Santa Fe Trail Roadtrip

The settlement of the west is more exciting than any movie Hollywood could make-up! Prepare to step behind the veil of time and follow the Santa Fe Trail that covers 800 miles across the states of Missouri,Kansas,Oklahoma,Colorado and new Mexico. Don't be frightened...you can do "parts" of the trail that would require about 5 days or it could take up to 3 weeks if you did the whole thing by bike or horse along the protected path.

Events are staged throughout the summer with fun things like wagontrain enactments, Mountain Men Rendevous, or civil war encampments.

Quick Tips:

HIGHLIGHT STOPS OF THE TRAIL BY STATE:

Missouri:
Independence-once the begining of the trail, home of the National Frontier Trail Center
Ft. Levenworth- Military post of 1827 to protect settlers. Important staging area for supplies and troop movements.
Arrowrock- site where Indians gathered rock for arrowheads and ferry crossing site.

KANSAS:
4:00 Hill House- the first nights campground from Independence. Name refers to the time the wagon's pulled-in for the evening.
Mahaffie Farmstead- guided tours at this historic stop
Gardner- place where the Oregon and Santa Fe trails divided
Council Grove- Last place for hardwood for repairs or firewood. Last"safe" spot from Indian attacks.Council Oak tree site (Indian treaty)The Last Chance Store,and oldest restaurant west of the Mississippi-Hays House. Larned- Fort and Santa fe Trail center
Dodge City- Fort Dodge,Kansas Heritage Center, historic district.

COLORADO
Bents Fort-privately owned trading post,fortress & inn
Comanche National Grasslands-trails to important first water stops at Timpas Creek and Iron Springs.Wagon ruts can be seen here
Lamar- Santa Fe Trail Welcome Center

OKLAHOMA:
Cimarron Heritage Center

Best Way To Get Around:

NEW MEXICO:
Wagon Mound-volcanic rock shaped like a wagon.Site of massacre.
Raton Pass-wagon's had to be hauled over with ropes and pulleys
Cimarron-historic town-site of many gunslinger battles.
Taos-Bents home,Kit Carsons home,Taos Pueblo
Santa Fe- Plaza,Govenor's Palace,La Fonda Inn, Chapel of San Miguel, Barrio de Analco,El Rancho De Los Golandrinas,St.Francis

JOURNAL CONNECTIONS TO KANSAS CITY JOURNAL CONNECTIONS TO SANTA FE Contact the Santa Fe Trail Association ( on-line) to enter chats,event listings,learn more,or make arrangements to find a travel companion.

Visit the National Scenic Byways site at : www.byways.org/pages/index.html

Become intimate with people of the past by reading:
1.)"Journals of Capt. Becknell"-Published by:state historical society of Missouri-1910). He is the "Father of the Trail" and a good writer!
2.) "Down the Santa Fe Trail and into Mexico"-Susan Magoffin (who was a 19 year-old army bride)
3.) " At the End of the Santa Fe trail" by Bladina Segale who was a nun.
4.)" Army Letters from an Officers Wife" by Francis Roe-U.Of Neb.Press.
It was exciting seeing this new world unfold with wonder through their eyes while some events were disturbing....can't give away the surprises...you have to read it!

In 1851 Fort Union opened up with the intention of providing protection for travelers as well as being a western depot for military expeditions. It was placed just off the Trail under the rouse of better grazing land for the animals, but Colonel Sumner felt that the "low-life" traders would corrupt the young boys in blue. He wanted those pink earred kids to be safely away from the evil doings .

Living conditions were never good here....at any of the 3 attempts to build. When it stormed, the red adobe would literally melt down on the sleeping soldiers. Many took to living in their camp tents instead. In my opinion, this happened because they were too high and mighty to ask the locals how to make adobe the right way!

The place was a breeding ground for diseases such as smallpox, measles, and cholera...not to mention lice and other body oozing delights

There were many stories of lax conditions where pirsoners could creep away during the night only to return begging to be taken back! Today, you need to stay on the marked trails unless you like sucking rattlesnack venom from your own legs!

Francis Roe and her husband were stationed here, and her letters are an interesting view back in time.

Ft. Union was a kingpin during the Civil war as the Confederates tried to take it over so they could control the gold coming out of the mountains. The battle nearby of Glorietta Pass left the fort in the Union's hands. With the railroads arrival the wild west was won, and on May 15,1891 the flag was lowered for the last time as a military installation.

This is a spooky place of crumbling red adobe ruins against a burning blue sky. You will find that your vision is distorted as you swear you can see the earths curve at the expansive horizon. Tumble weeds blow across your path like demons on the run and the sky sits on your shoulders.

The brothers Bent(Charles and William) along with Ceran St. Vrain, built this fortress along the Arkansas River as a private venture for trade with Indians and mountain men. The furs they coveted the most were buffalo robes, but other furs headed by wagon East too.

Construction began in the year 1831 with Mexican and Indian laborers who knew how to build the two-story adobe walls that were 15 ft. high, 4 ft. thick, with gunports and canon landings, and cactus that grew on the walls to deal a sharp surprise to any interlopers.

The location of the fort was well planned. The Arkansas River provided constant water and was the International line with Mexico. It is surrounded by grasslands that provided grazing for animals, and is located close to the foot of the Rockies where the Mountain men lived.

At one time up to 100 people were employed here. The most famous were the ex-slave named Black Charlotte and her husband Dick Green who were the cooks. People traveled a long way to eat out back then!

The fort store could supply up to a years worth of needed goods, while the buffalo press in the central compound often baled skins around the clock for transport.

You can visit the blacksmiths or the carpenter shops where wheelwrights and coopers repaired wagons and tools. Not only can you watch these guides at work, there is a program where "jobs" of that century can be learned.

There were Military quarters that are quite barren, and special rooms for lodgers, like the one Susan Magoffin used and her husband had furnished for 10 days with her own items that had been carried by wagon train.

The billiard room was most popular(after the kitchen) and contains a reproduction of the table that was made in St. Louis in 1830 as well as gaming tables.

The day I was here a costumed guide grabbed a bunch of us to help erect a REAL elk-hide tipi! I was amazed at the sinewy touch and the lingering smell of smoke that stayed on my clothing all afternoon! As we worked he told us about the Indian culture.

In 1847 there was an Indian Uprising where Charles was killed. I'm guessing that William wasn't killed because his wife was an Indian woman, but his loss made him throw in the towel with the whole business. First, he tried selling the fort to the military; who refused( Probably because Ft. Union was in place). Next, he rigged the whole place with dynamite, lit the match, and blew the fort to bits. There was no fooling around with that man!

In 1976, construction began on this painstaking reproduction. Everything inside and out...including all the animals ( peacocks too) were found in reference through journals and paintings.

Hey! It's FREE to go here! If you take a tour with a guide it will be the best $2.00 you will ever spend!

In 1826 at the age of 16, Christopher Carson had a name attached to him when he ran away from his master(indentured service) and a one cent reward was posted on his 5'4" frame.

He arrived in Taos penniless until the great trapper Ewing Young noticed " Kits" potential and signed him on for an expedition into the Mexican Republic (now California). He soaked up the knowledge of survival and trapping before he joined the Rocky Mountain Fur Company for a 2 year contract through the Northern Rockies.

In 1830 he became a hunter at Bents Fort in an effort to stay close to home with his Arapaho wife, who died suddenly, leaving him a young daughter he couldn't control.Taking her East to a boarding school led to an unexpected meeting with John Fremont,an Army officer, who in Louis and Clark fashion, was leading exploration expeditions through the West. Fremont was in desperate need of a Scout. The question is : would Fremont or Carson have become great men without the other? Fremont hired Kit for $100 a month--triple what he was earning at Bents Fort.

By 1834 stories began to circulate after he and the "Carson Men" held off 200 Comanche's by slitting the throats of the mules and " forting-up" behind them. Carson knew that the smell of the blood would drive the Indian horses crazy.In frustration the Indians gave up at dusk, and the men started walking during the night to the nearest waterhole.... 75 miles away.

Let me clarify his position as an Indian fighter--He never went out of his way to cause a skirmish. The Indians would steal horses and supplies....and Kit would get mad and go and take HIS things back. Indians attacked him or others along the trail, and he would defend the situation. They thought that Kit was an honorable man.

Carson and his men were one of the first to use the colt repeating pistol in 1841 during a rescue of a wagon train that was under Indian attack. Can you just IMAGINE the surprise?

In between all these daring escapades, Carson maintained his home in Taos. He always returned there, never staying long, as new expeditions arose or confrontations with Indians needed to be quelled (that outlasted his lifetime).

I loved his home with the low hanging roof off the log and adobe building that kind of rambled along as additions had been added....rather free form. The interior is dark and cool with deep rich burgundy colors against the moccasion color stucco.

This place is just packed with all kinds of treasures that belonged to Kit. Indian stitched clothing he wore; rich in beaded detailing. Books and journals, weapons from bows to guns and personal items like trail packs and a fob watch. There are paintings and pictures on the walls that let you look into the life of a man who had few needs but was rich in so many ways.

Charles Bent...famous Mountain man and fort owner, became the first govenor of New Mexico. Sometimes being first isn't a good idea, especially in an area that is in an uproar.

The Bent Family lived in this simple and comfortable home with the painted turquoise walls, the Kiva fireplace, and the wide handcut wood flooring.

What happened here in 1847 was not the ordinary image that this house now seems to imply.

The Indians had been rounded up and told to behave themselves on the reservations. The tribe at Taos Pueblo were notorious for getting their feathers ruffled, but the Uprising in '47 was a violent tidal wave of death that would required the military to quell the frenzy.

Anyhow...the Indians show up at Bents front door. He already knew that he needed a miracle to get out of this pickle. His concern was " buying time" so that his wife and children could escape. Picture this--Bent is arguing with his wife who won't leave him--he grabs her and says " I will not let my children and you die in the bloodbath that is going to follow!" and finally convinces her that she must take control.

They kiss, and she leads the children to the back of the house to escape while Bent takes several deep breaths to compose himself. Slowly, he opens the door and faces some men that he knows...men who understand that with honor Bent has the right to his final argument where he states that even he can not turn the tide of time and take things back to a free life for the Indians. He calmly and slowly speaks while the rest of his family run for their lives.....before the Indians murder him.

Link to : Taos Pueblo; journal: following the ancient ones.

This is a living history museum located on 200 acres that is just amazing! Costumed guides will meet you and begin a journey back to 1700 at this site which was the last stop of the "El Camino Royale" trail that led to Mexico City from Santa Fe.

If you were at the American stage stops, this visit will have a certain amount of culture shock that is sharply distinct. The main adobe building was built for defense with gunhole sized windows, but it isn't as grand as Bents Fort. The red adobe dwelling is Mexican and Spanish in each and every detail-including the little chapel with the altar screen that was brought from Spain.

Outside the main compound, you will walk through the past when you visit the molasses mill, the church,the threshing mill, the schoolhouse and blacksmiths shop...ending up at a mountain village that looks familiar because it was in the movie " Young Guns." The paths between these buildings are all natural and wander among fields that are planted in corn or sorghum and corrals that hold the special Barb horses of the Spanish and other animals needed for a self sufficient life in the wilderness. Guides are all along the way...living life as it would have been done back then...such as grinding grain into flour or making lye soap over an open fire.

There are many special events held here throughout the year such as civil war enactments, spring festivals at the Spanish Ranch where the Churro sheep are sheared before your eyes and live music fills the air. There's a Santa Fe Wine festival and a mountain man enactment on different weekends. The harvest festival shows how sorghum was collected and made into molasses and other preparations for winter.

Every weekend has different kinds of hands-on family crafts such as "How to make a Chilli Ristra" or "How to make adobe bricks". We were told that visitors helped construct one of the adobe dwellings here. There are often storytellers to spin many a tale that is quite fun too.

The settlement of the West began by accident. A Spanish galleon was shipwrecked during a hurricane in the Texas panhandle in the year 1528....they missed the Florida coast by quite alot. Remember this advantageous adventure the next time you get lost traveling!

Corronado listened to the tales of the seven golden cities from those stranded travelers and this led to the Spanish settlement (1610) of a new town called " La Villa Real De Santa Fe" that was separated from Mexico City by a full 6-month journey fraught with natural disasters and Indian attacks. People weren't any different back then..where would you buy your sweetheart silk fabric, get refined sugars, or receive mail? You couldn't trade to the east at that time, because the English wouldn't attempt Jamestown for another generation of souls.

Jump ahead to 1821 where things were getting pretty funky in America. Expansion was in an obsessive-compulsive mode. Slowly, over 200 years, Santa Fe had grown into a capital that still felt deprived and lonely.

(Enter-Stage-left)
An enterprising American named William Becknell who headed from Missouri with pack mules loaded to the gills (?) with trade goods. In return, he brought back furs and Mexican silver to Missouri. His profit was $40,000, which is about $4,000,000. today. ( CHAAA-CHIINGGG!) Never mind that it took Becknell over 6 weeks to go a mere 800 deadly miles. This was like the survivor game show without any safety baleouts!

William heard the crazy stories about a man named Thomas who had developed a "Prairie Schooner" that was half wagon and half masted ship. This earned Thomas the name "windwagon" while folks hooted and hollered in Missouri. The thing sure went like a bat outta hell....it just couldn't turn and remain upright!

The 12 ft. high wheels and the bulging shape with the flat deck were meant to hold large amounts of trade goods. William had the $150. wagons painted blue and red....so they'd be pretty bulls-eyes for the Indians waiting to pick them off one by one. The sail was dropped since it couldn't be controlled, but the canvas covered wagons still looked like macabre bobbing boats on a grassland sea.

The next year, Becknell tried to find a shorter route, which became known as the Cimarron cutoff. This almost killed him because the dreaded "Jordana" (referred to the distance in-between waterholes) was 3 full days. Becknell would have died if his party had not killed a buffalo and drank the contents of the stomach. Desperate times=Desperate measures! Many others less fortunate died after him on this shorter but more dangerous route.

Independence, MO and later Kansas City, were bulging with hoards of westbound travelers trying to get outfitted and $$$ flowed. Homesteaders were heading out on the Oregon Trail while traders on the Santa Fe developed new job titles such as :
Teamster- Driver of the wagon
Bullwhacker- men who led the oxen on foot
Muleskinner-men who led the pack mules
One stop was the safety and provisions of Bents Fort where The Bent Boys ruled order with an iron fist.

The trail then headed south through Raton Pass where men moved two miles a day as wagons were pulled and pushed with ropes and pulleys that kept the loads from crashing down the mountain.....sometimes!

Many people think it was all over in Santa Fe, but the Mexican/Spanish counterpart called the El Camino Royale left Santa Fe and headed to south to Mexico City.

In a short time wagon trains left Missouri with over 300 men and each wagon would be loaded with 3,000-7,000 lbs. of trade goods that would be pulled by teams of 6 oxen. In 1855 the yearly merchandise traded was valued at $ 5,000,000!

It never got easier or safer. Wagons often traveled 4 abreast so that they could "fort-up" faster during Indian attacks. Burned-out wagons and bleached bones lying in the sun were a sobering sight that led to retaliation killings.

The situation became more complicated in 1846 when America had pushed too far into Mexican territory and war began. Truth was stranger than fiction with real life characters such as Geronomo, Billy the Kid,Pancho Villa, Kit Carson,the Bents, and General Fremont.

What killed the trail...and I'm sure back then people said "good ridance!"... was the new form of transportation....the railroad. By 1870 wagon trains were an outdated way to travel.