in which state did the santa fe trail begin?
New Mexico
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 The trail was used for more than 20 years , until the completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad in 1869 . Among the emigrants were the Mormon handcart pioneers of 1856 – 60 . Two of the handcart companies , led by James G. Willie and Edward Martin , met disaster on the trail when they departed late and were caught by heavy snowstorms in Wyoming . 

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 He is portrayed in the 1940 movie " Santa Fe Trail " by Henry O 'Neill as a promoter of commerce and development in the American West of his time . 

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 Within a few years after the end of the Gold Rush , in 1863 , the groundbreaking ceremony for the western leg of the First Transcontinental Railroad was held in Sacramento . The line 's completion , some six years later , financed in part with Gold Rush money , united California with the central and eastern United States . Travel that had taken weeks or even months could now be accomplished in days . 

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 During its 19 months of operation , it reduced the time for messages to travel between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts to about 10 days . From April 3 , 1860 to October 1861 , it became the West 's most direct means of east – west communication before the telegraph was established and was vital for tying the new state of California with the rest of the United States . 

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 The original major transcontinental routes in 1925 , along with the auto trails which they roughly replaced , were as follows : 
