El Salvador then joined the United Provinces
of Central America. This was a
union of former Spanish colonies. For a
few years San Salvador was the capital of
the United Provinces. In 1839 El Salvador
became an independent country
with San Salvador as its capital.
From 1979 to 1992 San Salvador was
the site of terrible violence. The government
of El Salvador fought rebels and
had many thousands of other citizens
killed. After the war the city worked to
recover.
..More to explore
El Salvador
Santa Claus
Santa Claus is a legendary figure who is
said to bring Christmas gifts to children.
In Great Britain he is also known as
Father Christmas. According to the
story, Santa Claus lives at the North Pole
with his wife, Mrs. Claus, and many
elves. Throughout the year Santa and his
elves make toys for Christmas. But they
also keep track of which children have
been good and which have been bad.
On Christmas Eve Santa delivers toys to
each good child’s house.
Santa Claus is based on Saint Nicholas.
Nicholas was a real person who lived in
the AD 300s. People loved him because
of his many acts of kindness. Through
stories, Nicholas became known as a gift
giver. In some European countries chil-
Shops line a street in San Salvador,
the capital of El Salvador.
30 San Salvador BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA
dren received gifts on his feast day,
which was in December. Other countries
had similar traditions of children
receiving presents around Christmas.
Europeans brought these traditions with
them when they settled the American
Colonies. The Dutch in particular are
said to have brought the story of Saint
Nicholas. The name Santa Claus came
from the Dutch word for Saint Nicholas,
Sinterklaas.
The image of Santa that people know
today developed in the 1800s. In 1822
Clement C. Moore wrote a poem called
A Visit from Saint Nicholas. This poem is
better known as ’Twas the Night Before
Christmas. It describes a chubby, jolly,
rosy-cheeked old man with a white
beard. He flies through the air in his
sleigh pulled by eight reindeer. He
climbs down chimneys and leaves gifts
for children. In 1863 a U.S. cartoonist
named Thomas Nast began drawing
pictures of Santa Claus based on
Moore’s poem. Nast gave Santa his red
suit with white fur trim.
..More to explore
Christmas
Santa Fe
Population
(2000 census),
city, 62,203;
(2007 estimate)
73,199
Santa Fe is the capital of the U.S. state
of New Mexico. The city lies at the foot
of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. It is
one of the oldest cities in North
America. It is also a major center of the
arts and of Hispanic and Native American
culture.
The first pictures of Santa Claus in his familiar
red suit were drawn by Thomas Nast in
the 1800s.
The Santa Fe Museum of Fine Arts is an
example of a traditional building style in
New Mexico.
BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Santa Fe 31
Tourism and other service industries are
important to Santa Fe’s economy. Many
people in the city work for the
government.
The Spanish founded Santa Fe in 1610
as the capital of their colony of New
Mexico. Native Americans drove the
Spanish out in 1680, but the Spanish
returned in 1692.
The city became part of the newly independent
country of Mexico in 1821. In
that year a trade route called the Santa
Fe Trail was opened between Santa Fe
and Independence, Missouri.
In 1848, after the MexicanWar, New
Mexico became part of the United
States. Santa Fe became the capital of
the Territory of New Mexico in 1851.
In 1912 New Mexico became a U.S.
state with Santa Fe as its capital.
#More to explore
MexicanWar • New Mexico • Santa Fe
Trail
Santa Fe Trail
In the 1800s the Santa Fe Trail was one
of the longest and most important trade
routes in the United States. Like the
Oregon Trail (another famous route), the
Santa Fe Trail began in Independence,
Missouri. It stretched for about 900
miles (1,450 kilometers) across the
Western plains to Santa Fe, NewMexico.
From Independence, the Santa Fe Trail
went west into Kansas. It followed the
Kansas River and then the Arkansas
The Santa Fe Trail divided in two in western Kansas. The southern route, called the Cimarron
Cutoff, was shorter but more dangerous.
32 Santa Fe Trail BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA
River into the western part of the state.
There it divided into two main routes.
The longer route looped slightly northwest
into Colorado before coming down
into Santa Fe. The other route came
directly southwest. It was more popular
because it was shorter. But it was also
more dangerous because it passed
through desert lands that had little
water.
People traveled along the trail in covered
wagons. Many wagons traveled together
in lines, called wagon trains, for safety. If
Native Americans attacked, the wagons
could form a circle, and the travelers
could defend themselves from the center.
It took about six to eight weeks to
make the trip.
Native Americans had used parts of the
trail for hundreds of years. In 1821 and
1822 a trader named William Becknell
led the first trading journeys on the trail.
For 60 years afterward traders used the
trail to ship goods to Santa Fe. People in
theWest sent silver and furs back to the
