Both James Field in 1845 and John McBride in 1846, in chronicling their journey west from St. Joseph, make a similar reference to crossing the Republican River, a branch of the Kansas (which technically it is not), the day after crossing the Big Blue River and meeting the Oregon Trail from Independence (Burnett's Trace). Can any of you trail experts tell me what they are referring to here, and what river they might have confused with the Republican, and why both would be similarly confused, or just what exactly is going on here? Ross Smith