killed by a band of Comanche warriors.