The Santa Fe Trail detour into Franklin County, used when water in Douglas County was low.
The Santa Fe Trail ran east to west through southern Douglas County, but a detour into northern Franklin County was used when water supplies were low on the main route.
A memoir by Joshua Marsden Luce, published in the 1 Jan 1913 Ottawa Herald, stated that “When water was scarce the Santa Fe trains also left the main trail at or near Palmyra and came by the way of Centropolis.”